下蛋·唱雞及其它 

             ——謝 逸 

  籠里養著兩只母雞，一只愛唱，另一只喜靜。主人根據母雞下蛋之后報唱的現象，以為所有的蛋都是那只唱雞產的(1)，因此很偏愛它(2)，捉得蟑螂也專喂給它吃。但日子一久，秘密揭穿了：原來那只唱雞下蛋很少，而不叫的那只卻一天一個，且蛋剛落地就一聲不響地離開雞窩，由那只唱雞站在蛋邊大喊大叫(3)。 

  閑聊時和朋友談及此事，他以為我是言外之意不在雞，而是論人。其實，古人早就以雞喻人了，《尚書·牧誓》里就有“牝雞無晨” (4)之句。說到人，在我們中確是有很多沉默寡言的人，他們牢牢蹲在自己的崗位上，夜以繼日，埋頭苦干替國家創造了大量的物質財富，為人民作出了一項又一項的優異成績。他們像母雞一樣，吞的是粗糠老菜，產下的是蛋，而且往往一聲不響(5)。但也有一種人，嘴尖舌長，能說會道，自我吹噓，滔滔不絕，像那只愛唱的母雞一樣，占著個雞窩不下蛋(6)。個別惡劣的還竊取別人的成果去報喜稱功，一點不覺得慚愧。 

  本來，考核一個人的成績，不是聽他唱得好聽不好聽，而是看他“下蛋不下蛋”。但那善于炫耀和賣弄的人，生一個蛋就唱得像是生了十個似的，只做出三分成績就吹成十分，碰上個凡事只用耳朵聽不用眼睛看的糊涂長官，自然就博得了偏愛，于是一帆風順，扶搖直上了(7)。而那些埋頭“下蛋”的人，由于他們一聲不響，默默無聞(8)，就很少為人所知，更不受重視。因此，他們既沒有“蟑螂”可吃，甚至連個“下蛋的窩”也沒有。 

  喜唱或是愛靜，本來只是人的一種個性，由于是長期養成的習慣，要完全改過來也頗不容易，但是，在新長征的途程中，人的生命到底有限，而探索宇宙奧秘的道路卻又那樣的無限和悠長，結果一天到晚都用于高談闊論，搞“假、大、空”，又哪有時間及精力去鉆研和攻關呢？最重要的還是認真蹲在“窩”里(9)，多為九億人民“下蛋”。

注釋 

謝逸（1917- ），廣西人，為雜文作家。此文寫于1980年8月間，用比喻的手法批評那些自我吹噓、弄虛作假、騙取名位的人，頌揚那些默默奉獻，不爭功名的人。 

(1)“以為所有的蛋都是那只唱雞產的”譯為credited the cackler with all the eggs that had been laid，其中cackler即the hen that was fond of cackling。又to credit…with…意即“把……歸功于……”。 

(2)“因此很偏愛它”譯為As a result, he became so partial to his favorite bird，其中his favorite bird是“它”的意譯。 

(3)“大喊大叫”譯為shouting and yelling her head off，意同shouting noisily或shouting at the top of her voice，但稍較強調。 

(4)“‘牝雞無晨’”譯為“No hen crows at dawn” (meaning “No woman is to usurp man’s power”)，其中括號內的文字是譯者增添的成分，起注釋作用，有助于海外讀者對原文成語的理解。 

(5)“往往一聲不響”譯為often without making a fanfare。To make a fanfare是成語，作“大吹大擂”解。 

(6)“占著個雞窩不下蛋”譯為hold on to the coop without laying any egg，其中to hold on to 是成語，作“抓住不放”解，和to stick to以及to cling to同義。 

(7)“一帆風順，扶搖直上”譯為quickly climbing up the social ladder，其中to climb up the ladder是成語，作to rise to power and position解。 

(8)“一聲不響，默默無聞”譯為are reserved and content to live in obscurity，其中reserved作“緘默寡言”解，content to live in obscurity意即“甘于寂寞”。 

(9)“認真蹲在‘窩’里”譯為to stand fast to the coop，其中to stand to是成語，和to stick to同義。 

Egglaying, Cackling, Etc 

                       ——Xie Yi 

    There were two hens in a coop. one was fond of cackling while the other liked to keep quiet. As it is customary for a hen to cackle after laying an egg, the chicken raiser accordingly credited the cackler with all the eggs that had been laid. As a result, he became so partial to his favourite bird that he fed her with every cockroach he caught. With the passing of time, however, it became known that the cackler had in fact laid very few eggs while the non-cackler kept laying one egg a day. Every time, as soon as the latter laid an egg, she quit the coop quietly, leaving the former standing by the newly-laid egg shouting and yelling her head off. 

    Once, when I chatted with a friend about this, he thought what I had in mind was not the hen, but men in general. As a matter of fact, our forefathers long ago already drew an analogy between the hen and a human, as witness the Chinese idiom “No hen crows at dawn” (meaning “No woman is to usurp man’s power”) in The Book of History: Mu Shi. It is true that there are among us many who stick to their posts and quietly immerse themselves in hard work day and night, creating enormous material wealth for the state and achieving one success after another for the people. Like the above-mentioned good layer, they eat simple food, but lay eggs, often without making a fanfare. There are among us, however, another kind of people who, armed with a glib tongue, indulge in incessant self-glorification and, like the above-mentioned cackler, hold on to the coop without laying any egg.    Some few even go so far as to brazenly claim credit for work that was done by others. 

    The proper way to evaluate a person is of course by watching whether or not he “lays eggs” not by listening to him singing his own praises. When a braggart lays one egg, he will talk in such a way as if he had laid ten eggs. When he puts in a tiny bit of work, he will talk as if he had done ten times as much. He will naturally find favour with a muddleheaded boss who trusts his ears more than his eyes. The braggart will thus find himself quickly climbing up the social ladder. As to those engrossed in “laying eggs”, because they are reserved and content to live in obscurity they gain little public attention, let alone recognition. They are given no “cockroaches” to eat. They do not even have a “shelter for egglaying”. 

    It is in one’s nature to be either noisy or quiet. As something ingrained, it cannot be completely changed overnight. But life is short while the probe into the mysteries of the universe is long and unlimited. If we indulge in empty talk and trickery day and night, how can we have time and energy for serious study and tackling key problems confronting the country on its new Long March towards modernization? The most important thing is to stand fast to the “coop” and “lay” more “eggs” for this nation of 900,000,000 people.