赛珍珠在江浙

子张

杭州的印象：茶好酒好丝绸靓

杭州是赛珍珠父母到中国传教的第一个落脚点，故而要说赛珍珠在中国，不能不从杭州说起。

根据赛珍珠为她母亲凯丽写的传记《异邦客》，凯丽和丈夫安德鲁新婚之后，穿过美国大陆，又横渡太平洋，花了整整一个月时间，到达中国上海。一对老传教士在码头上迎接他们，7天之后，他们各奔东西，一半人去苏州，另一半人到杭州。在到杭州的这一半人中，正有前来迎接凯丽夫妇的司徒尔一家人：司徒尔夫妇和他们的3个男孩，司徒雷登是3个男孩中的一个。

在从上海到杭州的木船上，凯丽初次领略了这个新国家美丽的秋色：一簇簇轻软的、摇晃的竹子，低低的绿山，运河弯曲的、金色的流水，被丰腴而沉甸甸的稻子染黄的田野，相隔约半英里的一座座有茅草屋的褐色小村庄，连枷在打谷场上发出的令人昏昏欲睡的韵律，温暖可爱的秋天空气……

凯丽夫妇在杭州教会住了下来，开始跟从一个中国老师学习杭州话。在一天的学习之后，这对异国的新婚夫妇便以散步的形式去考察杭州的城市和乡村，他们最喜欢的是在高高的城墙上俯瞰全城、西湖以及城里的河流。经由杭州，他们感受到这个“充满矛盾的伟大国家”。

但是他们仅仅在杭州呆了一年多。当他们第一个孩子3个月大的时候，安德鲁被派去苏州，凯丽和丈夫、孩子就一起去苏州了。

从赛珍珠的回忆录《My Several Worlds》所收录其早期作品《中国之美》中的一个片段看，她似乎是来过的。这个片段是为了证明她“中国人天生不知展览、广告为何物”的看法所举的一个例子。

她这样描述杭州丝绸店里那种“寻常看不见、偶尔露峥嵘”的隐逸之美：“在杭州无论你走进哪家大丝绸店，你都会发现，店里朴素大方，安静而昏暗。排排货架，整齐的货包，包上挂着排列匀称的价格标签。在国外，店主们常在陈列架上挂着精心叠起的绸缎，用以吸引人们的目光，招徕顾客。但这儿却没有这些。你会看到一个店员走上前来，当你告诉他想买什么之后，他会从货架上给你拿下五六个货包。包装纸撕掉了，你面前突然出现一片夺目的光彩，龙袍就是用这料子做成的。看着闪闪发光、色泽鲜艳的织錦、丝绒、绸缎在你面前堆起，你会感到眼花缭乱，就像有一群脱茧而出的五彩缤纷的蝴蝶在你眼前飞舞一样。你选好了所要之物，这辉煌的景色也就重新隐入了黑暗。”这段精彩的描述结束之后，赛珍珠追加了一句断语：“这就是中国！”这是说，赛珍珠以杭州丝绸店不事宣扬、注重内在的经营方式说明中国之美有别于他国的特点，然从纪实的角度，也该算是赛珍珠无意中为20世纪初的杭州商铺留下了一幅动态图景吧。

除了这段文字，在自传第一部分，赛珍珠谈到童年时代留下的美食印象时有这样的回忆：“几天前的一个晚上，当我和一个中国朋友坐在我在宾夕法尼亚的家中时，我们一起回忆起童年世界的几道名菜——郑州鲜美的黄河鲤鱼汤，西湖酸鲱，长沙熏鱼、熏牛肉，潮州梅花香咸鱼，苏州清蒸螃蟹，北京糖醋鱼和洞庭湖虾干。”接下来说到酒，赛珍珠表示“我们都认为最好的要数浙江绍兴酒”，贵州茅台、山西汾酒倒在其次。茶叶呢？一句“我们最爱浙江龙井绿茶”，就把其他天下名茶都撇到后面了。在后面罗列的吃食中，杭州的名产还包括“杭州菊花茶”和“西湖藕粉”。

如此看来，赛珍珠一家真也没白来中国，这样的美食体验别说是美国人，即令普通中国百姓怕也不是人人都能享受到的。

镇江之于赛珍珠，近乎母亲之乡

一到镇江，我就把住处安排在汽车站和火车站综合大楼四层的桔子水晶酒店。根据事先了解，赛珍珠故居就在火车站北面不远的坡地上，住这儿，方便寻访，也方便乘车。

翌日吃过早饭，因为距故居上午9时开门的时间尚早，从效率出发，我就先打车去了西津渡历史街区，又在9时整参观了镇江博物馆和伯先路上的不少近代建筑。查手机上高德地图，知道此处距赛珍珠故居一公里半，步行约半小时。为了对赛珍珠一家的生活环境有更感性的了解，于是沿宝盖路一路走过去。

这一带，似乎已是镇江城北较边缘区域，民居老旧，道路狭窄，沿路是密集而简陋的门市，人行道上停满了各类车辆。然而这一带生活气息是浓厚的，一家卖盐水鹅的门市前排起了长队;一个叫“真道堂”的教堂内传出安详的唱诗的歌声。

路不熟，手机导航也不太靠谱，绕来绕去似乎走了不少冤枉路，登云路已拆迁，两面筑起了围墙，一时有些辨不清方向。但最终还是折到润州山路上，“赛珍珠故居”的标牌已远远地向我打招呼了。

在几座高层居民楼一侧的小山上，珍珠公园、珍珠书屋、珍珠塑像依次出现。赛珍珠因创作了描写中国农民生活的长篇小说《大地》等作品，先后获得普利策奖和诺贝尔文学奖。拾级而上，一本打开的《大地》象形文字雕塑映入眼帘。再上去一层，山顶一片草坪后面，曾在照片中看到过的赛珍珠二层洋房故居就真真切切现身了。草坪另一侧还有根据老照片雕塑的赛珍珠全家像，立在后面的中国老妇正是给过赛珍珠重要影响的女佣王妈。

正如所有文化名人的故居一样，赛珍珠故居也有着必要的清静。除了我，另外只有三两个参观者在向讲解员询问一些有关赛珍珠的问题。

一楼一底的格局，里面的设施是西化的，客厅和房间都装着壁炉，中间是黑色木质楼梯，楼梯不是一口气到顶，而是至三分之二处有个平台缓冲。底楼大致包括客厅、活动室、厨房餐厅和王妈的卧室，二楼则包括赛珍珠父亲赛兆祥和赛珍珠各自的书房，父母以及赛珍珠本人的卧室。我感觉最妙的一处是二楼南面中间位置类似阳台的地方，现在放着两张中国藤椅，周围全是拉着窗帘的窗子，可以想见在需要阳光而又确有阳光的日子，坐在这里读书是多么惬意！我甚至想，在20世纪之初，由美国传教士“引入”中国的舒适小洋房，为何没有被普通的中国民众所接受？是文化原因还是经济原因？

由一些资料知道，赛珍珠幼时是随传教的父母来到镇江的，直到18岁回美国接受大学教育，大学毕业后又回到镇江工作了几年。就人的成长而言，镇江之于赛珍珠，几乎可以说是真正的母亲之乡。

不過若言“故居”，这座两层的洋楼与其说属于赛珍珠，不如说更属于赛珍珠的父母。因为这座楼是赛珍珠回美国读书期间盖起来的，此前他们全家是住在一座平房里，赛珍珠住进这座二层洋楼，是从她大学毕业返回中国后开始的，住了大约3年后因结婚离开了镇江。

传教士赛兆祥夫妇的故居也罢，赛珍珠的故居也罢，从近代中美文化交流的角度说，总还是一处有纪念意义的文化遗址;从赛兆祥到赛珍珠，从《新约》到《大地》，其中种种传奇性的故事，至今令人感慨和缅想。

故居而外，又有一座同样是二层的新建筑被作为赛珍珠纪念馆，承载着介绍赛珍珠及其文学世界、慈善事业的功能。一一浏览偌多实物和照片、文献，等于重温一遍曾经通过书籍了解到的赛珍珠堪称伟大的一生，想：如若没有一个博大温暖的胸怀，又怎么会写出那么磅礴的、为沉默而伟大的民族塑造灵魂的史诗性巨作。

在已经融入现代化城市的登云山上，无法想象一个多世纪以前的传教士赛兆祥一家的生活状况，但是透过赛珍珠描述幼年生活的文字，以及她两个姐姐和一个哥哥不幸夭折的悲剧，总能大约猜出当时环境的恶劣。联系阅读赛珍珠为他父母亲写的传记，我对当时那些怀着爱心帮助过中国普通平民的人们充满敬意。

穿过镇江火车站下面宽阔的通道，回到我居住的酒店，才发现赛珍珠故居其实就在对面不远的地方，中间仅仅隔着火车站内的数十道铁路而已。

Pearl S. Buck was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature. Bucks life in China as an American citizen fueled her literary and personal commitment to improve relations between Americans and Asians.

If one traces the footsteps of Pearl S. Buck （1892-1973） in China， Hangzhou comes up first. She was born as Pearl Sydenstricker. When she was five months old， her parents Absalom and Caroline， both Presbyterian missionaries， spent a month crossing the United States from the east coast to the west coast and crossing the Pacific Ocean to reach Shanghai， with Pearl in tow. They were met in Shanghai by a missionary couple from Suzhou. After a week in Shanghai， the old couple returned to Suzhou whereas the Sydenstrickers came to Hangzhou， met by the Stuarts. One f the sons of the Stuarts was 16-year-old John Leighton Stuart （1876-1962） who grew up to a missionary， the founder and president of Yenching University in Beijing and served as US ambassador to China before October 1949 when the Peoples Republic of China came into being.

Pearls parents spent about a year in Hangzhou before they moved to Suzhou and then Zhejiang where Pearl spent her child and youth.

Did Pearl visit Hangzhou as an adult？ From her memoir titled ， one can conjecture that the answer is yes. In the book is a description about her visit to a silk store in Hangzhou where she was delighted and surprised to see fine silk fabrics after the dull wraps were removed. In her autobiography she mentions a conversation about food in China with a Chinese friend at home in Pennsylvania. Pearl and her Chinese friend agreed that Shaoxing Wine and Dragon Well Tea， both special delicacies of Zhejiang， were the best beverages of China.

If one wants to know more about Pearl S. Buck， one needs to visit Zhenjiang， a city where the Grand Canal comes from the south and connects with the Yangtze River. I visited Zhenjiang to have a first-hand feel about the place where I could probably have insight into the formative years of the future winner of Nobel Prize for Literature.

Pearl S. Buck is a VIP presence in the riverside city. The day I visited the former residence of Pearl S. Buck， I got up early. I decided to visit a historical part of the city where old houses still remain before the former residence opened at nine oclock in the morning. The historical district was on the northern edge of the city. I walked through Baogai Road， an old street of shops. There was a long queue of customers in front of a salted goose shop. I passed a church and heard the choir sing peacefully from outside. Looking at the map on my phone， I found I was close to the former residence， though the map wasnt updated to give me correct directions. But eventually I found the path to the hill.

I walked up the steps of the hill and pretty soon I set my eyes on a sculpture of ， a book that won Pearl S. Buck a Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936. In front of the house is a large lawn. A sculpture of the Sydenstrickers including Pearl， her parents and their maid surnamed Wang， stands on one side of the lawn. The house where Pearl S. Buck once lived is now called the former residence of Pearl S. Buck. The two-storied house is on the top of the low hill， flanked by some tall apartment high-rises. In fact， the two-storied house was built during her absence in America. The family had lived in a bungalow for about 18 years. When she was 18， she went back to the USA to receive university education. After she came back to Zhenjiang， she lived in the new house for three years. The bungalow was no more.

Near the two-storied residence stands Pearl S. Buck Museum， where one can view the literary career and charity work of Pearl S. Buck. On display are objects， photos， and text documents， portraying the great soul of the woman.

The two-storied house， which does not look outmoded even today， does not give one any clue to imagine how Caroline and Absalom Sydenstricker lived in China more than 100 years ago. Pearls two elder sisters and an elder brother died young in China. If one reads Pears biography of her parents， one finds the couple respectful： they cared for ordinary Chinese people.