Bear邁克爾邦德：帕丁頓熊之父難說(shuō)再見

Anita+Gates

今年6月28日，英國(guó)兒童文學(xué)巨匠邁克爾·邦德在倫敦辭世。他一生創(chuàng)作了近200部作品，其中最受歡迎的帕丁頓熊系列圖書被翻譯成至少40種語(yǔ)言，全球銷量超過(guò)3500萬(wàn)冊(cè)。自1957年誕生以來(lái)，帕丁頓熊一直以其善良、正直感染和溫暖著世界各地的讀者，撫慰人們的心靈，引領(lǐng)了一代又一代的孩子走進(jìn)書的世界。如今，帕丁頓熊之父離開了我們，但他所創(chuàng)作的經(jīng)典形象和精彩故事將一直留在我們心中。

Michael Bond， the genial British author who created Paddington Bear， the polite， good-natured but disaster-prone little hero of childrens novels， picture and activity books， television series， and films， died on Tuesday at his home in London. He was 91.

Mr. Bond lived in the Maida Vale section of London， not far from Paddington Station， where his fictional creations story began. “Mr. and Mrs. Brown first met Paddington on a railway platform” were the first words of A Bear Called Paddington， published in Britain in 1958. The small brown bear is spotted at that station， seated on an old leather suitcase and wearing a tag that reads： “Please look after this bear. Thank you.” He has emigrated from “darkest Peru，” the Browns learn， because his aunt has gone into a home for retired bears in Lima1）.

The Browns take him home to 32 Windsor Gardens and give him a new life that includes their children， Judy and Jonathan； their housekeeper， Mrs. Bird； a grouchy2） neighbor， Mr. Curry； and a Hungarian-born antiques dealer， Mr. Gruber.

Paddington， drawn by a half-dozen illustrators over the years， came to be known for his distinctive ensemble3） of blue duffel coat4） with toggle5） fastenings， floppy felt hat and red Wellington boots6）. The books have sold more than 35 million copies worldwide and have been translated into at least 40 languages.

“I am constantly surprised by all the translations，” Mr. Bond was quoted as saying on an official website for his creation， “because I thought that Paddington was essentially an English character.”

Certainly the character participated in some typical British activities in his books. They included London theater， a cricket match， a visit to a waxworks museum， a riding competition and antiques shopping on Portobello Road. Paddington also had a known predilection7） for marmalade sandwiches. But most important， he is unfailingly8） polite with a strong sense of morality， and he always tries to do the right thing.

For Mr. Bond， the story began on Christmas Eve 1956， when he was working as a BBC TV camera operator. On his way home， he stopped by Selfridges9） department store and spotted a toy bear alone on a shelf. “It looked rather forlorn10），” he told the London newspaper The Sunday Telegraph in 2007. He took the bear home as a stocking stuffer11） for his wife and soon began writing a story about it. After 10 days， he had a completed novel， which William Collins & Sons bought for ?75.endprint

Thomas Michael Bond was born in Newbury， Berkshire， England， on Jan. 13， 1926， the son of Norman Robert and Mary Frances Bond. Six weeks later， the family moved to Reading12）， where Mr. Bond worked for the Post Office.

Michael attended Presentation College， a Roman Catholic school in Reading， but dropped out of school at 14. During World War II， he served in both the Royal Air Force and the British Army.

Mr. Bond said Paddington Bear had partly been inspired by his memories of child evacuees13） passing through Reading from London.

“They all had a label round their neck with their name and address on and a little case or package containing all their treasured possessions，” he told The Guardian in 2014. “So Paddington， in a sense， was a refugee， and I do think that theres no sadder sight than refugees.”

Mr. Bond sold his first short story in 1945， to the magazine London Opinion， and said later that he had written it outside a tent in Cairo. Over the next decade， he had numerous short stories published and radio plays performed， but “it was a good year if I made a hundred pounds，” he wrote in Third Book of Junior Authors.

He began working for the BBC after the war and， even after A Bear Called Paddington was published， he did not immediately quit his day job. It was only in 1965， with six Paddington novels on the worlds bookshelves， that he became a full-time writer.

He did not limit his work to Paddington or to print， but animals did dominate his work. In 1968 he created The Herbs， an animated British television series with characters including Dill the Dog， Sage the Owl and the popular Parsley the Lion， who was rewarded with his own spinoff14） series.

Mr. Bond also wrote childrens books about Olga da Polga， a guinea pig15）， and a mouse called Thursday； for adult readers he created Monsieur Pamplemousse， a culinary detective with a dog named Pommes Frites.

But he was always best known for Paddington， whose fame grew wildly in the 1970s after the first stuffed animal16） version was produced and the first television series became a hit， on the BBC in Britain and later on various networks including PBS， Nickelodeon17） and HBO in the United States.

The merchandising made Mr. Bond wealthy， but the pressure took its toll.

“A black cloud hung over me for about two years，” he told the London newspaper The Daily Mail in 1998. “I became overtired and started taking sleeping pills at night and a lot of whiskey to wake me up. I thought about suicide.”endprint

Mr. Bond credited the spirit of Paddington with helping him through difficult times. “There is something so upright about him，” he added. “I wouldnt want to let him down.”

Other series and television movies followed. A movie with live actors and a computer-animated bear， voiced by Ben Whishaw18）， was released in 2015. A sequel is expected this year.

Mr. Bond was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire19） in 1997， and then a commander of the order20） in 2015， for services to childrens literature.

The Paddington book series seemed to end in 1979， but in 2008， to celebrate the bears 50th anniversary， Mr. Bond wrote Paddington Here and Now， in which our hero has his shopping cart towed21） and his immigration status questioned. Mr. Bonds latest novel， Paddingtons Finest Hour， was published in April of this year.

Over the years， Mr. Bond received fan letters from adults who credited Paddington with feats of remarkable emotional support， and this did not surprise the bears creator. He told The Sunday Telegraph： “If I bumped into Paddington one day， I wouldnt be at all surprised. He feels very real to me， you see.”

邁克爾·邦德于周二（編注：英文原文發(fā)表于6月28日）在倫敦家中去世，享年91歲。這位和藹可親的英國(guó)作家是帕丁頓熊的創(chuàng)造者。禮貌、善良但又多災(zāi)多難的帕丁頓熊可是各種兒童小說(shuō)、畫冊(cè)、活動(dòng)手冊(cè)、電視連續(xù)劇及電影的小主人公。

邦德先生生前住在倫敦的梅達(dá)谷區(qū)，離帕丁頓車站不遠(yuǎn)。他虛構(gòu)的帕丁頓熊的故事正是在那里開始?！安祭氏壬筒祭侍诨疖囌九_(tái)上第一次遇見帕丁頓?！边@是1958年在英國(guó)出版的《名叫帕丁頓的熊》里的第一句話。這只褐色的小熊正是在那個(gè)車站被發(fā)現(xiàn)的，他坐在一個(gè)破舊的皮箱上，身上掛著一塊標(biāo)牌，上面寫著：“請(qǐng)照看這只熊，謝謝?！辈祭史驄D了解到，他是從“最黑暗的秘魯”移居過(guò)來(lái)的，因?yàn)樗陌⒁倘チ死R一家專門接收退休熊的養(yǎng)老院。

布朗夫婦把帕丁頓帶到位于溫莎花園32號(hào)的家中，給了他全新的生活。在這樣的新生活里，有布朗夫婦的孩子朱迪和喬納森、他們的管家伯德太太、滿腹牢騷的鄰居柯里先生，以及出生于匈牙利的古董商格魯伯先生。

由六名插畫師歷時(shí)數(shù)年畫出來(lái)的帕丁頓以別具一格的全套服裝而出名：身穿縫有棒形紐扣的藍(lán)色連帽粗呢風(fēng)衣，頭戴松軟的帽子，腳蹬一雙紅色的威靈頓長(zhǎng)筒靴。帕丁頓熊系列書籍在全球銷售超過(guò)3500萬(wàn)冊(cè)，并被翻譯成至少40種語(yǔ)言。

在帕丁頓熊的官網(wǎng)上有邦德先生說(shuō)過(guò)的這么一句話：“這些譯本不斷地讓我感到驚喜，因?yàn)槲以詾榕炼☆D本質(zhì)上是個(gè)英國(guó)角色。”

確實(shí)，這個(gè)角色在他的書中參加了許多典型的英式活動(dòng)，包括去倫敦劇院、打板球、參觀蠟像館、參加騎馬比賽以及去波特貝羅路的古董店購(gòu)物。帕丁頓還喜歡吃果醬三明治，這一點(diǎn)眾所周知。但最重要的是他道德觀念很強(qiáng)，永遠(yuǎn)保持禮貌，總是試圖做正確的事。

對(duì)于邦德先生來(lái)說(shuō)，這個(gè)故事始于1956年的平安夜，那時(shí)他還在BBC做攝像師。回家路上，他在塞爾福里奇百貨商店前停下了腳步，發(fā)現(xiàn)貨架上有一只孤零零的玩具熊?！八瓷先ヌ驴嗔尕炅恕！?007年邦德先生對(duì)倫敦的《周日電訊報(bào)》稱。他把這只熊帶回了家，作為送給妻子的圣誕禮物。不久之后，他開始寫關(guān)于這只熊的故事。十天之后他就完成了一部小說(shuō)。威廉·柯林斯集團(tuán)用75英鎊買下了這部小說(shuō)的版權(quán)。

托馬斯·邁克爾·邦德于1926年1月13日在英國(guó)伯克郡的紐伯里出生。父親是諾曼·羅伯特·邦德，母親是瑪麗·弗朗西絲·邦德。在他出生六周后，他們一家就搬去了里丁，他的父親在那里的郵局工作。

邁克爾就讀于示范學(xué)校，這是里丁的一家羅馬天主教學(xué)校。但他14歲時(shí)就輟學(xué)了。二戰(zhàn)期間，他在英國(guó)皇家空軍和英國(guó)陸軍都服過(guò)役。

邦德先生說(shuō)過(guò)，帕丁頓熊的部分靈感源于他對(duì)疏散自倫敦、途經(jīng)里丁的孩子們的記憶。

“他們脖子上都掛著標(biāo)牌，上面寫著姓名和地址，他們都帶著一個(gè)小箱子或小包，里面裝著所有他們珍愛的東西，”2014年邦德對(duì)《衛(wèi)報(bào)》說(shuō)，“所以帕丁頓從某種意義上說(shuō)是個(gè)難民，而且我確信沒(méi)有什么看起來(lái)比難民更令人悲傷了?！?/p>

1945年，邦德先生將他的第一部短篇小說(shuō)賣給了《倫敦觀點(diǎn)》雜志。他后來(lái)表示這部小說(shuō)是在開羅的一處帳篷外寫成的。接下來(lái)的十年里，他出版的短篇小說(shuō)和根據(jù)他的故事改編的廣播劇不勝枚舉，但是他卻在《青年作家的第三本書》中寫道：“如果我能賺到一百英鎊，那這一年就算是個(gè)好年頭?！眅ndprint

戰(zhàn)后他開始在BBC工作。即便在《名叫帕丁頓的熊》出版后，他也沒(méi)有立馬辭掉這份白天的正式職位。直到1965年，當(dāng)六本帕丁頓的小說(shuō)出現(xiàn)在世界各地的書架上，他才成為全職作家。

他并沒(méi)有將自己的工作局限于帕丁頓熊或出書上，但動(dòng)物在他的作品中的確占有主導(dǎo)地位。1968年，他創(chuàng)作了英國(guó)電視動(dòng)畫系列片《藥草》，里面的角色包括蒔蘿狗、鼠尾草貓頭鷹和極具人氣的歐芹獅，其中歐芹獅還因廣受歡迎有了單獨(dú)的續(xù)集系列片。

邦德先生還寫了關(guān)于豚鼠奧爾加·達(dá)·波爾加和老鼠“星期四”的兒童圖書。他還為成年讀者創(chuàng)造了柚子先生，柚子先生是名美食偵探，帶著一條名叫“炸薯?xiàng)l”的小狗。

不過(guò)，邦德最為人熟知的一直是帕丁頓。20世紀(jì)70年代，帕丁頓的第一版填充玩具問(wèn)世，第一部電視連續(xù)劇也相繼在英國(guó)BBC和各大電視網(wǎng)熱播，其中包括美國(guó)的PBS、尼克國(guó)際兒童頻道和HBO，之后這只小熊逐漸名聲大噪。

作品的推銷給邦德先生帶來(lái)了財(cái)富，但隨之而來(lái)的壓力也讓他付出了代價(jià)。

“大約兩年的時(shí)間，總有一團(tuán)烏云籠罩在我頭上，”1998年他對(duì)倫敦的《每日郵報(bào)》說(shuō)，“我變得過(guò)度勞累，開始在晚上服用安眠藥，為了醒過(guò)來(lái)又要喝很多威士忌。我想到了自殺?！?/p>

邦德先生認(rèn)為是帕丁頓的精神幫他度過(guò)了困難時(shí)期?！八砩嫌蟹N極為正直的東西，”邦德補(bǔ)充道，“我不想讓他失望。”

其他電視劇和電影也隨之誕生。2015年，一部既有真人演員又有由電腦制作的動(dòng)畫熊的電影上映了，其中帕丁頓由本·威士肖配音。該影片的續(xù)集預(yù)計(jì)將于今年上映。

1997年，邦德先生因在兒童文學(xué)領(lǐng)域做出的貢獻(xiàn)而被授予大英帝國(guó)官佐勛章勛銜，2015年又被授予大英帝國(guó)司令勛章勛銜。

帕丁頓系列書籍似乎在1979年就結(jié)束了。但在2008年，為了紀(jì)念帕丁頓熊誕生50周年，邦德先生寫了《此時(shí)此地的帕丁頓》。在這本書里，我們主人公的購(gòu)物車被拉走了，他的移民身份也遭到了質(zhì)疑。邦德先生最新的小說(shuō)《帕丁頓最美好的時(shí)光》于今年4月出版。

這些年來(lái)，邦德先生收到過(guò)很多成年粉絲的來(lái)信。這些粉絲認(rèn)為帕丁頓給他們帶來(lái)了強(qiáng)大的情感支撐。這并沒(méi)有讓這只熊的創(chuàng)作者感到驚訝。他曾對(duì)《周日電訊報(bào)》表示：“如果哪天我碰到了帕丁頓，我一點(diǎn)也不會(huì)感到驚訝。你知道，他對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)十分真實(shí)?！?/p>

1. Lima：利馬，秘魯首都

2. grouchy [?ɡra?t?i] adj. 脾氣很壞的，牢騷滿腹的

3. ensemble [?n?s?mb（?）l] n. 配套服裝；全套服裝

4. duffel coat：連帽粗呢風(fēng)雪大衣

5. toggle [?t?ɡ（?）l] n. 棒形紐扣

6. Wellington boots：威靈頓長(zhǎng)筒靴

7. predilection [?pri?d??lek?（?）n] n. 偏愛；偏好；特別喜愛

8. unfailingly [?n?fe?l???li] adv. 無(wú)限地，連續(xù)不斷地；可靠地

9. Selfridges：塞爾福里奇百貨公司，倫敦最著名的百貨公司之一，創(chuàng)于1909年。

10. forlorn [f?（r）?l??（r）n] adj. 孤苦伶仃的New Oriental English .

11. stocking stuffer：圣誕節(jié)禮物（尤指可塞入兒童圣誕襪中作為圣誕禮物的小玩具）

12. Reading：里丁，伯克郡首府，位于英格蘭北部

13. evacuee [??v?kju?i?] n. 撤離者；被疏散者

14. spinoff [&apos；sp?n??f] n. （由受歡迎的書籍、電影等派生出來(lái)的）續(xù)集；派生作品

15. guinea pig：豚鼠；天竺鼠

16. stuffed animal：填充（動(dòng)物）玩具

17. Nickelodeon：尼克國(guó)際兒童頻道，美國(guó)知名有線電視頻道New Oriental English .

18. Ben Whishaw：本·威士肖（1980～），英國(guó)男演員、戲劇演員，代表作包括《007：大破天幕殺機(jī)》（Skyfall）和《云圖》（Cloud Atlas）。

19. 指大英帝國(guó)官佐勛章勛銜，大英帝國(guó)勛章中的第四級(jí)。

20. 指大英帝國(guó)司令勛章勛銜，大英帝國(guó)勛章中的第三級(jí)。

21. tow [t??] vt. 拖；拉endprint