99 THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELINA CHILD'S STORY
Robert Browning①
Ⅰ
Hamelin Town's in Brunswick,
By famous Hanover city；
The river Weser, deep and wide,
Washes its wall on the southern side;
A pleasanter spot you never spied;
But, when begins my ditty,
Almost five hundred years ago,
To see the townsfolk suffer so
From vermin, was a pity.
Ⅱ
Rats!
They fought the dogs, and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles,
And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
And licked the soup from the cooks'own ladles,
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women's chats,
By drowning their speaking
With shrieking and squeaking
In fifty different sharps and flats.
Ⅲ
At last the people in a body
To the Town Hall came flocking:
‘Tis clear,’cried they, ‘our Mayor's a noddy;
And as far our Corporation—shocking
To think we buy gowns lined with ermine
For dolts that can't or won't determine
What's best to rid us of our vermin!
You hope, because you're old and obese,
To find in the furry civic robe ease?
Rouse up, Sirs! Give your brains a racking
To find the remedy we're lacking,
Or, sure as fate, we'll send you packing! ’
At this the Mayor and Corporation
Quaked with a mighty consternation.
Ⅳ
An hour they sate in council,
At length the Mayor broke silence:
‘For a guilder I'd my ermine gown sell;
I wish I were a mile hence!
It's easy to bid one rack one's brain—
I'm sure my poor head aches again
I've scratched it so, and all in vain.
Oh for a trap, a trap, a trap! ’
Just as he said this, what should hap
At the chamber door but a gentle tap?
‘Bless us,’ cried the Mayor, ‘what's that? ’
(With the Corporation as he sat,
Looking little though wondrous fat;
Nor brighter was his eye, nor moister
Than a too-long-opened oyster,
Save when at noon his paunch grew mutinous
For a plate of turtle green and glutinous)
‘Only a scraping of shoes on the mat?
Anything like the sound of a rat
Makes my heart go pit-a-pat!’
Ⅴ
‘Come in!’—the Mayor cried, looking bigger:
And in did come the strangest figure!
His queer long coat from heel to head
Was half of yellow and half of red;
And he himself was tall and thin,
With sharp blue eyes, each like a pin,
And light loose hair, yet swarthy skin,
No tuft on cheek nor beard on chin,
But lips where smiles went out and in—
There was no guessing his kith and kin!
And nobody could enough admire
The tall man and his quaint attire:
Quoth one; ‘It's as my great-grand-sire,
Starting up at the Trump of Doom's tone,
Had walked this way from his painted tomb
stone!’
Ⅵ
He advanced to the council-table:
And, ‘Please your honours,’said he, ‘I'm able,
By means of a secret charm to draw
All creatures living beneath the sun,
That creep or swim or fly or run,
After me so as you never saw!
And I chiefly use my charm
On creatures that do people harm,
The mole and toad and newt and viper;
And people call me the Pied Piper.’
(And here they noticed round his neck
A scarf of red and yellow stripe,
To match with his coat of the selfsame cheque;
And at the scarf's end hung a pipe;
And his fingers, they noticed, were ever straying
As if impatient to be playing
Upon this pipe, as low it dangled
Over his vesture so old-fangled.)
‘Yet,’ said he,‘poor piper as I am,
In Tartary I freed the Cham,
Last June, from his huge swarms of gnats;
I eased in Asia the Nizam
Of a monstrous brood of vampyre-bats:
And as for what your brain bewilders,
If I can rid your town of rats
Will you give me a thousand guilders?’
‘One? fifty thousand!’—was the exclamation
Of the astonished Mayor and Corporation.
Ⅶ
Into the street the Piper stept,
Smiling first a little smile,
As if he knew what magic slept
In his quiet pipe the while;
Then, like a musical adept,
To blow the pipe his lips he wrinkled,
And green and blue his sharp eyes twinkled
Like a candle-flame where salt is sprinkled;
And ere three shrill notes the pipe uttered,
You heard as if an army muttered;
And the muttering grew to a grumbling;
And the grumbling grew to a mighty rumbling;
And out of the houses the rats came tumbling.
Great rats, small rats, lean rats, brawny rats,
Brown rats, black rats, grey rats, tawny rats,
Grave old plodders, gay young friskers,
Fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins,
Cocking tails and pricking whiskers,
Families by tens and dozens,
Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives—
Followed the Piper for their lives.
From street to street he piped advancing,
And step for step they followed dancing,
Until they came to the river Weser
Wherein all plunged and perished!
Save one who, stout as Julius Caesar,
Swam across and lived to carry
(As he,. the manuscript he cherished)
To Rat-land home his commentary:
Which was, ‘At the first shrill notes of the pipe,
I heard a sound as of scraping tripe,
And putting apples, wondrous ripe,
Into a cider-press's gripe:
And a moving away of pickle-tub-boards,
And a leaving ajar of conserve-cup-boards,
And a drawing the corks of train-oil-flasks,
And a breaking the hoops of butter-casks;
And it seemed as if a voice
(Sweeter far than by harp or by psaltery
In breathed) called out, Oh rats, rejoice!
The world is grown to one vast drysaltery!
So, munch on, crunch on, take your
nuncheon,
Breakfast, supper, dinner, luncheon!
And just as a bulky sugar-puncheon,
All ready staved, like a great sun shone
Glorious scarce an inch before me,
Just as methought it said, Come, bore me!
—I found the Weser rolling o'er me.’
Ⅷ
You should have heard the Hamelin people
Ringing the bells till they rocked the steeple.
‘Go,’ cried the Mayor, ‘and get long poles!
Poke out the nests and block up the holes!
Consult with carpenters and builders,
And leave in our town not even a trace
Of the rats!’—when suddenly, up the face
Of the Piper perked in the marketplace,
With a, 'First, if you please, my thousand guilders!'
Ⅸ
A thousand guilders! The Mayor looked blue;
So did the Corporation too.
For council dinners made rare havoc
With Claret, Moselle, Vin-de-Grave, Hock;
And half the money would replenish
Their cellar's biggest butt with Rhenish.
To pay this sum to a wandering fellow
With a gipsy coat of red and yellow!
‘Beside,’ quoth the Mayor with a knowing wink,
‘Our business was done at the river's brink;
We saw with our eyes the vermin sink,
And what's dead can't come to life, I think.
So, friend, we're not the folks to shrink
From the duty of giving you something for drink,
And a matter of money to put in your poke;
But as for the guilders, what we spoke
Of them, as you very well know, was in joke.
Beside, our losses have made us thrifty.
A thousand guilders! Come, take fifty!’
Ⅹ
The piper's face fell, and he cried,
‘No trifling! I can't wait, beside!
I've promised to visit by dinner time
Bagdat, and accept the prime
Of the Head-Cook's pottage, all he's rich in,
For having left, in the Caliph's kitchen,
Of a nest of scorpions no survivor—
With him I proved no bargain-driver,
With you, don't think I'll bate a stiver!
And folks who put me in a passion
May find me pipe to another fashion.’
Ⅺ
‘How?’ cried the Mayor, ‘d'ye think I'll brook
Being worse treated than a Cook?
Insulted by a lazy ribald
With idle pipe and vesture piebald?
You threaten us, fellow? Do your worst,
Blow your pipe there till you burst!’
Ⅻ
Once more he stept into the street;
And to his lips again
Laid his long pipe of smooth straight cane;
And ere he blew three notes (such sweet
Soft notes as yet musician's cunning
Never gave the enraptured air)
There was a rustling, that seemed like a bustling
Of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling,
Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering,
Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering,
And, like fowls in a farm-yard when barley is sca
ttering,
Out came the children running.
All the little boys and girls,
With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls,
And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls,
Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after
The wonderful music with shouting and laughter.
ⅩⅢ
The Mayor was dumb, and the Council stood
As if they were changed into blocks of wood,
Unable to move a step, or cry
To the children merrily skipping by—
And could only follow with the eye
That joyous crowd at the Piper's back.
But how the Mayor was on the rack,
And the wretched Council's bosoms beat,
As the Piper turned from the High Street
To where the Weser rolled its waters
Right in the way of their sons and daughters!
However he turned from South to West,
And to Koppelberg Hill his steps addressed,
And after him the children pressed;
Great was the joy in every breast.
‘He never can cross that mighty top!
He's forced to let the piping drop,
And we shall see our children stop!’
When, lo, as they reached the mountain's side,
A wondrous portal opened wide,
As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed;
And the Piper advanced and the children followed,
And when all were in to the very last,
The door in the mountain-side shut fast.
Did I say, all? No! One was lame,
And could not dance the whole of the way;
And in after years, if you would blame
His sadness, he was used to say,—-
‘It' s dull in our town since my playmates left!
I can't forget that I'm bereft
Of all the pleasant sights they see,
Which the Piper also promised me.
For he led us, he said, to a joyous land,
Joining the town and just at hand,
Where waters gushed and fruit-trees grew,
And flowers put forth a fairer hue,
And everything was strange and new;
The sparrows were brighter than peacocks here,
And their dogs outran our fallow deer,
And honey-bees had lost their stings,
And horses were born with eagles’wings:
And just as I became assured
My lame foot would be speedily cured,
The music stopped and I stood still,
And found myself outside the Hill,
Left alone against my will,
To go now limping as before,
And never hear of that country more!’
ⅩⅣ
Alas, alas for Hamelin!
There came into many a burgher's pate
A text which says, that Heaven's Gate
Opes to the Rich at as easy rate
As the needle' s eye takes a camel in!
The Mayor sent East, West, North and South,
To offer the Piper, by word of mouth,
Wherever it was men's lot to find him,
Silver and gold to his heart's content,
If he' d only return the way he went,
And bring the children behind him.
But when they saw’twas a lost endeavour,
And Piper and dancers were gone for ever,
They made a decree that lawyers never
Should think their records dated duly
If, after the day of the month and year,
These words did not as well appear,
‘And so long after what happened here
On the Twenty-second of July,
Thirteen hundred and seventy-six.’
And the better in memory to fix
The place of the children's last retreat,
They called it, the Pied Piper's Street—
Where any one playing on pipe or tabor
Was sure for the future to lose his labour.
Nor suffered they hostelry or tavern
To shock with mirth a street so solemn;
But opposite the place of the cavern
They wrote the story on a column,
And on the great Church-Window painted
The same, to make the world acquainted
How their children were stolen away;
And there it stands to this very day.
And I must not omit to say
That in Transylvania there's a tribe
Of alien people that ascribe
The outlandish ways and dress
On which their neighbours lay such stress,
To their fathers and mothers having risen
Out of some subterraneous prison
Into which they were trepanned
Long time ago in a mighty band
Out of Hamelin town in Brunswick land,
But how or why, they don't understand.
ⅩⅤ
So, Willy, let me and you be wipers
Of scores out with all men—especially pipers:
And, whether they pipe us free from rats or from
mice,
If we've promised them aught, let us keep our
promise.
九十九 哈默林的花衣吹笛人
——儿童故事
罗伯特·布朗宁
一
哈默林市在布伦瑞克，
在著名城市汉诺威的近侧；
威悉河水，又深又宽广，
冲洗着它的南面的城墙；
你找不到比它更可爱的地方；
但是，当我唱起这支歌，
想起大约五百年前
市民们深受兽害的熬煎，
我真感到难过。
二
耗子闹
耗子袭击狗，弄死猫，
咬啮摇篮里的孩子，
吃掉缸里贮存的乳酪，
舔食厨师勺里的汤汁，
咬破小桶，把咸鲱鱼乱叼，
在男人的星期日礼帽里做窝巢，
甚至破坏女人们闲聊：
五十种不同的升半音降半音
组成的叽叽吱吱的尖叫声
把女人谈话的声音淹没掉。
三
最后，市民们来自全市，
成群结队地到了市政厅，
他们喊："很清楚，市长是白痴；
至于市政府，更骇人听闻，
我们买貂皮礼服给傻蛋，
他们却无能又不下决心于
为我们把耗子的祸害连根铲！
你们又老又肥胖，你们想
穿着皮袍子过悠闲的时光？
醒来，老爷们！该运用脑袋，
找出个我们找不出的办法来，
要不然，一准叫你们卷铺盖！"
这时候市长和市政府议员
都浑身发抖，狼狈不堪。
四
他们开会，静坐一小时，
最后市长打破了沉默：
"我想把皮袍子卖了，换钱使；
我本来不想在这里呆着！
叫人家动脑筋，说说不难——
我肯定，我的头痛又犯，
我抓挠头皮，还是没法办。
哦，来个捕鼠机，捕鼠机！"
他正说着——发生了什么事？
是谁在门上轻轻敲击？
"天哪！"市长叫，"什么声音？"
（同全体议员一起，他坐定，
看上去矮小，却胖得惊人；
比起张开得太久的牡蛎，
他眼睛不亮，也不更润湿，
除非到中午他肚子提抗议，
要一盘粘汁的新鲜甲鱼吃）
"只是一声鞋子蹭垫席？
只要是老鼠活动的声息
就吓得我卜卜心跳不已！"
五
"进来！"市长叫，像个大高个：
于是走进了一位怪家伙！
他从头到脚穿一套长外衣，
半身红来半身黄，真希奇；
这个人个子老高又精瘦，
敏锐的蓝眼睛，像两只针尖头，
头发蓬松松，皮肤黑黝黝，
颊边下巴上，都没胡子留，
笑容却时隐时现在嘴唇口——
他是哪方人，谁也猜不透！
没有哪个人会满心羡慕
这个高个子和那身怪衣服：
有人说："倒像我的曾祖父
被末日审判的号声惊起，
从彩绘的墓石下走到了这里！"
六
他走到会议桌前便开口：
"尊敬的先生们，办法我有，
我能用秘密的法术招引
太阳光下的÷斧种活生灵
或者爬或者游或者飞或者奔——
跟我走，我们没见过这光景！
这法术我主要用来制服
那些为害人类的活物，
像鼹鼠、蟾蜍、蝾螈、蝰蛇等;
人们叫我花衣吹笛人。"
（他们注意到他脖子上有围巾，
上面是红黄两色的条子
跟方格花纹的外衣挺相称;
围巾的末端挂着一支笛子;
他的手指像迫不及待,
总想把笛子演奏起来,
这笛子低低地垂挂晃悠
在那件老式的外衣前头.)
"是的，"他说，"我是个穷笛手,
去年六月，鞑靼国可汗得救,
是我引走了大群的蚊虫;
我让亚洲一位国王自由，
免除了帮吸血蝠的进攻
你们的脑子也不用为难，
我如果为你们灭鼠成功，
能不能付给我一千块钱？"
吃惊的市长和议员们大呼：
"一千？五万也可以支付！"
七
吹笛人向大街迈开步伐，
先在脸上微微地一笑，
仿佛他知道有什么魔法
正在沉默的笛子里睡觉；
然后，像一个音乐行家，
他卷起嘴唇，吹起横笛，
锐眼里蓝绿的光彩熠熠，
像是向烛焰撒上了盐粒；
尖锐的笛音没响到三声，
就听到象一支军队在低鸣；
咕哝变成了大声嘟囔，
嘟嚷又变成雷鸣轰响，
耗子们打着滚奔出了民房。
大耗子，小耗子，精瘦的，强壮的，
黑耗子，灰耗子，棕色的，褐黄的，
严肃的老龙钟，欢快的年轻娃，
父亲，母亲，叔叔，表兄，
竖起了胡子，翘起了尾巴，
成百上千个耗子家庭，
兄弟，姊妹，妻子，丈夫——
没命地跟着吹笛人奔去。
吹着笛，他走过一条条街道，
耗子们步步紧跟，跳跃舞蹈，
他们走到了威悉河边，
都跳进河里，统统死光！
——只有一只，像凯撒般强健，
游到对岸，活着带上
他的记录，给鼠国家乡
（他把手稿小心收藏）：
记录说："尖锐的笛声一鸣，
我仿佛听见了刮牛肚的声音，
又像是苹果，熟透甜润，
往榨果汁的机器里塞进：
又听见拿走腌肉缸的木盖，
让果酱橱门稍稍打开，
拔去海鱼油瓶的软木塞，
叫黄油桶的围箍裂开来；
听起来好象有一个嗓音
（比竖琴或萨泰里琴声更悠扬）
在呼叫：哦，作乐吧，耗子们！
全世界已成了巨大的腌鱼场！
嚼吧，啃吧，把点心吞咽！
吃早饭，晚饭，午餐，正餐！
白糖一大桶，满身是窟窿眼，
像个大太阳，就在我眼前，
发出光来金灿灿，红彤彤，
我想它会说，来给我打洞！
——威悉河已在我头顶汹涌。"
八
你该听到哈默林的市民
敲响了钟声，震荡着钟楼顶。
"去，"市长叫"找来长杆子！
把耗子窝捣毁，把耗子洞堵死！
跟木匠和建筑师一同商量，
不让在本市留下一丁点
耗子的痕迹！"——忽然在市场上，
吹笛人一脸的喜气洋洋，
说道，"请付我一千块钱！"
九
一千块！市长顿时变了脸；
议员们的脸色也同样不好看
市府宴会的排场破天荒，
要各种名牌酒浇灌肥肚肠；
花五百就可以重新用美酒
把窖里的大酒桶注满填够。
岂能付给他这么一笔钱——
这穿着吉普赛花衣的流浪汉
"此外，"市长会意地眨眼睛，
"咱们的事儿结束在河滨；
我们亲眼见耗子们丧了命，
我想，已死的不可能复生。
朋友，我们不会不负责
给你一点酒浆来解渴，
再给点钱装进你的钱袋；
至于我们说过的一千块，
那是开玩笑，你也挺明白。
再说，损失教我们节俭。
一千？！来，拿五十块钱！"
十
吹笛人沉下脸来，大声：
"别开玩笑！我不能久等！
我答应就去巴格达访问，
接受宴请，有美味佳羹，
由首席厨师亲手制出，
因为我曾为哈里发的御厨
把一窝蝎子彻底清除——
我不是讨价还价的商贾，
你们连一分钱也休想少付！
谁要是惹得我怒火升高，
会听到我吹奏另一支曲调！"
十一
"怎么？"市长叫，"我岂能忍耐
你待我比对待厨子更坏？
下流的懒汉，破笛子，烂衣服，
竟敢把我市长来侮辱？
你要挟？好，使你的鬼办法，
吹笛吧，一直吹到你肚子炸！"
十二
他向大街又一次走去；
在他的嘴边又一次
搁上那笔直光滑的长笛，
还没吹三声（从没有乐师
奏出过如此美妙的乐音，
使空中充满了喜悦欢欣）
就听到沙沙响，看来是一大帮
快活的小家伙，又挤又推闹嚷嚷，
小脚踢踢踏踏，木鞋呱哒呱哒，
小手劈劈啪啪，小嘴叽叽喳喳，
像给鸡在场上撒了麦粒一大把，
从屋里奔出了所有的小娃娃。
男孩和女孩，一个不落，
红喷喷的脸颊，金灿灿的卷发，
光闪闪的眼睛，珍珠般的门牙，
欢天喜地，跟着奇妙的笛声奔跑，
蹦蹦跳跳，又叫又笑。
十三
市长目瞪口呆，议员们
仿佛变成了木头一根根，
挪不动步子，喊不出声音
对那些欢跳着走过的娃娃们——
只能眼睁睁看着孩子群
兴高彩烈地尾随着吹笛人。
市长心头剧烈地疼，
可怜的议员们胸口卜卜跳，
因为吹笛人已从主街道
转向威悉河水滚滚流，
他们的儿女恰恰在跟着走！
不过他又从南向西转，
他迈步走向柯佩尔堡山，
他身后孩子们紧紧挤向前；
个个都欢天喜地乐无边。
"他绝对爬不过那座高山头，
他势必不能把笛子再吹奏，
我们将看见孩子们会停留！"
正当他们走到半山腰，
一扇神奇的门打开了，瞧！
好像突然开了一个洞；
吹笛人走进去，孩子们向里涌
待他们全部进入山里，
山腰的大门便紧紧关闭。
说全部？不！有一个是瘸腿，
一路上他不能老是跳舞；
在后来的岁月里，如果你责备
他愁眉苦脸，他常常倾诉，—
"玩伴们走了，城里真无聊！
我念念不忘，我永远见不到
玩伴们能见到的一切奇观，
吹笛人答应我也能看见。
他说要带我们去一方乐土，
连接着本市，就在近处，
那儿喷泉涌，果树遍地，
花朵的颜色美丽得出奇，
一切都新鲜而不可思议；
麻雀比这儿的孔雀更夺目，
狗跑起来快过这儿的鹿，
蜜蜂没有蛰人的刺，
马生来就长着老鹰的翅；
正当我得到保证挺可靠，
说我的瘸腿很快能治好，
笛声不响了，我停步站立，
发现自己没进入山里，
被留了下来，我真不愿意，
我现在跟以前一样瘸腿，
那乐土再没听说过一回！"
十四
可悲呀，可悲，哈默林市！
许多市民的脑子都想起
圣经说天堂的大门开启，
凡是富人想进去就好比
骆驼穿过针眼般容易！
市长向东西南北派人
给那位吹笛人捎去口信，
无论在哪里有幸找到他，
可以满足他金银钱财，
只要他从去路重新回来，
把跟他走的儿童送回家。
等他们发现一切都白干，
吹笛人和孩子们一去不复返，
他们就命令律师们这么办：
一切案卷上签署日期，
除写明某日某月某年，
还须把如下的文字加添：
"离一千三百七十六年
七月二十二日发生的事
又过了多少多少时间。"
他们为了更好地纪念
孩子们最后消隐的地点，
把那里命名为"花衣吹笛人大街"
无论谁在那里打鼓弄笛，
准定会失掉就业的权利。
他们不允许酒肆狂欢
干扰这条街道的肃穆；
在山腰开过的洞门对面
竖起铭刻这故事的石柱，
把故事再绘上教堂的窗子，
使得全世界都能熟知
他们的儿童怎样被骗走；
刻的画的至今还存留。
我不能不说的事儿还有：
在特兰西瓦尼亚有一个部族
是异邦民族的一支分部，
他们那外地的习俗和服饰
曾引起邻人们分外的重视，
他们把这些归因于父母，
说自己的先祖来自地狱，
长久以前就被人诱入，
先祖原是一大群男女，
来自哈默林，可是他们
自己也不清楚事情的究竟。
十五
那么，威利，让我们动手
跟一切人，特别是吹笛人，解除冤仇：
只要他们吹笛为我们免去鼠祸，
我们就应当信守我们的承诺。
屠 岸译
①这首诗是作者写给一个名叫威利的孩子看的。