The Bear （An Excerpt）

Isaac was sixteen. For six years he had been a hunter and for six years he had heard all the talking about hunting Old Ben. It was talking of the wilderness and the big woods， bigger and older than any other woods. It was talking of white men who believed that they had bought any part of the woods， of Indians who thought they had the right to sell the woods. They do not belong to white men nor black men nor red men， but to hunters who had the will， courage and skill to survive in the woods. They belong to the dogs， the bear and the deer that obey the rules of nature and compete for survival， without regrets or grudge.

While the talking was going on in quiet and weighty voices， Isaac squatted in the blazing firelight with Jim， who moved only to add more wood on the fire and to pass the bottle of alcohol from one to another. Because the bottle was always present in such situations， after a while it seemed to Isaac that the brown liquor in the bottle was made from will， wisdom and courage. The liquor was not for women or children， but for hunters， who drank it moderately and even humbly as if they were drinking animal blood and wild spirits. They drank it not to acquire speed or strength but to pay respect to these qualities.

Isaacs father returned with a book and opened it. “Listen，” he said. He read a poem aloud in a quiet and deliberate voice. There was no fire in the room now since it was already spring. Then he looked up. The boy watched him with confusion. “All right，” his father said. “Listen.” He read again， till the last two lines of the poem， and then he closed the book and put it on the table beside him. “She cannot fade， though you have not got your bliss， forever will be your life and she be fair，” the boy finished.

“The poet is talking about a girl，” Isaac said.

“He had to talk about something，” his father said. Then he said， “He was talking about truth. Truth doesnt change. Truth is one thing. It covers all things which touch the heart—honor and pride and pity and justice and courage and love. Do you see now？”

He didnt know. Somehow it was simpler than that. There was an old bear， fierce and ruthless， not merely just to stay alive， but with the fierce pride of liberty and freedom. There was an old man， son of a Negro slave and an Indian king. On the one hand， he had inherited the long history of a people who had learned humility through suffering， and pride through endurance， and on the other hand， he had inherited the history of a people even longer in the land than the first， yet who no longer existed in the land at all except in the solitary brotherhood of an old Negros alien blood and the wild and invincible spirit of an old bear. There was a boy who wished to learn humility and pride in order to become skillful and worthy in the woods， who suddenly found himself becoming skillful so rapidly that he feared he would ever become worthy because he had not learned humility and pride.

That was all about the story. It was simple， much simpler than somebody talking in a book about a youth and a girl. The youth would never need to grieve over the girl， because he could never approach her any nearer and would never have to get any farther away. He had heard about a bear， and finally grew old enough to find it. He searched for it four years and at last met it with a gun in his hands but he didnt shoot. He could have shot long before the little dog covered the twenty yards to where the bear waited， and Sam could have shot at any time during the time when Old Ben stood on his hind feet over them. He stopped. His father was watching him gravely across the spring twilight of the room. When he spoke， his words were as quiet as the twilight and not loud， because they did not need to be and because they would last. “Courage， and honor， and pride，” his father said， “and pity， and love of justice and of liberty. They all touch the heart， and what the heart holds to become truth， as far as we know the truth. Do you see now？”

Sam， and Old Ben， and Nip， he thought. And himself too. He had been all right too. His father had said so. “Yes， sir，” he said.

作品簡评

福克纳的《熊》以少年艾萨克和熊头领“老班”的两次相遇为主线，审视了现代文明和自然的关系。生活在原始森林中的熊头领“老班”是一头遵循自然法则的熊，它勇敢谦卑，是原始自然和力量的化身。为了见到它，艾萨克丢掉了手枪和指南针等现代发明，只身进入森林深处，以平等甚至谦卑的姿态来面对“老班”，并在和它周旋的过程中走向成熟。福克纳通过艾萨克与“老班”的相遇揭示了人应当学会尊重自然，与自然和谐相处的道理。艾萨克通过和“老班”的周旋也学会了尊重对手，并培养了自己勇敢谦卑的品质，可以说“老班”是艾萨克的人生导师，正如艾萨克自己说的那样：“老熊在其中活动的这片荒野就是他的大学，那只长期无妻无子、不知从何来的老熊就是他的导师”。《熊》这部小说是福克纳以寓言的形式对现代文明进行的反思：随着西方现代文明的推进，以“老班”为代表的自然势必面临毁灭的厄运，只有像艾萨克那样放弃人类的傲慢和无知，尊重并善待自然才能化解危机，实现人类的救赎。