1．弄堂	Longtang
站一个至高点看上海，上海的弄堂是壮观的景象。	LOOKED DOWN UPON from the highest point in the city, Shanghai's longtang—her vast neighborhoods inside enclosed alleys—are a magnificent sight.
它是这城市背景一样的东西。	The longtang are the backdrop of this city.
街道和楼房凸现在它之上，是一些点和线，而它则是中国画中称为皴法的那类笔触，是将空白填满的。	Streets and buildings emerge around them in a series of dots and lines, like the subtle brushstrokes that bring life to the empty expanses of white paper in a traditional Chinese landscape painting.
当天黑下来，灯亮起来的时分，这些点和线都是有光的，在那光后面，大片大片的暗，便是上海的弄堂了。	As day turns into night and the city lights up, these dots and lines begin to glimmer. However, underneath the glitter lies an immense blanket of darkness—these are the longtang of Shanghai.
那暗看上去几乎是波涛汹涌，几乎要将那几点几线的光推着走似的。	The darkness looks almost to be a series of furious waves that threaten to wash away the glowing dots and lines.
它是有体积的，而点和线却是浮在面上的，是为划分这个体积而存在的，是文章里标点一类的东西，断行断句的。	It has volume, whereas all those lines and dots float on the surface—they are there only to differentiate the areas of this dark mass, like punctuation marks whose job it is to break up an essay into sentences and paragraphs.
那暗是像深渊一样，扔一座山下去，也悄无声息地沉了底。	The darkness is like an abyss—even a mountain falling in would be swallowed whole and sink silently to the bottom.
那暗里还像是藏着许多礁石，一不小心就会翻了船的。	Countless reefs lurk beneath this swelling ocean of darkness, where one false move could capsize a ship.
上海的几点几线的光，全是叫那暗托住的，一托便是几十年。	The darkness buoys up Shanghai's handful of illuminated lines and dots, supporting them decade after decade.
这东方巴黎的璀璨，是以那暗作底铺陈开，一铺便是几十年。	Against this decades-old backdrop of darkness, the Paris of the Orient unfolds her splendor.
如今，什么都好像旧了似的，一点一点露出了真迹。	Today, everything looks worn out, exposing bit by bit what lies underneath.
晨曦一点一点亮起，灯光一点一点熄灭。	One strand at a time, the first rays of the morning sun shine through just as, one by one, the city lights go out.
先是有薄薄的雾，光是平直的光，勾出轮廓，细工笔似的。	Everything begins from a cover of light fog, through which a horizontal ray of light crafts an outline as if drawing it out with a fine brush.
最先跳出来的是老式弄堂房顶的老虎天窗，它们在晨雾里有一种精致乖巧的模样，那木框窗扇是细雕细作的；那屋披上的瓦是细工细排的；窗台上花盆里的月季花也是细心细养的。	First to appear are the dormer windows protruding from the rooftop tingzijian of those traditional longtang buildings, showing themselves off with a certain self-conscious delicacy; the wooden shutters are carefully delineated, the handmade rooftop tiles are arranged with precision, even the potted roses on the windowsills have been cared for painstakingly.
然后晒台也出来了，有隔夜的衣衫，滞着不动的，像画上的衣衫；晒台矮墙上的水泥脱落了，露出锈红色的砖，也像是画上的，一笔一划都清晰的。	Next to emerge are the balconies; here articles of clothing hung out to dry the night before cling motionless like a scene out of a painting. The cement on the balustrade peels away to reveal the rusty red bricks beneath—this too looks as if painted in a picture, each brushstroke appearing clear and distinct.
再接着，山墙上的裂纹也现出了，还有点点绿苔，有触手的凉意似的。	After that come the cracked gable walls, lined with traces of green moss that look cold and clammy to the touch.
第一缕阳光是在山墙上的，这是很美的图画，几乎是绚烂的，又有些荒凉；是新鲜的，又是有年头的。	The first rays of light shining on the gable walls create a stunning picture, a gorgeous portrait, bearing just a hint of desolation, fresh and new yet not without a past.
这时候，弄底的水泥地还在晨雾里头，后弄要比前弄的雾更重一些。	At this moment the cement pavement of the longtang is still enveloped in fog, which lingers thick in the back alleys.
新式里弄的铁栏杆的阳台上也有了阳光，在落地的长窗上折出了反光。	But on the iron-railed balconies of the newer longtang apartments the sunlight is already striking the glass panes on the French doors, which refract the light.
这是比较锐利的一笔，带有揭开帷幕，划开夜与昼的意思。	This stroke is a relatively sharp one, and seems to pull back the curtain that separates day from night.
雾终被阳光驱散了，什么都加重了颜色，绿苔原来是黑的，窗框的木头也是发黑的，阳台的黑铁栏杆却是生了黄锈，山墙的裂缝里倒长出绿色的草，飞在天空里的白鸽成片灰鸽。	The sunlight finally drives away the fog, washing everything in its path with a palette of strong color. The moss turns out to be not green but a dark raven hue, the wooden window frames start to blacken, and the iron railing on the balcony becomes a rusted yellow. One can see blades of green grass growing from between the cracks in the gables, and the white pigeons turn gray as they soar up into the sky.
上海的弄堂是形形种种，声色各异的。	Shanghai's longtang come in many different forms, each with colors and sounds of its own.
它们有时候是那样，有时候是这样，莫衷一是的模样。	Unable to decide on any one appearance, they remain fickle, sometimes looking like this, sometimes looking like that.
其实它们是万变不离其宗，形变神不变的，它们是倒过来倒过去最终说的还是那一桩事，千人手面，又万众一心的。	Actually, despite their constant fluctuations, they always remain the same—the shape may shift but the spirit is unchanged. Back and forth they go, but in the end it's the same old story, like an army of a thousand united by a single goal.
那种石窟门弄堂是上海弄堂里最有权势之气的一种，它们带有一些深宅大院的遗传，有一副官邸的脸面．它们将森严壁垒全做在一扇门和一堵墙上。	Those longtang that have entryways with stone gates emanate an aura of power. They have inherited the style of Shanghai's glorious old mansions. Sporting the facade of an official residence, they make it a point to have a grandiose entrance and high surrounding walls.
一已开进门去，院子是浅的，客堂也是浅的，三步两步便走穿过去，一道木楼梯挡在了头顶。	But, upon entering, one discovers that the courtyard is modest and the reception area narrow—two or three steps and you are already at the wooden staircase across the room.
木楼梯是不打弯的，直抵楼上的闺阁，那二楼的临了街的窗户便流露出了风情。	The staircase is not curved, but leads straight up into the bedroom, where a window overlooking the street hints at romantic ardor.
上海东区的新式里弄是放下架子的，门是楼空雕花的矮铁门，楼上有探身的窗还不够，还要做出站脚的阳台，为的是好看街市的风景。	The trendy longtang neighborhoods in the eastern district of Shanghai have done away with such haughty airs. They greet you with low wrought-iron gates of floral design. For them a small window overlooking a side street is not enough; they all have to have walk-out balconies, the better to enjoy the street scenery.
院里的夹竹桃伸出墙外来，锁不住的春色的样子。	Fragrant oleanders reach out over the courtyard walls, as if no longer able to contain their springtime passion.
但骨子里头却还是防范的，后门的锁是德国造的弹簧锁，底楼的窗是有铁栅栏的，矮铁门上有着尖锐的角，天井是围在房中央，一副进得来出不去的样子。	Deep down, however, those inside still have their guard up: the back doors are bolted shut with spring locks of German manufacture, the windows on the ground floor all have steel bars, the low front gates of wrought iron are crowned with ornamented spikes, and walls protect the courtyard on all sides. One may enter at will, but escape seems virtually impossible.
西区的公寓弄堂是严加防范的，房间都是成套，一扇门关死，一夫当关万夫莫开的架势，墙是隔音的墙，鸡犬声不相闻的。 房子和房子是隔着宽阔地，老死不相见的。	On the western side of the city, the apartment-style longtang take an even stricter approach to security. These structures are built in clusters, with doors that look as if not even an army of ten thousand could force their way inside. The walls are soundproof so that people living even in close quarters cannot hear one another, and the buildings are widely spaced so that neighbors can avoid one another.
但这防范也是民主的防范，欧美风的，保护的是做人的自由，其实是想做什么就做什么，谁也拦不住的。	This is security of a democratic sort—trans-Atlantic style—to ensure and protect individual freedom. Here people can do whatever their hearts desire, and there is no one to stop them.
那种棚户的杂弄倒是全面敞开的样子，油毛毡的屋顶是漏雨的，板壁墙是不遮风的，门窗是关不严的。	The longtang in the slums are open-air. The makeshift roofs leak in the rain, the thin plywood walls fail to keep out the wind, and the doors and windows never seem to close properly.
这种弄堂的房屋看上去是鳞次栉比，挤挤挨挨，灯光是如豆的一点一点，虽然微弱，却是稠密，一锅粥似的。	Apartment structures are built virtually on top of one another, cheek by jowl, breathing down upon each other's necks. Their lights are like tiny glowing peas, not very bright, but dense as a pot of pea porridge.
它们还像是大河一般有着无数的支流，又像是大树一样，枝枝杈杈数也数不清。	Like a great river, these longtang have innumerable tributaries, and their countless branches resemble those of a tall tree.
它们阡陌纵横，是一张大网。	Crisscrossing, they form a giant web.
它们表面上是袒露的，实际上却神秘莫测，有着曲折的内心。	On the surface they appear entirely exposed, but in reality they conceal a complex inner soul that remains mysterious, unfathomable.
黄昏时分，鸽群盘桓在上海的空中，寻找着各自的巢。	As dusk approaches, flocks of pigeons hover about the Shanghai skyline in search of their nests.
屋脊连绵起伏，横看成岭竖成峰的样子。	The rooftop ridges rise and fall, extending into the distance; viewed from the side, they form an endless mountain range, and from the front, a series of vertical summits.
站在至高点上，它们全都连成一片，无边无际的，东南西北有些分不清。	Viewed from the highest peak, they merge into one boundless vista that looks the same from all directions.
它们还是如水漫流，见缝就钻，看上去有些乱，实际上却是错落有致的。	Like water flowing aimlessly, they seem to creep into every crevice and crack, but upon closer inspection they fall into an orderly pattern.
它们又辽阔又密实．有些像农人撒播然后丰收的麦田，还有些像原始森林，自生自灭的。	At once dense and wide-ranging, they resemble rye fields where the farmers, having scattered their seeds, are now harvesting a rich crop. Then again, they are a little like a pristine forest, living and dying according to its own cycle.
它们实在是极其美丽的景象。	Altogether they make for a scene of the utmost beauty and splendor.
上海的弄堂是性感的，有一股肌肤之亲似的。 它有着触手的凉和暖，是可感可知，有一些私心的。	The longtang of Shanghai exude a sensuality like the intimacy of flesh on flesh—cool and warm, tangible and knowable, a little self-centered.
积着油垢的厨房后窗．是专供老妈子一里一外扯闲篇的；窗边的后门，是供大小姐提著书包上学堂读书，和男先生幽会的；前边大门虽是不常开，开了就是有大事情，是专为贵客走动，贴了婚丧嫁娶的告示的。	The grease-stained rear kitchen window is where the amah gossips. Beside the window is the back door; from this the eldest daughter goes out to school and holds her secret rendezvous with her boyfriend. The front door, reserved for distinguished guests, opens only on important occasions. On each side of the door hang couplets announcing marriages, funerals, and other family events.
它总是有一点按捺不住的兴奋，跃跃然的，有点絮叨的。	The door seems always to be in a state of uncontrollable, even garrulous, excitement.
晒台和阳台，还有窗畔，都留着些窃窃私语，夜间的敲门声也是此起彼落。	Echoes of secret whispers linger around the flat roof, the balcony, and the windows. At night, the sounds of rapping on the doors rise and fall in the darkness.
还是要站一个至高点，再找一个好角度：弄堂里横七竖八晾衣竹竿上的衣物，带有点私情的味道；花盆里栽的凤仙花、宝石花和青葱青蒜，也是私情的性质；屋顶上空着的鸽笼，是一颗空着的心；碎了和乱了的瓦片，也是心和身子的象征。	To return to the highest point in the city and look down on it from another angle: clothes hanging out to dry on the cluttered bamboo poles hint at the private lives and loves that lie hidden beneath. In the garden, potted balsams, ghost flowers, scallions, and garlic also breathe the faint air of a secret affair. The empty pigeon cage up on the roof is an empty heart. Broken roof tiles lying in disarray are symbols of the body and soul.
那沟壑般的弄底，有的是水泥铺的，有的是石卵拼的。	Some of the gullylike alleys are lined with cement, others with cobblestone.
水泥铺的到底有些隔心隔肺，石卵路则手心手背都是肉的感觉。	The cement alleys make you feel cut off, while the cobblestone alleys give the sensation of a fleshy hand.
两种弄底的脚步声也是两种，前种是清脆响亮的，后种却是吃进去，闷在肚里的；前种说的是客套，后种是肺腑之言，两种都不是官面文章，都是每日里免不了要说的家常话。	Footsteps sound different in these two types of longtang. In the former the sound is crisp and bright, but in the latter it is something that you absorb and keep inside. The former is a collection of polite pleasantries, the latter of words spoken from the bottom of one's heart. Neither is like an official document; both belong to the necessary language of the everyday.
上海的后弄更是要钻进人心里去的样子，那里的路面是饰着裂纹的，阴沟是溢水的，水上浮着鱼鳞片和老菜叶的，还有灶间的油烟气的。	The back alleys of Shanghai try even harder to work their way into people's hearts. The pavement is covered with a layer of cracks. Gutters overflow; floating in the discolored water are fish scales and rotten vegetable leaves, as well as the greasy lampblack from the stovetop.
这里是有些脏兮兮，不整洁的，最深最深的那种隐私也裸露出来的，有点不那么规矩的。	It is dirty and grimy, impure, here. Here the most private secrets are exposed, and not always in the most conventional fashion.
因此，它便显得有些阴沉。	Because of this a pall hangs over these back alleys.
太阳是在午后三点的时候才照进来，不一会儿就夕阳西下了。	The sunlight does not shine through until three o'clock in the afternoon and before long the sun begins to set in the west.
这一点阳光反给它罩上一层暧昧的色彩，墙是黄黄的，面上的粗砺都凸现起来，沙沙的一层。	But this little bit of sunlight envelops the back alleys in a blanket of warm color. The walls turn a brilliant yellow, highlighting the unevenness of the rough whetstone and giving it the texture of coarse sand.
窗玻璃也是黄的，有着污迹，看上去有一些花的。	The windows also turn a golden yellow, but they are scratched and stained.
这时候的阳光是照久了，有些压不住的疲累的，将最后一些沉底的光都迸出来照耀，那光里便有了许多沉积物似的，是粘稠滞重，也是有些不干净的。	By now the sun has been shining down for a long time and is beginning to show signs of fatigue. Summoning up the last vestiges of radiance from the depths, the lingering rays of sunlight flicker with a sticky thickness of built-up residue, rather dirty.
鸽群是在前边飞的，后弄里飞着的是夕照里的一些尘埃，野猫也是在这里出没的。	As twilight encroaches, flocks of pigeons soar overhead, dust motes drift, and stray cats wander in and out of sight.
这是深入肌肤，已经谈不上是亲是近，反有些起腻，暗底里生畏的，却是有一股噬骨的感动。	This is a feeling that, having penetrated the flesh, goes beyond closeness. One begins to weary of it. It breeds a secret fear, but hidden within that fear is an excitement that gnaws down to the bone.
上海弄堂的感动来自于最为日常的情景，这感动不是云水激荡的，而是一点一点累积起来。	What moves you about the longtang of Shanghai stems from the most mundane scenes: not the surging rush of clouds and rain, but something steadily accumulated over time.
这是有烟火人气的感动。	It is the excitement of cooking smoke and human vitality.
那一条条一排排的里巷，流动着一些意料之外又清理之中的东西，东西不是什么大东西，但琐琐细细，聚沙也能成塔的。	Something is flowing through the longtang that is unpredictable yet entirely rational, small, not large, and trivial—but then even a castle can be made out of sand.
那是和历史这类概念无关，连野史都难称上，只能叫做流言的那种。	It has nothing to do with things like "history," not even "unofficial history": we can only call it gossip.
流言是上海弄堂的又一景观，它几乎是可视可见的，也是从后窗和后门里流露出来。	Gossip is yet another landscape in the Shanghai longtang—you can almost see it as it sneaks out through the rear windows and the back doors.
前门和前阳台所流露的则要稍微严正一些，但也是流言。	What emerges from the front doors and balconies is a bit more proper—but it is still gossip.
这些流言虽然算不上是历史，却也有着时间的形态，是循序渐进有因有果的。	These rumors may not necessarily qualify as history, but they carry with them the shadows of time. There is order in their progression, which follows the law of preordained consequences.
这些流言是贴肤贴肉的，不是故纸堆那样冷淡刻板的，虽然谬误百出，但谬误也是可感可知的谬误。	These rumors cling to the skin and stick to the flesh; they are not cold or stiff, like a pile of musty old books. Though marred by untruths, these are falsehoods that have feeling.
在这城市的街道灯光辉煌的时候，弄堂里通常只在拐角上有一盏灯，带着最寻常的铁罩，罩上生着锈，蒙着灰尘，灯光是昏昏黄黄，下面有一些烟雾般的东西滋生和蔓延，这就是酝酿流言的时候。	When the city's streetlights are ablaze, its longtang remain in darkness, save the lonely street lamps hanging on the alley corners. The lamps, enclosed in crude frames of rusty iron covered with dust, emit a murky yellow glow. On the ground, a shroud of thick mist forms and begins to spread out—this is the time when rumors and gossip start to brew.
这是一个晦涩的时刻，有些不清不白的，却是伤人肺腑。	It is a gloomy hour, when nothing is clear, yet it is enough to break the heart.
鸽群在笼中叽叽哝哝的，好像也在说着私语。	Pigeons coo in their cages, talking their language of secret whispers.
街上的光是名正言顺的，可惜刚要流进弄口，便被那暗吃掉了。	The streetlights shine with a prim and proper light, but as soon as that light streams into the longtang alleys, it is overwhelmed by darkness.
那种有前客堂和左右厢房里的流言是要老派一些的，带薰衣草的气味的；而带亭子间和拐角楼梯的弄堂房子的流言则是新派的，气味是樟脑丸的气味。	The kind of gossip exchanged in the front rooms and adjoining wings belongs to the old school and smacks faintly of potpourri. The gossip in the rooftop tingzijian and staircases is new school and smells of mothballs.
无论老派和新派，却都是有一颗诚心的，也称得上是真情的。	But, old school or new, gossip is always told in earnest—you could even say it is told in the spirit of truth.
那全都是用手掬水，掬一捧漏一半地掬满一池，燕子衔泥衔一口掉半口地筑起一巢的，没有半点偷懒和取巧。	This is like scooping water with one's hands: even though you might lose half the water along the way, with enough persistence you can still fill up a pond. Or like the swallow that, though she may drop half the earth and twigs she is carrying in her beak, can still build a nest—there is no need for laziness or trickery.
上海的弄堂真是见不得的情景，它那背阴处的绿苔，其实全是伤口上结的疤一类的，是靠时间抚平的痛处。	The longtang of Shanghai are an unbearable sight. The patches of green moss growing in the shade are, in truth, like scars growing over a wound; it takes time for the wound to heal.
因它不是名正言顺，便都长在了阴处，长年见不到阳光。	It is because the moss lacks a proper place that it grows in the shade and shadows—years go by and it never sees the sun.
爬墙虎倒是正面的，却是时间的帷幕，遮着盖着什么。	Now ivy grows out in the open, but it serves as Time's curtain and always has something to hide.
鸽群飞翔时，望着波涛连天的弄堂的屋瓦，心是一刺刺的疼痛。	The pigeons gaze down at the outstretching billows of roof tiles as they take to the air, and their hearts are stabbed with pain.
太阳是从屋顶上喷薄而出，坎坎坷坷的，光是打折的光，这是由无数细碎集合而成的壮观，是由无数耐心集合而成的巨大的力。	Coming up over the longtang rooftops, the sun shoots out its belabored rays—a majestic sight pieced together from countless minute fragments, an immense power born of immeasurable patience.
2．流言	Gossip
流言总是带着阴沉之气。	Gossip always carries with it an exhalation of gloom.
这阴沉气有时是东西厢房的薰衣草气味，有时是樟脑丸气味，还有时是肉砧板上的气味。	This murky air sometimes smells like lavender in a bedroom, sometimes like mothballs, and at other times like a kitchen chopping block.
它不是那种板烟和雪茄的气味，也不是六六粉和敌敌畏的气味。	It does not remind you of the smell of tobacco plugs or cigars, nor is it even faintly reminiscent of the smell of insecticides like Lindane or Dichlorvos.
它不是那种阳刚凛冽的气味，而是带有些阴柔委婉的，是女人家的气味。	It is not a strong masculine scent, but a soft feminine one—the scent of a woman.
是闺阁和厨房的混淆的气味，有点脂粉香，有点油烟味，还有点汗气的。	It combines the smell of the bedroom and the kitchen, the smell of cosmetics and cooking oil, mixed in with a bit of sweat.
流言还都有些云遮雾罩，影影绰绰，是哈了气的窗玻璃，也是蒙了灰尘的窗玻璃。	Gossip is always trailed by clouds and a screen of mist. Shadowy and indistinct, it is a fogged-up window—a windowpane covered with a layer of dust.
这城市的弄堂有多少，流言就有多少，是数也数不清，说也说不完的。	Shanghai has as many rumors as longtang: too many to be counted, too many to be told.
这些流言有一种蔓延的洇染的作用，它们会把一些正传也变成流言一般暧昧的东西，于是，什么是正传，什么是流言，便有些分不清。	There is something infectious about gossip; it can transform an official biography into a collection of dubious tales, so that truth becomes indistinguishable from gossip.
流言是真假难辨的，它们假中有真，真中有假，也是一个分不清。	In the world of rumor, fact cannot be separated from fiction; there is truth within lies, and lies within the truth.
它们难免有着荒诞不经的面目，这荒诞也是女人家短见识的荒诞，带着些少见多怪，还有些幻觉的。	That gossip should put on an absurd face is unavoidable; this absurdity is the incredulity born of girlish inexperience, and is at least in part an illusion.
它们在弄堂这种地方，从一扇后门传进另一扇后门，转眼间便全世界皆知了。	In places like the longtang, it travels from back door to back door, and in the blink of an eye the whole world knows all.
它们就好像一种无声的电波，在城市的上空交叉穿行；它们还好像是无形的浮云，笼罩着城市，渐渐酿成一场是非的雨。	Gossip is like the silent electrical waves crisscrossing in the air above the city, like formless clouds that enshroud the whole city, slowly brewing into a shower, intermixing right and wrong.
这雨也不是什么倾盆的雨，而是那黄梅天里的雨，虽然不暴烈，却是连空气都湿透的。	The rain comes down not in a torrent but as a hazy springtime drizzle. Although not violent, it drenches the air with an inescapable humidity.
因此，这流言是不能小视的，它有着细密绵软的形态，很是纠缠的。	Never underestimate these rumors: soft and fine as these raindrops may be, you will never struggle free of them.
上海每一条弄堂里，都有着这样是非的空气。	Every longtang in Shanghai is steeped in an atmosphere of gossip, where right and wrong get twisted and confused.
西区高尚的公寓弄堂里，这空气也是高朗的，比较爽身，比较明澈，就像秋日的天，天高云淡的；再下来些的新式弄堂里，这空气便要混浊一些，也要波动一些，就像风一样，吹来吹去；更低一筹的石窟门老式弄堂里的是非空气，就又不是风了，而是回潮天里的水汽，四处可见污迹的；到了棚户的老弄，就是大雾天里的雾，不是雾开日出的雾，而浓雾作雨的雾，弥弥漫漫，五步开外就不见人的。	In the elegant apartment-style longtang on the west side of town, this atmosphere is free of clouds, refreshing and transparent as a bright autumn day. Moving down among the modern-style longtang neighborhoods, the atmosphere becomes a bit more turgid and turbulent, blowing to and fro like the wind. Lower down still is the fractious atmosphere of the old-style longtang neighborhoods with the stone gates. Here the wind has died, replaced by the vapor of a humid day. By the time one gets to where the slum-dwellers live, all is enveloped in mist—not the roseate mists of dawn, but the thick fog that comes before a torrential downpour, when you cannot see your hand in front of your face.
但无论哪一种弄堂，这空气都是渗透的，无处不在。	But regardless of the type of longtang, this atmosphere penetrates everywhere.
它们可说是上海弄堂的精神性质的东西。	You could say that it is the genius loci of Shanghai's alleys.
上海的弄堂如果能够说话，说出来的就一定是流言。	If the longtang of Shanghai could speak, they would undoubtedly speak in rumors.
它们是上海弄堂的思想，昼里夜里都在传播。	They are the thoughts of Shanghai's longtang, disseminating themselves through day and night.
上海弄堂如果有梦的话，那梦，也就是流言。	If the longtang of Shanghai could dream, that dream would be gossip.
流言总是鄙陋的。	Gossip is base.
它有着粗俗的内心，它难免是自甘下贱的。	With this vulgar heart, it cannot help wallowing in self-degradation.
它是阴沟里的水，被人使用过，污染过的。	It is like sewer water, used, contaminated.
它是理不直气不壮，只能背地里窃窃喳喳的那种。	There is nothing aboveboard about it, nothing straight and narrow; it can only whisper secrets behind people's backs.
它是没有责任感，不承担后果的，所以它便有些随心所欲，如水漫流。	It feels no sense of responsibility, never takes the blame for the outcome—whatever that outcome may be. Because of this, gossip has learned to do as it pleases, running wild like a flood out of control.
它均是经不起推敲，也没人有心去推敲的。	It never bothers to think things over—and no one ever bothers to think it over.
它有些像言语的垃圾，不过，垃圾里有时也可淘出真货色的。	It is a bit like verbal garbage, but then again one can occasionally find small treasures in the garbage.
它们是那些正经话的作了废的边角料，老黄叶片，米里边的稗子。	Gossip is made up of fragments discarded from serious conversations, like the shriveled outer leaves of vegetables, or grains of sand in a bag of rice.
它们往往有着不怎么正经的面目，坏事多，好事少，不干净，是个腌臜货。	These bits and pieces have faces that are not quite decent; always up to something, they are spoiled merchandise.
它们其实是用最下等的材料制造出来的，这种下等材料，连上海西区公寓里的小姐都免不了堆积了一些的。 但也唯独这些下等的见不得人的材料里，会有一些真东西。	They are actually made from the crudest materials. However, even the girls in Shanghai's west-end apartments feel compelled to stockpile some of this lowly stuff, because buried deep inside this shamefully base material is where one can find a few genuine articles.
这些真东西是体面后头的东西，它们是说给自己也不敢听的，于是就拿来，制作流言了。	These articles lie outside the parameters of what is dignified; their nature is such that no one dares speak of them aloud—and so they are taken and molded into gossip.
要说流言的好，便也就在这真里面了。	If gossip has a positive side, it is the part of it that is genuine.
这真却有着假的面目，是在假里做真的，虚里做实，总有些改头换面，声东击西似的。	The genuine, however, has a false appearance; this is what is known as "making truth out of falsehood, fact from fiction"—it is always dishing itself up in a new form, making a feint to the east while attacking from the west.
这真里是有点做人的胆子的，是不怕丢脸的胆子，放着人不做却去做鬼的胆子，唱反调的胆子。	This truth is what gives you the courage to go out into the world and not fear losing face, or the courage to become a ghost—to go against prevailing opinions.
这胆子里头则有着一些哀意了。 这哀意是不遂心不称愿的哀，有些气在里面的，哀是哀，心却是好高骛远的，唯因这好高骛远，才带来了失落的哀意。	But there is a kind of sorrow that comes with this courage—the sorrow that comes from being thwarted, from being kept from doing what one wishes. However, there is a certain vital energy in this sorrow, because even in the midst of it one's heart surges with high-flying ambition; in fact, it is because of these surging ambitions that one feels such bafflement and loss.
因此，这哀意也是粗鄙的哀意，不是唐诗宋词式的，而是街头切口的一种。	This sorrow is not refined like Tang dynasty poetry and Song dynasty lyrics, but belongs to the world of vulgar grievances aired out in the streets.
这哀意便可见出了重量，它是沉痛的，是哀意的积淀物，不是水面上的风花雪月。	One can feel the weight of this sorrow as it sinks to the bottom. It has nothing of the airy-fairy—the wind, flowers, snow, and the moon dancing on the water—it is the sediment that accumulates at the bottom.
流言其实都是沉底的东西，不是手淘万洗，百炼千锤的，而是本来就有，后来也有，洗不净，炼不精的，是做人的一点韧，打断骨头连着筋，打碎牙齿咽下肚，死皮赖脸的那点韧。	Gossip always sinks to the lowest place. There is no need to go looking for it, it is already there—and it will always be there. It cannot be purified by fire or washed clean with water. It has the tenacity for holding onto life that keeps the muscles intact when the bones are shattered, that enables one to swallow the teeth broken in one's mouth—a brazen-faced tenacity.
流言难免是虚张声势，危言耸听，魑魅魍魉一起来，它们闻风而动，随风而去，摸不到头，抓不到尾。	Gossip cannot help but be swashbuckling and sensational. It travels in the company of monsters and goblins; rising with the wind, its elusive tail can never be caught.
然而，这城市里的真心，却唯有到流言里去找的。	Only in gossip can the true heart of this city be found.
无论这城市的外表有多华美，心却是一颗粗鄙的心，那心是寄在流言里的，流言是寄在上海的弄堂里的。	No matter how gorgeous and splendid the city may look on the outside, its heart is vulgar. That heart is born of gossip, and gossip is born of the Shanghai longtang.
这东方巴黎遍布远东的神奇传说，剥开壳看，其实就是流言的芯子。	Magnificent tales of the Far East can be heard all over this Paris of the Orient; but peel away the outer shell and you will discover that gossip lies at its core.
就好像珍珠的芯子，其实是粗糙的沙粒，流言就是这颗沙粒一样的东西。	Like the center of a pearl—which is actually a rough grain of sand—coarse sand is the material of which gossip is made.
流言是混淆视听的，它好像要改写历史似的，并且是从小处着手。	Gossip always muddles the senses. Starting with inconsequential things, it winds up trying to rewrite history.
它蚕食般地一点一点咬噬着书本上的记载，还像白蚁侵蚀华厦大屋。	Like woodworm, it slowly chews up the books and records, eating away magnificent buildings like an army of termites.
它是没有章法，乱了套的，也不按规矩来，到哪算哪的，有点流氓地痞气的。 它不讲什么长篇大论，也不讲什么小道细节，它只是横看来。 它是那种偷袭的方法，从背后擦上一把，转过身却没了影，结果是冤无头，债无主。	Its methods are chaotic, without rhyme, reason, or logic. It goes wherever it wants, swaggering like a hooligan, and wastes no time on long-winded theories, nor does it go into too much detail. It simply spreads across the city, launching surprise attacks; by the time you turn around to see what sneaked up on you from behind, it has already gone without a trace. It leaves in its wake a chain of injustices with no one to take the blame and a string of scores with no one to settle with.
它也没有大的动作，小动作却是细细碎碎的没个停，然后敛少成多，细流汇大江。	It makes no big, sudden movements but quietly works away without stopping. In the end, "many a little makes a lot," and trickling water flows into a great river.
所谓“谣言蜂起”，指的就是这个，确是如蜂般嗡嗡营营的。	This is what is meant by the saying, "Rumors rise in swarms"; they indeed drone and buzz like a nest of hornets.
它是有些卑鄙的，却也是勤恳的。	A bit contemptible, maybe, but they are also conscientious.
它是连根火柴梗都要抬起来作引火柴的，见根线也拾起来穿针用的。	They pick up discarded matchsticks to make a fire. If they see a lone piece of thread on the floor, they will take it up and begin to sew.
它虽是捣乱也是认真恳切，而不是玩世不恭，就算是谣言也是悉心编造。	Though always making trouble, they are nevertheless earnest and sincere. Gossip is never cynical; even if the thing in question is nothing but empty rumors, the utmost care is still put into their creation.
虽是无根无凭，却是有情有意。	Baseless and unreliable as these rumors may be, they are not without a certain warmth of feeling.
它们是自行其事，你说你的，它说它的，什么样的有公论的事情，在它都是另一番是非。	They mind their own business: whatever others may say, they will stick to their version—to them even settled opinions are taken under advisement.
它且又不是持不同政见，它是一无政见，对政治一窍不通，它走的是旁门别道，同社会不是对立也不是同意，而是自行一个社会。	It is not that gossip takes a different political view, but that it does not take any political view; in fact, it lacks the most basic knowledge about politics. Always going by back roads and entering through side doors, it does not stand in opposition to society—it forms its own society.
它是这社会的旁枝错节般的东西，它引不起社会的警惕心，因此，它的暗中作祟往往能够得逞。	As far as society is concerned, these are small and inconsequential things, like twigs and knots on a tree. And precisely because society never takes these things seriously, they are able to maneuver unseen through the darkness and have their way.
它们其实是一股不可小视的力量，有点“大风始于青萍之末”的意味。	Combined together, they constitute a power that should not be underestimated, in the way that a butterfly beating its wings here can cause a hurricane in a faraway place.
它们是背离传统道德的，却不以反封建的面目，而是一味的伤风败俗，是典型的下三烂。	Rumors deviate from traditional moral codes but never claim to be antifeudal. Like a true bum, they chip away at the foundations of public decency.
它们又敢把皇帝拉下马，也不以共和民主的面目，而是痞子的作为，也是典型的下三烂。	They wouldn't hesitate to pull the emperor down off his horse—not in order to install a new republic, but merely as an act of defiance.
它们是革命和反革命都不齿的，它们被两边的力量都抛弃和忽略。	Despising revolutionaries and counterrevolutionaries alike, they themselves are consistently slighted and deserted by both sides.
它们实在是没个正经样，否则便可上升到公众舆论这一档里去明修栈道，如今却只能暗渡陈仓，走的是风过耳。	Indeed, there is not a presentable one in the whole lot—if there were, they could be promoted to the level of "public opinion," where they could advance into the open. Instead, they have to be content with making secret maneuvers under the cover of darkness.
风过耳就风过耳，它也不在乎，它本是四海为家的，没有创业的观念。	They care not that they are mere whispers in people's ears; they'll make their home wherever their wanderings take them, having no conception of what it means to build an enterprise.
它最是没有野心，没有抱负，连头脑也没有的。	These are creatures without ambition, holding out no hopes; in fact, they do not even have the ability to think.
它只有着作乱生事的本能，很茫然地生长和繁殖。	All they have is the natural capacity to cause trouble and make mischief; they grow and reproduce in complete ignorance.
它繁殖的速度也是惊人的，鱼撒籽似的。	They reproduce at quite startling rates, hatching all at once like spawn.
繁殖的方式也很多样，有时环扣环，有时套连套，有时谜中谜，有时案中案。	Their methods of reproduction are also varied; sometimes linear, like a chain of interlocking rings, at other times concentric, like a suite of riddles.
它们弥漫在城市的空中，像一群没有家的不拘形骸的浪人，其实，流言正是这城市的浪漫之一。	They spread through the city air like a pack of down-at-the-heel vagrants. But the truth is, gossip is one of the things that make this city so romantic.
流言的浪漫在于它无拘无束能上能下的想象力。	What makes gossip romantic is its unbridled imagination.
这想象力是龙门能跳狗洞能钻的，一无清规戒律。	With the imagination completely free from all fetters, gossip can leap through the dragon's gate and squeeze through the dog's den.
没有比流言更能胡编乱造，信口雌黄的了。	No one is better at making up stories, telling lies, and wagging its tongue than gossip.
它还有无穷的活力，怎么也扼它不死，是野火烧不尽，春风吹又生的。	It also has boundless energy—nothing can kill it dead. Wildfires burn but, come spring, the grass will grow again.
它是那种最卑贱的草籽，风吹到石头缝里也照样生根开花。	Like the lowliest of seeds, gossip is carried by the wind to sprout and bloom in between rocks.
它又是见缝就钻，连闺房那样帷幕森严的地方都能出入的。 它在大小姐花绷上的绣花外流连，还在女学生的课余读物，那些哀情小说的书页流连，书页上总是有些泪痕的。	It works its way into every crack, even getting behind the heavy curtains of ladies' boudoirs, where it floats amid the embroidery needles in the young mistress's pincushions; and lingers among the tear-stained pages of those heartwrenching novels the schoolgirl reads in her spare time.
台钟滴滴答答走时声中，流言一点一点在滋生；洗胭脂的水盆里，流言一点一点在滋生。	As the clock on the table ticks, gossip stretches itself out, even filling the basin where milady washes her rouge away.
隐秘的地方往往是流言丛生的地方，隐私的空气特别利于流言的生长。	It thrives in the most secret of places: a clandestine atmosphere is particularly beneficial to its development.
上海的弄堂是很藏得住隐私的，于是流言便漫生漫长。	The longtang of Shanghai are very good at protecting their privacy, allowing gossip to prosper and proliferate.
夜里边，万家万户灭了灯，有一扇门缝里露出的一线光，那就是流言；床前月亮地里的一双绣花拖鞋，也是流言；老妈子托着梳头匣子，说是梳头去，其实是传播流言去；少奶奶们洗牌的哗哗声，是流言在作响；连冬天没有人的午后，天井里一跳一跳的麻雀，都在说着鸟语的流言。	Deep in the night, after everyone has turned out their lights, there is a narrow patch of light peeking out through the crack under someone's door—that is gossip. The pair of embroidered shoes in the moonlight beside the bed—that too is gossip. When the old amah, carrying her box of toiletries, says she is going out to comb her hair, she is actually off to spread gossip. The clatter of young wives shuffling mahjong tiles—that is the sound of gossip. Sparrows hopping around deserted courtyards on winter afternoons chirp about gossip.
这流言里有一个“私”字，这“私”字里头是有一点难言的苦衷。	The word "self" is embedded into gossip; and within this word "self" there is an unmentionable pain.
这苦衷不是唐明皇对杨贵妃的那种，也不是楚霸王对虞姬的那种，它不是那种大起大落、可歌可泣、悲天恸地的苦衷，而是狗皮倒灶，牵丝攀藤，粒粒屑屑的。	This bottled-up pain is different from what the Tang emperor felt at the death of Yang Guifei or the King of Chu for his beloved concubine. It is not the kind of grand and heroic suffering that moves heaven and earth, but base and lowly, like pebbles and dirt, or the tentacles of ivy creeping stealthily out of bounds.
上海的弄堂是藏不住大苦衷的。	The longtang of Shanghai are incapable of harboring the kind of suffering that inspires legends.
它的苦衷都是割碎了平均分配的，分到各人名下也就没有多少的。	The pain is broken up and evenly allocated throughout the city, so that each person ends up with a small share.
它即便是悲，即便是恸，也是悲在肚子里，恸在肚子里，说不上戏台子去供人观赏，也编不成词曲供人唱的，那是怎么来怎么去都只有自己知道，苦来苦去只苦自己，这也就是那个“私”字的意思，其实也是真正的苦衷的意思。	Even when they suffer deep sorrow, its inhabitants keep it down inside their bellies; they do not put it on stage for people to admire, nor do they make it into lyrics to be sung by others. Only they themselves know where it comes from and whither it goes. They alone carry its burden. This is also where the word "self" comes into play, and herein, incidentally, lies the true meaning of sorrow.
因此，这流言说到底是有一些痛的，尽管痛的不是地方，倒也是钻心钻肺的。	Therefore we can say that gossip is painful; even if the pain does not arise from proper causes, it is still excruciating.
这痛都是各人痛各人，没有什么共鸣，也引不起同情，是很孤单的痛。	The pain is suffered individually, eliciting no sympathy—a lonely pain.
这也是流言的感动之处。	This is also what is moving about gossip.
流言产生的时刻，其实都是悉心做人的时刻。	The moment that gossip is born is actually the moment that people are trying their hardest to conduct themselves properly.
上海弄堂里的做人，是悉心悉意，全神贯注的做人，眼睛只盯着自己，没有旁骛的。	The people in Shanghai's longtang neighborhoods conduct themselves with the utmost attention and care; all their energy is directed to the way they carry themselves. Their eyes are focused exclusively on themselves, and they are never distracted by their surroundings.
不想创造历史，只想创造自己的，没有大志气，却用尽了实力的那种。	They don't want to create a place for themselves in history: they want to create themselves. Without being ambitious, they expend every ounce of what strength they have.
这实力也是平均分配的实力，各人名下都有一份。	This strength, too, is evenly allocated. Everyone has his fair share.