Lady Meng Jiang: The legend of the woman who outwitted an evil emperor - Juwen Zhang

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Esther Lam

According to legend, an emperor long ago declared that he would build

據傳說，很久以前，有位皇帝 宣布他要建造一座長城，

a great wall spanning thousands of kilometers

有數千公里長，

to protect his new empire and ensure his sustained power.

以保護他的新帝國 並確保他能一直保有權力。

He ordered many men across China to leave their homes

他下令要求中國各地的 許多男人離鄉背井

and submit to the grueling labor required for its construction.

投入建造長城所需要的繁重勞動力。

As years passed and the wall grew, few returned home.

很多年過去，長城也越蓋越長，

卻很少有人返家。

Nestled in the foothills of a remote mountain,

住在偏遠山腳下的

the Mengs and their neighbors, the Jiangs,

孟家和他們的鄰居姜家

hadn’t yet had to worry about being drafted by the emperor’s soldiers.

還不用擔心被皇帝的士兵徵召。

One year, the Mengs grew gourds that flourished along their shared fence.

有一年，孟家種植的葫蘆沿著 他們與鄰居共用的籬笆茂盛生長。

One particular gourd crossed the fence and extended into the Jiang’s yard,

其中有一個葫蘆跨越圍欄， 延伸到姜家的院子，

so they cared for it.

姜家便去照顧它。

The gourd grew to be the biggest of all.

這個葫蘆長得比其他葫蘆都還要大。

At harvest, the Mengs and the Jiangs decided to take equal halves.

採收時，孟家和姜家 決定平分這個葫蘆。

But as they went to split the gourd, something remarkable happened.

但就在他們要去切這個葫蘆時， 發生了一件不凡的事情。

It cracked open to reveal a beautiful baby curled inside,

葫蘆自行裂開，有個 漂亮的寶寶蜷曲在裡面，

smiling up at them.

向他們微笑。

They agreed to raise her together

兩家人同意一起撫養她，

and named their magical, boundary-breaking daughter, Meng Jiang.

並將這位打破藩籬的 神奇女兒命名為孟姜。

She grew into a virtuous, accomplished young woman who infused life with joy.

她長大後成為賢淑且才華出眾的 年輕女子，為生活帶來了無限歡樂。

She cared for her elderly parents and their land with dedication.

她盡心盡力去照顧 年邁的父母和他們的土地。

But the surrounding world remained turbulent.

但外頭的世界仍然動盪不安。

One day, Meng Jiang stumbled upon a young man hiding in the garden.

有一天，孟江撞見 一名躲在花園裡的年輕人。

The emperor’s soldiers had come to conscript him into building the wall.

皇帝的士兵已經來 徵召他去建造長城。

But he had an elderly mother to care for

但他必須要照顧年邁的媽媽，

and knew that obeying the soldiers’ orders would mean almost certain death,

他知道遵從士兵的命令幾乎 就等同於宣告他的死亡，

so he escaped.

所以他逃走了。

Meng Jiang and Fan Xiliang connected instantly,

孟姜和范喜良一見如故，

and soon enough, they married.

沒多久他們便結婚了。

But their happiness wouldn’t last long.

但他們的幸福無法持續很久。

When the emperor’s soldiers descended the next time,

當皇帝的士兵再次突然造訪時，

they captured Fan Xiliang.

他們抓到了范喜良。

For months, she watched the horizon,

幾個月來，她一直看著地平線，

hoping the world would do right and deliver her love back to her safely.

希望世界上的公理能伸張， 把她的愛人平安送回她身邊。

But he never came.

但他始終沒回來。

And as the air grew frigid, Meng Jiang’s worries only grew,

隨著空氣變得凜冽刺骨， 孟姜也越來越擔憂，

so she set out to find him herself.

於是她自己出發去尋找他。

Through bitter snow and howling winds, across rivers and mountains,

冒著寒雪強風，穿越山岳河流，

she undertook the dangerous journey that many others had been forced to complete.

她踏上了許多人 被迫走完的危險旅程。

Finally, she reached the construction site,

終於，她抵達了建造工地，

where thousands of workers toiled, day and night,

在那裡有數千名工人日夜辛勤工作，

to realize the emperor’s vision.

以實現皇帝的願景。

Stealing into the fray, Meng Jiang whispered her husband’s name

孟姜悄悄潛入這片混亂中，

向工人低聲呼喚她先生的 名字，直到最後，

to the workers until, eventually, one man’s eyes glimmered with recognition—

一名男子的眼睛因為認出她 而閃爍著光茫——

only for him to reveal the tragic news that Fan Xiliang had recently died.

只是他傳遞的卻是不幸的消息，

范喜良不久前過世了。

He was rumored to be buried under the wall alongside many others.

謠傳他被埋在長城底下，

許多人都被埋葬在那裡。

Heartbroken beyond words, Meng Jiang could only weep.

心碎到無可言喻的程度， 孟姜只能哭泣。

As her tears filled the construction halls,

她的淚水充滿了建築工地，

seeped into the cracks of the wall, and soaked its stone,

滲入城牆的裂縫中， 濕透了城牆上的石塊，

whole portions crumbled and washed away in the flood of her grief.

整片牆體崩塌， 被她的悲痛洪流給沖走。

Livid, the emperor ordered that the person who’d sabotaged his grand project

盛怒的皇帝下令 把破壞他偉大計畫的人

be captured and brought to his palace for punishment.

抓回宮中接受懲罰。

But when he beheld the otherworldly beauty and virtue Meng Jiang radiated,

但當他看到孟姜散發出的 非凡美麗和高尚品德時，

his plan changed.

他決定改變計畫。

Leering at the devastated widow,

皇帝色迷迷地看著 這位悲痛欲絕的寡婦，

the emperor instead suggested that she become one of his imperial concubines.

改變心意，要她成為他的妃子。

She had few options, but she realized she could leverage the wretched proposal

孟姜幾乎別無選擇，

但她想到她可以 利用這個卑劣的提議，

to honor Fan Xiliang and humiliate the emperor.

來奠祭范喜良，並羞辱皇帝。

She said she agreed—

她答應成為妃子——

but only if the emperor gave her deceased husband a grand funeral

但前提是皇帝要為她已故的 丈夫舉行盛大的葬禮，

and that the emperor attend dressed in the traditional mourning attire

且皇帝要穿著傳統喪服參加葬禮，

he would wear had Fan Xiliang been his own father.

那是參加父親葬禮才會穿的服飾。

The emperor begrudgingly made the arrangements

皇帝心不甘情不願做好了安排，

and Meng Jiang bid her beloved farewell.

而孟姜得以和心愛的人告別。

Finally, with her wish carried out, she refused to either submit to the emperor,

最後，在願望實現後，

她拒絕服從正在宮中等待她的皇帝，

who now awaited her in his palace, or to face his punishment.

也不願面對皇帝對她的懲罰。

Instead, she cast herself into the nearby water,

她反而選擇在附近投入水中，

as all-enveloping as her own tears, never to emerge again.

這水域和她的眼淚一樣無邊無際，

而她再也沒有浮出來。

She had left an unjust world as mysteriously as she’d entered it.

她離開這個不公世界的方式， 就和她進入時一樣神秘。

But her tears flowed on, a reminder of her virtue and defiance.

但她的淚水仍在流淌，

象徵著她高尚的美德和抗爭。