伊恩·麦克尤恩的《梦想家彼得》

作家簡介：伊恩·麦克尤恩（lan McEwan）是当代英国文坛最具影响力的作家之一。他1948年出生于伦敦西南部的小镇奥尔德肖特（Aldershot），父亲是一位军人，曾参加过敦刻尔克战役。童年的麦克尤恩曾跟随父亲辗转于东亚、德国和北非等地，1959年返回英国，在一所寄宿学校读书，同学大都来自破碎的家庭，粗鲁而残暴。在孤寂的中学时代，麦克尤恩沉浸于文学的世界，大量阅读格雷厄姆·格林（Graham Greene）和艾丽丝·默多克（lris Murdoch）等作家的作品，希望通过文学改变自己的命运。1967年，麦克尤恩进入苏塞克斯大学（University of Sussex）学习，主修英语和法语，广泛涉猎弗洛伊德的作品并开始进行文学创作，毕业后进入东英吉利大学（University of East Anglia）攻读创作硕士学位。1975年，麦克尤恩的短篇小说集《最初的爱情、最后的仪式》（First Love，Last Rites，1975）出版，在欧美文坛引起强烈反响，一举成名。迄今为止，麦克尤恩已经发表了20余部作品，奠定了他在英国文坛的地位。2008年，麦克尤恩被《泰晤士报》（The Times）评为英国自1945年以来最伟大的50位小说家之一。

作品简介：麦克尤恩是一位多产的作家，迄今共创作了13部长篇小说、3部短篇小说集、2部儿童小说、2部剧作和3部电影剧本，有不少作品已经被改编成了电影。麦克尤恩的小说直指现代人内心的焦虑和恐惧，探讨暴力、死亡和善恶等永恒的主题，文笔冷峻犀利、细腻幽默。余华对麦克尤恩的创作给予了高度评价，他认为麦克尤恩“在写下希望的时候也写下了失望，写下恐怖的时候也写下了安慰，写下寒冷的时候也写下了温暖，写下荒诞的时候也写下了逼真，写下暴力的时候也写下了柔弱，写下理智冷静的时候也写下了情感冲动”。麦克尤恩较有代表性的作品有《水泥花园》（The Cement Garden，1978），《无辜者》（The Innocent，1990），《阿姆斯特丹》（Amsterdam，1998）和《赎罪》（Atonement，2001）等。

Not long after his tenth birthday， Peter was told to take his seven-year-old sister， Kate， to school. Peter and Kate went to the same school. It was a fifteen-minute walk or a short bus ride away. Usually they walked there with their father who dropped them off on his way to work. But now the children were thought old enough to make it to school by themselves on the bus， and Peter was in charge.

It was only two stops down the road， but the way his parents kept talking about it， you might have thought that Peter was taking Kate to the North Pole. He was given instructions the night before. When he woke up he had to listen to them again. Then his parents repeated them all through breakfast. As the children were on their way out the door， their mother， Viola repeated the rules one last time. Everyone must think Im stupid， Peter thought. Perhaps I am. He was to keep hold of Kates hand at all times. They were to sit downstairs， with Kate nearest the window. They were not to get into conversations with mad or wicked people. Peter was to tell the bus conductor the name of his stop in a loud voice， without forgetting to say“please”. He was to keep his eyes on the route.

Peter repeated this back to his mother， and set off for the bus stop with his sister. They held hands all the way. Actually， he didnt mind this because the truth was he liked Kate. He simply hoped that none of his friends would see him holding a girls hand. The bus came. They got on and sat downstairs. It was ridiculous sitting there holding hands， and there were some boys from the school around， so they let go of each other. Peter was feeling proud. He could take care of his sister anywhere. She could count on him. Suppose they were alone together on a mountain pass and came face to face with a pack of hungry wolves， he would know exactly what to do. Taking care not to make any sudden movement， he would move away with Kate until they had their backs to a large rock. That way the wolves would not be able to surround them. Then he takes from his pocket two important things he has remembered to bring with him-his hunting knife and a box of matches. He takes the knife from its sheath and sets it down on the grass， ready in case the wolves attack. They are coming closer now. They are so hungry that they are drooling and growling. Kate is sobbing， but he cannot comfort her. He knows he has to concentrate on his plan. Right at his feet there are some dry leaves and twigs 8. Quickly and skillfully， Peter gathers them up into a small pile. The wolves are coming closer. He has to get this right. There is only one match left in the box. They can smell thewolves breath-a terrible rotten meat stench. He bends down， cups his hand and lights the match. There is a gust of wind， the flame fjickers， but Peter holds it close in to the pile， and then first one leaf， then another， then the end of a twig catch fire， and soon the little pile and larger sticks. Kate is getting the idea and helping him. The wolves are backing off. Wild animals are terrified of fire. The flames are leaping higher and the wind is carrying the smoke right into their drooling jaws. Now Peter takes hold of the hunting knife and…

Ridiculous！It was daydreams like this that could make him miss his stop if he wasnt careful. The bus had come to a halt. The kids from his school were already getting off. Peter leaped to his feet and just managed to jump to the pavement as the bus was starting off again. It was more than fifty yards down the road when he realized he had forgotten something. Was it his satchel？No！It was his sister！He had saved her from the wolves， and left her sitting there. For a moment he couldnt move. He stood watching the bus pull away up the road.“Come back，”he murmured. “Come back.”

One of the boys from his school came over and thumped him on the back. “Hey， whats up？Seen a ghost？”Peters voice seemed to come from far away. “Oh， nothing， nothing. I left something on the bus.”And then he started to run. The bus was already a quarter of a mile away and beginning to slow down for its next stop. Peter sprinted. He was going so fast that if he spread his arms far apart， he would probably have been able to take off. Then he could skim along the top of the trees and…But no！He wasnt going to start daydreaming again. He was going to get his sister back. Even now， she would be screaming in terror. Some passengers had got off， and the bus was moving away again. He was closer than before. The bus was crawling behind a truck. If he could just keep running， and forget the terrible pain in his legs and chest， he would catch up. As he drew level with the bus stop， the bus was no more than a hundred yards away. “Faster， faster，”he said to himself. A kid standing by the bus shelter called out to Peter as he passed. “Hey， Peter， Peter！”Peter didnt have the strength to turn his head. “Cant stop，”he panted， and ran on. “Peter！Stop！Its me. Kate！”Clutching at his chest， he collapsed on the grass at his sisters feet. “Mind that dog mess，”she said calmly as she watched her brother fighting for his breath. “Come on now. Wed better walk back or else we are going to be late. Youd better hold my hand if youre going to stay out of trouble.”So they walked to school together， and Kate very decently promised-in return for Peters Saturday pocket money-to say nothing about what had happened when they got home.