一场没有战利品的胜战——《老人与海》赏析

文/晓 菲

一场没有战利品的胜战
——《老人与海》赏析

文/晓 菲

◆原作节选◆

Part 21

He looked across the sea and knew how alone he was now.But he could see the prisms（棱镜）in the deep dark water and the line stretching（伸展；张开）ahead and the strange undulation（波动；起伏）of the calm.The clouds were building up now for the trade wind（信风）and he looked ahead and saw a flightofwild ducks etching themselves against the sky over the water,then blurring（变模糊）,then etching again and he knew no man was ever alone on the sea.

He thought of how some men feared being out of sight of land in a small boat and knew they were right in the months of sudden bad weather. But now they were in hurricane（飓风）months and, when there are no hurricanes,the weather of hurricane months is the best of all the year.

第21章

他放眼向海面望去，发现此刻自己是多么地孤独。但是他可以看见深暗的海水中阳光逝射如棱镜一般，以及鱼线往前深入水中，还有平静的水面上那奇异的起伏波动。随着即将吹起的信风，云朵渐渐多了，他往前望去，看见一群野鸭子在水面上低空飞过，渐渐消失，然后又再度出现。他知道，海洋上没有谁是真正孤单的。

他想到，有些人最怕呆在一艘小船上却完全看不见陆地的感觉。而他同意，在天气极不稳定的某几个月中，这样的想法是对的。但是现在正是飓风季节，只要没有飓风来，这个月份是全年天气最好的时候。

责任编辑：李丁文

If there is a hurricane you always see the signs of it in the sky for days ahead if you are at sea.They do not see it ashore（在岸上）because they do not know what to look for,he thought.The land must make a difference too,in the shape of the clouds.But we have no hurricane coming now.

“Light brisa（风）,”he said.“Better weather for me than for you,fish.”

His left hand was still cramped（痉挛的）,but he was unknotting（解开……结子）it slowly.

I hate a cramp,he thought.It is a treachery of one’s own body.It is humiliating（丢脸的）before others to have a diarrhoea（腹泻） from ptomaine poisoning orto vomitfrom it.Buta cramp,he thought of it as a calambre（抽筋）, humiliates oneself especially when one is alone.

If the boy were here he could rub it for me and loosen it down from the forearm,he thought. But it will loosen up.

Then, with his right hand he felt the difference in the pull of the line before he saw the slantchange in the water.Then,ashe leaned against the line and slapped his left hand hard and fast against his thigh（大腿） he saw the line slanting slowly upward.

“He’s coming up,”he said.“Come on hand. Please come on.”

The line rose slowly and steadily and then the surface of the ocean bulged ahead of the boat and the fish came out.He rose his full length from the water and then re-entered it,smoothly,like a diver and the old man saw the great scythe-blade of his tail go under and the line commenced to race out.

“He is two feet longer than the skiff（小帆船）。”the old man said.The line was going out fast but steadily and the fish was not panicked（恐慌）.The old man was trying with both hands to keep the line just inside of breaking strength.He knew that if he could not slow the fish with a steady pressure the fish could take out all the line and break it.

假使有飓风的话，那在海上好几天前就可以从天空中看到一些征兆了。他想，如果是在陆地上的话，反倒就看不见了，因为人们不晓得看什么为准。一定是陆地使这些云朵改变了形状。不过现在不会有飓风来就是了。

“微风，”他说，“鱼呀！这种天气对我比对你有利多了。”

他的左手依然在痉挛，但是似乎已渐渐舒展开了些。

我恨透抽筋，他想。这简直就是跟自己的身体作对。一个人中了尸毒当众上吐下泻固然丢脸，但是对于一个独处的人来说，抽筋更是可耻。

他想，如果男孩在我身边，他可以帮我从手肘一直往下揉一揉，让抽筋尽快结束。不过它自己还是会好的。

就在他看见水中鱼线的倾斜度改变之前，他的右手就已经感觉到线的拉力有点不同了。在他靠着鱼线，左手急促地往大腿重重拍打的同时，他看见那条倾斜的鱼线，缓慢地上升。

“它起来了，”他说，“手啊，快好吧！拜托快好吧。”

鱼线缓慢而稳定地升起，船头前面，海水波涛汹涌，鱼破水而出了。它全身都浮出了水面，然后像个潜水员般利落地再度没入水中。老人看着它那大镰刀状的尾巴没入水中后，鱼线也跟着向前奔去。

“它比这条小船还要长两尺。”老人说。鱼线放得既快又稳，可是鱼没有惊慌失措。在不扯断鱼线的范围之内，老人的双手使劲握住鱼线。他知道如果没有办法用稳定的拉力减缓鱼的速度的话，所有的鱼线都可能会被拖光，并断裂。

He is a great fish and I must convince him, he thought.I must never let him learn his strength nor what he could do if he made his run.If I were him I would put in everything now and go until something broke.But,thank God,they are not as intelligent as we who kill them；although they are more noble and more able.

The old man had seen many great fish.He had seen many that weighed more than a thousand pounds and he had caught two of that size in his life,but never alone.Now alone,and out of sight of land,he was fast to the biggest fish that he had ever seen and bigger than he had ever heard of, and his left hand was still as tight as the gripped claws of an eagle.

It will uncramp though,he thought.Surely it will uncramp tohelp my righthand.There are three things that are brothers：the fish and my two hands.It must uncramp.It is unworthy of it to be cramped.The fish had slowed again and was going at his usual pace.

I wonder why he jumped,the old man thought.He jumped almost as though to show me how big he was.I know now,anyway,he thought.I wish I could show him what sort of man I am.But then hewould seethecramped hand.Lethim think I am more man than I am and I will be so. I wish I were the fish,he thought,with everything he has against only my will and my intelligence.

He settled comfortably against the wood and took his suffering as it came and the fish swam steadily and the boat moved slowly through the dark water.There was a small sea rising with the wind coming up from the east and at noon the old man’s left hand was uncramped.

他心想，这是条大鱼，我一定要把它制服。我千万不可以让它明白自己的力量有多大，也不能让它知道可以如何逃跑。假如我是它，我会竭尽所能地跑，直到线被扯断为止。但是，感谢上帝，这些鱼虽然比我们人类更高贵，更有能耐，但不如我们这些屠杀它们的人那么聪明。

老人曾经见过许许多多的大鱼，其中很多都超过1000磅重，而他自己一生中也捕过两条这般重的大鱼，但他从来不是单独一个人捕到的。而现在，他孤零零一个人，远在陆地之外，他的命运与一条过去所见所闻中的从未碰过的大鱼，紧密地结合在一起；他的左手依然像老鹰的爪子一样僵硬。

抽筋总会好的，他想。它当然要松开来，帮助我的右手。我有三个兄弟：鱼和我的双手。它必须复元，手若抽筋就一点用也没有啦。那鱼又慢了下来，恢复它往常的速度前进。

我真不知道它为什么要跳上来，老人想。它跳上来就像是要我看看它有多么大。无论如何，我现在总算明白了，他想，希望我也能够让它看看我是怎样的一个人。不过，如果是如此的话，它就会看到这只抽筋的手了，还是，让它把我当作一个很强健的男子吧，那么我就会如此去做了。他想，我真希望我是那条鱼，用那么多的力量来对抗的仅是我的意志和智慧。

他很舒服地靠在木头上，干瞪着眼忍受着痛苦。鱼依然稳定地游着，船也在黑暗的水中缓慢地移动。东方吹来的风，掀起一阵阵轻微的浪潮。到了中午，老人的左手舒展开了。

◆赏析◆

估计很少有人不知晓作家海明威吧？酷爱文学的，仰慕他特立独行的文学风格；关注政治的，钦佩他在第一次世界大战中的英勇战绩；热衷八卦的，也会惊叹于他一生错综复杂的情史。本期推荐的选段，就是来自海明威先生的代表作——《老人与海》（The Old Man And The Sea）。

海明威出生于美国伊利诺伊州芝加哥市的奥克帕克，被认为是20世纪最著名的小说家之一。1953年，他的作品《老人与海》获得普利策奖；1954年，《老人与海》又为海明威夺得诺贝尔文学奖。他的作品，在美国文学史乃至世界文学史上都占有重要地位。

不过，文学上辉煌的造诣往往黯淡了海明威在其他方面取得的成就。很少有人知道，抛开作家这层身份，他还作为一名救护车驾驶员，亲赴意大利参加过第一次世界大战，并被授予银制勇敢勋章。他也当过战地记者，成为第一个报道中国抗战正面战场的美国记者。

无数读者曾经困惑，拥有如此显赫人生的海明威，作品中为何总是渗透着对人生、社会、世界的迷茫之情？正如人们始终无法接受，如此顽强又热爱生活的海明威，晚年怎么会选择在爱达荷州家中自杀身亡？或许，繁华褪去之后的平静或者不堪，才最难在心底被释怀吧。

《老人与海》一书中刻画的主人公圣地亚哥是一位名副其实的硬汉。他从来不向失败妥协。即便出海84天一无所获，仍旧在第85天坚持扬起了船帆，并且终于等到一条庞大的马林鱼。这条身长18尺、体重1500磅的大马林鱼，一直拽着船往海里走。老人没有武器，没有食物，没有水，还面临左手抽筋的痛苦，却依然死拉着鱼不放。经历三天三夜顽强的搏斗之后，老人终于杀死了大鱼，并把它拴在船边，等待凯旋。但是，上天并未垂怜这位已经筋疲力尽的老人。大鱼的血腥味吸引了许多鲨鱼前来抢夺，老人再次凭借着坚韧不拔的精神与鲨鱼们搏斗。由于寡不敌众，依旧难改大鱼被吃光的命运。最终，回报给老人的仅仅是一副干瘪的鱼骨头。

结合这本书当时的时代背景，不难看出海明威是用老人在逆境中不屈服的精神，来歌颂受尽迫害却不丧失顽强意志的人类；用大鱼来象征人们追求美好事物的决心；用残忍的鲨鱼们比喻贪婪的资本家，又或是一切阻碍人们追求幸福的绊脚石。

本期的选段，以一片宁静、沉默的海洋拉开序幕。波澜不惊的海水，在夜晚繁星的照耀下，透露着与世无争的平静，与后面描写老人战胜大鱼、打败鲨鱼的惊险形成了鲜明的对比。大海似乎在浅吟低唱地告诉我们，不管生活给予我们的是幸福、苦楚，还是万般艰辛，大自然都会毫不动摇地遵循它本身的规律，日复一日，滚滚前行。真正能改变的，则是自己面临困境永不妥协的意志力，以及追求美好事物的理想与信心。

陈晓菲（Sherly Chen）：毕业于北京师范大学英美文学专业，获美国俄勒冈州政府奖学金赴美留学深造。精通英语，酷爱文学。愿用手中笔，记下心中爱。