作者:王曉輝
曹雪芹在《紅樓夢(mèng)》中不僅寫了大量的詩(shī)詞,還通過(guò)小說(shuō)中的人物之口,說(shuō)出了自己對(duì)詩(shī)詞的見(jiàn)解,最為典型的就是第48回,“慕雅女雅集苦吟詩(shī)”—香菱學(xué)詩(shī)的那一段。
香菱向林黛玉請(qǐng)教如何作詩(shī),林黛玉道:“什么難事,也值得去學(xué)!不過(guò)是起承轉(zhuǎn)合,當(dāng)中承轉(zhuǎn)是兩副對(duì)子,平聲對(duì)仄聲,虛的對(duì)實(shí)的,實(shí)的對(duì)虛的,若是果有了奇句,連平仄虛實(shí)不對(duì)都使得的。”香菱笑道:“怪道我常弄一本舊詩(shī)偷空兒看一兩首,又有對(duì)的極工的,又有不對(duì)的,又聽(tīng)見(jiàn)說(shuō)一三五不論、二四六分明。看古人的詩(shī)上亦有順的,亦有二四六上錯(cuò)了的,所以天天疑惑。如今聽(tīng)你一說(shuō),原來(lái)這些格調(diào)規(guī)矩竟是末事,只要詞句新奇為上?!摈煊竦溃骸罢沁@個(gè)道理,詞句究竟還是末事,第一立意要緊。若意趣真了,連詞句不用修飾,自是好的,這叫做不以詞害意?!毕懔庑Φ溃骸拔抑粣?ài)陸放翁的詩(shī):重簾不卷留香久,古硯微凹聚墨多。說(shuō)的真有趣!”黛玉道:“斷不可學(xué)這樣的詩(shī)。你們因不知詩(shī),所以見(jiàn)了這淺近的就愛(ài),一入了這個(gè)格局,再學(xué)不出來(lái)的。你只聽(tīng)我說(shuō),你若真心要學(xué),我這里有《王摩詰全集》,你且把他的五言律讀一百首,細(xì)心揣摩透熟了,然后再讀一二百首老杜的七言律,次再李青蓮的七言絕句讀一二百首。肚子里先有了這三個(gè)人作了底子,然后再把陶淵明、應(yīng)暘、謝、阮、庾、鮑等人的一看。你又是一個(gè)極聰敏伶俐的人,不用一年的工夫,不愁不是詩(shī)翁了!”
這番詩(shī)論雖然不長(zhǎng),卻道出了古典詩(shī)歌創(chuàng)作的最基本法則。作詩(shī)必須講究起承轉(zhuǎn)合和聲韻格律,但更重要的是立意,如果有了奇思妙想,也可以不在意音韻格律,即“不以詞害意”;學(xué)詩(shī)起點(diǎn)一定要高,避免陷入淺近甚至空虛的格局,一旦形成習(xí)慣,日后很難提高。
林黛玉先給香菱講了近體詩(shī)(律詩(shī))的形式,涉及到起、承、轉(zhuǎn)、合、平、仄、虛、實(shí)和對(duì)仗等概念,看似輕描淡寫,翻譯成英語(yǔ)還真不是一件容易的事。英詩(shī)亦講格律,但與中文詩(shī)的格律截然不同。英詩(shī)的節(jié)奏感主要靠輕重音節(jié)搭配形成的“音步”(meter/foot/measure)來(lái)實(shí)現(xiàn),分為抑揚(yáng)格、揚(yáng)抑格、抑抑揚(yáng)格等;韻律又分為行內(nèi)韻和尾韻,也十分復(fù)雜。所以,翻譯詩(shī)詞難,翻譯不同的詩(shī)詞創(chuàng)作理論,特別是漢語(yǔ)格律詩(shī)的“平平仄仄”一類則是更大的挑戰(zhàn)。
霍克斯教授的譯文:
"In regulated verse there are always four couplets: the "opening couplet", the "developing couplet", the "turning couplet" and the "concluding couplet". In the two middle couplets, the "developing" and "turning" ones, you have to have tone-contrast and parallelism. That is to say, in each of those couplets the even tones of one line have to contrast with oblique tones in the other, and vice versa, and the substantives and none-substantives have to balance with each other— though if you have got a really good, original line, it doesn't matter all that much even if the tone-contrast and parallelism are wrong."
楊憲益先生的譯文:
"In regulated verse it's just a matter of opening, developing, changing and concluding; and the developing and changing couplets in the middle should be antithetical. A level tone should be contrast with a deflected one, an abstract word with a concrete one. But if you've got a really fine line, the rules can be disregarded."
近體律詩(shī)分為四聯(lián),即首聯(lián)(一、二句)、頷聯(lián)(三、四句)、頸聯(lián)(五、六句)和尾聯(lián)(七、八句),起著起承轉(zhuǎn)合的作用。“起承轉(zhuǎn)合”,霍克斯和楊憲益的翻譯是一致的,opening, developing, turning(changing)和 concluding。
平聲和仄聲是詩(shī)詞格律的術(shù)語(yǔ)。漢語(yǔ)的聲調(diào)分為平聲、上聲、去聲和入聲,平聲是中平調(diào),上聲是升調(diào),去聲是降調(diào),入聲是短調(diào)?!犊滴踝值洹防镙d有一首歌訣,可以幫我們了解古代四聲的大概:平聲平道莫低昂,上聲高呼猛烈強(qiáng),去聲分明哀遠(yuǎn)道,入聲短促急收藏。四聲中平聲自成一類,上、去、入合稱仄聲。對(duì)于“平聲”和“仄聲”,霍克斯的翻譯是even tone和oblique tone,楊先生的翻譯則是level tone和deflect tone。
香菱是個(gè)聰明人,一點(diǎn)就通,立刻聯(lián)想到古代寫詩(shī)的人常說(shuō)的一句口訣:一三五不論,二四六分明。這句口訣是七言律詩(shī)平仄變通的規(guī)則,在一個(gè)七言律句之中,第一、三、五字可以用平聲也可以用仄聲,而第二、四、六字則必須平仄分明,不能隨意。
楊憲益先生是用解釋的方法翻譯“一三五不論,二四六分明”的:
And I understood there was a rule that the first, third and fifth characters of a line needn't follow the tone pattern, but the second, fourth and sixth must abide strictly by it.
而霍克斯教授則譯成了兩句押韻的口訣:
For one, three and five
You need not strive;
But two, four and six
You must firmly fix.
接著,林黛玉又進(jìn)一步解釋了立意的重要性:“詞句究竟還是末事,第一立意要緊。若意趣真了,連詞句不用修飾,自是好的,這叫做不以詞害意。”
霍克斯教授的譯文:
As a matter of fact even the language isn't of primary importance. The really important things are the ideas that lie behind it. If the ideas behind it are genuine, there is no need to embellish the language for the poem to be a good one. That is what they talk about "not letting the words harm the meaning".
楊憲益先生的譯文:
The rules of prosody are secondary, the main thing is to have original ideas. For if there is feeling, a poem is good even if the lines are unpolished. This is what we mean by "not letting the words interfere with the sense".
霍、楊兩位先生的翻譯非常接近,甚至可以互為解釋, language isn't of primary important(霍克斯)=rules of prosody are secondary(楊憲益),the ideas that lie behind it(language)(霍克斯)=original ideas(楊憲益)?!安灰栽~害意”,兩人的譯法十分接近,只是個(gè)別用詞的變化而已。
林黛玉還給香菱開了一個(gè)學(xué)詩(shī)的書單,她最推崇的是王維的五言、杜甫的七言和李白的絕句。王維含蓄蘊(yùn)藉,空靈自然;杜甫格律嚴(yán)整,立意高遠(yuǎn);李白豪邁奔放,氣象萬(wàn)千。黛玉讓香菱學(xué)這三位的詩(shī),就是讓她體會(huì)王維的意境、杜甫的格律和李白的想象。
曹雪芹借林黛玉之口,表達(dá)了自己詩(shī)詞創(chuàng)作的觀點(diǎn),可以說(shuō)是教科書級(jí)別的見(jiàn)解。但也有人置疑曹雪芹寫詩(shī)的水平,認(rèn)為他的詩(shī)遠(yuǎn)不如李、杜、蘇、辛等一流的詩(shī)詞大家。葉嘉瑩先生也曾說(shuō)過(guò),經(jīng)常有學(xué)生問(wèn)她:“老師,您是講詩(shī)詞的,那么,您覺(jué)得《紅樓夢(mèng)》中的詩(shī)詞怎么樣?” 葉先生的答復(fù)是:“我們對(duì)真正的詩(shī)人之詩(shī)和小說(shuō)中的詩(shī)要分別來(lái)看,將《紅樓夢(mèng)》中的詩(shī)詞與李白、杜甫、蘇東坡、辛棄疾的詩(shī)詞去對(duì)比是不公平的。”
《紅樓夢(mèng)》中的詩(shī)詞出自曹雪芹之手,但不等同于就是曹雪芹的詩(shī)詞。小說(shuō)里的詩(shī)詞,是曹雪芹根據(jù)不同人物的年齡、性別和性格以及故事情節(jié)的需要寫出來(lái)的。林黛玉就是林黛玉,她再有才華,也只能寫出《桃花行》、《葬花詞》和《海棠詩(shī)》來(lái),如果讓她寫“大江東去,浪淘盡,千古風(fēng)流人物”,那她就不是林黛玉了。賈寶玉熟悉的是“寶鼎茶閑煙尚綠,幽窗棋罷指猶涼”的生活,他怎么能有杜甫“艱難苦恨繁霜鬢,潦倒新停濁酒杯”的感時(shí)傷懷呢?
《紅樓夢(mèng)》中的詩(shī)詞,是小說(shuō)的重要組成部分,一定要放在小說(shuō)里與人物的性格經(jīng)歷聯(lián)系在一起去欣賞,才能幫助我們更好地理解這部偉大的作品。