作者:王曉輝
清宮戲里經(jīng)常有達(dá)官貴人吸鼻煙的鏡頭:從精致的鼻煙壺中倒出一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)在手指上,送到鼻孔,輕輕吸入,然后閉著眼睛,打上幾個(gè)響亮的噴嚏。雖然在旁人看起來很不雅,但吸鼻煙的人一定感覺很舒服。
鼻煙是用上好的煙葉摻入薄荷、冰片等藥材碾成粉末,經(jīng)數(shù)年密封陳化而成,有提神醒腦、解郁開竅的功效。據(jù)說,明萬歷九年,意大利傳教士利瑪竇來中國傳教,所攜帶貢禮中,除自鳴鐘和地圖之外,還有鼻煙。剛傳入中國時(shí),鼻煙被稱為“士拿乎”、“士那富”或者“西臘”,“士拿乎”和“士那富”是英語snuff(鼻煙)的音譯,字典上的解釋是powdered tobacco which people take by breathing it in quickly through their nose。到了雍正年間,雍正皇帝覺得鼻煙既然是用鼻子來聞的,直接叫“鼻煙”豈不更好?于是,“snuff”這種舶來品有了中國名字——鼻煙。
早期的鼻煙均為進(jìn)口,且價(jià)格昂貴,最初只是達(dá)官顯貴和士大夫的一種雅好,后來,隨著鼻煙的廣泛流行,成了一種社交方式,鼻煙可以用來招待朋友,表達(dá)友誼和尊敬。三五個(gè)好友聚在一起,一邊閑聊,一邊品吸鼻煙,噴嚏聲此起彼伏,熱鬧的同時(shí),更顯滑稽。這種扎堆兒打噴嚏的聚會(huì)方式,較之王羲之等人的蘭亭雅聚,相去何止萬里!
鼻煙的吸食方式雖然不太雅觀,但其藥用效果還是很明顯的,醒腦提神,開竅增慧,到了清中后期,鼻煙已經(jīng)成了大戶人家的常備之物,清末民初,更加普遍,漸成時(shí)尚。梁實(shí)秋先生在《雅舍小品》散文中說,他的祖父雖然不吸鼻煙,但卻備有“十三太保”,十二個(gè)小瓶環(huán)繞一個(gè)大瓶,瓶口緊包著一塊黃褐色的布,各瓶品味不同,放在一個(gè)圓盤里,捧獻(xiàn)在客人面前。
如今,吸鼻煙的人幾乎沒有了,但鼻煙壺卻作為一種文玩保留下來,而且備受收藏家的追捧。中國人比歐洲人考究,鼻煙壺有玉的、翡翠的、瑪瑙的、水晶的,精雕細(xì)琢,形狀百出。還有一種水晶內(nèi)繪鼻煙壺,山水人物都是畫在透明的壺里面的,真是鬼斧神工,精美絕倫。
《紅樓夢》中也有關(guān)于鼻煙的描寫。第五十二回,晴雯生病,雖然服了藥,還未見效,仍是發(fā)燒頭疼鼻塞聲重。寶玉便命麝月取鼻煙來:“給他聞些,痛打幾個(gè)嚏噴就通快了?!摈暝鹿嫒ト×艘粋€(gè)金鑲雙金星玻璃小扁盒兒來遞給寶玉。寶玉便揭開盒蓋,里面是個(gè)西洋琺瑯的黃發(fā)赤身女子,兩肋又有肉翅,里面盛著些真正上等汪恰洋煙。晴雯只顧看畫兒,寶玉道:“聞些,走了氣就不好了?!鼻琏┞犝f,忙用指甲挑了些抽入鼻中。不見怎么,便又多多挑了些抽入。忽覺鼻中一股酸辣,透入囟門,接連打了五六個(gè)嚏噴,眼淚鼻涕登時(shí)齊流。晴雯忙收了盒子,笑道:“了不得,辣!”……寶玉笑問:“如何?”晴雯笑道:“果然通快些。只是太陽還疼?!?/p>
這段描寫雖是生活瑣事,卻包含了很多有意思的信息。在曹雪芹時(shí)代,鼻煙已經(jīng)很受上流社會(huì)的追捧,常被用來緩解頭痛鼻塞,晴雯用了,也覺得有效。當(dāng)時(shí)上好的鼻煙,都是進(jìn)口貨,以曹家當(dāng)時(shí)的社會(huì)地位,曹雪芹對(duì)這些奢侈品應(yīng)該很熟悉,這一點(diǎn),從他對(duì)鼻煙盒以及晴雯吸鼻煙的感受細(xì)致入微的描寫就能看得出來。賈寶玉給晴雯吸的是“上等汪恰洋煙”,對(duì)此,脂硯齋有一條批注:“汪恰,西洋一等寶煙也?!?可見,“汪恰”應(yīng)該是西洋鼻煙的一個(gè)著名品牌,類似今天的“萬寶路”或“人頭馬”什么的。
這樣一段有聲有色的描寫,高手是怎么翻譯的呢?我們來看看霍克斯教授的譯文:
'Fetch the snuff,' Bao-yu commanded. 'If sniffing it can make her give a few good sneezes, it will clear her head.'
Musk went off to do his bidding and presently returned with a little oval box made of aventurine, edged and embellished with gold. Bao-yu took it from her and opened it. Inside the lid, in West Ocean enamel, was a picture of a naked, yellow-haired girl with wings of flesh. The box contained snuff of the very highest quality, which foreigners call uncia.
'Sniff some,' he told Skybright, who had taken the box and was gazing fascinatedly at the picture inside it. 'If you have it open too long, it will lose its fragrance and then it won't be so good.'
Skybright took a little of the snuff with her finger-nail and sniffed it up her nose. Nothing happened, so she scooped up a really large amount and sniffed again. A tingling sensation passed through the root of her nose, right up inside her cranium and she began to sneeze: four, five, six times in succession. Immediately her eyes and nose began to stream. She shut the box hurriedly with a laugh.
'Goodness, how it burns!'
'How was it?' said Bao-yu.
'Much clearer,' she said. 'But I still have this headache in the front of my head.'
曹雪芹不吝筆墨,細(xì)致入微;霍克斯忠實(shí)原文,一字不漏,可謂佳作佳譯。這種非常生活化的描寫和對(duì)話,寫得精彩和譯得傳神都不容易。對(duì)照了楊憲益先生的譯本,除了幾個(gè)詞匯,如“西洋”和“通快”的譯法略有差別之外,其它基本一致,可謂英雄所見略同。
對(duì)于“汪恰洋煙”一詞,楊憲益先生采用了音譯的方法,譯作“Wangchia foreign snuff”, 而霍克斯教授則用了一個(gè)從句,“The box contained snuff of the very highest quality, which foreigners call uncia. ” uncia是拉丁語,有好幾個(gè)不同的解釋,既是古羅馬的銅質(zhì)錢幣,也是古羅馬的計(jì)量單位, 還是中亞山區(qū)的一種雪豹。我猜測,霍克斯教授選用uncia這個(gè)詞,可能出于兩方面的考慮,一是uncia的發(fā)音與原文的“汪恰”十分接近,甚至說是音譯亦無不可;二是uncia是古羅馬的一個(gè)詞匯,在中國一直有鼻煙是由意大利傳教士利瑪竇首次傳入中國的說法,所以,用與利瑪竇家鄉(xiāng)有關(guān)的一個(gè)詞匯顯得更加靠譜,而且,從發(fā)音的角度上說,也會(huì)讓外國讀者感到更加熟悉親切。當(dāng)然,我們也不排除另一種可能,那就是霍克斯教授真的下了考據(jù)的功夫,從文獻(xiàn)上找到當(dāng)時(shí)確實(shí)有一種uncia 牌的鼻煙。
不少紅學(xué)愛好者也在關(guān)注“汪恰”一詞的來歷,有人認(rèn)為當(dāng)時(shí)美國弗吉尼亞盛產(chǎn)煙草和鼻煙,“汪恰”應(yīng)該是弗吉尼亞(Virginia)的音譯;還有人考證出十八世紀(jì)經(jīng)營鼻煙的商號(hào)中,有一家名叫Maximilian Vachette,據(jù)此判斷“汪恰”就是Vachette的音譯,來自西洋商人的姓氏。
眾說紛紜,莫衷一是?!巴羟 边@兩個(gè)字,就當(dāng)是曹雪芹先生留給我們的字謎吧。