旅行的藝術:旅行中的特定場所-5

5

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除了高速公路，沒有任何別的道路能通到加油站，連步行的小徑也沒有。加油站孑然獨立，它似乎不屬于城市，也不屬于鄉(xiāng)間，而是屬于一種第三空間，即旅行者的領地，就像是獨立于海角的燈塔。

There was, apart from the motorway, no road linking the service station to other places, no footpath even; it seemed not to belong to the city, nor to the country either, but rather to some third, travellers' realm, like a lighthouse at the edge of the ocean.

地理意義上的孤立給餐廳以孤單疏離的氛圍。燈光有些冷漠，襯出蒼白和斑斑漬跡。桌椅顏色鮮艷得予人優(yōu)雅的感覺，像是假笑的臉上強擠出的歡欣。餐廳里無人交談，無人表現(xiàn)出絲毫的好奇，無人回應你的感受。無論是在吧臺，還是在離開并走進黑暗時，我們彼此擦肩而過，投向?qū)Ψ降亩际强斩礋o神的一瞥。我們坐在那里，視他者若巖石。

This geographical isolation enforced the atmosphere of solitude in the dining area. The lighting was unforgiving, bringing out pallor and blemishes. The chairs and seats, painted in childishly bright colours, had the strained jollity of a fake smile. No one was talking, no one admitting to curiosity or fellow feeling. We gazed blankly past one another at the serving counter or out into the darkness. We might have been seated among rocks.

我坐在餐廳一隅，吃著巧克力條，偶爾喝一口橙汁。孤獨，是我此時的心境，然而，這一次，孤單是如此的溫柔，竟然讓我欣悅，因為此時的孤獨不是那種置身于歡笑和群鬧中，讓我意識到心境和環(huán)境之反差并覺得痛苦的那種孤獨；它源于陌生的人群，在這里大家都明白，溝通的障礙客觀存在，對愛的渴求也難以實現(xiàn)，而這里的建筑和燈光無疑也凸現(xiàn)了此時孤獨的氛圍。

I remained in one corner, eating fingers of chocolate and taking occasional sips of orange juice. I felt lonely but, for once, this was a gentle, even pleasant kind of loneliness because, rather than unfolding against a backdrop of laughter and fellowship, in which I would suffer from a contrast between my mood and the environment, it had its locus in a place where everyone was a stranger, where the difficulties of communication and the frustrated longing for love seemed to be acknowledged and brutally celebrated by the architecture and lighting.

這種孤獨的心境讓我想到愛德華·霍珀[9] 的畫作：這些畫作描繪的景物蒼涼，但畫作本身看上去卻不顯蒼涼，而是讓觀者感受到他們內(nèi)心的憂傷，引發(fā)共鳴，因而減輕內(nèi)心之苦痛，擺脫煩惱的糾纏。也許，心境悲傷時，最好的解藥便是閱讀傷感的書籍，而當我們覺得周遭無愛可系無情相牽的時候，我們最應當驅(qū)車前行的地方便是某一個偏遠獨立的加油站。

The collective loneliness brought to mind certain canvases by Edward Hopper which, despite the bleakness they depicted, were not themselves bleak to look at, but rather allowed their viewers to witness an echo of their own grief and thereby feel less personally persecuted and beset by it. It is perhaps sad books that best console us when we are sad, and to lonely service stations that we should drive when there is no one for us to hold or love.

1906年，霍珀24歲，他前往巴黎，并在巴黎發(fā)現(xiàn)了波德萊爾的詩歌。從那以后，波德萊爾的詩作便成了他終生誦讀的對象。我們不難理解他對波德萊爾的迷戀：他們對孤獨、都市生活、現(xiàn)代社會，以及他們對夜的寧靜和旅行過的地方持有相同的看法。1925年，霍珀買了一輛二手道奇車，這是他一生中買的第一輛車，然后，從他在紐約的家一直開到新墨西哥。這之后，他每年都有幾個月的時間在外旅行，不管是在路途中、旅店房間里、汽車后座上，還是在戶外和餐廳里，他都留下了大量素描或油畫作品。1941至1955年間，他5次穿越美國。他住過西佳、戴爾·哈文、阿拉莫·普拉扎和藍頂?shù)嚷玫昊蚱嚶灭^。路邊寫有“空房，配電視、有獨立洗澡間”的霓虹廣告牌一閃一爍，常常會吸引他；鋪有薄床墊和干爽床單的床，正對著停車場或一塊塊修剪平整的草地的大窗臺；很晚入住卻又一大早離開的旅客留下的一絲神秘，接待柜臺擺放的當?shù)鼐包c的宣傳冊子，以及停放在靜靜的過道上堆滿物品的酒店房間整理車等等，這一切都吸引著他。至于每日飯食，霍珀常在各種牛排、熱狗快餐店解決。經(jīng)過有美孚、標準石油、海灣、藍太陽等標志的加油站時，他也會給車子加油。

In 1906, at the age of twenty-four, Hopper went to Paris and discovered the poetry of Baudelaire, whose work he was to read and recite throughout his life. The attraction is not hard to understand: there was a shared interest in solitude, in city life, in modernity, in the solace of the night and in the places of travel. In 1925, Hopper bought his first car, a second-hand Dodge, and drove from his home in New York to New Mexico, and from then on spent several months on the road every year, sketching and painting on the way, in motel rooms, in the backs of cars, outdoors and in diners. Between 1941 and 1955, he crossed America five times. He stayed in Best Western motels, Del Haven Cabins, Alamo Plaza Courts and Blue Top Lodges. He was drawn to the neon signs that blink 'Vacancy, TV, Bath' from the side of the road, to the beds with their thin mattresses and crisp sheets, to the large windows that give out on to car parks or small patches of manicured lawn, to the mystery of the guests who arrive late and set off at dawn, the brochures for local attractions in the reception area and the laden housekeeping trolleys parked in silent corridors. For meals Hopper would stop at diners, at Hot Shoppe Mighty Mo Drive-Ins, Steak 'N' Shakes or Dog 'N' Sudds-and he would fill up his car at petrol stations displaying the logos of Mobil, Standard Oil, Gulf and Blue Sunoco.

而且，霍珀往往在這些人們忽略甚至不屑一顧的地方發(fā)現(xiàn)了詩意，如汽車旅館之詩和公路旁小餐館之詩。他的畫作（以及和作品內(nèi)容相一致的標題）表明他對旅行中的五種地方有著持久的興趣：

And in these ignored, often derided landscapes, Hopper found poetry: the poésie des motels, the poésie des petits restaurants au bord d'une route . His paintings (and their resonant titles) suggest a consistent interest in five different kinds of travelling place:

1.旅館

1.HOTELS

旅館房間，1931

Hotel Room , 1931

旅館大堂，1943

Hotel Lobby , 1943

旅客休息室，1945

Rooms for Tourists , 1945

鐵路旁的旅館，1952

Hotel by a Railroad , 1952

旅館的窗戶，1956

Hotel Window , 1956

西部汽車旅館，1957

Western Motel , 1957

2.公路和加油站

2.ROADS AND PETROL STATIONS

緬因州的公路，1914

Road in Maine , 1914

加油站，1940

Gas , 1940

東哈姆，第六大道，1941

Route 6, Eastham , 1941

荒僻之地，1944

Solitude , 1944

四車道公路，1956

Four Lane Road , 1956

3.小餐館和自助餐廳

3.DINERS AND CAFETERIAS

自動販賣店，1927

Automat , 1927

自助餐廳里的陽光，1958

Sunlight in a Cafeteria , 1958

4.從火車上看到的景觀

4.VIEWS FROM TRAINS

鐵道旁的房子，1925

House by the Railroad , 1925

紐約、紐黑文和哈特福德，1931

New York, New Haven and Hartford , 1931

鐵路路堤，1932

Railroad Embankment , 1932

駛向波士頓，1936

Toward Boston , 1936

駛近一座城市，1946

Approaching a City , 1946

公路和樹，1962

Road and Trees , 1962

5.火車內(nèi)和全部車輛的景觀

5.VIEWS INSIDE TRAINS AND OF ROLLING STOCK

在電動火車上的一夜，1920

Night on the El Train , 1920

火車頭，1925

Locomotive , 1925

293號車廂C艙，1938

Compartment C, Car 293, 1938

賓夕法尼亞的拂曉，1942

Dawn in Pennsylvania , 1942

豪華列車，1965

Chair Car , 1965

所有這些作品中，孤獨是最常出現(xiàn)的主題?；翮曜髌分械娜宋锿ǔ？雌饋矶歼h離家鄉(xiāng)；他們孤單地坐著或站著，在旅店床邊上讀著一封信，或在酒吧獨飲；他們在行駛的列車上凝視窗外，或在旅店大堂捧書默讀?？瓷先ニ麄兌喑钌聘?，若有所思。他們也許剛剛離開了某個人，或是剛被某人所離棄；他們漂泊四方，居無定所，尋找工作、性和友伴。往往是在夜晚，窗外漆黑一片，人們可以感覺到他們置身開闊的鄉(xiāng)村原野或面對一個陌生城市時的恐懼。

Loneliness is the dominant theme. Hopper's figures seem far from home; they sit or stand alone, looking at a letter on the edge of a hotel bed or drinking in a bar, they gaze out of the window of a moving train or read a book in a hotel lobby. Their faces are vulnerable and introspective. They have perhaps just left someone or been left; they are in search of work, sex or company, adrift in transient places. It is often night and through the window lie the darkness and threat of the open country or of a strange city.

在《自動販賣店》中，一位女士獨坐，喝著一杯咖啡。夜深了，從她頭上的帽子和身上的大衣看，外面很冷。用餐室看起來很大，空而亮。餐室的布置都比較實用，擺著石面餐桌，結(jié)實耐用的黑木椅子，墻壁刷得很白。畫中的女士看上去并不習慣一個人坐在一個公共場合，顯得有些不自在，還略帶不安，似乎有什么事情不對勁。觀者會在不知不覺中想象關于她的故事，故事可能同背叛和失落相關。她把咖啡杯送到唇邊，盡量不讓自己的手顫抖。這也許是美國北部某個大城市，時間大約是2月的某個晚上，11點。

In Automat (1927), a woman sits alone drinking a cup of coffee. It is late and, to judge by her hat and coat, cold outside. The room seems large, brightly lit and empty. The décor is functional, with a stone-topped table, hard-wearing black wooden chairs and white walls. The woman looks self-conscious and slightly afraid, unused to sitting alone in a public place. Something appears to have gone wrong. She unwittingly invites the viewer to imagine stories for her, stories of betrayal or loss. She is trying not to let her hand shake as she moves the coffee cup to her lips. It may be eleven at night in February in a large North American city.

愛德華·霍珀：《自動販賣店》，1927年

《自動販賣店》這幅作品所要表現(xiàn)的是一種淡淡的哀愁——但它并不是一幅悲情畫。同偉大而傷感的音樂作品一樣，《自動販賣店》有其感人的力量。盡管這家店陳設簡單，但它本身似乎并沒有讓人覺得不舒服。餐室里也許還有別的人，不管是男性還是女性，他們都獨坐，喝著咖啡，陷入沉思，和畫中的女士一樣，同自己所在的社會保持著距離：這是一種常見的隔閡感，對任何獨處者，這種感覺有助于減輕他們在孤獨狀態(tài)中的壓抑感。在公路旁的小餐館、午夜時分的自助餐廳、旅店的大堂和火車站的咖啡館，我們可能不太能感覺到那種在偏僻的公共場所油然而生的孤獨和疏離感，反倒重新發(fā)現(xiàn)一種同周圍人群的強烈認同。家庭氣息的缺失、明亮的燈光和毫無特色的陳設把我們從種種所謂家的舒適中解脫出來。同家里掛著相框和貼著墻紙的客廳相比，在這些地方，我們更容易擺脫心中的感傷——這種近乎避難所的裝飾更能讓我們放松。

Automat is a picture of sadness-and yet it is not a sad picture. It has the power of a great melancholy piece of music. Despite the starkness of the furnishings, the location itself does not seem wretched. Others in the room may be on their own as well, men and women drinking coffee by themselves, similarly lost in thought, similarly distanced from society: a common isolation with the beneficial effect of lessening the oppressive sense within any one person that they are alone in being alone. In roadside diners and late-night cafeterias, hotel lobbies and station cafés, we may dilute a feeling of isolation in a lonely public place and hence rediscover a distinctive sense of community. The lack of domesticity, the bright lights and anonymous furniture may come as a relief from what are often the false comforts of home. It may be easier to give way to sadness here than in a living room with wallpaper and framed photos, the décor of a refuge that has let us down.

霍珀試圖讓我們同畫中獨品孤獨的女士產(chǎn)生共鳴。她看上去高貴大方，但也許太容易相信別人，過于天真，她似乎在生活中著著實實地碰了一次壁?；翮曜屛覀儗⑿谋刃?，設想她的處境。霍珀作品中的人物并不反感家本身，只是家似乎以各種各樣不容辯駁的方式背叛了他們，這才迫使他們離家出走，步入夜的孤獨或漂泊在路上。對那些因為高尚的原因而不能在現(xiàn)實世界里尋找到家園的人，以及那些波德萊爾可能冠以“詩人”稱號的人來說，全天候開放的小餐館、火車站的候車室和汽車旅館便是他們的避難所。

Hopper invites us to feel empathy with the woman in her isolation. She seems dignified and generous, only perhaps a little too trusting, a little naïve-as if she has knocked against a hard corner of the world. Hopper puts us on her side, the side of the outsider against the insiders. The figures in Hopper's art are not opponents of home per se , it is simply that, in a variety of undefined ways, home appears to have betrayed them, forcing them out into the night or on to the road. The twenty-four-hour diner, the station waiting room and the motel are sanctuaries for those who have, for noble reasons, failed to find a home in the ordinary world, sanctuaries for those whom Baudelaire might have dignified with the honorific 'poets'.