0837翻譯：端午的鴨蛋（汪曾祺）

0837翻譯：端午的鴨蛋（汪曾祺）

Translation: Duck Egg of Dragon Boat Festival (Wang Zengqi)

(translated by: alexcwlin; edited by: Adam Lam)

家鄉的端午，很多風俗和外地一樣。

In my hometown during Dragon Boat Festival, many local customs are similar to those ones elsewhere.

系百索子。

One of them is Fastening Multi-Color-Cords.

五色的絲線擰成小繩，系在手腕上。

Threads in five different colors are twisted into small strings which are fastened onto wrists.

絲線是掉色的，

Those threads bleed.

洗臉時沾了水，手腕上就印得紅一道綠一道的。

In getting wet during face-washing, they would stain the wrists by leaving stripes of red and green colors.

做香角子。

Another one is Making-Small-Fragrant-Packets.

絲線纏成小粽子，裡頭裝了香面，

Silk threads are weaved into small rice-dumpling-shaped packets containing scented powder.

一個一個串起來，掛在帳鉤上。

These packets are stringed together and hung on curtain hooks.

貼五毒。

Another one is Pasting Five Vermin.

紅紙剪成五毒，貼在門坎上。

Red papers are cut into shapes of Five Vermin and pasted on doors.

貼符。

Another one is Posting Magic Symbols.

這符是城隍廟送來的。

This sheet of magic symbols comes from City God Temple.

城隍廟的老道士還是我的寄名乾爹，

The old Taoist master in the Temple is my godfather.

他每年端午節前就派小道士送符來，還有兩把小紙扇。

Before Dragon Boat Festival every year, he would ask a Taoist apprentice to bring over a sheet of magic symbols and two small paper hand-fans.

符送來了，就貼在堂屋的門楣上。

When the sheet was delivered, we would post it on the overhead door-beam.

一尺來長的黃色、藍色的紙條，上面用硃筆畫些莫名其妙的道道，

It would be a yellow-and-blue one-foot paper stripe with some baffling maneuvers written on it using rouge-ink brush.

這就能辟邪么？

Could this really ward off evils?

喝雄黃酒。

Another one is Drinking Realgar Wine.

用酒和的雄黃在孩子的額頭上畫一個王字，

People write the character 「王」 (Chinese character meaning 「king」) on foreheads of children with a mixture of wine and realgar.

這是很多地方都有的。

Many places have this practice as a custom.

有一個風俗不知別處有不：放黃煙子。

There is another local custom which I don』t know if it is shared by other places, and that is: Releasing Yellow Smoke-Screen Firecracker.

黃煙子是大小如北方的麻雷子的炮仗，只是裡面灌的不是硝葯，而是雄黃。

The size of a Yellow Smoke-Screen Firecracker is about the size of a Ma Lei Zi Firecracker in the north, except realgar is stuffed inside the former instead of potassium nitrate powder.

點著後不響，只是冒出一股黃煙，能冒好一會。

On ignition it does not explode with a bang but releases yellow smoke that goes on for a little while.

把點著的黃煙子丟在櫥櫃下面，說是可以熏五毒。

A lit Yellow Smoke-Screen Firecracker tossed underneath a cupboard allegedly could fumigate the five vermin.

小孩子點了黃煙子，常把它的一頭抵在板壁上寫虎字。

A little kid would light a Yellow Smoke-Screen Firecracker and press one end against a plank wall to write the Chinese character 「Tiger」.

寫黃煙虎字筆畫不能斷，

In writing a yellow-smoke 「Tiger」 Chinese character he must not break the stroke as a custom.

所以我們那裡的孩子都會寫草書的「一筆虎。

Therefore all the kids at our place know how to write the one-stroke cursive 「Tiger」 Chinese character.

還有一個風俗，是端午節的午飯要吃「十二紅」，

One more custom is eating the 「Twelve Reds」 at lunch on Dragon Boat Festival day.

就是十二道紅顏色的菜。

Those are twelve red-colored dishes.

十二紅里我只記得有炒紅莧菜、油爆蝦、鹹鴨蛋，

Among the 「Twelve Reds」 in my experience, I can only recall there were fried red amaranth, quick-fried shrimps, and salted duck-eggs.

其餘的都記不清，數不出了。

The rest I have forgotten and what I can name cannot add up to 「twelve」 in total.

也許十二紅只是一個名目，不一定真湊足十二樣。

Maybe 「Twelve Red」 is only a title and there may not be twelve items in all.

不過午飯的菜都是紅的，這一點是我沒有記錯的，

However, all the dishes for lunch were indeed red and on that point I know I am not mistaken in my memory.

而且，莧菜、蝦、鴨蛋，一定是有的。

For sure there were amaranth, shrimps and duck-eggs.

這三樣，在我的家鄉，都不貴，多數人家是吃得起的。

These three ingredients are not considered expensive in my hometown and most people can afford to eat them.

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我的家鄉是水鄉。出鴨。

Our hometown is a water country and it produces ducks.

高郵大麻鴨是著名的鴨種。

Gao You Big Freckled Duck is a famous breed of duck.

鴨多，鴨蛋也多。

Gao You people raise many ducks in the area and those ducks are highly prolific in laying eggs.

高郵人也善於腌鴨蛋。

Local people are adept in salting duck eggs.

高郵鹹鴨蛋於是出了名。

As such, Gao You salted duck eggs are renowned everywhere.

我在蘇南、浙江，每逢有人問起我的籍貫，回答之後，對方就會肅然起敬：「哦！你們那裡出鹹鴨蛋！」

When I was in Southern Jiangsu or Zhejiang and people asked me about my place of ancestry, their reaction to my answer would be a lot of respect: 「Oh, your place produces salted duck-eggs.」

上海的賣腌臘的店鋪里也賣鹹鴨蛋，必用紙條特別標明：「高郵鹹蛋」。

In Shanghai, retail stores specializing in salted/preserved meats also sell salted duck-eggs, and they would use special stickers which label 「Gao You Salted Eggs」.

高郵還出雙黃鴨蛋。

Gao You also produces double-yolk duck-eggs.

別處鴨蛋有偶有雙黃的，但不如高郵的多，可以成批輸出。

Duck eggs from other places occasionally have double-yolks but there are not as many as Gao You which can ship them out in bulks.

雙黃鴨蛋味道其實無特別處。還不就是個鴨蛋！

Actually the taste of double-yolk duck-eggs is nothing special and those eggs are just ordinary duck-eggs.

只是切開之後，裡面圓圓的兩個黃，使人驚奇不已。

But in cutting one open, the two round yolks inside are really amazing.

我對異鄉人稱道高郵鴨蛋，是不大高興的，好像我們那窮地方就出鴨蛋似的！

I am not overly pleased with all the praises on Gao You duck-eggs from non-locals as if our impoverished place only produces duck-eggs.

不過高郵的鹹鴨蛋，確實是好，

However, Gao You duck-eggs are indeed great.

我走的地方不少，所食鴨蛋多矣，但和我家鄉的完全不能相比！

I have traveled to many places and feasted on many other duck-eggs, but they are nowhere nearly as good as those from our hometown.

曾經滄海難為水，

Once you have been treated to the best it would be hard to go back to the mundane.

他鄉鹹鴨蛋，我實在瞧不上。

Duck-eggs from other places are not worth a sniff as far as I am concerned.

袁枚的《隨園食單　小菜單》有「腌蛋」一條。

Yuan Mei』s Sui Garden Feast List—Short Menu—includes 「Salted Egg」 as an item.

袁子才這個人我不喜歡，

I am not particularly fond of Yuan Zicai as a person.

他的《食單》好些菜的做法是聽來的，他自己並不會做菜。

The recipes of many dishes in his 「menu」 were hearsay because he didn』t know how to cook himself.

但是《腌蛋》這一條我看後卻覺得很親切，而且「與有榮焉」。

But I feel intimate and proud after reading the item 「Salted Egg」.

文不長，錄如下：

The article is not long and I reproduce it as follows:

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腌蛋以高郵為佳，

In salted eggs, those from Gao You are considered great.

顏色細而油多，

Color is refined and oil is aplenty for those eggs.

高文端公最喜食之。

They are a favorite dish of Honorable Gao Jin.

席間，先夾取 以敬客，放盤中。

During meal, you should first pick the eggs up with chopsticks. Then you put them on plates for presenting to guests.

總宜切開帶殼，

Each duck egg is best served being cut open with the shells left on.

黃白兼用；

Both the egg-yolk and egg-white should be eaten.

不可存黃去白，使味不全， 油亦走散。」

Don』t eat the egg-yolk without the egg-white or the taste would not be complete and the oil content would be compromised.

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高郵鹹蛋的特點是質細而油多。

What make Gao You salted duck-eggs so special are the refinement in texture and abundance in oil.

蛋白柔嫩，不似別處的發乾、發粉，入口如嚼石灰。

Egg-white is tender, unlike that in eggs elsewhere which dry and powdery texture tastes like limestone powder.

油多尤為別處所不及。

The plentiful amount of oil is beyond rival.

鴨蛋的吃法，如袁子才所說，帶殼切開，是一種，那是席間待客的辦法。

The best way to eat a duck-egg is to serve it cut-open with shell attached, which is particularly suited for entertaining guests. This method was recommended by Yuan Zicai.

平常食用，一般都是敲破「空頭」用筷子挖著吃。

Ordinarily, eating would involve cracking the shell at the vacuum top portion of the egg and using chopstick to dig out the contents and put them into mouth.

筷子頭一紮下去，吱——紅油就冒出來了。

At the poke of the chopstick, reddish oil spurts out.

高郵鹹蛋的黃是通紅的。

The yolk of Gao You salted egg is thoroughly red.

蘇北有一道名菜，叫做「硃砂豆腐」，就是用高郵鴨蛋黃炒的豆腐。

The famous dish in northern Suzhou called 「Rouge Ink Bean Curd」 uses Gao You duck-egg yolk to fry bean curd.

我在北京吃的鹹鴨蛋，蛋黃是淺黃色的，這叫什麼鹹鴨蛋呢！

The salted duck-egg yolk I ate in Beijing was light-yellow in color and what kind of salted duck-egg do you call that?

端午節，我們那裡的孩子興掛「鴨蛋絡子」。

On Dragon Boat Festival day hanging up 「Duck-Egg Bag」 for our children is popular.

頭一天，就由姑姑或姐姐用彩色絲線打好了絡子。

On the previous day, an aunt or older sister would use colored silk threads to make a small bag for a child.

端午一早，鴨蛋煮熟了，由孩子自己去挑一個，

Early in the morning on Festival Day, duck-eggs would be cooked and the child would pick one egg.

鴨蛋有什麼可挑的呢！

Why would you need to pick duck-egg?

有！一要挑淡青殼的。

Yes, firstly a light-green shell one should be selected.

鴨蛋殼有白的和淡青的兩種。

There are two types of duck-egg shells: the white type and the light-green type.

二要挑形狀好看的。

Secondly, a good looking shape one should be picked.

別說鴨蛋都是一樣的，

Don』t say all duck-eggs are the same.

細看卻不同。

They are different on close examination.

有的樣子蠢，有的秀氣。

Some look clumsy and some look sharp.

挑好了，裝在絡子里，掛在大襟的紐扣上。

The picked one would be put inside the small bag hung on a button of the top garment.

這有什麼好看呢？

What is so good-looking about it?

然而它是孩子心愛的飾物。

It is a child』s favorite ornament.

鴨蛋絡子掛了多半天，什麼時候孩子一高興，就把絡子里的鴨蛋掏出來，吃了。

After a Duck-Egg Bag has been hung around for more than half-a-day, anytime the child chooses he could take out the duck-egg inside the bag and eat it.

端午的鴨蛋，新腌不久，只有一點淡淡的鹹味，

Duck-egg on Festival Day would have been salted only for a short time and the salty taste is mild.

白嘴吃也可以。

Therefore it could be eaten straight without other food on the side to neutralize the salty taste.

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孩子吃鴨蛋是很小心的，

A child is very careful in how he eats his duck-egg.

除了敲去空頭，不把蛋殼碰破。

Other than knocking off the shell at the vacuum top portion of the egg, he would not break other parts of the shell.

蛋黃蛋白吃光 了，用清水把鴨蛋裡面洗凈，

After the egg-yolk and egg-white are eaten, he would wash the inside of the egg with water.

晚上捉了螢火蟲來，裝在蛋殼裡，空頭的地方糊一層薄羅。

At night upon catching some fireflies, he would put them inside the shell with a piece of bobbinet pasted over the open top.

螢火蟲在鴨蛋殼裡一閃一閃地亮，好看極了！

An eggshell with fireflies twinkling inside looks fantastic.

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小時讀囊螢映雪故事，

When I was small I read about those inspirational stories on how poor students read books at night using captured fireflies』 light in bag or reflected light from snow.

覺得東晉的車胤用練囊盛了幾十隻螢火蟲，照了讀書，還不如用鴨蛋殼來裝螢火蟲。

I feel Che Yin in the East Jin Dynasty era studying from shine of fireflies in cloth bag could do better with fireflies in duck-egg shell.

不過用螢火蟲照亮來讀書，而且一夜讀到天亮，這能行么？

However, is it possible to study under the brightness of fireflies throughout the night?

車胤讀的是手寫的卷子，字大，

What Che Yin studied were handwritten manuscripts with big fonts.

若是讀現在的新五號字，大概是不行的。

If he were reading the New Size 5 font nowadays, I am afraid it would not be possible.

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