(中英)現(xiàn)代散文:忘了過去就是犯罪 Forgetting the Past Is a Crime

Forgetting the Past Is a Crime

忘了過去就是犯罪

◎ Feng Yidai

◎　馮亦代

Today remnants of the Japanese militarists still refuse to admit the aggression against China and other Asian countries by Japanese imperialism. As a Chinese, however, I can never forget the blood debts owed by the Japanese military to the Chinese people. During the eight-year War of Resistance Against Japan, Japanese troops killed a total of more than 20 million Chinese. In the Rape of Nanking alone, they slaughtered as many as 300,000, most of them old and weak and women and children. The monstrous crimes of the Japanese military have been evidenced by hard facts. And what's more, some Japanese ex-soldiers who took part in massacres, brutal acts of burying people alive, rapes or murders, have now been aroused by conscience to confess their crimes and show repentance. Could all that be covered up or blotted out by remnants of the Japanese militarists and a handful of Japanese politicians?

日本軍國主義的殘余到今天還拒不承認(rèn)日本帝國主義侵略中國和亞洲的事實，但作為一個中國人的我，卻不能忘卻日本軍人對中國人民犯下的血債?？箲?zhàn)八年，中國人死了二千多萬，單是南京屠城①就殺害了三十萬，而且大都是老弱婦孺②，日本軍人犯下的彌天大罪有事實為證③，特別是那些親身參加殺戮、活埋、奸污、殘害的兇犯，時至今日，他們天良發(fā)現(xiàn)承認(rèn)了自己的罪行并表示懺悔，這又豈是那些軍國主義殘余分子和政客所能掩蓋抹殺的。

During the eight years when the Japanese invaders were running amok in China, they took the lives of three of my relatives. Today, in my declining years, I can still occasionally recall their features distinctly. No matter how hard the Japanese butchers may try to gloss over their wartime savagery in the name of patriotism or loyalty to the Mikado, the people of China will never forget their past crimes.

在此八年日帝的鐵蹄在中國大陸橫行的時候，我的親屬在日帝的轟炸、占領(lǐng)下死掉的就有三人之多。今天我已進(jìn)入耄耋之年，但是偶一合眼，還能見到他們的容顏④。日本的劊子手可以拿忠君愛國作擋箭牌⑤，遮掩他們的獸行，但受日本侵略的中國人民卻是永遠(yuǎn)不會忘記的。

My uncle Feng Qiangshi, a returned student from Japan, was by profession a doctor. At first, while working at Zhejiang Hospital in Hangzhou, he took great pride in doing a job aimed at healing the wounded and rescuing the dying, and regarded the medical profession as transcending national boundaries. Later, through recommendation of a Japanese teacher of his, he became a physician in charge at Qingdao Sifang Hospital affiliated to the Qingdao-Jinan Railway until after the outbreak of the July 7 Incident of 1937, an incident staged by the Japanese imperialists in initiating their all-out war of aggression against China. After the Japanese navy occupied our territory along the Qingdao-Jinan Railway, he had no choice but to resign on a pretext and return to Shanghai because he could no longer put up with the arrogance of Japanese ronin and armymen. At that time, my father happened to have been evacuated to Shanghai from Hankou, so he and uncle now both made a home in the then foreign settlement. My uncle, however, was unwilling to be a "docile subject" under foreign rule, so he set out with an old friend for Chongqing via Zhejiang and Jiangxi Provinces. But, unfortunately, while on the way through Jiangxi, he died of serious wounds during a Japanese bombing raid. I was then in Chongqing and, after receiving a letter from him, had been eagerly awaiting his arrival only to be stunned by the sad news of his tragic death. Up to now, I still don't know the details of his death, nor do I know where his bones were laid. Often a feeling of sadness will come over me when I think of him. He was among one of the early groups of returned students from Japan, but he bitterly resented the Japanese invasion of China and never expected himself to end up in a tragic death in the hands of the Japanese militarists.

我的二叔馮強(qiáng)士是個留學(xué)日本的醫(yī)生，起先在杭州浙江病院行醫(yī)，他為自己救死扶傷的工作自豪，認(rèn)為醫(yī)藥事業(yè)沒有國界之分。后來他的一個日本老師介紹他到青島膠濟(jì)鐵路四方醫(yī)院做主治醫(yī)生，一直到1937年七七事變以后⑥，日本海軍占領(lǐng)了青島到濟(jì)南的鐵路沿線一帶，他因為不能忍受日本浪人⑦和軍人的氣焰，便托故辭職回到上海。那時我父親也由漢口疏散回滬，兩老弟兄便在上海租界做寓公。大概到了1943年，二叔身體恢復(fù)健康后，他不愿在上海做“順民”，便約了他的一位老友取道浙贛到重慶來，但就在江西路上一次日機(jī)轟炸中，二叔不幸被炸重傷去世。那時我在重慶得到他的來信，便日日夜夜盼望他的到來，但等到的是他遇難的噩耗。到今天我也不知他死亡的詳情，也不知他埋骨的地方。我有時還會想到他不免凄然⑧。他是個早期的日本留學(xué)生，可他對于日帝的侵華卻感到痛心疾首。想不到最后還是死在日本軍國主義分子的魔手里。

My uncle had a mentally retarded daughter by his former wife. Unfortunately, she fell a victim to the bestiality of Japanese soldiers when they ransacked the city of Hangzhou. The whereabouts of the poor little girl have since remained unknown. She disappeared at the age of barely over twenty.

二叔有個女兒，是他前妻的遺孤，生來有些弱智，日帝部隊進(jìn)入杭州，在一次搶劫中，她不幸落入這些獸類的手里，從此人世里就失掉了這個可憐弱女的蹤跡；她失蹤的年齡不過二十多歲。

Another relative of mine missing in the war was Cousin Ren Yu, my aunt's only son. Having lost his father in his childhood and being physically handicapped, he had long been living in my home. After the outbreak of the war, he crossed the Qiantang River with some of his friends to join the East Zhejiang Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Detachment organized by the Communist Party of China. Since then, we have never heard from him. Presumably he has laid down his young life for his motherland.

另一個戰(zhàn)時失蹤的是我的大姑母的獨生子、我的大表哥任堉，因為幼年失怙，身有殘疾，所以一直住在我家里?？箲?zhàn)軍興，他和一些同伴跨過錢塘江去參加中國共產(chǎn)黨組織的浙東抗日游擊隊，以后失掉了消息，也許他已為自己的祖國獻(xiàn)出了年輕的生命⑨。

The remanent Japanese militarists and a handful of shameless Japanese politicians have been bent on making believe that Japan was the victim of World War Ⅱ and the liberator of Asia. What a pack of lies! The death of 20 million Chinese is irrefutable evidence of barbaric atrocities committed by Japanese militarism. The remanent Japanese militarists and a handful of Japanese politicians have been trying in every possible way to deny their crimes, but the people of China and other Asian countries will never forget the untold sufferings they went through during the war. We will unremittingly condemn the brutalities of the Japanese imperialists, and, meanwhile, call on the Japanese people to see through their deceptions and keep a vigilant watch on their clamour. All that is crucial for the peace-loving people of Japan.

日本軍國主義的殘余分子⑩和無恥的政客，一心要裝出日本是第二次世界大戰(zhàn)中的受害者和以亞洲的解放者自居，真是天大的謊話；而二千多萬中國人的死亡，卻是日本軍國主義殘酷暴行的最好佐證。日本軍國主義殘余分子和政客百般抵賴他們的罪行，但是中國和亞洲的人民卻永遠(yuǎn)不會忘掉他們經(jīng)歷過的苦難。我們將會一次復(fù)一次地重提日帝帶給我們的暴行?，同時也要求日本人民起來正視日本軍國主義分子對他們的欺騙行為，對他們的叫囂有所警惕，這對于熱愛和平的日本人民也是十分必要的。

馮亦代（1913—2005），浙江杭州人，中國翻譯協(xié)會常務(wù)理事及北京翻譯協(xié)會副會長，是我國著名作家、翻譯家、報人。《忘了過去就是犯罪》一文選自1999年出版的《馮亦代文集》。