对你好,就像我并不知道--重读知更鸟

 

对你好,就像我并不知道,我真正忘掉,你真正得到。x0a如同天地之玄黄,宇宙之洪荒,日月盈与昃,辰宿列与张。...

对你好,就像我并不知道
兰卿娘跟你读 To Kill A Mockingbird


文/兰卿娘   编/张小红

每次读完书要写文章,我好像就变成一个即将与情人约会的女子,神色激动、眼中流光。我要专心致志,别的事情不能来干扰我,于是我跑来跑去,先是把厨房洗刷收拾好,坐下来之后想到衣服还在洗衣机里,又去阳台把衣服晾好。好容易真正坐定,想起文章中我想引用的一段文字已经不能记全,那只言片语云遮雾绕,远远地引诱着我,我实在按捺不住,又起身去几个书箱里翻腾,最后总算找到我想要的书,翻到想看的那一页,读着想重温的那段文字,顿觉口齿生香、通体舒泰。再欣欣然回到书桌前,却发现我的情人大概等了太久,他已经走了。他岂不知,我是出于仪式般的重视,才姗姗来迟的么?
我回头再次重读小说中的某些片段,所有的感觉渐渐浮出水面,汇成一句最质朴的话:Atticus, you are amazing. Thank you.

我找到的是《菜根谭》中这样一段话:

「施恩者,内不见己,外不见人,则斗粟可当万钟之惠;利物者,计己之施,责人之报,虽百镒难成一文之功。」

心中柔柔地漾起涟漪,有一种教养,叫“对你好,就像我并不知道”。我真正忘掉,你真正得到。

Atticus 便是这样的人。

Atticus 是 To Kill A Mockingbird 的主人公,两个小孩 Jem 和 Scout 的父亲,小说从小女孩 Scout 的视角进行叙事。小说本身是赞扬 Atticus 作为一个白人律师出面为黑人辩护的正义与担当,而我看到的更多的是 Atticus 的温暖与教养,作为一个父亲,他用自己的言行,给了孩子最宝贵的礼物。

Atticus 对两个孩子很宽容,任由他们随天性发展,孩子们笑闹奔跑、无忧无虑,阿拉巴马州的夏天炎热而散漫。而在邻居眼里,这两个孩子太野了些,尤其是 Scout 这个女孩,成天跟着大她4岁的哥哥满院子莽撞,时而说脏话,不像女孩子的样子。Atticus 这样说:

When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness’ sake. But don’t make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles’ em. Bad language is a stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn they are not attracting attention with it. Hotheadedness isn’t. Scout’s got to learn to keep her head and learn soon, with what’s in store for her these next few months. She’s coming along, though. Jem’s getting older and she follows his example a good bit now.

堵不如疏。让孩子随天性发展,孩子成长的每个阶段都自有其特点,有好有坏,父母无须过分焦虑或干涉,只需要在适当的时候进行指引,有时不妨用同龄人去影响带动,孩子容易跟着学。

女孩 Scout 两岁时母亲便去世,Atticus 也失去了妻子,他的怀表中一直藏有妻子的照片,这个慧而不露的男人,承担着双亲的角色。表面看来,他什么也没做,黑人女仆 Calpurnia 照顾两个孩子的起居,Atticus 平时忙于法律案件,晚上才回来与孩子们相处。而实际上,做好自己岂不就是对孩子最大的教育么?晚上 Atticus 有专门看报纸的时间,孩子会爬到他的膝头问他问题,Atticus 总是耐心地解答,入睡前会陪孩子读书。就在他接了这个为黑人辩护的棘手案件时,两个孩子生活中学校中都受到不少敌意和辱骂,1932年大萧条中的美国, 种族歧视依然相当严重,为黑人辩护,Atticus 自然能想象到结局——很可能不但无法为黑人被告洗清冤屈,还会将自己拖入被白人仇视的漩涡。他为什么还是接了这个案子呢?不仅是因为法官 Taylor 亲自找他,还因为他知道他此时的态度对孩子意味着什么:

But do you think I could face my children otherwise? You know what’s going to happen as well as I do, Jack, and I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease. Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don’t pretend to understand...I just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening to the town. I hope they trust me enough...Jean Louise? Go to bed.(Jean Louise即Scout)

Atticus 对弟弟 Jack 说这段话的时候,知道女儿 Scout 在一角偷听,他其实就是说给女儿听的,但是他假装不知道,并且把关键的话讲完之后打断,装作突然发现女儿的样子,叫她回房间睡觉。一切都很自然,不露声色,他再也不提起,然而天边隐隐的春雷滚滚,将在女儿心中下起沛雨甘霖。

对你好,就像我并不知道,就像自然而然的,风来云动,水生草长。

Maycomb’s usual disease,Atticus 提到这个词。这个小镇有一样顽疾——歧视与偏见,不只是对黑人的歧视,还有对一切“行为怪异”之人的偏见。Mrs. Dubose 尤其厌恶黑人,她年老多病,时而需要注射吗啡缓解病痛,天气好的时候就坐在屋前的椅子上,对经过的 Atticus 或者两个孩子讽刺谩骂。小男孩 Jem 时不时被惹怒,Atticus说:

Easy does it, son. She’s an old lady and she’s ill. You just hold your head high and be a gentleman. Whatever she says to you, it’s your job not to let her make you mad.

Scout 作为一个故事的参与者兼旁观的叙述者,她这么描述她的父亲:

Jem would say she must not be very sick, she hollered so. When the three of us came to her house, Atticus would sweep off his hat, wave gallantly to her and say, “Good evening, Mrs. Dubose! You look like a picture this evening.”

I never heard Atticus say like a picture of what. He would tell her the courthouse news, and would say he hoped with all his heart she’d have a good day tomorrow. He would return his hat to his head, swing me to his shoulders in her very presence, and we would go home in the twilight. It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.

我看到这里的时候非常感动,礼貌地对一个老太太说话,恭敬地接住她的坏脾气,真诚地对她不持黑白、不评是非,在女儿看来,这样的父亲真是勇敢。有一天小男孩 Jem 终于没有忍住对 Mrs. Dubose 的愤怒,偷偷毁了她院子里的白茶花,其中有她最爱的一株。Atticus 让儿子自己前去道歉并做相应的补偿,即使 Jem 非常害怕老太太的那个黑暗的小房间,Atticus 仍然非常坚定。老太太要求 Jem 和 Scout 每天都去她床前为她读书,并且故意加长读书的时间。在老太太去世之后,Atticus 对儿子说了这么一段对话:

She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody. Jem, when you’re sick as she was, it’s all right to take anything to make it easier.

她活在这个世界上,不想负债于任何一个人任何一件事,她谩骂、羞辱,她故意让 Jem 每天读书给她听,故意延长闹钟时间,诅咒 Jem 将来会入狱,而 Atticus 将不得不操心去保释儿子。甚至在死后交出白茶花,让 Jem 知道其实她最爱的那株白茶花根本没有被毁掉,她只不过是借机惩罚他而已。她不欠这个世界,世界也不欠她。

Jem 当然非常生气,而 Atticus 搂住气得跳脚的儿子,说:

“Sh-h, I think that was her way of telling you--everything is all right now, Jem, everything’s all right. You know, she was a great lady.”

“A lady?” Jem raised his head. His face was scarlet. “After all those things she said about you, a lady?”

“She was. She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe...son, I told you that if you hadn’t lost your head I’d have made you go read to her. I want you to see something about her—I want you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew.”

勇气的真正意思是说,在你开始做一件事之前你就知道你会失败,但你依然选择开始,并且坚持做完了。这个老太太有她自己的想法,也许她的想法和我的很不一样,但是她选择按照自己的意愿完成自己的生活,并且坚持到生命尽头,她赢了,她是我见过的最勇敢的人。

我根据我自己的解读转述 Atticus 的以上的这段话,每一个字都有如醍醐灌顶。世界上形形色色这么多人,林林总总这么多事,我们这么有限的时间和经历,自然无法理解所有的人和事,但你知道吗——

You never really knew a man until you stood in his shoes and walked around in them.

这是 Atticus 经常对孩子们说的一句话。是呢,除非你成为别人——出生在他的家庭,上他上过的学校,犯他犯过的错误,交他交过的朋友,听他听过的歌,读过他读的诗,除非——除非你真正活他活过的人生,不然你永远无法真正了解那个人。你不能全部了解他,你只能尊重他,让他去走自己的路,过自己的生活。也许他的想法和你不一样,但他有权利按照自己的意愿去生活,不被你的任何意见打扰。

Atticus 就是这么做的。每一天他经过 Mrs. Dubose 的家,不管屋檐下晒太阳的老太太有什么恶言怨气,Atticus 总是微笑地向她打招呼,他脱下帽子扣在胸前,真诚地说:杜博太太,您今天真像一幅画儿啊。一切都这么自然,没有痕迹,事前不必准备,事后无须再想。

对你好,就像我并不知道,就像自然而然的,日出雨霁,月落乌啼。

对你最大的好,岂不是让你好好过自己的生活?

有多少人出于自身的顽固或偏见而对他人的言行津津乐道呢?别人的想法或行为跟我不一样,难道这就给了我特别的优势,以至于我可以高高在上地对其他人评头论足吗?Boo Radley 是 Scout 家的老邻居,但是他从来不肯踏出他的屋子一步,很少有人真正见过他,他似乎就是喜欢躲在屋子里,哪里也不去,谁也不要见。这样的怪癖,让这个小镇飞短流长,也让 Jem 和 Scout 兄妹对这个屋子既好奇又害怕,于是他们做了好些调皮的事情去探究Boo的家,包括用钓鱼竿挂上字条,试着从窗户里递进那个一直蒙着窗帘的屋子。 Atticus 发现之后,重重地批评他们:

Son, I’m going to tell you something and tell you one time: stop tormenting that man. What Mr. Radley did was his own business. If he wanted to come out, he would. If he wanted to stay inside his own house he had the right to stay inside free from the attentions of inquisitive children, which was a mild term for the likes of us. How would we like it if Atticus barged in on us without knocking, when we are in our rooms at night? We were, in effect, doing the same thing to Mr. Radley. What Mr. Radley did might seem peculiar to us, but it did not seem peculiar to him. Furthermore, had it never occurred to us that the civil way to communicate with another being was by the front door instead of a side window?

Boo 直到小说最后才露面,并且只出现了一次。我看完书之后找出电影来看,电影里的演员生动地再现了Boo本来的样子——因为很少见光,他皮肤发白,喜欢站在暗处,因为怕生,他的举止都是怯怯的。看到电影里这个活生生的人物形象,我的心灵又一次受到震撼,这样的一个人,在自己厚厚的窗帘后面看到了林子里的罪恶,他要花多少勇气才能走出自己的那个屋子,到林中施出救援之手。Atticus 说,不要折磨这个人了,他喜欢出来就出来,喜欢呆在屋里就呆在屋里,也许他的行为对我们来说很古怪,但对他自己来说一点也不古怪,那就是他自然的生活方式。Atticus其实知道一些Boo的事,但他从来不去问,也从来不谈论。他和这个看不见的邻居相处,如同这个邻居原本就看不见一样。

对你好,就像我并不知道,自然而然的,如同天地之玄黄,宇宙之洪荒,日月盈与昃,辰宿列与张。就像我什么也没有做,就像根本也不需要回报。我只是让你做你自己的事情,我只是把你活着的自由归还给你。

Scout 只见了 Boo 一次,只跟他说了几句话。她送 Boo 送回那个黑黑的屋子,一路上两个人挽着,彼此也没有说话,她看他走进屋子关上门,从此再也没有见过他。可是她对 Atticus 说,He was real nice.  Atticus 这么回答:Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.

Most people are nice, when you finally see them. 孩子心中是不是渐渐长出了爱的藤曼呢?一个父亲能做的最伟大的事,或许并不是在孩子心中种植善良,而是种植信仰。这种信仰是说,我不仅去除了对种族的歧视,并且超越了对人类的偏见。原来这个世界上会有很多不同的人,很多奇怪的事,但是没关系,我知道我不能全部地了解你,我选择尊重你。

有朋友告诉我,这本书被称作西方的“第二本《圣经》”。2006年,大英图书馆将它选为“有生必读书”头号种子;《圣经》紧随其后,名列第二。

About the Author

Nelle Harper Lee (1926-2016) was an American novelist widely known for her 1960 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, which deals with the irrationality of adult attitudes towards race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s, as seen through the eyes of two children. The novel was inspired by the racist attitudes she observed as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. Lee published only this single book for half a century till her second book Go Set A Watchman came out this year.

红爷说

对你好,就像我并不知道。

如同天地之玄黄,宇宙之洪荒,日月盈与昃,辰宿列与张。

就像我什么也没有做,就像根本也不需要回报。

悲伤就在把 is 改成 was 的那一个瞬间席卷而来,永远无法估量语言可以带给灵魂的震撼,只好庆幸这世间有如此美妙,可以让我们信仰,让我们展望。

兰卿娘,热爱文学的英语教师。

古诗唱:

风风雨雨寒寒暖暖 处处寻寻觅觅

莺莺燕燕花花叶叶 卿卿暮暮朝朝

英诗吟:

To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And eternity in an hour

她说:

原来中西相通,古今一物。朝暮之间,一粒沙里折射着怎样的世界?风雨之中,半瓣花上透视出怎样的人情?一起伸开手掌吧,看看这无穷无极之中,刹那如何成就永恒。

系列书评:

爱恨一转眼,夜色几千年--读《夜色温柔》

从混沌滚滚向前--读盖茨比

那个孩子 那条大河--读哈克贝利·费恩

给思考的大脑一个空间---读西奥多·德莱塞

在奔跑的秋色中回到从前---读汤姆·索亚

同这条狗,观一场旷世野恋---读杰克·伦敦

无花果树在日记中生长,繁茂---读安妮

兰卿娘跟你读《人生的枷锁》

兰卿娘跟你读《紫色》

娱乐而进步

打造一份新的英文杂志

爷送

你读

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