從房間走向世界——Room

愛(ài)瑪·多諾霍(Emma Donoghue)是英語(yǔ)文壇的新銳作家。她1969年出生于愛(ài)爾蘭的都柏林，曾經(jīng)先后求學(xué)于都柏林大學(xué)和英國(guó)劍橋大學(xué)，1997年獲得英語(yǔ)文學(xué)博士學(xué)位，2004年加入加拿大國(guó)籍。迄今為止，多諾霍已經(jīng)出版了多部長(zhǎng)篇小說(shuō)，代表作有《頭巾》(Hood)、《生者面具》(Life Mask)、《著陸》(Landing)、《封口信》(The Sealed Letter)、《房間》(Room)等。其中，最為著名的是《房間》這部小說(shuō)。該小說(shuō)曾獲得美國(guó)圖書(shū)館協(xié)會(huì)授予的阿歷克斯獎(jiǎng)，并入選2010年度《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》十大好書(shū)。

Excerpts1)

Lunch is bean salad， my second worst favorite. After nap we do Scream every day but not Saturdays or Sundays. We clear our throats and climb up on Table to be nearer Skylight， holding hands not to fall. We say “On your mark， get set， go，” then we open wide our teeth and shout holler2) howl yowl shriek screech scream the loudest possible. Today I’m the most loudest ever because my lungs are stretching from being five.

Then we shush3) with fingers on lips. I asked Ma once what we’re listening for and she said just in case， you never know.

Then I do rubbings4) of a fork and Comb and jar lids and the sides of my jeans. Ruled paper is smoothest for rubbings， but toilet paper is good for a drawing that goes on forever， like today I do me with a cat and a parrot and an iguana5) and a raccoon6) and Santa and an ant and Lucky7) and all my TV friends in a procession and I’m King Jack. When I’m all done I roll it again so we can use it for our butts. I take a fresh bit from the next roll for a letter to Dora8). I have to sharpen the red pencil with Smooth Knife. I squeeze the pencil hard because it’s so short it’s nearly gone. I write perfectly only sometimes my letters go back to front. I am five the day before yesterday， you can have the last bit of cake but there is no candles， bye love Jack. It only tears a little on the of. “When will she get it?”

“Well，” says Ma， “I’d imagine it’ll take a few hours to reach the sea， then it’ll wash up on a beach ...”

She sounds funny from sucking an ice cube for Bad Tooth. Beaches and sea are TV but I think when we send a letter it turns them real for a bit. The poos9) sink and the letters float on the waves. “Who’ll find it? Diego10)?”

“Probably. And he’ll take it to his cousin Dora—”

“In his safari11) jeep. Zoom zoom through the jungle.”

“So tomorrow morning， I’d say. Lunchtime at the latest.”

The ice cube is making less bulge12) in Ma’s face now. “Let’s see?”

She puts it out on her tongue.

“I think I have a bad tooth too.”

Ma wails， “Oh， Jack.”

“Really real for real. Ow， ow， ow.”

Her face changes. “You can suck an ice cube if you want; you don’t have to have a toothache.”

“Cool.”

“Don’t scare me like that.”

I didn’t know I could scare her. “Maybe it’ll hurt when I’m six.”

She puffs13) her breath when she’s getting the cubes out of Freezer. “Liar， liar， pants on fire.”

But I wasn’t lying， only pretending.

It’s rainy all the afternoon. God doesn’t look in at all. We sing “Stormy Weather” and “It’s Raining Men” and the one about the desert missing the rain.

Dinner is fish sticks and rice. I get to squirt the lemon that’s not an actual but a plastic. We had a real lemon once but it shriveled14) up too fast. Ma puts a bit of her fish stick under Plant in the soil.

The cartoon planet’s not in evenings， maybe because it’s dark and they don’t have lamps there. I choose a cooking tonight， it’s not like real food， they don’t have any cans. The she and the he smile at each other and do a meat with a pie on top and green things around other green things in bunches15). Then I switch over to the fitness planet where persons in underwear with all machines have to keep doing things over and over. I think they’re locked in. That’s over soon and it’s the knockerdowners， they make houses into different shapes and also millions of colors with paint， not just on a picture but all over everything. Houses are like lots of Rooms stuck together， TV persons stay in them mostly but sometimes they go in their outsides and weather happens to them.

“What if we put the bed over there?” says Ma.

I stare at her， then I look where she’s pointing. “That’s TV Wall.”

“That’s just what we call it，” she says， “but the bed could probably fit there， between the toilet and … we’d have to shift the wardrobe over a bit. Then the dresser would be right here instead of the bed， with the TV on top of it.”

I’m shaking my head a lot. “Then we couldn’t see.”

“We could. We’d be sitting right here in the rocker.”

“Bad idea.”

“OK， forget it.” Ma folds her arms tight.

The TV woman is crying because her house is yellow now. “Did she like it brown better?” I ask.

“No，” says Ma， “she’s so happy it’s making her cry.”

That’s weird. “Is she happy sad， like you get when there’s lovely music on TV?”

“No， she’s just an idiot. Let’s switch the TV off now.”

“Five more minutes? Please?”

She shakes her head.

“I’ll do Parrot16). I’m getting even better.” I listen hard to the TV woman. I say， “Dream come to life， I have to tell you Darren it’s just beyond my very wildest imaginings， the cornices17)—”

Ma hits the off. I want to ask her what a cornices is but I think she’s still cranky18) about moving the furniture—that was a crazy plan.

In Wardrobe I should be going to sleep but I’m counting fights. That’s three we had in three days， one about the candles and one about Mouse and one about Lucky. I’d rather be four again if five means fighting all the days.

“Good night， Room，” I say very quiet. “Good night， Lamp and Balloon.”

“Good night， stove，” says Ma， “and good night， table.”

I’m grinning. “Good night， Wordy Ball. Good night， Fort. Good night， Rug.”

“Good night， air，” says Ma.

“Good night， noises everywhere.”

“Good night， Jack.”

“Good night， Ma. And Bugs—don’t forget the Bugs.”

“Night-night，” she says. “Sleep tight. Don’t let the bugs bite.”

1.英文節(jié)選部分描寫(xiě)了小說(shuō)主人公杰克和媽媽在密室中的生活片段。

2.holler [?h?l?(r)] vi. 叫喊

3.shush [???] vi. 發(fā)“噓”聲要求安靜

4.rubbing [?r?b??] n. 摹拓，拓印

5.iguana [??ɡwɑ?n?] n.[動(dòng)]鬣蜥(一種產(chǎn)于南美洲和西印度群島的大蜥蜴)

6.raccoon [r??ku?n] n. [動(dòng)]浣熊

7.Lucky：一只小狗的名字

8.Dora：朵拉，動(dòng)畫(huà)片《愛(ài)探險(xiǎn)的朵拉》中的主人公

9.poo [pu?] n. 排泄物，糞便

10.Diego：迪亞哥，動(dòng)畫(huà)片《愛(ài)探險(xiǎn)的朵拉》中朵拉的表哥

11.safari [s??fɑ?ri] n. 旅行，狩獵遠(yuǎn)征

12.bulge [b?ld?] n. 膨脹，腫脹

13.puff [p?f] vt. 吹；噴出

14.shrivel [??r?v(?)l] vi. 皺縮

15.bunch [b?nt?] n. (一)束，(一)串

16.Parrot：在文中指“鸚鵡學(xué)舌”游戲，即模仿某人說(shuō)話

17.cornice [?k??(r)n?s] n. 檐口，飛檐

18.cranky [?kr??ki] adj. 古怪的，胡思亂想的

作品欣賞

1999年，奧斯卡金像獎(jiǎng)將最佳外語(yǔ)片的殊榮頒給了意大利影片《美麗人生》。這部電影講述了一則笑中帶淚的故事。故事發(fā)生在第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間，意大利的一對(duì)猶太父子被抓進(jìn)了納粹集中營(yíng)。善良的父親為了保護(hù)年幼的兒子不受驚嚇，便告訴兒子他們現(xiàn)在加入了一場(chǎng)游戲，如果他們能夠通過(guò)游戲中的重重考驗(yàn)，攢夠積分，就能夠贏得一輛嶄新的坦克。天真的孩子相信了父親的話，于是陰森的集中營(yíng)在他的眼中成了一個(gè)游樂(lè)場(chǎng)；難以忍受的生活成了有趣的試煉。電影的結(jié)尾，父親被納粹槍殺了，但在臨刑前，他還在給躲在暗處的孩子做鬼臉，用微笑暗示這不過(guò)是一場(chǎng)游戲。戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)結(jié)束，孩子活了下來(lái)，是父愛(ài)保護(hù)了他，為他在地獄般的世界里描繪出一個(gè)明媚的天堂。

多諾霍的《房間》也是這樣一個(gè)故事。《房間》的創(chuàng)作素材來(lái)源于現(xiàn)實(shí)生活，是2008年曝光的一則發(fā)生在奧地利的罪案。受害者伊麗莎白·弗里茨爾自18歲起就被親生父親囚禁在地下室，在長(zhǎng)達(dá)24年的囚禁生活中，先后生下了七個(gè)孩子。多諾霍在改寫(xiě)這個(gè)故事的時(shí)候，刪除了亂倫這一會(huì)引起人們不安情緒的內(nèi)容，將囚禁者改為陌生人，并將敘述的重任交給了一個(gè)五歲大的男孩杰克，用這個(gè)出生在密室里的孩子的語(yǔ)言，講述了一則和電影《美麗人生》一樣有關(guān)親情和愛(ài)的故事。

在小說(shuō)中，主人公杰克的母親19歲便被惡人老尼克綁架，囚禁在一個(gè)安裝著密碼鎖、長(zhǎng)度和寬度各為11英尺的斗室之內(nèi)，長(zhǎng)達(dá)七年之久。這七年里，在換算成公制不到12平方米的空間里，杰克的母親兩度懷孕。第一個(gè)孩子是個(gè)女孩，生下來(lái)就夭折了。第二個(gè)孩子是個(gè)男孩，也就是杰克。杰克的出生激發(fā)了母親生存的欲望，她決心好好活下去，在扭曲的環(huán)境中盡可能地為孩子提供庇護(hù)，創(chuàng)造一個(gè)相對(duì)安全的世界。她和孩子一起唱歌、畫(huà)畫(huà)、干家務(wù)，并教他識(shí)字、算數(shù)，學(xué)習(xí)百科知識(shí)。密室里物資匱乏，條件簡(jiǎn)陋，孩子卻被保護(hù)得很好，在有限的空間里相對(duì)快樂(lè)地成長(zhǎng)。

在現(xiàn)實(shí)中，有太多的例子說(shuō)明承受太多苦難與仇恨的人會(huì)有一顆仇恨這個(gè)世界的心。母親非常明白這一點(diǎn)，所以她從來(lái)不讓孩子抱怨。她發(fā)明了各種游戲來(lái)掩蓋生活的殘酷真相。她每天和孩子練習(xí)“尖叫”游戲，比比誰(shuí)的聲音大，其實(shí)這個(gè)游戲的目的是期望有人碰巧路過(guò)密室時(shí)能聽(tīng)到里面的求救呼喊。到了晚上，她讓杰克躲進(jìn)衣櫥里，玩“藏貓貓”的游戲，其實(shí)這個(gè)游戲是為了不讓杰克看到母親如何遭受欺凌，也防止老尼克來(lái)傷害他。她逼著杰克練習(xí)“裝病”甚至“裝死”的游戲，其實(shí)這個(gè)游戲的目的是為了找到合適的理由讓老尼克將杰克帶出密室，為杰克贏得獲救的可能。也正是因?yàn)椤把b死”游戲，這對(duì)母子成功騙過(guò)了老尼克，讓他以為杰克真的已經(jīng)死去。在老尼克把杰克帶出密室掩埋時(shí)，杰克成功逃脫，并借由路人的幫助報(bào)了警，最后把母親也救了出來(lái)。

我們常說(shuō)：“心有多大，世界就有多大。”這本來(lái)是一句勵(lì)志的話語(yǔ)，鼓勵(lì)我們要敢于擁有自己的夢(mèng)想。而在《房間》中，這句話既契合小說(shuō)主旨，卻也帶著令人心酸的意味。在方寸斗室里，世界是狹窄的，只能用想象來(lái)彌補(bǔ)，賦予它廣闊的意義。然而，無(wú)論如何善于想象，斗室的“廣闊”和真實(shí)的世界的廣闊之間依然存在著巨大的差異。這也就是為什么在這對(duì)母子獲救后，他們并沒(méi)有像想象的那樣立即獲得幸福，而是經(jīng)過(guò)各種艱難的努力后，才逐步適應(yīng)了新的生活。

離開(kāi)窄小的暗房走向廣闊的世界，這對(duì)杰克來(lái)說(shuō)不啻是重生。他不得不重新學(xué)說(shuō)話：他需要理解和掌握學(xué)到的新詞匯，學(xué)會(huì)這個(gè)世界的語(yǔ)言。他不得不重新學(xué)走路：他習(xí)慣了在狹小的空間里行走，空間變大了，便不懂得如何判斷距離，行走時(shí)?？呐龅郊揖?。獲得解救后的生活對(duì)母親來(lái)說(shuō)也是重生。她逃離了老尼克的掌握，終于自由了。然而，她需要面對(duì)媒體的追蹤報(bào)道、人們的評(píng)頭論足和內(nèi)心的殘留陰影。而最重要的是，這一對(duì)母子都需要學(xué)習(xí)獨(dú)立生活。

母愛(ài)很偉大，它賦予人生命，但是太強(qiáng)大的愛(ài)有時(shí)也會(huì)成為一種負(fù)面的能量，妨礙母親，妨礙孩子，使他們無(wú)法擁有屬于自己的人格。在《房間》中，母親在生下杰克以后，可以選擇讓老尼克把杰克送到慈善機(jī)構(gòu)，這樣杰克就可以被他人領(lǐng)養(yǎng)，不必經(jīng)歷這么多的苦難。然而，她將孩子留在了身邊撫養(yǎng)。我們不能對(duì)母親求全責(zé)備，認(rèn)為她自私。從小說(shuō)中，我們處處能看到她的真誠(chéng)和無(wú)私。不過(guò)，在獲救之前，她和杰克從來(lái)沒(méi)有分離過(guò)。這從客觀上對(duì)杰克的心理產(chǎn)生了負(fù)面的影響。他不知道除了母親還能夠信任誰(shuí)，不知道離開(kāi)了母親應(yīng)該怎樣生活，只要母親走出他的視線，他便會(huì)惶恐不安。為此，杰克實(shí)際上并不喜歡這個(gè)自由的世界，嫌它太嘈雜、太擁擠。他懷念著小小的囚牢，那里有專屬于他和母親的幸福。世界成了介入他和母親之間的第三者。

身體從被囚禁到獲得解放并不意味著徹底的自由，真正的自由是靈魂的獨(dú)立。杰克需要從精神上切斷臍帶，才能長(zhǎng)大，才能真正擺脫囚牢生活的陰影。值得慶幸的是，杰克的母親也領(lǐng)悟到了這一點(diǎn)。她學(xué)會(huì)了放手，有一段時(shí)間曾經(jīng)把杰克托付給自己的母親照料。在周圍親人的關(guān)懷下，杰克漸漸不再自閉，開(kāi)始慢慢嘗試著融入這個(gè)世界。這對(duì)相親相愛(ài)的母子的美麗人生才剛剛開(kāi)始。

《房間》是一則關(guān)于愛(ài)的故事。它告訴我們，愛(ài)有將地獄改造為天堂的魔力，它所創(chuàng)造出的空間既可以親密如只容得下兩個(gè)人的房間，也可以廣闊如可以自由飛翔的世界。