Love in Yan’an: Ma Haide and Sufei[1]

情定延安：马海德与苏菲

By Sidney Shapiro

文/悉尼·沙博理

George was riding his horse for one of his weekly medical visits[2] to the Art Academy[3] when a young fellow he knew hailed him excitedly.

乔治正骑着马前往鲁迅艺术学院每周巡诊的路上，有个他认识的小伙子兴奋地冲他打招呼。

[1] 马海德，原名乔治·哈特姆（George Hatem，1910—1988），生于美国纽约州，1933年在日内瓦获医学博士学位，不久来到上海。1936年6月经宋庆龄介绍来到陕北苏区，1937年1月担任革命军事委员会的卫生顾问，2月加入中国共产党，自己改名“马海德”。苏菲（1920—），即周苏菲，生于上海，原名周素珍，“苏菲”是其艺名，1939年8月离开上海辗转到达延安，在鲁迅艺术学院学习文学和戏剧，1942年毕业后分配到鲁迅艺术学院实验话剧团任演员。1940年1月马海德与苏菲在延安相识，3月1日登记结婚。这对革命伴侣的一生被传为佳话。

 

[2] 每周一次的巡诊。

 

[3] 1938年创建于延安的鲁迅艺术学院，简称“鲁艺”。

“Hey! Ma Haide! A new batch of girls has just arrived at the Academy. They say one of them, Jiang Qing’s kid sister, is very pretty. Introduce me to her, will you?”

“嗨，马海德！学院新来了一批姑娘，听说有江青的小妹，是个大美女。你把我介绍给她，行不？”

Sufei had play the maid in Ostrovsky’s The Storm in Shanghai. Jiang Qing, then called Lan Ping[4], had been the leading lady. Inaccurate theatrical gossip held that they were sisters. Jiang Qing was later to become Mao’s third wife.

奥斯特洛夫斯基的《暴风雨所诞生的》在上海上演时，苏菲在里面扮演女仆，女主角的扮演者是江青，当时叫蓝苹，戏剧圈有谣传说她们是姐妹俩。江青后来成了毛泽东的第三任妻子。

[4] 蓝苹，即江青（1915—1991），原名李云鹤，1934至1937年间以“蓝苹”为艺名做过电影演员，1937年8月进入延安，改名“江青”，曾在鲁迅艺术学院任教。1938年11月20日江青与毛泽东结婚。

“Fat chance[5].” George said under his breathe. “You don’t catch me passing up any pretty girls.”

“门儿都没！”乔治低声说道，“休想跟我抢美女哦。”

[5] 机会渺茫。

He saw Sufei at the Academy, and was bowled over by her grace and beauty. She had bright expressive eyes and wore her shining black hair in a short bob. He had no chance to talk with her at any length until the following year at the Spring Festival, which in 1940 fell in January. All of the schools threw parties, but the Academy’s was by far the best. Its young people in the theatre and the arts were naturally talented performers, and its girls were famous for their good looks. Even the clothes they wore, although the same as those of everyone else, somehow, with a little decoration here and a slightly different cut there, had a touch of swagger, an air of smartness.

乔治在学院里见到了苏菲，为其优雅和美貌所倾倒。苏菲双眸炯炯有神，短发乌黑发亮。直到第二年春节，他才有机会和她说上话。那是1940年1月下旬，各个学校都在举办联欢会，而艺术学院的最为精彩，那里的年轻人都是艺术人才，天生能演会画，女孩子的美貌也是出了名的。尽管穿着和其他人一样，不知怎的，左一点装饰右一块裁剪，就给她们平添了几分时髦和灵气。

George played in an extract from a Peking opera San Da Zhu Jia Zhuang – “Three Attacks on the Zhu Family Village”. He was dressed in ornate classical costume, a fantastic traditional colored design adorned his face. George strode on in high platform shoes and bowed in every direction. Since he couldn’t sing Peking opera arias, he launched into one of the few Chinese songs he knew – a local ditty[6] called “Our village is full of lovely maid”[7]. The incongruity of this foreign friend in full opera make-up and regalia beating out a pop tune had the audience in stitches. Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and other top leaders who had come to see the show, nearly collapsed with laughter.

乔治参演了京剧《三打祝家庄》里的一个小折。他身穿华丽的戏服，脸上涂着夸张的油彩，踩着厚底武靴，在台上大步流星，给全场左右鞠躬。他唱不来京剧的唱腔，就从会唱的几首中国歌中挑了首地方小调《桃花江是美人窝》。这位全副京剧扮相的外国友人唱出了流行曲调，引得观众开怀大笑。毛泽东、周恩来以及来看演出的其他中央领导都笑得前俯后仰。

[6] ditty 小曲；小调。

[7] 《桃花江是美人窝》是20 世纪30 年代风靡中国的一首男女对唱歌曲，由著名作曲家黎锦辉根据自己在湖南省桃江县桃花江畔的一段爱情经历而创作，融汇了中国民间音乐元素和西洋爵士音乐元素。

The party went on for hours. There was dancing to a small pick-up band of mixed Chinese and Western musical instruments. General Ye Jianying played a yang qin – a kind of Cantonese zither. Now back in ordinary clothes, his face washed clean. George spotted Sufei peeling out from behind one of the pillars supporting the roof of the large hall in which the festivities were being held. George asked her to dance, his heart beating fast. She said she didn’t know how.

联欢会持续了好几个小时。和着由中西乐器临时组成的混合小乐队的伴奏，人们翩翩起舞。叶剑英将军操扬琴，一种广东的扁形弦乐器。这会儿，乔治换掉戏服，洗了脸，瞅见了联欢大厅柱子后面探头张望的苏菲。乔治上前邀她跳舞，心怦怦直跳。她说她不会跳舞。

“Never mind,” he retorted boldly, though he was quaking inwardly. “I’ll teach you.” Her loveliness was breathtaking.

“没关系，”他鼓着勇气说，尽管内心在颤抖，“我教你。”她美丽动人，令他屏息。

George led her to the floor. He was a very good dancer, and she caught on quickly. Her body seemed to mould itself to his. They were holding each other much closer than Yan’an decorum usually allowed, but neither of them cared.

乔治领她到了舞池，他跳得很好，她学得也很快。她的身姿似乎与乔治服帖得很。两人相拥而舞的亲密感大大超出了延安的礼仪尺度，但他俩都不在意。

This is what Heaven must be like, if there is one, George thought. They danced all the rest of the dances together.

乔治心想，天堂若真有，美妙必如此。两人一直跳到舞会结束。

 

After midnight they walked along the banks of the Yan River, a favorite spot for the post-dinner stroller and romantic couples. George proclaimed his love. He told her about himself, his family. Sufei did the same. This was standard procedure for young people who were courting. He kissed her, long and deliciously. She broke away and ran back to her hostel in confused agitation.

午夜已过，他们俩沿着延河堤岸散步，这里是饭后消食、情侣浪漫的好去处。乔治向她坦露了爱慕之意。他说了自己和家人的情况，苏菲也做了自我介绍。这也是年轻人谈恋爱的标准程序。他吻了她，深情而甜蜜。她不知所措地挣脱开，一路跑回宿舍，心里小鹿乱撞。

One of the women in Sufei’s room was very pregnant. At two in the morning the birth pains started. The party had ended late. George had told Sufei that rather than ride back to his own quarters in the dark he would stay over with Emi Siao, a teacher in the Academy. None of the girls knew where exactly Emi lived, but they had to find a doctor. They were wandering around in front of the long row of teachers’ cave dwellings when luckily Emi heard their voices. He got up and went out to see what was the trouble.

苏菲宿舍里的一个孕妇快足月了，凌晨两点肚子开始阵痛。晚会很晚才结束。乔治曾对苏菲说，他宁愿去学院萧三老师那儿借宿一晚也不愿摸黑骑马返回自己住处。姑娘们都不知道萧老师究竟住在哪儿，可她们得找个医生来。一众人在老师居住的长排窑洞前来回转悠，幸好萧老师听见了动静，起身出门看出了什么事儿。

They hauled George out of a deep sleep and rushed him to the patient. He put everyone to work, boiling water, preparing clean cloths... “Is the father here?” he demanded. Of course, he wasn’t. Most of the married couples were separated, the husbands and wives working and living in different units. George shooed everyone out, except Sufei and another girl who remained to assist him. He safely delivered the baby.

她们把乔治从睡梦中摇醒，催他去查看产妇。他把大伙儿都动员起来，烧开水，准备干净布单……“孩子的父亲在吗？”他问道。他当然不在。大多数已婚夫妇单位不同，工作起居不在一起。除了苏菲和另一个留下来协助的女孩，乔治把其他人都赶出了房间。宝宝平安出生。

Although it was his first venture into a maternity procedure, George had done a clean and competent job. By now it was nearly dawn. Sufei helped him wash up. She told him later that seeing him perform that night had roused her admiration for him as a doctor, and as a man.

乔治虽然是头一回干接生的活儿，但表现得干净利落。天快亮了，苏菲帮他清洗干净。后来苏菲告诉他，自从那天晚上目睹了他的职业精神和男子气概，就对他心生爱慕。

From then on, there was an “understanding” between them. Before two months had elapsed, they decided to get married. Every one of Sufei’s girl friends was opposed. He may not want to spend his whole life in China, they said. They pointed to the example of Braun, who had deserted Li Lilian[8]. What’s more, they contended, there is no way of checking whether Ma Haide doesn’t already have a wife in America.

自那以后他俩之间就产生了一种默契。不到两个月，他们决定结婚。苏菲的闺蜜们都不赞成，说乔治不可能一辈子待在中国。李德把李丽莲给甩了，这就是个教训。更重要的是，她们认为，就连马海德是否已在美国有家室都无处可查。

[8] 李德（Otto Braun，1900—1974），共产国际派到中国的代表。李丽莲（1914—1965），上海演员，1937年底和江青一起来到延安。李德与李丽莲相恋结婚，1939年8月李德离开延安回莫斯科述职后一直到去世都未再回中国。

But the young couple were determined. At the end of February 1940, George went to the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party. The man in charge and he were friends.

“I want to get married,” George said.

“Who to?”

“Guess.”

“Li Lilian.”

“Wrong. It’s Sufei.”

“I can’t place her. Who is she?”

但这对年轻人决心已定。1940年2月末，乔治去了中共中央组织部，那里的负责人和他是朋友。

“我要结婚。”乔治说。

“和谁？”

“猜猜！”

“李丽莲。”

“不对，是苏菲。”

“对不上号啊，苏菲是谁?”

George told him all about her. Party approval was granted. He took Sufei to the Border Area government office to formally register and obtain a marriage certificate. This was a procedure followed only by local residents. It was not necessary for people attached to the Revolutionary units. But George wanted everything proper legal. American style.

乔治对他一五一十地说了苏菲的事，这桩婚事获得党组织批准。他带苏菲去边区政府办公室正式登记，领了结婚证。这只是本地居民走的流程，革命单位的人不必如此，但乔治希望一切正当合法，美国做派嘛。

To Rewi[9] he dashed off a telegram: GETTING MARRIED. PLEASE SEND 200 DOLLARS. His old friend and mentor promptly complied. The money was used to order a banquet in a local restaurant for ten tables of ten guests each. Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong attended the wedding party. It was a lively noisy affair.

他匆匆给艾黎发了个电报：“要结婚，请寄200元。”他这位良师和故友速速汇来了钱。他用这笔钱在当地的一个饭店置办了十桌婚宴，每桌十人。周恩来、毛泽东应邀前来，场面好不热闹。

[9] 路易·艾黎（Rewi Alley，1897—1987），新西兰人，社会活动家、教育家，1927年来到上海，居住了11年。马海德1933至1936年居住上海期间，跟随艾黎去上海周边进行农村调查，了解中国。1939 至1940年，艾黎两次到过延安。

But none of Sufei’s girl friends came, and she was miserable. She wept when she and George were lying in bed together in his cave dwelling that night. What would life be like without friends? George was very understanding. He said she could still call the marriage off if she wished. He told her again about himself and his family in America, and swore he would never deceive or abandon her.

可是，苏菲的闺蜜们一个也没来，她很难过。那夜，两人躺在乔治的窑洞里，苏菲哭了。没了朋友生活会是什么样子？乔治很理解她。他说，如果她不想结这个婚了，仍可以解除婚姻。他再次讲明了自己以及美国家里的一切，并发誓永远不会欺骗她或者弃她而去。

“If you love me, you ought to trust me. But you’re free.” He said. “It’s up to you.”

“你爱我，就该信任我。但你是自由的。”他说，“一切你做主！”

Sufei threw her arms around him. They fiercely embraced.

苏菲张开双臂搂住乔治。两人紧紧相拥。

（译者单位：广西民族大学外国语学院）

【编者按】著名翻译家沙博理著有英文传记Ma Haide: The Sage American Doctor George Hatem in China（《马海德传》，外文出版社，2004）。下面的英语选文取自该书，充满浪漫气息，人物刻画传神，场面感强，对话形象，文笔流畅，不失为沙博理根据真人真事创作的一篇优秀作品。标题为译者所加。谨以此英汉对照版纪念沙博理诞辰103周年。