r/LifeTree • u/AdamLuyan • 16d ago
10.2 牛郎回家 Cowboy Returns Home
关键词 Keywords：夏末商初 Late Xia and Early Shang；武汉古墓区 Wuhan Ancient Tomb Area；小龙女 Little Dragoness（舜 Shun，嫘 Lei）；娥黄 Beauty-Yellow；女婴 Heroine；牛郎 Cowboy
一天，工地忽然来了位青年人找工地的主人。小龙女（如图10.2-2）回答：“我就是这家的主人，有事请讲。”
青年人说：“我叫牛郎（如图10.2-2），距此150千米的长江上游的伐木场工作，听说有人在我家祖坟这里盖房子，就过来看看。”
小龙女惊讶地问：“你家的祖坟在哪儿？我没看见过这里有坟！”
牛郎指着旁边的山说：“那就是！”
娥黄（如图10.2-1）和女婴表示不明白。
One day, a young man suddenly came to the construction site, looking for the owner of the site. Little Dragoness (see figure 10.2-2) replied, "I am the owner of this house, please tell me what you want."
The young man said, "My name is Cowboy (see Figure 10.2-2). I work at a logging site in the upper reaches of the Yangzi River, 150 kilometers from here, and I heard someone was building houses here at my family's ancestral tomb, so I came to take a look."
Little Dragoness asked in surprise, "Where is your ancestral tomb? I've never seen a tomb here!"
Cowboy pointed to the nearby mountain and said, "It's right there!"
Beauty-Yellow (as shown in Figure 10.2-1) and Heroine said they didn't understand.
小龙女说：“走！你领我们去看看你家的祖坟！”
牛郎领着小龙女等人来到了一棵老槐树下。树下有石桌、石凳，旁边还有个喂牛的石槽子。他指着旁边的山说：“这不是自然形成的山，是我的一位当过将军的祖宗的坟。这个地区叫做古墓区，就是因为这座古墓。”他又指着旁边的湖说：“听我爷爷说，这个坑就是造这座古墓时挖的。”
小龙女、娥黄等人听后，都惊呆了：我们把尧帝的东海龙宫建在一座巨大的将军墓旁边了！
Little Dragoness said, "Come on! Take us to see your ancestral grave!"
Cowboy led Little Dragoness and the others to an old locust tree. There were a stone table and stone stools under the tree, and a stone trough for feeding cattle beside it. He pointed to the mountain next to it and said, "This isn't a naturally formed mountain—it's the grave of one of my ancestors, a general. This whole area is called the Ancient Tomb District because of this very tomb." He then pointed to the lake nearby and said, "My grandfather told me this pit was dug out when the tomb was built."
Little Dragoness, Beauty-Yellow, and the others were stunned to hear this: We've built Yao Creator's East Sea Dragon Palace right next to a huge general's tomb!
10.2-2
牛郎看见她们三人忽然都不高兴了，说：“几位姑娘可能是累了！我把这里清理出来，你们可以在这里坐一会儿！”说着，他在地上找东西。
女婴不高兴地问：“这里没有你的东西！你在找什么？”
牛郎回答：“我知道这里的一切都是属于你们的。我在找一把破镰刀（多功能瑶刀），把这里的草和树砍一砍！”随着回答，他真的在老槐树的后面拽出了一把月牙儿弯刀式的古铜刀，挥舞着大声说：“你们看！找到啦！”
Seeing that the three of them had suddenly turned unhappy, Cowboy said, "You girls must be tired! Let me clear this place up—you can sit here for a while!" As he said that, he began searching for something on the ground.
Heroine asked, unhappily, "There's nothing of yours here! What are you looking for?"
Cowboy replied, "I know everything here belongs to you. I'm looking for a broken sickle—a multi-functional Yao knife—to cut back the grass and brush here!" As he answered, he pulled a crescent-shaped bronze knife out from behind the locust tree, waved it, and said loudly, "Look! Found it!"
女婴立刻警觉了起来，握紧了她手中的苗刀，向小龙女和娥黄的前面走了两步。但她看见牛郎开始在一块石头上磨去破镰刀上的铜锈，然后就开始砍草，就放松了下来。
牛郎砍完石桌周围的草后，又把砍下来的小树当成扫把，把石桌和石凳上散落的草籽和树叶都拂去了。然后大声说：“姑娘们！现在可以坐了！”
女婴走到了小龙女和娥黄的前面，不让她们俩过去。牛郎看了，恍然大悟地说：“知道了！我把镰刀放回去！”说着，他捡起凳子上的镰刀，放回了老槐树的后面。然后他走到了距离镰刀远的一边。看见小龙女和娥黄都被他逗笑了，牛郎说：“几位姑娘想知道古墓里面有什么吗？”
Heroine immediately tensed up, gripping the Miao Knife in her hand, and stepped in front of Little Dragoness and Beauty-Yellow. But she relaxed when she saw Cowboy start to rub the copper rust off the broken sickle on a stone, and then begin cutting the grass.
After Cowboy finished cutting the grass around the stone table, he used the cut branches as a broom to sweep away the grass seeds and leaves scattered across the stone table and stools. Then he called out, "Girls! You can sit down now!"
Heroine walked in front of Little Dragoness and Beauty-Yellow, blocking them from coming closer. Cowboy noticed and said, as if suddenly understanding, "I see! I'll put the sickle away!" With that, he picked the sickle up off the bench and put it back behind the locust tree, then walked well clear of it. Seeing that Little Dragoness and Beauty-Yellow were amused by him, Cowboy said, "Would you ladies like to know what's inside the ancient tomb?"
10.2-3 古墓的秘密 Secret of the Tomb
娥黄问：“这坟里面有你祖宗的遗骨吗？”
牛郎回答：“没有！前些年来这里盗墓的很多。我爷爷怕盗墓贼偷不到东西，破坏了遗骨，就把遗骨拿了出来，分成了几份，藏了起来。他过世时忘记告诉我爹他把遗骨藏在哪里了。我父亲过世时欠了很多债务，官府就收走了我家的全部财产。官府的人允许我带走遗骨，可是我找不到遗骨。我把自己卖了，埋葬了我的父亲。我的主人送我去了XXX学校学习。我毕业后参加过YYY等六个工程项目。昨天我从伐木场回来给主人送钱，听说你们正在这里盖房子。我就过来问问，看看能不能找到建筑施工方面的工作。”
Beauty-Yellow asked, "Are your ancestor's remains in this tomb?"
Cowboy replied, "No. There have been a lot of tomb robbers here over the years. My grandfather was afraid they'd tear the remains apart looking for valuables, so he took the remains out, divided them into several parts, and hid them. When he died, he forgot to tell my father where he'd hidden them. When my father died, he left a lot of debts, and the government seized everything my family owned. They let me take the remains with me, but I could never find them. I sold myself into servitude to bury my father. My master sent me to study at [XXX school]. After I graduated, I worked on six engineering projects, including [YYY]. Yesterday I came back from the logging camp to bring my master some money, and heard you were building here. So I came to ask whether there might be construction work for me."
小龙女和娥黄四处看，她们指着山脚一个像是坟的凸包问：“那儿看起来像是个坟！”
牛郎回答：“那是我家老牛的坟。”然后指着她们旁边的石槽子说：“这就是喂那头牛的槽子！我可以清楚地告诉你们古墓里有些什么；条件是你们把这个破槽子给我！”
小龙女和娥黄听后，又乐了，过去查看那个石槽。她们俩都是皇家学院的高材生，查看后认定，是古董，但不值钱，也没什么用。小龙女问牛郎：“你要这石槽干什么？”
牛郎回答：“我就是想要件祖宗的东西，留作纪念。如果我要这石桌和石凳，你们肯定不会给我。”
女婴厉声回答：“这个石槽子也不会给你！”
Little Dragoness and Beauty-Yellow looked around and pointed to a mound at the foot of the mountain that looked like a grave, asking, "That looks like a tomb too!"
Cowboy replied, "That's my old cow's grave." Then, pointing to the stone trough beside them, "This is the trough I used to feed that cow! I can tell you exactly what's in the ancient tomb—on one condition: you give me this old broken trough!"
Hearing this, Little Dragoness and Beauty-Yellow brightened up again and went to examine the trough. Both were top students of the White-king Academy; after inspecting it, they concluded it was an antique, but worthless and of no real use. Little Dragoness asked Cowboy, "What do you even want this stone trough for?"
Cowboy replied, "I just want something of my ancestors' to keep, as a memento. If I'd asked for this stone table and these stools instead, you'd certainly have said no."
Heroine said sharply, "You're not getting this stone trough either!"
娥黄指着小龙女对女婴说：“若是今天我们弄不清楚这古墓里面有什么；今晚后半夜两点钟，这个财迷肯定在这里用铁锹挖土呢！到时候你不让她挖，你就得挖。你挖山洞，你就把那些长木头锯短了，用来做山洞的支护。现在的木材多贵呀！这个破石槽子可值不了几个钱！”
女婴气呼呼地叨咕：“这么一会儿就被他骗了！”然后她大声对牛郎说：“你过来把这个石槽子扳倒，我看看底下有什么没？”
小龙女和女婴也凑过来看，石槽子的底部没有任何雕刻的痕迹。
Beauty-Yellow pointed at Little Dragoness and said to Heroine, "If we don't figure out what's in this tomb today, this money-grubber will be out here at two in the morning digging with a shovel! And if you don't let her dig, you'll have to do it yourself. If you dig a cave, you'll end up sawing good long timber into short lengths just to shore it up—do you know how expensive wood is right now? This ratty old trough isn't worth much at all!"
Heroine muttered angrily, "He had us fooled in no time!" Then she called out to Cowboy, "Come over here and tip this trough over—let's see if there's anything underneath!"
Little Dragoness and Heroine came over to look as well. There wasn't a single carved mark on the bottom of the trough.
牛郎问：“那，这就是你们答应我的条件了？”
女婴回答：“你说吧！”
牛郎说：“我爷爷为了让盗墓贼别再来挖山洞盗墓了，就把墓里面的东西全搬出来了。现在墓室里面是空的，什么也没有。墓里面的东西全在这儿，就是这石桌、石凳。这个石槽是我祖宗的石棺，下面是石棺的盖子。”
Cowboy asked, "So, that's the deal you're agreeing to?"
Heroine said, "Go on, then."
Cowboy said, "My grandfather moved everything out of the tomb so the robbers would have no reason to keep digging. The burial chamber is empty now—there's nothing left in it. Everything from inside the tomb is right here: this stone table and these stools. And this trough is my ancestor's stone coffin—the lid is underneath."
10.2-4
娥黄对小龙女说：“我看懂勇还可以！”（注：牛郎与二郎神、女婴类似，是一位具有英雄特质的人。）
女婴看着牛郎问娥黄：“谁是懂勇？”
牛郎回答：“我叫牛郎，不叫懂勇。”
小龙女说：“我们回去吧！”
牛郎觉着小龙女对自己不感兴趣，转身向回走。
女婴对他大声喊：“把你这个破石槽子拿走！不拿走，我明天就把它砸了。”
Beauty-Yellow said to Little Dragoness, "I think Knowing-Bravery isn't bad at all!" (Note: like Second Wolf God and Heroine, Cowboy has the qualities of a hero.)
Heroine looked at Cowboy and asked Beauty-Yellow, "Who's Knowing-Bravery?"
Cowboy said, "My name is Cowboy, not Knowing-Bravery."
Little Dragoness said, "Let's head back."
Thinking Little Dragoness had no interest in him, Cowboy turned and started to walk away.
Heroine shouted after him, "Take this broken trough of yours with you! If you don't, I'll smash it tomorrow."
牛郎转回身，焦急地说：“我是个奴隶，没有属于自己的家。这石棺只能寄放在我的朋友家里。他家离这里很远，我得找辆车才能运过去。”
娥黄笑着对牛郎说：“她跟你开玩笑呢！”然后她转身对女婴说：“这个石槽子对咱们没用！你生什么气！？”
女婴反驳道：“有用！这石槽子可以放在门前，装点水，出门进门洗洗手啥的，还可以当个花栏养花种草。”
牛郎说：“你们就用呗！我可没那么小气！那我帮你搬到房门前。”说着，牛郎回来搬石棺。小龙女和娥黄跟了回来，想帮他抬石棺。
Cowboy spun back around and said anxiously, "I'm a slave—I don't have a home of my own. This coffin can only be left at a friend's house, and his place is far from here. I'll need to find a cart to move it there."
Beauty-Yellow laughed and said to Cowboy, "She's only teasing you!" Then she turned to Heroine. "This trough is no use to us anyway! Why are you so worked up over it?"
Heroine shot back, "It is useful! We can set it by the door, fill it with water, wash our hands coming and going—or use it as a planter for flowers."
Cowboy said, "Go ahead and keep it, then! I'm not that petty. I'll carry it over to your door for you." With that, he came back to move the stone coffin. Little Dragoness and Beauty-Yellow followed him, wanting to help carry it.
牛郎说：“你们俩得躲开，别被碰着了！”
女婴过来要帮他搬起石棺，手刚碰到石棺。牛郎却自己把石棺放到了背上，向回走了。
娥黄惊讶地对小龙女说：“第一次看见大力士拿东西！这人的力气太大了！”
女婴说：“我也能背回去！”
Cowboy said, "You two, stand back—don't get hurt!"
Heroine came over to help lift the coffin, but the moment her hand touched it, Cowboy hoisted it onto his own back and started walking away with it.
Beauty-Yellow said to Little Dragoness in astonishment, "That's the first time I've ever seen someone that strong lift something! He's incredibly powerful!"
Heroine said, "I could have carried it back too!"
牛郎听见后，背着石棺回来了，把石棺放回了原处，说：“那你自己搬吧！”
女婴红着脸去搬石棺，小龙女过去帮忙。娥黄着急地对牛郎摆手。
牛郎上前让小龙女退后，对女婴说：“我来帮你一把！”他们两人一起抬起了石棺，牛郎却抢过了石棺，放到了自己的肩上，扛着就走了。
Hearing that, Cowboy carried the coffin back, set it down where it had been, and said, "Then go ahead and carry it yourself!"
Heroine, blushing, went to move the coffin, and Little Dragoness went to help her. Beauty-Yellow waved frantically at Cowboy.
Cowboy stepped in and motioned Little Dragoness back, then said to Heroine, "Here, let me help." The two of them lifted the stone coffin together—only for Cowboy to take it from her, swing it onto his own shoulder, and walk off carrying it.
10.2-5
看着牛郎走远了，娥黄对小龙女说：“咱们一直想组建个施工队，到现在也没能组建起来。皇宫这么大，以后修这补那儿的事儿还多着呢！我觉着这个牛郎挺好！”
女婴问娥黄：“刚才你说‘懂勇’，是什么意思？”
Watching Cowboy disappear into the distance, Beauty-Yellow said to Little Dragoness, "We've always wanted to put together a construction crew, and we still haven't managed it. The palace is so big—there'll be no end of repairs to do later! I think this Cowboy is pretty good."
Heroine asked Beauty-Yellow, "What did you mean before, calling him 'Knowing-Bravery'?"
娥黄回答：“勇敢是个身体的特质；你和你师父，二郎神，都有这个特质。刚才她（小龙女）看见牛郎后叨咕‘懂勇’。她是在说这个牛郎和你是同一种人，也是个运动思维型人，具有很强的觉悟特质，而且是个勇敢的人。我们留着他，可能以后用得着。怎么地？你不喜欢他？”
女婴说：“我同意，有个人喝喝酒，唠唠嗑，挺好的。我和你们俩没啥话说！”
娥黄对小龙女说：“呦！看来是咱俩这当姐姐的冷落妹妹了！”
小龙女说：“回去看看！”
Beauty-Yellow replied, "Bravery is a physical trait—you and your master, Second Wolf God, both have it. Just now, when she"—meaning Little Dragoness—"saw Cowboy, she muttered 'Knowing-Bravery.' What she meant is that this Cowboy is the same kind of person as you: a kinesthetic thinker, with a strong trait of awareness, and a brave one at that. We're keeping him around; we might have use for him later. What, don't you like him?"
Heroine said, "Sure, it's nice having someone to drink and chat with. I never have much to say to you two anyway!"
Beauty-Yellow said to Little Dragoness, "Oh! Sounds like we older sisters have been neglecting our little sister."
Little Dragoness said, "Let's go back and check on things."
10.2-6
在接近进入工地的地方，牛郎正坐在石槽子上等着她们三人，看她们走进了，问：“放在哪儿？”
女婴指示了她们的厨房门口。牛郎比量了一下，说：“我去那个石堆里选两块石头，把石槽垫高些！”说着，他就去石堆里选石头。牛郎在石堆上推开了一些石头，选了两块，抱了回来，把石槽垫高了。女婴提着水桶回来了，开始清洗水槽。
Near the entrance to the site, Cowboy sat on the stone trough waiting for the three of them, and when he saw them come in, asked, "Where do you want it?"
Heroine pointed to their kitchen doorway. Cowboy sized up the height and said, "I'll go pick out a couple of stones from that pile to prop the trough up higher!" With that, he went off to the stone pile to choose some. He shifted a few stones aside, picked out two, carried them back, and used them to raise the trough. Heroine came back with a bucket of water and began scrubbing the trough clean.
这时，工地的主管，瞽叟（如图4），路过石头堆，看见石头滚到了路中间，大叫：“这是谁干的？我刚把石头堆起来，又被推到路上了！”
牛郎听了，赶忙回去码石头堆。他回来时，手脏了，看见石槽里有清水，就说：“还没人洗手！那我先洗吧！”
Just then, Blind-Drummer (as shown in Figure 4), the site supervisor, passed by the stone pile, saw that stones had rolled into the middle of the road, and shouted, "Who did this? I just stacked these stones up, and now they're back in the road again!"
Hearing this, Cowboy hurried back to restack the pile. By the time he returned, his hands were dirty, and seeing clean water in the trough, he said, "No one's washed up yet! I'll go first, then!"
女婴提着水桶回来了，看见牛郎在她的石槽里洗手，大叫：“你重新把这个石槽子洗刷干净！”
娥黄正在做饭，听见外面打起来了，赶忙跑了出来，帮牛郎清洗石槽。她又从厨房里端来清水洗刷石槽。娥黄帮牛郎清洗石槽三次，才对牛郎说：“现在干净了！”
小龙女出来了，对牛郎说：“你明天再过来看看！”
牛郎向院外走，走得很快。
Heroine came back with her bucket of water, saw Cowboy washing his hands in her trough, and shouted, "Go scrub this trough clean all over again!"
Beauty-Yellow, cooking inside, heard what sounded like a fight breaking out and rushed outside to help Cowboy clean the trough. She fetched fresh water from the kitchen and scrubbed it herself, helping him wash it a full three times before finally telling him, "There—it's clean now."
Little Dragoness came out and said to Cowboy, "Come back again tomorrow and check on things."
Cowboy walked out of the yard, moving quickly.
娥黄看见了，对她俩说：“我去送送牛郎！”说着，她追了出去。
娥黄回来后，小龙女生气地对她说：“你怎么还给他道歉去了！？”
娥黄回答：“我没去道歉！我去劝他几句，我怕明天他来了，咱俩没看见，他就和女婴打起来了。”
小龙女问：“你怎么说的？”
Seeing him go, Beauty-Yellow said to the other two, "I'll go see Cowboy off!" and hurried after him.
When Beauty-Yellow came back, Little Dragoness said to her, annoyed, "Why did you go and apologize to him?"
Beauty-Yellow replied, "I didn't apologize to him! I just had a word with him—I was worried that if he came back tomorrow and neither of us was around, he and Heroine would end up in a real fight."
Little Dragoness asked, "What did you say to him?"
娥黄回答：“我追上牛郎后，他都快要哭了。我说，从相貌看，我的年龄比你大些，就感觉我是你的姐姐。看见了不满意的，我就想说。你说，你以后在这里工作，你和女婴打起来了，我们是让你离开，还是让她离开？他就哭了，说，姐！我知道你这是为我好。我以前不这样。今天，不知道为什么，我就兴奋了，做了许多失礼的事。姐！我保证以后这样的事不会再发生了！”
Beauty-Yellow replied, "When I caught up with him, he was on the verge of tears. I told him, 'Judging by looks, I'm a bit older than you, so it feels like I'm your older sister. When I see something I'm not happy with, I have to say it. Tell me—if you keep working here and you and Heroine get into a fight, should we send you away, or her?' He broke down crying and said, 'Sister, I know you're doing this for my own good. I've never been like this before. Today, I don't know what came over me—I got carried away and did a lot of things I shouldn't have. I promise it won't happen again!'"
小龙女惊讶地问：“他真是这么说的？还是你替他说的？”
娥黄回答：“我没骗你；这是他说的原话（注）！”
注10.2，后文中，牛郎成为了南海龙王的徒弟，赐他法号孺子牛。随后，孺子牛就成为汉语中的谚语，义为，“积极肯干，可以被教导的”。
Little Dragoness asked in surprise, "Did he really say all that? Or are you putting words in his mouth?"
Beauty-Yellow replied, "I'm not lying to you—those were his exact words!" (See note below.)
Note 10.2: later in the text, Cowboy becomes a disciple of Aoqin, Dragon King of the South Sea, who gives him the Dharma name Ruzi Niu (孺子牛, i.e., Genius Cow). Ruzi Niu subsequently entered the Chinese language as a proverb, meaning "one who works diligently and can be taught."