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2 负重的牲口
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刚开始看到有苦力挑着重担在路上行走，你会觉得这是个愉悦的场景，冲击着你的眼球。他穿着破衣烂衫，一身蓝，从靛蓝、天蓝到泛白的乳蓝，但很应景。他费力地走在稻田间狭窄的田埂上，又或是爬上绿色的山丘，一切都显得那么自然。他上身不过一件短外套，下身一条裤子。倘若他有一套起先还是浑然一体的衣服，但后来要打补丁时，他不会想到要选用同一颜色的布块，手头什么方便就拿什么补。为了遮阳避雨，他戴了顶草帽，隆起的部分像个灭火器，帽檐又宽又平，看上去有些怪异。
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你看见一长溜苦力走过来，一个接一个，每个人肩上挑一个担子，两头挂着两个大包，构成一幅惬意的图景。从水中的倒影看他们匆匆忙忙的样子十分逗笑。他们路过时你观察他们的脸，要不是东方人神秘莫测的说法已植入人心，你肯定会说他们面容温厚坦诚。当他们到了路边的神祠，在菩提树下放下重担，躺下来，快乐地抽烟聊天，而且如果你也尝试扛过他们一天要挑三十里路的重担，你会很自然地敬佩他们的忍耐力和精神。但是如果你跟人说，你对这些中国长者心生钦佩之感，人们会耸耸肩，觉得你有些荒谬可笑，然后宽容地告诉你，这些苦力都是牲口。两千年来，他们祖祖辈辈都是挑重担的，所以他们干得很开心也不足为奇。事实上，你自己都能看到他们打很小的时候就开始挑担了，因为你会遇到小孩子肩头扛着扁担，两头挂着菜筐，踉踉跄跄地蹒跚前行。
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日子一天天过去了，天气变暖，这些苦力脱掉上衣，光着膀子走着。有时一个苦力要停下来休息，便把两头的包放地上，扁担还留在肩头，这样他就要稍稍蜷蹲着休息一下，这个时候你会看到他那可怜疲惫的心脏在肋骨间跳动。你看得一清二楚，样子恰似在医院门诊室看见心脏病人的心脏跳动一样。看到这一幕会让人有些许莫名的伤感。然后你再看他们的脊背，担子长年累月的压迫，留下深红的疤痕，有时甚至有溃口的疮疤，很大，没有绷带包扎，没有衣服隔挡，直接就在木扁担上摩擦。但最奇怪的是，就好像大自然力图让人适应他被交予的这些残酷用途，一种反常的畸形出现了，苦力们肩上会隆起一个包，就像驼峰一样，这样担子就可以顶在上面。但是尽管心在狂跳，疤在怒吼，不管苦雨还是烈日，他们永远都行在路上，从黎明到黄昏，年复一年，从童年到迟暮。你看到那些老人骨瘦如柴，皮肤松弛地耷拉在骨头上，干瘪枯槁，脸上满是皱纹，像瘦猴一样，头发灰白稀疏，在重担之下跌跌撞撞，一直走向坟墓的边缘，那是他们最后休息的场所。但苦力们仍在赶路，不能算跑，也不能算走，就是快速地侧身而行，眼睛一直盯着地面，好选个下脚的地方，脸上露出紧张焦虑的神情。他们继续前行时，你眼前再也不是什么惬意的图景了。他们的那种疲于奔命的努力让你感到压抑，内心充满怜悯，但又什么忙都帮不上。
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在中国，人就是负重的牲口。
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“被生活损耗、折磨，然后迅速走完生命历程，根本得不到休息——这不是很可怜吗？苦苦地干，没个完了，然后还没活到享受劳动果实的日子，就疲惫地突然逝去，也不知道会落个什么归宿——这能够不令人悲哀吗？”
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那位中国的神秘主义者[1] 如是写道。
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（罗选民 译）
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[1]指庄子。上段引文的文言原文参见注释。
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3 THE SONG OF THE RIVER
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By W. Somerset Maugham
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THE SONG OF THE RIVER, from On a Chinese Screen , by William Somerset Maugham, New York, George H. Doran Company, 1922, pp. 129-130.
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You hear it all along the river. You hear it, loud and strong, from the rowers as they urge the junk with its high stern, the mast lashed alongside, down the swift running stream. You hear it from the trackers, a more breathless chaunt, as they pull desperately against the current, half a dozen of them perhaps if they are taking up a wupan, a couple of hundred if they are hauling a splendid junk, its square sail set, over a rapid. On the junk, a man stands amidships beating a drum incessantly to guide their efforts, and they pull with all their strength, like men possessed, bent double; and sometimes in the extremity of their travail they craw on the ground, on all fours, like the beasts of the field. They strain, strain fiercely, against the pitiless might of the stream. The leader goes up and down the line and when he sees one who is not putting all his will into the task he brings down his split bamboo on the naked back. Each one must do his utmost or the labor of all is vain. And still they sing a vehement, eager chaunt, the chaunt of the turbulent waters. I do not know how words can describe what there is in it of effort. It serves to express the straining heart, the breaking muscles, and at the same time the indomitable spirit of man which overcomes the pitiless force of nature. Though the rope may part and the great junk swing back, in the end the rapid will be passed; and at the close of the weary day there is the hearty meal and perhaps opium pipe with its dreams of ease. But the most agonizing song is the song of the coolies who bring the great bales from the junk up the steep steps to the town wall. Up and down they go endlessly, and endless as their toil rises their rhythmic cry. He, aw-ah, oh. They are barefoot and naked to the waist. The sweat pours down their faces and their song is a groan of pain. It is a sigh of despair. It is heart-rending. It is hardly human. It is the cry of souls in infinite distress, only just musical, and that last note is the ultimate sob of humanity. Life is too hard, too cruel, and this is the final despairing protest. That is the song of the river.
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Notes
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junk, Chinese sailing vessel with high poop and little or no keel.
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trackers, boatmen who walk along the edge of the river and pull the boat up the river against the river current. They are called trackers because they track or follow the path along the shore.
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chaunt, or chant, a short or simple melody characterized by the reciting of an indefinite number of syllables to one tone; the reciting of words in musical monotones.
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current, the flow of water in the river.
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wupan, literally wu pan or five planks, a boat the bottom of which is made up of five planks laid side by side; just as the sampan is literally san pan or three planks.
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rapid, a swift running part of the river where the surface is usually broken up by obstructions of piles of rocks.
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amidships, in or towards the middle of a ship especially with regard to her length.
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incessantly, continuing or following without interruption; unceasing;uninterrupted.
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like men possessed, like men influenced, controlled, dominated powerfully—said especially of demons and spirits that are evil.
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