小說(shuō)的治愈

By Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin

閱讀治療專(zhuān)家埃拉·柏少德和蘇珊·埃爾德金提出，所有的小說(shuō)都是治愈系的，或者說(shuō)所有的病癥都能找到對(duì)癥下藥的小說(shuō)。她們合著了一本書(shū)，名叫《治愈小說(shuō)：751部治療你的病癥的書(shū)》。書(shū)的封面上是許多藥瓶，藥瓶上寫(xiě)著眾多作家的名字：?jiǎn)碳{森·弗蘭岑、福樓拜、夏洛特·勃朗特、赫胥黎、海明威等等。小說(shuō)不僅僅是藥的替代品——它們充滿(mǎn)熱情，迸發(fā)智慧的火花；無(wú)論你是否身處囹圄，都會(huì)得到溫暖的慰藉。

W e do not discriminate2. discriminate: 區(qū)別對(duì)待，有差別地對(duì)待。between emotional pain and physical pain; you’re as likely to find a cure within these pages for a broken heart as a broken leg. It also includes common predicaments3. predicament: 窘?jīng)r，困境。you might find yourself in, such as moving house, looking for Mr/Mrs Right, or having a midlife crisis. Life’s bigger challenges such as losing a loved one or becoming a single parent are in here too. Whether you’ve got the hiccups or a hangover, a fear of commitment or a sense of humour failure, we consider it an ailment that deserves a remedy.4. hiccup: 打嗝；hangover: 宿醉；ailment:小病，微恙；remedy: 治療，醫(yī)治。

Our medicines are not something you’ll find at the chemist, but at the bookshop, in the library, or downloaded onto your electronic reading device.We are bibliotherapists, and the tools of our trade are books.5. bibliotherapist: 閱讀療法專(zhuān)家，讀書(shū)治療專(zhuān)家，下一段出現(xiàn)的bibliotherapy，即為“閱讀療法，讀書(shū)療法”之意；trade: 行業(yè)，謀生手段。Our apothecary contains Balzacian balms and Tolstoyan tourniquets, the salves of Saramago and the purges of Perec and Proust.6. apothecary: 藥房，藥店；Balzacian: 巴爾扎克的。奧諾雷·德·巴爾扎克（1799—1850），法國(guó)19世紀(jì)著名作家，法國(guó)現(xiàn)實(shí)主義文學(xué)成就最高者之一。他創(chuàng)作的《人間喜劇》包含了91部小說(shuō)，寫(xiě)了兩千四百多個(gè)人物，是人類(lèi)文學(xué)史上罕見(jiàn)的文學(xué)豐碑，被稱(chēng)為法國(guó)社會(huì)的“百科全書(shū)”；balm: 軟膏，香膏；Tolstoyan:托爾斯泰的。列夫·托爾斯泰（1828—1910），俄國(guó)小說(shuō)家、評(píng)論家、劇作家和哲學(xué)家，代表作有《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)與和平》、《安娜·卡列尼娜》和《復(fù)活》，被認(rèn)為是世界最偉大的作家之一；tourniquet: 止血帶；salve:藥膏，軟膏；Saramago: 若澤·薩拉馬戈（1922—2010），葡萄牙作家，1998年諾貝爾文學(xué)獎(jiǎng)獲得者，代表作為《盲目》；purge: 凈化，清洗；Perec:喬治·佩雷克（1936—1982），法國(guó)小說(shuō)家、散文家，當(dāng)代最具世界聲譽(yù)的法語(yǔ)作家之一，代表作有《消失》和《生活使用說(shuō)明》；Proust: 馬塞爾·普魯斯特（1871—1922），法國(guó)意識(shí)流作家，代表作有《追憶似水年華》。To create it, we have trawled two thousand years of literature for the most brilliant minds and restorative reads, from Apuleius, second-century author of The Golden Ass, to the contemporary tonics of Ali Smith and Jonathan Franzen.7. 為了創(chuàng)造這些藥方，我們搜羅了兩千年來(lái)的文學(xué)作品，將最具治愈效果的閱讀獻(xiàn)給最聰慧的讀者，從公元二世紀(jì)創(chuàng)作了《金驢記》的阿普列尤斯開(kāi)始，到艾麗·史密斯和喬納森·法蘭森這樣的當(dāng)代作家。trawl: 網(wǎng)羅，篩選；restorative: 滋補(bǔ)的，有助于恢復(fù)健康的；Apuleius: 魯齊烏斯·阿普列尤斯，古羅馬作家、哲學(xué)家，代表作有《變形記》和《金驢記》；tonic: 補(bǔ)藥，滋補(bǔ)劑；Ali Smith: 艾麗·史密斯（1962— ），蘇格蘭作家，代表作有短篇小說(shuō)集 《最后》和《自由愛(ài)及其他》；Jonathan Franzen: 喬納森·法蘭森（1959— ），美國(guó)小說(shuō)家和散文家，代表作為《修正》和《自由》，曾贏(yíng)得美國(guó)國(guó)家圖書(shū)獎(jiǎng)，入圍普利策小說(shuō)獎(jiǎng)。

Bibliotherapy has been popular in the form of the non- fiction self-help book8. self-help book: 勵(lì)志書(shū)。for several decades now.But lovers of literature have been using novels as salves—either consciously or subconsciously—for centuries. Next time you’re feeling in need of a pickme-up—or require assistance with an emotional tangle—reach for a novel.9. pick-me-up: 提神的東西，使人興奮的東西；emotional tangle: 情感糾結(jié)，情感掙扎。Our belief in the effectiveness of fiction as the purest and best form of bibliotherapy is based on our own experience with patients and bolstered by an avalanche of anecdotal evidence.10. 我們相信，小說(shuō)是閱讀療法中的最純凈、藥效最好的藥劑，這是從我們與患者的交流中和大量的奇聞?shì)W事中所得出的結(jié)論。bolster: 支持，支撐；an avalanche of: 大量的，許多的；anecdotal: 軼事的，趣聞的。Sometimes it’s the story that charms;sometimes it’s the rhythm of the prose that works on the psyche, stilling or stimulating.11. rhythm: 節(jié)奏，韻律；prose: 散文；psyche: 靈魂，心靈；stilling: 令人平靜的；stimulating: 令人興奮的。Sometimes it’s an idea or an attitude suggested by a character in a similar quandary or jam.12. quandary: 困惑不安的境地，無(wú)所適從的窘境；jam: 困境，窘境。Either way, novels have the power to transport you into another existence, and see the world from a different point of view. When you’re engrossed13. engrossed: 全神貫注的，專(zhuān)心致志的。in a novel, unable to tear yourself from the page, you are seeing what a character sees,touching what a character touches, learning what a character learns. You may think you’re sitting on the sofa in your living room, but the important parts of you—your thoughts, your senses, your spirit—are somewhere else entirely. “To read a writer is for me not merely to get an idea of what he says, but to go off with him and travel in his company,” said André Gide14. André Gide: 安德烈·紀(jì)德（1869—1951），法國(guó)作家，1947年諾貝爾文學(xué)獎(jiǎng)得主，代表作有《背德者》和《窄門(mén)》。. Noone comes back from such a journey quite the same.

Whatever your ailment, our prescriptions are simple:a novel (or two), to be read at regular intervals.15. prescription: 藥方，處方。mteral: 間隔時(shí)間，間隔期。Some treatments will lead to a complete cure. Others will simply offer solace16. solace: 安慰，慰藉。, showing you that you are not alone. All will offer the temporary relief of your symptoms due to the power of literature to distract and transport.17. 所有小說(shuō)都擁有文學(xué)作品的轉(zhuǎn)移注意力和移情的效力，能夠暫時(shí)緩解你的癥狀。Sometimes the remedy is best taken as an audio book, or read aloud with a friend. As with all medicines, the full course of treatment should always be taken for best results. Along with the cures, we offer advice on particular reading issues, such as being too busy to read and what to read when you can’t sleep; the ten best books to read in each decade of life;and the best literary accompaniments for important rites of passage, such as being on your gap year—or on your death bed.18. accompaniment: 伴隨物；rite of passage: 為人生進(jìn)入一個(gè)重要階段（如成年、結(jié)婚、死亡等）所舉行的禮儀，人生慶典；gap year: 空檔年，間隔年（指學(xué)生離開(kāi)學(xué)校一段時(shí)間，經(jīng)歷一些學(xué)習(xí)以外的事情）。

We wish you every delight in the fictional plasters and poultices.19. plaster: 膏藥，石膏；poultice: 膏狀藥，濕敷藥物。You will be healthier, happier and wiser for them.