2 Hiroshima -- the "liveliest" city in Japan

"Hiroshima! Everybody off!" That must be what the man in the Japanese stationmaster's uniform shouted, as the fastest train in the world slipped to a stop in Hiroshima Station. I did not understand what he was saying. First of all, because he was shouting in Japanese. And secondly, because I had a lump in my throat and a lot of sad thoughts on my mind that had little to do with anything a Nippon railways official might say. The very act of stepping on this soil, in breathing this air of Hiroshima, was for me a far greater adventure than any trip or any reportorial assignment I'd previously taken. Was I not at the scene of the crime?

       试想这样一个场景，当世界上最快的火车驶过日本广岛车站，身穿制服的火车长一定会大声嚷嚷道：“广岛！大家快跑啊！”。首先，他嚷嚷着日语，我根本听不懂他说些什么；其次，我满脑子正充斥着罪恶的念头，喉咙也堵得慌，根本无法想象一个日本铁路官员所说的话。对我来说，来到这里，踏上广岛的土地，呼吸这里的空气，是比以往我做过的任何一次旅行或报道都冒险得多的事。我一直在想，在这里，我会不会被当做一个罪犯来对待（我是不是在一个曾经犯罪的现场呢？）？

The Japanese crowd did not appear to have the same preoccupations that I had. From the sidewalk outside the station, things seemed much the same as in other Japanese cities. Little girls and elderly ladies in kimonos rubbed shoulders with teenagers and women in western dress. Serious looking men spoke to one another as if they were oblivious of the crowds about them, and bobbed up and down repeatedly in little bows, as they exchanged the ritual formula of gratitude and respect: "Tomo aligato gozayimas." Others were using little red telephones that hung on the facades of grocery stores and tobacco shops.

   走在日本的大街上，人群中似乎没有人抱着跟我一样的想法。从车站走出来，发现这里跟日本的其他城市并没有多大的区别。街上有穿着和服的小女孩和老妇孺，也有穿着西方服饰的年轻女孩，都融合在熙熙攘攘的人群里。表情严肃的男士们旁若无人的交谈着，不停地鞠躬行礼，嘴里说着“非常谢谢”之类的话，相互表示感谢和尊敬。还有一些人正在用杂货店，烟酒店门口的挂着的红色小电话。

"Hi! Hi!" said the cab driver, whose door popped open at the very sight of a traveler. "Hi", or something that sounds very much like it, means "yes". "Can you take me to City Hall?" He grinned at me in the rear-view mirror and repeated "Hi!" "Hi! ’ We set off at top speed through the narrow streets of Hiroshima. The tall buildings of the martyred city flashed by as we lurched from side to side in response to the driver's sharp twists of the wheel.

   “嗨！嗨！”，一个出租车司机摇下车窗招呼着我这个异乡人。（日语中类似英语“嗨”的发音，意思是“是的”。）“你能带我去市政厅吗？”我问到。他从后视镜里对我露齿一笑，重复的说“嗨！嗨！”。于是我们急速穿行于广岛的大街小巷。我们在司机的急转弯中左右摇晃，在这座曾经受难的城市中，一栋栋高楼大厦在眼前一闪而过。
　　

Just as I was beginning to find the ride long, the taxi screeched to a halt, and the driver got out and went over to a policeman to ask the way. As in Tokyo, taxi drivers in Hiroshima often know little of their city, but to avoid loss of face before foreigners, will not admit their ignorance, and will accept any destination without concern for how long it may take them to find it.

    正当我开始觉得我们已经开的足够远了，司机突然来了个急刹车。他停下来，走下车，跑去一个警车那儿问路去了。在东京有这样一个现象，广岛的出租车司机往往对自己城市的道路不甚了解，但是碍于面子，他们不会在外国人面前承认这一点，答应带他们去任何目的地，不论花多久才能找到那里。

At last this intermezzo came to an end, and I found myself in front of the gigantic City Hall. The usher bowed deeply and heaved a long, almost musical sigh, when I showed him the invitation which the mayor had sent me in response to my request for an interview. "That is not here, sir," he said in English. "The mayor expects you tonight for dinner with other foreigners on the restaurant boat. See? This is where it is.” He sketched a little map for me on the back of my invitation.

    这段路上的小插曲终于要结束了，我们已经来到了雄伟的市政大楼前。门口的迎宾给我鞠了一大躬，我把市长回应我要求采访广岛的邀请函递给他看，他发出一声长长的，近乎有节奏的叹息。“那不在这里，先生。”他用英语说道，“市长是想今晚在一艘饭店游轮上宴请您和其他的外国朋友，明白吗？地址在这里。”他在邀请函背面给我草草地画了个小地图。

Thanks to his map, I was able to find a taxi driver who could take me straight to the canal embankment , where a sort of barge with a roof like one on a Japanese house was moored . The Japanese build their traditional houses on boats when land becomes too expensive. The rather arresting spectacle of little old Japan adrift amid beige concrete skyscrapers is the very symbol of the incessant struggle between the kimono and the miniskirt.

    多亏了他这个小地图，才让找到一个认得路的司机，直接把我送到了运河的堤岸边。这里停着一艘有顶的大驳船，好像一座日本房子泊在水面上。由于日本寸土寸金，人们开始在水上建造传统房屋。更有趣的是，这些古色古香的日本小屋漂浮在米色钢筋混凝土的摩天大楼之间，与人群中穿和服和迷你裙的人相比照，体现出日本人不断地挣扎于本国传统文化与西方文化之间的现象。

At the door to the restaurant, a stunning, porcelain-faced woman in traditional costume asked me to remove my shoes. This done, I entered one of the low-ceilinged rooms of the little floating house, treading cautiously on the soft matting and experiencing a twinge of embarrassment at the prospect of meeting the mayor of Hiroshima in my socks.

    饭店门口，有一个长的很漂亮，皮肤很白，身着传统服饰的迎宾小姐，领我脱去外套之后，带我走进这座漂浮小屋里，来到一间天花板很低的房间，我小心翼翼地坐到柔软的榻榻米上，一想到自己将穿着袜子见市长，总觉得有点别扭。

He was a tall, thin man, sad-eyed and serious. Quite unexpectedly, the strange emotion which had

overwhelmed me at the station returned, and I was again crushed by the thought that I now stood on the site of the first atomic bombardment, where thousands upon thousands of people had been slain in one second, where thousands upon thousands of others had lingered on to die in slow agony .

   市长是一个又高又瘦的男人，有一双忧郁而严肃的眼睛。出乎意料的是，刚才在车站那种令人压抑的奇怪感觉又一次袭来，我又被这种想法所控制：我现在是站在第一个原子弹爆炸的袭击地，成千上万的人在一秒钟内被杀死，还有成千上万的人在痛苦的慢慢折磨中死去。

The introductions were made. Most of the guests were Japanese, and it was difficult for me to ask them just why we were gathered here. The few Americans and Germans seemed just as inhibited as I was.

       首先是宾客间的相互介绍，大部分宾客都是日本人，我很难去问为什么我们要聚在这里。少数的几个美国人和德国人似乎也和我一样局促。

 "Gentlemen," said the mayor, "I am happy to welcome you to Hiroshima."

    “先生们，”市长说，“我很高兴，欢迎大家来到广岛。”

Everyone bowed, including the Westerners. After three days in Japan, the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.
       大家一齐鞠躬，包括在场的西方人。在日本待了三天之后，我的脊梁骨变得异常灵活了。

"Gentlemen, it is a very great honor to have you here in Hiroshima."
     “先生们，你们的到来是我的荣幸。”

There were fresh bows, and the faces grew more and more serious each time the name Hiroshima was repeated.
       又一齐鞠躬，每一次提到“广岛”这个名字，大家的表情似乎更加严肃起来。

 "Hiroshima, as you know, is a city familiar to everyone,” continued the mayor.

     “正如大家所知，广岛这个城市为我们每个人所熟悉。”市长继续说。

　　"Yes, yes, of course,” murmured the company, more and more agitated.
　　"Seldom has a city gained such world renown, and I am proud and happy to welcome you to Hiroshima, a town known throughout the world for its--- oysters".
　　I was just about to make my little bow of assent, when the meaning of these last words sank in, jolting me out of my sad reverie .
　　"Hiroshima – oysters? What about the bomb and the misery and humanity's most heinous crime?" While the mayor went on with his speech in praise of southern Japanese sea food, I cautiously backed away and headed toward the far side of the room, where a few men were talking among themselves and paying little attention to the mayor's speech. "You look puzzled," said a small Japanese man with very large eye-glasses.
　　"Well, I must confess that I did not expect a speech about oysters here. I thought that Hiroshima still felt the impact of the atomic cataclysm ."
　　"No one talks about it any more, and no one wants to, especially, the people who were born here or who lived through it.

          "Do you feel the same way, too?"
　　"I was here, but I was not in the center of town. I tell you this because I am almost an old man. There are two different schools of thought in this city of oysters, one that would like to preserve traces of the bomb, and the other that would like to get rid of everything, even the monument that was erected at the point of impact. They would also like to demolish the atomic museum."
　　"Why would they want to do that?"
　　"Because it hurts everybody, and because time marches on. That is why." The small Japanese man smiled, his eyes nearly closed behind their thick lenses. "If you write about this city, do not forget to say that it is the gayest city in Japan, even it many of the town's people still bear hidden wounds, and burns."

     “是，是，当然。”公司的人嘴里哼着，气氛变得让人越来越不安起来。

     “很少有城市享有如此世界性的声誉啊，我自豪而荣幸的欢迎大家来到广岛，她所享有的世界级知名度都是来自--牡蛎。”

       我差一点就鞠躬表示同意，但当最后一个词映入我的脑海，让我一下从自己悲惨的幻想中惊醒。

     “广岛--牡蛎？怎么不是炸弹，灾难和人类最可耻的犯罪呢？”

       市长继续他赞美日本南部水产的演说，我悄悄地推倒了后面，朝房间远处一角走去。那里有一小撮人正在谈论着什么，并不理会市长的演说。

      “你看起来有些困惑。”一个带着大框眼镜的小个日本人说道。

      “是啊，我必须承认我所期待的并不是一个关于牡蛎的演讲。我原以为广岛仍旧还在原子弹灾难的影响之下。”

     “没有人在说那件事了，也没有人愿意说，特别是土生土长的人和经历那件事件的人。”

     “你也是这样想吗？”

     “事情发生时，我也在场，但我不在市中心。我告诉你这些也没什么关系，我已经老了。在这个盛产牡蛎的城市，存在两种不同看法：一种是愿意保留爆炸的痕迹；而另一种则希望忘掉一切，甚至包括那些为纪念那一事件所立的纪念碑。”

     “为什么他们要那样做？”

     “因为这件事伤害了每个人，而且日子也一天天过去了，人们要继续生活，这就是为什么。”小个子日本人笑了起来，在他厚厚的镜片后，眼睛眯的都快要闭起来了。“如果你想写一些关于这个城市的东西，别忘说她是日本最有活力的城市，尽管城里还有许多人在忍受着病痛，烧伤的折磨。”
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太长了，累，明天继续~

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