雙語|現(xiàn)代散文:葉圣陶 我和商務(wù)印書館

The Commercial Press and I 我和商務(wù)印書館

◎ Ye Shengtao ◎ 葉圣陶

If I'm asked what profession I've been following，I say l've been a teacher and editor with a much longer experience in editing than teaching．Now，because of my failing eyesight，I even have difficulty in identifying Chinese characters．Nevertheless occasionally I'm still called upon to revise some short articles．Unable to see the manuscripts well，I have to rely on someone to read them out for me.

如果有人問起我的職業(yè)，我就告訴他：我當(dāng)過教員，又當(dāng)過編輯，當(dāng)編輯的年月比當(dāng)教員多得多?，F(xiàn)在眼睛壞了，連筆劃也分辨不清了，有時候免不了還要改一些短稿，自己沒法看，只能聽別人念。

It was not until I entered The Commercial Press that I learned how to go about editorial work．I remember how I bungled the job when I did proofreading for the first time．It happened that I read the proof sheet without checking it against the original text．Consequently I missed out a whole paragraph in proof．A full-time proofreader discovered it and sent the proof back to me with a comment scribbled in red ink about my mistake．I felt deeply embarrassed．I then realized that it was no easy job to be an editor and that I had to be very careful and train on the job earnestly.

做編輯工作是進(jìn)了商務(wù)印書館才學(xué)的。記得第一次校對，我把校樣讀了一遍，不曾對原稿，校樣上漏了一大段，我竟沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)。一位專職校對看出來了，他用紅筆在校樣上批了幾個字退回給我，弄得我很不好意思。我才知道編輯不好當(dāng)，絲毫馬虎不得，必須認(rèn)認(rèn)真真一邊干一邊學(xué)。

I entered The Commercial Press in the spring of 1923 on the recommendation of Zhu Jingnong，who was then in charge of the Chinese as well as History and Geography Section under the Editing and Translating Department．At the Chinese Section where I belonged I co-compiled with Gu Xiegang New Chinese Textbook for Middle Schools．Its first volume was jointly compiled by several other editors，among them Zhou Yutong．I took part in drafting guidelines for compiling the textbook.

我進(jìn)商務(wù)是1923年春天，朱經(jīng)農(nóng)先生介紹的。朱先生當(dāng)時在編譯所當(dāng)國文部和史地部的主任。我在國文部，跟顧頡剛兄一同編《新學(xué)制中學(xué)國文課本》。這套課本的第一冊是另外幾位編的，其中有周予同兄。我參與了那時候頒發(fā)的“新學(xué)制中學(xué)國文課程標(biāo)準(zhǔn)”的擬訂工作。

In June 1927，when Zheng Zhenduo[1] was on leave touring Europe，I acted on his behalf as editor of the magazine Fiction Monthly，with Xu Diaofu as my collaborator．The Commercial Press then published more than ten different periodicals，of which the biggest was Eastern Magazine，a comprehensive publication with a staff of more than ten．The other magazines were each run by a staff of only four．In addition to Xu and me，F(xiàn)iction Monthly had on its staff two men in charge of sundry matters．Occasionally they also did some proofreading，but we didn't have enough confidence in them．

1927年6月，鄭振鐸兄去歐洲游歷，我代他編《小說月報》，跟徐調(diào)孚兄合作。商務(wù)辦了十幾種雜志，除了大型的綜合性的《東方雜志》人比較多，有十好幾位，其余的每種雜志只有四位。《小說月報》除了調(diào)孚兄和我，還有兩位管雜務(wù)的先生。他們偶爾也看看校樣，但是不能讓人放心。

It was the post-Great Revolution[2] days when the stirring times found expression in literature．For two consecutive years，there appeared in Fiction Monthly a great many works full of new ideas and also a great many new names，of which the most conspicuous were Mao Dun[3]，Ba Jin[4] and Ding Ling[5]．People at that time did not know that Mao Dun was the pseudonym for Shen Yanbing．He had up to then written no fiction，but articles introducing foreign literary works and theories．I was not acquainted with Mao Dun and Ding Ling．I met them later.

那時正是大革命之后，時代的激蕩當(dāng)然會在文學(xué)的領(lǐng)域里反映出來。那兩年里，《小說月報》上出現(xiàn)了許多有新意的作品，也出現(xiàn)了許多新的名字，最惹人注意的是茅盾、巴金和丁玲。當(dāng)時大家不知道茅盾就是沈雁冰兄。他過去不寫小說，只介紹國外的作品和理論。巴金和丁玲兩位都不相識，是以后才見面的。

After Zheng Zhenduo had taken a short rest upon his return from Europe，I gave him back my duties at Fiction Monthly and resumed my work at the Chinese Department，this time compiling Chinese National Culture Series for Students．I'm not able to recall the exact date，but I'm sure it was in the first half of 1929．In the second half of the next year，I co-edited Women's Magazine with Jin Zhonghua．Early in 1931，soon after Kaiming Bookstore started its publication of the magazine Middle School Students，Xia Mianzun and Zhang Xichen asked me to help them with editing the new magazine．So I quit The Commercial Press after being with it for eight years.

等振鐸兄從歐洲回來，休息了一些日子，我就把《小說月報》的工作交回給他，回到國文部編《學(xué)生國學(xué)叢書》，時間記不太準(zhǔn)，總在1929年上半年。到第二年下半年，我又去編《婦女雜志》，跟金仲華兄合作。1931年初，開明書店創(chuàng)辦《中學(xué)生》雜志，過了不久，夏丏尊先生章錫琛先生要我去幫忙，我就離開了商務(wù)。我在商務(wù)當(dāng)編輯一共八個年頭。

When The Commercial Press was established in 1898，its proprietors were some ex-workers who had become rich by printing The Bible．Two years later，when the Editing and Translating Department was set up with the participation of reformist intellectuals，a cultural enterprise with the triple function of editing and translating，printing and publishing began to take shape．As its business developed gradually，books and periodicals edited，translated and published by it covered all fields，such as literature，history，philosophy，science，engineering，medicine，music，physical culture，fine arts，etc．Some were specialized and some intended for general readership or specifically for housewives and pre-school children．It also sold foreign books and periodicals，and various stationery and sports requisites．It also manufactured instruments，specimens and teaching aids for schools．It even produced films，including popular science and feature films．None of the present-day publishing houses can compare with it in the scope of business and number of customers．Yet people today seldom mention its outstanding features．

商務(wù)創(chuàng)辦于1898年，老板是幾位印《圣經(jīng)》發(fā)家的工人；兩年以后，維新派的知識分子參加進(jìn)去，成立了編譯所，一個編譯、印刷、發(fā)行三者聯(lián)合的文化企業(yè)就初具規(guī)模了。后來業(yè)務(wù)逐漸發(fā)展，就編譯和出版的書籍雜志來說，文史哲理工醫(yī)音體美，無所不包；有專門的，有通俗的，甚至有特地供家庭婦女和學(xué)前兒童閱讀的。此外還販賣國外的書刊、販賣各種文具和體育器械，還制造儀器標(biāo)本和教學(xué)用品供應(yīng)各級學(xué)校，甚至還攝制影片，包括科教片和故事片。業(yè)務(wù)方面之廣和服務(wù)對象之廣，現(xiàn)在的任何一家出版社都不能和商務(wù)相比。商務(wù)的這個特點，現(xiàn)在不大有人說起了。

The Editing and Translating Department of The Commercial Press boasted a galaxy of talent，sometimes topping 300．Scholars who came to work there at different times included returned students from the US like Ren Hongjuan，Zhu Kezhen，Zhu Jingnong，Wu Zhijue，etc．a(chǎn)nd those from Japan like Zheng Zhenwen，Zhou Changshou，Li Shicen，He Gonggan，etc．The core members of the later-established publishing houses，such as Zhonghua，Shijie，Dadong and Kaiming，were mostly former employees of The Commercial Press．The same was true of many printing houses and bookbinderies．It can be fitly concluded that The Commercial Press has trained a huge army of technical personnel for China's publishing industry.

商務(wù)的編譯所是知識分子匯集的地方，人員最多的時候有三百多位。早期留美回來的任鴻雋、竺可楨、朱經(jīng)農(nóng)、吳致覺諸先生，留日回來的鄭貞文、周昌壽、李石岑、何公敢諸先生，都在商務(wù)的編譯所工作過。稍后創(chuàng)辦的幾家出版業(yè)如中華、世界、大東、開明，骨干大多是從商務(wù)出來的；還有許多印刷廠裝訂廠，情形也大多相同。可以這樣說，商務(wù)為我國的出版事業(yè)，從各方面培養(yǎng)了大批技術(shù)力量。

Interestingly enough，when the General Administration of Publication was established following the birth of New China to take charge of publication directly under the Government Administration Council，Hu Yuzhi[6] was appointed as its director and Zhou Jianren[7] and I as its deputy directors．So the three old friends who had been colleagues over 20 years before at the Editing and Translating Department of The Commercial Press met again．Later，I became concurrently director of the People's Education Publishing House．In September 1954，when the General Administration of Publication was dissolved，Hu Yuzhi was transferred to the Ministry of Culture to take charge of publication，and I was transferred to the Ministry of Education while still doing editing at the People's Education Publishing House．During the past 20 years or so，many old friends have passed away．Zhou，Hu and I，however，are still living and enjoy good health．It is said that people in the publishing trade live longer.

有趣的是1949年10月新中國成立，政務(wù)院有個管出版事業(yè)的直屬機(jī)構(gòu)叫出版總署，胡愈老任署長，周建老和我任副署長，二十多年前在商務(wù)編譯所共事的老朋友又聚在一起了。后來人民教育出版社成立，我兼任社長。1954年9月，出版總署撤銷，這一攤工作并入文化部。胡愈老調(diào)到文化部，出版工作仍舊由他主管；我調(diào)到教育部，主要還是在人民教育出版社做編輯工作。這一二十年來，老朋友過世的不少，周建老、胡愈老和我還健在。有人說，做出版工作的人就是長壽。

《我和商務(wù)印書館》是葉圣陶寫于1982年的一篇散文，刊于《商務(wù)印書館建館八十五周年特刊》。作者談自己的編輯生涯，平平實實，溫和親切，涉及事業(yè)、友誼、工作態(tài)度等方面，無不出于自己的深切感受，讀來耐人尋味。