雙語|現(xiàn)代散文:吳冠中 蟋蟀

The Cricket 蟋蟀

◎ Wu Guanzhong ◎ 吳冠中

Grey-templed as I'm，I still always keep myself occupied．Everyday I bustle about town having little time to indulge in pleasant reminiscences of how I used to catch crickets in my childhood．One day，however，my wife and I were pleasantly surprised by the sudden chirping of a cricket in our apartment．How did it get into this tall building？As the sound seemed to come from a corner of our kitchen，I guessed it had probably come with the vegetables my wife bought from the food market.

鬢發(fā)斑斑，仍總是忙碌，城中天天忙于無窮事，未有余閑品味童年捉蟋蟀的回憶。然而居室里突然聽到了蟋蟀的叫聲，我和老伴都感驚喜，高樓里哪來的蟋蟀？那聲音似乎發(fā)自廚房的一角，我想可能是老伴買蔬菜時挾帶回來的。

On Sunday，when our youngest granddaughter Xiao Qu was with us，the cricket started chirping again at supper time with a rising clear and loud sound like in a performance．Xiao Qu was overjoyed and stopped eating as she was eager to catch the insect．Torch in hand，I found my way to a corner of the kitchen by tracing the sound and then cleared away everything in the way，like brooms，discarded outer leaves of vegetables，leftovers，waste paper，used empty bottles，etc．until my eyes fell on a big cricket on the damp cement floor near a water pipe．It stayed still as I lit it up with the torch．So I got it easily．The whole family was wild with joy．I put it into an empty colour-tube cardboard box and handed it to my granddaughter．But she said she wanted to have it kept in a transparent container so that she could see it chirp．Then she found a plastic bottle and happily watched the pitiable little captive therein moving about in panic．Her grandma，however，fearing that the cricket might suffocate，punctured a few holes in the plastic bottle with a pair of scissors.

星期天，小孫女小曲來家，吃晚飯的時候，蟋蟀又高叫起來，一聲高于一聲，清脆響亮，仿佛是鳴奏。小曲高興極了，飯也不吃了，要捉蟋蟀。我找來手電，順著叫聲到廚房角落里撥開掃帚、殘菜、剩羹、廢紙、舊瓶……一直清理到自來水管道周圍濕漉漉的水泥地面，果然一只肥大的蟋蟀伏在那里。用手電照準(zhǔn)它，它一動也不動，我輕易地將它捉住了。全家歡騰起來，我將蟋蟀放進(jìn)裝顏料用的硬紙匣里，交給小曲。小曲說她要看著蟋蟀叫，她自己找了一個半透明的小塑料瓶，將蟋蟀裝入瓶里，觀賞這可憐的小俘虜團(tuán)團(tuán)轉(zhuǎn)。她奶奶怕蟋蟀窒死，用剪刀將塑料瓶戮了幾個透氣的小洞。

Xiao Qu left for home with the cricket.

小曲將蟋蟀帶回去了。

That night a complete silence reigned in our house．Our children had already gone to bed behind the closed door．My wife and I felt unusually lonesome in our bedroom．She blamed it on my having got rid of the cricket.

夜晚屋里特別寂靜，孩子們也都關(guān)門睡覺了，我和老伴兩人在自己臥室里感到分外孤獨(dú)。似乎是前所未有的孤獨(dú)。老伴埋怨我不該捉掉了蟋蟀！

Late at night，we heard the chirping of a cricket again．Ah，that must be another one！My wife and I were too excited to sleep．We were lost in memories of our child life in our rural home with the starry sky outside the antique window，the glowing of fireflies，the warbling of nightingales，the ever-present accompaniment of crickets' chirrups…We chatted on and on recalling elders at home，fellow villagers，kids in the neighbourhood，and so on and so forth．All the while，we were transported by nostalgia to our old home remote from Beijing．May the cricket settle down permanently under our roof！

夜半，蟋蟀又叫起來了，呵，原來不止一只！我和老伴都高興得不想入睡了。我們不由得回憶起我們當(dāng)年住在農(nóng)村老家的日子：古老窗外的星空、螢火蟲星星的亮光、夜鶯的歌喉、自然總有蟋蟀的伴奏……我們的談話沒完沒了：父老、鄉(xiāng)親、誰家和誰家的孩子……這一夜我們似乎遠(yuǎn)離了北京。愿蟋蟀就在我家定居吧！

《蟋蟀》是著名畫家兼散文家吳冠中寫于1987年8月的一篇隨筆。作者從寓所內(nèi)的蟋蟀“不由得回憶起……當(dāng)年住在農(nóng)村老家的日子”。文章質(zhì)樸真摯，表現(xiàn)了作者對一方鄉(xiāng)井的眷戀，堪稱鄉(xiāng)情精品。