最近得到一张老照片，内容是1900年发生的上海的一次死刑。
死刑，说来挺痛苦和残忍的，不过摄影师的注释却稀释了这份悲哀，由这个死刑犯自导自演了一场黑色幽默的戏剧。抄录摄影师的注释如下：
This notorious river pirate killed several persons. The last offense was the gouging out of a man’s eyes. He is placed in the cage with planks coming snugly around his neck; several flat stones are placed under his feet. He stood in the thoroughfare of the six gates of the city (old Shanghai) for one day each. During all that time he had to stand erect or strangle. He was then placed in an open square where one stone was to be removed each day until he died of strangulation. This fiendish punishment is seldom resorted to, and has created great excitement among the Chinese. Dense crowds were around the criminal every day; yesterday, the day for removing the stones, his friend in some way got to him some deadly opiate by which he killed himself. The first day he (the criminal) allowed snap shots at 50 cents. The second he charged $5.00 Mexican silver ($2.00 gold). I gave it on condition he would take off his hat to show his face. Two Chinese photographers got pictures of him and placed them in their windows as ads. The crowd to see and buy the pictures became so great, the Chief of Police ordered the pictures taken down, as the crowds obstructed the streets.
我尝试着翻译了下：
“这个声名狼藉的河盗杀了很多人，最后一次作案是剜出了一个男人的眼睛。他被关在笼子里，脖子被枷板夹住，脚下垫了几块平石头，每天在上海旧城六座城门的大道上游街示众。他必须站地很直，否则就会被勒死。然后他会被放到一块空地上，每天抽走一块脚下的石头，直到最后被勒死。这种残忍的刑罚很少被实施，但这仍然是中国发明的众多死刑中的一种。成群的乌鸦每天都等在罪犯的周围。昨天，就在移走石头后，他的朋友通过某个关系给了他一些致命剂量的鸦片让他自杀。第一天，他（罪犯）收50美分可以随便拍照，第二天涨到了5块墨西哥鹰洋（相当于2块金币），我给了他，但条件是他必须摘下帽子露出脸。两个中国摄影师也拍了照片并放到橱窗里做广告。人们争相观看和购买照片，因为这场景太少见了。后来警察队长因为人群阻塞了街道而禁止拍照。”
中国从来不缺无聊的看客，这份悲哀无论在什么样的年代都是没法被稀释的。