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《近距离:怀俄明故事集》:此间风景此间人

2017-10-15赏析/陈榕

新东方英语 2017年10期
关键词:安妮

赏析/陈榕

安妮.普魯(Annie Proulx) 1935年出生于康涅狄格州的诺维奇,父亲是从事纺织业的商人,母亲是一位画家。她1969年获得佛蒙特大学本科学位,1973年获得位于加拿大蒙特利尔的乔治.威廉斯大学的硕士学位。其后她回到佛蒙特定居,成为一名杂志自由撰稿人。普鲁于1980年代开始小说创作,1988年出版第一部短篇小说集《心灵之歌及其他小说》(Heart Songs and Other Stories),1992年发表第一部长篇小说《明信片》(Postcards),赢得了当年的福克纳笔会奖。她的第二部长篇小说《船讯》(The Shipping News)一年后出版,获得了普利策奖。1994年,普鲁离开新英格兰地区,定居怀俄明州。她以这里的生活经验为素材完成了《近距离:怀俄明故事集》(Close Range: Wyoming Stories, 1999)、《恶土:怀俄明故事集2》(Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2,2004)和《适得其所:怀俄明故事集3》(Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3, 2008)。由李安导演执导的影片《断背山》(Brokeback Mountain)就出自《近距离》这部小说集,该电影于 2005年获得了最佳导演、最佳改编剧本以及最佳配乐三项奥斯卡奖。本文赏析的就是《近距离》这部小说集。

Excerpts1)

He traveled against curdled2) sky. In the last sixty miles the snow began again. He climbed out of Buffalo. Pallid3) flakes as distant from each other as galaxies flew past, then more and in ten minutes he was crawling at twenty miles an hour, the windshield wipers thumping like a stick dragged down the stairs.

The light was falling out of the day when he reached the pass, the blunt mountains lost in snow, the greasy hairpin turns ahead. He drove slowly and steadily in a low gear; he had not forgotten how to drive a winter mountain. But the wind was up again, rocking and slapping the car, blotting out all but whipping snow and he was sweating with the anxiety of keeping to the road, dizzy with the altitude. Twelve more miles, sliding and buffeted, before he reached Ten Sleep where streetlights glowed in revolving circles like Van Goghs sun. There had not been electricity when he left the place. In those days there were seventeen black, lightless miles between the town and the ranch4), and now the long arch of years compressed into that distance. His headlights picked up a sign: 20 MILES TO DOWN UNDER WYOMING. Emus5) and bison6) leered above the letters.

He turned onto the snowy road marked with a single set of tracks, faint but still discernible, the heater fan whirring, the radio silent, all beyond the headlights blurred. Yet everything was as it had been, the shape of the road achingly familiar, sentinel7) rocks looming as they had in his youth. There was an eerie dream quality in seeing the deserted Farrier place leaning east as it had leaned sixty years ago, the Banner ranch gate, where the companionable tracks he had been following turned off, the gate ghostly in the snow but still flying its wrought iron flag, unmarked by the injuries of weather, and the taut8) five-strand fences and dim shifting forms of cattle. Next would come the road to their ranch, a left-hand turn just over the crest of a rise. He was running now on the unmarked road through great darkness.endprint

How could he not recognize the turnoff to the ranch? It was so clear and sharp in his mind: the dusty crimp9) of the corner, the low section where the snow drifted, the run where willows slapped the side of the truck. He went a mile, watching for it, but the turn didnt come up, then watched for the Bob Kitchen place two miles beyond, but the distance unrolled and there was nothing. He made a three-point turn and backtracked. Rollo must have given up the old entrance road, for it wasnt there. The Kitchen place was gone to fire or wind. If he didnt find the turn it was no great loss; back to Ten Sleep and scout a motel. But he hated to quit when he was close enough to spit, hated to retrace black miles on a bad night when he was maybe twenty minutes away from the ranch.

He drove very slowly, following his tracks, and the ranch entrance appeared on the right although the gate was gone and the sign down. That was why hed missed it, that and a clump of sagebrush that obscured the gap.

He turned in, feeling a little triumph. But the road under the snow was rough and got rougher until he was bucking along over boulders and slanted rock and knew wherever he was it was not right.

He couldnt turn around on the narrow track and began backing gingerly, the window down, craning his stiff neck, staring into the redness cast by the taillights. The cars right rear tire rolled up over a boulder, slid and sank into a quaggy10) hole. The tires spun in the snow, but he got no purchase.

Ill sit here, he said aloud. Ill sit here until its light and then walk down to the Banner place and ask for a cup of coffee. Ill be cold but I wont freeze to death. It played like a joke the way he imagined it with Bob Banner opening the door and saying, why, its Mero, come on in and have some java and a hot biscuit, before he remembered that Bob Banner would have to be 120 years old to play that role. He was maybe three miles from Banners gate, and the Banner ranch house was another seven miles beyond the gate. Say a ten-mile hike at altitude in a snowstorm. On the other hand he had half a tank of gas. He could run the car for a while, then turn it off, start it again all through the night. It was bad luck, but thats all. The trick was patience.

1.节选部分选自开篇故事《半剥皮的阉牛》(The Half-Skinned Steer),主要描写了主人公在崎岖的山路上开车遭遇暴风雪的情景。

2.curdle [?k??(r)d(?)l] vt. 凝固;凝結

3.pallid [?p?l?d] adj. 苍白的;暗淡的

4.ranch [rɑ?nt?] n. 大农场;大牧场endprint

5.emu [?i?mju?] n. 鸸鹋(产于澳大利亚的一种体形大而不会飞的鸟)

6.bison [?ba?s(?)n] n. (尤指北美)野牛

7.sentinel [?sent?n(?)l] n. 岗哨;哨兵

8.taut [t??t] adj. 拉紧的,绷紧的

9.crimp [kr?mp] n. 折痕;起褶部分

10.quaggy ['kw?ɡi] adj. 沼地的;泥泞的

作品赏析

在介绍美国西部的风光片中,我们常常能够看到怀俄明的身影:它不仅是黄石、大提顿两个国家公园所在地,而且处处有风景。它的西部是绵延的落基山脉,山峦峻拔,峡谷幽深。东部是大平原,随处可见碧蓝的天,还有一望无际的草场,大群的牛羊徜徉其间。对于观光客来说,这是美国最富有诗意的土地:天大地大,人安居在自然之中。美国作家安妮.普鲁的短篇小说集《近距离:怀俄明故事集》就将目光聚焦于生活在这一方水土间的人们。在她的近距离呈现中,生活不再是旅行者浮光掠影的印象,它褪去了浪漫的光晕,暴露出粗粝的生活纹理。

首先,对于怀俄明的定居者来说,自然是他们需要面对的生存环境,而不是仅供观赏的风景。山岳险峻,作为景观甚美,对于生活在其中的人们,则意味着日复一日需要攀登的崎岖山路,意味着驱赶大群牛羊经过时的艰难;草原广阔,作为景观甚美,对于生活在其中的人们,则意味着长距离的跋涉,意味着放牧途中容易走失的牛羊。在当代,人们依赖技术获得了对自然的征服感:飞机从空中俯视世界,高山只是小丘,大河只是涓流;火车穿过草原,百里的风景只是车窗里迅速闪过的十几分钟;傲岸的绝壁和湍急的激流在摄影镜头中驯服成一帧帧凝固的画面。可是,当人类真正将肉身置身于自然,需要用自己的双足去丈量这个世界时,就会发现这种征服自然的感受有它虚幻可笑的一面。小说集开篇故事《半剥皮的阉牛》就是一篇充分展现自然威力的作品。男主人公梅罗青年时代离家后就没有再回过故乡。他参过战,经过商,从过政,现在以83岁高龄定居在马萨诸塞州。当他收到弟弟去世的消息时,他决定开车横穿大半个美国,到故乡参加弟弟的葬礼。他是卡迪拉克车的拥趸,喜欢它张扬的风格和动力澎湃的引擎。卡迪拉克在州际公路上能够纵横驰骋,可是行进到怀俄明山区却无能为力。故乡以常年肆虐在这片土地上的暴风雪迎接他。尽管他在崎岖的山路上开车十分谨慎,车辆依然抛锚了,他夜半冻死在归乡的路上。死神在小说中以当地传奇故事里被剥了一半皮却还会逃跑的阉牛为象征,它代表即将逝去的生命最后的抗争。当梅罗逆着狂风艰难地行进在大雪覆盖、空无一人的山路上,他仿佛看到阉牛正在用血红的独眼盯着他,那是死神的凝视,也是自然对生命挣扎的冷眼旁观。

而且,怀俄明是美国人口密度最为稀少的州,自然空间的广袤尺度不仅对人的生存提出了挑战,更增加了人类的孤独感,有时甚至会激发人远离文明监控的野性。《加油站距此五十五英里》是小说集中的倒数第二篇故事。它改编自西方经典童话《蓝胡子》。在原童话中,蓝胡子新娶的妻子出于好奇打开了丈夫不许她打开的房间,发现里面装满被蓝胡子杀死的各位妻子的尸体。她的忤逆行为被丈夫发现后,她也被杀死。在安妮.普鲁的改编中,故事的背景从欧洲古堡变成了怀俄明的旷野:农场工克鲁姆住在方圆数十里渺无人烟的乡间,一个夜晚,他醉酒跳下山崖坠亡。他的妻子终于可以不用担心他的威胁,她爬上屋顶,用斧子劈开了他用重重锁链锁着的阁楼,往下一望,发现果不其然,里面尸骨累累,堆满了被他虐待杀死的女性。布鲁姆是一个连环杀人犯,野性的空间给了他释放人性恶的机会。

值得注意的是,安妮.普鲁对怀俄明的勾勒,强调的不仅是它的自然性,还有它的时代性。它不是一片纯自然的飞地,而是时刻感应着时代的影响。在当代,工业文明体系以及资本体系不停地向这片曾经属于自然的领地进行渗透。《工作史》这个短篇用李兰德.李的工作变动说明了历史进程对传统畜牧业的影响。主人公生于20世纪40年代,父母经营着一个破败的小农场。他不甘于农场生活,先到加油站工作,后入伍当兵。退伍后他回到故乡,在建筑工地打过工,开过运油卡车,办过农场用品店,从事过冷藏肉类加工行业,开过加油站和便利店……李兰德一家总在搬家,总在寻找新的赚钱的行业,不停地想要赶上时代的大潮,却无法掌握它变幻莫测的方向,一再被抛弃。他们无法适应社会的新节奏,也回不到乡居时代。怀俄明的自然空间依然广阔,他们的生存空间却越来越逼仄。

安妮.普鲁笔下有很多李兰德这样的失意人。怀俄明的形成源于19世纪美国的西部大開发,它1890年才正式成为联邦州。在当代,这片土地上还定居着许多边疆拓荒者的后代。在美国的国族文化想象中,拓荒者在没有人烟的地方定居,将蛮荒变成农庄和牧场,和野兽搏斗,驯服野马,蓄养成群的牲畜,驱赶着它们迁徙。他们的性格坚韧顽强,敢于面对挑战,被美国文化推崇为英雄主义的代言人。安妮.普鲁在《近距离》中却对这种文化想象进行了祛魅。小说中没有一个主人公符合西部小说中的英雄形象,他们是一个个普通人,没有英雄事迹,倒是各有悲怀。《脚下泥巴》中男主人公因为幼年被父亲抛弃,成年后成了一个流浪艺人,表演骑野牛,每一场表演都是以命相搏,留下一身伤。《荒草天涯尽头》中女主人公一直在父亲的农场干活,到了适龄时没有爱人,于是爱上了一台拖拉机,对它喃喃呓语。《断背山》中杰克和恩尼斯的同性之爱挑战了人们对牛仔男性气概的定义,他们只能借放牧以及打猎垂钓的机会团聚,把空寂的自然作为避难所。从创伤的角度而言,这些人是脆弱的;同时他们又是强悍的,以各自的方式坚持所追求的,以及不肯与命运妥协。

在《近距离》的世界中,风景是粗粝的,甚至是阴暗的,其中的芸芸众生也没有英雄光环的浪漫加持。然而,他们的形象却透露出人类的生命意志之光。这种生命意志的归宿不是超越性的人定胜天的浪漫剧,而是不肯接受宿命安排的执拗和顽强,凭借着它,人类将根系深深地扎在了这片土地。安妮.普鲁近乎冷酷的笔调里有着对天地力量的敬畏,对生活在此方水土的普通人冷峻的怜悯和肃穆的尊重。endprint

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