| 夫諸海之中唯情海之風波獨多耳。甜酸苦辣﹐五味畢具。悲歡離合﹐七情齊備。其情事之可憫可嘆者﹐可悲可喜者﹐令人感之深焉。陳君者﹐余所善一翁之友也﹐乃
富賈子。其女友乃文氏女也﹔父營二廠﹐家道殷實。是歲﹐陳年弱冠逾四。滬地淪陷已三載。某日﹐陳偕其女友赴舞會。主人待客深周。盤列中西名點﹐杯泛牛奶咖
啡。舞歇歌繼﹐言笑歡洽。至餐時﹐佳餚堆盆﹐盛饌載席。酒映燈影﹐箸響碟銀。或姆戰﹐或戲謔。餐畢復舞﹐夜闌始散。人影離亂﹐互道晚安。陳與女友出﹐適一
街車緩駛而來。陳止之求載﹐乃入。前座尚有一人。陳意乃駕車者之友而搭乘也﹐不之怪。車遂駛去﹐幾經拐彎﹐至“法大馬路”而東﹐背道馳也。陳始驚愕﹐問之
不答。再問﹐答曰﹕“惜命﹐閉嘴。”車至外灘﹐驟止﹐推陳出車。載女過外白渡橋而去﹐至新雅酒家﹐時為日寇軍官俱樂部也。置女一室﹐備受凌辱﹐終日思陳﹐
淚無已時。陳目車逝﹐狂呼不得﹐痛哭而歸。是夜﹐寢不寐﹐旦即起﹐奔告女家﹐舉宅悲慟。女父遣人四出尋訪無著。陳亦舉城求之而不得﹐愁緒縈懷﹐鎮日鎖眉﹐
寢食不思﹐衣帶漸寬。其母哀之﹐勸其別娶。陳莫之聽﹐冥求更急﹐舉動若狂。如是者數年﹐終不知女之所在。至寇降﹐女始歸家﹐備言其狀﹐聽者酸鼻﹐各盡欷
歔。陳聞女歸﹐急趨其家﹐欲一傾相思之情。女拒不見﹐令婢傳言云“玷辱之軀不堪以奉君子。願君別娶﹐勿復為念。”陳堅欲見之﹐對曰﹕“卿之所受﹐余盡知之
﹐可憫可諒。此非卿之過矣。余心如舊﹐卿勿見拒。”且責之以盟誓。俟於客室三日不去。女感其意﹐乃見之﹐遂偕秦晉。翁今歿矣。唯陳君伉儷存否﹐余莫知之。
然其情事堪歌堪泣。余故傳焉。 Well, of all the seas, the sea of love has the most gales and billows1. Sweet, sour, bitter, hot, there are all five tastes. Sorrow, joy, parting, meeting, there are all seven feelings. All the happenings are pitiable, sighable, woeful or blissful, touching deeply the hearts of readers. Mr. Chen was the friend of an old gentleman I knew. He was the son of a rich merchant. His girlfriend was Miss Wen, who came from a wealthy family, too. Her father owned two factories. That year, Chen was twenty-four years of age. Shanghai had been occupied by the Japanese army for three years. One day, Chen took his girlfriend to a dance party. The host gave excellent entertainment to the guests. Plates were filled with all sorts of refreshments of both Chinese and Western styles. Cups gleamed with coffee and milk. When dancing was in recess, singing ensued, mixed with gleeful chatting and laughing. At dinner time, tables were loaded with dainties and plates heaped with delicacies. Wine in cups reflected lamp light and ivory chopsticks clinked with silver dishes. Some played finger-guessing games and some made jokes. Dancing resumed after dinner. The party ended at midnight. The human shadows were overlapped in hustle and bustle. People bade each other farewell. Chen left with his girlfriend. Just then, a taxi came slowly. Chen signaled it to stop and asked for a ride home. They went into the back seats. There was a man in the passenger seat in the front. Chen guessed that he must be a friend of the driver for a ride, too. He didn’t think that it was unusual and weird. The taxi sped forth. After a few turns on the way, it reached Consulate Road2, toward east. It went just in the opposite direction. Chen got scared and inquired about it. When he asked again, he got an answer, “Shut up if you don’t want to die.” Then, all of a sudden, the taxi stopped as it reached the Bund. They pushed Chen out of it and accelerated across the Garden Bridge with the girl still inside. The taxi parked outside Xinya Hotel, which was then a military club of the Japanese army. The girl was shut up in a room and lived in disgrace. She thought of Chen day and night in endless tears. Chen witnessed the taxi speeding off and couldn’t chase it. He shouted after it in vain and had to return home, weeping bitterly. That night, he was sleepless. Early in the morning, he rushed to the home of the girl and told her parents about it. The girl’s household cried. Her father sent out his people in quest of her everywhere, but in vain. Chen himself also searched for her all over the city. He sank into great agony, knitting his brows all day long. He neglected his sleep and food, his clothes becoming loose by degrees day in and day out. His mother felt sorry for and sympathized with him. She advised him to marry another girl, but he wouldn’t listen and kept in quest of her all the more eagerly. He behaved like a mad man. Thus, a few years elapsed. No one knew where the girl was. After the surrender of Japan, the girl at last returned home and told her family all about her sufferings. The listeners were all painfully moved and wept with compassion. When Chen learned her return, he hurried to her home, in hopes to express his lovesickness, but the girl refused to see him, sending down her maid with the words, “My sullied body doesn’t deserve your love any more. You should marry elsewhere and think of me no longer.” Chen persisted in seeing her, saying, “I know all your sufferings. It only deserves pity and sympathy. It’s not your own fault. My love for you is still the same. Please, come down and talk to me.” Furthermore, he resorted to the blame of her forgetfulness of their vows. He waited in their living room for three days. The girl was greatly touched and came down to meet him. Then they united in holy matrimony. Now the old gentleman passed away; so I am not in a position to know whether the couple is alive or not. However, their story is so plaintive and so touching. Therefore, I wrote this tale. |
Powered by Discuz! X3.4
© 2001-2017 Comsenz Inc.
