[翻译大赛NO. 3]The Wonderful Tea-kettle/神奇的茶釜

THE WONDERFUL TEA-KETTLE
神奇的茶釜[1]
 A LONG time ago there was an old priest who lived in a temple and was very devout. He was also very poor. He cooked his own rice, boiled his own tea, swept his own floor, and lived frugally as an honest priest should do.
从前有座庙，庙里有个老和尚。老和尚非常虔诚，也非常穷。他要自己做饭，自己烧茶，还要自己扫地，总之，就是像虔诚的和尚那样过着俭朴的生活。
 One day the kettle in which he boiled water for his tea got broken, and he did not know what to do, as he had no money to buy a new one. But the next morning, behold! a shiny brass tea-kettle was sitting outside his door. Overjoyed he returned thanks, and built a fire in the square fireplace in the middle of the floor. A rope and chain to hold the rice-pot and tea-kettle hung down from the covered hole in the ceiling which did duty as a chimney. A pair of brass tongs was stuck in the ashes, and soon the fire blazed merrily. At the side of the fireplace, on the floor, was his tray filled with tiny teacups, a pewter tea-caddy, a bamboo tea-stirrer, and a little dipper. The priest having finished sweeping the ashes off the edges of the hearth with a little whisk-broom made of hawk's feathers, was just about to put on the tea when "suzz, suzz," sang the shiny tea-kettle spout; and then "pattari—pattari!" said the lid, as it flapped up and down, and the kettle swung backward and forward.
有一天，他把茶釜摔坏了，该怎么办呢，他可没钱买新的呀。可是，第二天老和尚开门一瞧，呀！台阶上端端正正地放着一把亮闪闪的铜茶釜！老和尚高兴坏了，连忙去佛祖面前拜了拜，献上供品，然后在地板中间的火炉里生上火。火炉方方正正的，上面的屋顶开了一个洞，当作烟囱用，不过给捂住了，从那儿吊下一根连在一起的绳索和链子，下面系着饭锅和茶釜。火炉里面满是炉灰，炉灰里插着一把铜火钳。火一会儿就旺了，烧得噼呖啪啦地响。火炉边的地板上摆着搁板，上面放着好多小巧的茶碗、一个青灰色的茶叶罐、一把竹刷[2]和一把小茶杓[3]。老和尚有一把用鹰毛绑成的小笤帚，他用这把笤帚将火炉边的灰扫得干干净净，正要往釜里放茶叶——“滋滋滋”，亮闪闪的壶嘴唱了起来；壶盖也跟着嚷嚷起来：“啪嗒，啪嗒！”一边嚷嚷，还一边上下扑腾。整个茶釜开始一前一后地晃荡。
 "What does this mean?" said the old priest with a start; for, wonder of wonders, the spout of the kettle had turned into a badger's nose with its big whiskers, while from the other side sprouted out a long bushy tail!
“这是怎么一回事？”老和尚给吓了一跳，因为最奇怪的还在后面——壶嘴变成了尖尖的獾鼻子，两边长着粗壮的胡子，釜那头呢，“腾”地窜出一根蓬松的长尾巴！
 "Ho, ho!" cried the priest, with a long string of Japanese words which would sound strange to you. And in terror he dropped the tea-caddy, spilling the green tea all over the matting, as four hairy legs appeared under the kettle, and the strange compound, half badger and half kettle, jumped off the fire, and began running around the room. To the priest's horror it leaped on a shelf, puffed out its belly and began to beat a tune with its fore-paws as if it were a drum. The old priest's pupils, hearing the racket, rushed in, and after a lively chase, upsetting piles of books and breaking some of the teacups, secured the badger, and squeezed him into a keg used for storing pickled radishes. They fastened down the lid with a heavy stone, and felt sure that the strong odor of the radishes would kill the beast, for no man could possibly survive such a smell, and it was not likely a badger could.
“噢噢！”老和尚大叫起来，嘴里的日本话说得又急又快，咱们这些外国人听起来可要晕头转向。他手里拿着的茶叶罐也给吓得一下子掉在地上，绿茶撒得榻榻米上到处都是。老和尚还没回过神来，茶釜下面又变出四条毛茸茸的腿，于是，这只半獾半釜的怪物跳下火炉，开始满屋子乱窜。就在大惊失色的老和尚眼前，这家伙刷地跳上一个板架，小肚皮鼓出来，两只小前爪一伸， 在肚皮上“咚咚咚”敲起鼓来。这时，老和尚的弟子听到动静，全都冲了进来。这一场追捕可是了不得，书倒了一堆又一堆，茶碗打碎了好几个，獾精才给他们捉到手里。弟子们把獾精塞进一只腌萝卜的醃缸，用一块大石头死命地压住缸盖。他们觉着，腌萝卜那股味那么冲，指定能把怪物给熏死——连人都受不了这股味，更何况一只小小的獾精哪。
 The next morning the tinker of the village called in and the priest told him about his strange visitor. Wishing to show him the animal, he cautiously lifted the lid of the cask, lest the badger might, after all, be still alive, in spite of the strong vinegar pickles, when lo! there was nothing but the shiny brass tea-kettle. Fearing that the utensil might play the same prank again, the priest was glad to sell it to the tinker, who on his part secretly thought the priest had been dreaming, and was glad to give another kettle in exchange for it, and some cash to boot. He carried it proudly to his junk shop, though he thought it felt unusually heavy.
第二天早上，村里的修补匠来修茶釜，老和尚跟他讲起昨天那奇怪的访客，还掀起缸盖，让他见识见识。老和尚开缸的时候可小心啦，就怕獾精万一忍受住那股子腌菜味，到现在还活着。可是，啊呀，缸里只有那把亮闪闪的铜茶釜！这一来，修补匠可认定老和尚只是做了一场梦，老和尚也怕茶釜再整一出昨天那样的鬼把戏，于是两人互换了一只茶釜，修补匠还另加了一些钱，然后就得意洋洋地把茶釜带回铺子里。不过，他觉着这只茶釜好像特别重哪。
 The tinker went to bed as usual that night with his tiny paper shaded lamp just back of his head. About midnight, hearing a strange noise like the flapping up and down of a pot-lid, he sat up in bed, rubbed his eyes, and there was the bewitched tea-kettle covered with fur and sprouting out legs. In short, it was turning into a hairy beast.
到了晚上，修补匠跟平常一样上床安歇，小小的纸糊夜明灯就放在枕畔。半夜的时候，他听到一阵奇怪的响动，好像是壶盖在上下扑腾。修补匠坐起来，揉了揉眼睛，就看到那只成了精的茶釜全身长了毛，正往外伸腿呢。一句话，茶釜变成了一只毛茸茸的怪物。
 "Don't beat me or shut me in a vinegar keg," it said, "for I am really kind-hearted and wish you well."
"What can I do for you?" asked the tinker.
"Feed me a little rice now and then, and don't put me on the fire as that stupid priest did. Look here."
“别打我，也别把我关到醃缸里。”怪物说道，“我真的没有坏心眼，绝不会害你。”
“我能帮你什么呢？”修补匠问它。
“只要时不时给我点儿米饭吃，也别像笨和尚那样把我放到火上烤。你瞧。”
 Going over to a corner of the room and taking a fan from the rack, the badger climbed up on the frame of the lamp, and began to dance on its one hind leg, waving the fan with its fore-paw. It played many other tricks, until the man started up, and then the badger turned into a tea-kettle again.
獾精小跑到一个角落里，从架子上拿下一把扇子，然后爬上灯笼，直立起来，换着腿儿跳起舞。它一边跳，还用一只前爪抓着扇子挥来挥去。跳完舞，獾精还玩了许多把戏，直到睡梦中的修补匠突然惊醒，才“嗖”地一下又变成茶釜。
 "I declare," said the tinker as he woke up next morning, and talked the matter over with his wife. "I'll just 'raise a mountain' on this kettle. It certainly is a very highly accomplished tea-kettle. I'll call it by some high-sounding name and exhibit it to the public."
"You've been dreaming," scoffed his wife; "that's only an ordinary brass tea-kettle."
"Just watch it and see," replied the tinker.
So they watched the next night, and sure enough it turned into a badger again.
 “要我说，”修补匠一觉醒来，对妻子说了他做的梦，“要我说，我要拿这只茶釜发大财啦。它可真是多才多艺。我要给它取个最气派的名字，让大家伙儿都来看它表演。”
“你在做白日梦吧。”妻子对他的话嗤之以鼻，“只是个普普通通的茶釜嘛。”
“你就瞧着吧。”修补匠回道。
于是，夫妻俩晚上等呀等，真的看到茶釜又变成獾精了。
 The delighted tinker hired a professional showman for his business agent, and built a little theatre and stage. Then he gave an order to a friend of his, an artist, to paint scenery, with the sacred mountain Fuji yama in the background and cranes flying through the air, a crimson sun shining through the bamboo, a red moon rising over the waves, with golden clouds and tortoises and such like. Then he stretched a tight rope of rice-straw across the stage, and the handbills being stuck up in all the barber shops in town, and wooden tickets branded with "Accomplished and Lucky Tea-Kettle Performance, Admit One,"—the show was opened. The house was speedily filled, the people coming in parties, bringing their teapots full of tea and picnic boxes full of rice, and eggs, and dumplings made of millet meal, sugared roast-pea cakes, and other refreshments; because they came to stay all day. Mothers brought their babies with them, for the children enjoyed it most of all.

修补匠乐颠颠地请了个专职艺人给他做经理，造了个小戏园，搭了个小戏台，然后请了一位画家朋友给他画布景，上面画着神圣的富士山，山前白鹤飞翔，一轮红日从竹林中喷薄而出，波涛中正冉冉升起一弯红月芽，云朵镶金，乌龟缓缓爬行，以及其他诸如此类的事物。然后，修补匠在台上拉起一根稻草搓成的绳索，绷得紧紧的。镇上所有的理发店都贴了传单，一个个木牌上面刻着“幸运茶釜，多才多艺，凭票入内，一票一人”。准备完毕，表演终于要开始了。戏园很快就爆满了，人们成群结队地来看表演。他们带着装满茶的茶壶，食盒装得满满登登，里面有米饭、鸡蛋、粟米做的饺子、甜甜的炸豌豆饼，还有其他各种各样的小点心——他们可是打算在这儿看一整天哪。妈妈都带着孩子来了，因为孩子最喜欢这些小把戏呀。

Then the tinker, dressed up in his wide ceremonial clothes, with a big fan in his hand, came out on the platform, made his politest bow and set the wonderful tea-kettle on the stage. At a wave of his fan, the kettle ran around on four legs, half badger and half kettle, clanking its lid and wagging its tail. How the children shouted; and so should you and I if we could only have been there! Next it turned into a badger, swelled out its body and beat a tune on it like a drum. It danced a jig on the tight rope, and walked the slack rope, holding a fan, or an umbrella in its paw, stood on its head, and finally at a flourish of its master's fan became a cold brass tea-kettle again. The audience were wild with delight, and as the fame of the wonderful tea-kettle spread, many people came from great distances to see it perform.

修补匠上场了。他穿着宽大的节日礼服，手里握着把大折扇，深深地弯腰鞠躬，然后把那只奇妙的茶釜放在台上。看哪，修补匠手里的扇子一挥，茶釜就生出了四只腿，变成半獾半釜的样子，开始在台上跑起来，壶盖叮叮当当地响，尾巴还一左一右地摇晃。孩子们简直要闹翻天了，要是咱们也在场，也准得像他们一样大叫哪。茶釜很快完全变成了獾的样子，鼓起肚皮，在上面敲起了鼓。它还用爪子拿着小扇子或小伞，在绷紧的绳索上跳起快步舞，在耷拉下来的绳索上走来走去，或者倒立在头上。最后，修补匠扇子一挥，獾精又变成了个冷冰冰的铜茶釜。观众看得欣喜若狂，关于神奇的茶釜的事也被人们飞速传播开来，很多人特意从大老远赶来看它表演。

Year after year the tinker exhibited the wonder until he grew immensely rich. Then he retired from the show business, and out of gratitude took the old kettle to the temple again and deposited it there as a precious relic. The old priest was given a goodly sum of money to do nothing else but take care of it; and all his life it had all the rice and dumplings it wanted. After his death it turned into an ordinary kettle, and has stayed so ever since. If you don't believe it, you can go to the temple some day and see it for yourself.

神奇的茶釜表演了一年又一年，修补匠变得非常富裕。终于有一天，修补匠决定退出演艺事业。为了回报獾精，他把它带回老和尚的寺庙，作为珍贵的神迹献给神灵，还给了老和尚很大一笔钱，让他照顾照顾它，这样，獾精一辈子都可以尽情地吃米饭和饺子了。獾精死后，这只茶釜就变成一只寻常的茶釜，以后也再没变样。要是你不相信这个故事，尽可以哪天到那座庙里，亲眼看看那只茶釜。

[hr]
[1] fu，三声，煮茶水的器具

[2] 搅和茶叶末使起泡沫的刷子

[3] 长柄，也称为柄杓，用于把水从水缸里勺到茶釜

从图书馆借了谷崎润一郎的《阴翳礼赞》，从里面看到“枕畔夜明灯”一语
又，把“便当盒”改为“食盒”。