殺死一只知更鳥

by Harper Lee

美國小說家哈珀·李（Harper Lee,1926-）只有一部作品，但這并無礙她締造了一個近代文化傳奇——這本《殺死一只知更鳥》（又譯《殺死一只反舌鳥》，譯林出版社2009年版）贏得了普利策獎，半個世紀(jì)以來一直位居英美青少年最喜愛小說前列；其改編電影讓著名影星格利高里·派克（Gregory Peck）榮登奧斯卡影帝，至今仍被奉為黑白片當(dāng)中的經(jīng)典之作。該小說從小女孩斯各特的角度講述了一個南方小鎮(zhèn)的生活。平靜的日子因為黑人湯姆的強奸案而徹底改變。斯各特的父親阿提克斯為湯姆擔(dān)任辯護律師，他在審判過程中發(fā)現(xiàn)湯姆是被誣陷的。盡管毫無證據(jù)，湯姆還是被判罪了，后來在試圖逃獄時被射殺。與此同時，斯各特一家也面臨著巨大的威脅……本選段節(jié)選自小說第2 0章，講的是阿提克斯在湯姆一案中進行結(jié)案陳詞——

We looked down again. Atticus was speaking easily, with the kind of 1)detachment he used when he dictated a letter. He walked slowly up and down in front of the jury, and the jury seemed to be 2)attentive: their heads were up, and they followed Atticuss route with what seemed to be appreciation. I guess it was because Atticus wasnt a thunderer.

Atticus paused, then he did something he didnt ordinarily do. He 3)unhitched his watch and chain and placed them on the table, saying, “With the courts permission—”

Judge Taylor nodded, and then Atticus did something I never saw him do before or since, in public or in private: he unbuttoned his vest, unbuttoned his collar, loosened his tie, and took off his coat. He never loosened a scrap of his clothing until he undressed at bedtime, and to Jem and me, this was the 4)equivalent of him standing before us 5)stark naked. We exchanged horrified glances.

Atticus put his hands in his pockets, and as he returned to the jury, I saw his gold collar button and the tips of his pen and pencil 6)winking in the light.

“Gentlemen,” he said. Jem and I again looked at each other: Atticus might have said, “Scout.” His voice had lost its 7)aridity, its detachment, and he was talking to the jury as if they were folks on the post office corner.

“Gentlemen,” he was saying, “I shall be brief, but I would like to use my remaining time with you to remind you that this case is not a difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the 8)defendant. To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white.

“The state注1 has not produced one 9)iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the 10)testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious question on 11)crossexamination, but has been flatly 12)contradicted by the defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is.

“I have nothing but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state, but my pity does not extend so far as to her putting a mans life at stake, which she has done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt.

“I say guilt, gentlemen, because it was guilt that 13)motivated her. She has committed no crime, she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is 14)hounded from our midst as unfit to live with. She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, but I cannot pity her: she is white. She knew full well the 15)enormity of her offense, but because her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persisted in breaking it. She persisted, as her 16)subsequent reaction is something that all of us have known at one time or another. She did something every child has done—she tried to put the evidence of her offense away from her. But in this case she was no child hiding stolen 17)contraband: she struck out at her victim—of necessity she must put him away from her—he must be removed from her presence, from this world. She must destroy the evidence of her offense.

“What was the evidence of her offense? Tom Robinson, a human being. She must put Tom Robinson away from her. Tom Robinson was her daily reminder of what she did. What did she do? She

18)tempted a 19)Negro.

“She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man. Not an old uncle, but a strong young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards.

“Her father saw it, and the defendant has testified as to his remarks. What did her father do? We dont know, but there is 20)circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost 21)exclusively with his left. We do know in part what Mr. Ewell did: he did what any God-fearing, 22)persevering, respectable white man would do under the circumstances—he swore out a 23)warrant, no doubt signing it with his left hand, and Tom Robinson now sits before you, having 24)taken the oath with the only good hand he possesses—his right hand.

“And so a quiet, respectable, humble Negro who had the 25)unmitigated 26)temerity to ‘feel sorry for a white woman has had to put his word against two white peoples. I need not remind you of their appearance and conduct on the stand—you saw them for yourselves. The witnesses for the state, with the exception of the 27)sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the 28)cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the 29)assumption—the evil assumption—that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically 30)immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their 31)caliber.

“Which, gentlemen, we know is in itself a lie as black as Tom Robinsons skin, a lie I do not have to point out to you. You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women—black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men. There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing, and there is no man living who has never looked upon a woman without desire.”

Atticus paused and took out his handkerchief. Then he took off his glasses and wiped them, and we saw another “first”: we had never seen him sweat—he was one of those men whose faces never 32)perspired, but now it was shining 33)tan.

“One more thing, gentlemen, before I quit. Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase that the 34)Yankees and the distaff side of the executive branch注2 in Washington are fond of 35)hurling at us. There is a tendency in this 36)year of grace, 1935, for certain people to use this phrase 37)out of context, to satisfy all conditions. The most 38)ridiculous example I can think of is that the people who run public education promote the stupid and 39)idle along with the 40)industrious—because all men are created equal, educators will 41)gravely tell you, the children left behind suffer terrible feelings of 42)inferiority. We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe—some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity because theyre born with it, some men make more money than others, some ladies make better cakes than others—some people are born gifted beyond the normal 43)scope of most men.

注2：“distaff side”這個短語本身的意思是“母系家屬”。這里指的是富蘭克林·羅斯福總統(tǒng)的妻子安娜·埃莉諾·羅斯福（Anna Eleanor Roosevelt，1884-1962）。她的民權(quán)觀點經(jīng)常被南方人士詬病。

“But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal—there is one human institution that makes a 44)pauper the equal of a Rockefeller注3, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court. It can be the Supreme Court of the United States or the humblest JP注4 court in the land, or this honorable court which you serve. Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.

“Im no 45)idealist to believe firmly in the 46)integrity of our courts and in the jury system—that is no ideal to me, it is a living, working reality. Gentlemen, a court is no better than each man of you sitting before me on this jury. A court is only as 47)sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up. I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and 48)restore this defendant to his family. In the name of God, do your duty.”

注3：約翰·D·洛克菲勒（John D. Rockefeller，1839-1937），美國超級資本家，美孚石油公司創(chuàng)始人，是世界公認(rèn)的“石油大王”，其家族財團對美國的經(jīng)濟、政治等方面有極大影響力。美語中有“as rich as a Rockefeller”這樣的說法。

注4：“Justice of the Peace”的縮寫，指的是治安法官、兼理一般事務(wù)的地方官。

我們又朝下望去。阿提克斯流暢自如地講著話，神情淡漠，像是在口述一封信。他在陪審團面前踱來踱去，陪審員們似乎在聚精會神地聽著：他們仰著腦袋，用近乎欣賞的目光追隨著阿提克斯的步伐。我想那是因為阿提克斯說話平靜。

阿提克斯停了下來，做了一件他平常不做的事。他解開表鏈，連表一道放在桌子上，說：“請求法庭允許……”

泰勒法官點了點頭，阿提克斯接著做了件我以前和以后都沒見他做過的事情——無論是在大庭廣眾還是在私下里都沒見他做過。他解開背心和衣鋇上的扣子，松開領(lǐng)結(jié)，脫掉上衣。除非晚上上床睡覺，他從不解開身上的穿戴。在我和杰姆看來，他現(xiàn)在這樣簡直就是一絲不掛地站在我們面前。我們交換了一個驚嚇的眼色。

阿提克斯把雙手揣進口袋里，回到陪審團跟前。我看到他的金色領(lǐng)扣、鋼筆尖和鉛筆尖在燈光下閃閃發(fā)亮。

“先生們，”他說。我和杰姆又互相看了看，阿提克斯就像在喊“斯各特”一樣。他的聲音不再平淡冷漠了。他對陪審員說話的方式就好像他們是站在郵局拐角處的一群街坊。

“先生們，”他說，“我的話不會很長，不過我想借剩下這點時間提醒諸位，這個案件并不難處理，弄清這件事并不需要對復(fù)雜的事實進行仔細的篩選，但是事情本身的確要求諸位一定要有十足的把握才能給被告定罪。首先，這個案子根本就用不著上法庭。它相當(dāng)簡單，簡直是黑白分明。

“原告方?jīng)]有提供一丁點兒醫(yī)學(xué)證據(jù)來說明湯姆·魯濱遜被指控的罪行確鑿發(fā)生過。這個指控僅僅立足于兩個證人的證詞，而這些所謂證詞在盤問中不但漏洞百出，而且遭到被告的斷然反駁。被告沒有罪，有罪的是審判廳里的另一個人。

“我對原告方的主要證人只有滿腔的憐憫，但是我的憐憫不能聽任她為開脫自己的罪責(zé)而置他人于死地?！跋壬鷤?，我說主要證人有罪，是因為罪惡感正是她的動機。她并沒有犯法，她只不過是打破了一條嚴(yán)厲的、由來已久的社會準(zhǔn)則。這條準(zhǔn)則太嚴(yán)厲了，誰打破了它，誰就會遭到放逐，不能在我們中間生活下去。她是殘酷無情的貧窮和愚昧的犧牲品。但是，我并不同情她，因為她是白人。她很清楚違反社會準(zhǔn)則是非同小可的，但是她的肉欲勝過她要打破的準(zhǔn)則，于是她一意孤行，堅持這樣做。隨后她做出的反應(yīng)，我們大家前前后后都知道了。她做了件每個小孩都做過的事情——企圖把自己犯錯的證據(jù)隱藏起來。但是在本案里，她不是像小孩一樣藏匿偷來的贓物，而是向受害者發(fā)起進攻。她必須把他處置掉——必須把他從她眼前除去，從這個世界上消滅掉。她必須毀滅自己違反社會準(zhǔn)則的證據(jù)。

“她違反準(zhǔn)則的證據(jù)是什么？是湯姆·魯濱遜，一個大活人。她必須把湯姆·魯濱遜從她眼前除去。湯姆·魯濱遜的存在每天都使她想起自己做過什么事情。她做過什么事情呢？她引誘一個黑人。

“她是白人，卻引誘一個黑人。她做了一件在我們的社會里可恥得說不出口的事情：親吻一個黑人。不是一個老伯伯，而是一個年輕力壯的黑人。在打破準(zhǔn)則之前，她對準(zhǔn)則不屑一顧，但事過之后，這個社會準(zhǔn)則便朝她劈頭蓋腦地壓下來了。

“她父親看見了，被告證實了他說的話。她父親后來做了些什么？我們不知道。但是間接證據(jù)表明，梅耶拉·尤厄爾遭到了某人的毒打，而這個人基本上就是個左撇子。我們在一定程度上知道尤厄爾先生做了些什么。他做了任何一個敬畏上帝、意志堅定的體面白人在同樣的情況下都會做的事：他宣誓作證，讓法院對湯姆·魯濱遜發(fā)出拘捕證，他無疑是用左手簽的名。于是湯姆·魯濱遜現(xiàn)在坐在你們面前，用他唯一完好的那只手——他的右手進行宣誓。

“于是，一個性格溫和、值得尊重、恭順謙卑——并曾相當(dāng)魯莽地‘可憐過一個白人姑娘的黑人，被迫與兩個白人當(dāng)庭對質(zhì)。這兩個白人在證人席上的神態(tài)舉止如何，用不著我提醒諸位——諸位自己看得一清二楚了。除了梅康鎮(zhèn)的司法官，所有的起訴方證人在諸位先生面前，在這個法庭面前，都表現(xiàn)出一種輕蔑他人的自信，自信他們的證詞不會受到質(zhì)疑，自信諸位先生會附和他們的假設(shè)，一個邪惡的假設(shè)：所有的黑人都說謊，所有的黑人都道德敗壞，所有的黑人在我們的女人面前都不規(guī)矩——這是一個建立在對黑人智力的臆想上的假設(shè)。

“這個假設(shè)，先生們，我們知道它本身就是一個像湯姆·魯濱遜的皮膚一樣黑的彌天大謊，一個用不著我來揭穿的大謊言。諸位知道真相，真相就是有的黑人說謊，有的黑人道德敗壞，有的黑人在女人面前不規(guī)矩——不管是黑人女性還是白人女性。但是，這個道理適用于全人類，而不僅僅限于某一特定人種。在這個法庭上，沒有誰從不撒謊，沒有誰從沒做過壞事——在這個世界上，沒有一個男人不曾帶著肉欲瞧過女人?！?/p>

阿提克斯停下來，掏出手帕，把眼鏡取下來擦了擦。我們又看到了一個“第一次”：我們從沒見他流過汗——他是臉上從不出汗的人，但是現(xiàn)在，他曬黑的臉上泛著油光。

“先生們，在我結(jié)束發(fā)言之前，還有一件事。托馬斯·杰斐遜說過：所有的人生而平等。北方佬和華盛頓那位女性高官喜歡用這句話來抨擊我們。在公元1935年的今天，有這么一種趨勢，有些人斷章取義地將這句名言濫用在一切場合。據(jù)我所知，最荒謬的例子是那些公共教育的經(jīng)營者讓愚鈍懶惰的孩子與勤奮刻苦的孩子一道升學(xué)——因為所有的人生而平等，教育家會嚴(yán)肅地告訴你，后進的孩子會因自卑而備受折磨。我們知道，在某種意義上，所有的人并非生而平等，盡管有人想讓我們那樣理解這句名言：有的人比別人聰明，有的人有更多機會，因為他們生來就有更多機會；有的男人比別的男人會賺錢，有的女人比別的女人會做蛋糕——有的人的天賦是大多數(shù)普通人所望塵莫及的。

“但是，在這個國度里，在一個方面，所有的人都生而平等——有一個人類機構(gòu)能夠使一個乞丐與洛克菲勒平等，一個笨伯與愛因斯坦平等，一個愚昧無知的人與任何一個大學(xué)校長平等。先生們，這個機構(gòu)就是法庭。它可以是美國最高法院，可以是最卑微的地方治安法庭，也可以是諸位為之效力的這個有聲譽的法庭。就像任何人類機構(gòu)一樣，我們的法庭有它的不足；但是，在這片國土上，我們的法庭是偉大的天平，在我們的法庭上，所有的人生而平等。

“我不是理想主義者，盲目相信我們的法庭廉潔公正，陪審團制度完善優(yōu)越——對我來說，這兩者不是理想的事物，而只是切實有效的存在。先生們，法庭并不比坐在我面前的陪審席上的你們每一位更完美。法庭的可靠性有賴于陪審團，而陪審團的可靠性則有賴于其成員。我相信，諸位先生會不偏不倚地重新審核你們獲得的證據(jù)，做出決定，讓被告回到家里去。以上帝的名義，履行你們的職責(zé)吧。”