讀點好英文:Life of Pi 少年P(guān)i的奇幻漂流

Life of Pi 少年P(guān)i的奇幻漂流

[加]揚·馬特爾（Yann Martel）

《少年P(guān)i的奇幻漂流》講述的是帕特爾的父親決定全家?guī)е鴦游镆泼窦幽么?，他們所乘坐的日本貨船在太平洋失事，帕特爾僥幸生存下來，在海上漂泊了227天。其間最危險的就是與一只成年孟加拉虎理查德·帕克的斗爭。他曾想了六種對付這只虎的計策。最后終于明白，只要保證了理查德·帕克的飲食，他就不會有危險。后來他利用老虎的一些弱點開始了馴虎的過程。這馴虎的過程也是少年帕特爾演變成成年男人的過程。

When we reached land, Mexico to be exact, I was so weak I barely had the strength to be happy about it. We had great difficulty landing.The lifeboat nearly capsized in the surf.I streamed the sea anchors—what was left of them—full open to keep us perpendicular to the waves, and I tripped them as soon as we began riding a crest.In this way, streaming and tripping the anchors, we surfed in to shore.It was dangerous.But we caught one wave at just the right point and it carried us a great distance, past the high, collapsing walls of water.I tripped the anchors a last time and we were pushed in the rest of the way.The boat hissed to a halt against the sand.

I let myself down the side. I was afraid to let go, afraid that so close to deliverance, in two feet of water, I would drown.I looked ahead to see how far I had to go.The?glance gave me one of my last images of Richard Parker, for at that precise moment he jumped over me.I saw his body, so immeasurably vital, stretched in the air above me, a fleeting, furred rainbow.He landed in the water, his back legs splayed, his tail high, and from there, in a few hops, he reached the beach.He went to the left, his paws gouging the wet sand, but changed his mind and spun around.He passed directly in front of me on his way to the right.He didn't look at me.He ran a hundred yards or so along the shore before turning in.His gait was clumsy and uncoordinated.He fell several times.At the edge of the jungle, he stopped.I was certain he would turn my way.He would look at me.He would flatten his ears.He would growl.In some such way, he would conclude?our relationship.He did nothing of the sort.He only looked fixedly into the jungle.Then Richard Parker, companion of my torment, awful, fierce thing that kept me alive, moved forward and disappeared forever from my life.

I struggled to shore and fell upon the sand. I looked about.I was truly alone, orphaned not only of my family, but now of Richard Parker, and nearly, I thought, of God.Of course, I wasn't.This beach, so soft, firm and vast, was like the cheek of God, and somewhere two eyes were glittering with pleasure and a mouth was smiling at having me there.

After some hours a member of my own species found me. He left and returned with a group.They were six or seven.They came up to me with their hands covering their noses and mouths.I wondered what was wrong with them.They spoke to me in a strange tongue.They pulled the lifeboat onto the sand.They carried me away.The one piece of turtle meat I had brought from the boat they wrenched from my hand and threw away.

I wept like a child. It was not because I was overcome at having survived my ordeal, though I was.Nor was it the presence of my brothers and sisters, though that too was very moving.I was weeping because Richard Parker had left me so unceremoniously.What a terrible thing it is to botch a farewell.I am a person who believes in form, in the harmony of order.Where we can, we must give things a meaningful shape.For example, I wonder—could you tell my jumbled story in exactly one hundred chapters, not one more, not one less?I'll tell you, that's one thing I hate about my nickname, the way that number runs on forever.It's important in life to conclude things properly.Only then can you let go.Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse.That bungled goodbye hurts me to this day.I wish so much that I'd had one last look at him in the lifeboat, that I had provoked him a little, so that I was on his mind.I wish I had said to him then—yes, I know, to a tiger, but still—I wish I had said,“Richard Parker, it's over.We have survived.Can you believe it?I owe you more gratitude than I can express.I couldn’t have done it without you.I would like to say it formally:Richard Parker, thank you.Thank you for saving my life.And now go where you must.You have known the confined freedom of a zoo most of your life;now you will know the free confinement of a jungle.I wish you all the best with it.Watch out for Man.He is not your friend.But I hope you will remember me as a friend.I will never forget you, that is certain.You will always be with me, in my heart.What is that hiss?Ah, our boat has touched sand.So farewell, Richard Parker, farewell.God be with you.”

The people who found me took me to their village, and there some women gave me a bath and scrubbed me so hard that I wondered if they realized I was naturally brown skinned and not a very dirty white boy. I tried to explain.They nodded and smiled and kept on scrubbing me as if I were the deck of a ship.I thought they were going to skin me alive.But they gave me food.Delicious food.Once I started eating, I couldn't stop.

The next day a police car came and brought me to a hospital, and there my story ends.

I was overwhelmed by the generosity of those who rescued me. Poor people gave me clothes and food.Doctors and nurses cared for me as if I were a premature baby.Mexican and Canadian officials opened all doors for me so that from the beach in Mexico to the home of my foster?mother to the classrooms of the University of Toronto, there was only one long, easy corridor I had to walk down.To all these people I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks.

我們到達陸地的時候，具體地說，是到達墨西哥的時候，我太虛弱了，簡直連高興的力氣都沒有了?？堪斗浅＠щy。救生艇差點兒被海浪掀翻。我讓海錨——剩下的那些——完全張開，讓我們與海浪保持垂直，一開始往浪峰上沖，我就起錨。我們就這樣不斷地下錨和起錨，沖浪來到岸邊。這很危險。但是我們正好抓住了一個浪頭，這個浪頭帶了我們很遠，帶過了高高的、墻一般坍塌的海水。我最后一次起錨，剩下的路程是被海浪推著前進的。小船發(fā)出咝咝聲，沖上海灘停了下來。

我從船舷上爬了下來。我害怕松手，害怕在就要被解救的時候淹死在這兩英尺深的海里。我向前看要走多遠。那一看在我心里留下了對理查德·帕克的最后幾個印象之一，因為就在那一刻它朝我撲了過來。我看見它充滿了無限活力，在我身體上方的空中伸展開來，仿佛一道飛逝的毛茸茸的彩虹。它落進了海里，后腿展開，尾巴翹得高高的，只跳了幾下，就從那兒跳到了海灘上。它向左走去，爪子挖開了潮濕的沙灘，后來又改變了主意，轉(zhuǎn)過身來。它向右走去時徑直從我面前走過。它沒有看我。它沿著海岸跑了大約一百碼遠，然后才掉轉(zhuǎn)過來。它步態(tài)笨拙又不協(xié)調(diào)，它摔倒了好幾次。在叢林邊上，它停了下來。我肯定它會轉(zhuǎn)過身看著我，它會耷拉下耳朵，它會咆哮，它會以某種諸如此類的方式為我們之間的關(guān)系做一個總結(jié)。然而，它并沒有這么做，只是目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地看著叢林。然后，理查德·帕克——我忍受折磨時的伙伴；激起我求生意志的可怕的猛獸，向前走去，從我的生活中永遠地消失了。

我掙扎著向岸邊走去，倒在了海灘上。我四處張望。我真的是孤獨一人，不僅被家人拋棄，現(xiàn)在理查德·帕克也拋棄了我，而且上帝也拋棄了我，但我并沒有被遺棄。這座海灘如此柔軟、堅實、廣闊，就像上帝的胸膛。而且，在某個地方，有兩只眼睛正閃爍著快樂的光芒，有一張嘴正因為有我在那兒而微笑著。

幾個小時以后，我的一個同類發(fā)現(xiàn)了我。他找了一群人來。有六七個人。他們用手捂著鼻子和嘴，我懷疑他們是不是有什么問題啊。他們用一種奇怪的語言跟我說話。他們把救生艇拖到了沙灘上，把我抬走了。我手里抓著一塊從船上帶下來的海龜肉，他們把肉摳出來扔了。

我像個孩子一樣哭了起來。不是因為我對自己歷盡磨難最后生存下來而感到激動，盡管這也令我非常感動。我哭是因為理查德·帕克如此輕易地離開了我。不能好好地告別是件多么可怕的事情啊。我是一個相信形式、相信秩序和諧的人。只要可能，我們就應(yīng)該賦予事物一個有益的形式。比如說——我想知道——你能一章不多、一章不少，用正好一百章把我的雜亂的故事說出來嗎？我告訴你，我討厭自己外號的一個原因就是，那個數(shù)字會一直循環(huán)下去。事物應(yīng)該恰當(dāng)?shù)亟Y(jié)束，這在生活中很重要，只有在這時你才能放手。否則你的心里就會裝滿應(yīng)該說卻不曾說的話，你的心情就會因為悔恨而沉重。那個沒有說出的再見直到今天仍讓我傷心。我真希望自己在救生艇里看了它最后一眼，希望我稍稍激怒了它，這樣它就會牽掛我。我希望自己當(dāng)時就對它說——是的，我知道，對一只老虎，但是我還是要說——我希望自己說：“理查德·帕克，一切都過去了。我們活了下來，你能相信嗎？我對你的感激無法用語言來表達。如果沒有你，我做不到這一點。我要鄭重地對你說，理查德·帕克，謝謝你。謝謝你救了我的命。現(xiàn)在去你想去的地方吧。這大半輩子，你已經(jīng)了解了什么是動物園里有限的自由；現(xiàn)在你將會了解什么是叢林里無限的自由。我祝你好運。小心人類。他們不是你的朋友。但我希望你記住我這個朋友。我不會忘記你的，這是肯定的。你會永遠在我心里。那咝咝聲是什么？啊，我們的小船觸到沙灘了。那么，再見了，理查德·帕克，再見。上帝與你同在?！?/p>

發(fā)現(xiàn)我的人把我?guī)У搅怂麄兇遄永?，在那里，幾個女人給我洗了個澡。她們擦洗得好用力啊，我不知道她們是否意識到我的皮膚是天生的棕色，不是非常臟的白人小伙子。我試圖解釋。她們點了點頭，笑了笑，然后繼續(xù)擦洗，仿佛我是船甲板。我以為她們要把我活剝了。但是她們給了我食物，非?？煽诘氖澄铩Ｎ乙婚_始吃，就停不下來了。

第二天，來了一輛警車，把我送進了醫(yī)院。我的故事到此結(jié)束了。

救我的人慷慨大方，讓我深受感動。村民送給我衣服和食物。醫(yī)生和護士照顧我，仿佛我是個早產(chǎn)的嬰兒。墨西哥和加拿大的官員為我敞開了所有的大門，因此從墨西哥海灘到我養(yǎng)母家，再到多倫多大學(xué)的課堂，我只需走一道長長的、通行方便的走廊。我要對所有這些人表示衷心的感謝。

實戰(zhàn)提升

作者介紹

揚·馬特爾，1963年出生于西班牙，父母是加拿大人。他曾在哥斯達黎加、法國、墨西哥和加拿大生活。大學(xué)哲學(xué)系畢業(yè)后，他做過洗碗工、植樹工和保安，之后開始寫作?！渡倌關(guān)i的奇幻漂流》是揚·馬特爾的第三部作品。2002年，這部小說獲得了當(dāng)代英語小說界的最重要獎項——布克獎。這部小說被好萊塢華人導(dǎo)演李安搬上了大熒幕，并已于2012年在全球公映。

單詞注解

glance[^lB:ns]n./v.一瞥；掃視

conclude[kEn5klu:d]v.結(jié)束；推斷出，斷定

confine[kEn5fain]v.限制；禁閉；幽禁；使臥床

foster[5fCstE]v.養(yǎng)育，領(lǐng)養(yǎng)；培養(yǎng)，促進

名句大搜索

我手里抓著一塊從船上帶下來的海龜肉，他們把肉摳出來扔了。

我像個孩子一樣哭了起來。

醫(yī)生和護士照顧我，仿佛我是個早產(chǎn)的嬰兒。