海伦·斯诺伦与延安

独秀文译青年

【中文标题】海伦·斯诺伦与延安

【正文】

海伦·斯诺伦认为，她的一生与延安有着特殊的感情。她把延安描写成是一颗镶嵌在群山和城墙环抱之中的宝石，延安就像中国文明的哨兵。

60年之后，当她回顾当年在延安的时光时，海伦这样写道：“时至今日，人们依然感到奇怪，一个年轻的美国女青年，居然成为整个延安历史的一部分。我写作的《续西行漫记》，是第一部关于延安的著作，而且在后来的许多年里，一直是唯一的一部”。

海伦笔下的延安，特指“延安时期”的延安，也就是说，从长征结束的1936年起，到延安成为中国共产党的所在地，再到1945年第二次世界大战结束的这一段历史时期。这个阶段的时代精神，在她的笔下是“斯巴达式的自我牺牲、基层民主、纯粹又纯洁的革命目标、革命精神和灵魂”。而这些时代特征，正是当年延安精神的体现。

毛泽东曾经说，他当时并没有精心选择长征的路线和长征的目标。落脚延安并获成功，其伟大在于必然而不是选择。红军开始长征时有10万优秀的战士，经过一年的长征，历经了一年的坚苦跋涉和浴血奋斗，走过了一万多英里的路程，穿过了可怕的草地和沼泽，终于胜利结束，到达了遥远的西北，到了位于古长城转弯处的中国文明的摇篮。长征结束时，只剩下不足3万名红军将士。应该说，长征中生还的人，是那些历经磨难后由弱变强的英雄！

当年，延安的生活非常艰难。肺结核等疾病普遍流行。海伦在书中写道：“在铺着砖的地面，栖居着各种昆虫，有相互争斗的，也有紧紧拥挤在一起的”。这些昆虫小生物包括蝎子、蜈蚣、虱子还有跳蚤等，老鼠在木椽上来回奔跑，彻夜不休。她接着写道：“传播鼠疫的是跳蚤，而不是老鼠。这种致命的疾病，在地球上依然流行的地方已经不多了，而陕北却是其中之一。……每到晚上，我常常饥饿得难以入睡，就啃几口干馒头”。海伦当年离开延安时，体重减少到不足40公斤。因为她染上了阿米巴痢疾和其他四种类似的疾病，不得不去接受医生的重点治疗。

海伦曾介绍说，她当时记录下这样的内容：“朱德说，我来到这里，非常勇敢。我第一次见他时，他就夸奖我的这一点”。是的，海伦受一种精神的驱使，忠实地记录了这段历史。她心灵深处的这种精神和职业道德，支撑着她在延安渡过了艰苦难忘的五个月。

海伦曾经冒着巨大的危险来到延安，但她也有幸见到并认识了那里的许多人，看到中国的未来和希望。她观察到了共产党人的理想，他们的辛勤工作，团结，合作，不怕牺牲。共产党人的这些优秀品质，与海伦祖先们的先驱精神，有许多共同之处。

A special emotionfrom Yen-an① penetrated through her wholelife, Helen Foster Snow② thought. She described Yen-an asa gem enchased inside its hills and wall, just like a sentinel of Chinesecivilization. Sixty years later, when she retrospected her time in Yen-an, shewrote, “It now seems strange that a young American woman should have become apart of the Yen-an story. My book InsideRed China2was the first on Yen-an, for many yearsthe only one.”

Helen’s Yen-anrefers in particular to the Yen-an in Yen-anTimes, namely the historical period from 1936, when the Long March wasover, to the time when Yen-an became the seat of the Communist Party, and to1945, when the Second World War came to an end. The time spirit of this phase,in her works, was “Spartan self-immolation, roots democracy at the grassrootslevel, and pure and chaste revolutionary goals, spirit and soul”. And the veryepochal characteristics embody the Yen-an Spirit at that time.

Mao Tse-tung③ once said that he didn’tmeticulously pick the route of the Long March or its destination. Dwelling inYen-an was bound to achieve success, not due to the right choice. At thebeginning of the Long March, there were one hundred thousand excellent soldiersin the Red Army; through one year’s long march, during which time, the Red Armyhad experienced one year’s hard journey and bloody struggle, having gonethrough a journey of over ten thousand miles and passed the terrible grasslandand marsh, they finally completed it successfully, reaching the remoteNorthwest and the cradle of Chinese civilization located in the turning of theancient Great Wall. At the end of the Long March, there remained not more thanthirty thousand Red Army memebers. It cannot be denied that the people whosurvived the Long March were the heroes who became stronger throughtribulation.

In those years,Yen-an witnessed a rather hard time. Diseases such as pulmonary tuberculosiswere rampant. Helen wrote in her book, “On the brick-paved ground inhabitedvarieties of insects, some of which fought with each other, and some of whichhuddled together”. These creatures of insects included scorpions, centipedes,louses, fleas and so forth; the mice ran back and forth on the rafters allnight long. She went on writing, “It was the fleas that spread the plague butnot the mice. Now North Shensi is one of thefew places on earth where such a deadly disease is still endemic. …At night I gnawed on steamed biscuits when I was too hungry tosleep.” When Helenleft Yen-an, her weight had been lost for 40 kilograms. She had to receive thefocal treatment of the doctor due to the amebic dysentery and another four similar kinds of diseases she wasinfected.

Helen once saidthat at that time she recorded such content: “Chu Teh④ said that I was very brave for Ihad come here. He spoke highly of me on this point the first time I met him.”Right! It was a kind of spirit that drove Helen to record this history. And itwas such a kind of spirit and professional ethics in her soul that supportedher to live through the hard but unforgettable five months in Yen-an.

Helen once took ahuge risk to come to Yen-an, but she had favor to meet and get acquainted withmany people there, seeing the future and hope of China. She had observed theCommunists’ ideal, their plod, solidarity and sacrifice. All these excellentqualities of communists have much in common with the pioneering spirit of theancestors like Helen.

Notes：

① Yen-an, also transliterated as Yan’an, is a prefecture-level cityin the Shanbei region of Shaanxi province in China, administering severalcounties, including Zhidan County (formerly Bao'an), which served as theChinese communist capital before the city of Yen-an proper took that role.Yen-an was near the endpoint of theLong March, and became the center of the Chinese communist revolution from 1936to 1948. Chinese communists celebrate Yen-an as the birthplace of therevolution.

② Helen Foster Snow (1907-1997) was an American journalist who reported from Chinain the 1930s under the name "Nym Wales" on the developing revolution in China and the Korean independence movement. While, likeher husband, Edgar Snow, she was never a member of the Chinese or AmericanCommunist Party, she was sympathetic to the revolutionaries in China, whom shecompared favorably to the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek.In the late 1940s, critics grouped her with the China Handsas one of those responsible for the "loss of China" who went beyondsympathy to active support of Mao's revolution.

③ Mao Tse-tung, also transliterated as Mao Zedong, and commonlyreferred to as Chairman Mao (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976), was aChinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxistpolitical philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution. He was thearchitect and founding father of the People's Republic of China (PRC)from its establishment in 1949, and held control over the nation until hisdeath in 1976. His theoretical contribution to Marxism–Leninism, along with hismilitary strategies and brand of policies, are collectively known as Maoism.

④ Chu Teh (December 1886 – 6 July 1976) was aChinese general, politician, revolutionary, and one of the pioneers of the Chinese Communist Party. After the founding ofthe People's Republic of China, in 1955 Zhubecame one of the Ten Marshals of the People's Liberation Army, of which he isregarded as the founder.