Solito: A Personal Story of Immigration《少小独行》：一个人的移民路

加维诺·伊格莱西亚斯/文　何梓健/译

Javier Zamoras Solito is an important book that refocuses the immigration debate by writing about—and from the perspective of—the most important aspect of it： the people who leave home behind and risk everything to look for a better life in the United States.

哈維尔·萨莫拉的《少小独行》是一部重新审视移民问题的重要著作，因为它着墨于移民问题中最不可或缺的方面——那些背井离乡、孤注一掷，远赴美国追寻美好生活的人们——并从这个群体的视角切入展开。

As touching as it is sad， and as full of hope and kindness as it is harrowing， Solito is the kind of narrative that man-ages to bring a huge debate down to a very personal space， bridging the gap between the unique and the universal in ways that make both look like one and the same.

《少小独行》的故事既感人又悲伤；既充满希冀与善意，又充斥着酸楚与不安。这个故事将一场激烈辩论带入十分私人的空间，从而弥合独特性与普遍性之间的差异，让二者宛如一体。

Solito is an incredibly detailed chronicle of Zamoras 3，000-mile journey from his small town in El Salvador—where he spent his childhood without his mom and dad， who had already made their way to the U.S.—through Guatemala and Mexico， and eventually across the U.S. border. It is a biography， but it also tells the story of his beloved aunt and his grandparents， who took care of him while his parents lived in the U.S. They also helped him set things up so he could reunite with his mother， who had left four years before—and who Zamora missed every day—and his father， a man he spoke to on the phone regularly and knew from pictures but who he could barely remember because he left when Zamora was a baby.

萨莫拉的父母早年赴美，留下他在故乡萨尔瓦多独自度过童年。《少小独行》极其详实地记录了萨莫拉从故乡小镇启程，穿越危地马拉和墨西哥，最终进入美国的三千英里寻亲之旅。这本书既是一部自传，也讲述了萨莫拉心爱的姨妈和外祖父母的故事。在萨莫拉父母远居美国的日子里，他们对萨莫拉照顾有加。他们还为萨莫拉打点一切，好让他与父母团聚。那是离家四年、令萨莫拉日思夜想的母亲；那是他时常在电话中对谈，却只从照片中知晓模样的父亲——他还很小的时候父亲便已离他而去，因此有关父亲的记忆几近模糊。

From money issues to dealing with the coyote1， and from eagerness to go on a “trip” to the thoughts of a child moving away from home， this chronicle is packed with the elements readers have come to expect from migration narratives. But Zamoras voice， sense of humor， and heart make this a standout story about survival and the pursuit of the American Dream.

这部实录充满读者意料之中的典型移民叙事元素：从金钱困扰到对付蛇头；从对“旅行”的渴望到离家儿童常有的种种念头。然而，萨莫拉的心声、幽默和真挚使这本书在众多有关生存和逐梦美国的故事中脱颖而出。

Solito is special for many reasons， but the main one is Zamoras voice and the energy of his vivid retelling of his journey. The book starts in El Salvador in 1999， when Zamora is only 9 years old. He has had to wait because the coyote told his family that he refused to take kids younger than ten—and then he had to take care of a cavity2 before crossing. The wait only made him more eager to reunite with his parents， so when it finally happens， the energy and excitement are almost palpable3 in the story： “Two days！ I start screaming. Spinning. Jumping up and down. Repeating，” “Im going to see my parents！ Im going to see my parents！” “Tears running down my cheeks. I dont care that The Bakers children look at me. Im so happy！ Finally， the thing I want most is happening.”

《少小独行》之所以独具魅力，原因有很多，但主要有赖于萨莫拉表露的心声和生动重述独行旅程时的激情。这本书的开篇发生在1999年的萨尔瓦多，萨莫拉时年仅九岁。蛇头跟他的家人说不会带着没到十岁的孩子同行，所以他只能等待，后来又因在越境前要治疗一颗龋齿而耽误行程。等待只会让萨莫拉愈加强烈地渴望与父母团聚，所以终要见面时，那份激动和兴奋几乎跃然纸上：“还有两天！我开始尖叫。转圈。上蹿下跳。我反复叫喊。”“我要见到父母啦！我要见到父母啦！”“泪水流下我的脸颊。贝克家的几个孩子都在看着我，我才不在乎呢。我太开心了！终于，我最期待的事情要来了。”

Zamora travelled alone but in the company of the coyote， Don Dago， and a small group of strangers who are also trying to make their way to the United States. He knows hell have to run and jump and cross rivers， but nothing could have prepared him for perilous journey he had embarked on， or the fact that the “trip” he expected to be two weeks long turned into two months of survival. While the events could have easily lead Zamora to write about the pains and dangers of undocumented migration or the way awful immigration policies have created a dangerous system， a lot of the focus is placed on the humanity and people he encountered on his journey.

萨莫拉独自踏上旅途，路上与蛇头唐达戈，还有一小群同样试图前往美国的陌生人结伴。他知道自己将不得不奔跑、跳跃、渡河，但他对自己要面对的满途荆棘毫无准备，更没料到他本以为的两周“旅行”竟成了长达两个月的求生之旅。重重遭遇本可让萨莫拉轻易写出非法移民的苦楚和险境，或写出糟糕的移民政策如何酿出一个危险的体制，但他却把大部分的焦点放在了人性和旅途中邂逅的人们身上。

Ive published three novels that feature a lot of Spanish and Spanglish， and Ive been feeling the pushback4 from monolingual readers for the past seven years. As a result， Ive developed an obsession with the use of Spanish and Spanglish in fiction and nonfiction narratives， especially because it enriches texts while simultaneously making them more authentic. Zamora treads the interstitial5 space between languages with grace， humor， and style. He wants to go to “La USA” because it is， his aunt and abuelita tell him， “safer， richer， and there are so many jobs.” It is also a place with cities like “Wa-ching-tón” and “Jius-tón.” Keeping some words， curse words， and diminutives6 in Spanish as well as using the language without otherizing it via the use of italics， Zamora manages to bring some of the flavor and rhythm of his native tongue to the page while simultan-eously allowing context to deliver all the information monolingual readers need to understand the story.

我已經出版了三部包含大量西班牙语和“西班牙式英语”的小说，而过去七年里我一直受到单语读者的责难。正因如此，我反倒深深迷上了在虚构和非虚构叙事中运用西班牙语和西班牙式英语，尤其是因为此举既丰富了辞藻，又增强了文本的真实性。萨莫拉以优雅、幽默和独特的姿态游走于各语言之间，比如他想去La USA（美国），因为阿姨和abuelita（奶奶）说那里“更安全、更富裕、工作机会更多”。那里有Wa-ching-tón（华盛顿）和Jius-tón（休斯顿）等城市。萨莫拉在文中保留了部分西语词汇、脏话和小词，并且没有用斜体来异化这部分语言，从而把他母语的一些特色和韵律呈现了出来，同时由上下文给单语读者传递理解故事所需的一切信息。

Solito is a gripping memoir that doesnt shy away from the bad while shining a light on the good. It is also a moving narrative that belongs solely to Zamora but that also offers yet another look at what millions of others go through in pursuit of a better life. And that makes it required reading at a time when immigration is seen as a political talking point instead of as something that affects many lives in very profound ways.

《少小独行》不回避消极坎坷，亦彰显正面良善，可谓一部引人入胜的回忆录。这是一场感人至深的叙述，虽然讲的是独属于萨莫拉的故事，却也折射出数百万移民在追寻美好生活的途中际遇几何。当今时代，移民问题被视为政治谈资，而非深远影响芸芸众生的话题。在这样的时代里，这本书便成为必读之作。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）