在香港喇沙書院畢業,現於英國劍橋大學唸經濟學的十九歲男生葉晉瑋Eric Yip,憑一首英文詩《擦音》(Fricatives),從七千多名參賽詩人中脫穎而出,榮獲英國詩歌大賽冠軍,更是該獎項歷來最年輕得主。昨天我讀了那首詩,很喜歡,更佩服葉同學年紀輕輕,用第二語言寫作竟有此等造詣,真不簡單。

有讀者來函要求我解釋那首詩,甚至翻譯一下。外國人有句老話,出自詩人Robert Frost:「詩就是翻譯中喪失的東西(Poetry is what gets lost in translation)。」越好的詩越難翻譯,而能夠完整翻譯的詩,通常都不值得譯。葉晉瑋的詩透過英語「擦音」,巧妙表達出他對語言、殖民和政治的看法,隱喻昨日的時局,寄託今天的離散,你只能用英語唸,才能體會箇中滋味。

詩無達詁,我也不敢自稱「解釋」甚麼,只能談談我的理解和感受。單是那題目「Fricatives」,已可寫千言萬語。要看懂一首詩,你必須先搞清楚:為甚麼好詩不能譯?因為第一流的詩,其形式和內容、聲音和意義,通常都緊緊相扣;一旦換成別的語言,改變它的聲音,它就陷入「失語」狀態了。

聲音與意義的一致性,早在柏拉圖對話錄《克拉底魯篇》(Cratylus)已有論及。柏拉圖借蘇格拉底的嘴巴說,希臘字母ῥῶ(拉丁化即R)常用於表達「運動」的字,因為唸 R 這字母時,舌頭「少靜多動 ( ἥκιστα μένουσαν, μάλιστα δὲ σειομένην)」。英國大詩人Alexander Pope也建議你寫詩的時候,「務必音義相應(The sound must seem an echo to the sense)。」

那麼本身帶有擦音的「Fricatives」,其音、義有何關係呢?所謂「擦音」,指兩個發音器官彼此靠攏,形成狹窄通道,氣流通過其間的時候,摩擦作響。英文的擦音有s、z、f、v、th等。怎樣理解詩題的「Fricatives」?第一反應,你自然想到詩人想談英文發音的困難,正如各大媒體都說:「得獎作品以港人難以克服的『f』和『th』發音為切入點。」但若Eric立意只是如此,這首詩就索然無味了。

我認為他寫「擦音」,除了表面上講香港人要努力調教舌頭、適應外語,更是一個隱喻:所有逃離的人,不管是肉身上抑或精神上的逃離,都是一種「擦音」。「擦音」所帶出的意義,與其說是外語的艱難,不如說是存在的坎坷。每一個海內外的香港人,如今都彷彿身處狹窄的通道內,掙扎前進,四面八方都是矛盾摩擦。說到底,我們都是「擦音」。

Eric詩題的一個字,已畫龍點睛,敲出時代之音。

有了這層理解後,我們再品味他每一行詩的每一個字,味道就變得極有層次了。如果我逐字逐句解釋,這篇專欄可能要寫上十天,所以我只節錄幾個片段談談,算是拋磚引玉吧。以下是開首數行:

To speak English properly, Mrs Lee said, you must learn

the difference between three and free. Three men

escaped from Alcatraz in a rubber raft and drowned

on their way to Angel Island. Hear the difference? Try

this: you fought your way into existence. Better. 

Mrs Lee明顯是一位香港英語老師。(我八卦,問喇沙一位老師,校內是否真的有個Mrs Lee?他答沒有。)第一句沒甚麼花巧,但已表現出一種張力和諷刺:教你講標準英語的人,似乎也不是以英語為母語。

這位老師提醒同學,「three」和「free」——兩個俱帶擦音的字——唸出來要有分別,然後舉了一句例子:「三(Three)人乘坐橡皮筏逃離惡魔島,在前往天使島的途上淹死了。」Alcatraz Island是美國加州三藩市灣內一個島,可譯亞卡拉島,那裏曾設立聯邦監獄,又叫惡魔島。Angel Island(天使島)也是位於加州三藩市灣,曾是軍事要塞和移民中心。

表面上老師想說,若把「three」唸成「free」,意義就大不相同,也是「錯」的。但機智的Eric其實在玩一個文字遊戲:那些逃離惡魔島的人,根本就是「free」的,只是這種理解不符合Mrs Lee的「標準」答案。至於惡魔島和天使島象徵甚麼,聰明的你應該get到,也不需要我畫公仔畫出腸吧?

下一句「you fought your way into existence」,表面意思是「你搏鬥而存在」,底下意思是「fought」不能用「thought」代替——你光想而不做,根本不能稱為「存在」。

詩是比喻的遊戲。現在回頭想想「To speak English properly」這四個字,Eric表面上寫學英語,但僅僅是寫學英語嗎?英語其實也是一個比喻而已。去了英國的香港人要講英語,留在今日香港的香港人,則講另一套「鬼話」。在海外是離散,留在家鄉也一樣是離散。

看懂嗎?Eric借用英語課的情境,輕輕巧巧寫幾行詩,已蘊涵了無數香港人的集體回憶——由學「鬼話」的困難,到幾年前的社會大事,以及Eric那一代人的價值觀,統統壓縮在五行詩中。這就是文學真正的「美」!

(明日續)

附錄:

Fricatives by Eric Yip

To speak English properly, Mrs Lee said, you must learn

the difference between three and free. Three men

escaped from Alcatraz in a rubber raft and drowned

on their way to Angel Island. Hear the difference? Try

this: you fought your way into existence. Better. Look

at this picture. Fresh yellow grains beaten

till their seeds spill. That’s threshing. That’s

submission. You must learn to submit

before you can learn. You must be given

a voice before you can speak. Nobody wants to listen

to a spectacled boy with a Hong Kong accent.

You will have to leave this city, these dark furrows

stuffed full with ancestral bones. Know

that death is thorough. You will speak of bruised bodies

skinnier than yours, force the pen past batons

and blood, call it fresh material for writing. Now

they’re paying attention. You’re lucky enough

to care about how the tongue moves, the seven types

of fricatives, the articulatory function of teeth

sans survival. You will receive a good education

abroad and make your parents proud. You will take

a stranger’s cock in your mouth in the piss-slick stall

of that dingy Cantonese restaurant you love and taste

where you came from, what you were made of all along.

Put some work into it, he growls. C’mon, give me

some bite. Your mother visits one October, tells you

how everyone speaks differently here, more proper.

You smile, nod, bring her to your favourite restaurant,

order dim sum in English. They’re releasing

the students arrested five years ago. Just a tad more

soy sauce please, thank you. The television replays

yesterday on repeat. The teapots are refilled. You spoon

served rice into your mouth, this perfect rice.

Steamed, perfect, white.

本文獲作者授權轉載自「馮睎乾十三維度」Patreon
(編者按:本版文章僅代表專欄作者個人意見,不反映本報立場。)@

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