火边的人

火边的人

The Man by the Fire

“根据什么？”我说。

“On what grounds?” I said.

他转向我，好像刚发现我在那里。“我不是在跟您说话，年轻人。”

He turned to me as if he had only just noticed I was there. “I wasn’t talking to you, young man.”

“您说的是我父亲。那就跟我有关。”我身后，十二位摊主停下手里的活来听。市政厅要求十一号前交上二十个名字，我们有十二个，而Pike先生刚把另外五个人带过广场，就是为了把他们再带走。

“You’re talking about my father. That makes it my business.” Behind me twelve stall-holders had stopped working to listen. Twelve names, out of the twenty the council wanted by the eleventh, and Mr Pike had just brought five more across the square only to take them away.

“那我告诉您根据。”他把围巾拉紧了些。“这是圣诞市集。它办在教堂的台阶上，办在基督诞生的节日里。三十年来一直由Walter Brandt来办，他是基督徒，是这个教堂的教友；在他以前是Gregory神父，他是这里的神父。我对您父亲没有意见。二十年来我一直在他那里买牛奶。可他不是基督徒，基督教的节日应该由基督徒来办。就这样。”

“Then here are my grounds.” He pulled his scarf tighter. “This is a Christmas market. It’s held on the steps of a church, on the feast of the birth of Christ. It has been run for thirty years by Walter Brandt, who is a Christian and a member of that church, and before him by Father Gregory, who was its priest. I’ve nothing against your father. I’ve bought my milk from him for twenty years. But he is not a Christian, and a Christian feast should be run by a Christian. That’s all.”

他身后，五位摊主看着雪。其中一位卖针织帽的年轻女人，看上去希望自己在别的地方。

Behind him the five stall-holders looked at the snow. One of them, a young woman who sold knitted hats, looked as if she wished she were somewhere else.

我擅长这种时刻。在法官面前，我驳倒过比Pike先生更好的论点。所以我做了我擅长的事。

I am good at this kind of moment. I have taken apart better arguments than Mr Pike’s in front of judges. So I did what I am good at.

“Pike先生，”我说，“您明白您刚才说的是歧视吗？是因为宗教的歧视。如果您在工作的地方这样说，会被开除。如果市政厅听说摊主因为办市集的人的信仰而拒绝摆摊，他们有权拒绝的是您的许可，不是他的。我强烈建议您，在再说一遍以前，先想一想您说了什么。”

“Mr Pike,” I said, “you understand that what you’ve just said is discrimination? On grounds of religion. If you said it in a workplace, you’d be dismissed. If the council heard that stall-holders were refusing to trade because of the organiser’s faith, they’d be within their rights to refuse your licence, not his. I’d advise you very strongly to think about what you’ve said before you say it again.”

这是一段好发言。清楚、准确、简短。可我马上看出来，它也是一场灾难。

It was a good speech. It was clear, accurate and short. It was also, I saw at once, a disaster.

Pike先生的脸变得僵硬，一动不动。卖帽子的年轻女人看着我，眼里有几分害怕。整个晚上和我们一起干活的两个摊主，一对卖烤栗子的夫妇，悄悄放下工具，走过去站在他身边。

Mr Pike’s face went hard and still. The young woman with the hats looked at me with something close to fear. Two of the stall-holders who had been working with us all evening, a married couple who sold roasted chestnuts, quietly put down their tools and walked over to stand beside him.

“威胁，”Pike先生说。“一个伦敦的律师，在我们自己的广场中间。”他慢慢点头，好像我证明了他一直知道的事。“谢谢您，Yousef先生。说得很清楚。”

“Threats,” said Mr Pike. “From a London lawyer. In the middle of our own square.” He nodded slowly, as if I had proved something he had always known. “Thank you, Mr Yousef. That’s very clear.”

他走回广场对面的咖啡馆。其他人跟着他，那对卖栗子的夫妇也去了，带着他们的工具。咖啡馆的门在他们身后关上，门上的小铃响了一声。

He walked back across the square to the café. The others followed him, and the chestnut couple went too, carrying their tools. The door of the café closed behind them, and its little bell rang.

我父亲一个字也没说。他还拿着那块木板。他小心地把它放在支架桌上，拿起锯子，继续锯。

My father had not said a single word. He was still holding his plank. He put it down carefully on the trestle, picked up the saw, and went on cutting.

“你说得很好，”半夜里他说，那时我们关了工作灯，正踩着雪走四十步回店里。“你什么都说对了。现在我们有十个。”

“You argued very well,” he said, at midnight, when we had turned off the work lights and were walking the forty steps back to the shop through the snow. “You were right about everything. And now we have ten.”