作品原文

连秀 《乡魂》

据闻福水叔是操劳而死的，享年五十四岁。
他殁时，四个子女和一个媳妇都带着欢愉的、如释重负的笑容办理丧事。只有两个年幼不懂事的孙儿，擎香拜祭时给香火烫着了，哭个稀里哗啦，劳动母亲又哄又吓地才止了哭，令灵堂上仅有的那么一点悲哀气氛也消失了。
来吊丧的亲戚朋友开始议论纷纷。
"那些不肖子孙，真的大逆不道。老爸过世，一滴眼泪也没流，居然还笑呢，天打雷劈呀！"
"等分财产嘛，他们恨不得老爸早点咽气！"
"财产？福水叔一穷二白，哪来的财产？"
"那块地呀，你懂什么！这些年到处在发展，以前两百块钱买到的烂泥芭芭（低洼地），现在值二十万咧……"
福水叔的遗照似乎浮漾着一些感慨。他是由唐山南来的，韩站爆发那年胶价好，他把新婚妻子留在乡下，随着淘金梦的浪潮涌到星洲大伯的胶园干活儿。后来发觉大伯只当他是廉价劳工，一气之下跑到雪兰莪开荒，真正是披荆斩棘，劈出良田，有一种"含恨立志出乡关，淘金未成誓不还"的意味。
子子孙孙披麻戴孝的，排成队伍，轻步走过乡间小路，过桥，越过北山的老橡树林……从山溪里汲起半桶清水，又慢慢地回到乡居……他们脸上仍然带着欢悦的微笑，像是去郊游一样悠闲！然后一致福建人的习俗，做大儿子的用毛巾蘸了清水，小心翼翼地洗涤父亲的遗体，试抹干净，才穿上寿衣。
福水叔脸上很安详。他仿佛在临终前已彻悟了，这辈子的淘金梦是幻灭了。守在福建乡下的妻儿等待的是他每年两封的家信！而守在南洋这头儿的他却仍然一锄一耙地开沟筑堤，保护着那三英亩的可可园，免得被黄泥浆及工业垃圾所掩埋……他就是这样累垮了，含恨归不了乡！
道士作法事的诵祷声嗡嗡地响。
孝子孝媳们仍然保持那愉快的笑容，不肯稍露一丝一毫的悲哀神色。吊丧的人们还在七嘴八舌。
"不是吧？福水叔要是有钱，这些年早就回唐山了，就是等不到旅费，不能衣锦还乡，跟唐山的妻儿团聚……唉，你们知道吗？他连做梦都希望自己死后能葬在故乡……"
"说来说去，都是那些不肖子孙……唉，也难怪，娶了半唐番的女人，声的孩子差了点，改天没把祖宗的牌位拿去烧，就谢天谢地了！"
"半唐番？半唐番也是人吧？家里死了人呀，哭也不懂？太不应该了！"
丧事到了尾声。子孙们站在坟前，将孝服除下，投入熊熊焚烧着的冥纸堆里，一瞬间便化为飞灰……孝子孝媳们仍带着笑意擎香朝坟头叩拜，然后离去。
回到乡居，大儿子带头下跪朝父亲的灵位再次焚香祷告："爸爸，我们都依照您的吩咐，在丧事期间不敢悲伤流泪，怕真如相士所言，子孙一哭，你回头一望，灵魂便找不到回唐山的路……"
跪在灵位前的媳妇、子孙们这才抑制不住地号啕大哭，悲痛的泪水似决堤般泛滥。

作品译文

The Homeward Soul
Lian Xiu

It was said that uncle Fushui died of overwork when he was just 54 years old.
After his death, his four children and the daughter-in-law attended to his funeral rites with smiles, as if relieved of a heavy burden! His two little grandsons did cry and blubber because their little hands were burned by the incense when they worshipped. Coaxed and frightened by their mothers, they finally stopped crying. Thus, no trace of grief was left in the mourning hall.
There was a plentitude of whispers among people who came to offer their condolences.
"Those unfilial children are making worst offense to their dead father. They even don't shed tears, instead, they are smiling! They will be stricken by lightning and thunder!"
"They must be waiting for the property division, and perhaps they wish their father had died earlier!"
"Property? Uncle Fushui is so poor. Does he have any property?"
"That plot of land! Understand/ these years, the Kapar Road area has been developing continuously and the muddy plot he bought with two hundred dollars was worth two hundred thousand dollars now …"
In uncle Fushui's photo, people could see a trace of sadness and regret on his face. He came here from Tang Shan. When the Korean War broke out, the rubber sold really good. He, then, left his newly-wedded wife home and went to work in his uncle's rubber garden in Singapore with the dream of making a big fortune there. Later, he found himself just a cheap labor, and in a fit of anger, he left the garden and went to Selangor to open up the wasteland! He toiled and moiled industriously with the spirit of "leaving home with grievance and ambition, and never returning with an unfulfilled mission". He hoped that through his hard work he could bring the wasterland into the fertile field one day.
In mourning apparels, his sons and grandsons lined up and slowly walked along the country road, cross the bridge and through the oak woods in the northern hill … They drew half a pail of water from the stream and brought it back home slowly and carefully … With smiles on their faces, they behaved like going hiking in the countryside!
In light of the customs of Fu Jian people, the eldest son dipped the clear water and washed their father's body with great care. After all these procedures, he put on cerements for his father.
Uncle Fushui's face appeared peaceful and tranquil, as if he had known before his death that the dream of his whole life shattered. In the countryside of Fu Jian, his wife and children could get nothing but two letters from him each year! While what he could do in Nanyang was digging ditches and building dykes in order to protect his three acres' coco garden, lest it would be buried by mud and industrial rubbish. Day by day, year by year, he was exhausted to death, with the deepest regret that he couldn't go back home!
The Taoist priests produced droning sound of prayers for him.
The "filial" children kept their pleasant smiles, with no trace of grief at all.
People were still whispering.
"Unlike what you said, if uncle Fushui had money, he would have returned to Tang Shan to get together with his wife and children. He stayed here just because he was so poor that he couldn't afford to go back home, let alone go back home with wealth and power. Can you imagine he longed for going back home even in his dreams, and he hoped to be buried at home after his death …"
"In a word, his children are too unfilial … After all, he married a hybrid Chinese woman here, therefore, the children she gave birth to are not really as good … Thank God! They didn't burn their ancestors' memorial tablets!"
"A hybrid? Hybrids also know what is sadness, and they also cry when their relatives die! But look at these children! They have gone too far!"
The mourning was drawn close to the end. Standing in front of the tomb, the children took off their mourning bands and dresses, and threw them into the fire where paper was burned for the dead. Instantly, the bands and the dresses were burned to ashes. Holding incense in hands, these filial children kowtowed in front of the tomb, and then left.
Coming back home in the countryside, the elder son took the lead to kowtow to his father's spirit tablet and said, "Father, following your request, during the funeral, we didn't dare to show any expression of grief or sorrow, for fear that you might turn your head back when you heard our cries and that your soul could not step on the way home to Tang Shan, as the priest said."
At this time, his four children, the daughter-in-law and the grandsons couldn't help crying loudly! The sorrowful tears flooded like water breaking through the dyke …