試析《猴爪》與《按鈕，按鈕》的相似性

尹　蓉

(重慶工商大學(xué)融智學(xué)院，重慶　401320)

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試析《猴爪》與《按鈕，按鈕》的相似性

尹蓉

(重慶工商大學(xué)融智學(xué)院，重慶401320)

摘要：雅各布斯的恐怖小說(shuō)《猴爪》和麥瑟森的奇幻小說(shuō)《按鈕，按鈕》在很多方面都體現(xiàn)出了高度的相似性。分析這兩篇短篇小說(shuō)，可以看出在故事?tīng)I(yíng)造的神秘氛圍、人物的好奇及矛盾心理，以及最后的選擇和巧合的結(jié)局等方面有相同之處。

關(guān)鍵詞：神秘氣氛；好奇與矛盾心理；最終選擇；巧合結(jié)局

本文引用格式：尹蓉.試析《猴爪》與《按鈕，按鈕》的相似性[J].重慶與世界，2016(3):73-75.

Citation format:YIN Rong.Similarities Between The Monkey’s Paw and Button,Button[J].The World and Chongqing,2016(3):73-75.

一、小說(shuō)內(nèi)容梗概

英國(guó)小說(shuō)家W.W.雅各布斯(W.W.Jacobs，1863—1943)寫(xiě)過(guò)大量的恐怖小說(shuō)，其中最著名的是《猴爪》(The Monkey’s Paw)，曾被多次改編為電影和劇本。小說(shuō)主人公懷特是個(gè)普通而貧窮的人，他從一名來(lái)自印度的軍士長(zhǎng)那里了解到“猴爪”具有神奇功能，可以幫人實(shí)現(xiàn)3個(gè)愿望，于是不顧朋友的勸阻，向“猴爪”許愿，最后導(dǎo)致了悲劇的發(fā)生。

《按鈕，按鈕》(Button,Button)是理查德·麥瑟森(Richard Matheson,1926—2013)的短篇小說(shuō)，講述了主人公諾瑪因?yàn)槁?tīng)信一個(gè)陌生人的承諾——按下神秘裝置的按鈕，世界上某個(gè)地方一個(gè)她不認(rèn)識(shí)的人將會(huì)死去，而她因此可以獲得5萬(wàn)美元——于是不顧丈夫的勸阻，最終按下按鈕，可結(jié)局卻讓她感到五雷轟頂。

二、神秘氛圍的設(shè)置

兩篇小說(shuō)的作者開(kāi)場(chǎng)都設(shè)置懸念，烘托出一種神秘而恐怖的氛圍?！逗镒Α分?，朋友莫里斯來(lái)訪是在一個(gè)“寒冷而潮濕”的夜晚，外面冷風(fēng)呼呼的吹著，主人公的住所“糟糕透頂、泥濘又偏僻”。莫里斯軍士長(zhǎng)剛從印度征戰(zhàn)歸來(lái)，那是一個(gè)神秘詭異的國(guó)度，到處可見(jiàn)“古廟、托缽僧和玩雜耍的人”，他帶回的那個(gè)“已經(jīng)干癟成木乃伊”的骯臟的猴爪子，更使整個(gè)故事彌漫著詭異的氣息。軍士長(zhǎng)介紹“猴爪”時(shí)說(shuō)“一位老托缽僧用符咒鎮(zhèn)住了它”，“每個(gè)人都能通過(guò)它實(shí)現(xiàn)自己的三個(gè)愿望”,卻又對(duì)以往“猴爪”讓他及另外一個(gè)人實(shí)現(xiàn)的3個(gè)愿望三緘其口。莫里斯軍士長(zhǎng)還把“猴爪”投入爐火中，一再警告懷特先生把它丟掉，這些細(xì)節(jié)使“猴爪”蒙上了一層神秘的面紗。在《按鈕，按鈕》中，同樣是普通貧窮的女主人公諾瑪在天黑下班回家時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)被人放在門(mén)口的方形木盒，小木盒上裝著一個(gè)按鈕，上面緊緊扣著半圓形玻璃罩子，底部黏著一張小紙片：“斯圖亞特會(huì)在晚上8時(shí)來(lái)訪”。作者甚至用“whatchamacallit”(某個(gè)東西)、“gadget”(小玩意)等詞來(lái)命名具有神奇功效的按鈕裝置。這一切都讓讀者和主人公毛骨悚然，猜不透接下來(lái)會(huì)發(fā)生什么神秘的事情，卻也讓讀者及主人公充滿期待。

三、人物的好奇與矛盾糾結(jié)的心理過(guò)程

莫里斯軍士長(zhǎng)告訴懷特先生一家，“猴爪”被人施了巫術(shù)，具有神奇的魔力，可以滿足人的3個(gè)愿望。這時(shí)，作者用“curiously”“l(fā)eaned forward eagerly”“taking it,examined it curiously”“ persisted the old lady”“eyeing him keenly”和“doggedly”等詞匯描寫(xiě)了懷特一家對(duì)此表現(xiàn)出的濃厚興趣和不打破沙鍋問(wèn)到底誓不罷休的決心。而當(dāng)莫里斯“拿起猴爪，夾在食指和大拇指中間搖晃著，突然把它扔到火上”時(shí)，“懷特輕輕地喊了一聲，彎下身子趕緊把它拿開(kāi)”；懷特“從口袋里拿出那個(gè)護(hù)符，軍士長(zhǎng)臉上帶著一種警告的神色，抓住懷特先生的胳膊，全家三人不禁放聲大笑”，這些描述都體現(xiàn)出了懷特一家對(duì)軍士長(zhǎng)談及愿望時(shí)“發(fā)白”的臉色和警告的話語(yǔ)不以為是，覺(jué)得他是擔(dān)心過(guò)度。同時(shí)，懷特先生對(duì)于是否許愿開(kāi)始是矛盾的，“半信半疑”，因?yàn)樗X(jué)得自己“想要的一切都已經(jīng)有了”，“根本不知道許什么愿”。在《按鈕，按鈕》這篇小說(shuō)中，諾瑪最初收到包裹時(shí)并沒(méi)有馬上打開(kāi)，而斯圖亞特來(lái)訪讓諾瑪變得好奇起來(lái)，因?yàn)樗弥四莻€(gè)東西或許從“金錢(qián)的角度”來(lái)說(shuō)“價(jià)值不菲”。盡管丈夫亞瑟認(rèn)為斯圖亞特的說(shuō)辭“只需按動(dòng)按鈕，世界某個(gè)角落的人一個(gè)人就會(huì)死去，而作為回報(bào)，你會(huì)因此得到5萬(wàn)美元的報(bào)償”極其荒唐，“不道德”，甚至還讓斯圖亞特帶著那玩意兒滾，諾瑪卻認(rèn)為那只不過(guò)是有人“開(kāi)玩笑”，或者是一次“心理測(cè)試”。不過(guò)，她的好奇還沒(méi)有結(jié)束，第二天早上離開(kāi)家時(shí)，她偷偷地將頭天晚上丈夫撕成兩半的斯圖亞特的名片“放進(jìn)了錢(qián)包”。傍晚，她終于撥通斯圖亞特的電話，再次被告知可以按動(dòng)按鈕獲得5萬(wàn)美元時(shí)，她覺(jué)得那太“瘋狂”了，并且生氣地拒絕斯圖亞特。第三天下班回家再次看到被放在門(mén)口的包裹時(shí)，諾瑪沒(méi)有立刻拿進(jìn)門(mén)，而是進(jìn)屋開(kāi)始做晚飯。但是過(guò)了一會(huì)，好奇心驅(qū)使她又神不知鬼不覺(jué)地“打開(kāi)門(mén)，撿起包裹”，放到了壁櫥里。吃飯時(shí)，這個(gè)話題又被提起，亞瑟認(rèn)為如果那樣做，無(wú)異于“謀殺”，諾瑪很吃驚。接下來(lái)的那天早上，早餐后亞瑟去上班，諾瑪默默地坐在桌旁，有種念頭在腦海里揮之不去，在拿出鑰匙和打開(kāi)玻璃罩之前，她“盯”了按鈕“好長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間”。在整個(gè)過(guò)程中，好奇心促使諾瑪想去一探究竟，但丈夫生氣的話又使她矛盾糾結(jié)。

四、僥幸心理下的最終的選擇

《猴爪》中的懷特和《按鈕，按鈕》中的諾瑪雖然都經(jīng)歷了矛盾而復(fù)雜的心理斗爭(zhēng)，最終還是在僥幸心理下做出了幾乎相同的抉擇。兒子的話——200英鎊可以用來(lái)“付清房子的欠款”，這筆錢(qián)也可以讓他們“發(fā)財(cái)”，過(guò)上“幸?！钡纳睢箲烟刈罱K下定決心許下愿望，懷特夫人的諷刺也讓他覺(jué)得這筆錢(qián)數(shù)目不多，不會(huì)對(duì)任何人有任何的傷害。諾瑪僥幸地認(rèn)為關(guān)于按鈕裝置這件事只是“某個(gè)行為怪異的百萬(wàn)富翁在與人們玩游戲”，或許她按下按鈕時(shí)死亡的只是“some old Chinese peasant ten thousand miles away”(萬(wàn)里之外中國(guó)老農(nóng))，或者“some diseased native in the Congo”(剛果垂危的病號(hào))。同時(shí)，她覺(jué)得自己不是“自私的”，而是為了整個(gè)家庭的幸福著想,說(shuō)“That I’d like for us to go to Europe.Like for us to have a cottage.Like for us to have a nicer apartment,nicer furniture,and nicer clothes.”這樣她找到了最終按下按鈕的自我安慰的借口。

五、巧合的結(jié)尾

懷特在兒子的慫恿下，許了一個(gè)自己認(rèn)為不太奢侈的愿望：祈求200英鎊。但他感到許愿時(shí)，“猴爪”“像條蛇一樣在手里扭動(dòng)”，這讓本身就顯得詭異的“猴爪”更加讓人恐怖，似乎木乃伊復(fù)活了。母子二人不相信“猴爪”會(huì)蠕動(dòng)，對(duì)懷特冷嘲熱諷，兒子說(shuō)“我打賭我永遠(yuǎn)見(jiàn)不到這筆錢(qián)”(這句話也不幸被他言中)，懷特夫人也尖酸刻薄地說(shuō)“二百英鎊又怎么能傷著你”。第二天，當(dāng)看到信差的身影在門(mén)外出現(xiàn)時(shí)，懷特夫人首先想到的是200英鎊。但正如“猴爪”的符咒所預(yù)言的那樣，“是命運(yùn)支配人們的生命，而那些干預(yù)命運(yùn)的人會(huì)使他們自己遭受不幸”,作者用懷特兒子在工廠被機(jī)器卷入，意外死亡，而工廠否認(rèn)對(duì)此負(fù)責(zé)，只派人帶來(lái)200英鎊作為補(bǔ)償?shù)谋瘎∽詈笞C明了“猴爪”的神奇功能。當(dāng)謎底揭開(kāi)的時(shí)候，懷特癱了，“仿佛雙目失明的人那樣伸出了雙手，接著像一堆毫無(wú)知覺(jué)的東西那樣倒在地上”。《按鈕，按鈕》里的諾瑪在伸手按下按鈕后也出現(xiàn)了異樣的感覺(jué)，“身體顫抖”,“恐懼的寒冷遍襲全身”。諾瑪也為自己唐突的選擇付出了慘痛的代價(jià)，她被醫(yī)院告知亞瑟意外地被擁擠的人群推下了站臺(tái)，而亞瑟的人身保險(xiǎn)死亡賠償金正好為5萬(wàn)美元。

六、結(jié)語(yǔ)

《猴爪》和《按鈕，按鈕》兩篇小說(shuō)中，兩位作家分別賦予“猴爪”和“按鈕裝置”不可言喻的神奇功能，主人公們因一時(shí)的貪念而飽嘗失去至親的痛苦。可悲的是，在失去唯一兒子后，懷特夫人陷入無(wú)比的悲傷與絕望中，逼迫老懷特再次拿出“猴爪”許愿，讓死去的兒子復(fù)活。房門(mén)打開(kāi)了，懷特夫婦看到的只是“對(duì)面閃爍不定的街燈照耀著寂靜荒涼的大路”。而當(dāng)電話那頭斯圖亞特的聲音再次響起時(shí)，諾瑪尖叫起來(lái)，質(zhì)問(wèn)“You said I wouldn’t know(認(rèn)識(shí)) the one that died!”得到的答案卻是耐人尋味的——“Do you really think you knew (了解)your husband？”在一問(wèn)一答中，作者巧妙運(yùn)用“know”這個(gè)詞一語(yǔ)雙關(guān)，表現(xiàn)出雖然諾瑪與丈夫亞瑟朝夕相處，卻不知道丈夫真正想要什么。由于不滿足現(xiàn)狀，他們企圖通過(guò)不勞而獲過(guò)上富足高貴的生活，最后卻連簡(jiǎn)單幸福的快樂(lè)也失去了。

參考文獻(xiàn)：

[1]陳杰慧.試析雅各布斯短篇小說(shuō)《猴爪》中的三層懸念[J].作家，2013(12).

[2]成春波.“Button,Button”的多層次含義[J].張家口大學(xué)學(xué)報(bào)，1995(4).

[3]穆從軍.“Button Button”文體賞析[J].安徽師專(zhuān)學(xué)報(bào)，1995(2).

(責(zé)任編輯張佑法)

In this world,there must be someone who is disliked by you as well as appreciated by you.It’s a usual part of you life.Furthermore,no matter how good you are,or others,we are not allowed to demand each other because the essence of things that good or bad does not mean that we subjectively likes or dislikes.

If you please someone deliberately,you will lose your own honor in the end.Do not repeatedly bow to win contempt with indifferent.If you stoop,then the situation will only be condescended and other increasingly dictated.Remembering equal status is based on respecting each other.Nor our likes and dislikes as to distinguish between good guys and bad guys.With emotional tendencies,vision will inevitably fall into narrow-minded.For example,you can’t say it is a bad dog which bites you.Dogs are always to bite,which is dog’s nature and mission.On the other hand,when staring at other’s mistakes,we must see our own flaws.

Of course,the ultimate love is more like an individual experience in another world.Having no reason to prefer one person in full bloom,and you will devote all of yourself into him hopelessly.These both are the greatest love of all.If you just like him in which you are only fit to someone’s temperament,interest and character,it is just liking lightly.The greatest like of all is love,which is adhesion and attraction in your life,as well as is the soul of the persistent together with deep feeling of hope.

This is a strange and big private process.Privatization means that even (you are not only) unlimited right,but also being wrong completely.For sometimes countless looking back at someone,but you can not meet a brush.Sometimes coming up with an angel’s heart,it is not necessarily in exchange for Angel courtesy.If he does not like you,a person will not want to pretend to you once an angel.People don’t need to do a flirtation,although temporary hypocrites that will bring stall-like pain and perfunctory injury which can soothe and intoxicate people.

So in this world,the silliest things we have done are we ask him reasons why he dislikes us.As a matter of fact,there is no reason why he or she dislikes us.You’d better pat the dust,and turn away quietly like a gust of wind scratch and forget this person who dislikes us peacefully.

A person,being dusty to live in this world,should live for people who love you.This is the best attitude.Don’t lost happiness in that place where a person who dislikes you,and don’t forget happy in this place where a man which loves you.

We shouldn’t pursue the things that we shouldn’t get.When you are tired,perhaps other person also is more tired.If stopping and putting down,you will eventually find that sky won’t fall down.

In this world,everyone is creeping in the mud of the secular.Some people love you naturally,but some people are doomed to give you a lesson.The things you elaborate maybe are worthless to another.The things you deep-seated hatred maybe are accustomed to another.Between love and hate,there is always a choice you have to make.So this is life’s true features that there are both intimate warmth and bitter cold.But remember the truth that all these experiences just want to make your life more colorful and more completely.

In the life journey,there will always be some auspicious clouds shroud you.Struggling in the person who you love or dislike is not as good as having a walk under the auspicious clouds with happiness.As we don’t have to own many happy things,one thing is enough.

作者簡(jiǎn)介：尹蓉(1976—)，女，講師，碩士，研究方向：英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)言文學(xué)及英語(yǔ)教育。 張宜陽(yáng)(1997—)，男，河南平頂山人，山東建筑大學(xué)學(xué)生，研究方向：電氣工程及其自動(dòng)化。

doi：【文學(xué)】10.13769/j.cnki.cn50-1011/d.2016.03.015 10.13769/j.cnki.cn50-1011/d.2016.03.016

中圖分類(lèi)號(hào)：I106.4 I26

文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)識(shí)碼：A A

文章編號(hào)：1007-7111(2016)03-0073-03 1007-7111(2016)03-0076-02

Similarities Between The Monkey’s Paw and Button,Button

YIN Rong

(Rongzhi College of Chongqing University of Business and Technology,Chongqing 401320,China)

Abstract:Button,Button of Richard Matheson resembles The Monkey’s Paw of W.W.Jacobs a lot.This essay analyzed the similarities between the two short stories from the aspects of the mysterious and terrible atmosphere,curiosity and mental struggling of main characters,final choice and coincident ending.

Key words:mysterious and terrible atmosphere; curiosity and mental struggling; final choice; coincident ending

We Will Always Be an Auspicious Cloud Shrouded in Our Lives

Translator:ZHANG Yi-yang

Author:MO Yan