海明威故居的貓

文、圖萬興坤 WAN Xingkun

躺在床上的六趾貓Six-toed cat in bed

來美國佛羅里達(dá)州，參觀海明威故居是我的愿望。幸好兒子曾去過，給我當(dāng)向?qū)?。五月下旬的一天，由他駕車，我們從邁阿密出發(fā)，沿著一號公路，一直向南前往基韋斯特島，全程160英里，經(jīng)過40多座橋，其中跨越一座七英里的長橋。每座橋都將相鄰的小島巧妙地連接在一起，就像一根長線將這些撒落在大海里的珍珠串了起來，優(yōu)美的海岸線和亞熱帶風(fēng)光在微風(fēng)中舒展著，行駛在碧藍(lán)的海洋之中。漫漫長堤，海天的浩瀚與旖旎景象盡收眼底。

海明威故居在基韋斯特島一號公路接近終端的白頭街。不遠(yuǎn)處是茫茫大西洋岸邊，站在街上就能見到有個圓錐形的地標(biāo)性景觀，這是美國本土最南端，距古巴僅90英里。故居為白色和黃綠相間的房子，是典型的西班牙風(fēng)格，被蔥郁的樹林包圍著。庭院內(nèi)鮮花簇?fù)?，草地碧綠如毯。小橋流水的池塘，美人蕉、芭蕉、鳳尾竹以及其它闊葉植物與椰樹、棕櫚樹渾然一體。故居主體是一座二層白色小樓，木地板，有客廳、臥室、工作室、廚房等。房間寬敞明亮，拱門式造型，落地窗戶。陳設(shè)的家具是海明威一家用過的原物。二樓展廳里，有兩張海明威和夫人瑪莎·蓋爾紅在抗戰(zhàn)期間來中國的老照片，分別是在第七戰(zhàn)區(qū)韶關(guān)考察和在重慶的留影。通過這次中國之行，海明威預(yù)言：日本法西斯發(fā)動的不義之戰(zhàn)注定要失??；戰(zhàn)后，共產(chǎn)黨將取得中國政權(quán)。事實(shí)證明海明威的預(yù)言是正確的。

走進(jìn)故居二樓臥室，一張寬大的雙人床，床單、被子鋪的整潔素雅。潔白的被罩上躺著兩只黑色的貓，瞇著眼睛，卷縮著身子，正在睡覺。兩個枕頭之間，橫臥著一只黑貓，溫順可愛。后來發(fā)現(xiàn)，宅院隨處有貓出入，書架上、沙發(fā)上也成為它們的領(lǐng)地。 我們順著一條小路，拐進(jìn)一個小花園，路面由不規(guī)則的石板鋪就，一塊塊石板上刻有英文和年號，我感到有些疑惑。兒子告訴我，這個小院是貓的墓地。原來，自海明威入住以來，死亡的貓都埋在這里。每塊石板，就是一個墓碑，上面刻有貓的名字和年齡。在花園的另一側(cè)，靠近圍墻的樹木之間，搭有各式貓房，如微縮的小洋樓，坡面屋頂、圓圓的門洞，可謂貓的高檔別墅。貓兒們在“小區(qū)”自由活動，有躺著的，有打鬧的，有撒嬌似的在地上翻滾，甚為有趣可愛。蹲在草坪上的一只貓，翹著一條腿，歪著腦袋，伸出舌頭正在舔腳掌的肉墊，我仔細(xì)瞧了瞧，貓的爪子競是六個腳趾。再觀察其它貓，有許多六趾貓。貓身上皮毛的顏色各異——白的、黑的、灰的、花的、條紋的、咖啡色的，富有光澤。據(jù)工作人員介紹，海明威一家曾經(jīng)在這里養(yǎng)過一只六趾貓。盡管基韋斯特終年見不到雪，但海明威給這只貓起名叫“白雪公主”。他的小兒子抱著“白雪公主”拍的合影照片，就掛在故居的墻上?，F(xiàn)在這些貓大都是“白雪公主”的后代。海明威為何偏愛六趾貓？據(jù)說六趾貓能給航海帶來好運(yùn)，圖個吉利。海明威是位愛冒險(xiǎn)的硬漢，其代表作《老人與?！罚覍?shí)、勇敢地再現(xiàn)了他所處時(shí)代的艱辛和危難。出海、狩獵、看斗牛是家常便飯。傳說貓有九條命，能逢兇化吉。在生活工作壓力下，貓趣能讓人精神上得以放松，產(chǎn)生愉悅之感，對海明威來說，或許能點(diǎn)燃激情，為其文學(xué)創(chuàng)作帶來靈感。他還給每只貓以名人或明星命名。從海明威故居可以看出，主人愛貓、疼貓，精心飼養(yǎng)、呵護(hù)著貓。這里的貓是幸運(yùn)的，它們享受著人類的珍愛和尊敬。

我也曾養(yǎng)過貓，貓是有靈性的，且通人性。其性格與狗不同，不那么張狂外露，相對比較內(nèi)向、含蓄——每當(dāng)我下班回家開門時(shí)，它就跑過來抱住我的腿，腦袋往你腿上蹭；看電視時(shí)，它跳到沙發(fā)上，鉆入我的腋下，和我一起觀看；我寫字時(shí)，它躍上寫字臺，呆在桌旁看著。人與貓和諧共處，形影不離。海明威也許沒想到他養(yǎng)的貓，至今一代接一代地繁衍著，快樂地生活著，并吸引著來自不同國度的游客。

基韋斯特小島的靈氣成就了海明威的寫作。因?yàn)橛泻Ｃ魍示拥拇嬖?，賦予基韋斯特濃厚的人文色彩。而且厚重的文化積淀與歷史內(nèi)涵，正是它的魅力所在。

海明威故居主樓Main building of the former residence

海明威的兩個兒子，帕特里克和格雷戈里與六趾貓“白雪公主”合影Hemingway’s two sons, Patrick and Gregory took photo with the six-toed cat Snow White.

花園里的貓Cats in the garden

美國大陸最南端標(biāo)志，距離古巴90英里The southernmost tip of the US continent, 90 miles from Cuba

It is my wish to visit the former residence of Hemingway in Florida of the US. Fortunately, my son had been there and played the role of my guide. One day in late May, setting off from Miami, he drove us along the route 1and headed south to the Key West Island for 160 miles and passed over 40 bridges in total, one of which spanned seven miles.Each bridge artfully connected the neighboring islands, like a long string of pearls that have been scattered in the sea. The beautiful coastline and subtropical scenery stretched in the breeze as if we were driving amid the blue ocean.Standing on the long dam, the great vastness of sky and ocean and pretty view were full of our eyes.Located at the Whitehead Street and nestled in the Key West Island, the former residence of Hemingway is by the shore of the Atlantic Ocean.A conical landmark, which is easily found from the view of the street, is the southernmost point of the United States, just 90 miles from Cuba.Painted in white and yellowgreen, the residence is of typical Spanish style surrounded by lush green trees. The garden in it is filled by flowers and the grass is as green as a blanket, featuringsmall bridges, ponds, cannas,plantain, fern leaf bamboo and other broad-leaved plants integrated with coconut and palm trees.The mainstay of the residence is a two-story white building with wooden floors, living room, bedroom, studio and kitchen. The rooms are bright and spacious with arched windows and floor-to-ceiling windows. All the displaying furniture is the originals used by the Hemingway's family. In the second-floor exhibition hall, there were two old photos of Hemingway and his wife, Martha Gellhorn, who had visited China during the War of Resistance Against Japanin 1941.One was about their inspection at Shaoguan in the Seventh War Zone and the other was taken in Chongqing.Through this trip to China, Hemingway predicted that the war of injustice launched by the Japanese fascist was doomed to failure. And the Communist Party will obtain the authority in China after the war.His prophecy is proved to be most correct.

Into the bedroom on the second floor,a large double bed was laid there withlinens, quiltswere clean and elegant. Two white cats were lying on the white quilt, squint and curled up sleeping.Between the two pillows lied a black cat, gentle and lovely.It was discovered later that there were cats in and out of the house, and the bookshelves and sofas became their territories.We followed a narrow path into a small garden. The road was paved with irregular slabs of stone, with English words and years engraved on each block, which has puzzled me. My son told me that this small courtyard was a cats’ cemetery. It turned out that since the arrival of Hemingway, the dead cats were buried here andeach slate was a tombstone with cat’s name and age on it.On the other side of the garden, there are all kinds of cat houses between the trees near the wall as if miniature houses, slope roof, round door hole and etc., which can be described as highend villas for cats. The cats are free to move in the "community",some were lying, some were playing with each other, and some rolling on the ground with much fun. It was very interesting and lovely. A cat was squatting on the lawn, stretching out a leg with head aslant, licking cute paws. But I found that its paw had six toes after careful look, and many here were six-toed cats. The color of the fur on the cat body is quite different, white, black,gray, floral, striped, brown and shiny.According to the staff there, the Hemingway family once raised a six-toed cat. Although there is no snow in Key West all year round, Hemingway gave the cat a name of "snowball".The picture of his youngest son’s holding the "snowball" was hung on the wall of the residence.Now these cats are mostly descendants of "snowball". Why did Hemingway prefer six-toed cats? It is said that this type of cat can bring good luck to navigation. Ernest Hemingway is a tough guy longing for adventure, whose masterpieceThe Old Man and the Seafaithfully and courageously reproduced the hardships and dangers of his times, such asgoing to the sea,hunting and watching bullfighting are commonplace. Cats are believed to have nine lives, and that they can make a good fortune. Under the pressure of life and work, cats can make people relaxed mentally, creating a sense of pleasure and preventing cardiovascular diseases.For Hemingway, it may ignite passion and bring inspiration for his literary creation. He also named each cat as a celebrity or star. From his former residence,it can be found that the owner loved cats with most careful care and protection. The cats here were fortunate,enjoying the cherishing and dignity by human beings, also widely considered an ecological civilization.

Once I have also raised a cat, which is a spiritual animal closely connected with human. Different from dog in terms of character,it is less intrusive and relatively introverted and implicit.Whenever I come home from work, it just runs over and hugs my legs, his head squatting on my lap. While watching TV, it jumps onto the sofa, gets into my arm and watches with me. When I am writing, it leaps to the desk and stays at the table. Human and cat live together in harmony whileremaininseparable.It might be beyond the thought of Hemingway that the cats he had raised have lived happily from generation to generation, attracting tourists from all over the world.

The glamor of Key West Island has made Hemingway's writing.Just because of the existence of Hemingway's former residence,it gives a great cultural tone to the island. Moreover, the profound cultural accumulation and historical connotation are exactly its charms.