The Bear （An Excerpt）

Isaac was sixteen. For six years he had been a hunter and for six years he had heard all the talking about hunting Old Ben. It was talking of the wilderness and the big woods， bigger and older than any other woods. It was talking of white men who believed that they had bought any part of the woods， of Indians who thought they had the right to sell the woods. They do not belong to white men nor black men nor red men， but to hunters who had the will， courage and skill to survive in the woods. They belong to the dogs， the bear and the deer that obey the rules of nature and compete for survival， without regrets or grudge.

While the talking was going on in quiet and weighty voices， Isaac squatted in the blazing firelight with Jim， who moved only to add more wood on the fire and to pass the bottle of alcohol from one to another. Because the bottle was always present in such situations， after a while it seemed to Isaac that the brown liquor in the bottle was made from will， wisdom and courage. The liquor was not for women or children， but for hunters， who drank it moderately and even humbly as if they were drinking animal blood and wild spirits. They drank it not to acquire speed or strength but to pay respect to these qualities.

Isaacs father returned with a book and opened it. “Listen，” he said. He read a poem aloud in a quiet and deliberate voice. There was no fire in the room now since it was already spring. Then he looked up. The boy watched him with confusion. “All right，” his father said. “Listen.” He read again， till the last two lines of the poem， and then he closed the book and put it on the table beside him. “She cannot fade， though you have not got your bliss， forever will be your life and she be fair，” the boy finished.

“The poet is talking about a girl，” Isaac said.

“He had to talk about something，” his father said. Then he said， “He was talking about truth. Truth doesnt change. Truth is one thing. It covers all things which touch the heart—honor and pride and pity and justice and courage and love. Do you see now？”

He didnt know. Somehow it was simpler than that. There was an old bear， fierce and ruthless， not merely just to stay alive， but with the fierce pride of liberty and freedom. There was an old man， son of a Negro slave and an Indian king. On the one hand， he had inherited the long history of a people who had learned humility through suffering， and pride through endurance， and on the other hand， he had inherited the history of a people even longer in the land than the first， yet who no longer existed in the land at all except in the solitary brotherhood of an old Negros alien blood and the wild and invincible spirit of an old bear. There was a boy who wished to learn humility and pride in order to become skillful and worthy in the woods， who suddenly found himself becoming skillful so rapidly that he feared he would ever become worthy because he had not learned humility and pride.

That was all about the story. It was simple， much simpler than somebody talking in a book about a youth and a girl. The youth would never need to grieve over the girl， because he could never approach her any nearer and would never have to get any farther away. He had heard about a bear， and finally grew old enough to find it. He searched for it four years and at last met it with a gun in his hands but he didnt shoot. He could have shot long before the little dog covered the twenty yards to where the bear waited， and Sam could have shot at any time during the time when Old Ben stood on his hind feet over them. He stopped. His father was watching him gravely across the spring twilight of the room. When he spoke， his words were as quiet as the twilight and not loud， because they did not need to be and because they would last. “Courage， and honor， and pride，” his father said， “and pity， and love of justice and of liberty. They all touch the heart， and what the heart holds to become truth， as far as we know the truth. Do you see now？”

Sam， and Old Ben， and Nip， he thought. And himself too. He had been all right too. His father had said so. “Yes， sir，” he said.

作品簡評

福克納的《熊》以少年艾薩克和熊頭領(lǐng)“老班”的兩次相遇為主線，審視了現(xiàn)代文明和自然的關(guān)系。生活在原始森林中的熊頭領(lǐng)“老班”是一頭遵循自然法則的熊，它勇敢謙卑，是原始自然和力量的化身。為了見到它，艾薩克丟掉了手槍和指南針等現(xiàn)代發(fā)明，只身進(jìn)入森林深處，以平等甚至謙卑的姿態(tài)來面對“老班”，并在和它周旋的過程中走向成熟。?？思{通過艾薩克與“老班”的相遇揭示了人應(yīng)當(dāng)學(xué)會尊重自然，與自然和諧相處的道理。艾薩克通過和“老班”的周旋也學(xué)會了尊重對手，并培養(yǎng)了自己勇敢謙卑的品質(zhì)，可以說“老班”是艾薩克的人生導(dǎo)師，正如艾薩克自己說的那樣：“老熊在其中活動的這片荒野就是他的大學(xué)，那只長期無妻無子、不知從何來的老熊就是他的導(dǎo)師”?！缎堋愤@部小說是?？思{以寓言的形式對現(xiàn)代文明進(jìn)行的反思：隨著西方現(xiàn)代文明的推進(jìn)，以“老班”為代表的自然勢必面臨毀滅的厄運(yùn)，只有像艾薩克那樣放棄人類的傲慢和無知，尊重并善待自然才能化解危機(jī)，實(shí)現(xiàn)人類的救贖。