经济学人16:天鹅之歌 A swan's song

 　　Books and Arts;New fiction;A swan's song;

　　文艺；新生代小说;天鹅之歌;

　　Peter Carey's delightful¹ double story: The Chemistry of Tears，by Peter Carey.

　　彼得·凯里悦人的双线故事:《泪水制剂》,彼得·凯里著。

　　Few writers manage so consistently and delightfully² as Peter Carey to conjure³ wondrous⁴ scenes populated with idiosyncratic yet credible⁵ characters. “The Chemistry of Tears”, Mr Carey's 12th novel, does not disappoint.

　　鲜少有文墨之人能像彼得·凯里那样执着又讨喜，将一个个角色塑造得如此独特又不失真实感，再将其一并投入完美的场景中，共同构造出一幕幕戏法般的情节。凯里的第十二部小说《泪水制剂》，再一次没让我们失望。

　　As it opens, Catherine Gehrig, a conservator of clocks at a London museum, learns that her colleague and secret lover of 13 years has died. To comfort her in her grief she is assigned a new project: to reconstruct a fantastical 19th-century clockwork swan.

　　故事从一家伦敦博物馆的钟表管理员凯瑟琳·格里克（Catherine Gehrig）身上开始说起。凯瑟琳得知了她的同事（同时也是她长达十三年的地下情人）的死讯，为了抚平悲痛，她接受了一项新任务——修复一个十九世纪精美的天鹅钟表。

　　Mr Carey loves grand projects and intricate crafts. In “Oscar and Lucinda” (which won the Booker prize in 1988) he follows an extraordinary glass and iron church downriver to its final destination; the art of forgery⁶ pervades⁷ “Parrot and Olivier in America”. In “The Chemistry of Tears”, the inner workings of a clock's reliable tick-tock contrast with the ultimate betrayal of human flesh.

　　凯里总爱在故事中给角色各种宏大任务和各种精细的手艺。在《奥斯卡于露辛达》（荣获1988年布克奖）一书中，他描写了一座由玻璃和铁制成的教堂的构想，并且让这个构想随着主人公的旅程顺水而下，直到它的目的地，直到故事的最终；同样的，在小说《奥利维尔与鹦鹉》（“Parrot and Olivier in America ”暂无官方译名）中，他又痴情于仿品工艺，贯穿始终。在《泪水制剂》中，钟表发条永远忠实的滴答声与血肉人类最终的忘弃形成了鲜明对比。

　　Two stories intertwine. One strand⁸, set in 2010, follows Catherine, an “oddly elegant tall woman” with seaweed hair. She muses⁹ on her lover's fate, “trapped beneath the earth, all his beauty turned into a factory, producing methane¹⁰, carbon dioxide, rotten egg gas, ammonia.” She drinks vodka and rages at the weather, “hail and hate, the entire back garden stoned to death.”

　　小说分两个故事面，有如两缕丝线般难解难分。一条，是追随着凯瑟琳的，定点在2010年。凯瑟琳，这个一头海藻般头发的女人，这个“奇妙而优雅的高挑女人”，沉浸在爱人的命运中不可自拔，“那美丽的生命深陷在地底，如同化工厂一般制造着沼气、二氧化碳、硫化氢和氨气”；她用伏特加麻醉自己，她为坏天气而暴怒，“冰雹夹着憎恨，整个后花园犹如石刑后的死寂。”

　　A second narrative¹¹ traces the clock's original manufacture. Henry Brandling, a sorrowful, rich Englishman, travels to Germany to commission a “mechanical marvel” so wondrous it will raise his consumptive son from his sickbed.

　　另一条，追随着发条天鹅，回溯到其最初的诞生。富裕却忧伤的英国男子亨利·布兰德林（Henry Brandling）来到德国，希望能找人制造出一个美妙的“机械奇迹”，好让他身患肺痨的儿子能从中汲取战胜病魔的希望。

　　Henry's story, scrawled¹² in 11 notebooks, comforts Catherine as her lover can no longer. Yet as she reads and works, the distinction between the animate¹³ and inanimate blur¹⁴. She brings Henry's preening¹⁵ swan to life but eradicates¹⁶ the afterlife of her adultery, the e-mail trail between her and her lover: “I deleted, for ever, the celestial¹⁷ light through the pine forest behind Walberswick, the heath at Dunwich in full flower”; she lingers over his final e-mail, “I kiss your toes”, sent hours before he died.

　　这位亨利先生的故事潦草地记叙在他留下的11本笔记中，让凯瑟琳的心得到了死去的情人再也无法给予的抚慰。然而随着凯瑟琳对亨利遗稿的探读，也随着她修复工作的深入，生命与器物的界限开始模糊：她让亨利精美的发条天鹅重现生机，却抹去了她不光彩的感情的一切遗迹，抹去了她与情人间通情的电邮：“我永远地抹去了Walberswick后那片松林里，透过叶隙而下的缕缕阳光；也永远地告别了Dunwich平原上，彼时的繁华似锦”；在最后一封电邮前，凯瑟琳迟疑着，那是她的情人去世前几个小时发给她的字句，“我亲吻你的趾尖”，邮件中如是写道。

　　Mr Carey is one of the finest living writers in English. His best books satisfy both intellectually and emotionally; he is lyrical yet never forgets the imperative¹⁸ to entertain. His fault as a novelist is that at times he is too enamoured of his constructs and risks losing the reader. “The Chemistry of Tears” is a shorter and less ambitious book than some of his earlier works—but a wholly enjoyable journey.

　　凯里是现今仍然在世的最杰出的英语作家之一，他的佳作在理智与情感上都给人以犒赏；凯里极具诗意但从来不忘作品的必须——让读者享受其中。他的小说唯一不足的就是时常过分珍视自己的构思而几近忘记了读者。《泪水制剂》较于其早先的一些作品来说要短小一些，也少了几许气势，但终归来说，这份故事仍旧是一次美妙的旅程。

1 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

2 delightfully   

大喜，欣然

参考例句：

• The room is delightfully appointed. 这房子的设备令人舒适愉快。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The evening is delightfully cool. 晚间凉爽宜人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 conjure   

v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法

参考例句：

• I conjure you not to betray me.我恳求你不要背弃我。
• I can't simply conjure up the money out of thin air.我是不能像变魔术似的把钱变来。

4 wondrous   

adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地

参考例句：

• The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
• We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。

5 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

6 forgery   

n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为）

参考例句：

• The painting was a forgery.这张画是赝品。
• He was sent to prison for forgery.他因伪造罪而被关进监狱。

7 pervades   

v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• An unpleasant smell pervades the house. 一种难闻的气味弥漫了全屋。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• An atmosphere of pessimism pervades the economy. 悲观的气氛笼罩着整个经济。 来自辞典例句

8 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

9 muses   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• We have listened too long to the courtly muses of Europe. 欧洲那种御用的诗才，我们已经听够了。 来自辞典例句
• Shiki muses that this is, at least, probably the right atmosphere. 志贵觉得这至少是正确的气氛。 来自互联网

10 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

11 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

12 scrawled   

乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper. 我尽量弄明白他草草写在一片纸上的指示。
• Tom scrawled on his slate, "Please take it -- I got more." 汤姆在他的写字板上写了几个字：“请你收下吧，我多得是哩。”

13 animate   

v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的

参考例句：

• We are animate beings,living creatures.我们是有生命的存在，有生命的动物。
• The girls watched,little teasing smiles animating their faces.女孩们注视着，脸上挂着调皮的微笑，显得愈加活泼。

14 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。

15 preening   

v.（鸟）用嘴整理（羽毛）( preen的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Will you stop preening yourself in front of the mirror? 你别对着镜子打扮个没完行不行？
• She was fading, while he was still preening himself in his elegance and youth. 她已显老，而他却仍然打扮成翩翩佳公子。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

16 eradicates   

根除者( eradicate的名词复数 )； 褪色灵

参考例句：

• Time proves, delivers, alters and eradicates ad infinitum. 时间能证明一切，给予一切，改变一切，也能消灭一切。
• The Jinshan Dam took when flood-diversion sluice downriver anti-water barrier, it eradicates cannot have artificial resistance. 金山坝作为分洪闸下游阻水障碍时，其破除不会有人为的阻力。

17 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

18 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。