雙語|現(xiàn)代散文:冰心 當教師的快樂

Joys of the Teaching Career 當教師的快樂

◎ Bing Xin ◎ 冰心

I was a teacher for only ten years．In 1926，on my return to China after finishing studies in the United States，I began to teach at my alma mater Yenching University，Peiping，as a lecturer in Chinese．The deans and teachers of the Department of Chinese then were mostly my former teachers．Other faculties and departments also had no lack of my former teachers．I may well say that practically all the teaching staff of the University were my seniors．Therefore，at a faculty meeting，I always chose a seat at an unobservable corner of the room．Everybody jokingly called me“faculty baby”．I was then on the right side of 26.

我只當過十年的教師。那是一九二六年我從美國留學回來，在母校燕京大學國文系當了一名教師。那時系里的主任和教師大半是我的老師。校內其他科、系里也有我的老師。總之，全校的教師都是我的師輩！因此在開教授會的時候，我總是挑個極邊極角的座位，惶恐地縮在一旁。大家都笑著稱我為Faculty Baby。那一學期我還不滿二十六歲。

It was，however，a different story when I was with my students．They and I were good friends．When I taught freshman Chinese as a required course，I used a textbook of classical prose．The freshmen were mostly young boys and girls aged between 17 and 20．Freshman Chinese was taught in five classes，each consisting of 30 to 40 students hailing from various places of China．Those from Fujian and Guangdong had difficulty in understanding the heavily accented speech of teachers like Ma Jian ，Zhou Zuoren，Shen Yinmo，Gu Shui and Guo Shaoyu who all came from places south of the Yangtse River．Consequently，some of these students were transferred to my class through the arrangements of the Dean's Office．Looking down from the rostrum，I was delighted by a multitude of rosy-faced naïve young students smiling and staring curiously at me—the little teacher．Their smiles were by no means unfamiliar to me，being similar to those I often saw on the faces of my younger brothers and younger female cousins．Often，when I opened the roll-call book and asked them each to give their own names，I corrected their accents one by one．Thus，between laughter and chat，we came to know each other better and were soon on friendly terms．The first composition they did was“My Autobiography”．I let them write on this subject because，firstly，everybody always had got something to say on it and，secondly，it would afford me a good opportunity to understand each student's family background，habit，disposition，etc．I only put marks but never gave comments on the papers after reading them．Instead I laid emphasis on holding outside-class individual talks with them lasting not more than 30 minutes．They would tell me how they had done the composition，and I would express my opinion on it．And we would both feel pleased with the frank exchange of views.

在學生群中就大不一樣了。他們是我的好朋友。我教一年級必修科的國文，用的是古文課本。大學一年級的男女學生很多，年紀又都不大，大概在十七到二十歲之間。國文課分成五個班，每班有三四十名。因為他們來自全國各地，閩粵的學生，聽不大懂馬鑒主任、周作人、沈尹默、顧隨、郭紹虞等幾位老先生的江南口音，于是教務處就把這一部分學生分到我的班上。從講臺上望去，一個個紅撲撲的稚氣未退的臉，嬉笑地好奇地望著我這個小先生——那時一般稱教師為先生。這些笑容對我并不陌生，與我的弟弟們和表妹們的笑容一模一樣。打開點名簿請他們自己報名，我又逐一糾正了他們的口音，笑語紛紜之中，我們一下子就很熟悉很親熱了！我給他們出的第一道作文題目，就是自傳，一來因為在這題目下人人都有話可寫，二來通過這篇自傳，我可以了解到每個學生的家庭背景、習慣、性情等等。我看完文卷，從來只打下分數(shù)，不寫批語，而注重在和每個人做半小時以內的課外談話上。這樣，他們可以告訴我：他們是怎么寫的，我也可告訴他們我對這篇文字的意見，思想溝通了，我們彼此也比較滿意。

I also offered a course on advanced writing，which was an elective for students above the freshman level．It gave them training in different genres of literary writing，such as fiction，poetry，correspondence and sometimes translation．I found that students with a solid grounding in Chinese often did good translations．For the end-of-term examination，I had them each hand in a self-edited magazine specializing in any subjects，such as fine arts，sports，etc．a(chǎn)nd complete with well designed front cover，aim of its publication，photos，etc．Students of the same class could solicit contributions or photos from each other，or from students of other classes．They called it an interesting try．The magazines they handed in by the end of the term were very lively and encouraging，each having its content quite in line with its title.

我還開了一班習作的課，是為一年級以上的學生選修的。我要學生們練習寫各種文學形式的文字，如小說、詩、書信，有時也有翻譯——我發(fā)現(xiàn)漢文基礎好的學生，譯文也會更通順——期末考試是讓他們每人交一本刊物，什么種類的都行，如美術、體育等等。但必須有封面圖案、本刊宗旨、文章、相片等等，同班同學之間可以互相組稿，也可以向班外的同學索稿或相片。學生們都覺得這很新鮮有趣，他們期末交來的刊物，內容和刊名都很一致，又很活潑可喜。

In recalling my past career as a teacher，I always think fondly of the intimate friendship between the students and me．In those days，teachers and students all lived on the campus，which greatly facilitated our after-school contact．We often went boating on the Weiming Lake，or had discussions about various things on the marble boat by the island in the middle of the Lake，or had heart-to-heart private talks about，for instance，job selection or marriage．At this moment the images of quite a few couples，such as Zheng Linzhuang and Wu Ruiwu，Lin Yaohua and Rao Yusu，etc．suddenly appear in my mind's eye．I attended some of their wedding ceremonies in my capacity as a go-between．Sometimes，preparatory to making a match，I had the parents of both parties meet each other at a dinner I gave．All that took place over half a century ago，and now，alas，more than half of them have gone to another world before me．I feel very bad about it indeed.

回憶起那幾年的教學生涯，最使我眷戀的是：學生們和我成了知心朋友。那時教師和男女學生都住在校內，課外的接觸十分頻繁。我們常常在未名湖上劃船，在水中央的島邊石舫上開種種的討論會，或是作個別談話。這種個別談話就更深入了！有個人的擇業(yè)與擇婚問題等等！這時我眼前忽然涌現(xiàn)出好幾對美滿的夫妻，如鄭林莊和吳瑞梧，林耀華和饒毓蘇，等等。有的是我以大媒的身份去參加他們的完婚儀式，有的是由我出面宴請雙方的家長，為他們撮合。說起來是半個世紀以前的事了。他們中有過半數(shù)的人已先我而進入另一個世界，寫到這里，我心里有說不出的一種滋味！

It's time for me to stop writing now．I've not been talking solely about“students respecting teachers”or“teachers cherishing students”because，to my mind，teachers and students should be friends with mutual respect and love.

我應該停筆了，我說的既不是“尊師”，也不是“愛生”，我只覺得“師”和“生”應當是互相尊重互相親愛的朋友。

冰心年輕時當過十年教師。她于晚年所寫《當教師的快樂》一文意味深長地追憶了這段教書生涯。文章寫于1986年7月間，通過一系列事件的敘述，如點名時逐一糾正學生口音、作文課讓學生寫自傳、課外與學生作個別談話、讓學生自編刊物、替學生做媒等等，表達師生間的思想溝通與友愛情感，強調師生間應“互相尊重互相親愛”。