小酒店/冯铭(赵金基译）

程思良

小酒店/冯铭
　　
　　小酒店小而矮，店主是一位老太太。在这一带，常有拉板车的民工来小酒店里喝酒。“来一杯酒！”说话的是一位衣着朴素的中年男人，男人把钱递过来，老太太就把酒递过去。男人端起酒杯就往嘴里送，仰脖，酒却未干，还剩一半，男人的眼睛就闭了一下。第二口他的眼睛却眯了，眯成了一条直线，脸就扭曲着，痛苦着，随即那目光就转去看了行人。
　　今天小酒店里多了位小女孩，小女孩略略有四、五岁的光景，此时正在店里吃零食。“来一杯酒。”柜台外又站着一个拉板车的男人，男人刚把板车停靠在路边，人就走来这柜台边了，小女孩在店里一直就盯着他……。男人走后，小女孩很是不解。
　　“奶奶，喝酒苦吗？”
　　“苦。”
　　“他们拉板车苦吗？”
　　“苦！”
　　“那他们干吗还要来喝酒呢？”
　　“以苦解苦呗，解了心里就甜了！”
　　“那……对面的那些人也苦吗？”小女孩指的是几个绅士模样的中年人，他们刚刚在对面的大酒店里喝过酒，此时正在对面走着猫步。
　　“他们呀，他们只苦心，不苦身子。”
　　“那……他们喝酒也是以苦解苦吗？”
　　“不是，他们是以苦解甜，甜的日子过腻了，得要苦来解。”
　　“不解又怎样呢？”
　　“不解啊……不解就还是苦！”
　　“原来，你们就是这样过日子啊！”
　　
　　The Small Pub
　　
　　By Feng Ming
　　
　　The small pub, which offered inexpensive wines to nearby porters, was run by an old lady. “Pour me a cup of wine!” said a plainly-dressed middle-aged man as he handed over some money. Taking the cup from the old lady, the man jerked his neck, swallowed half of the wine and closed his eyes for a moment. With a second mouthful, he narrowed his eyes to a squint, his face awfully distorted. Then he turned to take a glance at the passers-by outside.
　　Another day saw a little girl, a four-or-five-year-old, enjoying her snacks in the small pub. “Pour me a cup of wine!” Over here came another porter, who had hardly stopped his cart by the roadside when he ordered his wine. The little girl was so concentrated on the man drinking in the pub that she looked bewildered when he left.
　　“Granny, is the wine bitter?”
　　“Yes, it is.”
　　“Is it hard to pull the cart?”
　　“Yes, it is.”
　　“Why do they come for a drink, then?”
　　“Dissolve hardship in bitterness, and one will feel happy in heart.”
　　“Well, are those guys feeling the same way?” said the little girl, pointing towards several decent-looking middle-aged men, who apparantly had drunk their fill in the restaurant opposite the pub. They were walking like cats.
　　“Those guys? They bear hardship in their hearts, not in their stomachs.”
　　“Well, do they drink to dissolve hardship in bitterness, too?”
　　“No. They dissolve happiness in bitterness; they are fed up with happy days and only bitterness awakens them to happiness.”
　　“What if there were no bitterness?”
　　“No bitterness? Then hardship would cling.”
　　“That’s the way you live!”

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