英譯現(xiàn)代散文●憶滇緬路 ◎ 蕭乾

憶滇緬路

Recalling the Construction of the Yunnan-Burmese Road

◎　蕭乾

◎　Xiao Qian

在二次大戰(zhàn)的眾多深刻教訓(xùn)中，最主要也是最痛心的一條是：國(guó)與國(guó)之間平時(shí)客客氣氣，誰(shuí)有點(diǎn)小災(zāi)小禍，還會(huì)略表支援;然而一個(gè)國(guó)家一旦自身遇到麻煩，需要出賣朋友來(lái)擺脫困境時(shí)，則什么背信棄義的勾當(dāng)都干得出。一九四〇年七月，正當(dāng)我國(guó)抗戰(zhàn)面臨緊要關(guān)頭，丘吉爾就為了討好日本帝國(guó)主義以保全英帝國(guó)在遠(yuǎn)東的殖民地，竟然在當(dāng)時(shí)仍是英屬緬甸邊界，把抗戰(zhàn)中國(guó)的這條生命線封鎖。當(dāng)時(shí)，除了橫越喜馬拉雅山的空運(yùn)外，我國(guó)所有進(jìn)口的軍火、汽油、藥品、器械以及為換取這些而出口的鎢砂、豬鬃、水銀和桐油，都要經(jīng)由這條公路運(yùn)輸。汽車行駛高峰每日達(dá)七千余輛，進(jìn)出口物資達(dá)數(shù)百萬(wàn)噸。英國(guó)悍然封鎖該公路扼住我們的咽喉，無(wú)疑是對(duì)我國(guó)一巨大打擊。

Of all the numerous profound lessons we have learned from World War II, the following is the most distressing. A country may be formally polite to another and show willingness to offer it a little help in case of a minor mishap befalling the latter. But it may stop at nothing to act perfidiously when it seeks to extricate itself from its own predicament at the expense of its friend. In July 1940, at the critical juncture of China's Anti-Japanese War, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, endeavoring to hold on to the British colonies in the Far East by fawning on the Japanese imperialists, ordered a blockade of our lifeline on the Burmese side of the border with China, Burma then being a British colony. At that time, in addition to the airlift over the Himalayas, it was through the land transport by the Yunnan-Burmese Road that China imported munitions, gasoline, medicines and appliances in exchange for such exports as tungsten ore, hog bristles, mercury and tung oil. The Road daily witnessed a traffic of over 7,000 motor vehicles during the peak hours and the transport of several million tons of import and export goods. Britain's brazen act of blockading the Road meant, as it were, grabbing our throat. It was undoubtedly a serious blow to China.

一九三九年春間，我曾踏訪了這條公路并曾為香港《大公報(bào)》寫過(guò)幾篇報(bào)道。其中，在《血肉筑成的滇緬路》一文中，我扼要地介紹了這條公路工程之艱巨：

In the spring of 1939, I wrote several reports for the Hong Kong Dagong Bao after making an on-the-spot investigation of the Road. In one of them, entitled The Yunnan-Burmese Road — Paved with Flesh and Blood, I gave as follows a brief account of the formidable Road building project:

九百七十三公里的汽車路，三百七十座橋梁，一百四十萬(wàn)立方尺的石砌工程，近兩千萬(wàn)立方公尺的土方，不曾沾過(guò)一架機(jī)器的光，不曾動(dòng)用巨款，只憑二千五百萬(wàn)名民工的搶筑：鋪土、鋪石，也鋪血肉。下關(guān)至畹町那一段一九三七年一月動(dòng)工，三月分段試車，五月就全面通車了。

A 973-kilometer motorway, with 370 bridges, 1,400,000 cubic meters of stone work, and approximately 20,000,000 cubic meters of earth work. With neither machines nor adequate funds, 25 million laborers were engaged in a rush job of road construction. They paved the road with flesh and blood as well as with earth and stone. Work on the Xiaguan-Wanding section of the road started in January 1937 and was entirely opened to traffic in May after a section-by-section trial run in March.

路是沿著古老的通往印度和緬甸的馬幫驛道修成的。為了修那條公路三千多人捐了軀。不能忘記的還有陳嘉庚組織的“南洋機(jī)工隊(duì)”三千二百人，其中有一千多人在公路上為國(guó)殉難，除了工程的艱險(xiǎn)之外，還有那怕人的瘴氣——惡性瘧疾。同行的一位頭天晚上還有說(shuō)有笑，第二天一摸，全身涼了。我們當(dāng)時(shí)是席地睡在一座馬廄里，他就睡在我身旁。

The Road was built on the ancient post road leading to India and Burma, on which caravans used to travel. More than 3,000 men laid down their lives for building the Road. Of the 3,200 members of the“Nanyang Mechanics Team”organized by Tan Kah-kee, over 1,000 died on the job. The horrible disease of pernicious malaria was one of the great perils facing the laborers. One of my fellow travelers who chatted and laughed merrily one evening and then slept next to me on the ground of a stable was found stiff and cold the next day.

一九三九年九月，我去了英國(guó)，正趕上二次歐戰(zhàn)的爆發(fā)。沒(méi)想到次年七月，我親眼看到修筑的滇緬路被丘吉爾主持的英戰(zhàn)時(shí)政府悍然封鎖了，而且是在日本侵略者指使下這么干的，當(dāng)時(shí)英國(guó)民間組織援華委員會(huì)就在全英掀起反封鎖的運(yùn)動(dòng)。由于我是剛從抗戰(zhàn)中國(guó)來(lái)到英國(guó)的記者，又曾采訪過(guò)滇緬路，所以就應(yīng)邀赴英國(guó)各大城市及鄉(xiāng)村去演講。有些城市的英國(guó)群眾還上街游行。在倫敦，援華會(huì)就曾組織人們到丘吉爾所在的唐寧街首相府門口搖旗吶喊，反對(duì)英國(guó)助桀為虐，幫助日本侵略者扼殺抗戰(zhàn)的中國(guó)。

In September 1939, World War II broke out on my arrival in England. Unexpectedly, the wartime British government under Churchill, on the instigation of the Japanese aggressors, outrageously blockaded in July 1940 the Yunnan-Burmese Road, whose construction I had just seen with my own eyes. Britain's non-governmental Aid-China Committee then launched a nationwide anti-blockade campaign. As I was a Chinese correspondent just arrived in England from covering the Yunnan-Burmese Road, I was invited to deliver speeches in various big cities and villages of the country. In some cities, people even demonstrated in the streets. In London, the Aid-China Committee organized people to demonstrate in front of Churchill's official residence on Downing Street, waving flags and shouting slogans decrying the British government aiding Japanese aggression against China.

十月，英政府被迫解除了對(duì)滇緬路的封鎖。一九四一年十月，中英簽訂了“共同防御滇緬路協(xié)定”。“珍珠港事變”后，中國(guó)軍隊(duì)就同盟軍并肩作戰(zhàn)于朱紅色的滇緬土地上了。

In October of the same year, the British government was compelled to lift its blockade of the Road. In October 1941, China and Britain signed the“Agreement on the Joint Defence of the Yunnan-Burmese Road.”After the Pearl Harbor Incident of December 7, 1941, Chinese troops began to fight shoulder to shoulder with the Allied troops on the red earth field surrounding the Road.

滇緬路如今只是全國(guó)千百條公路中的一條了?？墒钱?dāng)時(shí)中華民族的命運(yùn)曾系在它身上。

Now the Road is but one of the thousands of highways in China. But back in those days, it had a close bearing on the destiny of the Chinese nation.

《憶滇緬路》是蕭乾于1995年根據(jù)五十多年前舊作《血肉筑成的滇緬路》寫的一段二戰(zhàn)史事，追憶當(dāng)年中國(guó)勞工奮勇?lián)尳ㄎ覈?guó)生命線——滇緬路——的英雄事跡，并譴責(zé)英國(guó)戰(zhàn)時(shí)政府在日本指使下一度悍然封鎖該公路，助紂為虐，為虎作倀。