查爾斯·蘭姆/Charles Lamb
查爾斯·蘭姆（1775—1834），英國最傑出的小品文作家、散文家。蘭姆十分讚賞浪漫主義思潮中人性主義的主張，並以此創作了充滿溫情和調侃的個性化散文。同時，蘭姆也熱愛城市生活，善於用敏銳獨特的眼光捕捉市井生活中變幻的都市風情。其後期創作的《伊裏亞隨筆》，情趣豐富，表述精妙，堪稱蘭姆散文創作的最高成就。《古瓷器》是其中的名篇之一。本文節選自《古瓷器》的前半部分。
I have an almost feminine partiality for old china.When I go to see any great house,I inquire for the china closet,and next for the pictur e gallery.I cannot defend the order of preference,but by saying that w e have all some taste or other,of too ancient a date to admit of our re membering distinctly that it was an acquired one.I can call to mind the first play,and the first exhibition,that I was taken to;but I am not conscious of a time when china jars and saucers were introduced into my imagination.
I had no repugnance then--why should I now have?--to those little,l awless,azure-tinctured grotesques,that under the notion of men and wom en float about,uncircumscribed by any element,in that world before per spective--a china teacup.
I like to see my old friends--whom distance cannot diminish--figurin g up in the air (so they appear to our optics ),yet on terra firma stil l--for so we must in courtesy interpret that speck of deeper blue,which the decorous artist,to prevent absurdity,had made to spring up beneath their sandals.
I love the men with women's faces,and the women,if possible,with still more womanish expressions.
Here is a young and courtly mandarin,handing tea to a lady from a s alver--two miles off.See how distance seems to set off respect!And her e the same lady,or another--for likeness is identity on teacups--is ste pping into a little fairy boat,moored on the hither side of this calm g arden river,with a dainty mincing foot,which in a right angle of incid ence(as angles go in our world) must infallibly land her in the midst of a flowery mead--furlong off on the other side of the same strange stream!
Farther on--if far or near can be predicated of their world--see hor ses,trees,pagodas,dancing the hays.
Here--a cow and rabbit couchant,and coextensive--so objects show,s een through the lucid atmosphere of fine Cathay.
I was pointing out to my cousin last evening,over our Hyson (which we are old-fashioned enough to drink unmixed still of an afternoon),som e of these speciosa miracula upon a set of extraordinary old blue china(a recent purchase) which we were now for the first time using;and coul d not help remarking how favorable circumstances had been to us of late years that we could afford to please the eye sometimes with trifles of t his sort--when a passing sentiment seemed to overshade the brows of my c ompanion.I am quick at detecting these summer clouds in Bridget.
"I wish the good old times would come again," she said,"when we wer e not quite so rich.I do not mean that I want to be poor;but there was a middle state"--so she was pleased to ramble on--"in which I am sure w e were a great deal happier.A purchase is but a purchase,now that you have money enough and to spare.Formerly it used to be a triumph.When w e coveted a cheap luxury (and,O!How much ado I had to get you to conse nt in those times!)--we were used to have a debate two or three days bef ore,and to weigh the for and against,and think what we might spare it out of,and what saving we could hit upon,that should be an equivalent.A thing was worth buying then,when we felt the money that we paid for i t.
"Do you remember the brown suit,which you made to hang upon you,ti ll all your friends cried shame upon you,it grew so threadbare--and all because of that folio Beaumont and Fletcher,which you dragged home late at night from Barker's in Covent Garden?Do you remember how we eyed it for weeks before we could make up our minds to the purchase,and had not come to a determination till it was near ten o'clock of the Saturday ni ght,when you set off from lslington,fearing you should be too late--an d when the old bookseller with some grumbling opened his shop,and by th e twinkling taper(for he was setting bedwards)lighted out the relic from his dusty treasures--and when you lugged it home,wishing it were twice as cumbersome--and when you presented it to me--and when we were explori ng the perfectness of it (collating,you called it)--and while I was rep airing some of these loose leaves with paste,which your impatience woul d not suffer to be left till daybreak--was there no pleasure in being a poor man?Or can those neat black clothes which you wear now,and are so careful to keep brushed,since we have become rich and finical,give you half the honest vanity with which you flaunted it about in that overworn suit--your old corbeau--for four or five weeks longer than you should ha ve done,to pacify your conscience for the mighty sum of fifteen--or six teen shillings was it?--a great affair we thought it then--which you had lavished on the old folio.Now you can afford to buy any book that pleas es you,but I do not see that you ever bring me home any nice old purcha ses now.
"When you came home with twenty apologies for laying out a less numb er of shillings upon that print after Leonardo,which we christened the'Lady Blanch';when you look at the purchase,and thought of the money--and thought of the money,and looked again at the picture--was there no pleasure in being a poor man?Now,you have nothing to do but to walk in to Colnaghi's,and buy a wilderness of Leonardos.Yet do you?
"Then,do you remember our pleasant walks to Enfield,and Potter's Bar,and Waltham,when we had a holiday--holidays,and all other fun,ar e gone now we are rich--and the little hand-basket in which I used to de posit our day's fare of savory cold lamb and salad--and how you would p ry about at noontide for some decent house,where we might go in and pro duce our store--only paying for the ale that you must call for--and spec ulate upon the looks of the landlady,and whether she was likely to allo w us a tablecloth--and wish for such another honest hostess as Izaak Wal ton has described many a one on the pleasant blanks of the Lea,when he went a-fishing--anti sometimes they would prove obliging enough,and som etimes they would look grudgingly upon us--but we had cheerful looks sti ll for one another,and would eat our plain food savorily,scarcely grud ging Piscator his Trout Hall?Now--when we go out a day's pleasuring,w hich is seldom,moreover,we ride part of the way--and go into a fine in n,and order the best of dinners,never debating the expense--which,aft er all,never has half the relish of those chance country snaps,when we were at the mercy of uncertain usage and a precarious welcome.
"You are too proud to see a play anywhere now but in the pit.Do you remember where it was we used to sit,when we saw the Battle of Hexham,and the Surrender of Calais,and Bannister and Mrs.Bland in the Childre n in the Wood--when we squeezed out our shillings apiece to sit three or four times in a season in the one-shilling gallery--where you felt all t he time that you ought not to have brought me--and more strongly I felt obligation to you for having brought me--and the pleasure was the better for a little shame--and when the curtain drew up,what cared we for our place in the house,or what mattered it where we were sitting,when our thoughts were with Rosalind in Arden,or with Viola at the Court of Ilyr ia.You used to say that the gallery was the best place of all for enjoy ing a play socially--that the relish of such exhibitions must be in prop ortion to the infrequency of going--that the company we met there,not b eing in general readers of plays,were obliged to attend the more,and d id attend,to what was going on,on the stage--because a word lost would have been a chasm,which it was impossible for them to fill up.With suc h reflections we consoled our pride then--and I appeal to you whether,a s a woman,I met generally with less attention and accommodation than I have done since in more expensive situations in the house?The getting i n indeed,and the crowding up those inconvenient staircases was bad enou gh--but there was still a law of civility to woman recognized to quite a s great an extent as we ever found in the other passages--and how a litt le difficulty overcome heightened the snug seat and the play,afterwards!Now we can only pay our money and walk in.You cannot see,you say,in the galleries now.I am sure we saw,and heard too,well enough then--bu t sight,and all,I think,is gone with our poverty."
我對古瓷器的偏愛甚至有些女性化。每次去大戶人家造訪，我都要求先看看瓷器架，然後才是走廊。我改變不了這個欣賞的先後順序，隻能說人人都有這樣或那樣的偏好，由於年代久遠不可能記得哪些是後天形成的。我還記得跟人看的第一出戲、第一次展覽，但真不記得這些瓷壇瓷碟是何時進入我的思索空間的。
那些怪異的天藍色的小巧形體沒有規律可以琢磨，我當時就不曾反感，現在又怎麽會反感呢？在常人眼中，他們在那個沒有透視的世界——一個瓷茶上飄浮不定，不受任何局限。
我喜歡看老朋友們——距離不能縮小他們——浮現在半空（正如我的眼睛所看到的），但又踏在堅實的土地上——我們不得不禮貌地解釋那個深藍色的點，為了看上去不那麽荒誕不涼，造詣深厚的藝術家，在他們拖鞋底下點了那個藍點。
我喜歡長相女性化的男人和女人味十足的女人。
這位年輕的中國官員彬彬有禮，正用托盤向一位夫人獻茶——他們之間的距離是兩英裏。距離就是這樣衍生崇敬的！就是這一位女士——或者另外一位——因為在茶上的相似就是相同——正要走進一條小巧的小船中，而小船正停在這條平靜的花園小河的這一邊。她輕輕地挪動著小巧的步子，如果估計正確（像我們生活中一樣的話），絕對會踏上這片鮮花遍布的草地，草地就在200米以外的一條同樣奇特的河的對岸。
遠處——如果他們也有遠近的話——可以看見馬、樹、塔等正跳著圓圈舞。
這兒，一頭奶牛、一隻兔子俯首地上，同樣大——畫麵顯示如此。畫中的中國晴空萬裏。
我們剛買了一套與眾不同的藍色古瓷器，昨天晚上，我和姐姐首次用它喝茶。（我們都很懷舊，可以喝著不摻雜任何其他東西的茶，靜靜地坐一下午。）我把上麵的一些奇觀指給她看，禁不住說，這些年我們過得多幸福呀，竟然可以買到如此好的東西一飽眼福。這時，我同伴的眉頭掠過一絲傷感的陰影。我善於覺察布裏奇特心中的愁雲。
她說：“我多希望過去的好時光可以重現。那時我們不富有。我不是說想成為窮人，但那是一種中間狀態，”她喜歡隨口漫談，“我相信我們會比現在更快樂。現在因為你有錢去花，買東西就是買東西，這要在從前可是件樂事。我們相中了一件便宜的奢侈品時（哦！那時我要贏得你的同意多難啊！）常常要討論好幾天，左思又想，看可以省出什麽錢來，存多少才能夠那個數，我覺得當時買的每件物品都物有所值。”
“你還記得那件棕外套嗎？你經常穿它以至於線頭都露出來了！朋友都覺得穿它太丟麵子了！這都要歸咎於波蒙特和弗萊徹的對開劇作集。那是一個深夜，你把它從科文特加登劇院的巴克書店淘了回來。記得當時我們猶豫良久，直到星期六晚上十點才決定買。從伊斯靈頓出發時，你擔心太晚了。所幸的是書店老板雖然嘟囔著不樂意，但是仍借著搖曳的燭火（他準備睡覺了）從塵封的寶藏中將這件遺物畫了出來。而你回到家後，仍希望這本書能比現在重上一倍。你把它拿給我看，我們一起檢查它的完整性（你稱之為校對）。然後我用糨糊粘補疏鬆了的書頁。這時你已經迫不及待了，無法等到天亮。你能說窮人就沒有快樂嗎？說說你現在穿的這件整潔的黑禮服吧，自從我們變得富有之後，就很精心地收拾它。你多穿了四五個星期，安撫一下不安的心情——因為這件衣服花了15或16先令的巨款（那時我們覺得這是個大數目，你都用來買那本舊書了）。但是它帶給你多少快樂和滿意？有你那件舊衣服（你的老烏鴉）一半多嗎？現在你能隨心所欲地買你喜歡的書，但是你再也沒給我帶回一本好的舊書來。”
“因為買了不到15先令的萊昂納多仿造品——就是我們稱為布朗奇夫人的那幅畫，你至少說了20個對不起！當你看著畫，想著花的錢——想著花的錢，再看那幅畫時——你覺得窮人沒有生活的樂趣嗎？而如今，你隻需走進科爾拉吉畫店，就可以買到萊氏的荒涼，對吧？”
“然後，還記得嗎，我們安步當車去恩菲爾德、波特斯巴和沃爾瑟姆旅行時是多麽開心快樂？當然現在我們有錢了，可以出去度假之類的，但興致全沒了——記得那隻小提籃，我用它來裝薄荷冷羊肉和沙拉——記得你如何打聽到一家還算不錯的餐館，好讓我們進去擺出自帶的食物——隻需花點錢買你非要不可的麥芽酒——體會老板娘的神色，看她是否會鋪上桌布——我們真心期望她是個樸實厚道的老板娘，就像艾薩克·沃爾頓所描繪的那樣，他在風景宜人的麗河兩岸釣魚時遇到過很多這樣的老板娘，——有時她們會很慷慨熱情，但有時又很冷——不過我們仍很快樂，吃著我們的家常便飯，很少渴望皮斯卡托的鱒魚廳。現在我們開心玩一天的機會太少了，即使出遊大多也是以車代步——進好的酒店，點最好的菜，不計價錢——但味道卻比不上偶爾在鄉下吃的農家飯，在鄉下我們不知道人家會拿什麽招待我們，也不知道我們受不受歡迎。”
“你現在太自傲了，隻願坐在正廳後排看戲。記得看《赫克瑟姆之戰》、《征服加來》和斑尼斯特與布蘭德夫人主演的《叢林中的孩子們》時，我們都坐哪裏嗎？那時候，我們必須盡量節約每個先令，才能一季度在一先令走廊座上看三四出戲——你一直覺得不該帶我去——我一直因此而感激你——在羞愧的同時樂趣更大——開幕了，我們介意坐在哪裏嗎？或者說坐在哪裏重要嗎？我們的思緒早已隨羅莎琳德飛到阿登，隨薇奧拉飛進伊利裏亞法院。你過去常說頂層樓座是社會一員欣賞戲劇的最佳之處——還說這種表演次數越少越好——我們在劇院裏見到的觀眾，一般不看劇本，所以看戲時都全神貫注，而且的確很專注——漏掉一個字都是無法彌補的空缺。那時我們就靠這種想法來安慰自己——作為女性，我想問一下，是不是在劇院有了昂貴的座位，我就可以得到更多的禮遇？事實並非如此。雖然以前進門走樓梯時，秩序相當差，但是女士優先的慣例保持良好，——克服一點小麻煩後，再坐下來舒適地看戲，其中的樂趣無窮！現在我們隻需付錢往裏走。你說如今在頂層樓座看不清演出了。但我肯定那時我們看得清晰也聽得明白，並且感覺很好——但那時的一切都已隨貧窮消逝了。”