大錢餃子

A Good-luck Dumpling

張林

Zhang Lin

那是動亂的第二年吧，我被劃進了“黑幫”隊伍里。我在那長長的“黑幫”隊伍里倒不害怕.最怕的就是游斗汽車開到自己家門口，這一招太損了。嗐，越害怕還越有鬼，有一次汽車就真的開到一了家門口。那八旬的老母親看見了汽車上的我，嘴抖了幾抖，閉上眼睛，扶著墻，身子像泥一樣癱了下去。妻子竟忘了去扶持母親，站在那兒，眼睛都直了，跟個傻子一般。

In the second of those tumultuous years, I was labeled one of the "reactionary gang." What I feared most was not being queued up among this gang of so many, but the vicious practice of being publicly denounced on a truck in front of my own house. Well, fear or no fear, the lot fell on me soon enough. When the truck drove to the gate of my own house, my mother, who was already in her eighties, spotted me on the truck. Her lips trembling and eyes shut, she first leaned against the wall, then collapsed, weak and limp like soft mud on the ground. Meanwhile, my wife just stood there dumbfounded like a blockhead, forgetting even to help my mother up.

我擔(dān)心老母親從此會離我而去。謝天謝地，她老人家總算熬過來了。

There and then I was afraid Mother would leave me forever. Thank God, she somehow managed to survive.

那年除夕這一天，竟把我放回家了。

On the eve of the Spring Festival of that year, I was unexpectedly released to return home.

一進家門，母親用一種奇怪的眼光打量我，然后，她一下子撲過來，摸著我的臉。最后，她竟把臉埋在我的懷里，嗚嗚地哭起來；妻子領(lǐng)著孩子們只遠遠地站著，也在那兒哆哆嗦嗦地哭。

As I stepped into the house, Mother looked me up and down with unbelieving eyes before she threw herself on me and caressed my face. Then burying her head in my arms, she wept bitterly while my wife and children stood sobbing at a distance.

“媳婦，快包餃子，過年!”母親對妻子說。于是，一家人忙起來，剁餡、和面……一會兒，全家就圍在一起開始包佼子；這時，母親忽然想起一件什么事，說：“哎呀，包個大錢佼子吧，誰吃了誰就有福！”

"Daughter-in-law, let's start making dumplings for the Festival!" Mother said to my wife. Instantly the whole family began chopping meat and kneading dough. In no time, all had gathered around the table to make dumplings. Just then an idea dawned on my mother, and she suggested, "I say, let's put in a coin and make a good-luck dumpling. Whoever eats it will be blessed."

為了使母親高興，我同意了，而且希望母親能吃到這個大錢餃子。我要真誠地祝福她，愿她多活幾年。

I agreed to make Mother happy, hoping that the coin would fall to her. With all my heart I wished her a long life.

母親從柜里拿出個藍布包，從包里掏出一枚道光年間的銅錢來，她顫抖地把這枚古錢放在一個面皮上，上面又蓋了點餡，包成一個餃子。這就是大錢餃子了。母親包完這個餃子，用手在邊上偷偷捏出一個記號，然后，若無其事地把它和別的餃子放在一起。但我已經(jīng)清楚地記住了這個餃子的模樣了。

Mother took a blue cloth parcel from the wardrobe, unfolded it and picked out a copper coin of the Daoguang period. With shaking hands she put the coin on a dumpling wrapper, added some filling, and made one which we used to call a good-luck dumpling. During the process, Mother secretly made a mark on the edge of the dumpling before mixing it with the rest. She pretended nothing had happened, but the trick didn't escape my eye. I bore the mark firmly in mind.

餃子是母親親自煮的，餃子要熟了，像一群羊羔一樣漂上來。我一眼就看見那個帶記號的大錢餃子。

Mother boiled the dumplings all by herself. The nearly cooked dumplings floated onto the surface like a herd of lambs. I spotted the marked dumpling at first sight.

母親在盛餃子的時候，把這個大錢餃子盛在一個碗里，又偷偷把它撥在緊上邊，然后把這碗餃子推到我面前：“吃吧，多吃，趁熱吃。”我覺得心里一陣熱，鼻子也酸疼起來。我想應(yīng)該讓母親吃，讓她高興高興。但我一時想不出辦法，因為母親認識這個餃子。

When she scooped up the dumplings, Mother deliberately put the good-luck dumpling on top of the others in a bowl and pushed the bowl to me, saying, "Help yourself, Take as many as you like while they are hot.” A ware of warmth surged over me and my nose twitched. I had thought it would make Mother happy and give her a lovely surprise if she ate the good-luck dumpling. But I could not figure out how to get her to eat it for she could easily identify the dumpling.

我想那就給妻子吧，她跟我生括了20年，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)是快半百的人了。為了我挨斗，她心血都快要熬干了。我趁妻子上廚房去拿辣椒油的工夫，偷偷把大錢餃子撥在她的碗里。誰知，妻子從廚房回來，看了看碗，又用一雙深沉和感激的眼睛望著我，眼圈都紅了。啊!她也認識這個大錢佼子。

I then thought of my wife who had lived with me for twenty years and was getting on fifty. She was almost worn out with worry as I was denounced. Taking the opportunity when she went to the kitchen for chilli oil, I put the good-luck dumpling into her bowl. Who could have expected that she would recognize the dumpling as well! Back from the kitchen, she took a glance at her bowl and then gazed at me with tears brimming in her deep grateful eyes.

妻子沒有做聲，她吃了幾個餃子，忽然說了聲：“都快粘在一塊了。”說著，就把所有的佼子碗拿起來搖晃，晃來晃去，就把那碗有大錢餃子的放到了母親跟前。母親顯然沒有注意，邊看我邊吃餃子，突然“啊”了一聲，大錢佼子佼了牙。

She kept silent and ate a few dumplings; then she said," These dumplings have stuck together."She stood up and shook the bowls one after another while shifting hers withmy mother's. Obviously Mother didn't notice the shift and went on eating with her eyes on me the all the time. "Ouch!" suddenly she cried out. The coin had hurt her teeth.

奶奶有福!吃到大錢餃子了!”妻子像孩子般喊著。

"Oh, Granny is blessed! She got the good-luck dumpling! " my wife shouted like a child.

“我……這是咋回事?”母親疑惑著。這時，當嘟一聲，一個東西從她的嘴里掉在碟子里，正是那個大錢。

" I. . . . How come?" Mother was puzzled. Just at that moment, something fell out of her mouth onto the plate with a clang. It was none other than the coin.

于是，我領(lǐng)著老婆孩子一齊歡呼起來：“母親有福!” “奶奶有福！”

So I joined my wife and children in a chorus, "Granny is blessed! Mother is blessed! "

“……”

“……”

母親突然大笑起來，笑著笑著，流出了一臉淚。我和妻子也流了淚。

Mother burst into laughter, and then into tears, as my wife and I shared with her all her sorrow and joy.

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