Tiger Soldiers.—Woosung Drill.—General's Gallantry.—Japanese War.—Admiral Ting.—Dominoes with a Sentry.—Viceroy's Review
Tiger Soldiers.—Woosung Drill.—General's Gallantry.—Japanese War.—Admiral Ting.—Dominoes with a Sentry.—Viceroy's Review.
虎兵——吳淞演練——將軍的英勇——日俄戰爭——丁汝昌——與哨兵玩多米諾——總督檢閱
At Ichang, a thousand miles up the river Yangtse, there is a regiment of soldiers dressed as tigers; but I never could persuade any of the foreign officials to escort me to see them manœuvre, the European opinion being that not even the presence of an inspecting general would awe the Tiger soldiers sufficiently to make it safe to take a foreign lady to see them. I was told that the Tigers were not really soldiers at all, but that some officer drew pay for them as if they existed; and then when the General came to inspect, all the beggars and riff-raff of the city put on the Tiger uniform over their rags, and turned out in so disorderly a condition that even their officers were afraid of them. And so it turned out that, except from a passing steamer, I never saw Chinese soldiers drill till I did so at Woosung, the new Treaty Port, at the junction of the Whangpoo, on which Shanghai is situated, with the great river Yangtse.
在長江上游一千英里的宜昌，有一個穿著老虎服的士兵團；但我從未能說服任何外國官員護送我去看他們操練，因為歐洲人認為即使有檢閱將軍在場，也不足以讓虎兵敬畏到能安全地帶一位外國女士去看。我被告知虎兵其實並不是真正的士兵，而是某些官員以他們的名義領取俸祿；然後當將軍來檢閱時，城市裡所有的乞丐和烏合之眾就穿上虎服，蓋住他們的破爛衣衫，並以如此混亂的狀態出現，以至於連他們的軍官也害怕他們。因此，除了從經過的汽船上，我從未見過中國士兵操練，直到我在吳淞（Woosung），這個新開放的通商口岸，在上海所在的黃浦江與長江交匯處，看到了這樣的場景。
It was a Sunday in autumn, and the early morning 270air felt keen as we steamed down to Woosung, and landed at the fort. Eleven gunboats in a row, all decorated with large flags, the biggest flag in each boat a different arrangement of black, red, yellow, and white, had prepared us for its being a gala day, but hardly for the pretty sight we found upon the parade-ground, where five hundred men were being drilled with a hundred banners among them, not to speak of bannerets, many of the banners being ten feet square. The men formed in square, in rallying groups, fired altogether, one after the other, all to the sound of a bugle, without a single order being given. Drill sergeants in huge straw hats stood before them, and inspected them; and the men's own dress was picturesque enough—loose jackets with large characters upon them behind and before placed in circles like targets, and large loose-flapping leg-guards of decided colours. To the bugle's note the men folded their banners round the spears they carried, to the bugle's note they again flung them loose to the wind, executing both manœuvres with a singular adroitness. There was never a hitch, and the drill appeared admirable, recalling that to be seen from Birdcage Walk in a very curious fashion; for it was every now and again diversified by a primitively savage jump forward with spears pointed, to the sound of a terror-inspiring yell, and then a sort of goose-step retreat, after which the banners that had been tightly wound round the spears were shaken out again, and the men became civilised soldiers once more, admirably drilled.
那是秋天的一個星期天，當我們航行到吳淞並在炮台登陸時，清晨的空氣寒冷刺骨。十一艘軍艦排成一排，全部裝飾著大旗，每艘船上的最大旗幟都是黑、紅、黃、白不同顏色的組合，這讓我們意識到這是一個節日，但完全沒有料到在操場上會見到如此美麗的景象，五百名士兵正在操練，其中有一百面大旗，還有許多小旗，許多大旗有十平方英尺之大。士兵們排成方陣，分成小組輪流開火，一切都在號角聲中進行，沒有任何口令。戴著巨大草帽的操練教官站在他們面前檢查，士兵們的服裝也非常引人注目——寬鬆的夾克，上面前後都有大字，排列成圓形像靶子一樣，還有顏色鮮明的寬鬆護腿。隨著號角聲，士兵們將旗幟纏繞在他們攜帶的長矛上，然後又在號角聲中將旗幟展開，兩個動作都做得非常熟練。整個過程沒有一絲差錯，操練看起來非常出色，讓人聯想到在鳥籠步道（Birdcage Walk）上看到的景象，只是這裡每隔一段時間會有原始的野蠻前衝，長矛指向前方，伴隨著恐怖的吼叫聲，然後再退後做鵝步，此時緊纏在長矛上的旗幟又被展開，士兵們又變回訓練有素的文明士兵，操練非常出色。
273
JUNK. From a Picture by a Chinese Artist.
After this I saw no more of Chinese soldiers for some time, only noticed that the one Chinese mandarin who showed anything approaching to gallantry towards me was a Chinese general, who, calling upon the Consul with whom we were staying in all his war-paint, was kind enough to take off his necklace for me to admire, when I had broken the ice by praising his embroideries; drew up his gown for me to admire his boots, which, like his necklace, were insignia of his official standing; and finally invited us, whenever we could succeed in effecting a landing there, to spend a long and happy day at new Kweichow. Unfortunately this city, built by order, is so situated, with all the worst rocks in the river just at the foot of it, that hardly any one ever can land there; and we never have succeeded in so doing, which I the more regretted as he was kindly careful to inform me that, though his own wife was dead, his daughter-in-law would do the honours to me. I flattered myself at the time that I had made quite an impression upon the General, who was over six feet one, and fully broad in proportion, and who presented a most gorgeous appearance in long brocade gown embroidered for about a foot round the bottom with waves of the sea and other Chinese devices. He wore also a long satin coat with embroidered breast-plate, and a similar square of embroidery on the back, with the horseshoe cuffs, forced upon the Chinese by the Manchus when the present dynasty came to the throne, falling over his hands. High official boots, an amber necklace of very large beads reaching to 274his waist, and aureole-shaped official cap with large red tassel, completed his costume. And when he first advanced into the room, and found me seated there with the British Consul, on whom he was paying a visit of ceremony, the huge creature turned back, growing crimson and giggling like a schoolgirl, as he said to one of his attendants (a numerous retinue of pipe-bearers and the like followed him), "Here is one of these foreign women. Whatever am I to do? I never was in a room with one before, and have no notion how to behave." Yet such is army training all the world over, that in five minutes the General was doing the polite in the most finished style.
隨後的一段時間裡，我再也沒有見過中國士兵，只注意到唯一對我表現出一點勇氣的中國官員是一位中國將軍。他在拜訪我們住處的領事時，身穿全套軍裝，當我打破僵局讚美他的刺繡時，他好心地脫下他的項鍊讓我欣賞，並且掀起他的袍子讓我欣賞他的靴子，這些像他的項鍊一樣，都是他官階的象徵。最後他邀請我們，無論何時只要能夠成功登陸新貴州，就去那裡度過一個愉快的長日。可惜的是，這座城市是奉命建造的，位於河流最壞的岩石正下方，因此幾乎沒有人能夠登陸那裡。我們也從未成功登陸過，這讓我更加遺憾，因為他特地告訴我，雖然他的妻子已故，他的兒媳會款待我。當時我沾沾自喜，以為我給這位將軍留下了深刻的印象，他身高超過六尺一寸，身材也非常魁梧，穿著長長的錦緞長袍，底部約一英尺處繡有海浪和其他中國圖案。他還穿著一件長長的緞子外套，胸前和背後都有刺繡的方形飾板，袖口是馬蹄形的，這是滿洲人在當今朝代登基時強加給中國人的，袖口垂落在他的手上。高官靴、一條琥珀大珠子的項鍊垂到腰部，和一頂形似光環的大紅流蘇官帽，完成了他的裝束。當他第一次走進房間，看到我和英國領事坐在那裡，他這個龐然大物退了回去，臉紅得像蘋果，像個學校女生一樣咯咯笑著，對他的隨從（他帶著許多隨從，比如煙管侍者等）說：“這裡有一位外國女人。我該怎麼辦？我從未和一個外國女人同處一室，不知道該怎麼做。”然而，這就是全世界的軍隊訓練，在五分鐘內，將軍便以最優雅的方式表現出禮貌。
There must be something in being a soldier—even in being a Chinese soldier. When we travelled with some thirty or so coolies and attendants, it was of course necessary for me to decide upon one man whose duty it was, whenever I got out of my sedan-chair, to follow me with the camera, help me to set it up, and generally attend upon me. Twice I picked out my man, without knowing anything of his antecedents, and in each case found I had selected the one ex-soldier of the company. It was idle for our man-servant to say they were probably bad characters, for a man did not go away from home and become a soldier for nothing. They were so handy and obliging, that, though both, alas! have come to grief since then, I have still a soft corner of my heart for my two Lao Liu's; for curiously enough both rejoiced in the same name, and mightily jealous of each other they were when they ultimately 275met. When it is considered that their duties varied from carrying my little dog, the untiring companion of all our wild travel, to carrying me myself pick-a-back across a mountain torrent, and included choosing the picturesque view-points for photographs (at least they both thought themselves mighty fine judges on this point), as well as defending me from infuriate peasantry when they rushed at me with mattocks, and regularly carrying me in a sedan when that was the mode of progression, together with collecting and caring for all my little odds and ends of wraps, boots, and the like, it may be seen what a very handy creature a Chinese soldier is, when he—shall we say is after a soft billet, or wants to oblige a lady?
這一定是當兵的原因——即使是當中國士兵。當我們和大約三十個苦力和隨從一起旅行時，我當然需要決定由一個人負責，每當我下轎時，跟隨我拿攝影機，幫助我架設，並且一般地照顧我。我兩次選擇了我的人，完全不知道他們的背景，結果每次我都選中了隊伍中唯一的退役士兵。我們的僕人說他們可能是壞人也無濟於事，因為一個人不會無緣無故離開家鄉成為士兵。他們如此靈巧和殷勤，儘管自那以後這兩人都不幸遭遇不測，但我仍對我的兩位老劉（Lao Liu）心存柔情。奇怪的是，兩人居然都叫這個名字，並且當他們最終相遇時，對彼此極度嫉妒。
要知道，他們的職責從抱著我的小狗，這是我們所有荒野旅行中的不倦伴侶，到背著我過山間急流，包括選擇拍照的風景點（至少他們都自認為是這方面的行家），以及在激怒的農民拿著鋤頭衝向我時保護我，經常抬著我乘轎子，還有收集和照顧我所有的小物件，如披肩、靴子等，這樣可以看出，中國士兵在需要找個輕鬆的差事或想討好一位女士時，是多麼靈巧的生物。
Of course, we had unpleasant experiences with soldiers sometimes. On the S.S. Kuling they stole every portable bit of brass off the steamer whilst making a little voyage in her. On the S.S. Yling they managed to eat up or carry off all the food that had been intended to last for months, whilst their officers were being entertained by my husband at a dinner party.