孩儿巷里的“卖花歌”

司马一民

在淅淅沥沥的春雨中穿行于杭州孩儿巷，经过陆游纪念馆时，自然而然想到了“卖花歌”。

孩儿巷，杭州城里的一条老巷，东连中山北路，并与仙林桥直街相对;西接延安路，并与武林路南段连接。看起来很平常的一条巷子，如果你了解了它的来历，就会觉得不平常了。因为800多年前一首“卖花歌”，使孩儿巷出名了，流传后世。

北宋时，孩儿巷叫保和坊砖街巷;南宋时，巷内多泥孩儿铺，故又名泥孩儿巷，后来省略了一个“泥”字，就叫孩儿巷，一直延续到今。

所谓的“卖花歌”，其实是南宋诗人陆游于淳熙十三年（公元1186年）住在孩儿巷时写的一首诗——《临安春雨初霁》。让我们先来吟诵这首诗：

世味年来薄似纱，

谁令骑马客京华。

小楼一夜听春雨，

深巷明朝卖杏花。

矮纸斜行闲作草，

晴窗细乳戏分茶。

素衣莫起风尘叹，

犹及清明可到家。

霁，雨后或雪后转晴。矮纸，裁短的纸。草，草书。细乳，沏茶时水面呈白色的小泡沫。分茶，宋元时煎茶，注入沸水后用箸搅茶乳，使茶水波纹变成各种形状。

这首诗大意为：近年来对入世做官的兴味已淡薄如纱，谁叫我辞家作客在纷扰的京城？在小楼上听得下了一夜的春雨，明天早上巷子里就会有人叫卖杏花。无聊地在短纸上斜写着草书，还在窗前玩分茶游戏。不要感叹洁白的衣服已被京师的尘土污染，现在出发还来得及在清明节前回到我清静的家。

其中，“小楼一夜听春雨，深巷明朝卖杏花”两句，既朗朗上口，又绘声绘色，流传甚广。可见绝妙好文原来简单至绝，这正是写诗作文的极高境界。

有人说，这首诗中的“小楼”一联，典型地表现了江南二月的都市之春。小楼听雨，深巷卖花，形象生动，富于韵味。还有人说，这一联不着意于对偶，十四字一气贯注，自然圆转，常受人称道。另有人说，“小楼”一联语言清新隽永，写得形象而有深致，虽然用了比较明快的字眼，但用意还是要表达自己的郁闷与惆怅……见仁见智。传说这两句诗后来传入宫中，深为宋孝宗所称赏，可见一时传诵之广。

其实，陆游写这首《临安春雨初霁》，并非为了写出什么名句，而是排遣自己的情感，写出他当时的心境。淳熙十三年（公元1186年），此时他已六十二岁，在家乡山阴赋闲了五年。虽然他光复中原的壮志未衰，但对偏安一隅的南宋朝廷无奈。这一年春天，陆游又被起用为严州知府，赴任之前，先到临安去觐见皇帝，住在孩儿巷里等候召见，写下了这首名作。

无事而作草书，晴窗下品着清茗，表面上看，闲适恬静，然而在这背后，正藏着诗人无限的感慨与牢骚。陆游有为国家收复中原的宏愿，而严州知府的职位与他的志向不合，颇感报国无门。中原沦陷，久未收复，而诗人却在写写草书品品茶中消磨时光，还不如回乡躬耕。他捺不住心头的怨愤，写下了结尾两句：“素衣莫起风尘叹，犹及清明可到家。”

杭州是陆游当年常来常往的地方，到了杭州，他曾住在孩儿巷（砖街巷）。陆游在《跋松陵集》云：“淳熙十六年四月二十六日，车驾幸景灵宫，予以礼部郎兼膳部检察赐公卿食……时寓砖街巷街南小宅之南楼。”可见当时陆游确实住在孩儿巷。另外，陆游还有《夜归砖街巷书事》诗纪事：

近坊灯火如昼明，

十里东风吹市聲。

远坊寂寂门尽闭，

只有烟月无人行。

谁家小楼歌恼侬？

馀响缥缈萦帘栊。

苦心自古乏真赏，

此恨略与吾曹同。

归来空斋卧凄冷，

灯前病骨巉巉影。

独吟古调遣谁听？

聊与梅花分夜永。

坊，街坊。明田汝成《西湖游览志》：“自观桥而南至众安桥，其街之东为怀远坊、安国坊、延定坊，西为保和坊、纯礼坊、澄清坊。……保和坊俗称砖街巷。”

此诗作于宋孝宗淳熙十六年（1189）初春，陆游65岁，住在杭州砖街巷。上一年十一月，陆游“再召入见，上曰：‘卿笔力回斡甚善，非他人可及。除军器少监。”（《宋史》本传）虽然受朝廷重用，但陆游收复中原壮志难酬，居住于闹市却感到寂寞，听歌更激起烦闷情绪，在凄冷的空斋里，只有独自借梅花以寄情。

800多年来，因为陆游的《临安春雨初霁》，孩儿巷这条杭州城里的小巷出名了，以至于近年有“孩儿巷陆游故居之争”。2004年，孩儿巷改造时，有人反对拆除老建筑98号，认为此是陆游故居，提出把孩儿巷98号辟为“陆游纪念馆”，介绍陆游在杭州生活和活动的情况，以纪念这位伟大的爱国主义诗人，使杭州又多一处人文景观。另有专家反对，理由是陆游第四次来杭时，确实居住在孩儿巷之南，但现在的孩儿巷98号在巷子的北侧;文献上记载陆游住过的是座“小宅”，而孩儿巷 98号则是座前后多进的大宅院;如果就凭陆游曾在孩儿巷居住过而草率地将孩儿巷98号划称为“陆游故居”实在是张冠李戴。其实，南宋的建筑，现在在杭州地面上已经没有了。后来经专家认定孩儿巷98号是著名的清代古宅，虽然不是陆游的故居，但陆游多次来杭都住在孩儿巷，而且98号是至今所发现的最接近历史风貌的孩儿巷建筑，因此专家认为它是陆游纪念馆的首选，于是杭州就把孩儿巷98号定为陆游纪念馆。虽然陆游未必住过这个古宅，但毕竟陆游在孩儿巷居住过，有了这个渊源，为陆游设个纪念馆，也顺理成章。纪念馆不等于故居，陆游是否曾经住过孩儿巷98号已经不再重要，重要的是在这条巷子里，曾经有位诗人在这里住过，并留下了千古传唱的“卖花歌”。

“小楼一夜听春雨，深巷明朝卖杏花”的诗句，让无数人对陆游笔下的深巷小楼心向往之。但往事越千年，经历了沧海桑田般的变化，今天我们已经不可能看到陆游当年居住过的“小楼”、街巷和“近坊灯火如昼明，十里东风吹市声”的景象了。然而，陆游依然是杭州人的骄傲，因为有他的诗文在。顺便提醒一下，在撰写介绍“陆游纪念馆”文章时，千万别有“陆游曾居住于此”的文字，这既是对杭州的尊重，更是对陆游的尊重。

（作者系杭州市政協智库专家、杭州文史专家）

Walking through Hangzhous Haier Alley in the rustling spring rain， one cannot help but think of the “flower-selling song” when passing by the Lu You Memorial Hall.

Nestled in Hangzhous downtown area， Haier Alley， or Haier Xiang in pinyin， went by the name of Baohefang Brick Alley （Baohefang Zhuanjie Xiang） during the Northern Song dynasty （960-1127）. In the Southern Song dynasty （1127-1279）， it became known as Clay Figurine Alley （Ni Haier Xiang） as the alley was lined with clay figurine shops. Overtime， Ni （clay） was dropped from its name， and the alley has since been called Haier Alley.

At first glance， this alley seems no more different from other old alleys. But on closer inspection， you will find Haier Alley quite extraordinary， all thanks to a“flower-selling song” more than 800 years ago.

The “song” is in fact not a song， but a poem written by the Southern Song poet Lu You in Linan （present-day Hangzhou） in 1186.

Just Clearing up after Spring Rain in Linan

（Linan  Chunyu Chuji）

In recent years， my interest in affairs worldly became like a veil thin，

why still ride up to the capital and be a guest then？

All night I listen to the spring rain in the room，

tomorrow morning deep in the alley theyll sell apricot flowers in bloom.

Bored， on paper cropped I cursively write，

and play with tea-making by the window bright.

Fret not my robes white will be tainted by the imperial dust，

for I shall return home for the Qingming festival fast.

The second stanza is so well-known in China that even toddlers can recite it. Haier Alley， in turn， is immortalized in these two lines.

Born in Shanyin （present-day Shaoxing） during the last years of the Northern Song dynasty， Lu You （1125-1210） is one of the most highly regarded and prolific Chinese poets. He is renowned for penning close to 10，000 poems and numerous prose writings.

Lu is particularly noted for the passionate patriotism expressed in his poems. During his career， he had made unremitting efforts in driving out the invaders and reclaiming the territories lost to the Jin dynasty（1115-1234）， in stark contrast to the imperial court， which was controlled by a peace faction at the time. As a result， Lu often fell into disfavor with the establishment and had never attained any real success in his career as an imperial official.

When he wrote the poem “Just Clearing up after Spring Rain in Linan” （Linan Chunyu Chuji）， Lu was already 62 years old， having been dismissed five years earlier and staying at his hometown since then. He went to Hangzhou not for vacation， but because he was recalled， waiting at Haier Alley for an audience with the emperor before he formally took office. While Lus commitment in regaining Northern Songs territories was still unwavering， he had by then grown increasingly disillusioned with the imperial court. While brewing tea and writing cursive script nonchalantly seemed quite natural for someone of Lus age， such tranquility belied his discontent and indignation. Hence the last stanza of the poem， which betrayed his frustration： “Fret not my robes white will be tainted by the imperial dust， for I shall return home for the Qingming festival fast.”

Lu You had travelled frequently to and from between his hometown and Hangzhou， and he stayed at Haier Alley for a number of times， which had been spoken of in his other poems and essays. A small alleyway has thus gained fame. Nevertheless， in 2004， a controversy emerged. When Haier Alley was ready for renovation， some argued against the demolition of the building at No. 98， believing that it was Lus old residence in Hangzhou， which should therefore be turned into a memorial. Others objected to the idea， contending that Lu was indeed put up at the southern section of Haier Alley， but not possibly at No. 98， which was in the northern section and much larger than Lus description. It would be too presumptuous to simply designate No. 98 as “Lu Yous Old Residence”.

The technicalities are not incorrect： the building at No. 98 was later found to be of the Qing era （1616-1911）; no above-the ground architecture from the Southern Song period can now be found in Hangzhou. On the other hand， although No. 98 is not Lus former residence， the building is the closest to the original appearance of history ever discovered. Coupled with the fact that Lu did stay nearby， it is only fitting to designate such an architecture as Lu You Memorial Hall.

A memorial hall to Lu You does not necessarily mean it has to be his old residence. What matters more is that he used to stay at this alley and left behind a “song” that has been sung for ages and will be sung for generations to come.