阿里爾?魯賓斯坦

有著800多年建都史的北京城具有豐富的市井文化，從老百姓居住的胡同、四合院，到民間雜耍、斗蛐蛐兒、養(yǎng)金魚(yú)、遛鳥(niǎo)兒、鴿子哨，都同皇家文化一道，構(gòu)成了北京悠久的歷史文化傳統(tǒng)。隨著國(guó)際交往的不斷加深，很多來(lái)北京的外國(guó)朋友已不再局限于游覽恢弘的故宮、天壇、長(zhǎng)城等經(jīng)典景區(qū)，他們還愿意去胡同走走，坐坐人力三輪車(chē)，徜徉于市井民風(fēng)中，感受最接地氣的老北京文化。還有一些常駐北京工作、學(xué)習(xí)的外國(guó)朋友，也喜歡在周末和節(jié)假日出來(lái)走走逛逛，體味北京的風(fēng)土人情。那么，如何用英語(yǔ)跟老外聊聊北京的民風(fēng)民韻，讓他們乘興而來(lái)、滿(mǎn)意而歸呢？今兒個(gè)我們就先來(lái)了解一下北京的胡同，學(xué)習(xí)介紹胡同的英語(yǔ)表達(dá)吧！

我們現(xiàn)在通常所說(shuō)的社區(qū)（community）其實(shí)在老北京人那里早就有了，那就是“胡同”。關(guān)于“胡同”的英文表達(dá)，有兩種處理方法：一種是直接音譯為hutong （英文中一般將hutong視為單復(fù)數(shù)同形，因此下面英文部分中復(fù)數(shù)形式的hutong也沒(méi)有加s），了解中國(guó)文化的老外也都可以理解；還有一種方法就是采用英文中的對(duì)應(yīng)詞alley，alley在《柯林斯高階英漢雙解學(xué)習(xí)詞典》中的英文釋義如下：“An alley is a narrow passage or street with buildings or walls on both sides.”雖然alley不足以表達(dá)“胡同”的意思，但是對(duì)于初來(lái)中國(guó)、對(duì)中國(guó)文化不甚了解的外國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，alley這個(gè)詞可能更容易理解。北京的胡同起源于元朝。通常認(rèn)為，“胡同”一詞最早來(lái)源于蒙古語(yǔ)，意思是“水井”，因?yàn)槟菚r(shí)候人們的水源多是水井，生活的區(qū)域就是以水井為中心的。

在向外國(guó)朋友介紹胡同的概況時(shí)，可以參考下面這段英文表達(dá)。

Beijing has a community of alleys， or “hutong” in Chinese. These are the centuries-old， tree-lined alleyways that are the true heartbeat of this unique city and a real-life link to its fascinating past. The alleys go back almost 800 years to the Yuan Dynasty and are in fact a Mongol invention. After Genghis Khans （成吉思汗） unruly hordes reduced Beijing to rubble， the capital was redesigned with these narrow alleyways crisscrossing the city. In fact， the word “hutong” comes from the Mongolian word for “well，” as people living in that period inhabited areas around wells which were their source of water. By the Qing Dynasty there were 2，000 hutong， and by the 1950s that figure had almost trebled. （Based on BBC： Old Beijing at Its Timeless Best）

胡同的生活相比于現(xiàn)代化的城市生活有很多獨(dú)特之處。鬧中取靜是胡同的一個(gè)顯著特點(diǎn)——胡同地處城市中心，卻沒(méi)有集市和街道的喧嘩。這是因?yàn)楹话惚容^狹窄，沒(méi)有現(xiàn)代化交通工具帶來(lái)的噪音，多是黃包車(chē)走街串巷。但是，這并不是說(shuō)胡同里是死一般的沉寂，來(lái)來(lái)往往的小販叫賣(mài)聲仍然讓胡同散發(fā)出生活的氣息和生機(jī)。當(dāng)然，城市現(xiàn)代化逐漸侵蝕了古老的胡同?，F(xiàn)在，即使是在留存下來(lái)的胡同中，也免不了聽(tīng)到私家汽車(chē)的鳴笛聲和馬達(dá)聲。

需要說(shuō)明的是，在舊時(shí)，胡同里的主要交通工具并不是我們現(xiàn)在?？吹降娜喣_踏車(chē)，而是黃包車(chē)。在英文里，“黃包車(chē)”一詞是rickshaw，源于日語(yǔ)，在《柯林斯高階英漢雙解學(xué)習(xí)詞典》的英文釋義如下：“A rickshaw is a simple vehicle that is used in Asia for carrying passengers. Some rickshaws are pulled by a man who walks or runs in front.”舊時(shí)胡同里的黃包車(chē)對(duì)應(yīng)的就是該釋義的后一句話(huà)。

上文所述的胡同的特點(diǎn)可以用英文表達(dá)如下。

In the old days， life in the hutong remained peaceful and provided an escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. Although located downtown， the hutong were free from the noise of traffic， as they were too narrow to bear much. Instead， rickshaws went up and down and hawkers shouts greeted the whole neighborhood.

The modern life style， however， has gradually broken the tranquility as private cars have rushed into the hutong and the shouts of hawkers have disappeared as modern grocers and shops， as well as restaurants， bars and even clubs， have moved in to replace them.

胡同的名稱(chēng)——市井氣息與歷史文化同在

北京胡同的名稱(chēng)都可以追根溯源。如果用文字將北京每一條胡同的歷史做一番梳理，那很可能是一部鴻篇巨制。分類(lèi)說(shuō)來(lái)，北京胡同的命名也五花八門(mén)：有以生活必需品命名的，有以歷史名人命名的，有以舊時(shí)政府機(jī)構(gòu)名稱(chēng)命名的，還有浪漫的名稱(chēng)和寄托美好愿望的名稱(chēng)。

關(guān)于北京胡同名稱(chēng)的概況，可以用下面這段英文來(lái)表達(dá)。

Just as the history of the hutong can be traced back about 800 years to the Yuan Dynasty， the names of individual hutong have also passed down their own traditions and culture. They are named after daily necessities， famous people or government sectors. Whats more， there are also names of romance and good wishes.

生活必需品最貼近老百姓的生活，因而以此命名的胡同不勝枚舉。中國(guó)有句古話(huà)：“開(kāi)門(mén)七件事，柴米油鹽醬醋茶?！北本┚陀衅邆€(gè)胡同的名字，一樣不落地把這七件生活必需品囊括了進(jìn)去，分別是：柴棒胡同、米市胡同、油坊胡同、鹽店胡同、醬坊胡同、醋章胡同和茶兒胡同。

關(guān)于胡同名稱(chēng)與生活必需品的關(guān)系，可以用英文表達(dá)如下。

Daily necessities are the closest to peoples lives， so the number of hutong named after them is countless. An old Chinese sayings goes， “Firewood， rice， cooking oil， salt， soy sauce， vinegar and tea are the seven necessities of daily life.” As a result， there are seven hutong which are each named after one of these items.

為了紀(jì)念一些名人，我們會(huì)用名人的名字來(lái)命名道路、街道（如張自忠路）。古時(shí)也有用名人命名的胡同，如現(xiàn)在的紅星胡同在1965年以前就叫做“無(wú)量大人胡同”，再早以前的名稱(chēng)是“吳良大人胡同”，正是得名于明朝大將吳良。

關(guān)于胡同名稱(chēng)與名人的關(guān)系，可以用英文表達(dá)如下。

In modern times， some roads or streets have been named after famous people in commemoration of them， such as Zhang Zizhong Road to honor the hero General Zhang Zizhong who sacrificed his life in the Chinese peoples War of Resistance Against Japan. In ancient times， the names of hutong also followed the same convention. For example， todays Red Star Hutong was originally called Milord Wu Liang Hutong， named after the famous general Wu Liang in the Ming Dynasty.

還有一些胡同是以舊時(shí)政府機(jī)構(gòu)名稱(chēng)命名的。比如祿米倉(cāng)胡同，就是舊時(shí)存儲(chǔ)京官俸糧的地方。再比如府學(xué)胡同，是舊時(shí)官辦的最高學(xué)校所在地。

這部分內(nèi)容可以參考如下一段英文表達(dá)。

Some of the hutong got their names from the government sectors which were located in those hutong. The famous ones include Lumicang Hutong in which the granary for feudal officials salary was located， and Fuxue Hutong where the highest educational administration in feudal China used to be located.

對(duì)于有著浪漫氣息的胡同名兒，外國(guó)人理解起來(lái)恐怕就有些難了。比如陳升的流行歌曲《北京一夜》中出現(xiàn)的“百花深處”，就是護(hù)國(guó)寺和新街口附近的一條胡同。2002年，英國(guó)的一家公司邀請(qǐng)世界上15位大師級(jí)導(dǎo)演各自拍攝10分鐘的短片，串成一部叫做《十分鐘年華老去》（Ten Minutes Older）的電影，旨在展示當(dāng)代世界電影的最高藝術(shù)水準(zhǔn)。制作方邀請(qǐng)的中國(guó)導(dǎo)演是陳凱歌，他所拍攝的短片就叫《百花深處》，譯名為“100 Flowers Hidden Deep”，頗有幾分詩(shī)意。還有人將“百花深處”翻譯成Blooming Flowers Place，也說(shuō)得通。對(duì)于詩(shī)意的中文名稱(chēng)，如何在功能對(duì)等的基礎(chǔ)上翻譯成英文，這本身就是見(jiàn)仁見(jiàn)智、眾說(shuō)紛紜的。

上面這段內(nèi)容可以用英文表達(dá)如下。

It must be a little difficult for foreigners to appreciate the romance of some of the hutongs names. For example， the hutong mentioned in pop star Chen Shengs song “One Night in Beijing” is called “100 Flowers Hidden Deep，” as it was translated by the famous Chinese film director Chen Kaige in one of his movies. The name of this hutong has been translated as “Blooming Flowers Place” by others， while in fact， at present， it is only a shabby neighborhood without any flowers.

中華民間文化特別重視良好祝愿和吉利話(huà)，特別是喜歡“福祿壽喜”“平安吉祥”這樣的字眼。這一點(diǎn)也體現(xiàn)在胡同的名稱(chēng)上，因此有福順胡同、壽比胡同、壽逾百胡同、平安胡同、安福胡同、吉市口胡同、永祥胡同等多個(gè)這類(lèi)名稱(chēng)的胡同。

上面這段內(nèi)容可以用英文表達(dá)如下。

Chinese folk culture highlights good wishes of happiness， fortune and longevity， and auspicious words of safety， wellness and auspice. The custom is also reflected in the names of hutong， so a lot of hutong include these words in their names.

北京的胡同深藏著歷史故事和百姓生活，從這個(gè)意義上說(shuō)，她就是一部大書(shū)，既帶你領(lǐng)略多姿多彩的老北京文化，又幫助你了解千奇百怪的人文歷史。天氣好的日子，帶著你的外國(guó)朋友在胡同中走起來(lái)，還能練練你的英語(yǔ)口語(yǔ)呢！