Hiroshima- The "Liveliest" City in Japan(excerpts)

广岛-日本“最有活力”的城市(节选)

Jacques Danvoir

雅各丹瓦

“Hiroshima! Everybody off!” That must be what the man in the Japanese stationmaster's uniform shouted, as the fastest train in the world slipped to a stop in Hiroshima Station. I did not understand what he was saying. First of all, because he was shouting in Japanese. And secondly, because I had a lump in my throat and a lot of sad thoughts on my mind that had little to do with anything a Nippon railways official might say. The very act of stepping on this soil, in breathing this air of Hiroshima, was for me a far greater adventure than any trip or any reportorial assignment I'd previously taken. Was I not at the scene of the crime?

“广岛到了!大家请下车!”当世界上最快的高速列车减速驶进广岛车站并渐渐停稳时，那位身着日本火车站站长制服的男人口中喊出的一定是这样的话。我其实并没有听懂他在说些什么，一是因为他是用日语喊的，其次，则是因为我当时心情沉重，喉咙哽噎，忧思万缕，几乎顾不上去管那日本铁路官员说些什么。踏上这块土地，呼吸着广岛的空气，对我来说这行动本身已是一套令人激动的经历，其意义远远超过我以往所进行的任何一次旅行或采访活动。难道我不就是在犯罪现场吗?

The Japanese crowd did not appear to have the same preoccupations that I had. From the sidewalk outside the station, things seemed much the same as in other Japanese cities. Little girls and elderly ladies in kimonos rubbed shoulders with teenagers and women in western dress. Serious looking men spoke to one another as if they were oblivious of the crowds about them, and bobbed up and down repeatedly in little bows, as they exchanged the ritual formula of gratitude and respect: "Tomo aligato gozayimas." Others were using little red telephones that hung on the facades of grocery stores and tobacco shops.

这儿的日本人看来倒没有我这样的忧伤情绪。从车站外的人行道上看去，这儿的一切似乎都与日本其他城市没什么两样。身着和嘏的小姑娘和上了年纪的太太与西装打扮的少年和妇女摩肩接豫;神情严肃的男人们对周围的人群似乎视而不见，只顾着相互交淡，并不停地点头弯腰，互致问候：“多么阿里伽多戈扎伊马嘶。”还有人在使用杂货铺和烟草店门前挂着的小巧的红色电话通话。