Flowering Judas——信仰的失落，靈魂的虛無

凱瑟琳·安妮·波特（Katherine Anne Porter， 1890～1980）是美國20世紀(jì)最為優(yōu)秀的短篇小說家之一。她出生于美國得克薩斯州的小鎮(zhèn)印第安克里克，兩歲時(shí)喪母，由祖母撫養(yǎng)至11歲，祖母去世后，寄宿于天主教會(huì)學(xué)校讀書。16歲時(shí)，波特輟學(xué)，同約翰·亨利·孔茨結(jié)婚，但婚姻生活持續(xù)時(shí)間并不長，1915年兩人離婚。1914年，波特來到芝加哥追求演藝生涯，不久后開始在當(dāng)?shù)貓?bào)社供職。1922年她發(fā)表了第一篇短篇小說。1930年，波特出版了第一部短篇小說集《開花的猶大樹》（Flowering Judas and Other Stories），其后又出版了中篇小說《中午酒》（Noon Wine）、中短篇小說集《灰色馬，灰色的騎手》（Pale Horse， Pale Rider），以及長篇小說《愚人船》（Ship of Fools）等。在波特的小說中，她通常選取自己所熟悉的得克薩斯州、墨西哥等地區(qū)的人物為描摹對(duì)象，文筆細(xì)膩而富含詩意，象征意義豐富，尤其擅長對(duì)女性人物的心理刻畫。

Excerpts1）

Braggioni sits heaped upon the edge of a straight-backed chair much too small for him， and sings to Laura in a furry2）， mournful voice. Laura has begun to find reasons for avoiding her own house until the latest possible moment， for Braggioni is there almost every night. No matter how late she is， he will be sitting there with a surly， waiting expression， pulling at his kinky3） yellow hair， thumbing the strings of his guitar， snarling4） a tune under his breath. Lupe the Indian maid meets Laura at the door， and says with a flicker of a glance towards the upper room， “He waits.”

Laura wishes to lie down. She is tired of her hairpins and the feel of her long tight sleeves， but she says to him， “Have you a new song for me this evening？” If he says yes， she asks him to sing it. If he says no， she remembers his favorite one， and asks him to sing it again. Lupe brings her a cup of chocolate and a plate of rice， and Laura eats at the small table under the lamp， first inviting Braggioni， whose answer is always the same： “I have eaten， and besides， chocolate thickens the voice.”

Laura says， “Sing， then，” and Braggioni heaves himself into song. He scratches the guitar familiarly as though it were a pet animal， and sings passionately off key， taking the high notes in a prolonged painful squeal5）. Laura， who haunts the markets listening to the ballad singers， and stops every day to hear the blind boy playing his reed-flute in Sixteenth of September Street， listens to Braggioni with pitiless courtesy， because she dares not smile at his miserable performance. Nobody dares to smile at him. Braggioni is cruel to everyone， with a kind of specialized insolence6）， but he is so vain of his talents， and so sensitive to slights7）， it would require a cruelty and vanity greater than his own to lay a finger on the vast cureless wound of his self-esteem. It would require courage， too， for it is dangerous to offend him， and nobody has this courage.

Braggioni loves himself with such tenderness and amplitude and eternal charity that his followers—for he is a leader of men， a skilled revolutionist， and his skin has been punctured in honorable warfare—warm themselves in the reflected glow， and say to each other： “He has a real nobility， a love of humanity raised above mere personal affections.” The excess of this self-love has flowed out， inconveniently for her， over Laura， who， with so many others， owes her comfortable situation and her salary to him. When he is in a very good humor， he tells her， “I am tempted to forgive you for being a gringa8）. Gringita！” and Laura， burning， imagines herself leaning forward suddenly， and with a sound back-handed slap wiping the suety smile from his face. If he notices her eyes at these moments he gives no sign.

She knows what Braggioni would offer her， and she must resist tenaciously9） without appearing to resist， and if she could avoid it she would not admit even to herself the slow drift of his intention. During these long evenings which have spoiled a long month for her， she sits in her deep chair with an open book on her knees， resting her eyes on the consoling rigidity of the printed page when the sight and sound of Braggioni singing threaten to identify themselves with all her remembered afflictions and to add their weight to her uneasy premonitions10） of the future. The gluttonous bulk of Braggioni has become a symbol of her many disillusions， for a revolutionist should be lean， animated by heroic faith， a vessel of abstract virtues. This is nonsense. She knows it now and is ashamed of it. Revolution must have leaders， and leadership is a career for energetic men. She is， her comrades tell her， full of romantic error， for what she defines as cynicism in them is merely “a developed sense of reality.” She is almost too willing to say， “I am wrong， I suppose I dont really understand the principles，” and afterward she makes a secret truce11） with herself， determined not to surrender her will to such expedient logic. But she cannot help feeling that she has been betrayed irreparably by the disunion between her way of living and her feeling of what life should be， and at times she is almost contented to rest in this sense of grievance as a private store of consolation. Sometimes she wishes to run away， but she stays. Now she longs to fly out of this room， down the narrow stairs， and into the street where the houses lean together like conspirators under a single mottled lamp， and leave Braggioni singing to himself. Instead she looks at Braggioni， frankly and clearly， like a good child who understands the rules of behavior.

1. 英文節(jié)選部分選自小說開篇，主要描寫了每晚黃昏時(shí)分，小說主人公布拉焦尼（Braggioni）在勞拉（Laura）家彈著吉他為她唱歌的情景。勞拉雖然不愛聽，但卻沒有表現(xiàn)出拒絕的神情。

2. furry [?f??ri] adj. 沙啞的

3. kinky [?k??ki] adj. （頭發(fā)等）彎曲的，卷曲的

4. snarl [snɑ?（r）l] vt. （人）咆哮，吼叫

5. squeal [skwi?l] n. 長而尖的聲音；尖叫聲

6. insolence [??ns?l?ns] n. 傲慢；傲慢無禮的行為

7. slight [sla?t] n. 輕視；冷落

8. gringa [‘ɡri?ɡ?] n. [貶義]外國女人（西班牙人和拉丁美洲人用以稱呼美英血統(tǒng)的人）

9. tenaciously [t??ne???sli] adv. 頑固地，堅(jiān)持地

10. premonition [?prem??n??（?）n] n. （尤指不祥的）預(yù)兆，預(yù)感

11. truce [tru?s] n. 講和（協(xié)議）；休戰(zhàn)，停戰(zhàn)（協(xié)定）

作品賞析

墨西哥在20世紀(jì)初有過風(fēng)云變幻的革命時(shí)代。曾是西班牙殖民地的墨西哥，19世紀(jì)在民族運(yùn)動(dòng)的影響下推翻殖民政權(quán)，贏得獨(dú)立，卻沒有迎來民主，此后數(shù)十年一直處在代表大資產(chǎn)階級(jí)的獨(dú)裁政府統(tǒng)治之下。進(jìn)入20世紀(jì)，隨著農(nóng)民反剝削意識(shí)的覺醒以及工人隊(duì)伍的日益壯大，以平等和民主為訴求的革命運(yùn)動(dòng)風(fēng)起云涌，熱潮一直延續(xù)到了20世紀(jì)30年代。凱瑟琳·安妮·波特雖然是美國作家，但她對(duì)墨西哥并不陌生，她出生并成長的得克薩斯州與墨西哥接壤，青年時(shí)代的她支持墨西哥革命，曾于20世紀(jì)20年代數(shù)次深入墨西哥并且參與當(dāng)?shù)氐母锩聵I(yè)。因此，在她開始小說創(chuàng)作時(shí)，這一段親身經(jīng)歷自然而然地成為她的寫作素材，促使她完成了一系列和墨西哥有關(guān)的小說，《開花的猶大樹》就是其中最為著名的一篇。

小說中，美國女子勞拉來到墨西哥，成為墨西哥工人城市革命的支持者。她白天教墨西哥兒童學(xué)英文，晚上替革命者傳遞消息。她的美麗吸引來了仰慕者，革命的靈魂人物布拉焦尼以及年輕的墨西哥小伙歐亨尼奧都在熱烈追求她。然而，布拉焦尼是有婦之夫，在小說的結(jié)尾，他放棄了對(duì)勞拉的追求，回到了妻子的身邊。而歐亨尼奧則因參與革命入獄，在獄中自殺身亡。勞拉在噩夢(mèng)中見到了歐亨尼奧以死神的形象出現(xiàn)，遞給了她象征背叛的猶大花。從故事情節(jié)的概述中我們能夠看出，小說雖然以墨西哥革命為背景，重點(diǎn)卻沒有放在展示革命的波瀾壯闊上，也沒有力圖展現(xiàn)革命者執(zhí)著的信念追求。相反，小說關(guān)心的是人物的情感與內(nèi)心世界。實(shí)際上，故事是在借用革命如火如荼的熱，反襯人生虛無空洞的冷。

在小說《開花的猶大樹》中，幾乎所有的主要人物都有虛無主義的傾向。首先是布拉焦尼。他雖然是革命的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者，用富有感染力的語言鼓動(dòng)人心，為大家勾勒未來的美好愿景，但實(shí)際上他并不相信革命。對(duì)他來說，革命只是攫取權(quán)力的手段，為此，他用嘲諷的冷眼看著革命群眾的追隨與投入。至于歐亨尼奧，他才19歲，卻體會(huì)到了人生的倦怠感。他愛上了不愛他的勞拉，感情得不到回報(bào)，追隨了不值得信任的布拉焦尼，投身革命卻成為沒有意義的犧牲品。他為革命獻(xiàn)身，身陷囹圄，布拉焦尼出于私心，遲遲不肯營救他出獄。他感到幻滅，選擇了離開這個(gè)世界，服用了勞拉探監(jiān)時(shí)帶來的安眠藥，自殺身亡，一條鮮活的生命自此枯萎。

然而，在這些人物中，最能體現(xiàn)虛無主義的是勞拉。小說帶我們深入勞拉的內(nèi)心，透過她的所見所聞所感我們可以看出，勞拉早已洞悉了這場(chǎng)革命終將失敗，所謂的信仰不過是些煽動(dòng)人心的花哨言辭。同時(shí)，在勞拉的生命中，愛情也是缺席的。她沒有愛的對(duì)象。她對(duì)布拉焦尼只有畏懼，對(duì)歐亨尼奧只有憐憫。勞拉的形象最鮮明的特點(diǎn)是疏離感。她雖然認(rèn)認(rèn)真真教著墨西哥當(dāng)?shù)氐暮⒆訉W(xué)英文，可是她和這些孩子并不親近。她雖然扮演聯(lián)絡(luò)員的角色，接觸過大量的革命者，可是她沒有渴望成為他們的朋友。歐亨尼奧在她窗下唱情歌，她雖然不為所動(dòng)，依然扔給他一朵正在開放的猶大花作為回應(yīng)，使歐亨尼奧成為她的忠實(shí)追求者。每到黃昏，布拉焦尼會(huì)帶著吉他不請(qǐng)自來。勞拉不喜歡他，卻每天晚上都帶著溫柔真誠的表情傾聽他自彈自唱。當(dāng)然，這種溫柔真誠中帶有一目了然的表演性，雙方心知肚明，一切并非出自真心。

如果我們細(xì)細(xì)審視勞拉的困境，將會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)勞拉看似隨和，卻不準(zhǔn)備將自己交給任何事業(yè)、任何情感、任何人。她在這片土地上生活，卻始終保持著異鄉(xiāng)人的心境：“她和這個(gè)世界格格不入……她的肉體的每一個(gè)細(xì)胞都用一個(gè)單音字拒絕跟他變得熟悉和親切。不。不。不。她從這一個(gè)神圣的、護(hù)身符似的字中汲取力量……拒絕了一切，她就可以安全地到處奔走。她毫不驚奇地望著一切?！蔽覀儾恢绖诶浅鲇谑裁礃拥脑蛲渡砟鞲绺锩??；蛟S她也曾被理想感召過。然而，在小說開篇時(shí)，她顯然已經(jīng)不再是個(gè)理想主義者，早已洞悉革命只是由少數(shù)人操縱的一場(chǎng)集體表演。身為美國人的她完全可以選擇回到自己的國家，但她卻選擇留下，繼續(xù)教她并不打算熟悉的學(xué)生，繼續(xù)為陌生的革命者送信，繼續(xù)為她不再相信的事業(yè)奔走。這種奉獻(xiàn)就如同她每天忍受布拉焦尼的荒腔走板的歌聲以及聽任歐亨尼奧的熱烈追求一樣，具有儀式感，卻沒有認(rèn)同感，更像是為了填補(bǔ)空虛靈魂所做的苦役。雖然勞拉才剛剛22歲，卻仿佛有一顆蒼老的心，沒有欲望，沒有信仰。

開花的猶大樹是小說的核心意象。猶大樹長在勞拉的窗外，勞拉在陽臺(tái)上就能觸摸到它的花朵。它的學(xué)名是南歐紫荊，據(jù)說曾經(jīng)開白花。然而，猶大出賣了耶穌，使其被釘死在十字架上，之后猶大不堪良心折磨，選擇在紫荊樹上上吊自殺，白花自此染上猶大的血，變成了猩紅色。猶大樹是背叛的象征?！堕_花的猶大樹》則是一篇有關(guān)背叛的故事：布拉焦尼用對(duì)權(quán)術(shù)的玩弄背叛了革命，歐亨尼奧用自殺背叛了生命，勞拉用冷寂的心背叛了青春。提及革命，人們常聯(lián)想到理想、青春、變革。年輕美麗的異邦女子來到熱帶的墨西哥，投身于革命，這或許不難組成一則有關(guān)激情與信仰的故事。但在波特的筆下，同樣的元素組合在一起，所傳達(dá)的卻是外熱內(nèi)冷的寂滅感，火紅的花朵反襯著一顆顆蒼白的靈魂。

賞析 / 陳榕