不类人世/ unlike the human world

《南烬纪闻》

Stephen H. West, “Crossing Over: Huizong in the Aftergolw, Or the Deaths of a Troubling Emperor” in Patricia B. Ebrey and Maggie Bickford eds., Emperor Huizong and Late Northern Song China: The Politics of Culture and the Culture of Politics (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2006).

《南烬纪闻》是在南宋时候的一种笔记，记述宋徽、钦二帝被掳北行之事。不好说书中细节的可靠性到底有多大，不过里面描述的惨况是凭空很难设想的，从下面两个小段落里就可以看到。

我在几年前上了 Stephen West 教授的课，才知道了《南烬纪闻》和其他几本类似的书。这些笔记再现了历史的狞笑，非一般的文字所能杜撰。中国的古文很适合记载历史，《南烬纪闻》如果用现代汉语来写，可以做到很凄惨，但不能做到凝练。它里面的对白又夹杂了当时的口语，读起来如同舔到了厉鬼柔软的舌头。这两个片断的英文翻译也是 West 教授做的，出现在他的一篇研究中，读起来与原文的感觉很像。这也看出了英文的一个优势。因为英文书面语不曾出现五四白话文运动那样的断裂，所以虽然在简约上不及中国文言文，但可以做到比现代书面汉语硬一些。

或日到一縣﹐極荒殘﹐止有屋七八間。城郭倒塌﹐路旁一女﹐約年二十許。垂淚而言曰﹕“吾乃南朝皇帝孫女﹐因病﹐大軍棄吾在此﹐不能存活。”拜太后曰﹕“帶取奴奴去。”后不留﹐左右報繹利﹐視之微笑曰﹕“一就去。”遂命左右扶上馬。是夕宿于野寨﹐繹利乘醉淫之。醜惡之聲﹐不忍聽聞。帝后等亦不敢開目。次日遇酒食﹐必分及此女﹐謂朱后曰﹕“你不如他。”

(On some day we reached some district that had been completely desolated. There were only seven or eight buildings. The city wall and its outside environs had tumbled down, and there was a young girl at the side of the road, perhaps twenty or so. She shed tears and explained her situation, saying, “I am a granddaughter of the august emperor of the southern court. Because I took sick, the army simply abandoned me here, where I have no way to stay alive.” She bowed to the Empress Dowager and said, “Take me with you.” The empress would not leave her behind, and servants reported this to Yili, who looked her over and said with a slight grin, “Take them all.” Then he ordered the servants to help her get up on the horse. On this night, we overnighted in a fortress in the wilds, and Yili, on a tide of drunkenness, raped her. No one could bear to listen those vile and filthy sounds. The emperors and empresses simply dared not open their eyes. The following days, whenever there was drink and food, [Yili] would portion out a share of it for this girl. And he told Empress Zhu, “You’re no match for her.”)

或日早﹐少帝自土坑出視太上﹐則殭踣而死矣。號啕大哭大慟。阿計替曰﹕“可就此中掩埋。”後具申文。土人云﹐“此間無葬埋事。凡死者必火燒其屍﹐及半﹐即棄之州北石坑中。由是此水可以作燈也。。。。”語未竟﹐即有數人入室中﹐以木棒共架太上而出。少帝從之﹐北至石坑﹐架屍於上﹐用荼鬱木焚之。焦爛將半﹐復以水滅之﹐用大木貫其殘骨﹐曳棄坑中。墜入坑底﹐沈沒不見﹐少帝止之不得﹐乃跳號大慟﹐亦欲跳入坑中﹐眾人拉止之﹐曰﹕“昔年曾有活人躍入﹐此水頓清不可作 油。”爭共阻之。少帝問土人﹐“今日是何日﹖”或曰﹐“天眷三年正月十八日也。”

(One morning or the other the young emperor came out of his earthen pit to look at the Grand Retired Emperor, and it turned out that he had already fallen down dead. He wept, he wailed, and he cried out loud. Egeti said, “We can bury him right here.” Later, [Egeti] wrote up a request, but the locals said, “We don’t bury people here. We cremate the corpses of the dead, but only halfway, then we throw them into a stone pit north of the city. Because of this, the water can be used for lamp oil….” He hadn’t finished speaking before several people came into the room, loaded Grand Retired Emperor onto some wooden staves and carried him out. The young emperor followed them north to the stone pit, where they hoisted the corpse onto a wooden frame next to it. Then they burned it with tuyu wood. They body was nearly burned halfway when they doused it with water, and using larger timbers, they speared the remaining skeleton, drug it over and threw it into the pit. It sank right to the bottom of the pit, clear out of sight. There was no way the young emperor could stop them, so he jumped up and down and cried out, wailed, and then wanted to jump into the pit himself. All in attendance pulled him back to stop him, saying, “Some years ago a live person jumped into this pool, and the water suddenly became clear and we couldn’t use it for oil anymore.” They all hastened to stop him. The young emperor asked a local, “What is the date today?” Someone said, “The 18 of the 5^th month, the 3^rd year of Tianjuan (February 8, 1140).”)