长眠的阐释——高斯的后语会进入历史吗？

高斯在芝加哥大学举办的「中国经济改革研讨会议」今年七月十八日终结时，作了简短的后语。事前他花了十分钟写了一点初稿，但讲时没用上，只是毫无准备地说了一些话。这些话感人，听者流泪，站起来鼓掌两三分钟，而高斯自己也热泪盈眶。王石当时在场，事后给我一个短信，说：「切身感受高斯老教授对中国的真诚关怀。」

这个没有文稿的后语按录音翻出来了，高斯说要修改一番才发表。但这一次——只这一次——我不尊重他老人家，一意孤行地在这里刊登原文。理由有二。其一是他将会修改过的不是现场有感而发的话。其二是因为有感而发，这后语有机会打进将来中国的经济历史去。这里先发表，过后我会放进自己的结集中，档案明确，有凭有据，将来写中国历史的要怎样取舍是他们的选择。

下面先刊英语原文，前思后想，认为要补加翻译。难译，是由我翻的，其中「长眠」（long sleep）一词如何阐释有争议。不便问高斯，但按上文下理读者或可解通。全文如下（是录音翻出的没有文稿的讲话，文字上这里那里有点沙石）：

Although I knew that I would have to say something at the end of the conference, I am nonetheless taken by surprise when I had to do it and I am not sure I know what I am going to say. Which puts me in the same position you are in, you don’t know what I am going to say.

This conference has clearly been a great success. I wanted this conference to take place because what happened in China was a great surprise to me. If you are surprised at what happens, it means you don’t understand it, and I don’t understand it. And I thought we should have a conference in which the participants in the events in China could speak as against having people who didn’t take part in the events and whose opinions weren’t always very reliable. So we tried to get businessmen, government officials, academics who had been involved in the transformation to speak to us.

I must say I had belief in China’s future for a long time. As a young boy I read Marco Polo, and just as he was amazed at what he found, so was I, and I felt here is a country with great potential but somehow didn’t achieve it. And it was a puzzle to me as to why didn’t achieve it and I was very surprised when, in the period after 1978 it seemed it was going to achieve its potential. And what I heard in this conference has confirmed this view. I now have a feeling that the events which were set in motion in 1978 will be a great success.

However, human beings have a great capacity for messing things up. You will understand that, when I describe what happened in my life. When I was born in 1910, the industrial revolution has been absorbed in Europe. The social system seemed stable. And what happened when I was four the Great War opened. It was a stupid war. It achieved nothing worthwhile, in fact it did harm, and millions of men were killed. People lost faith in the social system and then communism came in. It was absolute disaster and it destroyed changes in attitude in people and resulted in a world a good deal worse than it was when I was born.

Now if you think of the present situation, that is, we have a situation in which everything seems be going along well, that’s what I’d learnt from this conference. When I wrote the forward to Steven Cheung’s book of English articles, I said that the struggle for China is the struggle for the world, that I truly believe. Well, will we actually achieve this desirable result? Well of course I will never know although you will. All I can do is to say that our discussions carried out will make it possible. But to make it possible as we know is not enough. The political regime has to carry out its actions. Whether it will or not, I don’t know. All I can do is to hope it will and to wish you well in the next hundred years. And I can now thank you…thank you.

What you are going to do, as I am sure you are, is to bring about desirable results. And I would think of you now, because it would be difficult to do much thinking in that long sleep which I am going to have. But it makes me happy to think that you will, as is shown by what you said in this conference, make the efforts. That makes me happy and I thank you.

中译如下：

「虽然我知道在这会议终结时我要说一些话，事到临头我却惊讶于自己一定要说，而又不能肯定要说些什么。这就把我放在你们的位置上：你们不知道我将会说些什么。

「这个研讨会议取得巨大的成功是清楚的。我要这个会议出现，因为中国发生了的事给我很大的惊奇。如果你对发生的事感到惊奇，是说你不明白。我不明白。于是想，我们应该有一个研讨会议，让参与过中国发展的人说话，这会比那些没有参与过的人的见解来得可靠。我们于是尝试找那些参与过中国经济改革的商人、干部与学者来对我们说。

「必须说的是我相信中国的前途有很久的时日了。作孩子时我读马哥孛罗，正如他吃惊于所遇，我也是，而我当时觉得那是个潜力庞大的国家，不知为什么没有发挥出来。对我来说，不能发挥这潜力是一个谜，而使我震惊的，是一九七八之后的迹象显示，这潜力彷佛开始体现了。这个会议我听到的，证实着这个观点。现在我有这样的感受：一九七八激活了的发展，将会是个伟大成就。

「然而，人类有很大的可以把事情搞得一团糟的能耐。告诉你我一生遇到的，你会明白。一九一○我诞生的时候，欧洲正在神往于工业革命。社会的制度看来是稳定的。但四岁时，世界大战爆发了。是一个愚蠢的战争。争取到的毫无价值，事实上做成损害，百万计的人死了。人们对社会的制度失却了信心，共产制度于是来临。绝对是大灾难，这制度毁灭了人们的态度转变，效果是世界变得比我出生时坏很多。

「现在你们想想目前的情况，那就是我们面对的情况，看来进展得好，而这是我在这次会议中学得的。当我为张五常的英语论文结集写前言时，我说中国的奋斗是世界的奋斗。这一点我是深信的。但我们真的会争取到良好合意的效果吗？这问题的答案我永远不知道，但你们是会知道的。我能做的只是说，我们的研讨增加了这合意效果的可能。然而，我们知道增加这可能不足够。政治系统要以行动带来实践。是成是败我不知道。我只能希望这系统会履行，也希望今后百年你们万事如意。现在我可以感谢你们……感谢你们。

「你们将会做的，我肯定你们会做的，是要带来良好的合意效果。现在我会想着你们，因为在我将要有的长眠中多想什么不容易。但当我想到你们将会尽力而为——会议中你们这样表达过——我高兴。你们使我高兴，我感谢你们。」

朋友，人非草木，你哭了吗？有点争议的，是高斯在最后说自己将要长眠，有两个解法。其一是会议开了五天，他累了，要好好地睡一长觉。其二是他近九十八岁了，快要离开人世，永远地长眠去也。哪个解法才对呢？我知道答案，不说，读者自己阐释吧。

高斯的思想对中国改革的贡献我说过多次了。他对中国的真诚关怀我知道了四十年——他当年千叮万嘱要我回到香港去给中国的同胞解释经济制度的运作。今天所见，神州未富先骄，为争取自己利益而不顾大局的人那么多，效与愿违的政策层出不穷，高斯的希望能得到实践的机会不大。但如果他的希望真能体现，我认为上述的感人后语会在将来的中国历史上占有一个可爱的注脚。