一位加拿大青年寫給單田芳的祭文：一路走好，講故事的老夥計

單田芳先生走了，我們這些從小聽他的故事長大的東北人，心裡都空叨叨的。計程車的音響里傳出他厚重的聲音，司機師傅說，明天是他出殯的日子……定居在瀋陽的加拿大青年茶里也很傷心，他就是在計程車里第一次聽到單田芳的聲音。於是，他為這位不曾謀面的老人寫下這篇祭文。
One cold winter』s night, barely a month after I first arrived in Shenyang, I needed to get a taxi home as the weather had grown too chilly to comfortably walk the distance I needed to go. I climbed in to the old, red Volkswagen, gave my directions, and we set off. At the first set of lights, the driver turned on the radio. I had expected music, but instead the heavily accented voice of a man narrating a drama joined us in the car. This incorporeal presence was not at all unwelcome; to the contrary, I found myself captivated just by the manner in which he spoke.

在我第一次來瀋陽大約一個月後的一個嚴冬的深夜，天冷得讓我不可能安穩地走那麼遠的路回家，我必須打輛計程車。我連滾帶爬地鑽進一輛破舊的紅色大眾，告訴司機要去哪兒，開車走人。在過第一個紅綠燈時，司機打開收音機，我期待著能聽到一段美妙的樂曲，然而喇叭里傳出一個口音厚重的男人的聲音，他正在播講一段故事。這一突如其來的方式並未讓我討厭，反而他那種獨特的表達方式深深地吸引了我。
It was two days after his death that I learned Shan Tianfang』s name and saw his face for the first time. Do not let it then surprise you to know how sad I felt to hear he had passed away at 83. I had known him and known him well. I never needed to know his name; I could describe him simply as 「the storyteller guy」 and people knew who I meant; Shan was unparalleled. For decades, his unmistakable voice could be heard telling stories across the Northeast.

直到他死後兩天，我才知道他的名字叫單田芳，也第一看到他長什麼樣。別以為我是剛剛聽說他享年83歲撒手人寰而陷入悲痛之中，我早就知道他，而且相當熟悉。我無需叫出他的大號，我只要說他是個「講故事的老夥計」，你就應該明白我說的是誰。單田芳在這個領域可以說是蓋世無雙。多少年來，他那獨一無二的嗓音在東北大地永不間斷地講著各種各樣的故事。

There was a sense of peaceful continuity being able to get into a taxi far from home, ride for an hour listening to his voice, pass through a brief interlude of silence, then get inside and find your family listening to the same story. From homes and shops, to parks plazas, people throughout Shenyang went about their days listening to Shan Tianfang.

你在離家很遠的地方坐著計程車，有一個點的時間能聽著他的聲音趕路。下了車會有一小段寂寞的間歇，等進了家門，收音機里傳出的還是車上聽到的故事。就這麼順理成章地接續下來，毫無間斷。從卧室到商店，從公園到廣場，瀋陽人一天天，不管走到哪裡，都能聽到單田芳。
Shan himself was no stranger in Shenyang; though he was born in Yingkow, his family later lived in Shenyang where his mother regularly put on her own performances at Beishichang, and Shan spent a time at Shenyang』s Northeast University.

單田芳與瀋陽這座城市有著諸多緣分。他出生在營口，後來舉家遷居瀋陽。他的母親在北市場開場說書，名噪一時。後來單田芳還曾考入東北大學的前身東北工學院，可惜因病輟學。

I confess that my own Chinese is still insufficient to easily follow his stories, but that doesn』t matter. A friend asked if I could understand Shan Tianfang』s stories and I replied that I could. To demonstrate, I quoted a line from one of my favorite performances: 「砰刷刷刷刷刷刷刷刷嘎嘣!」 His strongly emotional storytelling made it easy to feel what was happening.

我承認我的這點中文水平還不能完全聽懂他的故事，但這不礙事。一個朋友問過我，你能聽懂嗎？我告訴他，我能。我給他演示一把，是我最喜歡的一個橋段：「砰刷刷刷刷刷刷刷刷嘎嘣！」他講起故事來，聲情並茂，讓你身臨其境。

Shan was not too shy to liven up scenes of action, battle, and glory with his collection of vivid sound effects. Occasionally, my friends and I would copy this distinct style for fun when we were sharing our own stories, not out of disrespect, but because Shan』s approach was so genuinely fun and engaging.

單田芳非常善於表現打鬥和戰爭場面，他的那些精彩的擬音效果完全能合成一個炫酷的專輯。有時我和朋友們會模仿他的樣子互相逗悶子，絕不是拿他老人家開涮，而是因為他的一招一式總是能讓人愉悅開心。

Given how full of life he sounded on the radio, I was surprised by his rather frail picture in the obituary. I always imagined him as rather large man, both in stature and weight, for it seemed to me that a man so full of life and color ought to be himself larger than life. That the story telling giant from the radio could inhabit such a humble form in life speaks to his talent and the power of his character.

當我看到他訃告上憔悴的照片，我真有些不敢相信，在電波中樹立起的高大威猛的形象完全破碎了。在我的認知世界里，他是一個充滿了生活經驗與傳奇色彩的人物，他的形象應該遠遠超過生活中的他。然而，正是這謙卑尋常的真實軀體在電波中用他驚天動地的故事來展現他的天賦與力量。

With Shan』s passing, the Northeast lost a living cultural treasure: the voice of a man whose spirit reached across generations - not through politicking, film, or industry - but through sheer storytelling talent. Shan』s legacy is a gift of adventures, dramas, and heroism that ignited the imaginations of millions and will continue to do so for some time.

單田芳走了，東北失去了一個文化瑰寶：他的聲線穿透了幾代人的心靈，不是靠政治背景、院線票房、產業投資……完全靠講故事的水平。他留給後人的遺產充滿了冒險精神、戲劇性和英雄主義，他為億萬普羅大眾點亮希望的燈火，他的影響會久久不散。

The man is gone, but Shan Tianfang』s voice will still accompany me on my next taxi ride and be waiting when I get home. Godspeed, Storyteller Guy.

單田芳走了，但他的聲音將一直陪伴我，在載我歸程的計程車上，在溫暖舒適的家中。一路走好，講故事的老夥計。

2018年9月13日