英語修辭與寫作·21.2　記敘

21.2　記敘

21.2A　展開記敘的兩條線索

1） 前面19.2B2講到時間次序（Temporal Order），這正是開展記敘文的一個基本線索。在敘述文中，我們經(jīng)常使用表示時間的詞語，如when, once, at the same time, now, while, then, before, after, next, all the time, during, on such occasions, simultaneously, soon, suddenly, 等等。正是這些表示時間次序的詞語把一系列的動作連接起來，形成一個完整的記敘。例如：

When we got the ham home, my mother immediately stripped off the white paper and the string in the middle of our chipped white-enamel kitchen table. There it lay, exuding heavenly perfumers — poud, arrogant, regal. It had a dark, smoked, leathery skin, which my mother carefully peeled off with her sharpened bread knife. Then the old man, the only one who could lift the ham without straining a gut, placed it in the big darkblue oval pot that was used only for hams. My mother then covered the ham with water, pushed it onto the big burner and turned up the gas until it boiled. It just sat there on the stove and bubbled away for maybe two hours, filling the house with a smell that was so luscious, so powerful as to have erotic overtones. The old man paced back and forth, occasionally lifting the lid and prodding the ham with a fork, inhaling deeply. The ham frenzy was upon him.

（Wanda Hickey）

2） 前面19.2B3講到的空間次序（Spatial Order）是開展敘述文的另一條線索。通過一部分到另一部分的敘述（其中交織著描寫），給讀者一個立體的概念。這種記敘往往仍然以時間序列為線索。下面是記述幾個人乘一葉小舟航行于正在溶化的南極冰山之間的一段動人經(jīng)歷：

They rose and fell on the heaving sea, drawing deceptively apart, then closing with a thud that would have smashed our boat like a gas-mantle between thumb and finger. Castles, towers, and churches swayed unsteadily around us. Small pieces gathered and rattled against the boat. Swans of weird shape pecked at our planks; a gondola steered by a giraffe ran foul of us, which much amused a duck sitting on a crocodile's head. Just then a bear, leaning over the top of a mosque, nearly clawed our sail. An elephant, about to spring from a Swiss chalet on to a battleship's deck, took no notice at all; but a hyena, pulling a lion's teeth, laughed so much that he fell into the sea, whereupon a sea-boot and three real penguins sailed lazily through a lovely archway to see what was to do, by the shores of a floe littered with the ruins of a beautiful white city and surrounded by huge mushrooms with thick stalks. All the strange, fantastic shapes rose and fell in stately cadence, with a rustling, whispering sound and hollow echoes to the thudding seas, clear green at the water-line, shading to a deep blue far below, all snowy purity and cool blue shadows above.

（F. A. Worsley）

21.2B　構(gòu)成記敘的三個要素

1） 情節(jié)（Plot）、背景（Setting）和角色（Character）是敘述文體的3個要素。

“情節(jié)”是整個記敘的支柱和框架，由一系列精心安排的事件組成。在較長和較為復(fù)雜的記敘中可能有兩個或更多的重要情節(jié)，它們相互配合或穿插，次要情節(jié)服務(wù)于主要情節(jié)，以形成故事的主線。

“背景”指故事發(fā)生的時間和地點，以及有關(guān)的周圍情況。例如講述一個足球明星的故事時，可能講到他出身運動員世家，甚至其父年輕時就是足壇新秀；還可能講到他的家鄉(xiāng)，那里足球運動很普及，等等。背景有助于烘托故事情節(jié)，也為人物的出現(xiàn)交代了客觀背景，從而使人物更為真實和可信。

“角色”包括人或物，大多數(shù)的故事都有幾個角色，其中有主要角色和次要角色。角色必須有自己的個性和特征。

2）“背景”的敘述要簡明扼要。對情節(jié)要善于剪裁和安排，避免繁瑣和平鋪直敘；一般事件一筆帶過，以便有足夠的篇幅容納情節(jié)高潮。例如：

For two weeks we camped on the banks of the Truckee. During the days we went fishing for trout and perch; at night we cooked the day's catch, drank hot chocolate, and told stories around the campfire. Usually, before dinner we would gather at the campsite and mend each other's wounds — the various scratches, rashes, bruises, and contusions that camping out causes. Weary but content, we would then retire to our chores, followed by dinner, storytelling, and then sleep, in down bags laid out on the pine needle cushion of the forest.

在較快地交代了兩個星期的活動情況以后，轉(zhuǎn)向敘述最后一天所碰到的事，并使故事達到高潮：

On the final day of our trip, I decided to take a walk beside the Truckee and to follow a straggly path that burrowed into the undergrowth ...

3） 角色的成功與否是故事敘述是否成功的關(guān)鍵。背景和情節(jié)都是為塑造角色服務(wù)。在塑造角色時要抓住三個關(guān)鍵：一是形象描寫，二是語言特色，三是想法和行動，而這三個方面都需與情節(jié)有機地結(jié)合起來。下面一個故事情節(jié)簡單，人物只有三個，整篇故事四個段落，第一段為背景，后面三段分別敘述英國人、法國人和富蘭克林的祝酒詞，在故事高潮時表現(xiàn)了富蘭克林的高度機智和膽識：

Franklin was dining with a small party of distinguished gentlemen, when one of them said: “Here are three nationalities represented. I am French, and my friend here is English, and Mr. Franklin is an American. Let each one propose a toast.”

It was agreed to, and the Englishman's turn came first. He arose, and, in the tone of a Briton bold, said, “Here's to Great Britain, the sun that gives light to all nations of the earth.”

The Frenchman was rather taken aback at this; but he proposed, “Here's to France, the moon whose magic rays move the tides of the world.”

Franklin then arose, with an air of quaint modesty, and said, “Here's to our beloved George Washington, the Joshua of America, who commanded the sun and moon to stand still — and they obeyed.”