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• 作者經濟狀況推測

I IN A PEKING GARDEN

April to July.

"I WISH also, in the very middle," said Bacon, in designing a princely garden, "a fair mount, with three ascents, and alleys, enough for four to walk abreast; which I would have to be perfect circles, without any bulwarks, or embossments, and the whole mount to be thirty feet high; and some fine banqueting-house, with some chimneys neatly cast, and without too much glass." One might almost think his advice had been followed in designing the garden in Peking, where we had the privilege of passing two summer months, if it were not unreasonable to suppose that any one had ever heard of Bacon in China, when that garden was laid out. For it was already an old garden, the largest garden in all Peking, since Prince Yung-lu's had been reduced. But in the middle of it rose a mound some twenty feet high, with on the top of it a pavilion; beyond that again a terrace somewhat higher than the mound and running the whole length of the garden, with, to one side of it, a further large pavilion, which at once suggested the idea of a banqueting-house, and was doubtless used for that purpose by the former Chinese proprietors. And both these, in the general view of the garden, became massed together, so as to form one fine banqueting-house. The elegant, smaller and lower pavilion might serve as a place to distribute ices, or tea and coffee, the upper, statelier chamber with verandah along one side and painted ceiling, and windows on the further side overlooking a miniature stage, was evidently the supper-hall or dining-room. Although the way up to the mound would not quite meet with Bacon's requirements, being winding and beset by rocks—the whole mound, indeed, being a rockery—yet the terrace above did; supplying ample space for four to wander up and down, gazing over the pleasant prospect of Peking roofs and stately trees, and in between their branches gaining welcome breaths of fresh air, possibly not darkened by that plague of Peking, the dust of the Mongolian plateau, or, worse still, by that of its own streets, black with the filth of ages. That, indeed, was the one drawback to our garden, as must be the case with every garden in Peking, though those planted in the midst of, alas! always sadly tarnished, turf may escape somewhat.

I 北京花園記

四月到七月

「我希望在正中的位置，」貝根（Bacon）在設計一座王者之園時說道，「有一座高丘，三段階梯，以及足夠四人並肩而行的小徑；我要它們是完美的圓形，沒有任何壁壘或浮雕，整個高丘要有三十英尺高；並且要有一座精美的宴會廳，配有一些鑄造精緻的煙囪，且不過多使用玻璃。」人們幾乎會以為這個建議在設計北京的這座花園時被採納了，若非認為在那座花園建成時，中國竟然有人聽說過貝根（Bacon）的建議未免有些不合理。因為那時它已經是一座老花園，是全北京最大的花園，因為榮祿王（Prince Yung-lu）的花園被縮減了。而在其正中央，豎立著一座約二十英尺高的土丘，頂上有一座亭子；再往前是一個略高於土丘的露台，橫跨整個花園的一側，還有一座更大的亭子，這立刻讓人聯想到宴會廳的設計，毫無疑問是以前的中國主人用作此用途的。而這兩座亭子，在整個花園的視野中，匯聚成了一個完整的宴會廳。那優雅的、較小而低矮的亭子，或可作為供應冰品、茶或咖啡的場所，而上方那間更為宏偉的房間，沿著一側有陽台，天花板上繪有畫作，遠處的一側窗戶俯瞰著一個微型舞台，顯然是晚餐廳或宴會廳。儘管通往土丘的道路曲折迂迴，且被岩石包圍——整個土丘實際上就是一座假山——但上面的露台卻滿足了需求；提供了足夠的空間供四人來回漫步，俯瞰北京屋頂與莊嚴的樹木，樹枝間隨風搖曳的清新空氣迎面而來，也許不至於被蒙古高原的沙塵，或者更糟的是被北京自身街道上幾世紀的污垢所染黑。然而，這確實是我們的花園唯一的缺點，這也是北京所有花園的通病，儘管那些位於中心的草坪，也許能在某種程度上倖免於難，卻常常因塵埃而黯然失色。

34 ROUND ABOUT PEKING

This absence of flowers is the more to be regretted seeing the prodigal profusion with which they grow in China, and is the more curious owing to the intense delight of the people in sweet flower scents. "Among wild flowers the narcissus and the banksia bloom in March and April, when the rocky hills become red with azaleas for hundreds of miles, wisteria hanging there in festoons. In April also beans are in flower, and these with the yellow blossoms of the oil-plant make it indeed a fragrant month. In May the country air is sweet with wild honeysuckle and dog-rose. In June follows the luscious gardenia, sold in the streets for one cash a blossom (a tenth of a penny), and worn at this season by every woman, rich and poor alike, in her hair. In July among the mountain glades large white lilies are to be found, with a rich fragrance, but in this as in some other instances, it is a private and local breath, not a pervading odour such as those specially enumerated. In September and October, however, and even in August for some early flowering varieties, the delightful Olea fragrans and Kuei-hua scents the air in city and country alike, not to speak of the favourite jasmine, white and yellow. November and most of December are practically scentless in North China, but in mild seasons at the end of December, and generally in the early part of January, the sweet Lah mei, or waxen almond (cheimonanthus fragrans), blooms before its leaves appear; and it is scarce over before the delicious white and pink double almond, richly fragrant, breathes out the old year for the Chinese, this generally occurring in February."

此處花卉的缺乏更令人遺憾，尤其是看到它們在中國如此繁茂地生長，而中國人民對花香的熱愛又是如此強烈，這就更顯得奇怪了。「在野花中，水仙花和銀樺花（banksia）在三月和四月開放，當那巖石嶙峋的山丘被杜鵑花染成一片紅色，蔓藤紫藤（wisteria）垂掛成簇，延綿數百里。四月時，豆類植物也開花了，再加上油菜花的黃花，確實使這個月成為芬芳之月。五月時，鄉村的空氣彌漫著野生金銀花和狗玫瑰的甜美氣息。六月緊隨其後的是濃郁的梔子花，這種花在街頭以一文錢一朵的價格出售（約合十分之一便士），這時節，無論貧富，每個女人都將其佩戴在髮間。七月間，在山間的幽谷中可以找到大朵的白百合，氣味芳香濃郁，但與其他一些情況一樣，這種香氣是局部且私密的，而不是像那些特別列舉的花卉那樣瀰漫四周。然而，九月和十月，甚至在八月的一些早開品種中，宜人的桂花（Olea fragrans）和桂花香氣瀰漫於城鄉，還有受人喜愛的茉莉花，無論是白色還是黃色。十一月和十二月的大部分時間，華北地區幾乎是無味的，但在十二月底的溫暖季節，通常在一月初，甜美的臘梅（Lah mei）或蠟梅（cheimonanthus fragrans）在葉子出現之前就已盛開；而且它剛凋謝，香氣濃郁的白色和粉紅色雙層杏花就開始吐露芬芳，迎接中國人的舊年之終，這通常發生在二月。」

36 ROUND ABOUT PEKING

The great beauty of our garden, however, was in the exquisite effects of light and shade, the interplay of sunshine and shadow, when, as occasionally, the movement in the air was too light zephyr-like to raise the dust, and the sun shone out unsullied. Then, with a long-drawn breath of intense satisfaction, one could sit in one or other of the almost innumerable pavilions scattered through the garden, and looking up now and again, get lost in the intense pleasure of watching how the shadows fell from that curved gable and through that openwork wall, or through the more complex design of these windows, their stonework cut into flowers, or those others, with a Mauresque reminiscence, above them all arabesques. At the far end of the terrace, and somewhat withdrawn from it, there was another long-shaped pavilion with railings, particularly adapted for hanging over. We never seem to build such in England, where, indeed, the whole art of railings seems to be neglected. It was very agreeable to hang over those railings and look across two very peaceful retired courtyards beneath, each with a tree in the centre, a tree trained as they only train them in China or Japan—Japan learnt all its arts from China, though just now in England people do not seem to recollect this—and to watch the people who might happen to be moving on the terrace or in the larger pavilion, looking so infinitely picturesque, as they stood out, here against a background of sky, there against huge tree-trunks. For this is one of the peculiarities of Chinese cities; looked down upon from a distance they present the appearance of groves of trees, and no city more so than Peking. Chinese, who root up perseveringly every tree on the countryside, cherish those that grow within their cities, even when, as is not uncommonly the case, the tree’s trunk penetrates through a city roof. Thus in our garden there was nothing wanting of what generally contributes to a garden’s beauty, but that one thing—flowers! Yet on consulting with some Chinese lady visitors, there seemed to be little place for these last according to the original scheme of the garden. No flowers were permissible, they said, upon the mound, where I had always pictured pink peonies, that favourite flower of China, setting off the grey tone of the rocks, their own frail pinkness enhanced thereby. But no! that, it appeared, would be contrary to all Chinese feeling; a rock mound must be left bare, no rock plants even must be seen upon it. I knew I had not seen any even in the Emperor’s garden, that one restful, romantic retreat within the awe-inspiring walls of the Forbidden City. But at the time I had speculated as to whether this might not be consequent upon the ravages of the soldiery of eight nations, not to speak of those of Chinese themselves. It seemed now it was not so. This was how Chinese rock-mounds should be, naked and unadorned.

然而，我們花園的最大美麗之處，在於光影交錯的精妙效果，陽光與陰影的相互作用，有時，空氣中的微風輕柔如微風般，甚至無法揚起塵土，陽光也因此潔淨無瑕。然後，人們可以懷著極大的滿足感，坐在花園中幾乎數不清的亭閣之中，偶爾抬頭凝望，不禁迷失在觀察陰影如何從那彎曲的山牆滑落，穿過那雕花的牆壁，或是穿過那些窗戶更複雜的設計中，那些石雕被雕刻成花朵，或者其他帶有摩爾式風情的雕飾，其中最為突出的是阿拉伯式的圖案。露台的盡頭，稍微遠離一點的地方，有另一座長形的亭閣，配有欄杆，特別適合倚靠觀景。我們似乎從未在英國建造過這樣的建築，事實上，整個欄杆的藝術在那裡似乎都被忽視了。倚靠在那些欄杆上，俯視兩個非常安靜、隱蔽的庭院，每個庭院的中央都有一棵樹，這些樹的修剪方式只有在中國或日本才見得到——日本的所有技藝都源自中國，儘管如今在英國，人們似乎不再記得這一點——觀看那些可能在露台或更大的亭閣上活動的人們，他們的身影在天空的背景下，或在巨大的樹幹前顯得如此生動美麗。這是中國城市的一個特點；從遠處俯視，它們呈現出一片樹林的景象，而沒有哪座城市比北京更為典型。中國人不懈地在鄉間拔除每一棵樹，卻珍惜那些在城市中生長的樹木，即使這些樹的樹幹常常穿透城市的屋頂。因此，在我們的花園中，一切構成花園美麗的要素皆已具備，除了那一件——花卉！然而，當與一些中國女士訪客商量後，她們認為按照花園的原設計，似乎沒有給這些花卉留下多少空間。她們說，土丘上是不允許有花卉的，我本以為在這裡會有中國人最喜愛的粉色牡丹，它們的柔弱粉紅會襯托出岩石的灰色調，使其更具魅力。但事實上，這與所有中國人的感情背道而馳；石丘必須保持裸露，甚至不允許有石上植物生長。我知道，即便是在那座威嚴的紫禁城內，那個寧靜浪漫的皇帝花園裡，也從未見過任何植物生長於石丘上。然而，當時我曾猜測，這是否是由於八國聯軍的肆虐所致，更不必說那些中國人的破壞了。如今看來，似乎並非如此。中國的石丘就該這樣，裸露且未經裝飾。