那些无法抗拒的名篇11:Life on the Mississippi 密西西比河上的生活(节选)MP3和文本下载

11 Life on the Mississippi

11 密西西比河上的生活

    The Boys' Ambition

    男孩们的志向

    When I was a boy, there was but one permanent ambition among my comrades in our village on the west bank of the Mississippi River. That was，to be a steamboatman. We had transient ambitions of other sorts, but they were only transient.

    我的童年是在密西西比河西岸的村庄里度过的。我和伙伴们有一个永恒的志向，那就是，做一个蒸汽船员。我们也有其他短暂的志向，但那些都转瞬即逝了。

    When a circus came and went, it left us all burning to become clowns; the first Negro minstrel show that came to our section left us all suffering to try that kind of life; now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates. These ambitions faded out, each in its turn; but the ambition to be a steamboatman always remained.

    当一个马戏团来了又去的时候，我们都狂热地希望能成为小丑;而第一次来我们那个地区表演的黑人吟游诗人，又使我们都被想尝试那种生活的愿望煎熬着;我们时而还会想，如果我们活着并且表现不错，也许上帝会允许我们去当海盗。这些志向，一个个都消逝了，但是成为蒸汽船员的志向却总是能留下来。

    Once a day a cheap, gaudy packet arrived upward from St. Louis,and another downward from Keokuk. Before these events, the day was glorious with expectancy; after them, the day was a dead and empty thing. Not only the boys, but the whole village, felt this. After all these years I can picture that old time to myself now,just as it was then: the white town drowsing in the sunshine of a summer's morning; the streets empty,or pretty nearly so; one or two clerks sitting in front of the Water Street stores,with their splintbottomed chairs tilted back against the wall,chins on breasts, hats slouched over their faces, asleep一with shingle shavings enough around to show what broke them down;a sow and a litter of pigs loafing along the sidewalk, doing a good business in watermelon rinds and seeds; two or three lonely little freight piles scattered about the levee; a pile of skids on the slope of the stonepaved wharf, and the fragrant town drunkard asleep in the shadow of them; two or three wood flats at the head of the wharf, but nobody to listen to the peaceful lapping of the wavelets against them; the great Mississippi, the majestic, the magnificent Mississippi, rolling its mile-wide tide along,shining in the sun; the dense forest away on the other side; the point above the town, and the point below, bounding the river-glimpse and turning it into a sort of sea. and withal a very still and brilliant and lonely one. Presently a film of dark smoke appears above one of those remote points; instantly a Negro drayman, famous for his quick eye and prodigious voice,lifts up the cry "S-t-e-a-m-boat acomin!”and the scene changes! The town drunkard stirs, the clerks wake up, a furious clatter of drays follows，every house and store pours out a human contribution, and all in a twinkling the dead town is alive and moving. Drays,carts, men, boys,all go hurrying from many quarters to a common center, the wharf. Assembled there, the people fasten their eyes upon the coming boat as upon a wonder they are seeing for the first time. And the boat is rather a handsome sight, too. She is long and sharp and trim and pretty; she has two tall, fancy-topped chimneys, with a gilded device of some kind swung between them; a fanciful pilothouse, all glass and gingerbread, perched on top of the texas deck behind them; the paddleboxes are gorgeous with a picture or with gilded rays above the boat's name; the boiler deck,the hurricane deck, and the texas deck are fenced and ornamented with clean white railings; there is a flag gallantly flying from the jackstaff; the furnace doors are open and the fires glaring bravely; the upper decks are black with passengers; the captain stands by the big bell, calm, imposing, the envy of all; great volumes of the blackest smoke are rolling and tumbling out of the chimneys—a husbanded grandeur created with a bit of pitch pine just before arriving at a town;the crew are grouped on the forecastle; the broad stage is run far out over the port bow, and an envied deckhand stands picturesquely on the end of it with a coil of rope in his hand; the pent steam is screaming through the gauge cocks; the captain lifts his hand，a bell rings，the wheels stop;  then they turn back, churning the water to foam, and the steamer is at rest. Then such a scramble there is to get aboard, and to get ashore,and to take in freight and to discharge freight,all at one and the same time; and such a yelling and cursing as the mates facilitate it all with! Ten minutes later the steamer is under way again,with no flag on the jack staff and no black smoke issuing from the chimneys. After ten more minutes the town is dead again,and the town drunkard asleep by the skids once more.

    一艘从圣路易斯向上游航行的廉价俗艳的轮船，每天都要来我们这里，还有另一艘从齐奥库克向下游去的。在这两件事以前，这一天因为期待而美好，而在那以后，这一天就变成死气沉沉、空虚无聊的日子了。不只是男孩们，而是整个村庄的人，都有这样的感觉。经过这些年以后，那段旧日时光，一切都历历在目:白色的城镇在夏日清晨的阳光中昏昏欲睡;街上空无一人，或是差不多那样;一两个职员坐在水街商店前面，他们坐着薄木板镶底的椅子向后斜靠在墙上，下巴垂在胸前，帽子聋拉在脸上，睡着觉——周围有足够多的墙板刨花说明他们为什么那么疲倦;一只母猪和一窝小猪顺着人行道溜溜达达，在西瓜皮和西瓜子中胡闹一番;几小堆孤零零的货物散布在大堤上;石头铺成的码头斜坡上有一堆垫木，镇上那些身上散发着酒气的醉鬼就睡在那木头堆的阴影中;两三艘木头平底船停在码头的顶端，没人去倾听那小小的浪头平和地轻拍它们的声音;那伟大的密西西比，那宏伟的、壮丽的密西西比，一路翻滚着几英里宽的大浪，在阳光下闪耀着光芒。对岸远处茂密的森林;城镇中上部映照于河流之中，使它像个海洋似的，而且是一个非常沉静、绚丽和孤寂的海洋。不久，一道黑色的烟幕就出现在远方的上空;马上就传来那个以敏锐视力和惊人声音而出名的黑人马车车夫的喊声:“蒸—汽—船—来—啦—!”整幅景象变化了!镇里的醉鬼开始挪动身子，职员醒来了，紧跟着传来一阵运货马车的喧嚣，每所房子和每间店铺里都涌出一股人流，转瞬之间那死气沉沉的城镇活了过来，动了起来。运货车、马车、男人、孩子，都急急忙忙地从各个地方来到了一个共同的中心—码头。人们聚集在那里，眼光盯着慢慢驶来的船，仿佛看着一个他们第一次见到的奇迹。那船也确实相当壮观。它又长又尖，整齐漂亮;它有两个高高的、顶部精美的烟囱，它们之间摇晃着一条镀金的链子;一个不同寻常的驾驶室，全部由玻璃和鲜艳的装饰组成，位于烟囱后面的主甲板上;桨格上用图画或镀金线装饰得非常华丽。汽炉甲板、防风甲板和主甲板都用干净的白色栏杆围起来作为修饰;国旗杆上飞扬着一面漂亮的旗子，火炉门敞开着，里面的火焰熊熊闪耀;上层甲板上站着黑压压的乘客;船长站在大钟旁边，镇静威风，是所有人羡慕的焦点;浓烈的黑烟从烟囱中翻卷着冲了出来—那是到达城镇之前用一点儿多脂松木制造出来的庄严景象，船员们集中在前甲板上;一块宽阔的木板从左弦弓上方远远地伸出来，一个令人嫉妒的甲板水手像一幅图画般地站在木板顶端，手里拿着一卷绳子;高压蒸汽在计量塞中尖叫着;船长举起一只手，铃响了，轮子停下了;然后它们向后面转着，把河水搅成泡沫，接着蒸汽机停止工作了。然后就是人们全都在同一时间上船、下船、把货物装上船和运下船的一片混乱:还有水手们催促的喊叫和咒骂声!十分钟，蒸汽船又上路了，没有旗子在旗杆上飘扬，也没有黑烟从烟囱里冒出。再过十分钟以后，整个城镇又变得死气沉沉，那镇上的醉汉又在垫木旁睡着了。

    My father was a justice of the peace, and I supposed he possessed the power of life and death over all men and could hang anybody that offended him. This was distinction enough for me as a general thing, but the desire to be a steam-boatman kept intruding, nevertheless. I first wanted to be a cabin boy, so that I could come out with a white apron on and shake a tablecloth over the side, where all my old comrades could see me; later I thought I would rather be the deckhand who stood on the end of the stage plank with the coil of rope in his hand, because he was particularly conspicuous. But these were only daydreams—they were too heavenly to be contemplated as real possibilities. By and by one of our boys went away. He was not heard of for a long time. At last he turned up as apprentice engineer or striker on a steamboat. This thing shook the bottom out of all my Sunday-school teachings. That boy had been notoriously worldly, and I just the reverse; yet he was exalted to this eminence,and I left in obscurity and misery. There was nothing generous about this fellow in his greatness. He would always manage to have a rusty bolt to scrub while his boat tarried at our town。and he would sit on the inside guard and scrub it, where we could all see him and envy him and loathe him. And whenever his boat was laid up he would come home and swell around the town in his blackest and greasiest clothes, so that nobody could help remembering that he was a steamboatman; and he used all sorts of steamboat technicalities in his talk, as if he were so used to them that he forgot common people could not understand them. He would speak of the labboard side of a horse in an easy, natural way that would make one wish he was dead. And he was always talking about "St. Looey" like an old citizen; he would refer casually to occasions when he "was coming down Fourth Street",or when he was "passing by the Planter' s House"，or when there was a fire and he took a turn on the brakes of "the old Big Missouri";and then he would go on and lie about how many towns the size of ours were burned down there that day.Two or three of the boys  had long been persons of consideration among us because they had been to St. Louis once and had a vague general knowledge of its wonders, but the day of their glory was over now. They lapsed into a humble silence, and learned to disappear when the ruthless cub engineer approached. This fellow had money, too, and hair oil. Also an ignorant silver watch and a showy brass watch chain. He wore a leather belt and used no suspenders. If ever a youth was cordially admired and hated by his comrades, this one was. No girl could withstand his charms. He cut out every boy in the village. When his boat blew up at last, it diffused a tranquil contentment among us such as we had not known for months. But when he came home the next week, alive, renowned，and appeared in church all battered up and bandaged,a shining hero, stared at and wondered over by everybody, it seemed to us that the partiality of Providence for an undeserving reptile had reached a point where it was open to criticism.

    我父亲是一位治安法官，我以为他拥有决定所有人生死的权利，可以绞死任何侵犯了他的人。一般来说，我觉得这是足够有地位的了，但是成为一个蒸汽船员的渴望却不断地侵入我的脑海。我起初希望成为一个船上的侍者，那样我就可以围着一条白色的围裙走出来，把一块桌布向一边抖开，让我的旧日伙伴都能看到我;后来我又觉得我宁愿当那个站在木板顶端、手里拿着那卷绳子的甲板水手，因为他特别引人注目。但是那都只是白日梦罢了—它们都太神圣了，不能当成真正有可能的事情来考虑。渐渐地，我们中间的一个男孩离开了，很长时间他都杳无音讯。最后他出现了，成为一艘蒸汽船上的实习轮机手或水手。这件事把我从周日学校学到的所有道理都颠覆了。那个男孩的世俗众人皆知，而我却恰恰相反;然而，他居然高升到了那么显赫的地位，而我却还在身份卑微、心灵悲惨的境地里。这个家伙虽然地位显赫，但他一点也不大方。当他的船在我们镇上靠岸时，他总会想办法搞到一个生锈的螺钉，然后他就会坐在护栏里擦螺钉，让我们都能看见他，羡慕他，憎恨他。而只要他的船进坞停留时，他就会回家来，穿着他最黑最油腻的衣服在镇子里四处炫耀，那样所有人就都不能不记得他是一个蒸汽船员了;他在说话的时候使用各种蒸汽船上的技术用语，仿佛他那么习惯使用那些术语，以至于忘了普通人根本不明白词的意思。他会用一种轻松自然的方式谈到一匹马的“左舷”，让人希望他马上去死。而且他总是像一个老居民那样谈到“圣路易”;他会随随便便地说到他“顺着第四街走”或是“经过种植主店”的情况，或是那次着火的时候，他在“老大密苏里”那儿停了车;然后他就会接着谎称说那天有多少个像我们镇这么大的镇都烧掉了。我们中有两三个男孩一直都是重要人物，就因为他们去过圣路易斯一次，对那儿的奇妙景象有一个模模糊糊的大概印象，但是现在他们神气的日子到头了。他们陷入了谦卑的沉默，学会了在那无情的年轻轮机手走近的时候迅速消失。这个家伙也有钱，还有发油。他还有一块银怀表和一条炫耀的铜表链。他系着一条皮带，根本不用吊裤带。如果曾经有哪个年轻人受到他的伙伴们十足的崇拜和憎恨，那就是这个家伙了。没有一个女孩能抵挡他的魅力。他让镇里的所有男孩都出了局。当他的船最后终于起锚出发的时候，一种我们仿佛几个月都不曾拥有过的宁静的满足感慢慢散播开来。但是他下星期又回来了，活着，还出了名，满身伤痕、绑着绷带出现在教堂里，他成了一个闪光的英雄、所有人凝视和惊叹的焦点。这时候在我们看来，命运对于一个根本不配的卑鄙的人的偏心，已经到了可以公开批评的程度了。

    This creature's career could produce but one result, and it speedily followed. Boy after boy managed to get on the river. The minister's son became an engineer. The doctor's and the postmaster's sons became mud clerks; the wholesale liquor dealer's son became a barkeeper on a boat, four sons of the chief merchant, and two sons of the county judge, became pilots. Pilot was the grandest position of all. The pilot, even in those days of trivial wages, had a princely salary—from a hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty dollars a month, and no board pay. Two months of his wages would pay a preacher's salary for a year. Now some of us were left disconsolate. We could not get on the river—at least our parents would not let us.

    这家伙的经历只能引起一个后果，而实际上这后果很快就出现了。男孩们一个接一个地想办法到河上去了。牧师的儿子成了一个轮机手;医生和邮政局长的儿子成了船上的清洁工;批发酒的商人的儿子在一艘船上开了个酒吧。大商人的四个儿子和郡法宫的两个儿子成了领航员。领航员是所有这些职业中最高级的。在那个工资微薄的时候，领航员也能得到一笔丰厚的薪水—每个月150到250美元，还不用付伙食费。他两个月的工资就相当于一个牧师一年的工资了。现在我们中的一些人都郁郁寡欢，因为我们不能到河上去—至少是我们的父母不允许我们去。

    So by and by I ran away. l said l never would come home again till I was a pilot and could come in glory. But somehow I could not manage it. I went meekly aboard a few of the boats that lay packed together like sardines at the long St. Louis wharf, and very humbly inquired for the pilots, but got only a cold shoulder and short words from mates and clerks. I had to make the best of this sort of treatment for the time being, but I had comforting daydreams of a future when I should be a great and honored pilot,with plenty of money,and could kill some of these mates and clerks and pay for them.

    所以，我不久以后就逃走了。我说直到我成了一个领航员、能衣锦还乡的时候我才会回来。但是不知为什么我一直没能做到。我怯懦地上了几艘在圣路易斯长长的码头边像沙丁鱼一样紧挨在一起的船，非常谦恭地要求和领航员说话，然而我得到的却只是副手和职员们冷冰冰的几句话。我不得不暂时用最好的态度来接受这种待遇，但是在我那抚慰心灵的、关于未来的白日梦中，我却成了一个伟大的、受人尊敬的领航员，有很多钱，可以杀死这些副手和职员中的一些人，然后再用钱把事情摆平。
 

作者介绍：
    马克·吐温(1835-1910)本名塞缪尔·朗赫恩·克莱门斯，马克·吐温是其笔名。出生于密西西比河畔汉尼拔的一个乡村律师家庭，从小在外拜师学艺。当过排字工人，密西西比河水手，南军士兵，还经营过木材业、矿业和出版业，还当过记者，写过幽默文学。马克·吐温是美国批判现实主义文学的奠基人，世界著名的短篇小说大师。马克·吐温被誉为“美国文学界的林肯”。

    《密西西比河上的生活》是美国作家马克·吐温的代表之作。在这篇小说中，作者描述了他在美国南北战争前在密西西比河上的轮船上面当水手和领航员的经历。这篇小说真实而生动地描写了密西西比河上的生活。