書籍分享｜The Heart Of A Broken Story by J.D. Salinger

來自專欄更長燭明，奈此良夜何

2016.11.08

源 The Heart Of A Broken Story by Salinger

整理編輯 良夜

Loving you is the important thing, Miss Lester. There are some people who think love is sex and marriage and six oclock-kisses and children, and perhaps it is, Miss Lester. But do you know what I think? I think love is a touch and yet not a touch.

愛你才是重要的事情，萊斯特小姐。或有人認為愛就是性和婚姻，清早六點的晨吻和孩子，或許的確如此，萊斯特小姐。然而，你知道我是怎麼想的嗎？我認為，愛是只敢用這樣的方式碰到你，卻想像著要得到更多。

（對於選段中「Love is a touch and yet not a touch」的譯法五花八門，最常見的譯句為「愛是想觸碰又收回手」。對於此譯，良夜本人保留意見）

• 作者：J.D. Salinger
• 國別：美國
• 頁數：6
• 語言：英語
• 文學類型：雜誌文學
• 文學體裁：小說
• 首版時間：1941-05
• 推薦理由：語言生動而富有感染力，二十世紀四十年代美國城市布景由作者一筆輔開。適合高中及以上英語水平的讀者。
• 獲取途徑：鏈接：http://pan.baidu.com/s/1eSGmuVS 密碼：d5cq

提及J.D. Salinger，閱者可能並不十分熟悉，但若提到他的另外一部作品《麥田裡的守望者》，恐怕就不會感覺陌生了。是的，作為一名在美國出生並成長的作家，J.D. Salinger這部早期的短篇《破碎故事之心》本想發布在《紐約客》上，但最終發布在了《Collier周刊》上，原因正如文中所說：

That was the beginning of the story I started to write for Colliers. I was going to write a lovely tender boy-meets-girl story. What could be finer, I thought. The world needs boy-meets-girl stories. But to write one, unfortunately, the writer must go about the business of having the boy meet the girl. I couldnt do it with this one. Not and have it make sense. I couldnt get Horgenschlag and Shirley together properly. And here are the reasons:

Certainly it was impossible for Horgenschlag to bend over and say in all sincerity:

「I beg your pardon. I love you very much. Im nuts about you. I know it. I could love you all my life. Im a printers assistant and I make thirty dollars a week. Gosh, how I love you. Are you busy tonight?」

This Horgenschlag may be a goof, but not that big a goof. He may have been born yesterday, but not today. You cant expect Colliers readers to swallow that kind of bilge. A nickels a nickel, after all.

……

But Justin Horgenschlag never got to know Shirley Lester. She got off at Fifty-Sixth Street, and he got off at Thirty-Second Street. That night Shirley Lester went to the movies with Howard Lawrence with whom she was in love. Howard thought Shirley was a darn good sport, but that was as far as it went. And Justin Horgenschlag that night stayed home and listened to the Lux Toilet Soap radio play. He thought about Shirley all night, all the next day, and very often during that month. Then all of a sudden he was introduced to Doris Hillman who was beginning to be afraid she wasnt going to get a husband. And then before Justin Horgenschlag knew it, Doris Hillman and things were filing away Shirley Lester in the back of his mind. And Shirley Lester, the thought of her, no longer was available.

And thats why I never wrote a boy-meets-girl story for Colliers. In a boy-meets-girl story the boy should always meet the girl.

就以上選段來看，作者對時文程式化的「男孩與女孩相識」的情節毫不買賬，同時認為矯揉造作的男女對白、油腔滑調的男孩形象硬塞給讀者，委實不妥，且味同嚼蠟。「畢竟讀者是也付了錢的（A nickel is a nickel, after all）」。

作者之所以拒絕寫「A boy-meets-girl story」，正是出於對一九四一年時期市場上風行的商業化、程式化言情文稿的不屑。

*關於「A boy-meets-girl story」一詞，網路上多數譯文為「當男孩遇上女孩」；然而事實上，「Meet」更多時候表示二人有過對話並因此相識，因此在直譯成中文時，往往改為了「遇見」。在此根據上下文與小說主旨，不少譯者認為應該照應前文：

「Oh, the agony of it! The agony of standing over Shirley Lester and not being able to bend down and kiss Shirleys parted lips. The inexpressible agony of it!」

因此補充「未主動出擊親吻雪莉的唇」所留下的遺憾。然而如此譯法，未免穿鑿過甚。正如倒數第二段所寫：

「But Justin Horgenschlag never got to know Shirley Lester.」

賈斯汀最終沒能「認識」雪莉，這才是真正的遺憾。因此，以小編個人愚見，最後一段當譯作：

這就是為何我從未為科林爾周刊寫「男孩邂逅女孩」的故事；在男孩邂逅女孩的故事裡，那個男孩總得認識那個女孩兒。

提到本小說的作者，就不得不提到他的另外一部享譽美國文壇的作品《麥田裡的守望者》。歷來不少研究者從不同理論視角對該作品進行了深度挖掘與剖析，如從解構主義批評視角、敘事比較文學視角等，工程之浩大，堪比堆山鑿井。然而對於其未發表的作品或其它作品，卻在國內的英美文學研究中留下了一隅空白。

作為一名普通讀者，據我與其他讀者分享感悟的情況來看，J.D. Salinger的作品之所以能使與我同齡的讀者產生強烈的共鳴，是因為書中特有的語言色彩及恰到好處的修辭運用。就比如：

「Anyway, it was December and all, and it was cold as a witchs teat, especially on top of that stupid hill.」——《The Catcher In The Rye》

基本上，所有看過《麥田裡的守望者》的讀者，都會記得這句「明喻（Simile）」。這部《破碎故事之心》之中明喻手法也頗為可圈可點，比如「輕似掌中一鴻毛（Light as a feather to carry）」。

如前文所說，除了《麥田中的守望者》，對於塞林格的其它作品，國內的研究資料甚少。就美國而言，二戰給予了它豐富的物質利益及經濟發展條件，在工業化和城市化膨脹的年代，作為實利功利主義盛行的大都市紐約及其它個州，人們在享受物質優越的同時，精神世界卻是一片荒蕪，執著於膚淺與薄弱的表面，而忽略了人性的本質。

塞林格的作品正是具有時代反判意識的，無論是對商業化雜誌時文的批判還是幽默諷刺的比喻手法，有的研究者甚至說他是虛無主義（哲學概念）的先驅，甚或「反英雄」先驅。然而，讀者可以摘取玩味的，尚須在字裡行間自尋了。