Sailing to China 駛 向 中 國

文/沙博理 譯/任東升 By Sidney Shapiro

【編者按】為紀念沙博理誕辰102周年，特刊此文。原文題目為編輯所加。本文節選自沙博理撰寫的英文傳記Ma Haide: The Sag e of American Doctor George Hatem in China（《馬海德傳》，外文出版社，2004）第139—141頁，記述了沙博理1942—1948年間在美國當兵、學習漢語和遠渡重洋來到中國、結識鳳子的經歷。英語文筆流暢，節奏明快，故事性強，筆觸不乏幽默感，是一篇學習英語和訓練翻譯的好材料。

Sailing to China 駛 向 中 國

文/沙博理 譯/任東升 By Sidney Shapiro

In 1942 I had been a member of an anti-aircraft gun crew in the Jersey Meadows, guarding the nearby Westinghouse and General Electric plants against possible attacks by German bombers1bomber轟炸機。.

[2] In view of our marksmanship2marksmanship射擊術。it was fortunate for the war effort that they never came. Our only assailants were rats and mosquitoes and the fragrance of the Secaucus3斯考克斯市，在美國新澤西州。pig-slaughtering establishment, wafted4waft飄蕩。in every breeze5breeze微風；和風。.

1942年,我還是駐守澤西草地高射班的一名大兵，保衛附近的西屋電氣公司和通用電氣公司，以防德國轟炸機可能的襲擊。

[2]我們射擊不精，有鑒于此，敵機從未光顧我們那點兒戰備，實乃幸運。唯一的襲擾是老鼠和蚊子，還有隨微風飄來的斯考克斯市宰豬場的香味。

[3] And so when the call came for volunteers to the ASTP—the Army Specialized Training Program, I jumped at the chance6jump at the chance把握機會。. Crash courses7crash course速成班。were given at various colleges in everything from dentistry and veterinary science8veterinary science獸醫學。to foreign languages. Having studied a few years of French in high school and college, I applied for the French course. I passed the qualifying exam, but when I appeared before a board of professors and army officers for formal assignment I was told that they had entirely too many French students, and it was therefore decided that I had “volunteered” to learn Chinese.

[3]因此，當得知“陸軍特訓班”招收志愿者的時候，我就抓住了這個良機。速成班在很多大學開設起來，包羅萬象，有牙醫學、獸醫學還有外語。我在高中和大學學過幾年法語，于是我申請上法語班。資格考試倒是通過了，但當我站在一群教授和軍官面前準備接受分配時，被告知由于學法語的同學太多，決定讓我“自愿”學習中文。

[4] This was a bolt from the blue9a bolt from the blue晴天霹靂。, but I recovered rapidly when I found myself on the gentle10gentle徐緩的。slopes of Cornell University,surrounded by trees and lovely co-eds11co-ed（男女同校）女生。.After being crammed for nine months with spoken Chinese, I and my classmates were ready to take off the exotic East.

[4]這簡直是晴天霹靂！不過，當我站在康奈爾大學校園的慢坡，眼前綠樹環繞，女生可愛，也就很快釋然了。在被填鴨一般灌輸了九個月的漢語口語之后，我和我的同學準備啟程前往那個充滿異國情調的東方國度。

[5]然而，美軍登陸中國大陸的計劃（如果真的醞釀過這樣的計劃）取消了。我們被派到弗吉尼亞州的信號情報中心接受密碼分析培訓，學習破譯日軍密碼。我們又乘船被送到位于火奴魯魯的中太平洋司令部，直到二戰結束，我們還在破譯三個月前日軍控制塔發給升空飛行員的天氣狀況電碼。在業余時間，我們當中有幾個人去夏威夷大學旁聽中文課程。

[5] But the projected landing of American forces on the China mainland—if one was ever contemplated12contemplated考慮；思量。, was called off. We were put into Signal Intelligence and given a cryptanalysis13cryptanalysis密碼分析。course, in Virginia, and taught to break Japanese code.From there we were shipped to MUDPAC—Middle Pacific Army Command,in Honolulu, where we finished the war deciphering14decipher破譯。three-month-old messages from Japanese control towers to departing pilots on the state of the weather. In our spare time a few of us audited15audit旁聽。Chinese courses at the University of Hawaii.

[6] By then I was thoroughly entranced16entrance使入迷。with the language and what I was beginning to learn of China’s history and culture. When I returned to civilian life in 1946 I had no interest in being a young lawyer again, as I had been before the war. Instead I took Chinese language courses, first at Columbia, then at Yale, and in 1947 booked passage on a freighter17freighter貨船。and sailed for China. I landed in Shanghai a month later on April, 1947,April Fools Day, and had cause later to wonder whether the date wasn’t significant. I had two hundred dollars in my pocket, and a letter from Variety saying that if I ever wrote anything and they ever published it, they might pay me. My money soon ran out, and I was reduced to doing what I had travelled 12,000 miles to escape. Again I was an attorney at law—in the office of an American practitioner looking desperately for a junior partner.

[7] But all was not dark. I met and,a year later, married Fengzi—meaning Phoenix. Formerly a famous actress and journalist, she was editing a left-wing magazine. Most of her friends were progressive, a few were in the Communist underground. Through them, and through witnessing daily the horror of Kuomingtang rule, I began quickly to acquire a knowledge of the realities of China.

[6]到了那時，我對漢語和正在學習的中國歷史和文化深深地著迷了。1946年我回歸平民生活的時候，對當一名小律師一點兒興致也沒有了，而戰前我干這行。相反，我繼續學習中文，先在哥倫比亞大學，又在耶魯大學。1947年，我買了一張貨船票，駛向中國。一個月后我在上海登岸，那天是愚人節，后來回想這個日子何嘗不意味深長，倒有了說頭兒。我兜里就裝著200美元和美國《綜藝》雜志的一封信，信中表示，要是我寫稿、他們刊用，就會付我稿酬。帶的錢很快花光了，于是我不得不重操我跨越1.2萬英里想逃脫的職業。一家美國律師事務所急聘初級合伙人，我又干上了律師這一行。

[7]但生活并非暗淡一片。我遇到了鳳子（意思是“鳳凰”），一年后我們結了婚。她以前是知名演員和記者，那時正編輯一份左翼雜志。她的朋友大多是進步人士，有幾個是地下黨。通過這些人，還有每天親歷的國民黨恐怖統治，我很快就認清了中國的現狀。