War Horse《战马》

Michael+Morpurgo

邁克尔·莫波格（Michael Morpurgo， 1943～），英国最受欢迎的儿童文学作家之一，迄今为止已创作了百余部儿童文学作品，获奖无数，多部作品被改编成电影、电视剧、舞台剧和歌剧，代表作有《柑橘与柠檬啊》（Private Peaceful）、《健介的王国》（Kensuke&apos；s Kingdom）、 《鲸鱼何时来到》（When the Whales Came）、《我的朋友瓦特》（My Friend Walter）、《走出尘埃》（Out of the Ashes）等。1999年，他被评为“儿童桂冠作家”；2006年，他凭借在文学领域的贡献被授予大英帝国军官勋章。其代表作《战马》（War Horse）出版于1982年，随后被改编为舞台剧和电影，风靡全球。该小说以马儿乔伊（Joey）的视角，讲述了它和13岁少年艾伯特（Albert）相识、相知、被迫分离后历经战火又重聚的成长故事。

下文选自小说第17章，讲述的是乔伊和艾伯特在历经多年战火后偶然相逢，艾伯特认出乔伊之前的一幕。

The men scattered in all directions， leaving me with a young soldier who began to lead me away toward a stable1）. "And you，" came that booming2） voice again， "Major3） Martin will be down from the house in ten minutes to examine that horse. Make sure that horse is so thundering4） clean and thundering shiny you could use him as a shaving mirror， right？"

"Yes， Sergeant，" came the reply. A reply that sent a sudden shiver of recognition through me. Quite where I had heard the voice before I did not know. I knew only that those two words sent a tremor5） of joy and hope and expectation through my body and warmed me from the inside out. He led me slowly across the cobbles6）， and I tried all the while to see his face better. But he kept just that much ahead of me so that all I could see was a neatly shaven neck and a pair of pink ears.

"How the devil did you get yourself stuck out there in no-man&apos；s land， you old silly？" he said. "That&apos；s what everyone wants to know ever since the message came back that they&apos；d be bringing you here. And how the devil did you get yourself in such a state？ I swear there&apos；s not an inch of you that isn&apos；t covered in mud or blood. No telling what you look like under all that mess. Still， we&apos；ll soon see. I&apos；ll tie you up here and get the worse of it off in the open air. Then I&apos；ll brush you up in the right way before the officer gets here. Come on， you silly， you. Once I&apos；ve got you cleaned up， then the officer can see you and he&apos；ll tidy up that nasty cut of yours. Can&apos；t give you food， I&apos；m sorry to say， nor any water， not till he says so. That&apos；s what the sergeant told me. That&apos；s just in case they have to operate on you."

And the way he whistled as he cleaned out the brushes was the whistle that went with the voice I knew. It confirmed my rising hopes， and I knew then that I could not be mistaken. In my overwhelming delight， I reared up on my back legs and cried out to him to recognize me. I wanted to make him see who I was. "Hey， careful there， you silly. Nearly knocked my hat off，" he said gently， keeping a firm hold on the rope and smoothing my nose as he always had done whenever I was unhappy. "No need for that. You&apos；ll be all right. Lot of fuss about nothing. Knew a young horse once just like you， he was really proper jumpy7） he was till I got to know him and he got to know me."

"You talking to them horses again， Albert？" came a voice from inside the next stable. "God&apos；s truth！ What makes you think they understand a word you say？"

"Some of them may not， David，" said Albert. "But one day， one day one of them will. He&apos；ll come in here and he&apos；ll recognize my voice. He&apos；s bound to come in here. And then you&apos；ll see a horse that understands every word that&apos；s said to him."

"You&apos；re not going on about your Joey again？" The head that came with the voice leaned over the stable door. "Won&apos；t you ever give it up， Berty？ I&apos；ve told you before if I&apos；ve told you a thousand times. They say there&apos；s near half a million horses out here， and you joined the Veterinary Corps just on the off chance8） you might come across him." I pawed the ground with my bad leg in an effort to make Albert look at me more closely， but he just patted my neck and set to work cleaning me up. "There&apos；s just one chance in half a million that your Joey walks in here. You got to be more realistic. He could be dead—a lot of them are. He could have gone off to Palestine with the cavalry. He could be anywhere along hundreds of miles of trenches9）. If you weren&apos；t so good with horses， and if you weren&apos；t the best friend I had， I&apos；d think you&apos；d gone a bit screwy the way you go about your Joey."

"You&apos；ll understand why when you see him， David，" Albert said crouching down to scrape the caked mud off my underside. "You&apos；ll see. There&apos；s no horse like him anywhere in the whole world. He&apos；s a bright red bay with a black mane and tail. He has a white cross on his forehead and four white socks that are all even to the last inch. He stands over sixteen hands and he&apos；s perfect from head to tail. I can tell you， I can tell you that when you see him you&apos；ll know him. I could pick him out of a crowd of a thousand horses. There&apos；s just something about him. Captain Nicholls， you know， he&apos；s dead now—the one I told you about that bought Joey from my father， he sent me Joey&apos；s picture—he knew it. He saw it the first time he set eyes on him. I&apos；ll find him， David. That&apos；s what I came all this way for， and I&apos；m going to find him. Either I&apos；ll find， or he&apos；ll find me. I told you， I made him a promise， and I&apos；m going to keep it."

"You&apos；re crazy as a loon10）， Berty，" said his friends opening a stable door and coming over to examine my leg. "Crazy as a loon， that&apos；s all I can say." He picked up my hoof11） and lifted it gently. "This one&apos；s got white socks on his front legs， anyway—that&apos；s as far as I can tell under all this blood and mud. I&apos；ll just sponge12） the wound away a bit， clean it up for you while I&apos；m here. You&apos；ll never get this one cleaned up in time else. And I&apos；ve finished mucking out13） my stable. Not a lot else to do， and it looks as if you could do with a hand. Old Sergeant Thunder won&apos；t mind， not if I&apos；ve done all he told me， and I have."

The two men worked tirelessly on me， scraping and brushing and washing. I stood quite still trying only to nuzzle14） Albert to make him turn and look at me. But he was busy at my tails and my hindquarters15） now.

"Three，" said his friend， washing off another of my hooves. "That&apos；s three white socks."

"Stop it， David，" said Albert. "I know what you think. I know everyone thinks I&apos；ll never find him. There&apos；s thousands of army horses with four white socks—I know that， but there&apos；s only one with a blaze in the shape of a cross on the forehead. And how many horses shine red like fire in the evening sun？ I tell you， there&apos；s not another one like him， not in the whole wide world."

"Four，" said David. "That&apos；s four legs and four white socks. Only the cross on the forehead now， and splash of red paint on this muddy mess of a horse， and you&apos；ll have your Joey standing here."

"Don&apos；t tease，" said Albert quietly. "Don&apos；t tease， David. You know how serious I am about Joey. It&apos；ll mean all the world to me to find him again. Only friend I ever had before I came to the war. I told you. I grew up with him， I did. Only creature on this earth I felt any kinship for."

David was standing now by my head. He lifted my mane and brushed gently at first then vigorously at my forehead， blowing the dust away from my eyes. He peered closely and then set to again brushing down toward the end of my nose and up again between my ears till I tossed my head with impatience.

"Berty，" he said quietly. "I&apos；m not teasing， honest I&apos；m not. Not now. You said your Joey had four white socks， all even to the inch？ Right？"

"Right，" said Albert， still brushing away at my tail.

"And you said Joey had a white cross on his forehead？"

"Right." Albert was still completely disinterested.

"Now， I have never even seen a horse like that， Berty，" said David， using his hand to smooth down the hair on my forehead. "Wouldn&apos；t have thought it possible."

人群向四面八方散去，只剩下我和一個年轻士兵，他开始牵着我向马厩走去。“还有你，”那洪亮的声音又传来，“马丁少校10分钟后会从屋里下来查看那匹马。一定要把它收拾得干干净净，闪亮到能用它来当刮胡子用的镜子，听到了吗？”

“是，中士。”那个士兵回答。这个声音似曾相识，让我全身猛地一颤。但到底之前在哪里听过这个声音，我不知道。我只知道，那两个词让我因充满快乐、希望和期待而全身颤抖，从内到外都温暖了起来。他牵着我慢慢地走过鹅卵石路，一路上我都试着想把他的脸看得更清楚。但他走在前面，一直就离我有那么一段距离，我只能看到他那刮得很干净的脖子和一对泛着粉色的耳朵。

“你这个傻瓜，你到底是怎么让自己被困在无人区的？”他说。“自从有消息说你会被送到这里来之后每个人都想弄明白。还有，你到底是怎么把自己折腾成这个鬼样子的？我敢说你身上没有一寸地方不沾着泥或血的。现在这样脏兮兮的，根本看不出你长啥样。不过我们很快就会看到啦。我要把你先拴在这儿，在外面把你身上比较脏的东西弄掉。然后我会在长官到这儿之前好好把你刷洗干净。来，过来，你这个傻瓜。等我给你洗好了，长官就可以来看你了，然后他就会把你身上这些可怕的伤口都收拾干净的。不过实在抱歉，我现在不能给你吃的，也不能给你水，得等长官下命令了才行。中士就是这么跟我说的。那是以防万一他们需要给你做手术。”

他一边清洗干净那些刷子一边吹着口哨，他吹口哨的方式跟我认识的那个声音吹口哨的方式一模一样。我心中升起的希望被证实了，我随即就知道我不可能认错。我兴奋极了，抬起两条前腿冲他叫了一声，想让他认出我来。我想让他看看我是谁。“小心，你这个大傻瓜。你差点把我帽子弄掉。”他轻声说，一边牢牢抓着缰绳，一边轻抚我的鼻子，就像以前每当我不高兴时他经常做的那样。“不需要这样，你不会有事的。没什么可担心的。我以前也认识一匹小马，就像你一样，他也老紧张兮兮的，直到我俩互相熟悉了才好一些。”

“你又在跟马讲话了吗，艾伯特？”隔壁马厩里传来一个声音。“天啊，你怎么就觉得它们能听懂你说的话呢？”

“有的马可能听不懂，戴维，”艾伯特说，“但是，总有一天，有一天会有那么一匹马能听得懂的。它会到这儿来，它会认出我的声音。它一定会到这儿来的。到时候你就会看到一匹能听懂对它说的每句话的马。”

“你不会又要开始讲你的乔伊了吧？”说话的人一边说着一边把头俯在马厩的门板上。“你永远不会放弃是吗，伯蒂（编注：艾伯特的昵称）？我都跟你说过上千次了。他们说外头战场上差不多有50万匹马，而你加入兽医队竟然是希望能有机会遇到乔伊。”我用我的伤腿刨了刨地，希望能让艾伯特更仔细地看看我，但他只是拍了拍我的脖子，就开始给我清理。“你的乔伊来到这里的概率只有50万分之一。你得更现实一点。他有可能死了——很多马都死了。他也有可能随着骑兵团去了巴勒斯坦。他有可能在这长达上百英里的战壕的任何一个地方。如果你不是这么擅长跟马相处，还有如果你不是我最好的朋友，我简直会觉得你是想乔伊想得脑子出问题了。”

“等你见到它，你就明白我为什么会这样了，戴维。”艾伯特一边说，一边蹲下身把我肚子上板结的泥块刮下来。“你会明白的。世界上没有哪匹马像它一样。它是一匹枣红马，红色的皮毛闪闪发亮，有着黑色的鬃毛和尾巴。前额有一个白色的十字，四蹄雪白，白色延伸到四条腿上的高度分毫不差。他身高超过16手（编注：马的身高是以“手”为单位。一手就是一个手掌的宽度），从头到尾都无可挑剔。我可以告诉你，我告诉你，你一看到就知道是它。我能从上千匹马里找到它。它就是有特别之处。尼科尔斯上尉，你知道的，他已经牺牲了。我跟你讲过的，就是从我父親手里买走乔伊的那个人，他给我寄过乔伊的画——他都懂得。他第一眼看到乔伊的时候就看出来了。我会找到它的，戴维。我大老远来这里就是为了找到它，我一定会找到他的。不是我找到它，就是它找到我。我跟你说，我答应过它，我一定会做到。”

“你真是个疯子，伯蒂，”他的朋友边说边打开马厩的门过来检查我的腿。“真是个疯子，我没别的可说了。”他抓住我的蹄子轻轻地抬起来。“这家伙前腿也是白的——又是泥又是血的，我也只能看出这么多了。我来帮你擦一下它的伤口，清理一下，不然你绝对没法及时清理干净这家伙。我已经清理完我的马厩了，剩下的活也不多了，你看起来也正需要一个帮手。那个大嗓门的老中士不会介意的，只要我把他让我做的事情都做完，而我已经做完了。”

两人开始不知疲倦地给我清理，又是刮又是刷又是洗的。我一动不动地站着，只是试着用鼻子蹭蹭艾伯特，想让他转身看看我。但是他正忙着清理我的尾巴和臀部。

“三个，”他朋友说，刚洗干净我的另一只蹄子。“三个白色蹄子。”

“行了，戴维，”艾伯特说，“我知道你在想什么。我知道所有人都觉得我永远都不可能找到它。四蹄雪白的战马有上千匹——这我都知道，但只有一匹前额上闪耀着十字形的花纹。有多少马的毛发会在夕阳中闪闪发亮，仿若火焰呢？我告诉你，没有一匹马会和它一样，全世界都没有第二匹那样的马。”

“四个了，”戴维说，“四条腿，四个白色蹄子。现在就差前额上的十字了，你再往这匹沾满泥巴的马身上泼上红漆，你就能看到你的乔伊站在这儿了。”

“别开玩笑，”艾伯特静静地说，“戴维，别开玩笑。你知道我对乔伊的事有多认真。我要找到它，这对我是最重要的。它是我在参战前唯一的朋友。我跟你说过，我是跟它一起长大的，真的，它是我在这个世界上唯一亲近的朋友。”

这时戴维站在了我的头旁边。他撩起我的鬃毛，先是轻轻地接着用力地刷着我的前额，把尘土从我眼睛上吹掉。他细细端详了我一会儿，又开始一直向下朝着我的鼻梁末端刷去，然后又向上在我的两耳之间刷来刷去，直到我不耐烦地甩甩头。

“伯蒂，”他低声说，“我没在开玩笑，真的没有，这会儿才不会逗你。你刚才说你的乔伊四蹄雪白，白色的高度在四条腿上都一样是吗？”

“是的。”艾伯特说，一边继续刷我的尾巴。

“你还提到乔伊前额上有个白色十字？”

“对。”艾伯特仍旧漫不经心地答道。

“好了，我以前可从来没见过那样的马，伯蒂，”戴维说，一边用手捋顺我额上的鬃毛，“从来没想过有这样的可能。”

1. stable [?ste?bl] n. 马厩，马棚

2. boom [bu?m] v. 用深沉、洪亮的声音说，以低沉有回响的声音发出

3. Major [?me?d??（r）] n. 英国陆军（或海军陆战队）少校

4. thundering [?θ?nd?（r）??] adv. <口>非常，极

5. tremor [?trem?（r）] n. 颤抖；激动

6. cobble [?k?bl] n. 鹅卵石

7. jumpy [?d??mpi] adj. 易受惊的；紧张不安的

8. on the off chance： 抱着一线希望；侥幸一试，碰运气

9. trench [trent?] n. 战壕

10. crazy as a loon： <美俚>完全疯狂的

11. hoof [hu?f] n. （牛、马等的）蹄

12. sponge [sp?nd?] vt. 用海绵（或类似物）擦掉，抹去

13. muck out： <口>打扫马厩（或猪栏等）；给（马、猪等）清除粪便

14. nuzzle [?n?zl] vt. （用鼻、嘴等）挨擦

15. hindquarters [?ha?nd?kw??t?z] n. 【复】（动物的）后腿；后腿和臀部

赏析

马在中国传统文化中是一个很重要的意象。项羽之乌雅、吕布之赤兔、刘备之的卢，在帝王将相的故事里，常常跃动着诸多良马的身影；“想当年，金戈铁马，气吞万里如虎”，在无数文人的壮志酬筹中，也总少不了策马沙场的情怀。马在西方文化中同样如此：从亚历山大大帝的东征西战到拿破仑的驰骋欧洲，从象征着忠诚荣耀的中世纪骑士到诠释着自由豪放的美国西部牛仔，马在每一幅充满英雄主义色彩的历史画卷中都占有一席之地。古往今来，人们歌颂着马的力量与忠义，也渴望着像千里马一样被慧眼所识。然而，在英国桂冠作家麦克·莫波格的小说《战马》中，以及在英国皇家剧院和美国知名导演斯皮尔伯格分别据此改编的同名舞台剧与电影里，人们在这匹叫做乔伊的战马身上，感受到的却是另外一种情愫，一种距离英雄伟业甚远，却离平常人心更近的温暖与感动。

时间回溯到第一次世界大战前夕，1914年。在英国德文郡乡下的一个农场，13岁的男孩艾伯特第一次在自家马厩里见到了刚刚6个月大的小马驹乔伊。艾伯特和乔伊一起快乐地成长，彼此默契无间，建立起愈来愈亲密的关系。因为父亲的逼迫，艾伯特还在一周内训练乔伊学会了犁地的本事。虽然农活不算轻松，但能和艾伯特一起享受静谧的田园时光，对乔伊来说就宛如天堂了。然而，战争打破了他们的平静生活。艾伯特的父亲为了保住濒临破产的农场，把乔伊卖给了军队。伤心欲绝的艾伯特与小伙伴告别，并发誓“无论你在哪里，我一定会找到你”。

离开德文郡奔赴军营后，乔伊的命运就不断发生着翻天覆地的变化：它与另外一匹叫托普桑的战马一同分配到法国战场，在第一次战役中，买下乔伊的尼克尔斯上校就阵亡在德军的机关枪下。后来，乔伊和托普桑被德军所俘，它们当过救护车，也运送过弹药。不幸的是，在接连不断的无情炮火之下，原本健壮的托普桑因过度劳累和食物短缺最终死亡。正当乔伊为失去最好的朋友而悲恸时，突然遭到坦克袭击，受惊的乔伊在恐惧与迷茫中穿越铁丝网密集的无人区，最终回到英军的营地。

伤痕累累的乔伊被送到兽医站，不料竟神奇般地与小主人艾伯特重逢。选段描写的正是艾伯特为乔伊擦洗身上的泥渍和血迹，却尚未认出眼前这匹英勇的战马正是自己儿时伙伴的情形。这一堪比奇迹的重逢自然也预示着其后的皆大欢喜：乔伊在艾伯特的精心照料下逐渐康复，战争结束后也跟随主人回到过去的伊甸园中。这段发生在一匹马和一个男孩之间的传奇友谊以这样一种充满温情和完满的方式结尾，慰藉着万千读者的心灵。

众所周知，一战之惨烈在人类历史上前所未有，但小说直接描写战争场面的却只是寥寥数笔，作者莫波格对战争的反思更多则是通过乔伊的视角来呈现的。然而，在这场满目疮痍的灾难中，在人类的信念和希望几乎被摧毁殆尽的时刻，有些美好的事物却从未消逝，例如人与马之间的关系，这也是小说着墨最浓之处。艾伯特与乔伊之间的情谊自不消说，还有给乔伊画肖像的尼克尔斯上校，给乔伊读家信的骑兵沃伦，精心呵护托普桑的“疯老头儿”弗里德里克，为乔伊和托普桑祈祷的小女孩埃米莉……他们将马儿视作高贵而充满灵性的生物，竭尽全力保护着它们，甚至还把它们当作真正的朋友，对其推心置腹。毫无疑问这些正是人性闪耀的时刻，正如法国思想家蒙田所言：“对别人的善良的信任，足以证明自己的善良。”尽管战争夺走了所有这些人的生命，但却并未让他们变成和枪炮坦克一样麻木冰冷的行尸走肉，这或许正是莫波格希望传递给读者的温暖与希望——无论身处怎样的绝望之境，人性之善都不可被扭曲，无法被剥夺，也注定会胜利。

除了人与马之间的关系，小说中也刻画了马与马、人与人之间的真挚情感。在农场时，乔伊和老马乔伊彼此陪伴；在战场上，乔伊和托普桑相依为命——它们总是无条件信任并热爱着彼此，没有任何争执、嫉妒和仇恨。人与人的关系就复杂许多，但总有那么一些瞬间，让你相信人与人也可以像马儿一样和平相处。当满身伤痕的乔伊置身无人区中，穿着土黄色制服的英国士兵与穿着灰色制服的德国士兵同时来到乔伊身边，希望将它解救出去。而这一次，双方化解矛盾的办法是扔硬币，然后在英国士兵带走乔伊后两人互道珍重，各自离开。这一幕如此感人，几乎可视为小说中讴歌人性的最强音：别忘记你我本来的善良，哪怕只是星星点点。当我们对萬物生灵报之以柔软的爱意，所有分歧都会殊途同归，即使是在战争的废墟之上，我们依旧能重塑起人类趋于至善的信心。