张晓风·《一句好话》英译

一句好话

张晓风

小时候过年，大人总要我们说吉利话，但碌碌半生，竟有一天我也要教自己的孩子说吉祥话了，才蓦然警觉这世间好话是真有的，令人思之不尽，但却不是“升官”、“发财”、“添丁”这一类的，好话是什么呢？冬夜的晚上，从爆白果的馨香里，我有一句没一句的想起来了。

好咖啡总是放在热杯子里的！

经过罗马的时候，一位新识不久的朋友执意要带我们去喝咖啡。

“很好喝的，喝了一辈子难忘！”

我们跟着他东抹西拐大街小巷的走，石块拼成的街道美丽繁复，走久了，会让人忘记目的地，竟以为自己是出来踩石块的。

忽然，一阵咖啡浓香侵袭过来，不用主人指引，自然知道咖啡店到了。

咖啡放在小白瓷杯里，白瓷很厚，和中国人爱用的薄瓷相比另有一番稳重笃实的感觉。店里的人都专心品咖啡，心无旁骛。

侍者从一个特殊的保暖器里为我们拿出杯子，我捧在手里，忍不住讶道。

“咦，这杯子本身就是热的哩！”

侍者转身，微微一躬，说：“女士，好咖啡总是放在热杯子里的！”

他的表情既不兴奋也不骄矜，甚至连广告意味的夸大也没有，只是淡淡的在说一句天经地义的事而已。

是的，好咖啡总是应该斟在热杯子里的，凉杯子会把咖啡带凉了，香气想来就会蚀掉一些，其实好茶好酒不也如此吗？

原来连“物”也是如此自矜自重的，庄子中的好鸟择枝而栖，西洋故事里的宝剑深契石中，等待大英雄来抽拔，都是一番万物的清贵，不肯轻易亵慢了自己。古代的禅师每从喝茶喂粥去感悟众生，不知道罗马街头那端咖啡的侍者也有什么要告诉我的，我多愿自己也是一份千研万磨后的香醇，并且慎重的斟在一只洁白温暖的厚瓷杯里，带动一个美丽的清晨。

Good Words

Zhang Xiaofeng

When I was a child, the elders took pains to teach me how to express good luck wishes for the Spring Festival. Decades later, I find myself doing the exactly the same thing to my children. And I have come to realize that besides clichés such as “wish you a promotion at work”, “wish you to be rich”, or “wish you have more children”, there are other good words which give me much food for thought. What, then, are these words I have heard? I often try to recall them on many a winter night, and they flash in my mind amidst the crackling of gingko seeds being roasted in a pan.

“Good coffee is always to be found in hot cups.”

When I traveled through Rome, a new friend of mine insisted on giving me a treat on coffee.

“It’s good coffee. Makes one remember it the rest of his life!” he observed.

We followed him through streets and lanes. Walking for a long time on the stone-paved streets, pleasant and labyrinthine, we almost forget where we were heading for, as if we have come out only to tread on the stones.

Suddenly there came a waft of fragrant coffee, and, without the host’s telling us, we knew we were approaching our destination.

The coffee was poured in a thick white porcelain cup. Compared with the delicate chinaware the Chinese prefer, it looks sturdy and heavy. Everyone in the coffee house was focused on his coffee, totally oblivious of the surroundings.

A waiter took some cups out of a heated container and gave one to each of us. I exclaimed:

“How come the cup is hot!”

The waiter turned around, bowing slightly. “Madam, good coffee is always to be found in hot cups.”

He was neither excited nor conceited, nor being in a mode of exaggeration, as can be seen in advertising. He was simply stating a plain truth.

Indeed, good coffee is always to be found in hot cups. A cold cup may cool off the coffee in it, thus reducing its taste. The same is also true of warmed liquor and good tea.

I came to realize that even “things” have self-respect and tend to be reserved. The legendary good bird, according to Zhuangzi, chooses the right nest to rest on. In a comparable western context, the sword stuck in stone waits for a hero to draw it out. Both stories show that “things” with integrity refuse to lower themselves to vulgarity. It is known that the Zen Buddhists try to enlighten the masses when giving them food and drinks, but I don’t know what that Roman waiter want to reveal to me. I wish I could become something fragrant the way coffee is after being roasted and grounded, and carefully poured into a hot white cup, thus making a morning delicious.

（李运兴 译）