The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo选读

张蕊

Pre-reading:

A 24?year?old computer hacker with the dragon tattoo, Lisbeth Salander, supports herself by doing deep background investigations for Dragan Armansky, who, in turn, worries the anorexic?looking(患厌食症的) girl is “the perfect victim for anyone who wished her ill.” But Salander possesses the inner strength of a determined survivor. She looks down upon the users and abusers of this world. She wont hesitate to exact her own unique brand of retribution(报应) against small?potatoes bullies(恃强欺弱者), sick predators(食肉动物), and corrupt magnates(巨头) alike. The issue in this novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is that of shocking violence primarily against women but not excluding(排除) men.

The following extracts(节选) from the original article are Lisbeth Salanders appearance descriptions which shows her strong inner world and unique personality.

阅读难度：★★★☆☆字数：671字建议阅读时间：10分钟

Armanskys star researcher was a pale, anorexic(患厌食症的人) young woman who had hair as short as a small wire, and a pierced(穿刺的) nose and eyebrows. She had a wasp(黄蜂) tattoo(纹身) about an inch long on her neck, a tattooed circle around her left arm and another around her left ankle. On those occasions when she had been wearing a tank top, Armansky also saw that she had a dragon tattoo on her left shoulder blade. She was a natural redhead, but she dyed her hair black. She looked as though she had just emerged from a week?long orgy(狂欢) with a gang of hard rockers.

She did not in fact have an eating disorder, Armansky was sure of that. On the contrary, she seemed to consume every kind of junk food. She had simply been born thin, with slender bones that made her look girlish and fine?limbed with small hands, narrow wrists, and childlike breasts. She was twenty?four, but she sometimes looked fourteen.

She had a wide mouth, a small nose, and high cheekbones that gave her an almost Asian look. Her movements were quick and spidery, and when she was working at the computer her fingers flew over the keys. Her extreme slenderness would have made a career in modeling impossible, but with the right make?up her face could have put her on any billboard in the world. Sometimes she wore black lipstick, and in spite of the tattoos and the pierced nose and eyebrows she was... well... attractive. It couldnt be explained.

The fact that Salander worked for Dragan Armansky at all was astonishing. She was not the sort of woman with whom he would normally come into contact.

She had been hired as an odd?job woman. Holger Palmgren, a semi?retired lawyer who looked after old J. F. Miltons personal affairs, had told Armansky that this Lisbeth Salander was a quick?witted girl with “a rather trying attitude.” Palmgren had appealed to him to give her a chance, which Armansky had, against his better judgment, promised to do. Palmgren was the type of man who would only take “no” as an encouragement to redouble his efforts, so it was easier to say “yes” right away. Armansky knew that Palmgren devoted himself to troubled kids and other social misfits, but he did have good judgment.

He had regretted his decision to hire the girl the moment he met her. She did not just seem difficult—in his eyes she was the very quintessence(典型) of difficulty. She had dropped out of school and had no sort of higher education.

The first few months she had worked full time, well, almost full time. She turned up at the office now and then. She made coffee, went to the post office, and took care of the copying, but conventional office hours or work routines were boresome to her. On the other hand, she had a talent for irritating(激怒) the other employees. She became known as “the girl with two brain cells”—one for breathing and one for standing up. She never talked about herself. Colleagues who tried to talk to her seldom got a response and soon gave up. Her attitude encouraged neither trust nor friendship, and she quickly became an outsider wandering the corridors of Milton like a stray cat. She was generally considered a hopeless case.

After a month of nothing but trouble, Armansky sent for her, fully intending to let her go. She listened to his catalogue(目录册) of her offences without objection and without even raising an eyebrow. She did not have the “right attitude,” he concluded, and was about to tell her that it would probably be a good idea if she looked for employment with another firm that could make better use of her skills. Only then did she interrupt him.

“You know, if you just want an office serf you can get one from the temp agency. I can handle anything and anyone you want, and if you dont have any better use for me than sorting post, then youre an idiot.”

原著简介

金融记者布隆维斯特是《千禧年》杂志发行人，一向以揭发企业丑闻为职志，却因一篇报道而获诽谤罪，为了保全杂志社，他主动辞职。不久大企业家亨利·范耶尔开天价邀其为他撰写家族史。但亨利真正的目的是要布隆维斯特私下调查范耶尔家族一件年代久远的海莉·乌莉卡·范耶尔失踪悬案。于是失业且面临财务危机的布隆维斯特接受了这一请托。调查中，布隆维特斯认识了阿曼斯基负责的米尔顿公共安保公司里矮小瘦弱的萨兰德，她看起来像个问题少女，但却是顶尖级的骇客，对电脑的掌控出神入化，有了她的协助，布隆威斯特的工作取得了突破性的进展，他发现了隐藏在一个光鲜亮丽的显赫家族背后令人毛骨悚然的秘密：一连串女性奸杀案的谜底……

《龙纹身女孩》极其后续两部构成的“千禧年三部曲”系列：“一本让欧洲人上瘾的完美小说，三年內全欧狂销800万本！”，“在瑞典，平均每3人就拥有1本”，“在法国，每4部车里就可以找到1人拥有,在英美，每个读了本书的人都为之疯狂”，全球已售出34国版权。

作者对萨兰德怪异性格的呈现是多个角度的，她不羁又脆弱，人生中目睹和经历的人性无尽的黑暗，在黑暗中，她也向黑暗的一面“进化”，带着不堪的人生经历，本能的以阴暗人性的表现回击这个世界，本文节选的部分对女主角的外表描述与其内心强大的独行侠的特质形成鲜明的对比。

2006年《龙纹身女孩》荣获北欧犯罪小说协会最佳犯罪小说“玻璃钥匙”奖

2008年《龙纹身女孩》荣获ITV3 犯罪惊悚奖、年度国际作家奖

2008年《龙纹身女孩》荣获南非“Exclusive Books Boeke Prize”

2009年《龙纹身女孩》荣获英国银河图书奖

2009年《龙纹身女孩》荣获安东尼奖，最佳首作奖

2010年荣获USA Todays Author of the Year

2011年《龙纹身女孩》荣获美国奥斯卡奖

阅读思考

1. Why did the author of the novel describe the main character Salander as an anorexic?looking girl instead of a good?looking one?

2. What kind of character can you see from the words in the end of the passage?

语法指津

1. Her extreme slenderness would have made a career in modeling impossible, but with the right make?up her face could have put her on any billboard in the world. 由于她骨瘦如柴，想当模特儿应该不可能，但倘若上妆得宜，那张脸倒是上得了全世界任何广告牌。

这是并列句。转折连词but连接两个句子，前一个句子的谓语“would have made a career...”表示“本应该干一番事业，但是没有干……”，而后面的谓语“could have put her...”表示“本来能做而未做的事情”。

例如：I dont blame you. I would have done the same. 我不怪你，我也会这样做的。

She could have been seriously injured. 她本来可能伤得很重。

2. Holger Palmgren, a semi?retired lawyer who looked after old J. F. Miltons personal affairs, had told Armansky that this Lisbeth Salander was a quick?witted girl with “a rather trying attitude.” 专门为老约翰·弗雷德里克·米尔顿处理私人事务的半退休律师霍尔格·潘格兰告诉阿曼斯基，说这个萨兰德虽然“态度大有问题”，却十分机灵。

这是复合句。a semi?retired lawyer是Holger Palmgren同位语，后面的who looked after old J. F. Miltons personal affairs是定语从句。我们来看看定语从句和同位语从句的区别：同位语从句属于名词性从句，大多由从属连词that引导，常常跟在fact, idea, opinion, news, hope, belief等名词后面，用来解释或说明这些名词的具体含义或内容，在逻辑上表现为同位关系。定语从句修饰先行词，具有形容词的功能，可以从下面两点辨析：

1） 从先行词来看。同位语从句与名词之间在逻辑上是“主语＋be＋表语”的关系。该名词是需要做特殊说明的抽象名词。

例如：They were delighted at the news that their team had won. 当听到他们的球队赢了的消息时，他们欣喜若狂。

2） 从引导词来看。引导词that在同位语从句中是连词，只起连接作用，无具体词义，that不可省略；that在定语从句中是关系代词，它在从句中充当一定成分：主语或宾语，有具体词意，作宾语时还可以省略。试比较：

① The factory(that)we visited yesterday is a chemical one. 我们昨天参观的那家工厂是化工厂。(that在从句中作宾语，所以此句是宾语从句)

② The news that he will leave for Shanghai is true. 他将要去上海的消息是真的。(that只起连接从句的作用，所以此句是同谓语从句)

3. Palmgren had appealed to him to give her a chance, which Armansky had, against his better judgment, promised to do. 潘格兰恳请他给她一次机会，阿曼斯基勉强答应了。

这是个主从复合句。Which引导的定语从句修饰前面整个句子。句中appeal to“向……呼吁，恳求；诉诸；求助于”， appeal for “恳切请求，恳求”， appeal to... for... “因……向……求助”。

例如：The company is appealing to everyone to save power and water. 公司正呼吁大家节约水电。

He appealed for mercy. 他乞求怜悯。

When you are in trouble, do you appeal to your friends or parents for help? 当你有麻烦的时候，你是求助于朋友还是父母？

4. I can handle anything and anyone you want, and if you dont have any better use for me than sorting post, then youre a fool. 其实如果你只想找个办事奴才，去人力派遣公司找就有了。我可以替你处理任何事、应付任何人，如果你只会叫我分发邮件，那你就是个笨蛋。

这是个并列复合句。并列连词and前是个简单句，后面是带有条件状语从句的复合句。

5. Only then did she interrupt him. 她却在此时打断了他。

这是倒装句。副词only置于句首强调方式状语、条件状语、地点状语、时间状语时，主句要部分倒装。only所强调的状语从句不倒装，只对主句倒装。

例如：Only in a big city was it possible to buy a new wheelchair like that. 只有在大城市里才能买到那样的新轮椅。

Only when we had studied the data again did we realize that there was a mistake. 只有当我们再次研究了这些数据的时候，我们才意识到出了一个错。

注意：置于句首的only所修饰的不是状语时，该句不用倒装。

例如：Only some of the children passed the examination. 只有几个孩子通过了考试。