鐵塔的風鈴Wind Chimes of the Iron Pagoda

周領順/文　李愛華/譯

有幸聽到開封鐵塔風鈴之聲，是早在1981年考入河南大學之后的事。

It was after I enrolled at Henan University as early as the year 1981 that I was fortunate enough to hear the wind chimes of the Iron Pagoda.

塔角之上有鈴，此前我卻聞所未聞。莫說不知道塔上有鈴，就連見見火車，都感覺稀罕得很。或者說，就沒有什么是不稀罕的，對于走出舞陽縣農村、考上大學的我，開封市和河南大學的點點滴滴，都成了我向人炫耀的資本和自信的源泉。親耳聽見開封鐵塔的風鈴，則是因為住在“學11樓”而緊靠鐵塔公園南墻之故。大二時，我們還在樓前種了一排泡桐，但因為那些紀念樹過于成“材”1，所以在20多年后便不見了蹤跡。

At the corners of this pagoda were wind chimes， which I never heard of before. I barely saw a train， not to mention wind chimes of a pagoda. To put it differently， nothing was not unusual to me， who just went out of a village of Wuyang County to go to university. Dribs and drabs that happened in the city of Kaifeng and at Henan University were what I could show off and made me confident of. I could hear in person the chimes of the Iron Pagoda because my dormitory was in Building 11， which sat right next to the south wall of the Iron Pagoda Park. When I was a sophomore， we planted a row of paulownia trees in front of this building. However， as these trees were an ideal construction material， they did not last for more than 20 years in this location.

晚上有風時，總能聽到鈴兒叮當，白天遙望鐵塔，方知有風鈴在塔角之上。鈴兒并不清脆，若牛項系著的銅鈴，發出的是渾厚的金屬之音。這一聽就是4年，我住過114、121、122三個房間，早出晚歸，總聞風鈴接送。河南大學的學生以“鐵塔牌”自居，而對于我，還多了一層，那就是充滿動感的鐵塔風鈴。

When the wind blew at night， the wind chimes could oftentimes be heard tinkling. During the day， when looking out to the pagoda from afar， the chimes could be seen at its corners. These bells didnt ring loudly; instead， they produced a deep metallic noise， as if from a brass bell around a bulls neck. It was throughout the entire four years that I listened to the chimes， during which my dorm changed from Room 114， 121， to 122 and the wind chimes welcomed and bade farewell to me. Henan University students labeled themselves as the ‘Iron Pagoda Guys. For me， its more than that—the Iron Pagodas vibrant wind chimes moved me.

“河南大學”那時叫“河南師范大學”，雖然同學們感覺“師范”二字不多受用2，但在名字的排場程度上，已經比先前的“開封師范學院”不知強了多少倍。到了大三，聽聞有希望改回之前更加排場的“河南大學”之名，校園里便涌動著情緒激昂的人群，奔走相告于餐廳、宿舍和課堂。要面子是人之常情，青年時期尤甚。填報大學志愿時，就因為當時同層次的“新鄉師范學院”（現在的“河南師范大學”）有個“鄉”字而被我這個“鄉下人”所排斥，而“鄭州大學”又因為是第二批錄取3，面子上稍稍低了些，且不是電腦操作，熬不了長久的等待。重點大學沒報，不是分數不到，而是膽量不足，千辛萬苦考出來，不管怎樣都不能與吃“商品糧”4的機會失之交臂。總之，陰差陽錯，抑或是歪打正著，鑄就了此后與河南大學的不解之緣。

The then Henan University was in the name of Henan Normal University. The term “normal”， which students didnt appreciate， carried a grander connotation compared to its previous designation as Kaifeng Normal College， indicating a more advanced status. In my third year， it was rumoured that the school might change its name back to a more grandiose one—Henan University， which caused excited throngs of people to go around spreading the news in the dining hall， dormitories， and classrooms. It is human nature to be concerned about ones face， especially for youth. When filling out my university application form， I didnt choose Xinxiang Normal College （now Henan Normal University） just due to the character “xiang” （“countryside” in Chinese） in the name of the city that I rejected from my inner heart. Zhengzhou University ranked in the second round of college admissions， which led to a slight loss of face. In addition， the university admission process that previously did not occur online could require applicants to wait for a long time. I didnt apply to a key university not because I couldnt achieve high scores on the college entrance exam， but because I didnt have the courage to take risks. Through innumerable hardships， I anyhow couldnt miss out on this opportunity to get a secure job in cities. All in all， whether it was good or bad luck， this harvest happened to be what I wished for， leading to my close connection with Henan University.

初識大學校園，大氣恢宏仍然超出了想象。聽說河大校園就有800多畝，比我們幾個村莊合起來還要大。建筑古樸，個個都有典故；植物茂盛，主要道路兩邊都是修剪齊整的柏樹叢。大禮堂兩側的樹林，如同兩片碧綠的翅膀，而大禮堂則像鯤鵬5，似乎隨時都有騰飛翱翔的可能，如今多了鋼筋水泥，特別是多了大禮堂東側的藝術廣場，已不容我“睹物思情”。整個學校都仿佛隱身于樹林之中，“我們的大學像公園”，是那時很多人的共識和脫口可出的贊美之詞。校園優美，美伴讀書濃，不管是文博館所在位置的土丘，還是小禮堂前面的石榴園，抑或是學校東面的城墻上和昏黃的路燈下，都留下了我們的身影，因為它們都是我們讀書的絕好去處。

For the first time when I sighted the campus， its grandeur went beyond my expectation. I heard that it was over 800 mu， bigger than that of several villages combined. This campus had buildings of quaint styles， each of which had its own tale. It had lush plants， with the main road lined with neatly trimmed cypress trees. The woods on both sides of the auditorium resembled two emerald wings， while the auditorium itself was like a giant bird， seemingly always ready to soar. Now， more concrete buildings have been added to the campus， particularly an art square on the auditoriums east side， impeding me from reminiscing about my good old days. The whole campus hid itself in the woods— “Our universitys like a park” was a consensus and embodied the way that many people frequently used to praise it. The campus was very beautiful， which made it an ideal place to study. Whether it was the mound with the museum， the pomegranate garden in front of the small auditorium， or even the wall along our schools east side and the area underneath the dim on-campus streetlights， all were where we left our footprints in that these were ideal haunts for us to read.

說起讀書，那可是真正的“讀書”啊，早上在宿舍樓外自覺“晨讀”，晚上在教室安靜“默讀”，而背誦課文，受益多多，在反復的背誦中，有了更多的理解。“81級”的學生學習好，風氣好，有目共睹。早上睡懶覺的時候很少，即使在輔導員晨跑點名后有偷偷溜回宿舍的，也仍然以讀書的時候居多。晚上學習時間長，有時不過癮，還要找個長明燈教室繼續學習。我做過副班長和學習委員，去給外教送作業本時，為了不錯過和外教交流的機會，除了準備些口語外，還要事先寫篇英語作文當面請教，使得口語的表達有了更加具體的內容。我的畢業論文提前一年（大三）完成，外教給我評了個優秀，畢業實習和畢業考試得的也是優秀。特別是在大三時，我就在《英語輔導》雜志上發表了首篇習作，17元的稿費，正好讓我買了一雙牛皮鞋。那是我穿的第一雙皮鞋啊。正因為學習努力，又喜歡寫點兒東西，所以獲得了外語系頒發的“特別獎”，整個年級共有三人獲得，后來也就有了三個“怪杰”之類的說法。那時沒有多少可玩的東西，讓吃苦的我們，在河南大學打下了堅實的基礎。

Speaking of reading， that really was “reading”. In the morning， I read aloud outside my dormitory， and in the evening， I read silently in my classroom. Reciting textbooks， the repetition of which expanded my understanding of what I read， brought me great benefits. It was obvious to all that members of the entering class of 1981 worked hard and their academic atmosphere was positive. Rarely getting up late， some of us sneaked back to our dormitories after our teachers morning roll call， but most of us did reading most of the time. Long as the time to study at night was， we would go to a 24-hour-lit classroom to continue learning if our craving for reading was not quenched. As the classs vice-monitor and commissary in charge of studies， I would equip myself with some spoken English before taking students workbooks to our foreign teacher， with a bid not to miss an opportunity to communicate with my foreign teacher. Besides the preparation in spoken English， I would write an English essay in advance to make the communication go in detail. I completed my graduation thesis during my junior year， a year ahead of time， for which my foreign teacher granted me a high grade. Both my graduation internship and exams also helped me earn excellent marks. As a junior， I published my first article in a magazine called English Coach， from which I earned 17 yuan， the exact sum for a pair of leather shoes—that was my first pair of leather shoes. It was my diligence and passion for writing that helped me earn “a special award”， which only three people in my entire grade were able to get， which inspired our classmates to call us the Three Figures. Limited entertainment options made it possible that industrious students like us laid a solid foundation for our future.

河南大學外語系的師資實力雄厚，這在入學報到之前就已經在宣傳的畫頁上看到了。而真正到了學校，更是領略了老師們的敬業和刻苦。正是有了他們，才使非重點大學的河南大學，享有了超“重點”的聲譽。

The Foreign Languages Department of Henan University had highly qualified faculty， of which I got informed in an enrollment brochure. My learning experience there demonstrated its teachers dedication and commitment. For this reason， Henan University， not a key university though， has a better reputation than key universities.

河南大學給我留下的美好記憶太多太多，甚至有不知從何說起之惑，“掛一漏萬”，實非夸張之語。那些年電話很少見，但家信來往頻繁，我與父親有關河大時期的通信還都各自完好地保存著，只待將來，再將那些塵封的美好一頁頁翻起。如今，我雖然身在異鄉，但還頂著河大好學生的美名，嘴邊掛著的一句“我本科是在河南大學外語系讀的”，難以掩飾的是發自內心深處的自豪之情。

Sweet memories my days at Henan University has left me with are so many that I dont know where to start. Its no exaggeration to say that it would be impossible to mention everything thats happened there. Telephones were not much widely in use， letters from home were frequent， some of which between my father and me were well kept， waiting to be read page after page to turn out the sealed beauty of the past. Today， living in an alien city， as one of the top students from Henan University， I find it hard to conceal my pride about having studied there， with “I earned my Bachelors degree from the Foreign Languages Department of Henan University” at the tip of my tongue.

難忘河南大學的點點滴滴，更難忘恩師們言猶在耳，一如開封鐵塔的風鈴，還不時在心間蕩起。

Unforgettable are all memories about Henan University， where even more unforgettable are my esteemed professors whose words seem to still ring in my ears， just as melodiously as the wind chimes of the Iron Pagoda.

* 博士，二級教授，博導，中國英漢語比較研究會副會長，“譯者行為批評”理論創建者。

1文中的成“材”指的是泡桐長勢良好，可用作上好的建筑木材，故而翻譯為ideal construction material（理想的建筑材料），暗含譏諷之意。

2文中的“受用”表示享受、得益，故而譯為appreciate。

3“第二批錄取”在當時指的是錄取的時間更靠后，故而翻譯為in the second round of college admissions。? 4在計劃經濟時代，能夠吃“商品糧”的人意味著工作有編制，有鐵飯碗，有保障，故而譯為secure job。? 5文中的“鯤鵬”出自《莊子·逍遙游》，考慮到這一名詞在西方并無對應之物，故而簡化譯為giant bird，以便于理解。