杨宪益英译鲁迅的散文_MY_OLD_HOMEWord文件下载.docx

1、The old home I remembered was nor in the least like this. My old home was much better. But if you asked me to recall its peculiar charm or describe its beauties, I had no clear impression, no words to describe it. And now it seemed this was all there was to it. Then I rationalized the matter to myse

2、lf, saying: Home was always like this, and although it has not improved, still it is not so depressing as I imagine; it is only my mood that has changed, because I am coming back to the country this time with no illusions.This time I had come with the sole object of saying goodbye. The old house our

3、 clan had lived in for so many years had already been sold to another family, and was to change hands before the end of the year. I had to hurry there before New Years Day to say goodbye for ever to the familiar old house, and to move my family to another place where I was working, far from my old h

4、ome town.At dawn on the second day I reached the gateway of my home. Broken stems of withered grass on the roof, trembling in the wind, made very clear the reason why this old house could not avoid changing hands. Several branches of our clan had probably already moved away, so it was unusually quie

5、t. By the time I reached the house my mother was already at the door to welcome me, and my eight-year-old nephew, Hung-erh, rushed out after her.Though mother was delighted, she was also trying to hide a certain feeling of sadness. She told me to sit down and rest and have some tea, letting the remo

6、val wait for the time being. Hung-erh, who had never seen me before, stood watching me at a distance.But finally we had to talk about the removal. I said that rooms had already been rented elsewhere, and I had bought a little furniture; in addition it would be necessary to sell all the furniture in

7、the house in order to buy more things. Mother agreed, saying that the luggage was nearly all packed, and about half the furniture that could not easily be moved had already been sold. Only it was difficult to get people to pay up.You must rest for a day or two, and call on our relatives, and then we

8、 can go, said mother.Yes.Then there is Jun-tu. Each time he comes here he always asks after you, and wants very much to see you again. I told him the probable date of your return home, and he may be coming any time.At this point a strange picture suddenly flashed into my mind: a golden moon suspende

9、d in a deep blue sky and beneath it the seashore, planted as far as the eye could see with jade-green watermelons, while in their midst a boy of eleven or twelve, wearing a silver necklet and grasping a steel pitchfork in his hand, was thrusting with all his might at a zha which dodged the blow and

10、escaped between his legs.This boy was Jun-tu. When I first met him he was just over tenthat was thirty years ago, and at that time my father was still alive and the family well off, so I was really a spoilt child. That year it was our familys turn to take charge of a big ancestral sacrifice, which c

11、ame round only once in thirty years, and hence was an important one. In the first month the ancestral images were presented and offerings made, and since the sacrificial vessels were very fine and there was such a crowd of worshippers, it was necessary to guard against theft. Our family had only one

12、 part-time labourer. （In our district we divide labourers into three classes: those who work all the year for one family are called full-timers; those who are hired by the day are called dailies; and those who farm their own land and only work for one family at New Year, during festivals or when ren

13、ts are being collected are called part- timers.） And since there was so much to be done, he told my father that he would send for his son Jun-tu to look after the sacrificial vessels.When my father gave his consent I was overjoyed, because I had long since heard of Jun-tu and knew that he was about

14、my own age, born in the intercalary month, and when his horoscope was told it was found that of the five elements that of earth was lacking, so his father called him Jun-tu （Intercalary Earth）. He could set traps and catch small birds.I looked forward every day to New Year, for New Year would bring

15、Jun- tu. At last, when the end of the year came, one day mother told me that Jun-tu had come, and I flew to see him. He was standing in the kitchen. He had around, crimson face and wore a small felt cap on his head and a gleaming silver necklet round his neck, showing that his father doted on him an

16、d, fearing he might die, had made a pledge with the gods and buddhas, using the necklet as a talisman. He was very shy, and I was the only person he was not afraid of. When there was no one else there, he would talk with me, so in a few hours we were fast friends.I dont know what we talked of then,

17、but I remember that Jun-tu was in high spirits, saying that since he had come to town he had seen many new things.The next day I wanted him to catch birds.Cant be done, he said. Its only possible after a heavy snowfall. On our sands, after it snows, I sweep clear a patch of ground, prop up a big thr

18、eshing basket with a short stick, and scatter husks of grain beneath. When the birds come there to eat, I tug a string tied to the stick, and the birds are caught in the basket. There are all kinds: wild pheasants,. woodcocks, wood-pigeons, blue-backs. Accordingly I looked forward very eagerly to sn

19、ow.Just now it is too cold, said Jun-tu another time, but you must come to our place in summer. In the daytime well go to the seashore to look for shells, there are green ones and red ones, besides scare-devil shells and buddhas hands. In the evening when dad and I go to see to the watermelons, you

20、shall come too.Is it to look out for thieves?No. If passers-by are thirsty and pick a watermelon, folk down our way dont consider it as stealing. What we have to look out for are badgers, hedgehogs and zha. When under the moonlight you hear the crunching sound made by the zha when it bites the melon

21、s, then you take your pitchfork and creep stealthily over. I had no idea then what this thing called zha wasand I am not much clearer now for that matterbut somehow I felt it was something like a small dog, and very fierce.Dont they bite people?You have a pitchfork. You go across, and when you see i

22、t you strike. Its a very cunning creature and will rush towards you and get away between your legs. Its fur is as slippery as oil. I had never known that all these strange things existed: at the seashore there were shells all colours of the rainbow; watermelons were exposed tosuch danger, yet all I

23、had known of them before was that they were sold in the greengrocers.On our shore, when the tide comes in, there are lots of jumping fish, each with two legs like a frog. Jun-tus mind was a treasure-house of such strange lore, all of it outside the ken of my former friends. They were ignorant of all

24、 these things and, while Jun-tu lived by the sea, they like me could see only the four corners of the sky above the high courtyard wall.Unfortunately, a month after New Year Jun-tu had to go home. I burst into teats and he took refuge in the kitchen, crying and refusing to come out, until finally hi

25、s father carried him off. Later he sent me by his father a packet of shells and a few very beautiful feathers, and I sent him presents once or twice, but we never saw each other again.Now that my mother mentioned him, this childhood memory sprang into life like a flash of lightning, and I seemed to

26、see my beautiful old home. So I answered:Fine! And hehow is he?Hes not at all well off either, said mother. And then, looking out of the door: Here come those people again. They say they want to buy our furniture; but actually they just want to see what they can pick up. I must go and watch them.Mot

27、her stood up and went out. The voices of several women could he heard outside. I called Hung-erh to me and started talking to him, asking him whether he could write, and whether he would be glad to leave.Shall we be going by train?Yes, we shall go by train.And boat?We shall take a boat first.Oh! Lik

28、e this! With such a long moustache! A strange shrill voice suddenly rang out.I looked up with a start, and saw a woman of about fifty with prominent cheekbones and thin lips. With her hands on her hips, not wearing a skirt but with her trousered legs apart, she stood in front of me just like the com

29、pass in a box of geometrical instruments.I was flabbergasted.t you know me? Why, I have held you in my arms!I felt even more flabbergasted. Fortunately my mother came in just then and said:He has been away so long, you must excuse him for forgetting. You should remember, she said to me, this is Mrs.

30、 Yang from across the road. . . She has a beancurd shop.Then, to be sure, I remembered. When I was a child there was a Mrs. Yang who used to sit nearly all day long in the beancurd shop across the road, and everybody used to call her Beancurd Beauty. She used to powder herself, and her cheekbones were not so prominent then nor her lips so thin; moreover she remained seated all the time, so that I had never noticed this resemblance to a compass. In those days people said that, thanks to