老炮兒的講究

文、譯/林巍

老炮兒的講究

Mr. Six’s Way

文、譯/林巍

頗受歡迎的國產電影《老炮兒》，開頭有這樣一幕：一民工模樣的小偷，在拿走戰利品中的現金之后，把錢包扔進了垃圾桶，這時老炮兒逼著他把證件給人寄回去，末了兒冒出一句“講究1這里的“講究”京味十足，不是一般意義上的stress/strive for/be particular about/pay great attention to/devote particular care to/daintily等，而是一種特殊的做事方式，故成此譯文。”!

[2]這個“講究”很有學問2這是句京腔，不是平時講的have knowledge/learning/learned/literacy 等，即有特殊含義。。分析起來，主要有兩方面的涵義，一是“規矩”，一是“面子”。

[3]憑著這“規矩”，老炮兒幾乎成了胡同里的道德警察，他拉群架，擋城管，勸和氣，有效地維系著胡同中的民間秩序。

[4]內在的，老炮兒心里也有那么一股高貴勁兒，支撐著他的“面子”。雖然身上沒倆錢兒，但窮也講禮數，如遛個八哥，且見面一定打招呼，嘴頭上永遠沒有不得體的時候3這句話頗有北京人的幽默，不宜照字面意思翻譯，故不妨以immaculate courtesy一語概括。。

At the start of the plot of the popular Chinese movie entitled Mr. Six, when a migrant-laborer-looking burglar throws out a wallet after empting all its cash, Mr. Six insists on him sending back all the cards to their owner, shouting“That’s our way of doing things”.

[2] “Our way of doing things” is meaningful on two fronts: following the rules and maintaining face.

[3] By applying his rules he has virtually become the moral policeman of the hutong (alleys), refereeing fights, reasoning with city inspectors and mediating among neighbors, so as to effectively maintain the folk order of the community.

[4] Inwardly, he has an air of nobility which well preserves his face. With little money in his pocket, Mr. Six manages to keep his decency by a gracious way of living (such as playing myna) and immaculate courtesy.

[5]但是，老炮兒的這些講究，從性質上說，是江湖的。

[6]對于“江湖”，我們的教科書似乎始終沒有一個到位的定義，例如“泛指流落四方各地”等。

[7]其實，據我理解，江湖的本質是與官方相對立，另有一套，類似潛規則之類的，故不妨譯為street practice in sub-communities。

[8]這便有了兩條致命的弱點：一、拿不上桌面；二、跟不上現代社會的趟，于是就很擰巴4也是北京人的一句現代用語，有awkward/uncomfortable/troublesome/difficult to deal with/hard to get along with等意思，這里用了somewhat odd，以表別扭。。

[9]例如，他跟已經發跡了的哥們兒借錢，人家二話不說把錢掏了出來，但他又嫌人家說“錢”了，不給面子；奇怪得很，來借錢又不能提錢的事兒，這不是虛偽嗎5此句不一定要譯成疑問句，而可為陳述句并作相應的句式調整。？但是，當他病倒后送入了ICU，哥們兒給他出了錢，他又不言聲了6這里的“不言聲了”不僅僅是不說話了，而是有著更多的含義，即與他的講究相抵觸，故在譯文為quietly accepted it without apology以作擴充處理。。

[5] However, his way of doing things is actually the way of Jiang Hu.

[6] It seems that we haven’t yet found the proper term to define “Jiang Hu”: those in use, such as “all corners of the country”, “a vagabond life” in our dictionary, are far from satisfactory.

[7] In my understanding, the nature of Jiang Hu is contrary to any official practice, since it is based on unofficial rules of practice recognized in subcommunities. So I am suggesting “street practice in sub-communities”.

[8] Inevitably, this kind of practice is somewhat odd since it has to be under the table, and is deemed outdated by current society.

[9] For instance, when his nouveau riche friend offered to lend him a huge amount of money at his own request without any hesitation, he felt somehow hurt and refused, which is typical hypocrisy—wanting the money but not wanting the money to be mentioned. However, when on another occasion he was fatally ill and sent to the ICU, and the bill was paid by his friend, he just quietly accepted it without apology.

[10]又如，當他兒子把人家的豪車弄壞后，賠不起了，他又要用“我們的方式”把事兒鏟了7即北京話，把事擺平了，這里用了settle things…。，提議打群架，以輸贏決勝負。結果架沒茬成8“茬架”，似無準確的英文對應語，姑且用free fight。，兒子被對方姑娘救出，還順走了10萬塊錢。實際上是沒守規矩。9此句沒有單獨譯出，而是融入整句，以更通順, 特別是加入the rules was nevertheless endorsed by Mr. Six，以揭示老炮兒信念的矛盾性。

[11]老炮兒信守著“不報警”，但實在沒招了，最后還是給中紀委寄去了舉報信，扳倒了官二代的小混混。于是，江湖了一輩子10此句中的“江湖”用作動詞，即“一生行江湖之道”，是位“老炮兒”，故用了kingpin，其意為the most important person in a group or undertaking，這里當然是指in sub-communities。，臨了老炮兒還是和官方合作了一把。

[12]電影落幕時，老炮兒身著皇軍大衣，手提日本戰刀，向著一群“不講規矩”的家伙沖將上去，不料卻犯病倒下——形成了一幅堂吉訶德式的北京老炮兒惡戰當今腐敗勢力的黑色幽默圖，令人產生無盡的時空倒錯與無可奈何的感覺。

[10]On another occasion, when his son damaged someone’s luxury car and was unable to repair or pay for it, he proposed “his way of settling things”—a free fight, which is supposed to be a fair fight. However, his son was surprisingly rescued by a girl who also stole a prepayment of ten thousand yuan from the victim. This behavior that had broken the rules was nevertheless endorsed by Mr. Six.

[11]“Never go to the police” is the one tenet that Mr. Six vowed always to stick to. However, when he realized that he really was at a disadvantage, he reported to the Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Central Committee of the CPC about the crime his rival “officiallings” had committed. As a kingpin of Jiang Hu throughout his life, he finally broke his own “way of doing things” by cooperating with the official.

[12]The final scene: wearing an overcoat of the Japanese imperial army and holding a Japanese sabre, Mr. Six singlehandedly rushes a crowd who are “lawless people” by his standard, but suffers an unexpected attack of his old illness, falls over himself and loses consciousness. What a Beijing-style Quixotic anticorruption crusader he portrays in a picture of black humor! In such manner he leaves his audience endlessly sighing over the chaotic jumble of time and space and desperation.