Creative Writing

赏析/夏辉

埃特加·凯雷特

埃特加·凯雷特（Etgar Keret），1967年出生于以色列的拉马干，父母均为纳粹大屠杀幸存者。1992年，他出版了第一部短篇小说集《管道》（Pipelines）。1994年，他的第二部短篇小说集《消失的基辛格》（Missing Kissinger）获得广泛关注。从1998年起，他的作品开始被翻译成英文。2004年，他的英文版短篇小说集《想做上帝的巴士司机》（The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God & Other Stories）出版。2006年，凯雷特当选为以色列“文化杰出基金”优秀艺术家。2007年，他和妻子合作导演的首部电影《水母》（Jellyfish）获戛纳电影节金棕榈最佳处女作奖。凯雷特喜欢在作品中使用日常语言、方言、俗语，文风简练，他对20世纪90年代以来以色列短篇小说的繁荣有很大贡献。短篇小说《创意写作》（Creative Writing）收录在凯雷特2012年出版的短篇小说集《突然，响起一阵敲门声》（Suddenly， a Knock on the Door）中。

Excerpts1）

The first story Maya wrote was about a world in which people split themselves in two instead of reproducing. In that world， every person could， at any given moment， turn into two beings， each half his/her age. Some chose to do this when they were young； for instance， an eighteen-year-old might split into two nine-year-olds. Others would wait until theyd established themselves professionally and financially and go for it only in middle age. The heroine of Mayas story was splitless. She had reached the age of eighty and， despite all the social pressure， insisted on not splitting. At the end of the story， she died.

It was a good story， except for the ending. There was something depressing about that part， Aviad2） thought. Depressing and predictable. But in the writing workshop she had signed up for， Maya actually got a lot of compliments on the ending. The instructor3）， who was supposed to be this well-known writer， even though Aviad had never heard of him， told her that there was something soul-piercing4） about the banality5） of the ending， or some other piece of crap6）. Aviad saw how happy that compliment made Maya. She was very excited when she told him about it. She recited what the writer had said to her the way people recite a verse from the Bible. And Aviad， who had originally tried to suggest a different ending， backpedaled7） and said that it was all a matter of taste and that he really didnt understand much about it.

It had been her mothers idea that she should go to a creative writing workshop. Shed said that a friends daughter had attended one and enjoyed it very much. Aviad also thought it would be good for Maya to get out more， to do something with herself. He could always bury himself in work， but since the miscarriage8）， she never left the house. Whenever he came home he found her in the living room， sitting up straight on the couch. Not reading， not watching TV， not even crying. When Maya hesitated about the course， Aviad knew how to persuade her. “Go once， give it a try，” he said， “the way a kid goes to day camp.” Later he realized that it had been a little insensitive of him to use a child as an example after what theyd been through two months before. But Maya actually smiled and said that day camp might be just what she needed.

The second story she wrote was about a world in which you could see only the people you loved. The protagonist9） was a married man in love with his wife. One day， his wife walked right into him in the hallway and the glass he was holding fell and shattered on the floor. A few days later， she sat down on him as he was dozing in an armchair. Both times， she wriggled out of it10） with an excuse： shed had something else on her mind； she hadnt been looking when she sat down. But the husband started to suspect that she didnt love him anymore. To test his theory， he decided to do something drastic11）： he shaved off the left side of his mustache. He came home with half a mustache， clutching a bouquet of anemones12）. His wife thanked him for the flowers and smiled. He could sense her groping the air as she tried to give him a kiss. Maya called the story “Half a Mustache，” and told Aviad that when she had read it aloud in the workshop， some people cried. Aviad said， “Wow，” and kissed her on the forehead. That night， they fought about some stupid little thing. Shed forgotten to pass on a message or something like that， and he yelled at her. He was to blame， and in the end he apologized. “I had a hellish day at work，” he said， and he stroked her leg， trying to make up for his outburst， “Do you forgive me？” She forgave him.

Her third story started out funny. It was about a pregnant woman who gave birth to a cat. The hero of the story was the husband， who suspected that the cat wasnt his. A fat ginger13） tomcat14） that slept on the lid of the dumpster right below the window of the couples bedroom gave the husband a condescending15） look every time he went downstairs to throw out the garbage. In the end， there was a violent clash between the husband and the cat. The husband threw a stone at the cat， who countered with bites and scratches. The injured husband， his wife， and the kitten she was breastfeeding went to the clinic for him to get a rabies16） shot. He was humiliated and in pain， but tried not to cry while they were waiting. The kitten， sensing his suffering， curled itself from its mothers embrace， went over to him， and licked his face tenderly， offering a consoling “Meow.”

“Did you hear that？” the mother asked emotionally. “He said ‘Daddy.”

At that point， the husband could no longer hold back his tears. And when Aviad read that passage， he had to try hard not to cry too. Maya said that shed started writing the story even before she knew she was pregnant again. “Isnt it weird，” she asked， “how my brain didnt know yet， but my subconscious did？”

1. 英文节选部分选自小说的前半部分，主要介绍了女主人公玛雅（Maya）写的三个小故事的内容。

2. Aviad：阿维亚德，小说中玛雅的丈夫

3. instructor [?n?str?kt?（r）] n. 教员；指导者

4. piercing [?p??（r）s??] adj. 打动人心的

5. banality [b??n?l?ti] n. 平庸，陈腐

6. crap [kr?p] n. 废话

7. backpedal [?b?k?ped（?）l] vi. 改变立场；变卦；（意见等的）撤回

8. miscarriage [?m?sk?r?d?] n. 流产

9. protagonist [pr???t?ɡ?n?st] n. （故事或戏剧中的）主要人物，主角

10. wriggle out of sth.：逃脱，避开

11. drastic [?dr?st?k] adj. 极端的

12. anemone [??nem?ni] n. 银莲花

13. ginger [?d??nd??（r）] adj. 姜黄色的

14. tomcat [?t?m?k?t] n. 公猫

15. condescending [?k?nd??send??] adj. 表现出高（某人）一等的，带有优越感的

16. rabies [?re?bi?z] n. [内科]狂犬病

作品赏析

短篇小说《创意写作》的主人公是一对名为阿维亚德和玛雅的年轻夫妇。妻子玛雅刚刚遭遇了流产。在母亲和丈夫的鼓励下，玛雅参加了一门创意写作课程，谁知在写作过程中她竟展现出了惊人的文学天赋。这门写作课在帮助她走出伤痛阴影的同时，也给包括她丈夫在内的身边人的生活带来了微妙的变化。

在创意写作课上，玛雅写了三个小故事。在第一个故事的世界中，“人们采取分裂的方式而不是生育的方式进行繁殖”。故事的主人公是一个直到80岁依然拒绝分裂繁殖的老妇人。她承受着巨大的社会压力，却把这份坚持一直带到了坟墓里。在第二个故事的世界中，“你只看得到你爱的人”。故事中的丈夫疑心妻子已经不再爱他了，为了证实这一想法，他故意把胡子剃掉半边，想看看妻子的反应，结果他的这一变化确实没有引起妻子的注意。在第三个故事中，一对年轻夫妇生下了一只猫咪。怀疑妻子不忠的丈夫与楼下的公猫大打了一架，为此他需要到医院打破伤风针。

玛雅写的三个小故事虽然都是虚构的，场景也都设置在奇异时空，内容甚至充满了怪诞与荒唐之感，但是故事所传达出的情绪却都源自爱情与婚姻生活中的日常体验，蕴含着引发共鸣的真实情感。而正是凭借对可能性的想象与探究，这些亦真亦幻的小故事为玛雅以及身边人提供了慰藉。

一个要依靠分裂进行繁殖的人类世界虽为虚构，繁衍及哺育的抉择中所涉及的牺牲与压力却所言不虚。在虚构的世界中，“分裂后的每个人年龄只有原来那个人的一半”。而在现实世界中，尤其对于女性而言，生育所带来的改变——伴随着身体状况、时间精力、职业前景等方面骤然“减半”的种种可能性——对女性的影响程度似乎不亚于一场自我的“解体”。在应对妻子流产给家庭生活带来的冲击中，丈夫阿维亚德可以轻巧脱身，反正“公司里总是有忙不完的事情”。而妻子玛雅自流产后，就从未出过家门，整日“像尊雕像似的，挺着身子呆坐在客厅里，不看书，不看电视，甚至也不哭”。由于这种牺牲与压力承担的不平衡性，对于故事中“坚持不进行分裂的老妇人最后死了”这样的结尾，丈夫阿维亚德认为既“俗套”又“消极”，而创意写作班的大部分女性成员却对它赞赏有加，仿佛奇异时空中的老妇人抵死坚持的生活方式，已经为所有深陷“解体”困境的女性出了一口恶气。

如果说关于分裂繁殖的故事中关注的是备受压力的女性，那么《半边胡子》的故事则进行了转换，把关注点放在了爱情与婚姻中备受煎熬的男性身上。“你只看得到你爱的人”，这与其说是故事中一个天马行空的设定，不如说是日常生活中随处可见的“由于习以为常而熟视无睹”的真实表现。当玛雅在班上大声朗读这个故事的时候，有些人哭了起来。然而《半边胡子》并非完全是一个悲伤的故事。与“负心汉”和“黄脸婆”这样的惯常设定相比，故事中单是“变了心却又满口谎话”的太太与“愁肠百结却只能剃掉半边胡子”的老公这样的角色反转，已经让人忍俊不禁。

与前两个故事相比，《猫爸爸》的重点落在了男性情绪的起伏变化上。妻子与“姜黄色的肥公猫”偷情产子的情节虽然荒诞，男性与男性之间的激烈竞争与敌意，以及男性在承受这些压力时特有的孤独体验与挫败，却牵动着阿维亚德的情绪。听到故事的最后，丈夫阿维亚德“拼命忍着”，“好不容易才没让自己的眼泪掉下来”。此后不久，阿维亚德也报了一门创意写作课。对他而言，妻子玛雅的创意写作作品中所采取的荒诞形式不仅没有损害对真实情感的表达，反而像哈哈镜一样，在看似怪异的扭曲中努力探索着真实的困境。他写了一则有关鱼的故事。一条在大海里自由游弋的鱼被邪恶的巫婆变成了一个男人，而这个男人在寻找归途的过程中，兢兢业业地扮演人类角色，勤奋工作，努力赚钱，事业蒸蒸日上，后来竟然逐渐忘了自己曾经是一条鱼。直到有一天，他隔着别墅的玻璃看到大海，才意识到自己“仍然是条鱼，一条多年没有尝过海水味道的鱼”。隐藏在忙碌与富足背后对身份的迷惘，正是阿维亚德的创意写作试图探究的话题。

在《为了报仇看电影》中，韩落松写道，“有的时候，看电影，为的是报仇，向庸常的生活报仇”，因为生活常常“波澜不惊、缺少奇迹、灰暗无光”。而在小说家埃特加·凯雷特的世界里，生活不仅庸常无趣，而且充满了死亡与变故，伤痛与失落。他的父母都是犹太大屠杀的幸存者。而他开始写作，是因为在同一个部队服役的朋友有一天突然自杀了。“我写自杀，并不是因为我有自杀倾向，”在谈到自己最初的创作动机时，凯雷特说道，“而是因为写自杀能使我反思‘活着这个义项。”从这个角度来讲，通过对可能性的想象与探究，凯雷特也可谓是通过创意写作获得了心灵上的治愈。

与《创意写作》中遭受流产创伤的玛雅一样，小说集《突然，响起一阵敲门声》所着眼的人物身上背负的伤痛来源各异：谎言与虚伪，战争与杀戮，财富与贫穷，爱情中的背叛与疏离，婚姻中的孤独与猜忌。而把它们联系起来的，是对于应对困境可能性的“创意”讲述，因为心灵的柔软不仅是疼痛与伤口的原因，更是想象力与诗意的源起。