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独一无二的伊凡

2020-03-03

阅读与作文(英语高中版) 2020年3期
关键词:伊凡大猩猩猩猩

在大猩猩伊凡二十七年的生命里,巅峰商城就是它的小小世界。这里有它喜欢的焦糖苹果、奶油爆米花和那些像泡泡瀑布般的汽水。它对人类的目光习以为常,对人类的语言也了如指掌。但是,象宝宝露比的加入,逐渐唤醒了伊凡对丛林的模糊记忆。当大象好友史黛拉因表演过度而逝世,老板麦克对年幼的露比挥舞着驯兽棍时,伊凡突然看清了这个“家”:生锈的钢铁围栏、冰冷生硬的水泥墙、永无止境的表演……为了实现对史黛拉的承诺,伊凡试着突破金属围栏和厚重的玻璃,让露比前往一个值得被称为“家”的地方……

Hello

I am Ivan. I am a gorilla.

Its not as easy as it looks.

Names

People call me the Freeway Gorilla. The Ape at Exit 8. The One and Only Ivan, Mighty[强有力的] Silverback.

The names are mine, but theyre not me. I am Ivan, just Ivan, only Ivan.

Humans waste words. They toss[投掷] them like banana peels and leave them to rot[腐烂].

Everyone knows the peels are the best part.

I suppose you think gorillas cant understand you. Of course, you also probably think we cant walk upright.

Try knuckle[关节] walking for an hour. You tell me: Which way is more fun?

Patience

Ive learned to understand human words over the years, but understanding human speech is not the same as understanding humans.

Humans speak too much. They chatter like chimps, crowding the world with their noise even when they have nothing to say.

It took me some time to recognize all those human sounds, to weave[编织] words into things. But I was patient.

Patient is a useful way to be when youre an ape.

Gorillas are as patient as stones. Humans, not so much.

How I look

I used to be a wild gorilla, and I still look the part.

I have a gorillas shy gaze[凝视], a gorillas sly[狡猾的,淘气的] smile. I wear a snowy saddle[背脊] of fur, the uniform of a silverback. When the sun warms my back, I cast a gorillas majestic[雄伟的] shadow.

In my size, humans see a test of themselves. They hear fighting words on the wind, when all Im thinking is how the late-day sun reminds me of a ripe nectarine[蜜桃].

Im mightier than any human, four hundred pounds of pure power. My body looks made for battle. My arms, outstretched[伸開的], span[跨距] taller than the tallest human.

My family tree spreads wide as well. I am a great ape, and you are a great ape, and so are chimpanzees and orangutans and bonobos, all of us distant and distrustful cousins.

I know this is troubling.

I too find it hard to believe there is a connection across time and space, linking me to a race of ill-mannered clowns.

Chimps. Theres no excuse for them.

The exit 8 big mall and video arcade电子游戏室

I live in a human habitat[人类生活环境] called the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. We are conveniently[便利地] located off I-95, with shows at two, four, and seven, 365 days a year.

Mack says that when he answers the trilling[发出抖动的声音] telephone.

Mack works here at the mall. He is the boss.

I work here too. I am the gorilla.

At the Big Top Mall, a creaky[嘎吱作响的]-music carousel[旋转木马] spins all day, and monkeys and parrots live amid[在其中] the merchants[商人]. In the middle of the mall is a ring with benches, where humans can sit on their rumps[臀部] while they eat soft pretzels[咸脆饼干]. The floor is covered with sawdust[木屑] made of dead trees.

My domain[领域] is at one end of the ring. I live here because I am too much gorilla and not enough human.

Stellas domain is next to mine. Stella is an elephant. She and Bob, who is a dog, are my dearest friends.

At present, I do not have any gorilla friends.

My domain is made of thick glass and rusty[生锈的] metal and rough cement[水泥]. Stellas domain is made of metal bars. The sun bears[馬来熊] domain is wood; the parrots is wire mesh[铁丝网].

Three of my walls are glass. One of them is cracked[破裂的], and a small piece, about the size of my hand, is missing from its bottom corner. I made the hole with a baseball bat[棒球棒] Mack gave me for my sixth birthday. After that he took the bat away, but he let me keep the baseball that came with it.

A jungle scene is painted on one of my domain walls. It has a waterfall without water and flowers without scent and trees without roots. I didnt paint it, but I enjoy the way the shapes flow across my wall, even if it isnt much of a jungle.

I am lucky my domain has three windowed walls. I can see the whole mall and a bit of the world beyond: the frantic[疯狂的] pinball machines[弹球机], the pink billows[腾起的一大团] of cotton candy, the vast and treeless parking lot[停车场].

Beyond the lot is a freeway where cars stampede[蜂拥] without end. A giant sign at its edge beckons[召唤] them to stop and rest like gazelles[瞪羚] a watering hole.

The sign is faded, the colors bleeding, but I know what it says. Mack read its words aloud one day: “COME TO THE EXIT 8 BIG TOP MALL AND VIDEO ARCADE, HOME OF THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, MIGHTY SILVERBACK!”

Sadly, I cannot read, although I wish I could. Reading stories would make a fine way to fill my empty hours.

Once, however, I was able to enjoy a book left in my domain by one of my keepers.

It tasted like termite[白蚁].

The freeway billboard has a drawing of Mack in his clown clothes and Stella on her hind legs[后肢] and an angry animal with fierce eyes and unkempt[蓬乱的] hair.

That animal is supposed to be me, but the artist made a mistake. I am never angry.

Anger is precious. A silverback uses anger to maintain order and warn his troop[群] of danger. When my father beat his chest, it was to say, “Beware, listen, I am in charge. I am angry to protect you, because that is what I was born to do.”

Here in my domain, there is no one to protect.

我是伊凡,我是一只大猩猩。

事情不像表面看起来那么简单。

名字

人们叫我“高速公路大猩猩”“八号出口的大猿”“独一无二的伊凡”“大力士银背”。

这些都是我的名字,可是都不等于我。我是伊凡,只是伊凡,就是伊凡而已。

人类浪费话语。他们随意抛掷,就像丢香蕉皮似的,任凭它腐烂。

每个人都知道,香蕉皮是香蕉最精华的部分。

我想,你一定以为大猩猩不能理解你。当然,你可能也以为我们不能直立行走。

你用关节走一个小时试试看。你告诉我:哪一种走法比较有趣?

耐心

这么多年来,我已经学会理解人类的语言,可是理解人类的语言并不等于理解人类。

人类说太多话了。他们像黑猩猩一样聒噪,他们用噪音填满这个世界,即使根本没什么可说的。

我学会辨认人类的声音,把许多词语串聯起来变成有意义的东西。这花了我不少时间,但我很有耐心。

如果你是灵长类动物,耐心是一种很有用的生活方式。

大猩猩像石头一样有耐心。人类嘛,可没什么耐心。

我的长相

我过去曾是一只野生大猩猩,现在看起来仍旧像是野生的。

我有着大猩猩害羞的眼神、大猩猩狡黠的笑容。我身披雪白的背毛——那是银背大猩猩的制服。当阳光温暖我的后背时,我投射出一只大猩猩雄伟的影子。

因为我的体型,人类将我视作测试自身力量的对象。一有风吹草动,他们就认为我是在挑衅他们。而那时,我所想的不过是夕阳有多么像成熟的蜜桃。

我比任何人类都强有力。我拥有400磅(约363斤)的纯粹力量。我的身体看起来就是为战斗而生的。我的手臂伸展开来比最高的人类还要长。

我的家族也很庞大。我是一只类人猿,你也是一只类人猿,黑猩猩、猩猩和倭黑猩猩也是类人猿,还有我们所有那些疏远的、靠不住的表亲们也都是类人猿。

我知道这是一件很烦人的事儿。

我也很难相信,跨越时空,我会和一个如此粗鲁的小丑种群有所关联。

这个种群就是黑猩猩。它们没有任何借口为自己辩解。

八号出口的巅峰商城和电子游乐场

我住在一个人类居住的地方,这里叫作“八号出口的巅峰商城和电子游乐场”。就在九十五号公路旁边,交通便利。一年三百六十五天,每天下午两点、四点和晚上七点,我们会表演节目。

电话铃声响起时,麦克总是这么回答。

麦克在这间商城上班。他是老板。

我也在这里上班。我是大猩猩。

在巅峰商城里,嘎吱作响的音乐旋转木马整天转个不停,猴子和鹦鹉与商人生活在一起。在商城的中央,有许多排成环形的长椅,让人们吃饼干的时候可以坐下来。地板上,铺满了死掉的树刨成的木屑。

我的领地在环形区域的一端。我住在这里,因为我是很像人类却又不是人类的大猩猩。

史黛拉的领地在我旁边。她是一头大象。她和小狗鲍勃是我最亲爱的朋友。

到目前为止,我没有任何猩猩朋友。

我的领地是由厚玻璃、生锈的铁条和粗糙的水泥围起来的。史黛拉的领地有很多铁栏杆,马来熊的领地有很多木头,鹦鹉的是铁丝网。

我这儿有三面墙全是玻璃做的,其中一面有裂痕,在底部的角落里有一个破洞,大约像我手掌那么大。我六岁生日时,麦克送我一支棒球棒作为生日礼物。因为我用球棒打出了那个洞,他就把球棒拿走了。不过,他让我留着一起送来的那颗棒球。

有一面墙上画了丛林的图画,画了没有水的瀑布、没有香气的花和没有根的树。那不是我画的,不过我很喜欢图形在墙上流动的感觉,即使它一点儿也不像丛林。

我很庆幸我的领地有三面窗。我可以看见整座商城,和一小部分外面的世界:喧闹不休的弹球机,翻滚膨松的粉红色棉花糖,还有广阔无垠的停车场。

停车场外面是高速公路,汽车来来往往永不停息地奔驰。公路边竖立了一面巨大的广告牌,宛如吸引瞪羚的水坑一样召唤着经过的车子停下来休息。

褪色的广告牌斑驳剥落,不过我知道它说的是什么。有一天,麦克大声念出那些字:“欢迎来到八号出口的巅峰商城和电子游乐场,这里是独一无二的伊凡、大力士银背的家!”

很遗憾,我不识字,虽然我很希望自己能阅读。读故事是填补空闲的好方法。

不过我曾经享用过一本书,是一位照顾我的管理员留下来的。

那本书尝起来有白蚁的味道。

高速公路的广告牌上画了麦克穿着小丑服装的样子,还画了用后脚站立的史黛拉,以及一只毛发蓬乱、目露凶光的愤怒的动物。

那只动物应该就是我吧,可是,画家画错了。我从来不生气。

怒气是珍贵的。银背大猩猩用愤怒来维持秩序或警告同伴远离危险。我爸爸捶胸的时候,就是在说:注意,听好,一切由我做主。我生气是为了保护你们,那是我的天职。

现在,在我的领地里,我没有什么可保护的。

作者的话

《独一无二的伊凡》是一部虚构的小说,但这个想象的故事的创作灵感却来自一个真实的故事。伊凡是一只真实的大猩猩,现住在亚特兰大动物园,不过,在来到这个乐园之前,他几乎有近三十年之久没有见过任何一个同类。伊凡在刚果共和国被捕时还只是个婴儿,之后被一个人类家庭养大,直到他大到难以应付。他被送去华盛顿州的一间百货商城,那里有以各种罕见动物为主题的马戏团。伊凡在一个笼子里孤独地生活了二十七年。

随着时代的变迁,我们对于灵长类动物的需求和行为的相关知识日益增加,社会对于伊凡孤独的生活状态也逐渐感到不安,尤其是《国家地理杂志》以“都市里的大猩猩”为主题,为他做了一个特别报道之后,引发了广大民众的强烈抗议。当伊凡所在的商城宣告破产时,他就被永久安置在亚特兰大动物园,和金雅妮以及其他大猩猩幸福快乐地生活在一起。

大猩猩、黑猩猩、猩猩……是不是有點傻傻分不清楚?文中出现不少灵长目科动物,是时候了解这些人类近亲了。

猿(ape):灵长目人猿总科动物的通称。猿与猴的主要区别在于猴有尾巴,而猿没有。长臂猿、猩猩、大猩猩和黑猩猩都属于猿类,后三种由于似人又被称为“类人猿(great ape)”。在分类学上,人类也是猿的一种。

猩猩(orangutan):也叫人猿、红猩猩、红毛猩猩,灵长目人科的一属。猩猩通常不用声音沟通,是一种非常珍稀的灵长类动物。

黑猩猩(chimpanzee/chimp):亦称“黑猿”,灵长目猩猩科,黑猩猩属。黑猩猩有两种:一种为常见的黑猩猩,产于非洲的西部和中部;另一种是倭黑猩猩(bonobo),只产于刚果河南岸的热带雨林中。黑猩猩个性活泼,有自己的语言。

大猩猩(gorilla):大猩猩是灵长目科中体型最大的动物。尽管大猩猩身躯庞大,却极为怕羞,从不主动攻击人。大猩猩的毛色大多是黑色的,年长(一般12岁以上)的雄性大猩猩的背毛色会变成银色,因此它们也被称为“银背大猩猩(silverback)”。本文主人公伊凡就是银背大猩猩。

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