Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 01-12-07 05:43
毛澤東傳奇 The legend of Mao Zedong (04)
我的父親讀過兩年書, 認識一些字, 記帳一事是足以勝任的. 我母親是目
不識丁的. 他們兩人都是從農家出身, 所以我成了家庭裏的[學者]. 我讀會
了經書, 可是不喜歡經書. 我最喜歡讀那些中國的傳奇小說, 而對於那些關
於叛變的故事則尤其喜歡. 我讀過精忠傳, 水滸傳, 隋唐, 三國志 和西遊記.
那時候我還年幼, 是在我的老師謹慎提防之下偷讀的. 我的老教師恨這些
非法的書籍, 認為都是壞書. 我常常在把這些書帶到學校裏去讀, 當老師走
過的時候, 就用一本經書把牠們掩住. 我的許多同學也都這樣做. 有許多這
樣的故事, 我們幾乎都背誦了, 而且常常再三地討論. 像這種故事, 我們所知
道的比鄉村裏的老人還要多. 他們也愛聽這些故事, 而且常常和我們互相交
換講述. 我相信這些書對於我後來影響很大, 因為這些都是在記憶力強盛的
年紀裏讀的.
最後我離開了小學, 其時我是十三歲. 我開始整天在田間幫助僱工工作, 白天
做一個成人所做的全部工作, 晚間就替我父親記帳. 可是我還能夠繼續讀書,
除了經書之外, 我一有機會就吞嚥一切我所能夠找到的東西. 這事使我父親
很懊惱, 他希望我能熟讀經史, 特別是在他有一件訟訴失敗了之後, 事實是如
此的, 他的對造在法庭上引用一句很適合的經典, 結果他敗訴. 我常常在半夜裏,
把我房子裏的窗戶遮沒, 使我父親看不見燈光. 就用這樣的方法我讀了一
本叫做[盛世危言]的書, 這書我非常喜歡. 這書的作者們, 是一些老的改良主
義者, 他們以為中國之所以積弱不振是因為缺乏西洋的工具: 鐵路, 電話,
電報, 汽船等等. 他們想介紹這些東西到中國來. 而我父親卻以為看這些書
籍, 是徒然費時失業. 他想我學一些經書一樣的實用東西, 可以使他在訴訟
中得到勝利.
我繼續閱讀中國舊小說和故事. 有一天我忽然發現到一件事: 就是不知為
什麼, 在這些小說裏面, 沒有關於耕種土地的農民們的事跡. 所敘述到的人
物, 不外是些戰士, 官吏, 或者文人; 永遠看不見一個農民人物. 對於這一件
事, 整整有兩年, 我得不到解答, 後來我把小說的內容加以分折. 我發現了:
小說裏面的人物們都是有武力的名人, 人民的統治者, 他們都不必從事操
作, 因為他們土地的所有人, 很明顯地是有著農民們在代他們工作的.
My father had had two years of schooling and he could read enough to keep
books. My mother was wholly illiterate. Both were from peasant families.
I was the family "scholar". I knew the Classics, but disliked them. What
I enjoyed were the romances of Old China, and especially stories of the
rebellions. I read the Yo Fei Chuan (Yue Fei Chuan 岳飛傳), Shui Hu Chuan
(水滸傳 The Water Margin), Fan Tang (反唐 Revolt Against the Tang), San
Kuo (The Three Kingdoms), and Hsi Yu Chi (西遊記 Travels in the West, the
story of Hsuan Tsang's seventh-century semi-legendary pilgrimage to India)
while still very young, and despite the vigilance of my old teacher, who
hated these outlawed books and called them wicked. I used to read them in
school, covering them up with a Classic when the teacher walked past, So
also did most of my schoolmates. We learned many of the stories almost by
heart, and discussed and re-discussed them many times. We knew more of them
than the old men of the village, who also loved them and used to exchange
stories with us. I believe that perhaps I was much influenced by such books,
read at an impressionable age.
I finally left the primary school when I was thirteen and began to work
long hours on the farm, helping the hired labourer, doing the full labour
of a man during the day and at night keeping books for my father. Nevertheless,
I succeeded in continuing my reading, devouring everything I could find
except the Classics. This annoyed my father, who wanted me to master the
Classics, especially after he was defeated in a lawsuit because of an apt
Classical quotation used by his adversary in the Chinese court. I used to
cover up the window of my room late at night so that my father would not
see the light. In this way I read a book called Sheng-Shih Wei Yen (盛世危
言 Sheng Shi wei Yan by 鄭觀應 Zheng Guanying or Words of Warning)[1A] which
I liked very much. The author, one of a number of old reformist scholars,
thought that the weakness of China lay in her lack of Western appliances
- railways, telephones, telegraphs, and steamships - and wanted to have
them introduced into the country. My father considered such books a waste
of time. He wanted me to read something practical like the Classics, which
could help him in winning lawsuits.
I continued to read the old romances and tales of Chinese literature. It
occurred to me one day that there was one thing peculiar about such stories,
and that was the absence of peasants who tilled the land. All the characters
were warriors, officials, or scholars; there was never a peasant hero. I
wondered about this for two years, and then I analyzed the content of the
stories. I found that they all gloried men of arms, rulers of the people,
who did not have to work the land, because they owned and controlled it
and evidently made the peasants work it for them.
.................to be continued.....
[1A]
盛世危言 Sheng Shi Wei Yan
It book was written and edited by Chung Kuan-ying (鄭觀應), who advocated
many democratic reforms, including parliamentary government and modern methods
of education and communications. His book had a wide influence when published
in 1898, the year of the ill-fated Hundred Days Reform.
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
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