《雾都孤儿》 - 书评

rosebu

　　   《Oliver Twist》就是不断演进的“情景剧”，本质上是“廉价”的。就像《武林外传》经常自我嘲讽的一样：“没钱就拍个情景剧”，“情景剧有什么场景转换啊？”“三文？如今连情景喜剧都不只这个价了！”
　　   《Oliver》也没大场面，大起落。几乎没有场面描写、风景描写、静物描写、心情描写——当然，您可以认为这些它都有，悲惨出生那一幕不是场面描写吗？灰暗、潮湿、狭窄的房子，不是静物描写么？Oliver蜷缩在墙角，觉得四周空旷旷地孤独，不是心情描写吗？可是，这些都服务于情景，就好比《武林外传》里所有人的惊讶、着急、难过都只服务于情景故事叙述。比起《儿子与情人》的灵魂刻画，《Oliver》等于完全忽略人物内心；比起《苔丝》的乡村风景描写，《Oliver》等于完全忽略了生存环境；比起《战争与和平》的宏大战争场面描写，《Oliver》等于完全忽略了事件纪实。《Oliver》本质上就是一个摈弃了一切繁杂描写、专注于塑造情景喜剧的简约讽刺戏。
　　     这样的戏，关键在于设计让人捧腹、惊讶的情景，使人在平凡场景之中发现独特乐趣，满心期待下一场景。此书的成功也就在于它把这一关键要素发挥到了极致。
　　     场景一： Mr. Bumbles, the beadle, 第一次去看Oliver。作者设计了几个滑稽点，来反映教会人的自负以及抚养孤儿者的虚伪。这些滑稽点简单：Mr Bumbles想把铁门弄开，女人热情招呼，表现自己的慈善，却又小声让人赶紧把脏兮兮的Oliver洗干净；Mr的面相、性格、动作，充满滑稽感，而当Mr提到他给孤儿命名的方法，就进入了滑稽高潮（附后）。
　　     场景二：Oliver第一次被卖的场景，算是一场闹剧，完全用于讽刺教会人。首先是骑驴的人和驴闹别扭，教会的人见着如此笨、狠、恶的人，却觉得是最合适Oliver的领养者。接着一个教会人眼睛不好，用放大镜看一切东西，因为墨水放在鼻子底下而总是不被看到，所以他拿着放大镜四处看，偶然看到Oliver的恐惧表情，决定不应给领养者。教会的行为决策的“自私性”“无理性”“偶然性”被表现出来——我只能用淋漓尽致来形容。
　　     
　　     附命名方法的滑稽：
　　     ‘I, Mrs. Mann. We name our fondlings in alphabetical order. The last was a S,—Swubble, I named him. This was a T,—Twist, I named HIM. The next one comes will be Unwin, and the next Vilkins. I have got names ready made to the end of the alphabet, and all the way through it again, when we come to Z. 这种不负责任、不带感情、胡乱命名的方法，产生的都是Swubble,Unwin这样扭曲滑稽、适合小动物的名字，Twist恐怕算其中最正常的名儿了。可是女人却称赞说：“‘Why, you’re quite a literary character, sir!”逗乐之中，角色如此瓜兮兮的，观众如此笑嘻嘻的。

rosebu

　　可幸我读《Oliver Twist》是在读《Poor Folk》之后。陀氏那毫无节制、滥情啰嗦的语言实在冲击得我头脑发昏，于是迪肯斯这简约、精致、用词委婉而讽刺直接、文雅而幽默的语言，就深得我敬服。我想我若能写出这样一环扣一环的讽刺，该多得意呀。
　　所谓一环扣一环的讽刺，以及用词委婉而讽刺直接、文雅而幽默，可引文中多处证明。
　　1、
　　Now, if, during this brief period, Oliver had been surrounded by careful grandmothers, anxious aunts, experienced nurses, and doctors of profound wisdom, he would most inevitably and indubitably have been killed in no time. There being nobody by, however, but a pauper old woman, who was rendered rather misty by an unwonted allowance of beer; and a parish surgeon who did such matters by contract; Oliver and Nature fought out the point between them. The result was, that, after a few struggles, Oliver breathed, sneezed, and proceeded to advertise to the inmates of the workhouse the fact of a new burden having been imposed upon the parish...
　　首先，作者写了一个“与常识极其明显地相反”的句子：如果有优良的条件，Oliver立马会死。然后赞赏Oliver的幸运：只有很差的条件，根本没人管他。这种写法有讽刺效果，且不沦落为煽情。“写法有讽刺效果”的产生，在于，当人们读到与常识相反的句子，或许不解，或许疑惑好奇，而立即又进入下一句子，读到Oliver出生的凄凉景象，立即明白了作者的意图，又是为这幽默发笑，又是为这贫穷落泪。又哭又笑的状态，不至于被那故意情绪化的、深邃的情感抒发和道德说教而束缚，而有了对社会嬉笑怒骂加以批判的动力，此为“不沦落为煽情”。相比之下，陀氏毫无幽默感，完全寄希望于煽情。
　　
　　2、
　　he should be dispatched to a branch workhouse some three miles off, where twenty or thirty other juvenile offenders against the poor-laws, rolled about the floor all day, without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing, under the parental superintendence of an elderly female, who received the culprits at and for the consideration of sevenpence-halfpenny per small head per week. Sevenpence-halfpenny’s worth per week is a good round diet for a child; a great deal may be got for sevenpence-halfpenny, quite enough to overload its stomach, and make it uncomfortable. The elderly female was a
　　woman of wisdom and experience; she knew what was good for children; and she had a very accurate perception of what was good for herself. So, she appropriated the greater part of the weekly stipend to her own use, and consigned the rising parochial generation to even a shorter allowance than was originally provided for them. Thereby finding in the lowest depth a deeper still; and proving herself a very great experimental philosopher.
　　在这一句中，许多词语是独创的、极具讽刺意味的，比如“other juvenile offenders against the poor-laws”以及随后的“received the culprits"，作者把Oliver说成offenders和culprits，把他挨饿、被虐待说成是他自己的错，如此不单单写了凄惨，更写了济贫院对孤儿的不理解和隔阂。造成这种隔阂的——随后的句子就让读者明白——是因济贫院为利益而牺牲道义。读者的觉悟却不来自作者的明示，而来自对反讽的理解。作者把自私的抚养者称赞为“ a woman of wisdom and experience”“a very great experimental philosopher”，表现她深谙利益计较，对道德这些虚名而无利的东西毫不放在眼里。读者的一切领悟都来自对反讽的、弦外之音的理解。细心的读者会因为发现一处反讽，理解了一种弦外之音而深感欣喜，这样的阅读快感，只可能来自迪肯斯这般精炼、幽默、文雅的语言，而不可能来自直白、滥情、罗嗦的语言。