早在3000多年前,南太平洋島民被认为是世界上最了不起的航海家,他们凭借对星辰、潮水的了解,在广阔无边的大洋中探险,发现了上千个岛屿。然而后来,他们的航海活动却莫名中断了一千多年,之后又重新兴起,而具体原因至今还是个谜。这段空白时期激发了导演们的想象力,于是便有了《海洋奇缘》的故事。
许多小学生的作文里都有类似这般的豪言壮语:哪怕孤身一人,也要扬帆起航,去领略海洋深处最美的风景。水天一色的蔚蓝、星光相接的璀璨、与鲸共舞的自由,对大海的向往像是播撒在所有孩子心中的种子,暗暗诉说着远方世界的魅力。然而随着年岁渐长,“扬帆起航”渐渐沦为另一句空洞苍白的宣言、又一个虚无缥缈的梦,在安稳单调的现世甚至不会再被提起。这也是为何2016年末迪士尼动画电影《海洋奇缘》的上映令不少观众感动不已的缘故——尽管只是一个充满童趣的奇幻故事,但它却用最生动的方式提醒着你:有一个地方,你以为自己早已遗忘,但它其实一直埋藏心底;有一种人生,你认定自己此生无法企及,但也许那才是你真正的心之所向。
《海洋奇缘》的故事发生在南太平洋一座充满热带风情的小岛上。“元气少女”Moana是酋长的女儿,虽然她一心向往海洋,但父亲却反复对她耳提面命:她的未来就是继承酋长的位子,和她的族人一起生活在这座物资富足的小岛上。
可是不知从哪天起,小岛的椰子开始腐坏,捕鱼的人们一次次空手而归。Moana从祖母那里得知,这是因为女神Te Fiti的“海洋之心”在千年前被半神Maui偷走,黑暗势力正在吞没各个岛屿。Moana还得知,自己的祖先原本也是海上民族,正因躲避这场灾难定居在这里,并且再也没有走出过这座小岛。而在机缘巧合之中,Moana被大海选中,大海将Maui在与火山怪兽Te K战斗时掉落的“海洋之心”送到了Moana身边。在祖母的鼓励下,Moana不顾父亲反对,只身出海找到Maui,誓将“海洋之心”归还女神,拯救家园。
刚开始时,Maui并不想去办这份苦差事。不过在Moana的感召下,他最终决定帮助Moana,并与她共同战胜征途中的重重困难,找回了自己丢失已久的武器——鱼钩法杖。两人逐一打败了成群结队的椰壳海盗、爱好财宝的海底巨蟹,以及最后关头出现的强敌——火山怪兽Te K。这时Moana才发现,原来Te K
就是失却了海洋之心的女神Te Fiti,释放黑暗势力的也正是这位迷失了自我的女神。勇敢的Moana对Te K
温柔轻语,将“海洋之心”放回到Te K
胸前的漩涡当中。女神苏醒过来,万物重焕生机,Moana终于完成了她的使命。
奇幻的想象、动感的歌舞、迷人的风景,所有这些元素构成了这部色彩明丽、充满欢乐的动画,但最重要的还是故事本身带给观众的启示,尤其是主人公Moana身上那份坚持和勇气、舍我其谁的使命感,以及对真实自我孜孜不倦的探求。这些我们平日里反复宣扬的“正能量”在少女Moana那里,绝不止于几个简单的名词或几句浮夸的口号,而是她所走的每一步路、所受的每一次伤、所做的每一个选择。她也曾想做一个听话的女儿,依照父亲的心愿循规蹈矩地开始酋长生涯,但当海水亲吻她的额头,贝壳朝她涌来,Moana抑制不住内心的呼唤:她是海上民族的后裔,是被大海选中的人,她要走的路是去海洋深处冒险,完成自己的使命。
Maui同样如此。他原本是个被父母抛弃的婴儿,只因被天神救起并赐予一副鱼钩法杖,这才成为一位守护人类的半神。虽然他勇猛无敌,但他一直觉得自己只是天神的奴仆,没有了鱼钩他什么都不是。表面自信嚣张的Maui内心仍是个迷茫无措的孩子,是Moana的勇气激励了他,使他意识到让自己成为英雄的根本不是天神,而是他自己。影片快要结尾时,Maui对着Moana潇洒一笑:“不管有没有鱼钩,我都是Maui。”这正是电影教会我们的重要一课:发现并悦纳真正的自己。如果你始终赖于他人的庇护,或是永远活在别人的期待中,怎能实现自身潜能的完全释放,又怎能体会心灵如雄鹰般遨游天际的自由与豪迈?
和许多善恶分明的好莱坞电影不同,这部动画电影中没有真正意义上的坏人。对于Moana来说,虽然前有父亲百般阻挠,但他却给予了Moana无限的疼爱;后有强敌Te K坚不可摧,但它转瞬间就变成头戴五彩花环的美丽女神;至于航海途中邂逅的其他对手,毋宁形容其为凶恶,不如说是可爱。事实上,这也更贴近我们真实的生存境况,善恶从来不是泾渭分明,成长也绝非简单的杀敌打怪。在希望达成某个目标时,我们要战胜的最大敌人其实是自己,对Moana和Maui是这样,对我们每一个人亦如是。
Moana出生在海上一座物产丰饶的小岛上,父亲希望她未来能接替自己的位置,做下一任酋长。然而Moana天生与大海亲近,向往远方。从小到大,她无数次奔向大海,但每次都被父亲抓回。她不明白父亲为何不允许部落的人们出海。有一天,人们赖以生存的椰子全部腐坏,附近海域中的鱼儿也消失不见,Moana建议到更远的地方捕鱼,不料却遭到父亲的严厉训斥。直到那时,她才从妈妈口中得知,父亲年轻时也曾出过海,可却付出了惨痛的代价。
Mom: Well, it's not like you said it in front of your dad, standing on a boat.
Moana: I didn't say "Go beyond the reef!" because I want to be beyond the ocean.
Mom: But you still do. He is hard on you1 because ...
Moana: Because he doesn't get2 me.
Mom: Because he was you. Drawn to the ocean. Down by the shore. He took a canoe, Moana. He crossed the reef, and found an unforgiving sea. Waves like mountains. His best friend begged to be on that boat. Your dad couldn't save him. He's hoping he can save you. Sometimes who we wish we were, what we wish we could do, it's just not meant to be3.
Tips for Learning
1
Be hard on sb.的意思是“对某人苛刻、严厉”,可以用be strict with sb.代替。表示某人“严厉”还可以用stern,如:Her father was stern and hard to please. (她的父亲很严厉,难以取悦。) Hard作形容词时除了我们熟悉的“坚硬的”“困难的”“努力的”等含义之外,还可以表示“冷酷无情的”(如:His father was a hard man.)、“艰苦的”(如hard life)、“寒冷的”(如a long, hard winter)等含义;作副词时通常表示“努力地”“使劲地”。可以看出,hard作形容词时,其意思大多含贬义。
2
“He doesn't get me.”的意思可不是“他沒有得到我”,get在这里的含义是“理解;明白”。在口语中,我们经常可以看到类似的句子,比如:You don't seem to get the point. (你似乎没有弄明白。)我们也常听到有人说“你没有get到我的意思”,其中get就意为“理解”。所以,下次你想表达自己没弄明白的时候,就别再用“I don't understand.”了,用“I don't get it.”更地道哦。
3
Mean作动词时除了“意指”和“对某人有重要意义”(如:mean a lot to sb.)等含义外,还可以指“注定(或肯定)要……”,通常用法为be meant to be,如:Jane was meant to be a chemist. (简注定要成为一名化学家。)此外,mean还可以指“对……当真”,比如在美剧中我们常会听到:I mean it. (我是认真的。)
在这段台词中,妈妈告诉Moana:有时候你想成为某个人,想做成某件事,可命中注定你不会成功。在现实生活中,会有很多人告诉你你无法做成想做的事,有时候说这些话的人是你最亲近的人。但是,他们说的大都是错的。正如电影《当幸福来敲门》(The Pursuit of Happyness)中所说:Don't ever let somebody tell you you can't do something ... You got a dream. You gotta protect it.
尽管妈妈说礁石那边很危险,可Moana抑制不住内心对大海的渴望,决定一试。她独自乘着小船出海,却受伤而归。就在她认为自己也许真的错了时,奶奶给她讲了一个故事。原来她的祖先都曾是航海者,他们征服了一片又一片海洋。但是由于半神Maui偷了“海洋之心”,黑暗将船只吞噬,她的祖先才将帆船封在山洞中,从此禁止部落的人出海。奶奶曾看到过大海与Moana互动的过程,她知道Moana是被大海选中的人,并始终坚信Moana一定能够穿越海洋,让Maui归还“海洋之心”。
Moana: We were voyagers! Why did we stop?
Grandma: Maui. When he stole from the mother island, darkness fell. Te K
1 awoke. Monsters lurked (埋伏) and boats stopped coming back. To protect our people, the ancient chiefs forbid voyaging. And now we have forgotten who we are. And the darkness has continued to spread, chasing away our fish, draining (使流失) the life from island after island. But one day, someone would journey beyond our reef, find Maui, deliver him across the great ocean to restore2 the Heart of Te Fiti. I was there that day. The ocean chose you3.
Moana: I thought it was a dream.
Grandma: Nope! Our ancestors believed Maui lies there—at the bottom4 of his hook. Follow it, and you will find him.
Tips for Learning
Moana独自出海
在大海的帮助下,Moana照着夜空中鱼钩形状星座的指引,终于找到了Maui。她利用Maui喜欢做英雄的心理,说服Maui陪她一起上路。他们一起打败椰子海盗、海底巨蟹,找回了Maui的鱼钩法杖。然而Maui却发现自己失去了神力,无法成功变形。Maui彻底失去了自信,以为自己不可能再成为英雄。后来在Moana的一再追问下,Maui才吐露了自己的身世。
Moana: You don't wanna talk? Don't talk. You wanna throw me off the boat? Throw me off. You wanna tell me, I don't know what I'm doing? I know I don't. I have no idea why the ocean chose me. You're right. But my island is dying. So I am here. It's just me and you. And I want to help. But I can't if you don't let me.
Maui: I wasn't born a demigod. I had human parents. They er ... They took one look and ... and decided they did not want me. They threw me into the sea, like I was nothing. Somehow I was found by the Gods. They gave me the hook. They made me ... Maui. And back to the humans I went. I gave them islands, fire, coconuts! Anything they could ever want.
Moana: You took the heart for them. You did everything for them. So they'd love you.
Maui: It was never enough.
Moana: Maybe the Gods found you for a reason. Maybe the ocean brought you to them, because it saw someone who is worthy1 of being saved. But the Gods aren't the ones who make you Maui. You are.
Tip for Learning
1
Worthy是worth的形容詞形式,可以表示“值得的;应该获得……的”,其用法常为be worthy of。它还可以表示“值得尊敬的;令人称许的”,如worthy members of the community (团体中的德高望重者)。从这段台词中可以看出,Maui在婴儿时被父母抛弃,后来被神所救,因神赐予的鱼钩法杖而成为半神。尽管是半神,但他从内心深处认定自己是被遗弃的,所以才不断讨好贪婪的人类,最终酿下大祸。Moana帮Maui找回了真正的自己,她告诉Maui:“让你成为你的不是天神,而是你自己。”
人们总会忘记,什么才是真正的自己的正面一击,致使鱼钩遍布裂痕。气急败坏的Maui与Moana大吵一架,扬长而去。Moana心灰意冷,请求海洋收回了“海洋之心”。就在她伤心难过之时,她恍惚看到了已经过世的奶奶的灵魂。在奶奶的指引下,Moana明白了自己真实的内心。她知道自己不会放弃,即使没有Maui,她也要继续前行。
Moana: Grandma! I tried, grandma. I ... I couldn't do it.
Grandma: It's not your fault. I never should've put so much on your shoulders. If you are ready to go home, I will be with you ... Why do you hesitate?
Moana: I don't know.
Grandma: [唱] I know a girl from an island. She stands apart from1 the crowd. She loves the sea and her people. She makes her whole family proud. Sometimes the world seems against you. The journey may leave a scar. But scars can heal and reveal just where you are. The people you love will change you. The things you have learned will guide you. And nothing on earth can silence the quiet voice still inside you. And when that voice starts to whisper: "Moana you've come so far. Moana, listen, do you know who you are?"
Moana: Who am I? [唱] I am a girl who loves my island. I'm the girl who loves the sea. It calls me ... I am the daughter of the village chief. We are descended from voyagers who found their way across the world. They call me ... I've delivered us to where we are. I have journeyed farther. I am everything I've learned and more. Still it calls me. And the call isn't out there at all; it's inside me. It's like the tide always falling and rising.2 I will carry you here in my heart. You remind me that come what may, I know the way! I am Moana!
Tips for Learning
1
Stand apart from是一个短语,表示“明显与……不同”,而stand apart from the crowd就是指“明显与众不同”。而apart from单独使用时也是一个短语,意为“除……以外”。
2
这句话意为:“它就像潮水时涨时落。”Tide意为“潮水”,英语中有一句谚语用tide来形容光阴——Time and tide wait for no man. (时不我待。) 而Turn the tide意为“扭转形势;转败为胜”,如:At first, people were opposed to our plan. After a lot of discussion, we were able to turn the tide. (一开始,人们反对我们的计划。经过多次讨论后,我们才得以扭转形势。)
尽管前路难行,可我知道我不能放弃
最终,Moana将“海洋之心”归还给女神,万物重焕生机,Moana生活的小岛得救了。在扬帆起航的旅程中,她不仅完成了使命,也找到了最真实的自己。然而,对于现实生活中的大多数人来说,“扬帆起航”仍旧只是一种譬喻。面对如海洋般神秘的世界,我们需要做的就是像Moana一样,听从内心的声音,无所畏惧地走向属于自己的远方,去领略世界最深处的奇迹。谁说平凡的人生不可以有英雄的梦想呢?