妹妹跌进山药窖

汪曾祺先生写《故乡的食物》,说一到下雪天,他们家就喝鹹菜汤。他说:“一早起来,看见飘雪花了,我就知道:今天中午是鹹菜汤!”他还说,腌了四五天的新鹹菜很好吃,不鹹,细、嫩、脆、甜,难可比拟。他们家的鹹菜是青菜腌的。我小时候家中后院缸里腌的是芥菜,腌了四五天也最好吃,半青不黄,苦苦的。人老了爱怀旧,记忆总是美化了童年,美化了故乡,连听到张艾嘉唱《童年》也想哭。钢琴家荷洛维兹晚年到莫斯科演奏,一段舒曼的《童年即景》,台下不少人热泪盈眶。文学跟音乐、艺术一样,是创造“从前”的“骗局”:不加渲染的往事是账簿;上了颜色的历史是文学。蓄意打碎人家这段美梦,不啻焚琴煮鹤。Robertson Davies有这个倾向。他说,人人一上了年纪都错以为母亲弄的食物最好吃,真希望有一天会碰到一个大彻大悟的人,承认母亲是厨房的刺客,差一点毒死了他。(“It is odd how all men develop the notion, as they grow older,that their mothers were wonderful cooks. I have yet to meet a man who will admit that his mother was a kitchen assassin and nearly poisoned him.”)

七十年代胡金铨到伦敦,我们天天到处逛。有一天,他在铺子里发现口蘑,眼睛一亮,开心得声音都变了。他说那是他小时候在北方老家常吃的极品,多年不见了。我们买了一堆带回我家弄。口蘑里尽是尘土,洗个半死烧出来给他重温旧梦。味道平平,我不出声,一心替他感动。口蘑在张家口集散,产地是内蒙,生长在草原上的口蘑圈;《老残游记》里提到口蘑炖鸭,那一定比金铨那一堆好吃。当然,人在伦敦而吃到口蘑,确比马铃薯当饭吃要好。汪先生说马铃薯山西叫山药蛋,是主要蔬菜,农村家家都有山药窖,民歌里都唱“想哥哥想得迷了窍,抱柴火跌进了山药窖”。人人管山西的作家群叫“山药蛋派”;那边的民歌原来这样俏,妹妹跌进马铃薯堆之后,马铃薯一定甜甜的,不那么难吃。

我认识的西洋朋友从小家里都节俭,一点不讲究吃,也不糟蹋,吃必吃个清光。Calvin Trillin说:“我母亲最了不起,三十年来一直给全家人吃残羹剩菜,原本的新鲜菜餚始终不见”(“The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found”)。他们喝茶喝咖啡倒是考究,丝毫马虎不得。Agatha Christie说,英国咖啡味道像化学试验品(“Coffee in England always tastes like a chemistry experiment”)。最混账是J B Priestley,硬说英国人上了茶瘾是东方人慢性报仇,把黄河的水绕过来往英国人的喉咙灌(“Our trouble is that we drink too much tea. I see in this the slow revenge of the Orient, which has diverted the Yellow River down our throats”)。吃吃喝喝扯上政治往往成了笑话。有个日本人说,美国快餐店麦当劳在东京的分店简直是在报珍珠港之仇(“MacDonald's in Tokyo is a terrible revenge for Pearl Harbour”)。活该!