“那幽魂很快便只希望被记得”

Connie和她的父亲在慢慢接受失去亲人之痛的同时，二人都察觉到逝者的幽魂很快便只希望能被记得。...

赞美特雷弗的语言



昨天读了特雷弗在《纽约客》上发的一个短篇《孩子们》（The Children）。之前和之后都读过一些他的短篇，没什么大的触动，很温和的气质，和托宾有点像。但《孩子们》的语言，不知道为什么，很让人动容。

《孩子们》讲的主要是一个叫Connie的女孩，她的母亲去世了。两年后父亲决定和女孩好友的母亲（“一个被前夫抛弃的女人”）结婚，临近婚礼了，女孩却突然对一直相处融洽的继母一家产生了抵触和排斥，“像一个寂寞执拗的魂灵追随在父亲身边”。最后父亲和继母理解了女孩，决定推迟结婚。因为他们也明白，女孩这么做是出于对生母的爱与尊重。

特雷弗的谋篇布局不动声色又非常精当。故事第一句，便讲女孩不愿从棺前离开。这预示了她会是最后一个放手的。

再婚波澜的伏笔也早已埋好。宗教的障碍、舆论的障碍随着时代更迭已经不复存在，因此成人之间认为一切顺遂，直到小女孩以沉默的举动表达了她未能说出口的意见。故事的中段都是从成人的角度分析再婚的障碍，没有提及Connie，文本的忽略实际上暗合了成人对Connie感受及意见的忽略。

母亲死后这两年的文本速度极快，一个仅仅要求被记住的鬼魂和父亲再婚的决定出现在同一个段落。有淡淡的哀伤和反讽意味。作者对这两个大人的态度也是如此：带了点理解，又带了点嘲讽。两年后再婚，有点草率，但也不离谱。有点粗心，但也不至于算大错。所有最后的结尾也是乐观的：两个成人尊重了孩子的意见，决定等待。温柔扑面而来，字里行间都有雨意。想起特雷弗在《巴黎评论》里说过：“我并不相信黑与白；我相信灰色的阴影和朦胧。”

的的确确是这样的。

最美的其实是他的文字，第一次让我有想抄写背诵的冲动，但后来再读他的其他短篇，也能找到类似的惊艳，但却没有这么高的频率，略略遗憾。

试着把抄下的句子译成了中文。

Her mother's dying, and the death itself, had been orderly and anticipated. Connie had known for months that it would come, for weeks that she would throw her scarf ring onto the coffin at the very last minute.

她母亲快死了，而死这件事本身，非常秩序井然、在意料之内。数月以来Connie都知道它终会来的，几周以来她都知道在最后的一刻，她要把她的丝巾指环扔到棺材里去。

He himself had been the source of strength at first and had seen her through that time, before she began to give back what he had given her. She had adored her mother.

一开始是他给了Connie力量，守护她度过这段时间，后来她开始回馈他给予的力量。她那么崇拜她的母亲。

Connie and her father, while slowly coming to terms with the loss they had suffered, shared the awareness of a ghost that fleetingly demanded no more than to be remembered.

Connie和她的父亲在慢慢接受失去亲人之痛的同时，二人都察觉到逝者的幽魂很快便只希望能被记得。

Life continuing could not fold away what had happened, but it offered something, blurring the drama of death's immediacy.

生活继续向前，尽管不能将已经发生的事收纳，却提供了别的东西，模糊了死亡那猝然的冲击。

…again half expecting to see the man who had left her, wanting him to be there, wanting him to know that she was loved again, that she had survived the indignity he had so casually subjected her to, that she was happy.

隐隐期待看见那个抛弃她的男人，希望他在这里，希望他知道她又有人爱了，知道她已经捱过了他如此草率地施加于她的羞辱，知道她现在很快乐。

Connie watched the furniture being unloaded.

Connie看着家具被一一放下。

…was it in panic that the depths of trust were tapped? Was it in panic that the widowed and the rejected protected what they'd been unable to protect before?

是出于恐惧，他们才得以探入信任的深处么？是出于恐惧，丧偶的和被抛弃的保护了他们曾经没能保护住的么？

Time would gather up the ends, and see to it that his daughter's honoring of a memory was love that mattered also, and even mattered more.

时间会收拾好所有头绪，它会确保他的女儿对一段记忆的捍卫来自爱，而爱同样重要，甚至更为珍贵。

点击“阅读原文”可阅读洒家为地平线翻译的第二篇非虚构作品啦啦啦：《我父亲的时尚意见》

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