老舍与伦敦（连载一）

Lao She the Unlikely Londoner

    老舍与伦敦

              by Robin Gilbank

                                                         （英） 罗宾·吉尔班克     

                                                                胡宗锋   译

         In 1913 a theatrical company staged an Anglo-Chinese play known as “Mr. Wu,” first in the provinces and then in London. Briefly the story is that of the diabolical revenge of an Oxford-educated Chinese for the seduction of his daughter by the son of an English shipper in Hong-Kong. Its plot is as follows:-

      ACT I. – Mr. Wu’s gardens in Kowloon. Basil Gregory makes love to Miss. Wu, his “Celestial One.” He tells her of his impending departure for England. She asks him to take her along, since their terrible secret has already made them man and wife. He pleads that his parents will never consent to their marriage and, promising to return shortly, dissuades her from her intention. Mr. Wu, the merchant, appears and, brushing his daughter aside, orders his servants to seize her paramour and incarcerate him.

      1913年，有家剧院上演了一部名为《吴先生》的英文中国剧。起初是在外地演，后来搬上了伦敦的舞台。剧情大意是毕业于牛津大学的一个中国人，无情的报复一位在香港勾引了他女儿的英国海员。情节如下：

      第一幕：九龙吴先生家的花园。巴西尔·格里高利和他的“天仙”吴小姐恩爱。他告诉她自己马上要回英国了，她要他带她一起走，因为两人见不得人的秘密已经是有夫妻之实。他恳求说自己的父母永远不会答应这门亲事，并许诺很快就回来，劝她不要随往。商人吴先生出面了，他把女儿拉倒一边，命令仆人抓住女儿的情人并把他关了起来。

      ACT II. – Mr. Gregory’s shipping office in Hong-Kong. He is leaden-hearted at the non-appearance of his son. One of his ships is scuttled, his labourers go on strike, etc. in his opinion, Mr. Wu, his business rival, is at the bottom of it all. At his request Wu comes to talk business. Gregory turns the key of his door and covers him with a Webley revolver. Wu reminds G. that people in England never do business in that unceremonious fashion and induces him, in proof of his good faith, to put it down and empty its contents. G. complies and Wu counts the cartridges one by one. All the while the latter transports them to his side of the table and inserts them into his own Webley. Wu covers G. and bids him ring for the servant. The latter appears and G. tells them in French that he is a prisoner. Wu exclaims in French: “No, no; I am the prisoner, not Mr. Gregory. Please ask Mrs. Gregory to come.” Mrs. G. enters and Wu explains the situation. He insists on G. leaving the room and prefers to discuss matters with her. Exit G. Wu tells her that if she will go to his house that evening, he may be able to inform her of her son’s whereabouts. She accepts and will not apprise her husband.

          第二幕：香港格里高利先生的船务办公室。儿子失踪，他心情沉重。公司的一艘船沉海，工人们依旧在罢工。在他看来，自己的竞争对手吴先生是所有这一切的幕后人物。因他之邀，吴先生来和他谈生意。格里高利锁上门，用一把左轮手枪抵住了吴先生。吴先生提醒格里高利说，在英国人们从不会以这种无礼的方式来做生意，接着就引诱他以表诚意，放下枪，取出里面的子弹。格里高利和吴先生一颗一颗的数子弹，吴先生把子弹放到自己这边的桌子上，然后装进了自己的枪里。他用枪抵住格里高利逼他按铃叫仆人进来。仆人进来后格里高利用法语说自己被囚禁了。吴先生用法语喊道：“错，错，被囚禁的是我，不是格里高利先生。请把格里高利夫人叫来。”格里高利夫人来了，吴先生给她解释了发生的事情，并坚持让格里高利先生离开房间，他只愿意和格里高利夫人谈事。格里高利先生出去了。吴先生对格里高利夫人说如果她今晚去他家，他就会告诉她儿子的下落。格里高利夫人同意了，也没有给她丈夫说这事。

      ACT III. – Mr. Wu’s drawing-room in Kowloon. He sends for Basil and tells him of his mother’s coming. What will Wu do with her? Basil has no sister, so his mother will atone for his sins. Exit B. Mrs. G. arrives, accompanied by an amah. Wu insists on the latter’s retiring. Mr. G. refuses. Wu reminds her that people in England never take their maids into their friends’ drawing-rooms. Exit the amah. He explains to her his curios and estimates their values. She asks for news of her son. He heeds her not. He toys with a sword, one of his mural decorations, and remarks that his ancestor slew with it his child as well as the man who dishonoured her. He tells her that he, too, had a daughter (he had already killed her), that Basil is her seducer, and that in accordance with “an eye for an eye,” he will wreak his vengeance. He states that her son is next door and will be restored to her if she will pay the penalty. She tries to escape but finds herself locked in. He indicates the only available exit, viz., into his bedroom. He enters his chamber and leaves her to make up her mind. She calls for her amah and the latter throws a phial of poison through the skylight. She decides to face the worst and empties the drug into her cup of tea. Wu re-appears, arrayed in a state of partial undress. He notices her paleness of colour and suspects foul play. He exchanges the cups and feints that he wishes to drink for that which has touched her sweet lips. He drinks and gasps for breath. He clutches the sword and attempts to strike her. He misses and lurches forward – dead. In falling, his falling knocks the gong, the pre-arranged signal for his domestics to throw open all doors. Mother and son are reunited and make their escape.

               第三幕：九龙吴先生家的客厅里。吴先生让人叫来了巴西尔，并告诉他他母亲来了。吴先生会把她咋样呢？巴西尔没有姐妹，那只能由他母亲来为他赎罪了。巴西尔下场。格里高利夫人在一位阿妈的陪同下上场。吴先生坚持让阿妈出去。吴先生提醒格里高利夫人说英国人从不带仆人到朋友家的客厅。阿妈下场了。吴先生给格里高利夫人介绍自己的古董及其价值。他玩弄着一把剑，那是挂在墙上的一件装饰品。他说自己的祖先曾用这把剑杀了女儿和那个使她蒙羞的男孩。他对格里高利夫人说自己也有一个女儿（他已经杀了她），巴西尔勾引了她。为了“以眼还眼”，他要报仇。他说她儿子就在隔壁，要是她接受惩罚儿子就可以回到她身边。她想逃跑，但发现自己被锁在了屋里。他表示惟一的出口就是他的卧室。他进屋去了，把她留在那儿思考。她呼叫阿妈，阿妈从天窗给她扔了一小瓶毒药。她决定做最坏的打算，把毒药全倒进了自己的茶杯。吴先生再次出场了，已经把衣服脱了一半。看到她脸色苍白，他就怀疑她捣鬼。他把两人的茶杯换了一下，假装说他想喝她香唇碰过的茶。他喝了一口，喘不上气来。他抓起剑，想刺她。没有刺中，蹒跚着倒地死了。他倒下的时候，身子碰响了锣。根据约定，一听到锣声，家里人就会把所有的门都打开。母亲和儿子团聚一起逃走了。

      The above outline is cold and bare. It is inadequate to convey to the reader those emotions he would have experienced in the theatre. The drama as acted is powerful and intense, and the playgoer will not easily forget its feeling of eerie creepiness or that of disgust and nauseousness. But the plot is un-Chinese and we were afraid that this attempt to foist it upon the British public as a specimen of modern Chinese civilization might engender prejudices unfavourable to the Chinese in their midst.

(Min-Ch’ien T. Z. Tyau, London Through Chinese Eyes, or My Seven and a Half Years in London. London: the Swarthmore Press, Ltd., 1920, pp. 293-4).

     以上剧情冷酷而赤裸，给读者转达这种在剧院感受到的七情六欲有些不合适。该剧情节紧张，有震撼力。观众很难忘记那令人毛骨悚然的氛围，让人厌恶和作呕的剧情。然而，该剧的情节不合中国国情。将此做为现代中国文明的样板试图强加给英国大众，可能会带来人们不利于中国的偏见。

——引自刁敏谦 著 《留英管窥记》斯沃斯莫尔出版社，1920年，293-294页

         The Guangdong-born lawyer Diao Minqian (1888-?) could have and did fill an entire book with anecdotes about the cross-cultural misunderstandings he encountered in his time as a student in London. He was clearly wearing his diplomatic hat when recalling how he and two friends were asked to offer advice on the aforesaid piece of theatrical schlock. Rather than voicing their disgust at having their countrymen slandered in such a way the trio backed off without comment to the production company. This play, Mr. Wu by Harold Owen and Maurice Vernon, did not die a death in its repertory tour, but went onto fill auditoria on both sides of the Atlantic, being adapted into a British film in 1920 and an American remake in 1927. The US version starred Lon Chaney, best known for playing grotesques such as Quasimodo and the Phantom of the Opera, as the titular villain, also having in its cast the superstar Anna May Wong in a woefully small supporting role. Her relegation from the romantic lead (Miss. Wu was portrayed by a French ingénue) was an ironic case of life mirroring art. Bowing to pressure from a public that was highly sensitive, and decidedly racist in certain quarters, the Hollywood studios resisted presenting interracial couplings onscreen. This was to the detriment of the careers of Ms. Wong and other Asian actresses, yet was to the benefit other white stars with a non-Caucasian look. Had it not been for this otherwise unconscionable embargo, the German-Jewish Louise Rainer, who died in December 2014 a fortnight shy of reaching the age of 105, would probably have not been cast as O-Lan in the movie version of Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth, the role for which she earned her second consecutive Best Actress Oscar.

          广东出生的律师刁敏谦（1988——？）完全可以写一本书来描述自己当年在伦敦读书期间，遇到的类似这样的跨文化误解。当他回忆有人问他和自己的两个朋友前面提到的舞台上的拙劣表演时，他当时显然还有一个外交官的头衔。他们三人没有明言讨厌这种对自己同胞的造谣中伤，而是绝口不提这个剧团。《吴先生》的编剧是哈罗德·欧文和莫里斯·弗农，这部剧在巡演中不但没有夭折，反而在大西洋两岸达到了座无虚席的程度。1920年在英国被改编为电影，1927年美国又重拍。美国版的主演是朗·钱尼（Lon Chaney），以扮演形象怪诞或受折磨的角色而出名，他塑造最为成功的角色有《巴黎圣母院》里的敲钟人卡西莫多和《歌剧魅影》中的埃里克 ，都是有残疾的怪人。参加演出的还有超级影星黄柳霜，在剧中可悲的出任一个配角。她没有出演浪漫女一号（出演吴小姐的是位法国少女）实乃艺术即人生写照的一个讽刺实例。面对敏感的大众和部分顽固的种族主义分子的压力，好莱坞屈服了，不敢在银幕上表现跨种族的恋爱。这对黄小姐和其它亚裔女演员的演艺事业不公，但却有益于那些没有白人面孔的白人女明星。要是没有这种无意识的限制，德裔犹太演员露易丝·赖娜（Louise Rainer）（2014年12月在其105岁生日到来的两周前去世）就没有可能出演赛珍珠《大地》中的阿兰，这个角色让她第二次获得奥斯卡最佳女演员奖。

                                  汉语原文刊登在《美文》2015年第9期  （未完待续）