美国《新文学》寄来刊登贾平凹《黑氏》的样刊

     黑   氏

       贾平凹　

     胡宗锋 刘晓峰   译

              The Country Wife

           Jia  Pingwa

                    Translated by Hu Zongfeng and Liu Xiaofeng

       一

黑氏的年龄比丈夫大，黑氏把什么都干了，喂猪，揽羊，上青崖头上砍柴火。一到晚上，小男人就缠她。男人是个小猴猴，看了许多书，学着许多新方法来折磨。她又气又恨，一肚子可以把他弹下炕去；“你是我的地！”小男人却说，他愿意怎么犁都可以。夜黑漆漆的，点点星辰，寒冷从窗棂里透进来。小男人压迫着她，口里却叫着别人的名字，黑氏知道那是些村里鲜嫩的女子，泪水潸然满面。等丈夫滚在一边大病一场的睡着去了，她哽咽出声，嗟啜不已。

                                    I

Darky was older than her husband, she did all the work at home. She fed pigs, rounded sheep and went to the Black Cliffs to cut and collect firewood. When evening came, her small husband would pester her. He was a short monkey-like man, but well read. He would use all the tricks he had learned from the books to fuck her. It made Darky angry. She came to hate him. At night she was tempted to bump him down from her.

“You’re my land” he would say, claiming the right to plow any way he pleased.

The evening was dark, stars lit the sky, and coldness crept in from the window. Her husband was on top of her crying out the names of other women. She recognized those of the young and beautiful in the village. When her husband got off, he fell asleep as if seriously ill beside her, she would choke with sobs.

这边厢房一动静，那边厢房就发恨声，公公骂道：“长声短叹地发什么贱气，好吃好喝得肚子鼓胀睡不着吗？”公公的脾气越来越暴躁，黑氏就不敢再出声，听得还在骂了一句：“在娘家吃什么了，穿什么了，跌到福窝里了还不顺心？！”噼里啪啦拨算盘。公公是镇上的信贷员，算盘上的功夫深，双手打得“狮子滚绣球”。这两年日胜一日富起来，家人就给她难看脸色，恶声败气，批点她的面粗，手脚肥胖，丑。黑氏是知足人，深山的娘家穷，茶饭是比以前好。哥哥的脸色黄蜡蜡的，十天半月来针上赶集，拿些山货到这家，吃一顿饭要走了，总说：“我妹子有福！”她心里苦苦的。好哥哥，吃得好了就有福？这话却倒不到人面前去，只是越发伏低伏小。私下里盼着养个儿来，有个贴己，送子娘娘却偏不光顾。如此睁着大的眼睛在黑暗里思想，窗外就没了星星，淅淅沥沥落起雨来，倒熬煎这雨一下，坡上的红苕蔓子就要沿蔓生根，得去再一次翻锄了。

Hearing her sobs, her father-in-law scolded from the other wing room, “Sigh and choke shit,”he said. “You’re living too high to sleep.” He’s temper became worse and worse. Darky could only stifle her sobs, but her father-in-law continued to scold, “What did you eat and wear in your mother’s home?  Are you not satisfied with this happy nest you fell into?” Then there were the sounds of ther abacus. Her father-in-law was the credit agent of the town. His abacus skill was well-known throughout the nearby villages. In recent years the family became richer and richer,  so the other members began to pull long faces at her and chided her and scolded her for being ugly, dark and fat.

At first Darky tried to console herself. Her mother’s home was poor and in the deep mountains. Her food here was indeed better than at her mother’s home, where her elder brother’s face was always sallow. He came to the town every couple of weeks with mountain produce. About to leave after a meal with her, he would say, “My sister is a real lucky bird!”

This only made her more bitter, and she would reply, “ Good brother, is a bird lucky  with only good food?” She had no one to talk to. She badly wanted a baby to share her thoughts, but the goddess of children did not send her one. Disturbed, she lay in the dark with eyes wide open . The stars outside the window faded, and the rain began to fall. If it rained for a whole night, the sweet-potato vines on the slope would spring new roots, and she would have to hoe them again.

这当儿，院门很响地被人拍了一下，接着是门环“哐哐哐”三声摇动。那边厢房的公公立即应声：“来了，来了！”趿了鞋出去开门。是一个男人的声音，压声问：“又和谁喝酒？”公公说：“没外人，专等着你呢。”俩人就骂了一阵天雨，进屋到那边厢房了，叽叽咕咕，鬼念经般说话。

Then came a heavy knock on the gate, followed by three clicks. “Coming, coming,”the voice of her father-in-law quickly answered from the other wing. He hurried to the gate, his shoes half on. A man’s voice asked, “drinking again with someone?” the father-in-law answered, “No, just waiting for you.” The two, going into the wing romm, cursed the rain. Their gabble sounded like ghosts chanting scriptures.

婆婆已经起来了，拿那杆竹管烟袋敲打她的厢房门框，叫：“黑，起来！你爹和客人要喝酒，你下厨炒几个菜去。你装什么呀，睡得这么深沉!”

    家里时常来人，黑氏已经习惯了，她不解的是客人常要半夜里来，有时扛来好多东西，用木箱和麻袋装着，公公不让任何人动，她也就装个猫儿狗儿，不言语。厨房里炒得一盘鸡蛋，一碟变蛋，一碟臭豆腐，一碗熏肉。一箕盘端了进公公房里，瞧见客人是个极风流的人，正将桌上一沓钱推给公公说：“这些是你的，怎么样，只要……”公公用脚在桌下踏了客人的脚，抹下头上的帽子，随便一放，钱票盖住了。黑氏乖觉，全装混沌，怯怯地看着客人说：“黑漆半夜的，没好菜的。”客人便大胆地看她，看得生怪，黑氏慌得用手抚扣子，害怕扣子扣错了，惹人耻笑。

公公便说：“睡去吧，你还呆在这里干啥？”

Darky’s mother-in-law knocked Darky’s door with her bamboo pipe, “Darky, get up. Your dad is to drink with his guest, cook something for them. Don’t pretend you’re in sound asleep!”

Darky became used to visitors like this. She could not understand why these visitors arrived in the middle of night. They came with a lot of things either in wooden box or in sacks. Her father-in-law never allowed anyone to touch them. She would play dogs and cats and say nothing. In the kitchen, she prepared plates of fried eggs, of thousand-year-eggs, of Tofu, and of smoked pork, then carried them on a big plate to her father-in-law’s room. The visitor was a play boy, who pushed a bundle of money toward her father-in-law and said, “This is yours. What do you think about it, as long as…”

The father-in-law stepped on the guest’s foot and slapped down his hat to cover the money on the table. Darky was quick to pretend that she had seen nothing. She murmured shyly, “It is mid-night and dark, I cannot cook anything good.” The visitor gazed her with bold, queer eyes. Darky hurriedly felt her coat buttons in case they were buttoned wrong. Her gesture made the visitor laugh.

“Go and sleep, You can’t do anything else here?” Her father-in-law said.

    黑氏放赦一般回来，坐在炕上了，小男人已经转醒，悄声问：“谁来了，是马乡长吗？”黑氏说：“马乡长鼻子大，这个人气派呢。”小男人说：“这是东村姓王的，他跑运输发了大财了，有了钱讨了个县城女子，嫩面得能弹出水！”黑氏黯然无语。小男人又说：“他发了财了，敢不到咱家来，爹又落一笔钱了！”黑氏说：“人家跑运输，爹落的什么钱？”小男人说：“爹入股呀！”黑氏一直对这家人疑惑。就再问：“爹哪有钱入股？”小男人黑暗里眼里放光，说：“你以为你嫁给我平凡吗，我爹虽不是什么领导，我爹却是和什么打交道的？你丑人倒有丑福！”黑氏说：“我不稀罕那么多钱，当初嫁你，你也是没钱的光棍！”小男人说：“我知道你害怕我家发财哩，怕你越来越不配我哩！”黑氏咬了嘴唇，听那边厢房公公劝客人酒，喝得已经晕头，有盘子翻跌桌下，发着破裂的声响。小男人说：“怎的不说话？”黑氏说：“我不是为我想，我是为你想的，钱来路不明，多了会瞎人的。”小男人说：“哟，你那么清高，结婚时你娘怎的要我出个棺材钱？隔壁的钱来路明，你跟他过活去？！”

黑氏拉过被子连身子带头裹严睡倒了。

Darky went to her room in amnesty and sat on the mud-brick bed. Her small husband was already awake, “Who is it, the head of the township?”

 “The head of the township has a big nose, this guy looks like a big fish.”

 “It must be Wang of the east village, ”her small husband said. “He has been doing transportation business and has made a killing, so he is rich enough to married a country girl with a face as tender as water. ”

 Darky’s face became dim and she said nothing.

Her husband then added, “Aften making a killing; he dare not come to our home? Dad made a tidy sum too.”

 “If Wang is doing business, ” Darky asked, “how could your dad make anything from it?”  

“Dad has a share in the business.”

 Darky was suspicious about the family’s income , so she persisted, “How could he have money to take out a share?”

 Her small husband’s eyes shone, “You think you've married an ordinary guy like me? Although my dad is not an official, do you know what my he deals with? You may be ugly, but you have an ugly duckling’s fortune.”

 “I don’t care about the money. When I married you, you were just a poor bachelor.”

 “I know you’re afraid of our fortune. You fear you can’t be a good match for me.”

Darky shut up and heard her father-in-law  asking his guest to drink more. The sounds of plates hitting the floor suggested they were already a bit high. Her husband then asked, “Why do you keep silent?”

  “I’m not worried about me,” she said, “but about you.” Blind money will make you blind. You’re really not so worldly wealthy. Why did your mother ask me for the money for her coffin when we married. The money of the guy next door to us is not blind, why don’t you go and live with him?”

Darky got into bed and pull over the quilt to cover her body from head to toe.

眼睛闭着，心却睡不着，一股黑血在肚里翻腾。恨娘家人穷，不能门当户对，又恨小男人家有了钱，口大气粗……直挨到鸡叫三遍，窸窸窣窣又起来，得给猪熬食了。雨还在落着，院子里水汪汪一片白亮。忽见得隔壁那家院子上空红光一片，甚是吃惊，爬上院墙头的梯子看时，隔壁人家台阶上生着一堆篝火，一个人蹲在旁边，将一条新质的扁担一头支在门限下，一头伸过火上，双手趁趁地往下压。八尺余长的桑木扁担就两头翘，翘得一张弓。黑氏便叫：“木犊，起得早？”难得落了雨，也不蒙头睡个懒觉！“

Her eyes had closed but her heart could not. A stream of black blood was boiling inside. She hated the poverty of her home life and her failure to make herself a good match for her husband. She hated her husband for having money and therefore thinking himself as being above her.

When the cock crowed three times in the early morning, she fumbled for her clothes. It was time to boil feed for the pigs. The courtyard was bright with water, for the rain didn't stop. Suddenly, the sky above the next-door courtyard flashed red. She was so surprised she climbed the wall for a look. There was a bonfire on the neighbor’s step and a man squatted beside the fire. A new carrying-pole stood with one end under the threshold and the other end over the fire, the man bent the carrying-pole with his hands, and it sprang like a bow.

 “Early bird Mu Du, ,” Darky shouted, “we seldom have good rain. Why don’t you sleep for a while longer”

木犊回过头来，倒是吓了一跳，火光映在脸上，红膛膛的像酱了猪血，瞧见是黑氏，笑，嗤嗤啦啦响。

Mu Du, shocked, turned his head. The fire made his face and his face was as red as pig’s blood. Seeing it was Darky, he just grinned.

    黑氏又说：“一条扁担，还那么伺候？”

    木犊说：“不收拾软和，它砍肩哩！”

    黑氏说：“反正它是压人的，你也要去南山担龙须草吗？”

    木犊说：“南院秃子，三天一来回，赚得三块多钱的，我比他有力气。”

    黑氏说：“人家都出去跑大生意，千儿八百的挣哩……”

木犊说：“咱没车，就是有车，没恁个本事的。”

Darky again shouted: “It is only a carrying pole. No need to care about it too much!”

 “If I don’t make it soft, it chafes.”

“ It is still a burden for a man.” Darky said.  “Are you going to the Southern Mountain to carry alpine rush? ”

“Let Bald-head in the Southern courtyard do that. He makes a return trip in three days and made more than three Yuan. I’m much stronger than he is. ”

“Some guys go out to do big things,” Darky said. “ they make thousands of Yuan.”

Mu Du, “I don’t have a pull cart. Even if I could afford one, I don’t have the guts.”

黑氏在墙头上长长叹了一口气。黑氏可怜这木犊，家底缺乏，人又笨拙，和一个老爹过活，三十二三了，还娶不下个女人做针线，裤子破了，白线黑线揪疙瘩缭。本要说句“你哪有秃子灵活，担龙须草走山路，瓷脚笨手的可要小心”，话到口边又咽了。待要走下梯子，木犊却叫：“黑，给你个热的！”手就在火堆里刨，刨出个黑乎乎的东西，两手那么倒着，大声吸溜，跑过墙根处了，踮脚尖往上递。黑氏看着是颗拳头大的洋芋。

Darky gave a long sigh. She felt sorry for him,  for he was poor and clumsy. He lived with his dad. He was over thirty years but not married yet. There was no woman in his family to do needlework. When his pants worn out, one could see black and white thread twisted around the patch.  Darky thought of asking, “How could Bald-head be as clever as you are? To carry alpine rush you have to walk mountain paths, a clumsy guy like you must be very careful.” But she swallowed the words.

 As she was about to go down the ladder, Mu Du called out, “Darky, here is a hot one for you.” His hands fumbled in the ashes and picked out something blackish. He tossed that blackish thing from hand to hand with a loud exhale. He quickly stepped to the wall below her and on his  his toes passed the object to her. It was a fist-sized potato.

黑氏说：“我不吃，还没洗脸哩！”下了一节梯子。下去了，又上来，见木犊又换了一只手还在努力往上递，黑黑的肚皮露在外边。她伸手接住了，烫得如火炭，掰开，黎明里白花花两半，窜一股热气，她咬了一口。

木犊问：“面不面？”满足地想笑，又嗤啦一下。

    黑氏已经走下梯子，头上让雨淋湿了，滴滴答答顺着头发往下流水。

Darky said: “No eating, I haven’t washed my face,” she went down one step but came up again and found Mu Du, with a different hand, working hard to pass the potato to her, his dark belly open to her view. She caught the potato and felt it hot as a piece of charcoal. She broke it in two. A hot stream rushed out when the two halves shone in the dawn. She gave a bite.

“Is it not mellow?” Mu Du asked with a satisfactory grin.

Darky was already down from the ladder. Her hair, after the rain shower on the wall, was dripping wet.

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