Bugle Music from the Night Barracks by Eileen Chang ~ 张爱玲 《夜营的喇叭》 with English Translations

作品原文

张爱玲 《夜营的喇叭》

晚上十点钟,我在灯下看书,离家不远的军营里的喇叭吹起了熟悉的调子。几个简单的音阶,缓缓地上去又下来,在这鼎沸的大城市里难得有这样的简单的心。

我说:”又吹喇叭了。姑姑可听见?”我姑姑说:”没留心。”我怕听每天晚上的喇叭,因为只有我一个人听见。

我说:”啊,又吹起来了。”可是这一次不知为什么,声音极低,绝细的一丝,几次断了又连上。这一次我也不问我姑姑听得见听不见了。我疑心根本没有什么喇叭,只是我自己听觉上的回忆罢了。于凄凉之外还感到恐惧。

可是这时候,外面有人响亮地吹起口哨,信手拾起了喇叭的调子。我突然站起身,充满喜悦与同情,奔到窗口去,但也并不想知道那是谁,是公寓楼上或是楼下的住客,还是街上过路的。

 

 

作品译文

Bugle Music from the Night Barracks
Eileen Chang

Ten o’clock at night, and I am reading a book by lamplight when the bugle in the army barracks near my home starts to play a familiar melody. A few simple musical phrases, slowly rising and then descending, with a purity of heart altogether rare in this vast crucible of a city.

I say, “They’re playing the bugle again, Auntie. Didn’t you hear it?” My aunt says, “I wasn’t paying attention.” I am afraid of hearing that bugle every night, because I am the only one who ever listens to it.

I say, “Oh, they are playing again.” But for some unknown reason, this time the sound is very soft, as slight as a strand of silk, breaking off several times before once again picking up the thread. This time, I don’t even ask my aunt whether she has heard it. I begin to doubt whether there really is a bugle at all or if this is merely a memory of something I’ve heard. Above and beyond my sense of desolation, I feel frightened.

But then I hear someone outside whistling loud and clear, picking up and following the bugle’s melody as he goes along. I jump suddenly to my feet, full of joy and empathy, and rush over to the window. Yet I have no desire to know who it is, whether it’s coming from an apartment upstairs or down below or from a passerby on the street.

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