生瓜/林芳萍(赵金基译）

程思良

生瓜/林芳萍
　　
　　风吹草低，珠翠滚圆的西瓜，在阳光下一览无余。
　　王劳拄锄欣赏自己的佳作，儿子学费有着落了。
　　儿子学习好，考重点大学，是三个指头拈螺丝的事。
　　回到院中，王劳将草帽挂树上，甩嗓：“宝儿娘，开瓜！”说着，从井里拎起西瓜，搁院中桌上。
　　宝儿同娘一道出来。王劳挥刀切下，瓜向两边仰开，如陀螺般晃了晃停住。
　　他们将红沙瓤挖到两个大瓷盆中，见白为止。宝儿娘将盆推向儿子：“吃吧，消消凉，歇下子吃饭！”
　　王劳挖的一盆，装网袋放入井中，对儿子说：“饭后打个盹，起来拎出吃。莫怕热，发发狠，考个出息！”说完，与老伴抱起面前的瓜皮，各自“咔嘣”吃到见青。
　　自从宝儿上小学起，夫妻俩就戒了瓜瓤，省吃俭用，从不亏了儿子。
　　转眼间，西瓜轮了几茬。宝儿大学毕业留了省城，娶妻生子，带信要娘服侍媳妇月子。
　　几年没见面，王劳也想儿子，陪老伴来到省城。
　　他急吼吼切开从家带来的西瓜，不禁呆了。老伴笑着奚落：“服侍半辈瓜，好不容易到省城露个脸，竟是生的。”
　　宝儿挥刀剖开刚买的西瓜，红沙瓤。他把瓜瓤挖到两只玻璃碗，盖上放进冰箱。
　　将还有红色的两半推给父母，说：“你们先吃吧，我和媳妇都喜欢吃冰西瓜！”
　　老两口默默拿过自家生瓜，吃着久违的瓤，心里不是个滋味。
　　
　　An Unripe Melon
　　
　　By Lin Fangping
　　
　　Grass was swinging low as wind blew. Watermelons, round and jade green, could be seen shining in the sunshine.
　　Resting on the hoe, Wang Lao enjoyed his own performance on the farm, which would help solve the problem of his son’s tuition.
　　The son was an excellent high school student and his being admitted to a key university would be a piece of cake.
　　Back to his courtyard, Wang Lao hung his straw hat on the tree and called proudly, “Honey, come on!” With this he lifted a cool watermelon out of the well and put it on the table in the middle of the courtyard.
　　Out of the house came his wife and his son. A knife in hand, Wang Lao cut the melon in half, which appeared like two spinning tops coming to a halt.
　　The couple scooped out all the red flesh and put it into two porcelain pots until the mere white part of the melon could be seen. The wife offered one pot to the son. “Help yourself. Keep cool. Meal is ready soon.”
　　Put in a special pouch, the other pot was kept cool in the well. “Take a nap after meal. Then eat this to cool yourself. Don’t fear the heat. Work harder. Make it in your exams!” said Wang Lao to his son. Upon that the couple started nibbling at the remainder of the melon till its green part could be seen.
　　Since the child was at elementary school, the couple had “quit” all red flesh of melons, saving every penny on foods and expenses for the sake of their son.
　　In a flash of moments, watermelons had rotated several times. The son had settled in the capital of the province after graduation from university and got married. He sent a letter for his mother to attend her daughter-in-law who had just given birth to a baby.
　　Missing his son so much, because they hadn’t met each other for several years, Wang Lao accompanied his wife to the capital city.
　　Hastily cutting open the watermelon he had brought from his own farm, Wang Lao got dumbfounded. “You’ve grown watermelons for half of your life; given a chance to show off in the capital, how come you’ve brought an unripe one?” His wife teased him, smiling.
　　Gracefully cutting open the watermelon he had just bought which contained red granulated flesh, the son scooped out part of the flesh, filled two glass bowls with lids and put them in the fridge.
　　“Help yourselves. Both my wife and I prefer cooled watermelon.” The son said as he offered to his father and his mother the remainder of the melon.
　　Silently taking the unripe melon and tasting the long-ago flesh, the old couple couldn’t help a feeling of bitterness.
　　

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