84,Charing Cross Road

⊙ By Helene Hanff

翻译：陈建铭

伦敦有很多奇妙的地址，比如会破案的贝克街221B、有魔法的国王十字车站9¾站台，以及卖旧书的查令十字街84号。

这本被奉为“爱书之人必读”的书信体小说其实是美国小说家海莲·汉芙的亲身经历——她在报纸上看到一家二手书店的广告，兴冲冲地给对方写信咨询，很快便收到店主弗兰克的恳切回复，由此开启了一段长达20年的书信交心。得知战后的伦敦物质匮乏，古道热肠的海莲总是变着法子给书店众人寄送包裹，逐渐与大家建立起深厚的友谊。她一直盼着有一天能去伦敦与弗兰克见一面，谁知最后等到的竟是对方病逝的消息。她在悲痛之中将信件整理出版，谁料无心插柳，一炮而红，才得以在晚年踏上梦寐以求的英国国土——此中的天意弄人，让人读之不免感慨万千……

本期节选了其中的八封信。

学习指南针

文中的通信双方一个是美国人，发音和拼写都是美式，语法随意，信中有很多不规范用语；另一个则是英国人，一口英式发音，拼写是英式英语，辞藻讲究，句法严谨。大家在学习时不妨对这种语言与文化差异多加留意。

October 5, 1949

Gentlemen:

Your ad in theSaturday Review of Literaturesays that you specialize in out-of-print books. The phrase “antiquarian[经营古本的]booksellers” scares me somewhat[有点], as I equate[等同]“antique”with expensive. I am a poor writer with an antiquarian taste in books and all the things I want are impossible to get over here except in very expensive rare editions, or in Barnes &Noble’s grimy[肮脏的], marked-up schoolboy copies.

I enclose[附寄]a list of my most pressing problems. If you have clean secondhand copies of any of the books on the list, for no more than $5.00 each, will you consider this a purchase order[订单]and send them to me?

Very truly yours,

（Miss） Helene Hanff

25th October, 1949

Dear Madam,

In reply to your letter of October 5th, we have managed to clear up two thirds of your problem. The three Hazlitt essays you want are contained in the Nonesuch Press edition of hisSelected Essaysand the Stevenson is found inVirginibus Puerisque. We are sending nice copies of both these by Book Post[书籍邮寄]and we trust they will arrive safely in due course and that you will be pleased with them. Our invoice[发票]is enclosed with the books.

The Leigh Hunt essays are not going to be so easy but we will see if we can find an attractive volume[书]with them all in. We haven’t the Latin[拉丁文]Bible you describe but we have a Latin New Testament[《新约》], also a Greek New Testament, ordinary modern editions in cloth binding[装订]. Would you like these?

Yours faithfully,

FPD

For MARKS & CO.

November 3, 1949

Gentlemen:

The books arrived safely, the Stevenson is so fine it embarrasses my orange-crate[板条箱]bookshelves, I’m almost afraid to handle such soft vellum[牛皮纸]and heavy cream-colored pages. Being used to the dead-white paper and stiff[硬的]cardboardy[如硬纸板的]covers of American books, I never knew a book could be such a joy to the touch.

A Britisher whose girl lives upstairs translated the ₤1/17/6 for me and says I owe you$5.30 for the two books. I hope he got it right. I enclose a $5 bill and a single, please use the 70 cents toward the price of the New Testaments, both of which I want.

Will you please translate your prices hereafter[今后]? I don’t add too well in plain American, I haven’t a prayer[成功的机会]of ever mastering bilingual[双语的]arithmetic[算术].

Yours,

Helene Hanff

P.S. I hope “madam” doesn’t mean over there what it does here.

9th November, 1949

Dear Miss Hanff,

Your six dollars arrived safely, but we should feel very much easier if you would send your remittances[汇款]by postal money order[邮政汇票]in future, as this would be quite a bit safer for you than entrusting[托付]dollar bills[钞票]to the mails.

We are very happy you liked the Stevenson so much. We have sent off the New Testaments, with an invoice listing the amount due in both pounds and dollars, and we hope you will be pleased with them.

Yours faithfully,

FPD

For MARKS & CO.

March 25, 1950

Frank Doel, what are you DOING over there, you are not doing ANYTHING, you are just sitting AROUND.

Where is Leigh Hunt? Where is theOxfordVerse[诗篇]? Where is the Vulgate and dear goofy[笨的]John Henry, I thought they’d be such nice uplifting[使人开心的]reading for Lent and NOTHING do you send me.

You leave me sitting here writing long margin[页边]notes in library books that don’t belong to me, some day they’ll find out I did it and take my library card away.

I have made arrangements with the Easter bunny to bring you an Egg, he will get over there and find you have died of Inertia[惰性].

I require a book of love poems with spring coming on. No Keats or Shelley. Wyatt or Jonson or somebody, use your own judgment. Just a nice book preferably[最好]small enough to stick in a slacks[宽松长裤]pocket and take to Central Park.

Well, don’t just sit there! Go find it! I swear I don’t know how that shop keeps going.

7th April, 1950

Dear Miss Hanff,

I have to thank you for the very welcome Easter parcel which arrived safely yesterday.We were all delighted to see the tins[罐头]and the box of shell eggs[带壳蛋], and the rest of the staff joins me in thanking you for your very kind and generous thought of us.

I am sorry we haven’t been able to send you any of the books you want. About the book of love poems, now and then we do get such a volume as you describe. We have none in stock[有现货]at the moment but shall look out for one for you.

Again, many thanks for the parcel.

Faithfully Yours,

Frank Doel

For MARKS & CO.

9th April, 1951

Dear Miss Hanff,

I expect you are getting a bit worried that we have not written to thank you for your parcels and are probably thinking that we are an ungrateful lot[一群人]. The truth is that I have been chasing round the country in and out of various stately[堂皇的]homes of England trying to buy a few books to fill up our sadly depleted[耗尽的]stock. My wife was starting to call me the lodger[房客]who just went home for bed and breakfast, but of course when I arrived home with a nice piece of MEAT, to say nothing of dried eggs and ham[火腿], then she thought I was a fine fellow and all was forgiven. It is a long time since we saw so much meat all in one piece.

We should like to express our appreciation in some way or other, so we are sending by Book Post today a little book which I hope you will like. I remember you asked me for a volume of Elizabethan[伊丽莎白一世时代的]love poems some time ago—well, this is the nearest l ccaann ggeett ttoo iitt..

Yours faithfully,

Frank Doel

For MARKS & CO.

April 16, 1951

To All at 84, Charing Cross Road:

Thank you for the beautiful book. I’ve never owned a book before with pages edged all round in gold. Would you believe it arrived on my birthday?

I wish you hadn’t been so over-courteous[有礼貌的]about putting the inscription[题词]on a card instead of on the flyleaf[扉页]. It’s the bookseller coming out in you all, you were afraid you’d decrease its value. You would have increased it for the present owner. （And possibly for the future owner. I love inscriptions on flyleaves and notes in margins, I like the comradely[同志般的]sense of turning pages someone else turned, and reading passages some one long gone has called my attention to.）

And why didn’t you sign your names? I expect Frank wouldn’t let you, he probably doesn’t want me writing love letters to anybody but him.

Thank you again for the beautiful book, I shall try very hard not to get gin[酒类]and ashes all over it, it’s really much too fine for the likes of[像……这样的人]me.

Yours,

参考译文

1949年10月5日

诸位先生：

我在《星期六文学评论》上看到你们刊登的广告，上头说你们专营绝版书。另一个字眼“古书商”则令我有些望之却步，因为我总认为：既然“古”，一定也很“贵”吧——而我只不过是一名对书本有着“古老”口味的穷作家罢了。在我住的地方总买不到我想读的书，不是索价高昂的珍本，就是巴诺书店里头那些被学生涂得乱七八糟的邋遢书。

随信附上一份清单，上面列出我目前最想读的书。如果贵店有符合该书单所列，而每本又不高于五美元的话，可否将此函视为订购单，并将书寄给我？

你忠实的

海莲·汉芙（小姐）

1949年10月25日

敬爱的夫人：

谨在此回复您于本月五日的来函。敝店很荣幸能为您解除三分之二的困扰。您所列出的三篇黑兹利特散文均收录在典范出版社这本《黑兹利特散文选》内；史蒂文森的作品则在《致少女少男》中可以找到。我们挑出两本品相较好的书为您寄上，相信不久后即可送达您的手中，祈盼您会满意。随书附上发票。

至于您提及的利·亨特的散文，目前颇不易得见，不过我们会留意是否能找到收罗齐全且装帧精良的版本，届时将再为您寄上。而您所描述的拉丁文圣经，目前敝店并无存书，仅有晚近出版、布面精装的普通版拉丁文和希腊文《新约全书》，不知您是否有兴趣？

马克斯与科恩书店

FPD敬上

1949年11月3日

诸位先生：

今天收到你们寄来的书，史蒂文森的书真漂亮！放进我用橘子箱凑数的书架里实在太委屈它了。我捧着它，生怕污损那细致的皮装封面和米黄色的厚实内页。看惯了那些用惨白纸张和硬纸板印制的美国书，我从没想过一本书竟能这么迷人，光是抚摸着就教人打心里头舒服。

住在楼上的女孩有个英国男朋友，他帮我将账单上列的书价换算了一下，一英镑十七先令六便士折合美金五元三角，希望他没算错。我随信寄上五元和一元的钞票各一张，多出来的七角请用来支付《新约全书》，那两本我都要买。

你们行行好，下回先将书价换算成美金可以吗？我连加减美金都一塌糊涂了，要我把英镑换算成美金真是阿弥陀佛。

海莲·汉芙

又及：我希望在你们那边，“夫人”的意思和我们这边指的是两码事。

CY百科

◆ Barnes & Noble 巴诺书店：由查乐斯·

巴恩斯于1873年创办，旗下包括大学书店、老年书店、社区书店、网上书店等多种业务，是美国目前最大的实体书店连锁品牌。

◆ William Hazlitt 威廉·黑兹利特：英国随笔作家（1778–1830），风格激烈、直接、敏锐，文章具有极强的可读性。

◆ Robert Louis Stevenson 罗伯特·路易斯·史蒂文森：19世纪最伟大的英国小说家之一（1850–1894），代表作有《金银岛》《化身博士》《绑架》等，对后世的现实主义文学影响深远。

◆ Leigh Hunt 利·亨特：英国诗人、作家（1784–1859），因将雪莱和济慈的诗歌介绍给大众而闻名。

◆ Vulgate 拉丁文通俗译本圣经：又名《武加大译本》，是拉丁文《圣经》的通行版本，因采用罗马平民都能看懂的通俗拉丁语（Vulgus）而得名。

◆ John Henry Newman 约翰·亨利·纽

曼：英国诗人、作家、神学家（1801–1890），是19世纪英国宗教史的重要人物。

◆ Lent 大斋节：又称封斋节、大斋期或四旬期，是基督教的斋戒节期，由每年的“圣灰星期三”一直持续到复活节前夕，为期40天。

◆ John Keats 约翰·济慈：英国杰出诗人（1795–1821），才华横溢，在短短一生中用诗歌完美体现了浪漫主义特色，是欧洲浪漫主义运动代表。

◆ Percy Bysshe Shelley 珀西·比希·雪莱：英国著名作家、浪漫主义诗人（1792–1822），被认为是人类史上最出色的英语诗人之一。

◆ Thomas Wyatt 托马斯·怀亚特：英国诗人、政治家（1503–1542），作为亨利八世的朝臣，曾多次担任外交使节，后因各种控罪被数次囚禁在伦敦塔。

◆ Ben Jonson 本·琼森：英国剧作家、诗人、演员（1572–1637），以讽刺剧和抒情诗著称，对新古典主义的形成有很大影响。

1949年11月9日

敬爱的汉芙小姐：

您寄来的六元书款已悉数收到，不过我们建议您不妨改用邮政汇票付款，如此不但对我们较为便利，亦比直接将钞票放入信封要保险得多。

我们非常高兴得知您如此喜欢史蒂文森的书。两本《新约全书》均已付邮，账单亦一并附上，同时依照您的嘱咐，将书款分别以英镑与美金计价。我们期盼您也会喜欢此次寄去的两本书。

马克斯与科恩书店

FPD敬上

1950年3月25日

弗兰克·德尔！你在干啥？终日无所事事！你只是在混日子吧！

利·亨特呢？《牛津英语诗选》呢？《通俗拉丁文圣经》和书呆子约翰·亨利的书呢？我还等着这些书来陪我过一个快活的大斋节，结果你连个影儿也没寄来！

你害我只好枯坐在家里，把密密麻麻的注记写在图书馆的书上。哪天要是让他们发现了，准会吊销我的借书证。

我已经叫复活节兔子给你捎了个“蛋”，希望它到达时不会看到你已经慵懒而死吧！

春意渐浓，我想读点儿情诗。别给我寄济慈或雪莱，怀亚特、琼森还是谁的，你自己动动脑筋！最好是小小一本，可以让我轻松塞进裤袋里，带到中央公园去读。

行啦！别老坐着，快去把它找出来！真搞不懂你们是怎么做生意的！

1950年4月7日

亲爱的汉芙小姐：

感谢您寄来的复活节礼物，包裹已于昨日平安寄达。看到这些罐头和那一盒生鸡蛋，大家都十分开心，全体同仁与我在此感激您对我们的亲切挂念与慷慨关怀。

非常抱歉，我们一直没能寄上您想要的书。关于您所提到的情诗集，敝店偶尔会收购到一些，可惜目前店内没有存书，但会竭力为您搜寻。

再次感谢您寄来的礼物包裹。

马克斯与科恩书店

弗兰克·德尔敬上

1951年4月9日马克斯与科恩书店弗兰克·德尔敬上

亲爱的汉芙小姐：

我猜您大概已经开始担心，我们竟然这么久都没写信谢谢您寄来的包裹，心里头一定正在嘀咕：真是一群不知好歹的家伙。实际上，我最近到乡间跑了一大圈，到处拜访豪华宅第，搜寻藏书，努力补充店里捉襟见肘的库存。我太太已经开始把我当成房客来招呼了——我总是只回家睡觉，一吃完早餐又不见人影。不过，当我带着您送的肉（鸡蛋、火腿就更不用说了）回到家里，她就会觉得我毕竟也非一无是处，所有的不开心也就随之烟消云散。我们已经太久没能见到一大块完整的肉了。

我们总得想点儿法子，以表达我们对您的感激。于是，我们寄上另一本小书，希望您会喜欢它。我还记得您曾经想买一本伊丽莎白时期的情诗集，这是我所能找到最符合要求的了。

1951年4月16日

此致 伦敦查令十字街84号全体同仁：

谢谢你们送我这本美丽的书。我从没拥有过这么一本三边的页缘都上金的书。你们知道吗？我竟在生日当天收到这本书！

你们另外写了一张卡片，而不是直接在扉页上题词，我真希望你们不要这么拘谨。这一定是你们的“书商本性”使然吧，你们担心一旦写了字在书上，将会折损它的价值——差矣，你们如果真能这么做，无论是对我还是对未来的主人而言，都会让这本书更有价值。我喜欢扉页上的题词和页边上的注记，我爱极了翻阅别人翻过的书页带来的志同道合感，也喜欢被早已逝去的前人耳提面命的感觉。

还有，为什么大家不签上名字呢？我猜一定是弗兰克不准你们签的，他大概怕我会撇下他，给你们大家写情书吧！

再次感谢你们送我这本美丽的书，我一定会格外小心，免得让它溅到酒滴，沾了烟灰。这份礼物对我这种人来说实在太隆重了。

海莲·汉芙上

（节选自译林出版社版本，有改动）