雙語|現(xiàn)代散文:馮亦代 我的第一位美國老師

My First American Teacher 我的第一位美國老師

◎ Feng Yidai ◎ 馮亦代

Whenever I open an English book，the image of my first American teacher will immediately appear before my eyes．In 1929，on finishing junior middle school，I was admitted after an examination to Huilan Middle School in Hangzhou．Established by the American Baptist Church，it was known for its good academic atmosphere．Strikingly enough，it had English lessons taught solely by American teachers．Anding，my junior middle school，was also known for its English language teaching，but，to complete my entire middle school education，I had to get transferred to Huilan，a senior middle school.

如今，每逢我打開一本英文書時，眼前馬上會浮起我那第一位美國老師的神態(tài)。一九二九年我從初中畢業(yè)，考進了杭州聞名的美國浸禮會學校——蕙蘭中學。這個學校以學風端正見稱，而特別引人注意的是，它請美國老師直接教授英語。我初中是在杭州安定中學畢業(yè)的，這個學校也以英語教學出名；不過它只是一所初中，沒有高中，所以我不得不去投考蕙蘭中學的高中了。

At Huilan，my English lessons began with the following as textbooks：Charles Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare，50 Famous Stories from the West，published by the Commercial Press and finally the thick-volumed Modern World，which，actually a book on world geography，took us three semesters to finish learning．It helped me not only improve my English but also build up the habit of caring for world affairs.

在蕙蘭，英文開始讀的書，讀本是英國作家查理·蘭姆的《莎士比亞故事集》，和商務印書館的《泰西五十軼事》，以后則是厚厚的一本《現(xiàn)代世界》。最后一本書我們讀了三個學期，是本世界地理書，這除了讀英語，還培養(yǎng)了我關心世界大事的習慣。

The English grammar book we learned was Nesfield's Grammar，Book III．All the above-mentioned textbooks，except Modern World，were authored by Englishmen and hence of a higher level than those used in ordinary middle schools at that time.

文法書則讀《納氏文法》第三冊。這幾本書除了《現(xiàn)代世界》，都是英國人編寫的，水平比當時一般中學讀的較為高深。

I was particularly interested in Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare，so much so that I finished reading each tale before the American teacher had explained it．I attracted her attention by always coming out on top in an exam．Her last name was Edgar，but I'm unable now to recall her first name．She was then in her late thirties，short of stature and already beginning to be on the plump side．She was very kind and gentle，and shy even with kids like us．But she was very strict about teaching．Whenever students failed to perform well in doing lessons or in exams，she would，with a flush in her face，criticize them for not studying hard enough．The pet phrase she often used was，“God forgive you，my children！”

我對查理·蘭姆的《莎士比亞故事集》特別感到興趣，老師還沒有講完，可是我自己卻念完了，所以每次老師測驗，我總名列前茅，因此受到老師的注意。我們的美國老師姓埃德加，名字則現(xiàn)在已記不清。她那時已有三四十歲了，身材不高，而體型已經(jīng)開始發(fā)胖了。她性格十分和善，即使對著我們這批毛孩子，她也是十分靦腆的。但是她教書很嚴格，每逢學生沒有準備好功課，或是測驗的成績不好，她總漲紅著臉，數(shù)說學生們不用功。她的口頭禪：“禱告上帝，饒恕這批孩子們。”

She was sent to China by the American Baptist Church to do teaching and meanwhile missionary work．On Sunday afternoons，she would pick some students diligent in English studies to join her Bible class，in which all members had to converse in English because she herself couldn't speak Chinese.

她是美國浸禮會派來教書的，兼帶著傳教的任務，所以每逢禮拜日下午，她組成了一個查經(jīng)班，選了一批英語較為用功的學生去參加；因為她自己不會講中國話，所以班里都要用英語對話。

A ridiculous error I made in the class turned out to be of great help to me in my later studies．One day，when I was in class，it suddenly clouded over and rained heavily．I was then learning English adverbs．Thinking that an adverb could modify a verb，I said，“It's raining hardly.”Miss Edgar responded by saying，“It's raining hard.”But I failed to understand it and repeated my own sentence，“It's raining hardly.”She gave me a stern glance and said once more，“It's raining hard.”Then I suddenly realized that there must be something wrong with the word“hardly”though I didn't know why．I kept quiet and felt very uneasy．After class，she told me very gently that in order to know the different functions of a word，I should frequently look up a dictionary．To avoid embarrassing me，she had chosen not to directly point out my error in the classroom．She wanted me to discover and correct the error by myself．The small incident，however，gave me a deep lesson．It has resulted in my habit of consulting a dictionary frequently．This lesson I learned more than half a century ago is today still deeply engraved in my memory．Whenever I do reading without understanding it thoroughly，I will remind myself to look up a dictionary quickly．That applies to Chinese as well as English learning.

我在查經(jīng)班里曾經(jīng)鬧過一個笑話，這個笑話對于我以后學英語應注意的地方，是十分有用的。那天我們上班時，天忽然烏云四合，不久便下了瓢潑大雨。我當時正在學副詞，只記了個副詞可以形容動詞。于是我說：It's raining hardly。這時埃德加小姐便說：It's raining hard?？墒堑谝淮挝疫€沒有聽明白，再說一句It's raining hardly。埃德加小姐嚴肅地看了我一眼，又說一句It's raining hard。我猛然感覺到自己一定把hardly這個字用錯了，但還不知道錯在哪里。當時我沒有再說話，可是心里很不安。下課后埃德加溫和地對我說，讀書時要勤查字典，明白各個字的不同變化。她不是在班上直接指出我的錯誤，如果這樣做，肯定我下不了臺。但是她要我自己發(fā)現(xiàn)錯誤，并由自己改正。這個故事給我的教訓頗為深刻，導致我以后勤查字典的習慣。事情已經(jīng)過去半個多世紀，但這個教訓還深深埋在我的記憶里。每逢我讀書不求甚解時，便提醒自己快去查字典，不但對英語如此，就是對漢語也是如此。

From then on，she and I were on very friendly terms．During the time when I was in the second and third grade of the senior middle school，most students joined the patriotic national salvation movement at the outbreak of the September 18th Incident[1] and the January 28th Incident[2]．I got very busy doing propaganda work for Hangzhou Student Association and had no time to attend the Bible class，but I didn't slacken my efforts in English studies．One day，when after class I accompanied Miss Edgar on her way to her home，she said，“I know you're very busy，but I hope you keep your English from getting rusty．A second language，if not often used，will soon be forgotten．However，I don't think it's wrong for you to take part in the student movement．Let me pray to God for blessings on you！”She hoped I would become a Christian，but I，having embraced new ideas，chose to remain a non-convert．She felt regretful and blamed impiety on her own part for failing to convert me.

從此我和她的感情極為融洽。高中二三年級時，正是中國的“九一八”和“一二八”，學生大都投入愛國救亡運動，我則更是忙碌，擔任著杭州學生聯(lián)合會的宣傳工作，但我對于學習英語還是不放松，當然查經(jīng)班是沒有時間去了。有次課后她要回宿舍，我陪她走了一程。她說：“我知道你很忙，但我希望你不要把英語荒廢掉。對于一種第二國語言，你不用，便很容易忘掉。不過我也覺得你參加學生運動，是應該的。我只有為你祈禱上帝，降福于你。”她曾經(jīng)希望我做個基督徒，但那時我已接受了一些新思想，因此認為并無必要，她也只能長嘆一聲，自責她的祈禱不誠，所以我還不是個基督徒。

In 1932，when she was leaving China for home，I went to the wharf to bid her farewell．She said to me with tears in her eyes，“I'll pray for you every day．May the blessings of God be on you！”Then we corresponded regularly until 1936 when I began to live an unsettled life．Nevertheless，I always cherished her memory.

一九三二年她回國，我到碼頭送行，她含著眼淚對我說：我將天天給你祈禱，愿上帝降福于你。我和她一直通信到一九三六年，這以后我各地奔波，便斷了音訊。但我始終懷念著她。

In 1980，on my visit to the United States，I contacted the American Baptist Church with inquiries about Miss Edgar．They told me，after checking up，that she passed away in 1946.

一九八〇年我去美國，曾向浸禮會探詢她的消息，他們給我去查，最后告訴我她已于一九四六年去世。

Miss Edgar was my first American teacher．Her friendly feelings towards me will always remain in my memory．Now that I'm old，I often feel I've treated her somewhat unfairly．Perhaps I shouldn't have kept myself aloof from her belief.

她是我第一個美國教師，但使我永遠不忘的，是她對于我的一番情誼?，F(xiàn)在我老了，我總覺得我欠了她些什么，也許就是我不同意她的信仰吧！

馮亦代，浙江杭州人，中國翻譯協(xié)會常務理事及北京市翻譯協(xié)會副會長，是我國著名作家、翻譯家、報人?！段业牡谝晃幻绹蠋煛肥撬麑懹?990年10月2日的一篇敘談師生情的佳作。