百年驚情

原作節(jié)選

On 4th May I arrived at the little town called Bistritz. Transylvania was a strange and beautiful country. There were mountains， trees and rivers everywhere. And somewhere high in the mountains was the Counts1 home， Castle Dracula. I had six hours to wait before the coach2 came to take me there， so I went into a little hotel. Inside it was warm and friendly. The people there were all laughing and talking. “Where are you going？”they asked me.

“To Castle Dracula，” I replied.

Suddenly， the room was silent and everyone turned to look at me. I could not understand why they all looked afraid.

“Dont go there，” someone said.

“But I have to，” I answered. “Its business.”

They began to talk again， but they were no longer3 laughing. Slowly， the hotel keepers wife took the gold cross4 from her neck and put it into my hand. “Take this，” she said. “There is danger at Castle Dracula. Perhaps this will help you.”

When the coach arrived and I got into it， a crowd5 of people came to watch， and I heard the word “vampire”6.

The coach traveled up into the mountains. Higher and higher it went， faster and faster. The sun was bright， but above the trees there was snow on the mountain tops. Then suddenly the sun went down behind the mountains and everywhere was dark. In the forest around us， the wolves were howling7. It was a terrible sound.

Suddenly the coach stopped. A small carriage8 came down the narrow road on the right. Four black horses were pulling it， and the driver was dressed in9 black， with a black hat pulled down over his face.

“Wheres the Englishman？” he called. “Ive come from Castle Dracula！ ”

He looked strange， standing there in the moonlight， and suddenly I was afraid. But it was too late. I could not go back now.

Soon we were on our way to Castle Dracula. The mountains were all around us and the moon was behind black clouds. I could see nothing—but I could still hear the wolves. The horses went faster and faster， and the driver laughed wildly10.

Suddenly the carriage stopped. I opened the door and got out. At once the carriage drove away and I was alone in front of the dark， silent castle. I stood there， looking up at it， and slowly， the big wooden door opened. A tall man stood in front of me. His hair was white and he was dressed in black from head to foot.

“Come in， Mr. Harker，” he said. “I am Count Dracula.” He held out his hand and I took it. It was as cold as ice！

I went into the castle and the Count carefully locked the door behind me. He put the key into his pocket and turned to go upstairs. I followed him， and we came to a room where a wood fire burned brightly. In front of it there was a little table with food and drink on it. The Count asked me to sit down and eat， but he did not eat with me. Later， we sat and talked by the fire. His English was very good， and while we talked， I had time to look at him carefully. His face was very white， his ears were like the ears of a cat， and his teeth were strong like the teeth of an animal. There was hair on his hands and his fingers were very long. When he touched me， I was afraid.

It was nearly morning when I went to bed， and outside， the wolves were still howling.

The next morning I found my breakfast on the little table in front of the fire. Now that it was light， I could see that Castle Dracula was old and dirty. I saw no servants all that day.

The Count did not come to breakfast， but there was letter from him on the table.

“Go anywhere in the castle”， it said， “ but some of the rooms are locked. Do not try to go into these rooms. ”

Tip

Transylvania：特蘭西瓦尼亞，位于羅馬尼亞中西部地區(qū)，地形以高海拔茂密森林為主。眾多的城堡以及為抵擋敵人入侵而被城墻包圍住的教堂，為這里增添了諸多神秘色彩。它更因小說《德拉庫拉》（Dracula）被譽(yù)為“吸血鬼故鄉(xiāng)”，而成為許多人趨之若鶩的旅游勝地。近幾年深受大家喜愛的迪士尼動(dòng)畫系列《精靈旅社》（Hotel Transylvania）的故事便發(fā)生在此。

5月4日，我到達(dá)一個(gè)叫畢斯特里茲的小鎮(zhèn)。特蘭西瓦尼亞是個(gè)奇怪而美麗的國家，到處山巒起伏，樹木蔥郁，河流縱橫。山中有一處高高聳立的地方就是伯爵的家，德拉庫拉城堡。我必須等6個(gè)小時(shí)才能有馬車來接我去那里，所以我進(jìn)了一家小旅館。里面一派溫暖祥和的氣氛，人們又說又笑，好不熱鬧?！澳阋ツ膬?？”他們問我。

“去德拉庫拉城堡?！蔽一卮?。

屋內(nèi)頓時(shí)一片寂靜，人們都轉(zhuǎn)過身看著我。我不明白為什么他們看起來如此害怕。

“別去那兒?！庇腥苏f道。

“但我不能不去，”我回答，“是公事?！?/p>

他們又開始說話，但不再有人大笑了。旅店的老板娘慢慢地摘下脖子上的金十字架，把它放到我手里。“拿著這個(gè)，”她說，“在德拉庫拉城堡有危險(xiǎn)，也許這個(gè)能對(duì)你有點(diǎn)兒幫助。”

馬車終于來了。當(dāng)我坐進(jìn)去時(shí)，一群人出來觀看，我聽到有人說“吸血鬼”這個(gè)詞。

馬車徑直朝山上駛?cè)?，越走越高，也越走越快。這里陽光明媚，樹木上方的山頂上卻白雪皚皚。突然，太陽落山了，四周一片黑暗。周圍的森林里傳來狼嚎的聲音，非?？膳?。

忽然，馬車停了。一輛小型四輪馬車從右邊狹窄的山路上駛下來。拉車的是四匹黑馬，車夫也身著黑衣，一頂黑色的帽子拉下來遮住了他的臉。

“那個(gè)英國人在哪兒？”他喊道，“我是從德拉庫拉城堡來的！”

他站在月光下，看起來很怪異。我突然感到一陣恐懼。但已經(jīng)太晚了，我現(xiàn)在已無法返回。

很快我們就上路直奔德拉庫拉城堡。四周全是山，月亮被烏云遮蔽。我什么也看不見——但我仍能聽到狼嚎的聲音。馬跑得越來越快，車夫大聲狂笑著。

車突然停了。我打開門，下了車。馬車立刻就離開了，我被獨(dú)自留在這個(gè)漆黑死寂的城堡前。我站在那兒，抬頭望著城堡，這時(shí)那扇巨大的木門慢慢打開了。一個(gè)身材高大的男人站在我面前。他滿頭白發(fā)，從頭到腳一身黑衣。

“請(qǐng)進(jìn)，哈克先生，”他說，“我就是德拉庫拉伯爵。”他伸出手，我握了一下。他的手冰涼！

我一走進(jìn)城堡，伯爵就在我身后小心地把門鎖上了。他把鑰匙放進(jìn)口袋，轉(zhuǎn)身上樓。我跟著他來到一間屋里，壁爐里一堆柴火燒得正旺。爐火前面的一張桌子上擺著食物和飲料。伯爵讓我坐下來吃點(diǎn)兒東西，他卻不和我一塊兒用餐。后來我們就坐在火邊談話。他英語說得非常好，我們說話時(shí)，我也有時(shí)間仔細(xì)打量他。他臉色蒼白，耳朵有點(diǎn)兒像貓，牙齒卻如野獸般鋒利。他的手毛茸茸的，手指非常長(zhǎng)。他碰到我時(shí)，我有些害怕。

天快亮?xí)r，我才去睡覺。外面，狼依然在嚎叫。

第二天早晨，我發(fā)現(xiàn)早餐已經(jīng)放在爐火前的小桌上了。這時(shí)天已大亮，可以看出德拉庫拉城堡又舊又臟。我一整天也沒看見一個(gè)傭人。

伯爵沒有來吃早點(diǎn)，但桌上放著他寫的一封信。

“你可以在城堡四處走走，”信上說，“但有些屋子是鎖著的，不要試圖進(jìn)去。”

膚色蒼白，身形消瘦，有著尖利的獠牙與貓狀的耳朵；沒有體溫也無靈魂，以嗜血為生，晝伏夜出；不老不死，古老神秘，徘徊在光明與幽暗之間，穿梭于時(shí)光的盡頭……沒錯(cuò)，他們就是在西方世界流傳了數(shù)百年，始終獨(dú)具生命力的“吸血鬼”（vampire）形象。

關(guān)于吸血鬼的起源說法不一，大體分為三類：一是源于希臘神話中半人半蛇的女妖拉米亞（Lamia）。拉米亞原為利比亞王國的皇后，因受天后赫拉嫉妒，失去孩子。悲痛之下，她化為女妖殺害孩童與青年男子，吸取其血液，宣泄憤怒。“圣經(jīng)”中亞當(dāng)和夏娃的長(zhǎng)子該隱（Cain）也被視為吸血鬼的先祖之一。據(jù)說他因?yàn)閺s弟遭受詛咒，永不能行于白晝之下，只能在夜間出沒，依靠吸食動(dòng)物的血液為生。最后一種說法依舊來源于“圣經(jīng)”中的人物——猶大（Judas）。出賣耶穌的門徒猶大因無法面對(duì)自己的良心，自縊身亡。死后他的靈魂無法安息，便回歸本體成為了吸血鬼。所以，吸血鬼一直具備一絲“反基督”的意味。傳說中對(duì)抗吸血鬼的物件一般都是基督教的象征物，例如十字架、圣水等，此外，還有陽光、洋蔥和大蒜。

作為西方古老傳說中不死者種族最迷人的成員，吸血鬼一直是各種創(chuàng)作的寵兒，已經(jīng)成為了一種經(jīng)典的文學(xué)形象。從丑陋兇殘的嗜血怪物到美貌誘人的貴族紳士，從陰暗幽冷的古堡主人變?yōu)樯钋榭羁畹男℃?zhèn)醫(yī)生……隨著社會(huì)的發(fā)展，其形象不斷演化，并被賦予了不同的時(shí)代意義。浪漫主義文豪拜倫、濟(jì)慈、柯勒律治都曾對(duì)吸血鬼情有獨(dú)鐘。上世紀(jì)七八十年代的美國小說《吸血鬼編年史》（The Vampire Chronicles）系列、《撒冷地》（Salems Lot）等，催生了新一波的“吸血鬼熱潮”。一直到青少年文學(xué)《暮光之城》（Twilight）的大熱，各種改編電影與劇集也不斷出現(xiàn)在各個(gè)時(shí)期的屏幕上，讓成千上萬的“吸血鬼迷”們?yōu)橹畠A倒。

談起吸血鬼，有部無論如何也繞不開的偉大作品，那便是現(xiàn)代吸血鬼小說的開山鼻祖、愛爾蘭小說家布萊姆·斯托克（Bram Stoker）于19世紀(jì)末創(chuàng)作的《德拉庫拉》（Dracula）。自1897年出版以來，它風(fēng)靡英國，繼而被翻譯成多國文字，征服了全世界的讀者，影響了一代又一代的作家，以至于“德拉庫拉”近乎成為了“吸血鬼”的代名詞。多少人曾因一襲黑色斗篷的德拉庫拉伯爵夜不能寐，毛骨悚然；大批的專家、學(xué)者從不同角度給予解讀，試圖分析其形象背后的文化內(nèi)涵。大概再也沒有像這般生命力強(qiáng)大且深入人心的恐怖角色了。

小說引用了諸多角色的書信、日記、電報(bào)等，給讀者講述故事的進(jìn)展，懸念迭起。一位名叫喬納森·哈克（Jonathan Harker）的年輕人被派往特蘭西瓦尼亞處理德拉庫拉伯爵的購房事宜，卻未曾料到被幽禁在古堡之中。期間種種跡象讓喬納森意識(shí)到伯爵的黑暗力量與自身的危險(xiǎn)，一個(gè)更大的陰謀也逐漸浮出水面。本期節(jié)選自小說的第一部分《喬納森·哈克的日記》，描寫的正是故事伊始，喬納森初入古堡的情景。旅店里客人的談“德”色變，老板娘意味深長(zhǎng)的贈(zèng)予，沿途的狼嚎與月光，古怪的車夫與駭人的堡主，以及那些昏暗禁忌的帶鎖房間……每一處都挑動(dòng)著讀者緊繃的神經(jīng)，引領(lǐng)其一步步靠近鬼魅的暗夜之王。

（Coocoo/賞析）