《饑餓游戲》為什么這么火

編者按：今年春季在美國(guó)上映的電影《饑餓游戲》，不斷創(chuàng)造票房奇跡，又獲得業(yè)界的好評(píng)，是一部真正的話(huà)題之作。美國(guó)總統(tǒng)奧巴馬在白宮記者協(xié)會(huì)晚宴上的演講中，也借它來(lái)調(diào)侃對(duì)手。其實(shí)，《饑餓游戲》的大熱是有跡可尋，它改編自美國(guó)作家蘇珊?柯林斯同名三部曲中的第一部，是美國(guó)自2008年以來(lái)最暢銷(xiāo)的系列小說(shuō)，擁躉眾多，大多是年輕人。

故事是這樣開(kāi)始的：北美洲在一場(chǎng)大戰(zhàn)后被摧毀，在美國(guó)原來(lái)的廢墟上，人們建立了新的家園，但新政權(quán)規(guī)定，管轄下的12個(gè)地區(qū)每年都必須進(jìn)貢少年男女，參加一檔電視直播節(jié)目“饑餓游戲”。節(jié)目的規(guī)則很簡(jiǎn)單——?dú)⑷嘶蛘弑粴?。女主角就是小說(shuō)中提到的the living tributes（貢品），她奮力生存的堅(jiān)持成就了小說(shuō)最動(dòng)人的標(biāo)志，也令其擁有了反抗的力量。

《饑餓游戲》充分把握了美國(guó)青少年群體的口味，動(dòng)作、愛(ài)情、選秀等等，故事推演令人屏息，又不缺對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)社會(huì)的反思。但也有人說(shuō)，這本小說(shuō)不過(guò)是用反烏托邦包裝的青春小說(shuō)。通過(guò)所選片斷，大家可以體會(huì)一下剛進(jìn)入“饑餓游戲”時(shí)女主角的心路歷程。

The Hunger Games (Excerpt)

[1] I slump down next to my pack， exhausted. I need to go through it anyway before night falls. See what I have to work with. As I unhook the straps， I can feel it’s sturdily made although a rather unfortunate color. This orange will practically glow in the dark. I make a mental note to camouflage it first thing tomorrow.

I flip open the flap. What I want most， right at this moment， is water. Haymitch’s directive to immediately find water was not arbitrary. I won’t last long without it. For a few days， I’ll be able to function with unpleasant symptoms of dehydration， but after that I''ll deteriorate into helplessness and be dead in a week， tops.

I carefully lay out the provisions. One thin black sleeping bag that reflects body heal. A pack of crackers. A pack of dried beef strips. A bottle of iodine. A box of wooden matches. A small coil of wire. A pair of sunglasses. And a half gallon plastic bottle with a cap for carrying water that''s bone dry.

No water. How hard would it have been for them to fill up the bottle? I become aware of the dryness in my throat and mouth， the cracks in my lips. I''ve been moving all day long. It''s been hot and I''ve sweat a lot. I do this at home， but there are always streams to drink from， or snow to melt if it should come to it.

[2] As I refill my pack I have an awful thought. The lake. The one I saw while I was waiting for the gong to sound. What if that''s the only water source in the arena? That way they''ll guarantee drawing us in to fight. The lake is a full day''s journey from where I sit now， a much harder journey with nothing to drink. And then， even if I reach it， it''s sure to be heavily guarded by some of the Career Tributes. I''m about to panic when I remember the rabbit I startled earlier today. It has to drink， too. I just have to find out where.

Twilight is closing in and I am ill at ease. The trees are too thin to offer much concealment. The layer of pine needles that muffles my footsteps also makes tracking animals harder when I need their trails to find water. And I''m still heading downhill， deeper and deeper into a valley that seems endless.

[3] I’m hungry， too， but I don’t dare break into my precious store of crackers and beef yet. Instead， I take my knife and go to work on a pine tree， cutting away the outer bark and scraping off a large handful of the softer inner bark. I slowly chew the stuff as I walk along. After a week of the finest food in the world， it’s a little hard to choke down. But I’ve eaten plenty of pine in my life. I’ll adjust quickly. In another hour， it’s clear I’ve got to find a place to camp. Night creatures are coming out. I can hear the occasional hoot or howl， my first clue that I’ll be competing with natural predators for the rabbits. As to whether I’ll be viewed as a source of food， it’s too soon to tell. There could be any number of animals stalking me at this moment.

But right now， I decide to make my fellow tributes a priority. I’m sure many will continue hunting through the night. Those who fought it out at the Cornucopia will have food， an abundance of water from the lake， torches or flashlights， and weapons they’re itching to use. I can only hope I’ve traveled far and fast enough to be out of range.

[4] Before settling down， I take my wire and set two twitch-up snares in the brush. I know it’s risky to be setting traps， but food will go so fast out here. And I can’t set snares on the run.

Still， I walk another five minutes before making camp. I pick my tree carefully. A willow， not terribly tall but set in a clump of other willows， offering concealment in those long， flowing tresses. I climb up， sticking to the stronger branches close to the trunk， and find a sturdy fork for my bed. It takes some doing， but I arrange the sleeping bag in a relatively comfortable manner. I place my backpack in the foot of the bag， then slide in after it. As a precaution， I remove my belt， loop it all the way around the branch and my sleeping bag， and refasten it at my waist. Now if I roll over in my sleep， I won’t go crashing to the ground. I’m small enough to tuck the top of the bag over my head， but I put on my hood as well. As night falls， the air is cooling quickly. Despite the risk I took in getting the backpack， I know now it was the right choice. This sleeping bag， radiating back and preserving my body heat， will be invaluable.

I’m sure there are several other tributes whose biggest concern right now is how to stay warm whereas I may actually be able to get a few hours of sleep. If only I wasn’t so thirsty. . .

[5] Night has just come when I hear the anthem that proceeds the death recap. Through the branches I can see the seal of the Capitol， which appears to be floating in the sky. I’m actually viewing another screen， an enormous one that’s transported by of one of their disappearing hovercraft. The anthem fades out and the sky goes dark for a moment. At home， we would be watching full coverage of each and every killing， but that’s thought to give an unfair advantage to the living tributes. For instance， if I got my hands on the bow and shot someone， my secret would be revealed to all. No， here in the arena， all we see are the same photographs they showed when they televised our training scores. Simple head shots. But now instead of scores they post only district numbers. I take a deep breath as the face of the eleven dead tributes begin and tick them off one by one on my fingers.

饑餓游戲（節(jié)選）

[1]我已經(jīng)累極了，跌坐在地上，身旁放著背包，不管怎樣，我要在天黑前完成艱難的跋涉?？纯次疫€能干點(diǎn)什么。我打開(kāi)背包，我發(fā)現(xiàn)這包很結(jié)實(shí)，但顏色很糟糕，橘黃色會(huì)在夜晚發(fā)光，我暗自提醒自己明早第一件事就是把它偽裝好。

我打開(kāi)背包蓋，此時(shí)我最需要的是水。黑密斯要我盡快找到水源的指令不是隨意做出的。沒(méi)有水我堅(jiān)持不了多久，沒(méi)幾天，我就會(huì)因脫水而身體不適，之后我會(huì)越來(lái)越糟，直至一周后死去，最多一周。

我小心地拿出里面的補(bǔ)給品：一個(gè)可反射體溫的薄薄的睡袋、一盒火柴、一小卷線(xiàn)、副太陽(yáng)鏡、一個(gè)半加侖容量的空塑料水壺。

沒(méi)有水。究竟他們裝滿(mǎn)水壺又有多難呢？我開(kāi)始感到口干舌燥、嘴唇干裂。我已經(jīng)連跑帶走一整天了，天很熱，我又出來(lái)很多汗。在家時(shí)也有這樣的情況，可總能找到溪水或者融化的雪水來(lái)解渴。

[2] 我把東西重新裝回包里，這時(shí)一個(gè)可怕的想法突然攫住了我。那個(gè)湖，在我們等待銅鑼敲響時(shí)看到的那個(gè)湖，如果那是競(jìng)技場(chǎng)唯一的水源怎么辦？那樣任何人想掙扎著找到水喝的人都會(huì)有一場(chǎng)惡斗，而那個(gè)湖離我現(xiàn)在坐著的地方有整整一天的路程。一路焦渴的回到那里肯定比來(lái)時(shí)要艱難得多。即使我回到了那里，肯定有幾個(gè)職業(yè)“貢品”嚴(yán)密把守。我內(nèi)心一陣慌亂，這時(shí)我突然想起了今早嚇跑的小兔子，它也要喝水的呀！我只要能找到它在哪里喝水就行。

已近黃昏，我不能安歇。這里林木太稀疏，不能用于藏身。松針蓋住了動(dòng)物的腳印，靠追蹤它們找到水源就更加困難了。我仍然在向山下走，越來(lái)越深入到這看似乎永無(wú)盡頭峽谷中。

[3] 饑餓同時(shí)向我襲來(lái)，可我不敢吃寶貴的餅干和牛肉。我用刀剌下一塊松樹(shù)皮，刮下里面比較嫩的部分，放在嘴里，邊走邊嚼。吃了一周世界上最精美的食物，這東西的確有些難以下咽?？晌乙郧俺赃^(guò)很多松樹(shù)皮，很快就能適應(yīng)。又過(guò)了一個(gè)小時(shí)，我感到自己確實(shí)需要休息了。夜間動(dòng)物都已經(jīng)開(kāi)始活動(dòng)，我可以偶爾聽(tīng)到遠(yuǎn)處傳來(lái)的貓頭鷹和其他動(dòng)物的叫聲。這是最初的信號(hào)，證明我在與食肉動(dòng)物爭(zhēng)奪兔子吃。至于我是否也會(huì)被當(dāng)作食物，現(xiàn)在還說(shuō)不上。此時(shí)恐怕有很多動(dòng)物正在偷偷靠近，準(zhǔn)備獵殺我。

但現(xiàn)在，對(duì)付那些對(duì)手是我要首先考慮的問(wèn)題。我肯定夜間也會(huì)有很多“貢品”在繼續(xù)捕殺行動(dòng)。那些在宙斯之角廝殺的人會(huì)得到食物、湖里的水、火炬、手電筒和他們急于要使用的武器。我只能指望我已經(jīng)走得夠遠(yuǎn)，超出他們目前的捕獵范圍。

[4] 在休息之前，我用繩索做兩個(gè)誘捕圈套。我清楚現(xiàn)在做圈套很危險(xiǎn)，但食物很快就會(huì)告罄，而我也不可能邊逃跑，邊做圈套。之后我又走了五分鐘找到宿營(yíng)地。

我精心挑選了一棵柳樹(shù)，不很高，但卻和其他柳樹(shù)緊挨著，有長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的、飄動(dòng)的枝條，十分隱秘。我爬到樹(shù)上一個(gè)緊挨著樹(shù)干的樹(shù)枝，找了一個(gè)結(jié)實(shí)的樹(shù)杈放好睡袋，很費(fèi)了一番力氣。我把睡袋放在相對(duì)舒服的位置，又把背包放在睡袋腳頭，之后鉆了進(jìn)去。為了更安全，我把皮帶解下來(lái)，繞著睡袋和樹(shù)枝綁了一圈，在手腕的位置把它勒緊。現(xiàn)在就算我睡著時(shí)翻身，也不會(huì)摔到地上。我身材瘦小，正好睡袋可以蓋住頭頂，我把睡袋兜帽也蓋上。到了深夜，氣溫會(huì)很快下降。盡管搶背包時(shí)冒了很大的險(xiǎn)，可現(xiàn)在看來(lái)我的選擇沒(méi)錯(cuò)。這個(gè)睡袋可以很好地保持我的體溫，真實(shí)無(wú)價(jià)之寶。

我肯定有些“貢品”此時(shí)最擔(dān)心的是如何保暖，而我還可以睡幾個(gè)小時(shí)。要是沒(méi)這么渴該有多好……

[5] 夜幕已經(jīng)降臨，這時(shí)我聽(tīng)到奏響了國(guó)歌，這是播放今天亡者的前奏。透過(guò)樹(shù)枝，我看到了凱匹特市徽，似乎飄在空中。我實(shí)際看到的是另一個(gè)由遠(yuǎn)處的直升機(jī)運(yùn)送的巨大銀幕。國(guó)歌結(jié)束，天空陷入暫時(shí)的黑暗。我們?cè)诩亦l(xiāng)時(shí)，能看到每個(gè)選手被殺的全程報(bào)道，但有人認(rèn)為這會(huì)對(duì)活著的“貢品”帶來(lái)不公的優(yōu)勢(shì)。比如說(shuō)，要是我拿到弓箭并射殺了一個(gè)人，我的秘密就會(huì)被所有人知道。但，在競(jìng)技場(chǎng)，我們看到的只是播放訓(xùn)練成績(jī)時(shí)使用的同一張頭像。原來(lái)寫(xiě)成績(jī)的位置現(xiàn)在換成了區(qū)號(hào)。我深吸了一口氣，看著是十一個(gè)死者的頭像在我的眼前劃過(guò)，并掐指算著他們到底是誰(shuí)。