经济学人20:血色花瓣 Petals of blood

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review; New fiction; Petals¹ of blood;

　　文艺；书评;新小说;血色花瓣;

　　David Grossman may have written his most important novel yet;

　　大卫·格罗斯曼或许创作了一部他目前最具影响力的小说。

　　To the End of the Land. By David Grossman.

　　《行至天尽头》，大卫·格罗斯曼著。

　　It is no accident that the prologue² to David Grossman's new novel, “To the End of the Land”, takes place in a fever ward³. As the stories unfold, the reader discovers that fever is not just a symptom of physical illness. It becomes a description of the existential state of Israel. Mr Grossman's characters are not so much in possession of their experiences as possessed⁴ by them. They are gripped by a deep uncertainty⁵ about what will happen next: a terrorist bomb, the violent death of someone close, the overwhelming of their country by the enemies that surround it. It is next to impossible to rest or be at peace. Some seek to withdraw from this situation, others to resist it. It pervades⁶ existence in ways that make a distinction between the personal and the political something that is longed for and quite impossible to achieve.

　　大卫·格罗斯曼的新小说《走向天尽头》以发烧病房作为开头并非偶然。随着小说情节的展开，读者发现发烧不只是身体病状。发烧成为了以色列生存状态的特征。大卫先生作品的人物与其说是具有了经验，不如说被经验缠住不得脱身。他们被不断要发生的种种深度不确定性事件引发了发烧症：恐怖分子的炸弹、至爱亲朋的死于非命、祖国四面受敌的严峻态势。 归于安定和平几无可能。一些人寻求躲之避之，另一些人则要斗之抗之。这个不确定性弥漫于存在状态的方方面面，其弥漫的方式却有截然不同的两种，各自代表了个人的或政治上极不可能实现的愿景。

　　Published first in Hebrew in April 2008, “To the End of the Land” is Mr Grossman's eighth novel to be translated into English. His first translated book was not a novel, but a documentary work that came out in 1987. “The Yellow Wind” engaged with the lives of Palestinians who live in Gaza and the West Bank under Israeli occupation. It showed Mr Grossman's scrupulous⁷ attention to the feelings and thoughts of a group of people who have often been met with suspicion and contempt. It was also unequivocal that Israel should withdraw from the occupied territories as much for the sake of Israeli Jews as for their Arab neighbours.

　　《行至天尽头》是大卫先生的译成英语的第八部小说，它首次出版是在2008年4月，用的是现代以色列语。他的首部翻译作品不是小说，而是1987年出版的纪实性作品《黄风》。《黄风》描述的是那些在以色列管制下、住在加沙和约旦河西岸的巴基斯坦人的生活。《黄风》表现了大卫对时常遭受怀疑和蔑视的巴基斯坦人的情感和思想细致而审慎的关注。为了犹太人，也为了其邻居阿拉伯人，以色列应当从占领区撤离，这是毫无疑问的。

　　The book made Mr Grossman, now 56, a contentious⁹ figure in Israel, and the controversy¹⁰ has not gone away. He is a vocal⁸ opponent of the extension of Jewish settlements. At the same time he has emerged in the last two decades as one of the most significant voices in Israeli and world literature. “To the End of the Land” is his most ambitious work to date. He began writing it in 2003 and, as a poignant¹¹ endnote to the novel discloses, discussed it with his son, Uri, while he was on military service. In 2006 Uri was killed by an anti-tank missile during the second Israeli-Lebanon war. The event does not explicitly¹³ surface in the novel, but it adds a grave sadness to Mr Grossman's searching account of the psychological and physical costs of a seemingly endless state of war.

　　该书使现年56岁的大卫成为以色列的一位争议人物，且争议至今未消。他是犹太人定居点扩张主义者的旗帜鲜明的反对者；同时，也是近20年来蜚声以色列和世界文坛的重要作家之一。《行至天尽头》是大卫最具雄心的作品。他于2003年开始创作该小说，而且据该小说的一个令人伤感的尾注披露，他当时还与在军中服役的儿子尤利一同为该小说的谋篇布局讨论过。2006年，尤利在第二次以黎战争中被一颗反坦克导弹夺去生命。虽然丧子之痛在他的小说中未予特别披露，但是，就大卫对似无止息的战争带给人们的身心创伤所作的探索性叙述而言，丧子之痛增添了作品沉重的悲伤气氛。

　　“To the End of the Land” follows the course of the feverish¹⁴ state of Israel in the lives of its three main characters. The prologue, set in 1967, tells of their first meeting as teenagers in a hospital ward. There are two boys and a girl. Ora cries out in her sleep, haunted by the accidental death of her best friend. Avram is witty¹⁵, talkative, consoling. Ilan seems the sickest of the three. As their individual temperatures scale up and down, they form a trinity, each becoming an aspect of the other's identity. Without knowing it, the three enter into a relationship that will determine the rest of their lives.

　　《走向天尽头》以三个主人公的人生经历来追踪以色列的发烧进程。小说的开篇场景设定在1967年，描述的是三个少男少女在医院病房的初遇，其中有两个是男孩。奥拉因闺友意外死亡，备受伤悲，常在梦中惊叫；埃弗拉姆机智健谈、善抚他人；依蓝似乎病得最重。随着各自体温的升升降降，他们的性格彼此同化，形成了三位一体。他们尚不知道，他们之间形成的是一种将会影响其余生命运的关系。

　　The novel then moves forward to 2000. The setting is a long walk that Ora and Avram take through northern Israel. The stories told in the course of it piece together what has happened in the intervening years. There has been a lot of damage. The fever has taken its toll¹⁶. Avram has never recovered from imprisonment¹⁷ and torture in the Yom Kippur war. Ilan's and Ora's marriage has broken up. Ora can no longer bear the burden of living in a country that requires all its citizens to be soldiers. She feels that a military state has destroyed the family she has so lovingly and painfully brought to life.

　　随后，小说情节推进到了2000年。背景是奥拉和埃弗拉姆徒步穿越以色列北部。在穿越途中，小说讲述了他们仨人数十年间经历的零零种种。途中艰难险阻不断。发热症也逐渐产生。埃弗拉姆在赎罪日战争中受到关押和折磨，症状再不能消除了。依蓝和奥拉的婚姻破裂。奥拉再不能忍受生活之重——生活在要求人人皆兵的国家。她感到，这个好战之国毁了她的家，毁了她如此热爱且艰辛付出的家。

　　Their walk is a pilgrimage of sorts. Ora tells Avram the story of her life. She wants to bring him to a state where he can acknowledge that one of her two sons is his and not Ilan's—and he can come to love the boy, now a serving soldier. Their capacity to listen to each other might be a form of therapy; or it might not. Nothing is made explicit¹².

　　他们的徒步穿越是某种朝圣之旅。奥拉向埃弗拉姆述说了她的生活经历。她想把他引入一种氛围，在此氛围下他能承认她的两个儿子之一就是他的儿子，不是依蓝的；她也希望他能够爱这个在服兵役的儿子。他们能够互相听得进对方的话，这就可能是一种疗伤止痛的方法； 但也可能不是。没有什么是清楚确定的。

　　The question of a cure for their lives, of some kind of forgiveness, hovers¹⁸ around their words. The novel alludes¹⁹ to the hopes for redemption in the stories of the Jewish tradition: the journey into the promised land, the coming of the Messiah, the renewal²⁰ of the covenant²¹ between God and his chosen people. But these allusions²² are not endorsements²³. Mr Grossman's imagination is secular²⁴, worldly, self-questioning and ironic²⁵. The Israel he imagines, beautifully and sorrowfully, is not going to be saved by any divine intervention²⁶.

　　用几许宽恕来医治他们人生中的发热症，是他们朝圣之旅中挥之不去的话题。该小说提示了几种希望——几种用犹太历史故事来实施救赎的希望：踏上希望的朝圣之旅，以期救世主的降临，进而重履救世主和其子民间的契约。不过，这些提示不是大卫的本意。大卫的的内心是世俗而非宗教的、具有自省及冷讽精神。他以凄美情怀思虑着的以色列没有打算靠神的力量救赎自己。

1 petals   

n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣
• The petals of many flowers expand in the sunshine. 许多花瓣在阳光下开放。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 prologue   

n.开场白，序言；开端，序幕

参考例句：

• A poor wedding is a prologue to misery.不幸的婚姻是痛苦的开始。
• The prologue to the novel is written in the form of a newspaper account.这本小说的序言是以报纸报道的形式写的。

3 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

4 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

5 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

6 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

7 scrupulous   

adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的

参考例句：

• She is scrupulous to a degree.她非常谨慎。
• Poets are not so scrupulous as you are.诗人并不像你那样顾虑多。

8 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

9 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

10 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

11 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

12 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

13 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

14 feverish   

adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的

参考例句：

• He is too feverish to rest.他兴奋得安静不下来。
• They worked with feverish haste to finish the job.为了完成此事他们以狂热的速度工作着。

15 witty   

adj.机智的，风趣的

参考例句：

• Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。
• He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。

16 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

17 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

18 hovers   

鸟( hover的第三人称单数 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovers in the sky. 一只老鹰在天空盘旋。
• A hen hovers her chicks. 一只母鸡在孵小鸡。

19 alludes   

提及，暗指( allude的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the vegetable kingdom Mr. Mivart only alludes to two cases. 在植物界中，密伐脱先生仅提出两点。
• Black-box testing alludes to test that are conducted at the software interface. 黑箱测试是指测试软件接口进行。

20 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

21 covenant   

n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约

参考例句：

• They refused to covenant with my father for the property.他们不愿与我父亲订立财产契约。
• The money was given to us by deed of covenant.这笔钱是根据契约书付给我们的。

22 allusions   

暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We should not use proverbs and allusions indiscriminately. 不要滥用成语典故。
• The background lent itself to allusions to European scenes. 眼前的情景容易使人联想到欧洲风光。

23 endorsements   

n.背书( endorsement的名词复数 )；（驾驶执照上的）违章记录；（公开的）赞同；（通常为名人在广告中对某一产品的）宣传

参考例句：

• He must make much money on those tennis shoe endorsements he does. 他替那些网球鞋珍重广告，就赚了不少钱。 来自互联网
• But celebrity endorsements remain an important promotional tool for marketers. 尽管如此，邀明星助阵仍是营销人员重要的推广手段之一。 来自互联网

24 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

25 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

26 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。