记忆传授人

by Lois Lowry

乌芜 译

记忆传授人

The Giver

by Lois Lowry

乌芜 译

洛伊丝·洛利（Lois Lowry）是美国著名的儿童文学作家，曾两获美国纽伯瑞儿童文学金牌奖，其写作主题探讨了许多复杂的内容，题材多样，包括种族歧视、不治之症、谋杀等。洛利的代表作包括《数星星》（Number the Stars）、《阿纳斯塔西亚·克鲁布尼克》（Anastasia Krupnik）、《信天翁格林尼》（Gooney Bird Greene）等。

《记忆传授人》是洛伊丝·洛利的代表作之一，获得了1994年的美国纽伯瑞儿童文学金牌奖。《记忆传授人》是一本科幻小说，故事背景设置在未来的一个社区，在那里人们过着貌似安居乐业、衣食无忧的生活。可是随着故事的发展，你会慢慢发现这个看似人间乐园的世界没有记忆、感情、颜色、音乐……人们更没有选择的权力。这个世界过去所有的记忆全在一个人身上，那就是记忆接受人，而本书的主人公乔纳斯便是在十二岁时被选为了记忆接受人，通过接受过去的记忆，他渐渐发现支撑这个社会的不过是谎言，人们也在这样的环境下变得越来越冷漠，越来越残酷。于是他决定要改变一切……本期节选了此书的精彩部分—— 乔纳斯第一次接受记忆传承训练，也第一次感受到现在与过去的不同之处。

J onas felt nothing unusual at frst. He felt only the light touch of the old man’s hands on his back.

He tried to relax, to breathe evenly. The room was absolutely silent, and for a moment Jonas feared that he might1)disgrace himself now, on the first day of his training, by falling asleep. Then he shivered. He realized that the touch of the hands felt, suddenly, cold. At the same instant, breathing in, he felt the air change, and his very breath was cold. He licked his lips, and in doing so, his tongue touched the suddenly chilled air.

It was very2)startling; but he was not at all frightened, now. He was flled with energy, and he breathed again, feeling the sharp intake of frigid air. Now, too, he could feel cold air swirling around his entire body.

The touch of the man’s hands seemed to have disappeared.

起初，乔纳斯并没有什么特别的感觉。他只感觉到老人轻轻地触摸他的背。

他尽量放松身体，平缓呼吸。整个房间都静悄悄的，有一瞬间，乔纳斯害怕自己会在受训的第一天就出丑，害怕自己会睡过去。然后他打了个哆嗦。他发现背上的手突然变冷了。与此同时，他感到吸入的空气发生了变化，他吸入的那口气也是冷的。他舔了舔嘴唇，舌头碰到了骤然变冷的空气。

这很让人吃惊。但是，他现在一点儿也不害怕。他感觉全身充满了能量。他又吸了一口气，感受锋利寒冷的空气。此刻，同样地，他可以感觉到寒冷的空气在他周围转绕。

老人的触摸似乎消失了。

Now he became aware of an entirely new sensation:3)pinpricks? No, because they were soft and without pain. Tiny, cold, featherlike feelings peppered his body and face. He put out his tongue again, and caught one of the dots of cold upon it. It disappeared from his awareness instantly; but he caught another, and another. The sensation made him smile.

现在，他感受到一种全新的感觉：针刺？不对，这种感觉是轻柔的，没有痛楚的。细微、冰冷、羽毛般的感觉落在他的身上和脸上。他又再次伸出舌头，捕捉落在舌上的小冰点。那种感觉一转眼就消失了。但他又抓到了另一个小冰点，一个又一个。那种感觉让他露出了微笑。

1) disgrace [dɪsˑgreɪs] v. 使羞辱，使蒙羞

2) startling [ˑstɑ:tlɪŋ] adj. 令人吃惊的

3) pinprick [ˑpɪnprɪk] n. 针刺的孔, 小孔

And he could see, though his eyes were closed. He could see a bright, whirling torrent of crystals in the air around him, and he could see them gather on the backs of his hands, like cold fur.

虽然闭着眼睛，但他可以看到——一股晶莹剔透的不明物体自空中旋转飘落，落在他周围，聚集在他的手背上，像一层冰冷的软毛。

His breath was visible.

他的呼吸清晰可见。

Beyond, through the swirl of what he now, somehow,4)perceived was the thing the old man had spoken of—snow—he could look out and down a great distance. He was up high someplace. The ground was thick with the furry snow, but he sat slightly above it on a hard, flat object. Sled, he knew abruptly. And the sled itself seemed to be poised at the top of a long, extended mound that rose from the very land where he was. Even as he thought the word “mound,” his new consciousness told him “hill”.

呼气之上，透过在空中旋转的东西——他如今感觉到这就是老人说过的雪，他可以看到极远的地方。他现在正身在高处，地上是一层厚厚、柔软的雪，而他则坐在雪地上的一块薄薄、坚硬平坦的东西上。雪橇，他立马就想到了这个词。他脚下是一个崛地而起、蜿蜒而上的土堆，雪橇安稳地停在这个土堆的顶端。即便他想到的是“土堆”这个词，但是新的感知告诉他这叫“山丘”。

Then the sled, with Jonas himself upon it, began to move through the snowfall, and he understood instantly that now he was going downhill. No voice made an explanation. The experience explained itself to him.

接着，乔纳斯开始乘着雪橇在飘雪中滑行，他立马就明白了这是在下坡。没人告诉他，这完全是他自己体验出来的。

Comprehending all of those things as he sped downward, he was free to enjoy the breathless5)glee that overwhelmed him: the speed, the clear cold air, the total silence, the feeling of balance and excitement and peace.

随着他飞快地向下滑行，他慢慢地理解到了所有的这些东西。他沉浸在巨大的喜悦当中，感受着这无与伦比的一切：速度、清新寒冷的空气、全然的寂静、平衡、兴奋和平和的感觉。

Then, as the angle of incline lessened, as the mound—the hill—flattened, nearing the bottom, the sled’s forward motion slowed. The snow was piled now around it, and he pushed with his body, moving it forward, not wanting the6)exhilarating ride to end.

然后，下坡的倾斜度慢慢变小，土堆 —— 不，应该说山丘——越来越平坦，在接近其底部时，雪橇前进的速度变慢了，积雪堆在雪橇周围。他用身体推动雪橇前进，不愿如此刺激的滑行经历就此结束。

4) perceive [pəˑsi:v] v. 感知, 感到, 认识到

5) glee [gli:] n. 欢乐, 高兴

6) exhilarating [ɪgˑzɪləreɪtɪŋ] adj. 令人喜欢的, 爽快的, 使人愉快的

Finally the obstruction of the piled snow was too much for the thin runners of the sled, and he came to a stop.7)Tentatively he opened his eyes—not his snow-hill-sled eyes, for they had been open throughout the strange ride. He opened his ordinary eyes, and saw that he was still on the bed, that he had not moved at all.

最后，积雪对雪橇那薄薄的滑雪板的阻力实在是太大了，他被迫停了下来。他试探着张开眼睛——不是滑雪橇时的眼睛，在那奇怪的滑行经历中，双眼始终就是张开着的。他张开了平常的眼睛，看到自己仍然躺在床上，动也没动过。

The old man, still beside the bed, was watching him.“How do you feel?” he asked.

老人依然坐在床边注视着他：“你感觉怎么样？”他问道。

Jonas sat up and tried to answer honestly. “Surprised,” he said, after a moment.

乔纳斯坐了起来，想尽量说出真实的感受。片刻后，他说：“不可思议。”

“Why don’t we have snow, and sleds, and hills.” he asked. “And when did we, in the past? Did my parents have sleds when they were young? Did you?”

“为什么我们没有雪、没有雪橇、没有山丘。”他问道。“我们以前有吗？我父母小时候有吗？你小时候有吗？”

The old man shrugged and gave a short laugh. “No,” he told Jonas. “It’s a very distant memory. That’s why it was so exhausting—I had to tug it forward from many generations back. It was given to me when I was a new Receiver, and the previous Receiver had to pull it through a long time period, too.”

老人耸耸肩，哈哈大笑一声。“没有，”他对乔纳斯说。“这是段非常遥远的记忆。这就是为什么它会如此累人——我必须从许多代的前人那里把它拉过来。在我还是新任的记忆接受人时，我得到了这段记忆，前任的记忆接受人也是得从遥远的过去把它拉过来的。”

“But what happened to those things? Snow, and the rest of it?”

“但是，那些东西究竟怎么了？雪，还有其他那些？”

“Climate Control. Snow made growing food difficult, limited the agricultural periods. And unpredictable weather made transportation almost impossible at times. It wasn’t a practical thing, so it became obsolete when we went to Sameness.”

“气候控制。雪增加了种植食物的难度，限制了耕作的时段。不可预知的天气有时也会使交通几乎无法正常运行。这不是实用的东西，所以在同化时代到来时，就被淘汰了。”

“And hills, too,” he added. “They made conveyance of goods8)unwieldy. Trucks; buses. Slowed them down. So—” He waved his hand, as if a gesture had caused hills to disappear. “Sameness,” he concluded.

“山也是这样，”他补充道。“山使得运送货物非常不便。卡车、公车的速度都会被减慢。所以——”他摆摆手，仿佛就是这个手势把山变没了。“被淘汰了，”他总结道。

Jonas frowned. “I wish we had those things, still. Just now and then.”

乔纳斯皱了皱眉。“真希望那些东西一直都在。”

The old man smiled. “So do I” he said. “But that choice is not ours.”

老人微笑道：“我也是。但这不是我们能选择的。”

“Lie quietly now. Since we’ve entered into the topic of climate, let me give you something else. And this time I’m not going to tell you the name of it, because I want to test the receiving. You should be able to perceive the name without being told.”

“现在静静地躺下吧。既然我们谈到气候这个话题，我来给你看样其他东西吧。这次我不会告诉你它的名字，我想测试一下记忆接受的成效。即使没人告诉你，你也应该能感觉出它的名字。”

7) tentatively [ˑtentətɪvlɪ] adv. 试验性地, 暂时地

8) unwieldy [ʌnˑwi:ldɪ] adj. 使用不便的，笨重的，笨拙的

Without being instructed, Jonas closed his eyes again. He felt the hands on his back again. He waited.

无须指示，乔纳斯就再次闭上了眼睛。他再次感觉到了背上的手。他在等着。

Now it came more quickly, the feelings. This time the hands didn’t become cold, but instead began to feel warm on his body. They moistened a little. The warmth spread, extending across his shoulders, up his neck, onto the side of his face. He could feel it through his clothed parts, too: a pleasant, all-over sensation; and when he licked his lips this time, the air was hot and heavy.

当下，那些感觉猛然袭来。这次，老人的手没有变冷，反而带着暖意。它们变得有点儿湿润。暖意开始扩散开来，蔓延至他的肩膀上、他的脖子上、他的脸上。尽管身上还隔着层衣服，他还是可以感受到一种遍及全身的愉悦感。这次，他又舔了舔嘴唇，空气又热又闷。

He didn’t move. There was no sled. His posture didn’t change. He was simply alone someplace, outdoors, lying down, and the warmth came from far above. It was not as exciting as the ride through the snowy air; but it was pleasurable and comforting.

他没有动。这儿也没雪橇。他的姿势也没有改变。他只是独自躺在户外的某个地方，遥远的上方传来阵阵暖意。这次的感觉没有像乘坐雪橇穿过冰冷的空气那般刺激，但是非常地愉悦、舒适。

Suddenly he perceived the word for it: sunshine. He perceived that it came from the sky.

突然，他感知到了这叫什么：阳光。他意识到它来自于天空。

Then it ended.

接着便结束了。

“Sunshine,” he said aloud, opening his eyes.

“阳光，”他大声说道，同时睁开了双眼。

“Good. You did get the word. That makes my job easier. Not so much explaining.”

“不错，你真的想到了这个词。这能让我的工作轻松点，不用多费唇舌。

“And it came from the sky.”

“而且它来自于天空。”

“That’s right,” the old man said. “Just the way it used to. Before Sameness. Before Climate Control,” Jonas added.

“没错，”老人说。“以前是这样。在同化时代之前，在气候控制之前。”乔纳斯补充道。

The man laughed. “You receive well, and learn quickly. I’m very pleased with you. That’s enough for today, I think. We’re off to a good start.”

老人大笑。“你接受得很好，也学得很快。我很开心和你一起工作。我想，今天就到这儿吧。我们有了个好开始。”

There was a question bothering Jonas. “Sir,” he said,“The Chief Elder told me—she told everyone—and you told me, too, that it would be painful. So I was a little scared. But it didn’t hurt at all. I really enjoyed it.” He looked quizzicallyat the old man.

有个问题困扰着乔纳斯，“先生，”他说，“首席长老跟我说——她跟每一个人说——你也跟我说，这个过程会很痛苦。所以我有点儿害怕。但我一点儿也不觉得痛。我真的很享受。”他疑惑地看着老人。

The man sighed. “I started you with memories of pleasure. My previous failure gave me the wisdom to do that.” He took a few deep breaths. “Jonas,” he said, “it will be painful. But it need not be painful yet.”

老人叹息道：“那是因为我让你先接受快乐的回忆。我之前的失败让我学会这样做。”他深呼吸了几下。“乔纳斯，”他说，“这会很痛苦，但是现在还不是时候。”

“I’m brave. I really am.” Jonas sat up a little straighter. The old man looked at him for a moment. He smiled. “I can see that,” he said. “Well, since you asked the question—I think I have enough energy for one more9)transmission.

“我很勇敢，真的。”乔纳斯坐得更加挺直。老人盯着他看了一会儿，微笑道：“我看得出来。好吧，既然你问了这个问题—— 我想我还有足够的能量再多做一次记忆传送。”

“Lie down once more. This will be the last today.”

“再躺下来一次，这是今天的最后一次了。”

Jonas obeyed cheerfully. He closed his eyes, waiting, and felt the hands again; then he felt the warmth again, the sunshine again, coming from the sky of this other consciousness that was so new to him. This time, as he lay basking in the wonderful warmth, he felt the passage of time. His real self was aware that it was only a minute or two; but his other, memory-receiving self felt hours pass in the sun. His skin began to sting. Restlessly he moved one arm, bending it, and felt a sharp pain in the crease of his inner arm at the elbow.

乔纳斯开心地照做了。他闭上眼睛等待，再次感受到了那双手。接着，他又从自己的另一个十分陌生的意识那里感受到了那股暖意，感受到了自天上而来的阳光。这次，当他躺着享受那美妙的暖意时，他感觉到了时间的流逝。他真实的自己知道那不过是一两分钟；但是他的另一个自己，那个正在接受记忆的自己觉得他已经在太阳底下晒了几小时。他的皮肤开始觉得刺痛。他不耐烦地挪动了下手臂，才稍微弯曲，手肘内侧的皱褶处立马传来一阵灼痛。

“Ouch,” he said loudly, and shifted on the bed.

“哎哟，”他大声叫道，在床上弹了起来。

He knew there was a word, but the pain kept him from grasping it.

他脑海中闪过一个词，但是疼痛让他无法抓住那词。

9) transmission [trænzˑmɪʃən] n. 传送, 传输

Then it ended. He opened his eyes, wincing with discomfort. “It hurt,” he told the man, “and I couldn’t get the word for it.”

然后便结束了。他张开双眼，不舒服得龇牙咧嘴。“好痛，”他跟老人说，“我不知道那是什么词。”

“It was sunburn,” the old man told him.

“那是晒伤，”老人告诉他。

“It hurt a lot,” Jonas said, “but I’m glad you gave it to me. It was interesting. And now I understand better, what it meant, that there would be pain.”

“那很痛，”乔纳斯说，“但我很高兴你把这传给了我。这很有趣。现在我更能理解，这过程会很痛意味着什么了。”

The man didn’t respond. He sat silently for a second. Finally he said, “Get up, now. It’s time for you to go home.”

老人没有回答。他沉默地坐了一会儿。最后他说：“现在，起来吧，你该回家了。”

They both walked to the center of the room. Jonas put his tunic back on. “Goodbye, sir,” he said. “Thank you for my frst day.” The old man nodded to him. He looked drained, and a little sad.

两人走到了房间中间。乔纳斯穿上了他的束腰外衣。“再见，先生。”他说。“谢谢您今天第一次传给我记忆。”老人向他点点头。他看起来筋疲力尽，还有点儿悲伤。

“Sir?” Jonas said shyly.

“先生？”乔纳斯腼腆地问道。

“Yes? Do you have a question?”

“嗯？你有什么问题吗？”

“It’s just that I don’t know your name. I thought you were The Receiver, but you say that now I’m The Receiver. So I don’t know what to call you.”

“只是我还不知道您的名字。我原本以为您是记忆接受人，但您现在说我才是。所以我不知道该怎么称呼您。”

The man had sat back down in the comfortable upholstered chair. He moved his shoulders around as if to ease away an aching sensation. He seemed terribly weary.

老人坐回了那张舒适的软椅。他动了动肩膀，似乎要借此消除身上的酸痛。他看起来似乎已经筋疲力尽。

“Call me The Giver,” he told Jonas.

“叫我记忆传授人吧，”他跟乔纳斯如此说道。