狄更斯:擁有惡魔能量的作家

“熱切地追逐每一個攫住自己全部身心的想法，正是讓我與眾不同的特質(zhì)之一。這些想法有時是好的，但有時，我敢說，又是邪惡的。”

——查爾斯·狄更斯

I didn’t read Claire Tomalin2)’s Charles Dickens: A Life because I’m a Dickens guy. I’m not a Dickens guy. In grad school I had to take at least one course on the Victorians3)， so I took The Later Dickens， because that was what there was. That’s the only reason I’ve read as much Dickens as I have， to wit4): Bleak House， Hard Times， A Tale of Two Cities， Great Expectations， a significant percentage of Our Mutual Friend， and The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

So I didn’t read Tomalin’s biography because I’m a Dickens guy， although I like his novels well enough. I read it because Dickens was an alien， or at least an extreme human outlier5)， and thus inherently interesting. His brain just didn’t work like other people’s. It’s ironic， or at least strange， that his work has come to stand as a kind of baseline， middle-C6) of mainstream Victorian melodrama7)， because he himself was not a mainstream individual. Not at all.

The fuel that fed the furnace of Dickens’ mind was his memories of his crap8) childhood. His father， John Dickens， worked in the Navy Pay Office9) and earned a decent salary， but he was pathologically10) irresponsible with money， and the family was constantly in debt. When Dickens was 12， his father was sent to debtor’s prison， and Charles spent a year working in a blacking11) factory covering and labeling the jars of blacking. Dickens—a show pony12) even at that tender age—was put in the window so people could watch how insanely fast he covered and labeled. When the family’s finances recovered， his childhood picked up where it left off13)， but he seems never to have felt quite safe again.

Dickens grew up to be a man of demonic energy: it’s like he was bitten by a radioactive scrivener that gave him superpowers. As a working writer who， like Dickens， writes novels and journalism， I can only read about his output with awe. He wrote his books as serials， published in monthly installments14)， and he sometimes went two at a time—he wrote The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist simultaneously. When he finished Pickwick he started Nicholas Nickleby， while never dropping a stitch of Oliver. Sometimes， after an especially intense writing jag15)， he would dunk his head and hands into a bucket of cold water， then keep right on going.

Writing novels didn’t seem to burn off enough energy， so Dickens wrote essays on the side16)， and put on amateur theatricals of high enough caliber17) that were performed for the Queen. He founded and ran newspapers and magazines without seeming to notice it—Master Humphrey’s Clock， The Daily News， Household Words， All the Year Round. He set up and then micro-managed a genuinely useful home for fallen women. He fathered ten children. He thought nothing of18) dropping everything and going to America or Italy or Paris for 6 months or a year. His social life was frenetic19)—as Tomalin points out， “He entirely lacked the romantic writer’s need to be alone.” As much as he decried20) the evils of the industrial revolution (in Hard Times—which I read!)， he appears to have had his own version of a dark satanic mill running inside him at all times.

When all this wasn’t enough he was known to go on 10 or 12-mile walks to soothe21) his fevered soul. “If I couldn’t walk fast and far，” he wrote late in life， “I should just explode and perish.” The weird energy that possessed him comes through22) in contemporary descriptions of Dickens， of which there are some eloquent23) ones—Dickens was fortunate in his describers. John Stuart Mill24) said he had “a face of dingy blackguardism25) irradiated with genius.”

Dickens’ character was a cocktail of empathy and cruelty that would test any biographer’s mettle26). He had no end of sympathy for London’s poor and unfortunate—of whom there were boundless numbers—on whose behalf he agitated and politicked endlessly. He felt for27) his characters as well， deeply. The death of Little Nell28) shook him to his foundations: “I am slowly murdering that poor child， and grow wretched over it，” he wrote to a friend. “It wrings my heart. Yet it must be.” (Tolstoy felt the same way. He once said of Dickens， “All his characters are my personal friends.”)

But the closer people were to him， real people， the less he seemed to care about them. Dickens spoke out against cheap distant schools， where neglected children pine29) from year to year， but he packed his sons off to a mediocre30) boarding school in Boulogne where they remained for 10 months a year， starting at the age of 7. As a husband he was a world-class bastard. His wife was a mild individual born Catherine Hogarth， whom he was fond enough of at the beginning， but the woman he was absolutely obsessed with was Catherine’s sister Mary， who died suddenly at 17. He wore Mary’s ring his whole life， praised her in the most exalted terms， and insisted he wanted to be buried with her.

Catherine was a woman of great， but not inexhaustible， patience. Dickens was an amateur mesmerist31)—another hobby—and he exercised his powers on the wife of a friend， a Mrs. De La Rue， in an attempt to treat her psychiatric problems. Dickens and patient became obsessed with each other， and he practiced his arts on her constantly and at all hours for a full year， with her confiding her secret fantasies to him. There’s no hard evidence that they had a physical affair， but Catherine was livid32) with jealousy.

The whole business is typical of Dickens’ utter inability to moderate his whims33). “The intense pursuit of any idea that takes complete possession of me，” he wrote， “is one of the qualities that makes me different—sometimes for good; sometimes I dare say for evil—from other men.” (He was many things， but Dickens wasn’t stupid—he had his own number34).) The marriage lasted 22 years， declining into antipathy and finally ending in a bitter divorce， followed by Dickens’ rather spectacular late-life affair with a pretty actress 27 years his junior named Nelly Ternan.

The question that haunts every Dickens biography is this one: was Dickens an asshole? In 1923 Dickens’ daughter Katey had a friend take down her recollections of her famous father， which were later published as a book， and they make wonderful if incoherent reading， riven as they are by her passionate ambivalence35). Her father was not， she insisted， “a joyous， jocose36) gentleman walking about the world with a plum pudding and bowl of punch.”

Katey’s amanuensis37) declined to publish another of her gems， which Tomalin dug up from the woman’s notes. “My father was not a gentleman，” she apparently said. “He was too mixed to be a gentleman.” But not too mixed， as it turned out， to be a genius.

我讀了克萊爾·托瑪琳寫的《查爾斯·狄更斯的一生》一書，但讀它并不是因為我喜歡狄更斯。狄更斯并不令我著迷。在研究生院學(xué)習(xí)時，按要求我必須得修至少一門關(guān)于維多利亞時代作家的課程，于是我選了“狄更斯晚期作品”，因為當(dāng)時只有這一門可選。正是出于這唯一的原因，我才讀了那么幾本狄更斯的書，包括《荒涼山莊》、《艱難時世》、《雙城記》、《遠(yuǎn)大前程》、大半本《我們共同的朋友》以及《艾德溫·德魯?shù)轮i》。

所以說，我讀托瑪琳寫的這一傳記并非出于對狄更斯的迷戀，盡管我挺喜歡他的小說。我讀這本傳記是因為狄更斯是個“外星人”，或者至少是個人類當(dāng)中的極端異類，因此他天生就是個有趣的人。他思維的運轉(zhuǎn)方式都與旁人相異。不過，他的作品卻被人們奉為主流文學(xué)的基準(zhǔn)——如果把維多利亞時期的主流文學(xué)作品看做是一部音樂劇，那么狄更斯的作品就是中央C音符。這頗具諷刺意味，至少有點怪異，因為狄更斯本人并不主流，一點兒都不。

狄更斯的童年生活很糟糕，對這段生活的記憶猶如燃料一般，點燃了他思想的火爐。他的父親約翰·狄更斯在海軍出納室工作，薪水還算可觀，卻一貫揮霍無度，常常使全家舉債度日。狄更斯12歲的時候，父親被關(guān)進債務(wù)人監(jiān)獄，狄更斯去一家鞋油廠工作了一年，給鞋油瓶封口、貼標(biāo)簽。雖然非常年幼，但狄更斯那時就會當(dāng)眾炫耀自己了——他被安排在工廠的玻璃窗旁工作，這樣人們就能看到他是如何飛快地給鞋油瓶封口和貼標(biāo)簽了。待家庭經(jīng)濟狀況有所好轉(zhuǎn)后，他重新過起了孩子該有的無憂生活，但他似乎再也找不到安全感了。

狄更斯長大后，成為一個擁有惡魔般旺盛精力的人：他好像被一個擁有放射性能量的抄寫員咬了一下，從此被賦予了超能力。雖然我和狄更斯一樣，也是一個寫小說和新聞報道的職業(yè)作家，可面對他的高產(chǎn)，我只有肅然起敬的份。他以連載的形式寫書，按月發(fā)表，有時還同時寫兩本書——《匹克威克外傳》和《霧都孤兒》就是同時寫就的。完成《匹克威克外傳》后，他又開始寫《尼古拉斯·尼克爾貝》，而與此同時，《霧都孤兒》的撰寫工作也絲毫沒有耽擱。有時，在經(jīng)歷一陣高度投入的寫作后，他會把頭和手伸到一桶冷水中浸一浸，然后繼續(xù)寫作。

光寫小說似乎還不能耗盡狄更斯的全部精力，于是他同時兼寫散文，閑暇時還排演一些質(zhì)量上乘的戲劇，并為女王演出過。狄更斯還無心插柳地創(chuàng)辦并經(jīng)營過一些報刊，比如《漢普雷老爺?shù)溺姟?、《每日新聞》、《家常話》和《一年四季》。他?chuàng)建并且后來悉心管理著一家收容所，為失足女性提供實實在在的幫助。他還是十個孩子的父親。但對于狄更斯來說，放下所有這些事情，去美國、意大利、巴黎等地待上個一年半載，也沒什么大不了的。狄更斯狂熱地迷戀社交生活，正如托瑪琳所說，“他著實沒有浪漫主義作家常有的想要獨處的需求?！彪m然他一直強烈譴責(zé)工業(yè)革命的種種罪惡(在《艱難時世》中有所體現(xiàn)——這本書我讀過！)，但在他的心里，似乎有一個獨屬于他的陰暗、邪惡的工廠，一直運轉(zhuǎn)不休。

如果所有這些還不足以平息他內(nèi)心燃燒的熊熊火焰，狄更斯就會去散步，走上十或十二英里路，這一點早已為人所知。他晚年時曾寫道：“若是不能快步遠(yuǎn)足，我就會爆炸，然后死去?！迸c狄更斯同時代的人在描述他時，常常提及這股控制他的神秘能量，其中不乏一些生動有力的表述——在描述者看來，擁有超能的狄更斯是幸運的。約翰·斯圖爾特·穆勒曾說狄更斯“長了一張無賴的臭臉，卻散發(fā)出天才的光芒”。

狄更斯的性格是一個復(fù)雜的混合體：既有悲天憫人的一面，又有殘酷無情的一面。這樣的性格，對任何一個為他寫傳記的作者來說都是一種考驗。他總是對倫敦那些窮苦不幸的人充滿憐憫——這樣的人有很多——為了他們，狄更斯不斷在社會上呼吁，在政治方面為他們爭取權(quán)利。對自己筆下人物的苦難，狄更斯也深感同情。在他的長篇小說《老古玩店》中，小耐兒的離世讓他深受觸動，“我一點一點地將這個可憐的孩子送上絕路，并越來越為此感到難過，”他在給一位朋友的信中寫道，“這樣做如同利刃絞心般難受，但我又非這樣做不可?！?托爾斯泰對此也感同身受。他在一次提到狄更斯時說：“他筆下的人物都是我的摯友?！?

不過，對于現(xiàn)實生活中活生生的人，與他越親近，他似乎越不關(guān)心。狄更斯一面譴責(zé)那些偏遠(yuǎn)的廉價學(xué)校，孩子們在那里年復(fù)一年地苦苦煎熬，無人問津；一面卻又為自己的孩子們打點行裝，把他們送到布洛涅條件惡劣的寄宿學(xué)校。從七歲開始，他的孩子們每年都要在寄宿學(xué)校待十個月之久。他還是世界上最糟糕的丈夫。他的妻子凱瑟琳·賀佳斯生性溫和，起初頗受狄更斯的喜愛。但真正令狄更斯念念不忘的女子卻是凱瑟琳的妹妹瑪麗?，旣?7歲就猝死了，狄更斯終生都戴著她的戒指，用最美好的語言贊美她，還堅持身后也要與她長眠在一起。

即便凱瑟琳非常有耐心，但她也不是沒有底限。狄更斯業(yè)余做催眠師的工作——那是他的另一個愛好。他給一位朋友的妻子德拉露太太催眠，以治療她心理方面的問題。狄更斯和這位病人彼此傾心，一整年從頭到尾無時無刻不在向她施展自己的催眠技巧。這位病人也向他傾吐自己隱秘的幻想。雖然沒有確實的證據(jù)表明他們之間有身體上的接觸，但凱瑟琳卻為此醋意大發(fā)，很是生氣。

這整件事可謂發(fā)生在狄更斯身上的典型事件，可見他完全無法緩和自己突如其來的莫名沖動。他曾寫道：“熱切地追逐每一個攫住自己全部身心的想法，正是讓我與眾不同的特質(zhì)之一。這些想法有時是好的，但有時，我敢說，又是邪惡的?！?狄更斯身上有多重特質(zhì)，但絕不愚蠢——他清楚地了解自己。)狄更斯與凱瑟琳的這段婚姻維持了22年，后來雙方彼此心生厭惡，最終不歡而散，以離婚收場。隨后，狄更斯與小他27歲、年輕貌美的女演員內(nèi)利·特南展開了一段頗為轟動的忘年戀。

每一位給狄更斯寫傳記的作者都會為這樣一個問題困擾：狄更斯是一個可惡的人嗎？1923年，狄更斯的女兒凱蒂請一位朋友記錄下自己對于聲名顯赫的父親的回憶，后來成書出版。這些回憶盡管不甚有條理，倒很值得一讀，顯得支離破碎也是因為她強烈的矛盾心理。她堅持說父親不是“一個快樂、詼諧、走到哪兒手里都捧著一盤梅子布丁和一杯潘趣酒的紳士”。

后來，凱蒂的謄寫員沒有再幫助她出版其他珍貴的回憶錄，但托瑪琳還是從凱蒂的日記中挖掘到了如下內(nèi)容：“我的父親并不是一位紳士，”她明確地寫到，“他是一個過于復(fù)雜的人，不可能成為一位紳士。”但事實證明，不管多復(fù)雜，他仍然是一個天才。

1.demonic [d??m?n?k] adj. 惡魔般的

2.Claire Tomalin：克萊爾·托瑪琳(1933～)，英國傳記作家兼記者，于2011年推出狄更斯傳記《查爾斯·狄更斯的一生》。她曾就讀于劍橋大學(xué)，曾當(dāng)過《太陽報》(The Sun)文學(xué)編輯，現(xiàn)任英國皇家文學(xué)學(xué)會(The Royal Society of Literature)和英國筆會(The English PEN)副會長。

3.Victorian [v?k?t??ri?n] n. 維多利亞時代的人(尤指作家)

4.to wit：也就是說，就是

5.outlier [?a?tla??] n. 極端異類

6.middle-C：中央C，西洋音樂術(shù)語，代表位于五線譜大譜表(Grand staff)正中間的音值。

7.melodrama [?mel??drɑ?m?] n. 音樂劇，情節(jié)劇

8.crap [kr?p] adj. 質(zhì)量不好的

9.Pay Office：出納室

10.pathologically [?p?θ??l?d??k(?)li] adv. 習(xí)以為常地

11.blacking [bl?k??] n. 黑色鞋油

12.show pony：愛炫耀的人，愛顯擺的人

13.leave off：停止

14.installment [?n?st??lm?nt] n. 分期連載的文學(xué)作品的一章或一部

15.jag [d??ɡ] n. (難以控制的)一陣

16.on the side：作為兼職，正事以外

17.caliber [?k?l?b?(r)] n. 品質(zhì)，質(zhì)量

18.think nothing of：把……看得很平常

19.frenetic [fr??net?k] adj. 發(fā)狂的，狂熱的

20.decry [d??kra?] vt. 譴責(zé)

21.soothe [su?e] vt. 使平靜，使鎮(zhèn)定

22.come through：體現(xiàn)，表現(xiàn)

23.eloquent [el?kw?nt] adj. (言詞、文學(xué)等)表達動人的；有說服力的

24.John Stuart Mill：約翰·斯圖爾特·穆勒(1806～1873)，英國著名哲學(xué)家、思想家和經(jīng)濟學(xué)家

25.blackguardism [?bl?ɡ?(r)d??m] n. 無賴行為；惡棍行徑

26.mettle [?met(?)l] n. 勇氣

27.feel for：同情

28.Little Nell：小耐兒，狄更斯長篇小說《老古玩店》(The Old Curiosity Shop)中的人物。小說描寫了小耐兒和他外公相依為命的悲慘故事。

29.pine [pa?n] vi. (因悲傷、病痛等而)消瘦；衰弱，憔悴

30.mediocre [?mi?di???k?(r)] adj. 質(zhì)量中等偏下的

31.mesmerist [?mezm?r?st] n. 催眠術(shù)師

32.livid [?l?v?d] adj. 狂怒的，暴怒的

33.whim [(h)wim] n. 心血來潮(一個突然產(chǎn)生的或忽發(fā)奇想的念頭)

34.have sb.’s number：了解某人的底細(xì)，看透某人

35.ambivalence [?m?b?v?l?ns] n. 矛盾情緒，雙重人格(對人、事物或觀點持相對立的態(tài)度或感情)

36.jocose [d???k??s] adj. 詼諧的

37.amanuensis [??m?nju?ens?s] n. 謄寫員，聽寫員