为奴隶的母亲 A Slave Mother 柔石

为奴隶的母亲
A Slave Mother
柔石
Rou Shi
她底丈夫是一个皮贩，就是收集乡间各猎户底兽皮和牛皮，贩到大埠上出卖的人。
He was a dealer in animal skins which he bought from hunters in the countryside and sold in town.
但有时也兼做点农作，芒种的时节，便帮人家插秧，他能将每行插得非常直，假如有五人同在一个水田内，他们一定叫他站在第一个做标准。
Sometimes he also worked in the fields; early each summer he turned farm-hand, transplanting rice for other people. As he had learned to transplant the seedlings in wonderfully straight rows, the peasants always asked him to help them.
然而境况总是不佳，债是年年积起来了。
But he never made enough money to support his family and his debts mounted with each passing year.
他大约就因为境况的不佳，烟也吸了，酒也喝了，钱也赌起来了。这样，竟使他变做一个非常凶狠而暴躁的男子，但也就更贫穷下去，连小小的移借，别人也不敢答应了。
The wretchedness of his life and the hopeless situation he was in caused him to take to smoking, drinking and gambling, and he became vicious and bad-tempered. As he grew poorer and poorer, people stopped lending him money, even in small sums.
在穷底结果的病以后，全身便变成枯黄色，脸孔黄的和小铜鼓一样，连眼白也黄了。
With poverty came sickness. He grew sallow: his face took on the sickly colour of a brass drum and even the whites of his eyes became yellow.
别人说他是黄疸病，孩子们也就叫他“黄胖”了。
People said that he had jaundice and urchins nicknamed him “Yellow Fellow”.
有一天，他向他底妻说：
One day, he said to his wife,
“再也没有办法了，这样下去，连小锅子也都卖去了。
“There’s no way out of it. It looks as if we’ll even have to sell our cooking pot.
我想，还是从你底身上设法罢。
I’m afraid we have to part.
你跟着我挨饿，有什么办法呢？”
It’s no use both of us going hungry together.”
“我底身上？......” 他底妻坐在灶后，怀里抱着她底刚满三周岁的男小孩。
“We have to part?...” muttered his wife, who was sitting behind the stove with their three-year-old boy in her arms.
她讷讷地低声地问。
“Yes, we have to part,” he answered feebly.
“你，是呀，”她底丈夫病后的无力的声音，“我已经将你出典了......
“There’s somebody willing to hire you as a temporary wife...”
“什么呀？”他底妻几乎昏去似的。
“What?” she almost lost her senses.
屋内是稍稍静寂了一息。
There followed a brief silence.
他气喘着说：
Then the husband continued, falteringly,
“三天前，王狼来坐讨了半天的债回去以后，我也跟着他去，走到了九亩潭边，我很不想要做人了。
“Three days ago, Wang Lang came here and spent a long time pressing me to pay my debt to him. After he had left, I went out. I sat under a tree on the shore of Jiumu Lake and thought of committing suicide.
但是坐在那株爬上去一纵身就可落在潭里的树下，想来想去，终没有力气跳了。
I wanted to climb the tree and dive into the water and drown myself, but, after thinking about it, I lost courage.
猫头鹰在耳朵边不住地啭，我底心被它叫寒起来，我只得回转身，但在路上，遇见了沈家婆，她问我，晚也晚了，在外做什么。
The hooting of an owl frightened me and I walked away. On my way home, I came across Mrs. Shen, the matchmaker, who asked me why I was out at night.
我就告诉她，请她代我借一笔款，或向什么人家的小姐借些衣服或首饰去暂时当一当，免得王狼底狼一般的绿眼睛天天在家里闪烁〔4〕 。
I told her what had happened and asked her if she could borrow some money for me, or some lady’s dresses and ornaments that I could pawn to pay Wang Lang so that he’d no longer be prowling after me like a wolf.
可是沈家婆向我笑道：
But Mrs. Shen only smiled and said,
“‘你还将妻养在家里做什么呢，你自己黄也黄到这个地步了？’
“‘What do you keep your wife at home for? And you’re so sick and yellow!’
“我低着头站在她面前没有答，她又说：
“I hung my head and said nothing. She continued,
“‘儿子呢，你只有一个了，舍不得。
“‘Since you’ve got only one son, you might find it hard to part with him.
但妻——’
But as for your wife...’
“我当时想：‘莫非叫我卖去妻子么？’“而她继续道：
“I thought she meant that I should sell you, but she added,
“‘但妻——虽然是结发的，穷了，也没有法，还养在家里做什么呢？’
“‘Of course she is your lawful wife, but you’re poor and you can’t do anything about it. What do you keep her at home for? Starve her to death?’
“这样，她就直说出：‘有一个秀才，因为没有儿子，年纪已经五十岁了，想买一个妾；又因他底大妻不允许，只准他典一个，典三年或五年，叫我物色相当的女人：
“Then she said straight out, ‘There’s a fifty-year-old scholar who wants a concubine to bear him a son since his wife is barren. But his wife objects and will only allow him to hire somebody else’s wife for a few years. I’ve been asked to find them a woman.
年纪约三十岁左右，养过两三个儿子的，人要沉默老实，又肯做事，还要对他底大妻肯低眉下首。
She has to be about thirty years old and the mother of two or three children. She must be honest and hard-working, and obey the scholar’s wife.
这次是秀才娘子向我说的，假如条件合，肯出八十元或一百元的身价。
The scholar’s wife has told me that they are willing to pay from eighty to a hundred dollars for the right sort of woman.
我代她寻了好几天，终没有相当的女人。’
I’ve looked around for one for several days, but without any luck.
她说：现在碰到我，想起了你来，样样都对的。
But your wife is just the woman I’ve been looking for.’
当时问我底意见怎样，我一边掉了几滴泪，一边却被她催的答应她了。”
“She asked me what I thought about it. It made me cry to think of it, but she comforted me and convinced me that it was all for the best.”
说到这里，他垂下头，声音很低弱，停止了。
At this point, his voice trailed off, he hung his head and stopped.
他底妻简直痴似的，话一句没有。
His wife looked dazed and remained speechless.
又静寂了一息，他继续说：
There was another moment of silence before he continued,
“昨天，沈家婆到过秀才底家里，她说秀才很高兴，秀才娘子也喜欢，钱是一百元，年数呢，假如三年养不出儿子，是五年。
“Yesterday, Mrs. Shen went to see the scholar again. She came back and told me that both the scholar and his wife were very happy about the idea of having you and had promised to pay me a hundred dollars. If you bear them a child they will keep you for three years, if not — for five.
沈家婆并将日子也拣定了——本月十八，五天后。
Mrs. Shen has fixed the date for you to go — the eighteenth of this month, that is, five days from now.
今天，她写典契去了。”
She is going to have the contract drawn up today.”
这时，他底妻简直连腑脏都颤抖，吞吐着问：
Trembling all over, the wife faltered,
“你为什么早不对我说？”
“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”
“昨天在你底面前旋了三个圈子，可是对你说不出。
“Yesterday I went up to you three times, but each time I was afraid to begin.
不过我仔细想，除出将你底身子设法外，再也没有办法了。”
But after thinking it over I’ve come to realize that there’s really nothing to be done but hire you out.”
“决定了么？”妇人战着牙齿问。
“Has it all been decided?” asked the wife, her teeth clattering.
“只待典契写好。”
“There’s just the contract to be signed.”
“倒霉的事情呀，我——一点也没有别的方法了么？”
“Oh, what a poor wretch I am! Can’t we really do anything else?”
“倒霉，我也想到过，可是穷了，我们又不肯死，有什么办法？
“It’s terrible, I know. But we’re poor and we don’t want to die. What else can we do?
今年，我怕连插秧也不能插了。”
I’m afraid this year I won’t even be asked to do any transplanting.”
“你也想到过春宝么？春宝还只有三岁，没有娘，他怎么好呢？”
“Have you thought about Chun Bao? He’s only three. What will become of him without me?”
“我领他便了。
“I’ll take care of him.
本来是断了奶的孩子。”
You’re not nursing him any longer, you know.”
他似乎渐渐发怒了。也就走出门外去了。
He became more and more angry with himself and went out.
她，却呜呜咽咽地哭起来。
She broke into uncontrolled sobs.
这时，在她过去的回忆里，却想起恰恰一年前的事：那时她生下了一个女儿，她简直如死去一般地卧在床上。
Then, looking back upon the past, she remembered what had just happened one year before: She was lying on her bed more dead than alive after giving birth to a baby girl.
死还是整个的，她却肢体分作四碎与五裂：刚落地的女婴，在地上的干草堆上叫：“呱呀，呱呀，”声音很重的，手脚揪缩。
The newborn infant was lying on a heap of straw on the ground, crying at the top of her lungs and twitching her little limbs.
脐带绕在她底身上，胎盘落在一边，她很想挣扎起来给她洗好，可是她底头昂起来，身子凝滞在床上。
The umbilical cord was wound round her body and the placenta left by her side. The poor young woman was anxious to get up to wash her baby.
这样，她看见她底丈夫，这个凶狠的男子，绯红着脸，提了一桶沸水到女婴的旁边。
But she could only manage to lift her head while her whole body seemed to remain glued to the bed. All of a sudden she saw her husband, fierce and flushed, come up to the baby with a bucket of boiling water.
她简直用了她一生底最后的力向他喊：“慢！慢......”
“Stop, stop!...,” she threw what little strength she had into yelling at him.
但这个病前极凶狠的男子，没有一分钟商量的余地，也不答半句话，就将“呱呀，呱呀，”声音很重地在叫着的女儿，刚出世的新生命，用他底粗暴的两手捧起来，如屠户捧将杀的小羊一般，扑通，投下在沸水里了！
The vicious husband, nevertheless, was uncompromising. Without saying a word, he held up in both hands the baby with her cry of new life and, like a butcher slaughtering a small lamb, splashed her into the boiling water.
除出沸水的溅声和皮肉吸收沸水的嘶声以外，女孩一声也不喊。
The baby immediately stopped crying. All was silent except for the sizzling of her flesh in the boiling water.
她当时剜去了心一般地昏去了。
The young woman fainted away at the heart-rending scene.
想到这里，似乎泪竟干涸了。“唉！苦命呀！”她低低地叹息了一声。
At the painful recollection, she had no more tears to shed, but sighed faintly, “Oh, what a miserable life!”
这时春宝向他底母亲的脸上看，一边叫：“妈妈！妈妈！”
Chun Bao stared at her, whimpering, “Mummy, mummy!”
在她将离别底前一晚，她拣了房子底最黑暗处坐着。
On the eve of her departure, she was sitting in the darkest corner of the house.
一盏油灯点在灶前，萤火那么的光亮。
In front of the stove stood an oil lamp, its light flickering like that of a fire-fly.
她，手里抱着春宝，将她底头贴在他底头发上。
Holding Chun Bao close to her bosom, she pressed her head against his hair.
她底思想似乎浮漂在极远，可是她自己捉摸不定远在哪里。
Lost in deep thought, she seemed absolutely dead to the reality surrounding her.
于是慢慢地跑回来，跑到眼前，跑在她底孩子底身上。
Later, she gradually came to, and found herself face to face with the present and her child.
她向她底孩子低声叫：
Softly she called him,
“春宝，宝宝！”
“Chun Bao, Chun Bao!”
“妈妈，”孩子回答。
“Yes, mummy!” the child replied.
“妈妈明天要去了......”
“I’m going to leave you tomorrow...”
“唔，”孩子似不十分懂得，本能地将头钻进他母亲底胸膛。
“What?” the child did not quite understand what she meant and instinctively cuddled closer to her.
“妈妈不回来了，三年内不能回来了！”
“I’m not coming back, not for three years!”
她擦一擦眼睛，孩子放松口子问：
She wiped away her tears. The little boy became inquisitive,
“妈妈哪里去呢？庙里么？”
“Mummy, where are you going? To the temple?”
“不是，三十里路外，一家姓李的。”
“No. I’m going to live with the Li family, about thirty li away.”
“我也去。”
“I want to go with you.”
“宝宝去不得的。”
“No, you can’t, darling!”
“呃！”孩子反抗地。
“Why?” he countered.
“你跟爸爸在家里，爸爸会照料宝宝的：同宝宝睡，也带宝宝玩，你听爸爸底话好了。
“You’ll stay home with daddy, he’ll take good care of you. He’ll sleep with you and play with you. You just listen to daddy.
过三年......”
In three years...”
她没有说完，孩子要哭似的说：
Before she had finished talking the child sadly interrupted her,
“爸爸要打我的！”
“Daddy will beat me!”
“爸爸不再打你了，”同时用她底左手抚摸着孩子底右额，在这上，有他父亲在杀死他刚生下的妹妹后第三天，用锄柄敲他，肿起而又平复了的伤痕。
“Daddy will never beat you again.” Her left hand was stroking the scar on the right side of the boy’s forehead — a reminder of the blow dealt by her husband with the handle of a hoe three days after he killed the baby girl.
她似要还想对孩子说话；她底丈夫踏进门了。
She was about to speak to the boy again when her husband came in.
他走到她底面前，一只手放在袋里，掏取着什么，一边说：
He walked up to her, and fumbling in his pocket, he said,
“钱已经拿来七十元了。
“I’ve got seventy dollars from them.
还有三十元要等你到了后十天付。”
They’ll give me the other thirty dollars ten days after you get there.”
停了一息说：“也答应轿子来接。”
After a short pause, he added, “They’ve promised to take you there in a sedan-chair.”
又停了一息：“也答应轿夫一早吃好早饭来。”
After another short pause, he continued, “The chair carriers will come to take you early in the morning as soon as they’ve had breakfast.”
这样，他离开了她，又向门外走出去了。
With this he walked out again.
这一晚，她和她底丈夫都没有吃晚饭。
That evening, neither he nor she felt like having supper.
第二天，春雨竟滴滴淅淅地落着。
The next day there was a spring drizzle.
轿是一早就到了。
The chair carriers arrived at the crack of dawn.
可是这妇人，她却一夜不曾睡。
The young woman had not slept a wink during the night.
她先将春宝底几件破衣服都修补好；
She had spent the time mending Chun Bao’s tattered clothes.
春将完了，夏将到了，可是她，连孩子冬天用的破烂棉袄都拿出来，移交给他底父亲——实在，他已经在床上睡去了。
Although it was late spring and summer was near, she took out the boy’s shabby cotton-padded winter jacket and wanted to give it to her husband, but he was fast asleep.
以后，她坐在他底旁边，想对他说几句语，可是长夜是迟延着过去，她底话一句也说不出。
Then she sat down beside her husband, wishing to have a chat with him. But he slept on and she sat there silently, waiting for the night to pass.
而且，她大着胆向他叫了几声，发了几个听不清楚的音，声音在他底耳外，她也就睡下不说了。
She plucked up enough courage to mutter a few words into his ear, but even this failed to wake him up. So she lay down too.
等她朦朦胧胧地刚离开思索将要睡去，春宝又醒了。
As she was about to doze off, Chun Bao woke up.
他就推叫他底母亲，要起来。
He wanted to get up and pushed his mother.
以后当她给他穿衣服的时候，向他说：
Dressing the child, she said,
“宝宝好好地在家里，不要哭，免得你爸爸打你。
“Darling, you mustn’t cry while I’m away or daddy will beat you.
以后妈妈常买糖果来，买给宝宝吃，宝宝不要哭。”
I’ll buy sweets for you to eat. But you mustn’t cry any more, darling.”
而小孩子竟不知道悲哀是什么一回事，张大口子“唉，唉，”地唱起来了。
The boy was too young to know what sorrow was, so in a minute he began to sing.
她在他底唇边吻了一吻，又说：
She kissed his cheek and said,
“不要唱，你爸爸被你唱醒了。”
“Stop singing now, you’ll wake up daddy.”
轿夫坐在门首的板凳上，抽着旱烟，说着他们自己要听的话。
The chair carriers were sitting on the benches in front of the gate, smoking their pipes and chatting.
一息，邻村的沈家婆也赶到了。
Soon afterwards, Mrs. Shen arrived from the nearby village where she was living.
一个老妇人，熟悉世故的媒婆，一进门，就拍拍她身上的雨点，向他们说：
She was an old and experienced matchmaker. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she brushed the raindrops off her clothes, saying to the husband and wife,
“下雨了，下雨了，这是你们家里此后会有滋长的预兆。”
“It’s raining, it’s raining. That’s a good omen, it means you will thrive from now on.”
老妇人忙碌似地在屋内旋了几个圈，对孩子底父亲说了几句话，意思是讨酬报。因为这件契约之能订的如此顺利而合算，实在是她底力量。
The matchmaker bustled about the house and whispered and hinted to the husband that she should be rewarded for having so successfully brought about the deal.
“说实在话，春宝底爸呀，再加五十元，那老头子可以买一房妾了。”她说。
“To tell you the truth, for another fifty dollars, the old man could have bought himself a concubine,” she said.
于是又变向催促她——妇人却抱着春宝，这时坐着不动。老妇人声音很高地：
Then Mrs. Shen turned to the young woman who was sitting still with the child in her arms, and said loudly,
“轿夫要赶到他们家里吃中饭的，你快些预备走呀！”
“The chair carriers have to get there in time for lunch, so you’d better hurry up and get ready to go.”
可是妇人向她瞧了一瞧，似乎说：
The young woman glanced at her and her look seemed to say, “I don’t want to leave!
“我实在不愿离开呢！让我饿死在这里罢！”
I’d rather starve here!”
声音是在她底喉下，可是媒婆懂得了，走近到她前面，迷迷地向她笑说：
The matchmaker understood and, walking up to her, said smiling,
“你真是一个不懂事的丫头，黄胖还有什么东西给你呢？
“You’re just a silly girl. What can the ‘Yellow Fellow’ give you? But over there, the scholar has plenty of everything.
那边真是一份有吃有剩的人家，两百多亩田，经济很宽裕，房子是自己底，也雇着长工养着牛。
He has more than two hundred mou of land, his own houses and cattle.
大娘底性子是极好的，对人非常客气，每次看见人总给人一些吃的东西。
His wife is good-tempered and she’s very kind. She never turns anybody from her door without giving him something to eat.
那老头子——实在并不老，脸是很白白的，也没有留胡子，因为读了书，背有些偻偻的，斯文的模样。
And the scholar is not really old. He has a white face and no beard. He stoops a little as well-educated men generally do, and he is quite gentlemanly.
可是也不必多说，你一走下轿就看见的，我是一个从不说谎的媒婆。”
There’s no need for me to tell you more about him. You’ll see him with your own eyes as soon as you get out of the sedan-chair. You know, as a matchmaker, I’ve never told a lie.”
妇人拭一拭泪，极轻地：
The young woman wiped away her tears and said softly,
“春宝......
“Chun Bao...
我怎么能抛开他呢！”
How can I part from him?”
“不用想到春宝了，”老妇人一手放在她底肩上，脸凑近她和春宝。
“Chun Bao will be all right,” said the matchmaker, patting the young woman on the shoulder and bending over her and the child.
“有三岁了，古人说：‘三周四岁离娘身’，可以离开你了。
“He is already three. There’s a saying, ‘A child of three can move about free.’ So he can be left alone.
只要你底肚子争气些，到那边，也养下一二个来，万事都好了。”
It all depends on you. If you can have one or two children over there, everything will be quite all right.”
轿夫也在门首催起身了，他们噜 着说：
The chair bearers outside the gate now started urging the young woman to set out, murmuring.
“又不是新娘子，啼啼哭哭的。”
“You are really not a bride, why should you cry?”
这样，老妇人将春宝从她底怀里拉去，一边说：
The matchmaker snatched away Chun Bao from his mother’s arms, saying,
“春宝让我带去罢。”
“Let me take care of Chun Bao!”
小小的孩子也哭了，手脚乱舞的，可是老妇人终于给他拉到小门外去。
The little boy began to scream and kick. The matchmaker took him outside.
当妇人走进轿门的时候，向他们说：
When the young woman was in the sedan-chair, she said,
“带进屋里来罢，外边有雨呢。”
“You’d better take the boy in, it’s raining outside.”
她底丈夫用手支着头坐着，一动没有动，而且也没有话。
Inside the house, resting his head on the palm of his hand, sat the little boy’s father, motionless and wordless.
两村的相隔有三十里路，可是轿夫的第二次将轿子放下肩，就到了。
The two villages were thirty li apart, but the chair carriers reached their destination without making a single stop on the way.
春天的细雨，从轿子底布篷里飘进，吹湿了她底衣衫。
The young woman’s clothes were wet from the spring raindrops which had been blown in through the sedan-chair screens.
一个脸孔肥肥的，两眼很有心计的约摸五十四五岁的老妇人来迎她，她想：这当然是大娘了。可是只向她满面羞涩地看一看，并没有叫。
An elderly woman, of about fifty-five, with a plump face and shrewd eyes came out to greet her. Realizing immediately that this was the scholar’s wife, the young woman looked at her bashfully and remained silent.
她很亲昵似地将她牵上沿阶，一个长长的瘦瘦的而面孔圆细的男子就从房里走出来。
As the scholar’s wife was amiably helping the young woman to the door, there came out from the house a tall and thin elderly man with a round, smooth face.
他向新来的少妇，仔细地瞧了瞧，堆出满脸的笑容来，向她问：
Measuring the young woman from head to foot, he smiled and said,
“这么早就到了么？
“You have come early.
可是打湿你底衣裳了。”
Did you get wet in the rain?”
而那位老妇人，却简直没有顾到他底说话，也向她问：
His wife, completely ignoring what he was saying, asked the young woman,
“还有什么在轿里么？”
“Have you left anything in the sedan-chair?”
“没有什么了，”少妇答。
“No, nothing,” answered the young woman.
几位邻舍的妇人站在大门外，探头张望的；可是她们走进屋里面了。
Soon they were inside the house. Outside the gate, a number of women from the neighbourhood had gathered and were peeping in to see what was happening.
她自己也不知道这究竟为什么，她底心老是挂念着她底旧的家，掉不下她的春宝。
Somehow or other, the young woman could not help thinking about her old home and Chun Bao.
这是真实而明显的，她应庆祝这将开始的三年的生活——这个家庭，和她所典给他的丈夫，都比曾经过去的要好，
As a matter of fact, she might have congratulated herself on the prospects of spending the next three years here, since both her new home and her temporary husband seemed pleasant.
秀才确是一个温良和善的人，讲话是那么地低声，连大娘，实在也是一个出乎意料之外的妇人，她底态度之殷勤，和滔滔的一席话：说她和她丈夫底过去的生活之经过，从美满而漂亮的结婚生活起，一直到现在，中间的三十年。
The scholar was really kind and soft-spoken. His wife appeared hospitable and talkative. She talked about her thirty years of happy married life with the scholar.
她曾做过一次的产，十五六年以前了，养下一个男孩子，据她说，是一个极美丽又极聪明的婴儿，可是不到十个月，竟患了天花死去了。
She had given birth to a boy some fifteen years before — a really handsome and lively child, she said — but he died of smallpox less than ten months after his birth.
这样，以后就没有再养过第二个。
Since then, she had never had another child.
在她底意思中，似乎——似乎——早就叫她底丈夫娶一房妾，可是他，不知是爱她呢，还是没有相当的人——这一层她并没有说清楚；于是，就一直到现在。
The elderly woman hinted she had long been urging her husband to get a concubine but he had always put it off — either because he was too much in love with his wedded wife or because he couldn’t find a suitable woman for a concubine.
这样，竟说得这个具着朴素的心地的她，一时酸，一会苦，一时甜上心头，一时又咸的压下去了。
This chatter made the young woman feel sad, delighted and depressed by turns.
最后，这个老妇人并将她底希望也向她说出来了。
Finally, the young woman was told what was expected of her.
她底脸是娇红的，可是老妇人说：
She blushed when the scholar’s wife said,
“你是养过三四个孩子的女人了，当然，你是知道什么的，你一定知道的还比我多。”
“You’ve had three or four children. Of course you know what to do. You know much more than I do.”
这样，她说着走开了。
After this, the elderly woman went away.
当晚，秀才也将家里底种种情形告诉她，实际，不过是向她夸耀或求媚罢了。
That evening, the scholar told the young woman a great many things about his family in an effort to show off and ingratiate himself with her.