《落麗塔》里的愛情
在單讀的微信公眾號(hào)里,聽美國(guó)華人作家哈金被許志遠(yuǎn)采訪。許志遠(yuǎn)稱贊哈金的文筆有小說(shuō)家寫《憤怒與喧囂》的康拉德和《落麗塔》的納博科夫的風(fēng)范,可操著一口東北腔普通話的哈金,拒不接受這個(gè)容譽(yù),死活說(shuō)他不能和納博科夫相提并論。聽到這里,我就樂(lè)了:哈金來(lái)美國(guó)30年,在波士頓大學(xué)教文學(xué)創(chuàng)作,出的英語(yǔ)小說(shuō)《等待》獲得了國(guó)家圖書獎(jiǎng),卻拼命強(qiáng)調(diào)自己的英語(yǔ)不行。
哈金說(shuō),納波科夫的英語(yǔ)如同他的母語(yǔ),身為俄國(guó)人的他從小生長(zhǎng)在沙皇貴族家庭,受到一流的教育,自小有英語(yǔ)家庭教師,平時(shí)生活一直講英語(yǔ),又在劍橋讀了本科。
哈金的陳述屬實(shí)。 我記得以前自修的哈佛網(wǎng)上公開課《1950年后的美國(guó)小說(shuō)》,有三講介紹納博科夫和他的小說(shuō)《落麗塔》。我的印象很深,那個(gè)年輕漂亮的英語(yǔ)教授說(shuō)康拉德行文中的英語(yǔ)有明顯學(xué)來(lái)的的語(yǔ)言痕跡,而納博科夫就不是。
舉一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單例子:
《落麗塔》的第一頁(yè):
Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.
She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.
Did she have a precursor? She did, indeed she did. In point of fact, there might have been no Lolita at all had I not loved, one summer, an initial girl-child. In a princedom by the sea. Oh when? About as many years before Lolita was born as my age was that summer. You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit number one is what the seraphs, the misinformed, simple, noble-winged seraphs, envied. Look at this tangle of thorns.(摘自原文)
洛麗塔,我生命之光,我欲念之火。我的罪惡,我的靈魂。洛一麗一塔:舌尖向上,分三步,從上顎往下輕輕落在牙齒上 :洛,麗,塔。
她就是洛,普普通通的洛,在早晨,穿一只襪子,站在那里, 身高四尺十寸。穿上寬松褲時(shí),她就是洛拉。在學(xué)校里她是多麗。正式簽名時(shí)她是多洛雷斯。可在我的懷里,她永遠(yuǎn)是洛麗塔。
在她之前還有過(guò)別人嗎?有的,確實(shí)有的。事實(shí)上,可能從來(lái)也沒有什么洛麗塔,要不是我在一個(gè)夏天曾愛上了一個(gè)女童。在海邊一片王子的領(lǐng)地。在什么時(shí)候?就是那一年,洛麗塔還有多少年才降臨世間,我的歲數(shù)就有多少。你放心,殺人犯總能寫出一手妙文。
陪審團(tuán)的女士們、先生們,第一件證物正是被六翼天使,那個(gè)誤傳的、簡(jiǎn)單的、羽翼高貴的六翼天使所嫉妒的。且看這段糾纏不清的痛苦心史吧。(摘自網(wǎng)上的翻譯)
納博科夫從主角落麗塔的名字說(shuō)起,以殺人犯人Humbert 的供述開始,廖廖幾行就把一個(gè)鮮活的少女勾勒出來(lái)。那個(gè)曾經(jīng)既強(qiáng)奸少女又殺人的罪犯Humbert 一開始就得到了我們的點(diǎn)滴同情。也許這都不是他的錯(cuò)?!要怪就怪他對(duì)少女的愛太癡,還有少女的美,就像亞當(dāng)吃的那個(gè)蘋果,對(duì)他太有誘惑力了。
有一定英國(guó)文學(xué)底子的人,會(huì)從"海邊一片王子的領(lǐng)地"里心領(lǐng)神會(huì)地想到英國(guó)詩(shī)人艾倫波的詩(shī):
Annabel Lee
By?Edgar Allan Poe
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I?was a child and?she?was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.(摘自原詩(shī))
很久很久以前,
在一個(gè)濱海的國(guó)度里,
住著一位少女你或許認(rèn)得,
她的芳名叫安娜貝爾.李;
這少女活著沒有別的愿望,
只為和我倆情相許。
那會(huì)兒我還是個(gè)孩子,她也未脫稚氣,
在這個(gè)濱海的國(guó)度里;
可我們的愛超越一切,無(wú)人能及——
我和我的安娜貝爾.李;
我們愛得那樣深,連天上的六翼天使
也把我和她妒嫉。
這就是那不幸的根源,很久以前
在這個(gè)濱海的國(guó)度里,
夜里一陣寒風(fēng)從白云端吹起,凍僵了
我的安娜貝爾.李;
于是她那些高貴的親戚來(lái)到凡間
把她從我的身邊奪去,
將她關(guān)進(jìn)一座墳?zāi)?br/> 在這個(gè)濱海的國(guó)度里。
這些天使們?cè)谔焐希患拔覀円话肟旎睿?br/> 于是他們把我和她妒嫉——
對(duì)——就是這個(gè)緣故(誰(shuí)不曉得呢,在這個(gè)濱海的國(guó)度里)
云端刮起了寒風(fēng),
凍僵并帶走了我的安娜貝爾.李。
可我們的愛情遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地勝利
那些年紀(jì)長(zhǎng)于我們的人——
那些智慧勝于我們的人——
無(wú)論是天上的天使,
還是海底的惡魔,
都不能將我們的靈魂分離,
我和我美麗的安娜貝爾.李。
因?yàn)樵铝恋拿恳唤z清輝都勾起我的回憶
夢(mèng)里那美麗的安娜貝爾.李
群星的每一次升空都令我覺得秋波在閃動(dòng)
那是我美麗的安娜貝爾.李
就這樣,伴著潮水,我整夜躺在她身旁
我親愛的——我親愛的——我的生命,我的新娘,
在海邊那座墳塋里,
在大海邊她的墓穴里。(摘自網(wǎng)絡(luò))
所以,Humbert 極力為自己洗脫罪名,希望能得到陪審員的同情。他,40多歲的老男人"愛上"12歲的少女落麗塔,并和她發(fā)生性關(guān)系,起因是他少年時(shí)代有一段與艾倫波詩(shī)里同樣的刻骨戀情。讀者們很難不被納博科夫的筆騙得暈頭轉(zhuǎn)向。曾讀到有人評(píng)析這本書時(shí)描述Humbert 的"戀情"為"君生我未生,我生君已老。恨不生同時(shí),日日與君好"。這絕對(duì)不是納博科夫的寫作初忠,他的寫作風(fēng)格是黑色幽默。他不動(dòng)聲色地用英語(yǔ)流暢地描寫,巧妙地引經(jīng)據(jù)典,去鋪蓋彌張,去聲東擊西。
(文/君念)
作者:君念