“怪诞却美丽。(Strangely beautiful.)”这是一位匿名读者给三文(Thirce Wenn)的《渎》(Desecrate)的评价。这篇小说最初以同人形式于2014年5月24日在Fanfiction.com上发表,续集《赎》(Sanctify)在同一网站发表于2013年5月7日;我在不久前发现了这几篇文章,在翻译之余想谈谈自己对它的看法。因为原文与原作(黑塔利亚)的联系已相当薄弱,故在分析时不会以一篇同人小说的角度进行评价。
1:背德?
《渎》当然是一部向伦理挑战的小说。但小说情节又同普通的、常见的乱伦情节有所不同。如果我们研究各国法律,首先假定故事发生在美国,但各个州对乱伦的判刑又有所不同;普遍看来,法律规定只要不涉及未成年人和结婚,这种行为其实通常是不构成刑事犯罪的。然而法律的规定是为了保护通常下弱势一方的权益,也就是故事里阿尔弗雷德(儿子)的权益;但这个通常被视为受害者的一方其实是主导者,与其说是“年老的欧洲诱奸了年轻的美国”,不如说是“年轻的美国诱奸了年老的欧洲”。
基本可以论定,故事情节不构成犯罪,但在伦理道德而言令普通人难以接受。
2:为什么属于诱奸(半强迫性行为)?
最初我阅读这篇小说时非常犹豫不决,因为我首次阅读时是在百度贴吧,而不是首次发表的FFN。百度贴吧上对故事有一个更为温馨的结局——一个更短的结局,虽然都由同一位作者执笔。倘若我们直接看《渎》和《赎》,那么作者的感情倾向是很明显的,但第二个结局由于与最初发表时间间隔较长等原因,风格与文字上都有所区别,略微影响判断。
这里概述故事情节;《渎》以第一人称,亚瑟(父亲)的角度,回忆阿尔弗雷德(儿子)长大的小细节;最后到青春期(阿尔弗雷德16岁),他以行动坦白自己内心深处的秘密,亚瑟畏惧、接受却又内心不安。续集以阿尔弗雷德的角度讲述乱伦发生后的悲剧发展:父子情人最终分手(由亚瑟提出),不久后亚瑟死去,故事完结。
单就《渎》而言,不包括它的两个续集,实际上亚瑟的态度已经很明了了。虽然他身为家长,对于自己和孩子的错误有所主观掩饰,但他的内心态度其实是不赞成的。题目《渎》结合全文就是一个例子,文中多次描写他妻子的戒指,不论是阿尔弗雷德最初将它摘下来,“‘妈妈,’他说,仍然凝视着那个戒指,‘我……’接着他用拇指轻轻扫过那个闪亮的扇形金属,把我的手放在他的脸上,然后是他的嘴唇,‘妈妈,对不起。’他用嘴唇轻轻地亲吻它,他的呼吸喷洒在我的手上,‘请……请不要怪我,好吗?请不要恨我。’”,其实是标志着抛弃了他母亲与亚瑟的关系对他行动的阻碍,再到文末“我的结婚戒指在床头柜上,闪闪烁烁的光芒落进眼底,笼罩在月光照耀下它朦胧的光辉里,冷银透着暖黄。”,恐怕是映射亚瑟内心对妻子的负疚感。题目直译为“亵渎”,牛津释义为“毁坏、玷污了一个神圣的东西或地方。(to damage a holy thing or place.)”,我想这个被亵渎的东西是亚瑟、阿尔弗雷德与罗丝(Rose)之间的亲人关系,是亚瑟对妻子的忠实(罗丝生下阿尔弗莱德后死于产褥热,此后亚瑟一直没有再婚,也没有交情人。)的破坏。
除此之外,我认为亚瑟是既失望、痛苦又无奈的。文中有大量句子可以证明。比如“可仍然会有痛苦,当然会有痛苦,还有痛苦的心碎的声音。‘刺啦’,就像玻璃轻轻碎掉的声音。但没关系,因为我爱他,我爱他,直到他尖叫出声,把手掌环上我的脊背,指甲刺进我的皮肤。(There was pain, pain and
the sound of heartbreak, glass softly crackling, but it didn't matter, because
I loved him and loved him until he cried into my shoulder and dug his hands
into my back, nails sliding into my bare skin.)”这个句子含义很复杂。最初是表达亚瑟内心的痛苦,继而转折,“因为我爱他”,我以为他要表达在强烈的爱意面前伦理不再重要,可文意再次转折,“直到….”,其实翻译过来就是,“直到我发现他不是在开玩笑,直到我发现我们正在做什么,直到我意识到我已经做了什么,直到我知道我们是情人,这发展不可逆。”很有意思的是,我觉得可能到这时亚瑟才后知后觉,因为最初阿尔弗莱德吻了他后哭泣不止,亚瑟立刻帮他抹掉了泪水,“我们的眉弓还抵在一起,他的眼泪大滴大滴地落下来,落在我的颧骨上又流淌下去,就像是我自己在哭泣。出于本能,我伸手替他抹掉了。(Our foreheads were still
pressed together, and his tears were sliding down my face as though they were
my own. Automatically, I reached up to wipe them away for him.)”这是他发现阿尔弗莱德在哭泣时的本能反应(Automatically意为立刻,我翻译时揉和了自己的理解),那能不能说往后,在那个“直到”之前,这都是由一种父母保护子女而采取的本能措施呢?
另一个论点就是亚瑟对阿尔弗莱德的态度到底是怎样的。我认为在《渎》里有一个小细节可以参考,阿尔弗雷德对亚瑟说“我爱你”,最初亚瑟没有回应,但接着他说“爸爸”,亚瑟低声回答道“我也爱你。”还有就是在我的认知里,如果一对有亲缘关系的情人称呼彼此,倘若他们知道彼此之间的亲缘关系,那么应该会尽量互相以名字相称,这样来强调“我不在乎我们是不是亲戚,我爱的是你这个人。”但这里亚瑟与阿尔弗莱德一直都以父子相称,亚瑟也有意无意地在强调这一点。从文章开头第一句话,“在一切如故的时候,他是我的孩子。”,再到文章结尾,“他仍是我的儿子。我爱他。万籁俱静,归于虚无;除了我们,只有我们。(He was my son. I loved him.
And now there was no one else but us.)”因此我觉得亚瑟更多地像一个家长,因为这份亲缘关系才爱阿尔弗雷德,他更多地是一个父亲而不是情人。
但倘若我们只说他们之间一点情人的感觉都没有,那也是不对的。在百度贴吧上发表的后续承接《渎》,直接以亚瑟的角度续写当天晚上(阿尔弗莱德吻了亚瑟,接着他们做爱了)他的情感是怎样转变的,这个续篇很短,更多地表现他作为情人的想法。我对这个短篇的态度保留,原文录于结尾以供理解参考。
3:为什么一定要以悲剧结尾?
文章续集《赎》与前文发表时间相隔了近1年,文中的时间跨度也较大。说实话,我本以为故事只有两种可能的结尾,要么一方死亡,热烈而病态的爱情终止,要么情人分手,尴尬永留,从此双方不相往来。最后证明这位作者是为悲观主义者,因为“当他可以从两种罪恶中选择时,他把两种都选了。”
但其实故事的悲剧结尾是有预见性的。我想起北大弑母案的一个可能猜测,说吴谢宇与谢天琴可能是有共生关系的恋人,也许可以类比于这个故事。我不支持弗洛伊德的学说,也不觉得和俄狄浦斯情节有什么关系,但很可能的猜测就是,阿尔弗莱德的行为是青春期的荷尔蒙影响;不能说只有这个原因,但生理学上也许说得通。我在还没有看《赎》时就认为亚瑟十有八九会死,原因就是从整个故事看来,亚瑟是因为身为父亲去安抚儿子才接受这段热烈的爱意,这样的情感必定不会长久。事实证明也是如此,故事需要一个结局,一个悲剧,才能结束这段被诅咒的恋情,终止阿尔弗莱德带着淡淡痛苦的希望,结束亚瑟带着淡淡希望的痛苦。
还有就是关于题目的释义,续集《赎》原文为“Sanctify”,意思是“是神圣化/使合法化(to make something holy/to give legalization
to something)”,这里应取“使神圣化”,为的是与前文题目照应。结合原文来讲应该是指亚瑟的死使他们的关系回归正常。因为乱论并不构成犯罪,所以在“desecrate”与“sanctify”的因果关系并不是指一个罪犯的浪子回头;我理解为他们是有罪的:对亚瑟的妻子有罪,对正常的家庭亲情关系平衡有罪,比起不可饶恕的“罪”,更像无伤大雅的“过”。
我阅读,心想着这段怪诞、混乱却美丽的关系应该怎样定义。我想起《洛丽塔》开头的那句话,“我的生命之光,我的欲望之火,同时也是我的罪恶,我的灵魂。”但这并不是说这种事情可以原谅。我想这篇小说的主旨就是这样。
全文完
第二篇续,2015年11月8日发表于百度,
“And, that was the night I dreamt of
Rose, my wife. She sat in the seat by the window. Maybe it is the sun that
blinds my eye, or I can’t even remember her face anymore. My memory was hazy.
But I knew she was smiling, and she walked away. I wanted to hold her hand, but
didn’t. I am already sick from my heart, and she is still pure like a crystal.
We were still in the old house we used to live in, and she walked to the door
and waved to me. It was a cheerful, childish wave, a folding and unfolding of
fingers. I remembered it so well. Her smile contrasted oddly with the fact that
there were tears rolling down her cheeks. I wanted to comfort her but I didn’t.
I already chose Alfred, didn’t I? The sickness has always been there, but I
just didn’t notice, or I didn’t want to notice. My baby’s smile was so
glorious. everything about him was so bright. I vowed to forever keep the
brightness, even though it burned my skin. I couldn’t bear to let anyone to
touch my baby and see the smile that was only for me. I was not conscious of
anything except a dark hole that seems to have opened itself up in my heart. At
that moment, I was glad that my wife wasn't there anymore. I couldn’t bear the
thought of letting him go. It was like being at the bottom of the sea, unable
to breath. I waved back at her, and in her eyes, I see betrayal, sadness,
insanity, and finally...forgiveness. I feel like I didn’t deserve her, I was a
sick man. A man who seduced his own child. I don’t know what would happen if
Alfred didn’t like me back. Would I have let him go?
Probably not. People say that love wants the other to be happy, it
is selfless and comforting. I really don’t know I felt now. The love inside me
is like alcohol, and it burned. I thought about what I would do, I would track
him down and crush him, destroy him and rebuild him. The love burned me like
fire. It drowned me, choked me and it buried me. It consumed me. What I think
doesn’t matter anymore. All know was that there was nothing between us now. Our
body was connected, and he yelled out my name like it was a bless.
And I woke up.
I saw him lying beside me, sleeping peacefully. I was ashamed of
myself, but I would stay true to my words. I clutched him to my chest and
didn’t let go. He stirred a little but didn’t wake up. He was too tired. I looked
at his face, and decided, he will be forever mine.
And I would not let him go.”
关于“翻译的时候我在想什么”:
我没有参考原作者三文的译本,在三文的译本里题目被定为“乱伦”,但这样续篇就无法呼应。并且我认为原作者或许最初也在对亚瑟的情感态度上犹豫,最终选择让他更像情人而不是父亲。这就导致百度上的续篇出现这种状况;我不很欣赏那篇续篇,认为有些画蛇添足,狗尾续貂,它影响了整篇文章的情感氛围。况且通常我以FFN上的原文为准——而那上面也没有发表这篇续。因此我不会将此算作正文并翻译。
还有就是,我清楚我根本就没翻译完,但我还是要先把自己的解析写了。解析里有的翻译句子附上了原文,那就是我还没有整体翻译完的。
原文地址:https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8146190/1/Desecrate
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