雷州盜記1The Bandit Who Became a Magistrate

古 文

雷于粵為最遠郡。2崇禎初，金陵人某3以部曹出守，舟入江遇盜。知其守也，殺之，并殲其從者，獨留其妻女。以眾中一最黠者為偽守，持牒往，而群詭為仆，人莫能察也。抵郡逾月，甚廉干，有治狀，雷人相慶得賢太守，其寮屬暨監(jiān)司使，咸誦重之。4未幾，太守出示禁游客，所隸毋得納金陵人只履，否者雖至戚必坐。于是雷人益信服新太守乃能嚴介若此也。

亡何，守之子至，入境，無敢舍者。問之，知其禁也，心惑之。詰朝守出，子道視，非父也，訊其籍里名姓，則皆父。子悟曰：“噫！是盜矣！”5然不敢暴語，密以白監(jiān)司使。監(jiān)司曰：“止，吾旦日飯守而出子。”于是戒吏，以卒環(huán)太守舍，而伏甲酒所。旦日，太守入謁，監(jiān)司飲之酒，出其子質，不辨也。守窘，擬起為變而伏甲發(fā)，就坐捽之。6其卒之環(huán)守者，亦破署入。賊數(shù)十人卒起格斗，胥逸去，僅獲其七。獄具如律，械送金陵殺之。于是雷之人乃知向之守，非守也，盜云。

東陵生7聞而嘆曰：“異哉！盜乃能守若此乎？今之守非盜也，而其行鮮不盜也，則無寧以盜守矣！其賊守，盜也；其守而賢，即猶愈他守也。”或曰：“彼非賢也，將間而括其藏與其郡人之資以逸。”曰：“有之。今之守亦孰有不括其郡之藏若貲而逸者哉？”愚山子8曰：“甚哉東陵生言也！推其意，足以砥守。”

譯 文

雷州是廣東最邊遠的一個郡。祟禎初年，有一個金陵人，原是中央政府官員，被調派到雷州任太守，所乘船只入江時遇到一群強盜。這群強盜知道他是太守，就把他殺了，又把他的隨從也一并殺害，只留下他的妻子和女兒。這群強盜讓同伙中最狡猾能干的人冒充太守，拿著公文前往雷州上任，其余的強盜則裝作仆人，人們都沒察覺。到達雷州一個月以來，假太守又廉潔又能干，當?shù)爻霈F(xiàn)了大治景象。雷州人都互相祝賀來了個好太守，他的部下以及上司監(jiān)司使也都稱贊他。不久，太守貼出告示禁止游客，所轄地區(qū)不得接待金陵來的人，不然的話，即使是太守最親密的人，也要治罪。于是雷州人覺得新太守如此嚴格耿直，倍加誠服。

沒過多久，真太守的兒子來到雷州，入境以后，沒人敢讓他留宿。他一打聽才知道是太守有禁令，心中很是疑惑。次日早晨，太守出來，他在路邊觀看，果然不是他父親。他向人訊問太守的籍貫、姓名，竟和自己的父親一樣。他頓時明白了：“啊，這是強盜裝的！”他不敢明說，跑到監(jiān)司使那兒告了狀。監(jiān)司使說：“別聲張，我明天請?zhí)爻燥垼愠鰜硪娨娝！庇谑亲屖窒录訌娊鋫洌杀鼑颂刈≌⒃诔燥埖牡胤铰穹挛溲b士兵。第二天，假太守前來拜謁。監(jiān)司使請他喝酒，讓太守的兒子出來相見。假太守哪里認得，他窘迫不堪，起身欲反抗，被埋伏的士兵一擁而上按在座位上。包圍太守住宅的士兵也沖進屋中，幾十個強盜倉促迎戰(zhàn)搏斗一番。最終，大部分強盜逃跑了，士兵只抓住了其中七個人。俘獲的強盜被依法定罪，帶上枷鎖，押到金陵處決。這時雷州的人們才知道太守是假的，是強盜裝的。

東陵生聽到這件事感嘆道：“奇怪呀！強盜做太守能做成這樣嗎？現(xiàn)在那些當太守的不是強盜，可是他們的行為很難說不像強盜，還不如讓強盜當太守呢。那個賊太守，是強盜；可他太守當?shù)煤芎茫€真是勝過了真太守啊。”也有人說：“這些強盜不是好人，會伺機盜走太守的庫藏，搜刮了郡里百姓的資財，然后逃之夭夭。”東陵生回答道：“是有這種情況。不過你看今天這些太守們，哪有不搜刮全郡資財而溜之大吉的呢？”愚山子說：“說的好！要理解他的意思，現(xiàn)今的太守們要引以為戒呀。”

英 譯 文

In the first year of Chongzhen Emperor’s reign in the Ming Dynasty， a central government official was transferred to Leizhou， the most remote prefecture of Guangdong Province， to serve as the magistrate. Traveling by boat along the river， he and his entourage encountered a gang of bandits， who， upon learning he was the new magistrate， killed him and all his attendants， sparing only his wife and daughter. They then selected the most cunning and adaptable among them to impersonate the official， with the others playing the roles of his servants. Bearing the imperial certificate of appointment， this fake official and his accomplices sailed on to the set destination of Leizhou， where he took office， causing not even the slightest suspicion. A month had passed， and the locals saw a clean and capable official and a well-governed community. They congratulated each other on having such a good governor， one who garnered praise and respect from superiors and subordinates alike. Shortly thereafter， the magistrate issued a decree imposing a prohibition on inbound visitors： no one in his jurisdiction should receive any traveler from his hometown of Jinling. Violators， even if they were close relatives of the magistrate， would face severe punishment. This new policy won even more trust and admiration from the local people for its strictness and impartiality.

Not long afterwards， the son of the real magistrate came to Leizhou. When he entered the region， no one dared to accommodate him. He asked why and was told of the magistrate’s prohibition. Perplexed， he decided to investigate the matter. The next morning， he went to stand by the roadside， observing. When the magistrate came out， he saw the man was plainly not his father. He asked people around him about the name and hometown of the magistrate and received answers that were exact copies of his own father’s details. Suddenly he realized that the holder of the office must be an imposter. Remaining calm and unperturbed， he promptly went to report this to the commissioner， the supervisor of local officials. “Keep this a secret，” the commissioner said， “I’ll invite him to come for a banquet， and you can confront him.” Then orders were given that all departments be placed on alert， and that both the magistrate’s residence and the venue of the banquet be surrounded by armed soldiers lying in ambush. The next day， the magistrate came and was feasted by his superior. As they were exchanging toasts， the son of the real magistrate appeared. Unable to recognize him， the bandit-turned magistrate realized what was happening and fell into embarrassment. He rose up and tried to revolt， yet the soldiers flocked in and pinned him down on his seat. At the same time， the soldiers around the magistrate’s residence stormed in， engaging in a fierce fight with dozens of bandits， most of whom managed to escape and only seven were captured. Convicted and shackled， all these bandits were escorted to Jinling， the hometown of the real magistrate， and executed. Only then did the people of Leizhou learn that that man who had been governing their prefecture was actually a bandit.

When Mr. Dongling heard of this， he made the following comments： “Is it not against common sense that a bandit could conduct the duties of an official so remarkably？ The officials at the time are not bandits， yet they are just like bandits in everything they do. This being the case， we would rather have bandits as our governors， for even though they are criminals， they govern well， better than the appointed officials.” Someone else argued： “But they are after all bad men， who are in reality plotting to rob the prefecture treasury and fleece its people， then run away with all the wealth.” Mr. Dongling replied： “This is true， but your description also fits all the local officials here！” In my view， Mr. Dongling’s comments hit the mark： properly understood， his words can serve as a timely admonition to all current officials.

1本文選自明末清初徐芳的《諾皋廣志》，是一篇鞭撻封建官場腐敗的筆記小說，其中的“土匪為官”情節(jié)與2010年電影《讓子彈飛》相似。 2此句沒有單獨譯出，而是在譯文第一句末以同位語的形式譯出。 3此處信息與后文“所隸毋得納金陵人只履”合并譯出。 4這幾句敘事文字，按“遇賊被殺”“賊扮太守”“赴任未遭懷疑”“政績斐然”“雷州人贊揚”五個片段，用五個英語句子重述。注意句中從句等從屬成分的運用。 5原文的直接引語譯為直陳句，以合行文需要。 6古文十分簡約，譯為英語不免要增添必要細節(jié)，以明事件發(fā)展過程。此句譯文中的as they were exchanging toasts和“unable to recognize him， the bandit-turned magistrate realized what was happening”就是這種情況。其他部分還有類似譯法，請自行留意。這是英語行文的需要，更是“譯事而非譯字”原則的體現(xiàn)。 7“東陵生”是作者假托的議論者，譯文應根據(jù)行文需要靈活處理。

8愚山子是作者徐芳的號。