● 陈晴山（文）By Chen Qing-shan
   陈敏良 陈敏华（ 译）Trans. by Peter Chen, Michael Tan

　　高粱舅并不姓高，这有事实可以证明。他的姐姐就不姓高，他是
我的内弟，虽然和妻是同胞的，可是性情、态度、言动，一切都不相
像，不只是性别。一个是春，一个是秋；一个是水，一个是山；一个
小诗，一个社论；一个写意，一个工笔；一个十七帖，一个九成宫，
一个绿林豪客，一个教会牧师；他总是属于前者。

　　Uncle Gao-liang's surname is actually not Gao. There is 
very clear proof of this because his elder sister's surname 
is not Gao either and he is my brother-in-law. Although he 
and his sister are born of the same mother, they could not 
be more different from each other in character, demeanour 
and mannerism. It is not simply that they are not of the 
same sex; one is vibrant as Spring, the other solemn as 
Autumn; one is lively as running waters, the other immovable
as the hills; one is frivolous as a doggerel, the other 
intense as an intellectual discourse; one is spontaneous and
broadbrush as a xie-yi painting, the other controlled and 
finely detailed as a gong-bi artwork; one is uninhibited as 
cursive script, the other formal as regular script; one is 
irreverent as the "Outlaw of the Marshes", the other pious 
as a church pastor. Uncle Gao-liang is always the former.

　　是10年以前的事了，那时，我们从马来西亚回去，他也回去不久
，彼此的家，相距不上50里，妻不常归宁，他随时到我们家里来，他
有多方面的嗜好，女人哪，鸦片啊，麻雀啊，我知道他是样样来得的
；妻却只知道他爱喝高粱酒，每天他便叫孩子们去买一瓶高粱烧，积
久成了例行的公事，孩子们一见他来，不等大人交代，早就提瓶候令
了，渐而家中的人上他一个尊号叫他做高粱舅。

　　This is something that happened ten years ago. I had 
just returned (to China) from Malaya; he too had only 
recently returned. Our homes were not more than 50 li apart.
My wife did not visit her parental home much and he 
frequently came to see us at our home. He had many vices, 
such as women, opium and mahjong. I knew he was good at each
of his vices. My wife only knew that he loved gao-liang 
wine. She would ask the children to go and buy a bottle of 
warm gao-liang wine for him every day. This became a ritual 
with time. Whenever they saw him approaching the house, the 
children would have held the bottle ready for the adults' 
instruction, even before being told. Over time, everyone in 
the house bestowed on him the sobriquet "Uncle Gao-liang"

　　高粱舅怎么许久不来呢？要是踪迹稍疏的时候，孩子们总是这样
惦记着，他们之于高粱舅，有如高粱舅之于高粱，好像也上了瘾一般
。原因并不是为着高粱舅来，他们可以得到奉委沽酒的差事，为的是
高粱舅能把春天带到我们的家里来，使一片广大的沙漠，遍发了茸茸
的细草。当他酒酣耳热的时候，缩起两脚，蹲在椅上，畅新旧约，倾
耳而听，面上现着未曾有的笑容。此时，孩子们便像学校放假一样，
无拘无束，自由自在地发展他们的个性，谁也不暇去理他了。

　　"Why has Uncle Gao-liang not visited us for so long?" 
the children would always ask, whenever life got a little 
dull. Their addiction to Uncle Gao-liang was like his 
addiction to gao-liang wine. It was not that they looked 
forward to the wine buying errand during Uncle Gao-liang's 
visit. It was because Uncle Gao-liang brought with him the 
freshness of Spring into our home. His arrival transformed a
vast expanse of desert into a carpet of fine soft grass. 
Whenever he was flushed with the joy of his wine, he would 
curl up his legs and squat squarely on a chair. Wearing an 
incomparable smile on his face, he spoke his mind, drawing 
everyone's attention. At this time, the children would 
behave as though it was school vacation time. Completely 
unbridled, they would express themselves freely, without 
taking the slightest notice of Uncle Gao-liang.

　　不久，我们再度离家，他也到了芜湖去。据说本来也是要到马来
亚来的，在厦门候轮，已经买了船票，恰巧一个朋友说要介绍他到芜
湖去驾驶汽车，他就这样改途易辙。驾驶；是他本来的职业，他的意
思是到马来亚，也不外乎是驾驶。北上南下，还不是一样！从此我们
和他便距离越远，高粱舅这个名称，孩子们还能记得，要是真的是见
面的时候，也许都会笑问客从何处来了。

　　Not long after, we again left home(and returned to 
Malaya). Uncle Gao-liang too moved away to Wu-hu. Words had 
it that he too wanted to return to Malaya. He had already 
bought a steamer ticket. While waiting for the steamer in 
Xiamen, quite fortuitously he met a friend who wanted to get
him a job to drive a motor vehicle in Wu-hu. He changed his
course on the spot—just like that! Since driving was his 
original occupation, his rationale for this sudden change of
mind was "It would still be a driving job in Malaya. What 
difference does it make whether one drives in the 
North(China)or in the South (Malaya)?" From thence on, we 
lived far apart from each other. The children can perhaps 
still remember the nickname " Uncle Gao-liang". But if they 
were to really meet him, they would probably not recognise 
him, a scene reminiscent of a line from a Tang poem :"In 
curious laughter they asked 'Stranger, from whence you 
come?'."

　　到了芜湖之后，他还不断和我们通信。从他的报告中，知道他已
经在那里娶妻生子，成了个家庭了。他在故乡本来是早就有了妻子的
，第一个死了之后，在他驾驶的汽车中，又相识了一寡妇，彼此经二
小时的自我介绍，认为志同道合，便由友谊进而实行同居起来。但他
告诉我们，只说是路上拾得的太太，因就取名“拾得”。孩子们叫她
“拾得妗”，他的姐姐总不许他们这样称呼，认为太不敬，他自己却
毫不介意。不久，这位“拾得妗”不知怎的，又一去不来，他只说是
失掉了，也并不穷究。大抵他对于一切的得失，向来都作如是观，非
只妻子而已。现在芜湖的家庭，不知怎样，据说已有了四个子女，怕
不会那末随便吧！

　　After Uncle Gao-liang reached Wu-hu, we continued to 
write to each other. From his letters, we knew that he was 
married there, had children and raised a family. He already
had a wife in the village back home. After his first wife's 
death and while driving ,he met this widow. Within two hours
of a mutual self-introduction, they decided that their 
ambitions in life was fully compatible and that their 
friendship had advanced to a stage where they were ready for
co-habitation. But he told us that this " wife" had been 
picked up by the road-side and he nicknamed her "Picked 
Up". The children called her "Auntie Picked Up". His elder 
sister forbade the children to call her by that name because
it was most disrespectful. He himself did not seem to mind 
at all .Not long after, this "Auntie Picked Up" left him, 
never to return. No one seems to know why. He himself just 
said that she's lost again and did not seem to want to 
pursue the matter. Perhaps he's used to "things" lost and 
found with the same casualness, not just wives. We are not 
sure about his family in Wu-hu. We hear that he has 4 or 5 
children there, perhaps matters can no longer be so casual.

  　马来亚沦陷期中，音信断绝，我们自己无法知道他的一切。和平
之后，却也来了几封信。最近，接到他从南京寄来的一封信，劈头一
句，便使我莫明其妙，他说：

　　During the Japanese military occupation of Malaya, all 
contacts between us were broken. After the liberation of 
Malaya, there were a few letters from him. Recently, we 
received a letter from him sent from Nanjing. He began his 
letter thus:

　　“自国府还都，我便在行政院供职。”

　　"Ever since the National Government moved its capital 
back(to Nanjing), I have been appointed to a position in the
Executive Branch of the Administration."

　　这可奇了，国府纵要还政于民，何至便轮到歇后郑五作宰相？

　　We were bewildered by his opening announcement. Much as 
it is the wish of the Government to restore power of 
administration to the common people, why pick a clown like 
"Zheng-wu" to be the Prime Minister"?

　　继续看下去，方知他所供的职，原来是司机！汽车的驾驶员。接
着他又报告一段关于投考司机时口试的经过情形；

　　Only when we read on did we realise that the position to
which Uncle Gao-liang had been appointed was that of a 
driver. He then related to us his experience during the oral
examination for the position of a driver:

　　“第一个难题，就是他要问我的年龄，他妈的，又不是探亲，今
年几岁，关他鸟事！别的我不知道，难道自己的年龄，我答不出来吗
？不过这个问题，并不是答得对就一百分，我知道这里的情形，将近
五十岁年纪的司机，是给人家瞧不起的。撒谎是我的天才，我不会这
末傻，一下子就告诉他实数，我只说是属牛的，牛虽然笨，在十二生
肖中，他是和其他的一样活动，可以说是四十六，也可以说是三十四
，再嫌多的话，还可减到二十二，让聪明的主考自己去猜罢了。他妈
的好像故意和我为难，打破沙锅问到底，偏要我说出实数来。我只得
说不大记得清，大概三十四，也许三十五。他微笑了，当面给我口头
评语是“胡说八道”四个字，我想这回糟了，一定名落孙山，阿弥陀
佛，还算官运亨通，第二天发表，老牛居然也登虎榜。这又使我回忆
到三十年前的旧事来，那时我才十七岁，在怡保学会了司机技术，要
向注册局领取执照，因为政府规例，年龄未满二十岁，是不准驾驶汽
车的，我只得多报了几岁，曾几何时，现在又要以多报少了。我一辈
子是靠着撒谎谋生，鬼子时代，我还不知撒了多少谎哩？要让家姐知
道，她又要说，我犯了十诫了，上帝要人不要撒谎，他就不该创造这
虚伪的世界。”

　　我读完他这封信，看见了高粱舅，同时又看见了自己。

（1946年6月发表于《中国报》）


　　"The first question he asked was 'How old are you?' What
cheek! I have not come to seek his daughter's hand in 
marriage. What business was my age of his? I may not know 
about other matters, but didn't he think that I knew my own 
age? But this was not a case of being able to score a 
hundred marks if I could answer the question. I knew what 
these people here are up to . Drivers who are close to 50 
years old are looked down upon. Well, telling lies is a 
natural talent of mine. I was not so stupid as to tell him 
my exact age strightaway. So I just told him I was born in 
the year of the ox. An ox may be a stupid animal, but it is 
one of the 12 animals in the cycle and it is as lively as 
any of the rest . I might be 46 or 34. And if he thought 
that's too old, I could reduce it to 22. I would let this 
clever examiner make his own guess. Damn him! He seemed 
intent to be as awkward with me as possible, digging to the 
bottom of the matter and insisted that I told him my precise
age . I had no choice but to say that I could not remember 
too clearly, perhaps 34 or 35. He just smiled and without 
mincing his words said straight to my face 'What utter 
rubbish!' I thought to myself, 'I've had it , I've lost the 
job.May Lord Buddha protect me.' Luck was on my side. The 
next day, lucky me! This old ox was among the successful 
candidates, This reminded me of what happened 30 years ago ,
I was then only 17. Having learned how to drive, I went to 
the registration authority to apply for a driving license. 
Under the goverment regulation, a minimum age of 20 was 
required for a driving license . I just had to top up my age
by a few years to make myself 20. And this time, I had to 
take several years off my age. It looks like I'm fated to 
have to lie in order to make a decent living. I can't recall
how many lies I have told during the Japanese Occupation.If 
elder sister should ever find out, she will again admonish 
me, 'You have broken the Ten Commandments!' If God does not
want people to lie, he should never have created a world 
which is full of hypocrisy."

　　When I finished reading this letter , I could see the 
image of frustration on the face of Uncle Gao-liang. And 
similarly, with my own face next to his.
（Printed in Zhongguo Bao in June 1946）


Translator's Note:

　　The article, written originally in Chinese by my father 
Chen Qing-shan, was rediscovered in 1994 when we were 
preparing the publication of "The Legacy" (The Chen Family 
Record 流芳集Liu Fang Ji). It was sent to us by our cousins 
in China , the children of our maternal uncle Wang Guang-bo 
who is fondly known as "Uncle Gao-liang" to the children of 
Qing-shan and his wife Yi-song.（Peter Chen）

译者注：

　　我父亲陈晴山所写的这篇文章能重新被发现，是因为1994年我们
开始编写家谱《流芳集》，当时居住在中国的表兄弟特地寄来此文，
他们的父亲王光波就是我们这些孩子和母亲王义宋昵称的那位“高粱
舅”。（陈敏良）