多丽丝•莱辛：《浮世畸零人》

◆ 唐书哲

【作者简介】

多丽丝·莱辛（Doris Lessing, 1919~2013），英国著名女作家，1919年出生于伊朗，父母是英国人。莱辛童年曾随父母在津巴布韦一农场度过一段时间，后来在一家天主教女子修道院高中接受教育，离校后从事过保姆、接线员和速记员等工作。1939年，莱辛和法兰克·惠斯顿（Frank Wisdom）结婚，育有一子一女，1943年离婚。离婚后，莱辛对政治产生兴趣，积极投身反殖民主义运动。 1945年，她与德国共产党人戈特弗利·莱辛（Gottfried Lessing）再婚，生下儿子彼德，但两人的婚姻关系也仅维持了四年。1949年，莱辛携幼子彼得和一部小说手稿回到英国，追求自己的写作生涯和共产主义信仰。1950年，这部手稿出版，即我们知道的《野草在歌唱》（The Grass Is Singing），莱辛一举成名。莱辛一生共创作了50余部作品，在世界范围内产生了重大影响，被誉为继伍尔夫（Virginia Woolf）之后最伟大的女性作家，2007年获得诺贝尔文学奖。

莱辛是一位多产和富有创作力的作家，她的作品文类多样、题材丰富，有以非洲民族独立运动为题材的长篇小说，如《野草在歌唱》；有以女性困境和解放为题材的女性主义小说，如《金色笔记》（The Golden Notebook, 1962）；有以人类的危机为题材的科幻小说，如《南船星系中的老人星座：档案》（Canopus in Argos: Archives, 1979~1983）系列小说；还有以社会现实问题为题材的现实主义小说，如《好恐怖分子》（The Good Terrorist, 1985）。莱辛善于结合自己的经历，从女性的视角，用多种文类来思考和表达她所关注的问题：女性的困境、殖民主义、人性的阴暗、种族隔离。华裔女作家虹影曾这样评价莱辛：“多丽丝·莱辛是当代英国文坛上最重要的作家之一，她的作品广泛涉及殖民主义、女性主义、种族隔离等社会和政治热点问题，曾多次获得诺贝尔文学奖提名以及多个世界级文学奖项，她的作品思想深邃，极具挑战性。”诺奖委员会给莱辛的评语是：“她的作品堪称女性经验的史诗，用怀疑、热情和梦想的力量审视了一个分裂的文明。”

【内容提要】

《浮世畸零人》（Ben, in the World）发表于2000年，是《第五个孩子》（The Fifth Child, 1988）的续篇。《第五个孩子》讲述了主人公班（Ben）的童年，班由于基因变异而发生返祖现象，野蛮有力而富有攻击性，被父亲大卫送到“疗养院”，受尽了非人的待遇，后又被牵肠挂肚的母亲海蕊接回，家庭因班的归来再度陷入恐慌和怨恨。在《浮世畸零人》中，长大成人的班因受不了父亲和兄长的冷眼而离家出走，开始了四处漂泊的生活。他由于相貌怪异、不谙世故，处处受到人们的排斥、欺侮和利用。建筑工地的工人们殴打他并骗取他的工钱，詹士顿利用他运毒到尼斯，亚力带他到巴西拍摄电影，高拉克教授绑架他来做人体实验。但小说中也有爱和温情，毕格斯太太、丽妲和德蕾莎都把班视为自己的同类，对他进行照料和呵护，她们不仅给他提供食物和精神上的安慰，而且还在他被绑架到研究中心后全力营救，并带他去深山的洞穴中看壁画上的原始人。在小说的结尾，班跳下山谷自杀。选文中，德蕾莎和她的男朋友阿尔弗雷多一起去高拉克教授的研究中心救出被关在笼子中的班。

Ben, in the World(Excerpt)

Where was Ben? They stood at the edge of the trees, looking at the scattered1buildings and did not know where to go.Then Teresa heard it, a low rattling, bang, bang, bang, and a rattle2again.

“There he is,” said Teresa, “he’s there,” and she began running across the space of flat dust to the building.As they ran, the sound grew louder, the rattling bang.It was dark now.The light on this building was at the front,and they stole around to the back and saw windows.They were open.A foul3smell came out.First Alfredo and then Teresa climbed up over the sill4.A low light was burning on the ceiling.In layers of cages were monkeys, small and large, arranged so that the excrement5from the top cages must fall down on the animals below.A bank of rabbits, locked at the neck, had chemicals dripping into their eyes.A big dog, which had been cut open from the shoulder to the hip bone and then sewn up again, was lying moaning on the ground.From cages monkeys stretched out their hands and their human eyes begged for help.Teresa saw nothing of all this.She was looking at Ben, kneeling on the floor of his cage,bangbanging his head on the wire.He had not been drugged: Professor Stephen wanted him uncontaminated6.He was unclothed, this creature who had been clothed since he was born.In the corner of his cage was a pile of dung7.

“The alarm,” Teresa said to Alfredo, who began looking around for the wire,and at her voice Ben sat up and howled, his face lifted towards her.“Be quiet,Ben,” whispered Teresa.“We’re going to take you away.” His eyes—what was wrong with them? In the feeble8light they seemed like dark holes, but they were blanked out with terror and misery.“Ben, Ben, be quiet, you must be quiet.” He quietened but his breathing was like groaning.Alfredo had found the wire for the alarm and had cut it.Then he vomited: the smell, that smell—and it was so hot in here.

He began cutting a big hole in the wire of Ben’s cage, which was for a strong animal—thick wire.Teresa was looking at a cage where a white cat was lying stretched out, a mother cat.Wires led into her head from an instrument fastened to the wire of the cage.Four kittens9sucked at her: each had wires on its head.The cat looked at Teresa and the accusation in its eyes made her want to put her hands over her own eyes.There was a big hole in Ben’s cage.“Quiet, quiet, be quiet, Ben,” whispered Teresa, and put her arms around him to hold him.He was dirty and shaking, a poor helpless defeated creature who now—surprising them—jumped out of the window and disappeared into the darkness.He was running for the forest, and Teresa and Alfredo ran after him.“Stop, Ben! There are people, don’t go further, come here.” She and Alfredo moved cautiously10about under the trees, in the dark, and could hear nothing.Yet she knew Ben was there.“I’m going to sit down here, Ben.And Alfredo too.He’s a friend.Come here to me.And we’ll take you to Alfredo’s house and then we’ll go right away.”

A silence.Little forest noises.Behind, in the building they had left,monkeys cried, a terrible sound, from that hell which is multiplied all over the world, everywhere human beings make our civilization.“Ben, Ben, come here to me, Ben.” It was the smell that told them he was coming.“Will you take me to the people who are like me?” they heard.“Yes, yes, Ben, we will,” said Teresa, desperate with his desperation.He was there, by them, crouching11, trembling.“Now, come quietly, quietly, Ben.Don’t make a sound, Ben.”

It was all right in the forest, they were well hidden, but they had to cross an open space, taking the risk of being seen.Luckily most people were inside eating their evening meal.They could hear television sets, radios, voices.Alfredo said, “Now, run.” And Teresa, “Run fast, Ben.” The three ran, through the darkness cut by lights from the houses, to Alfredo’s room.There Teresa pushed Ben into the shower, washed him, ran water until it was clear around his feet, pulled him out, dried him, and put on the clean clothes she had brought.Alfredo found orange juice for him, and fruit.He wanted to drink, but not to eat.His eyes were on Teresa, imploring12her: like those monkeys’ eyes, she thought, though she had not taken them in at the time.

“Why are they allowed to do that?” she asked Alfredo.He was silent, and grim13, and—she could see—ashamed, and said, “It’s science.” Ben was not trembling now, but he found it hard to look at them, and sat crouching on his chair, fists dangling14, head poked15forward, eyes still painful with fear.“We are going to drive you down to Rio,” said Teresa.“Then tomorrow we are going on an airplane.” “To my people?” “Yes,” she said, helplessly, and did not dare even to look at Alfredo.What were they going to do?

【作品简评】在《浮世畸零人》中，主人公班是个基因发生变异的返祖人，受尽了人们的歧视、欺侮和利用。在西部流浪的时候，他遭到了少年团伙的围殴，在建筑工地做工的时候，他又被包工头和工友欺侮，骗去辛苦挣来的工钱。詹士顿利用他来运送毒品到法国，导演亚力诱骗他到巴西去拍摄一部像《金刚》一样的电影，在巴西期间，班又被绑架到研究中心进行活体实验。小说中也充满了温情：当班被少年团伙打得吐血的时候，一个在酒馆工作的女孩把他带到小酒馆去，帮他冲洗，给他东西吃；毕格斯太太为他提供食物和住所，还教他洗澡；德蕾莎在他被绑架后努力进行营救。有意思的是，小说中欺侮和利用班的大多是男性，而关怀和帮助班的则大多是女性，这似乎表明女性比男性更在乎别人的感受，更重视对他人，尤其是弱者和边缘人物的义务和关怀。另外，班热爱原始自然、厌恶现代文明，在某种程度上是原生自然的化身，他在研究中心的遭遇折射出男性对自然的压迫。在高拉克教授的研究中心里，动物受到了令人发指的虐待：狗被剖开又缝合，电线插进猫的头部，猴子“从牢笼里伸出手来”，用“充满人性的眼睛乞求着帮助”。班也被关在研究中心的笼子里，和其他用作实验的动物放在一起。高拉克教授的做法是人类中心主义的表现：他以科学为名，以造福人类为由，将自然置于人类的对立面，割裂人类与自然和其他物种的复杂关系，企图征服自然、用动物实验来促进科技进步，一切价值取向皆以人类为中心。在小说的结尾，班跳下悬崖，化作一缕烟，似乎表明了人类中心主义所造成的毁灭。

1.scatter v.分散；散布。如：Small villages scatter at the foot of the mountain.

2.rattle n.咔嗒声；嘎吱声。如：From the kitchen came a rattle of bowls and plates.

3.foul adj.恶臭的。如：He opened the window to let out the foul air.

4.sill n.窗台。如：The cat quickly jumped on the sill and ran away.

5.excrement n.粪便；排泄物。如：Her job as a nurse is mainly to analyze human excrement.

6.uncontaminated adj.未污染的。如：In some industrial cities, uncontaminated water resources are hard to find.

7.dung n.动物的粪便。如：In old times, peasants collect dung as fuel and fertilizer.

8.feeble adj.微弱的。如：He said something in a feeble voice and then passed out.

9.kitten n.小猫。如：Our kitten is shiningly brown and has soft paws.

10.cautiously adv.谨慎地。如：She just got her license and drove cautiously.

11.crouch v.蹲下；蜷缩。如：The tiger crouched behind the rock, ready to leap upon the antelope.

12.implore v.恳求；哀求。如：He implored Susie to give him another chance but she refused.

13.grim adj.严肃的。如：When little Anna saw her father’s grim face, she stopped crying.

14.dangle v.摇晃；悬垂。如：She sat on the deck, gazed upon the starry night and dangled her feet in the blue sea water.

15.poke v.捅；伸出。如：She should know better than to poke the poor animal with her umbrella.

【True or False】Read the excerpt and mark the following statements T (true)or F (false).

1.In the cages, cats were locked and had chemicals dripping into their eyes.____

2.When Teresa saw Ben in the cage, she banged her head on the wire.____

3.Ben was so terrified and miserable that his eyes looked like a pair of dark holes.____

4.Ben rushed to the forest and refused to come back to Teresa and Alfredo.____

4.Teresa and Alfredo felt what the people in the center did was wrong and horrible.____

【Matching】Match the following words with their English definitions.

1.scatter ____ a.very careful

2.feeble ____ b.to move in different directions

3.contaminated ____ c.to beg, to ask sb.to do sth.

4.cautious ____ d.very weak, not strong

5.implore ____ e.polluted, not pure or innocent

【Cloze】Read the passage and fill in the blanks with the words given to you.Change the form where necessary.

attention, explore, appear, without, include, interview, announce, award, prize, raise

In 2007, Lessing was 1 the Nobel Prize in Literature.She received the prize at the age of 88, making her the oldest winner of the literature prize at the time of the award.Lessing was out shopping for groceries when the 2 came, arriving home to tell reporters who had gathered there, “Oh Christ!” She told reporters outside her home, “I’ve won all the 3 in Europe, every bloody one, so I’m delighted to win them all.It’s a royal flush.” She titled her Nobel Lecture On Not Winning the Nobel Prize and used it to draw 4 to global inequality of opportunity, and to 5 changing attitudes to storytelling and literature.The lecture was later published in a limited edition to 6 money for children made vulnerable by AIDS.In a 2008 7 for the BBC’s Front Row, she stated that increased media interest after the award had left her 8 time or energy for writing.Her final book, Alfred and Emily, 9 in 2008.A 2010 BBC documentary titled Useful Idiots listed among “useful idiots” of Joseph Stalin several prominent British writers, 10 Lessing.

【Translation】Put the following sentences into proper English.

1.多丽丝•莱辛是一个很有吸引力的作家，她有智慧、有热情，敢于为自己的信仰而战斗。

2.莱辛的《野草在歌唱》探讨了殖民地时期南非的种族歧视和女性的困境。

3.《金色笔记》由五本笔记构成，讲述了安娜的生活，尤其是她碎片化的意识。

4.班离家出走后过着流浪的生活，他四处漂泊，不断地受人欺侮和利用。

5.2007年，瑞典皇家科学院将诺贝尔文学奖授予莱辛，认为“她的作品堪称女性经验的史诗，用怀疑、热情和梦想的力量审视了一个分裂的文明”。

【Writing】Dust storms pose an environmental threat to northern China and have aroused the deep concern of the public.Please write an essay titled “Dust Storms” to introduce dust storms in northern China.

【Culture Bridge】All the following sentences are English translations of the Chinese classic essay The First Memorial to the King before Setting off for War (《前出师表》).Read them and identify the original Chinese text.

1.It is injudicious that Your Majesty should unduly humble yourself, and use metaphors with distorted meanings, lest you should block the way of sincere admonition.

2.There should be neither prejudice nor partiality in Your Majesty’s attitude towards the officials inside and outside the court for fear that different laws be put into practice.

3.To be close to the virtuous and able officials and keep away from the vile and mean persons.That was the reason the Western Han Dynasty was prosperous.

4.I managed to survive in times of turbulence and had no intention of seeking fame and position from princes.

5.I owe this to the late king and wish to demonstrate my loyalty to Your Majesty.

【Answers】

【True or False】1.F 2.F 3.T 4.F 5.T 【Matching】1.b 2.d 3.e 4.a 5.c 【Cloze】1.awarded 2.announcement 3.prizes 4.attention 5.explore 6.raise 7.interview 8.without 9.appeared 10.including 【Translation】1.Doris Lessing was a very attractive writer.She had wisdom, passion and dared to fight for her belief.2.Lessing’s The Grass Is Singing explores racial discrimination and the plight of women in South Africa during its colonial rule.3.The Golden Notebook, consisting of 5 notebooks, relates the life of Anna, particularly her fragmented consciousness.4.After running away from home, Ben lives a vagrant life and is constantly abused and taken advantage of.5.In 2007, the Swedish Academy awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to Doris Lessing and described her as “that epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny.” 【Writing】Dust storms are becoming a great concern for both the public and the government in recent years.Every spring, overwhelming sands and dust sweep the northern part of China, blocking out the sky and bringing much inconvenience to people’s life and work.In some regions, sandstorms have seriously affected people’s health and caused considerable property damage.Dust storms largely originate from human activities.On the one hand, the release of too much greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide in particular, results in greenhouse effect, which, in turn, leads to global warming.A warmer climate makes northern China where there is insufficient precipitation drier.On the other hand, overgrazing, deforestation and strip mining all leave the land unprotected.When the wind blows, it blows away topsoil and loose soil.Dust storms are another punishment that nature gives to mankind.We must be alert to this ecological alarm.We should not only take effective measures to stop dust storms but also draw a lesson from it.We should not develop economy at the cost of natural environment.【Culture Bridge】1.不宜妄自菲薄，引喻失义，以塞忠谏之路也。2.不宜偏私，使内外异法也。3.亲贤臣，远小人，此先汉所以兴隆也。4.苟全性命于乱世，不求闻达于诸侯。5.此臣所以报先帝而忠陛下之职分也。