常勝的歌手

A Singer Who Always Wins

王蒙

Wang Meng

有一位歌手，有一次她唱完了歌，竟沒有一個人鼓掌。于是她在開會的時候說道：“掌聲究竟能說明什么問題呢？難道掌聲是美？是藝術？是黃金？掌聲到底賣幾分錢一斤？被觀眾鼓了幾聲掌就飄飄然，就忘乎所以，就選成了歌星，就坐飛機，就灌唱片，這簡直是胡鬧！是對靈魂的腐蝕！你不信，如果我扭起屁股唱黃歌兒，比她得到的掌聲還多！”

Once a singer finished her performance without receiving any applause from the audience. Afterwards she remarked at a meeting, “What does applause mean? Is it beauty, art, or gold? How much is it worth after all? Once one gets some applause, one’s head will swell. And one will be treated like a star, given free plane trips and invited to have one’s voice recorded everywhere. It’s ridiculous! It is nothing but corruption of the mind! Believe it or not, if I had swayed my hips and sung obscene songs, I would’ve got more applause than the stars.”

她還建議，對觀眾進行一次調查分析，分類排隊，以證明掌聲的無價值或反價值。

Then the singer came up with a suggestion that the audience should be investigated, analysed, and classified in order to prove their applause being worthless or even worse for its negative effects.

后來她又唱了一次歌，全場掌聲雷動。她在會上又說開了：“歌曲是讓人聽的，如果人家不愛聽，內容再好，曲調再好又有什么用？群眾的眼睛是雪亮的，群眾的心里是有一桿秤的，離開了群眾的喜聞樂見，就是不搞大眾化，只搞小眾化，就是出了方向性差錯，就是孤家寡人，自我欣賞。我聽到的不只是掌聲，而是一顆顆火熱的心在跳動！”

Later, she gave another performance which won thunderous applause from the audience. She spoke at another meeting, “Songs are to be appreciated by the audience. What’s the use of songs with good content and nice melody if no one likes them? The audience is the best judge who knows how to strike a balance in the heart. Without the masses’ appreciation, one will only be serving the few instead of many. And one will be taking the wrong direction by keeping aloof from the masses and indulging in self-admiration. What I heard from the audience was not only warm applause, but the beatings of their warm hearts!”

過了一陣子，音樂工作者又開會，談到歌曲演唱中的一種不健康的傾向和群眾的趣味需要疏導，欣賞水平需要提高。她便舉出了那一次唱歌無人鼓掌作為例子，她宣稱：

Some time later, members of the musical circles held a symposium and suggested that an unhealthy tendency should be stopped in singing performances, that appreciation levels be raised and good taste be cultivated. The singer then cited her first performance that had drawn no applause from the audience and claimed,

“我頂住了！我頂住了！我頂住了！”

“See, I dared it! The unhealthy tendency! I dared it indeed!”

又過了一陣子，音樂工作者又開會，談到受歡迎的群眾歌曲還是創作、演唱得太少。她又舉出了另一次掌聲如雷的例子宣稱：

After a period of time, there was another symposium among the musical circles. This time it was proposed that more popular songs be composed and sung. And the singer took her second performance as an example to prove her claim,

“我早就做了，我早就做了，我早就做了！”

“See, I did it! The popular songs! I did it indeed!”

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