乡村的孩子没有翅膀
The children of the country do not have wings

原创：颜家文

中译英：斧子的二当家

审校、朗诵：Michael

我对那些从乡村走入城市的奋斗者存一种特别的同情和敬佩。

I have a special sympathy and admiration to those fighters who move from the country to the city.

他们是城市的第一代移民。

They are the first generation of immigrants in the city.

他们不像移民中的儿子辈、孙子辈甚至第多少代多少代子孙，已经有人为之铺好了路。

They are not same as the children, grandchildren or other generations of migrants whose paths have been already paved before.

他们得像处女地上的垦荒者一样，烧荒的火要自己点，披荆斩棘的第一刀要自己砍，历史性的第一锄要自己挖。

They must be like the first men who come to a virgin land. The fire that burns the wild grass must be lit by them, the first cut of the knife through the obstacles must be done by them and the first history mark in the soil must be dug by them.

这个人潮如海的城市啊，乡村的孩子要挤进它的花名册，其通路也如蜀道，噫吁唏，危乎高哉.

For the children from the country the way to fit into this crowded city is as hard as climbing to heaven.

乡村孩子的每一点成功，要较之先期移民的子孙们多付出十倍百倍的汗水。

They must pay much more than the children and grandchildren of former immigrants to achieve even a little success.

斧子似乎也走过了这样的路。

It seems that Fuzi has gone the same way.

生于乡下的他，襁褓中离别父母，少年时走南闯北。一切靠自己的努力，拳打脚踢，左冲右突。“要么威严地站起来，要么倒下去”（见《男人们》），“我不会认输”，十几年了，终于开辟出一块属于自己的生活层面。如今，他居然开办了一个学院，亲任校长。其间有多少拼搏和心酸啊……不提起则已，一提起，恐怕也会是珠泪洒江河的。

He was born in the countryside. He left his parents when he was a child and traveled from one place to another as a teenager. Everything depended on his own efforts. "Stand up proudly or fall down" (quote comes from the book "Men"), "I will never give up". After more than a decade he opened a new chapter of his life. He even opened a college and became its principal. How much efforts and sadness was there during that period. If anyone would mention that, it would have probably ended with plenty of tears.

一个管理过世界第一经济大国的人说过，不幸是最好的大学，  比终其一生一帆风顺，会有更高的文凭。

A man who managed the world’s largest economy once said that misfortune is the best teacher. A man, who has experienced misfortune will certainly have a higher degree than a man, who has only experienced wonderful things throughout his life.

斧子有社会大学的学历，后来，又系统地读会了高等教育的课程，可以说是个具有双学位的人才。

Fuzi can be said to be a double degree talent. He received a degree from Social University and later on he systematically learned higher education courses.

一个乡村少年，赤手空拳，二三十年间，  自己把自己操练成一个像模像样的学院的院长，这也该归功于今天这个充满希望和机会的时代。有这样的时代，才会有这样的院长，才会有这样的学院。在这样的学院里受教育，也应该说是一种幸运。

And so a village boy has spent 20 to 30 years training himself to become the dean of a college.  It’s also thanks to the fact that today we have an era of hope and opportunity. Only in such era, there will be such a dean and such a college. It’s a great luck and blessing to be educated in such a college.

文学与科学，是人类精神文明最绚丽的两朵鲜花，她们在高高的山顶上，以辉煌的魅力，吸引着一代又一代顽强的攀登者。这其实又是一种极艰难，希望极渺茫，可偏偏是极富诱惑的攀登。我看见，崎岖道上遍布失败者倒下的身影。

Literature and Science are two most beautiful flowers of human spiritual civilization. The top of the mountain attracts generations of tenacious climbers with a brilliant charm. It is a very difficult, almost hopeless but a tempting climbing. I have seen countless of losers all over the road.

個强的斧子一路拳打脚踢地上来了。

Fuzi finally succeed and came all the way up to reach the top of the mountain.

气功是他的一只登山鞋。

Qigong is one of his hiking shoes.

武术是他的又一只登山鞋。

Martial Art is another hiking shoes forhim.

他呼喊着缪斯的名字，以缪斯为心中之旗，奋力地跋涉着。

He shouted the Muse name and with the Muse flagin his heart, he effortlessly pressed forwards.

《等你归来》是在登山路上用诗写下的日记。沿着这些优美的诗行，你可以走进他的内心。你会听见他攀登时急促的呼吸，你会听见他在疲惫之极对爱和生命依偎的呼唤，你会听见他孤独奋进的瀑布一样的长啸，你会听见他在现实与理想之间以生命之躯“滚雷”的咏叹……

“Waiting for your return” is a diarywritten in poems on his way to the mountains.

Between the beautiful lines of the poemsyou can enter his heart. You will hear the shortness of his breath as heclimbs, his cry for love and for life in exhaustion. And you will hear himshouting like a lonely waterfall and his sigh of “rolling thunder” body of lifebetween ideal and reality.

乡村的孩子没有翅膀

The children of the countryside do not havewings.

斧子说得好：没有翅膀就走，就不屈地一寸一寸地爬......

As Fuzi said , if you have no wings , just moveinch by inch without hesitation.

是的，斧子没有翅膀。

Yes, Fuzi doesn’t have wings.

但是，他却在阅读海鸥，而且，他真正地读懂了鸥这大海之勇士的宣言。

But he was reading the sea mews and reallyunderstood the declaration of a sea warrior.

本文系作者为斧子的散文诗集《等你归来》所写的序言。

This is the preface to Fuzi's prose poems collection, “Waiting for Your Return”.

作者简介

A brief introduction of the Author

作者简介：颜家文，1946年生，湘西自治州古丈县人。当代作家，中国作家协会会员。作品《长在屋檐上的瓜秧》、《悲歌一曲》获全国第一、二届少数民族创作一等奖，《中国农村大写意》(编辑，合作)获1994年中宣部五个一工程奖、中国第九届图书奖。出版著作有：诗集《湘西短笛》，散文集《沈从文之谜》、《荞花，那片苦涩的云》，电视连续剧剧本《野火》(5集，执笔)，长篇小说《她和她与驴——乌龙山的真实匪情》、《长在屋檐上的瓜秧》、《悲歌一曲》。

A brief introduction of the Author: Yan Jiawen, born in 1946 in Guzhang county, Autonomous Prefecture of Western Hunan. A contemporary writer and a member of the Chinese Writers’ Association. His works titled "Melon Grown on the Eaves" and "The Song of Grief" have won No.1 Prize independently in the First and Second National Minorities’ Creation Competition. His "Rural China Written in Free Style" (served as the editor and co-creator) has won the Chinese Propaganda Department’s Five First Project Awards and China's ninth Book Award in 1994. He published poetry anthology “Piccolo in Western Hunan”, essays “Mystery of Shen Congwen” and “Buckwheat Flower, the Bitter Cloud”, TV series "Wildfire" (5 episodes, he did the actual writing), a novel "She and Her Mystery with Donkey--- True Situation of the Wulong Mountain Bandits ", " Melon Grown on the Eaves " and "The Song of Grief". 

Hi there! I’m Michael. Big fan of China, its culture and cuisine. Made a choice in 2017 to pack my things and come here from Europe. I love traveling, jogging and listening to music.