尼尔·盖曼(Neil Gaiman)1960年出生于英国汉普郡,是英国当代文坛最重要的科幻小说家和奇幻文学作家。迄今为止,盖曼的作品,比如《睡魔》(Sandman)系列、《美国众神》(American Gods)、《卡萝琳》(Coraline)等,已经为他赢得了包括世界奇幻奖(World Fantasy Award)、星云奖(Nebula Award)、雨果奖(Hugo Award)、布拉姆·斯托克奖(Bram Stoker Award)等一系列科幻小说与奇幻小说的最高奖项。《星尘》(Stardust)完成于1999年,一出版就获得了当年的洛克斯奇幻文学奖(Locus Award)最佳小说提名和神话奇幻文学奖(Mythopoeic Fantasy Award) 成年组奖。2007年,美国派拉蒙公司将该部小说改编为电影,搬上了大荧幕。
Excerpts
They sat side by side on a thick, white cumulus1) cloud the size of a small town. The cloud was soft beneath them, and a little cold. It became colder the deeper into it one sank, and Tristran pushed his burned hand as far as he could down into the fabric2) of it: it resisted him slightly, but accepted his hand. The interior of the cloud felt spongy3) and chilly, real and insubstantial at once. The cloud cooled a little of the pain in his hand, allowing him to think more clearly.
“Well,” he said, after some time, “I’m afraid I’ve made rather a mess of everything.”
The star sat on the cloud beside him, wearing the robe she had borrowed from the woman in the inn, with her broken leg stretched out on the thick mist in front of her. “You saved my life,” she said, eventually. “Didn’t you?”
“I suppose I must have done, yes.”
“I hate you,” she said. “I hated you for everything already, but now I hate you most of all.”
Tristran flexed his burned hand in the blessed cool of the cloud. He felt tired and slightly faint.
“Any particular reason?”
“Because,” she told him, her voice taut4), “now that you have saved my life, you are, by the law of my people, responsible for me, and I for you. Where you go, I must also go.”
“Oh,” he said. “That’s not that bad, is it?”
“I would rather spend my days chained to a vile5) wolf or a stinking pig or a marsh-goblin6),” she told him flatly.
“I’m honestly not that bad,” he told her, “not when you get to know me. Look, I’m sorry about all that chaining you up business. Perhaps we could start all over again—just pretend it never happened. Here now, my name’s Tristran Thorn. Pleased to meet you.” He held out his unburned hand to her.
“Mother Moon defend me!” said the star. “I would sooner take the hand of an—”
“I’m sure you would,” said Tristran, not waiting to find out what he was going to be unflatteringly compared to this time. “I’ve said I’m sorry,” he told her. “Let’s start afresh. I’m Tristran Thorn. Pleased to meet you.”
She sighed.
The air was thin and chill so high above the ground, but the sun was warm, and the cloud shapes about them reminded Tristran of a fantastical city or an unearthly town. Far, far below he could see the real world: the sunlight pricking out every tiny tree, turning every winding river into a thin silver snail-trail glistening and looping across the landscape of Faerie7).
“Well?” said Tristran.
“Aye8),” said the star. “It is a mighty joke, is it not? Whither thou goest (古语,即Where you go), there I must go. Even if it kills me.” She swirled the surface of the cloud with her hand, rippling the mist. Then, momentarily, she touched her hand to Tristran’s. “My sisters called me Yvaine,” she told him, “for I was an evening star.”
“Look at us,” he said. “A fine pair. You with your broken leg, me with my hand.”
“Show me your hand.”
He pulled it from the cool of the cloud: his hand was red, and blisters9) were coming up on each side of it and on the back of it, where the flames had licked against his flesh.
“Does it hurt?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “Quite a lot, really.”
“Good,” said Yvaine.
“If my hand had not been burned, you would probably be dead now,” he pointed out. She had the grace to look down, ashamed. “You know,” he added, changing the subject, “I left my bag in that madwoman’s inn. We have nothing now, save the clothes we stand up in.”
“Sit down in,” corrected the star.
“There’s no food, no water. We’re half a mile or so above the world with no way of getting down, and no control over where the cloud is going. And both of us are injured. Did I leave anything out?”
“You forgot the bit about clouds dissipating10) and vanishing into nothing,” said Yvaine. “They do that. I’ve seen them. I could not survive another fall.”
Tristran shrugged. “Well,” he said. “We’re probably doomed, then. But we may as well have a look around while we’re up here.”
He helped Yvaine to her feet and, awkwardly. The two of them took several faltering steps on the cloud. Then Yvaine sat down again. “This is no use,” she told him. “You go and look around. I will wait here for you.”
“Promise?” he asked. “No running away this time?”
“I swear it. On my mother the moon I swear it,” said Yvaine, sadly. “You saved my life.”
And with that Tristran had to content himself.
1. cumulus [5kju:mjulEs] n. 积云
2. fabric [5fAbrIk] n. 结构,构造
3. spongy [5spQndVI] adj. 像海绵的,柔软的,多孔而有弹性的
4. taut [tC:t] adj.紧张的,(说话声调等)不自然的
5. vile [vaIl] adj. 卑鄙的,可耻的
6. goblin [5^CblIn] n. 小妖精
7. faerie [5feIErI] n. 仙境
8. aye [aI] int. 是
9. blister [5blIstE] n. 水疱
10. dissipate [5dIsIpeIt] vi. (云、雾等)消散
作品赏析
“去吧,去捉住一颗流星。”这是英国17世纪最著名的玄学派诗人约翰·多恩(John Donne)的名诗《歌》(Song)的首句。在这首诗中,多恩列出了人生不可能的种种奇迹,比如听美人鱼唱歌、追踪流年的踪影等,其中不可能完成的任务之冠,就是捉住一颗流星。在尼尔·盖曼的《星尘》中,男主人公特里斯坦(Tristran)钟情的女孩维多利亚(Victoria)就给予了他这样一个任务。当特里斯坦向她表达爱慕之情时,东方的天空恰好有一颗流星滑落,维多利亚指着流星对特里斯坦说,如果他将这颗星星带回来见她,她便满足他心中的渴望。为此,特里斯坦踏上了寻找流星的征程。
以得到一颗流星作为给予爱情的条件,维多利亚给出的任务中其实已经隐含了她对这段感情的态度:假若真的爱他,怎舍得让爱人面对这样的难题?只有没把追求者真正放在心上的女子,才会提出这样突发奇想的愿望。可是特里斯坦就像是所有深陷热恋的小伙子一样,无论是星星还是月亮,都要跋山涉水为爱人取到。更何况小说《星尘》里的世界不同于现实中的世界:在那里,有一个石墙村,村子的东面有一道长满了苔藓的石头墙,墙面有一道裂口,穿过这道裂口,可以进入到藐视现实法则的魔幻王国(在魔幻王国里,树木会行走,船只在天空中飞行);在那里,有巫术、魔法,住着女巫、小毛人、独角兽;在那里,追星变成了可能,更神奇的是,当星星从天空滑落时,并没有变成一块黑色的没有生命的陨石,而是变成了一个全身散发着银色光芒的美丽女子。
《星尘》中的星星是小说一切情节的交汇点。她是月亮的女儿,名字叫做依凡妮(Yvaine),因为她曾经是颗晚星(evening star) (编者注:Yvaine与evening音似)。星星是特里斯坦打开维多利亚芳心的钥匙。她也是魔法女巫三姐妹追逐的对象:得到她的心脏,女巫就可以永葆青春。渴望得到星星的还有风暴堡勋爵的儿子们:老勋爵在去世前向空中抛出了代表风暴堡力量之源的黄玉(只要继承了风暴堡的血统,无论是谁带上黄玉,谁就是风暴堡的统治者),这块玉石碰巧打下了挂在天边的依凡妮,所以只有找到黄玉,也就是说找到星星,老勋爵的儿子才能成为下一任风暴堡的勋爵。
特里斯坦离开石头村,穿过石墙裂口,进入魔幻王国。在路途中,他偶遇会魔法的小毛人,并帮助小毛人从枯树林中逃脱。为报答特里斯坦的搭救之恩,小毛人送给特里斯坦带魔法的锁链和能帮他找到星星的蜡烛。在魔法蜡烛的帮助下,特里斯坦成为第一个找到星星的人。为了将星星顺利带回凡人世界,特里斯坦将自己手腕上魔法银链的一端套在了星星的手腕上,以防她逃跑。因为星星从天空坠落时跌断了腿,行动不便,所以当特里斯坦去寻找食物时,便将自己这端的银链解下,让星星在原地等待。不甘心被人抓住的星星趁特里斯坦不在时逃走了,不料却落入了魔法女巫的圈套。幸亏特里斯坦及时赶到,星星才没被女巫杀死。本文英文节选部分描述的即是特里斯坦和星星从女巫那里逃出来后的经历。
特里斯坦救了星星一命,星星出于感激之情,与特里斯坦和解。她答应陪特里斯坦去见维多利亚,帮助特里斯坦完成梦想。星星和特里斯坦踏上了归程,在归途中,他们一起经历了一次又一次的危险。当他们到达石头墙的时候,特里斯坦才发现,自己已经爱上了身边的这个女子。回到石墙村,他向维多利亚坦承了自己的改变,而后回到了星星的身边,决定和她一起留在魔幻王国。此刻,他发现原来自己也是这个魔幻世界的一员——他的亲生母亲竟是风暴堡老勋爵的长女。最后,从星星那里得到了黄玉的特里斯坦成了风暴堡的第82代勋爵。
《星尘》是一则不折不扣的童话。王子找到了公主,和她幸福地生活在了一起,这样的情节并不能算是别具新意。这部小说的迷人之处在于它的故事——每一个微小的细节安排都默默散发出晚星才会有的柔和而纯粹的光芒。《星尘》里的世界笼罩着透明的梦幻感。在这里,小小的善念会得到回报:收留一个房客,他会应许你实现内心的愿望;帮一个小毛人逃离枯树林的陷阱,他会送你一根能够带你跨越时空的蜡烛;救一只独角兽,它会成为你的坐骑。在这里,邪恶没有被过滤、被屏蔽,但邪恶已丧失了伤害他人的能力。就算有伤害,邪恶所伤害的恰恰是自己:风暴堡七兄弟出于对权力的贪念,为了争夺继承权而自相残杀,七个人在相互算计中逐个死去,都成了幽灵;狠毒的魔法女巫三姐妹中的大姐为追逐星星耗尽了魔力,最后面对星星,她衰老地连拿起刀的力气都没有了。星星怜悯地看着她——“我的心已经给了我爱的人儿。”
在《星尘》中,最最美好的莫过于特里斯坦与星星依凡妮的爱情。特里斯坦对依凡妮的感情与他对维多利亚的不同:特里斯坦对维多利亚的迷恋更多的是出于青春的躁动——爱上小镇上最美丽的女子,满足一份孩子气的虚荣;而他对依凡妮的感情,却是在朝夕相处间默默产生的。这是多么幸福的画面:爱上一颗星星,和她坐在云端,随云飘荡,相伴一生,时间不会令她凋败成一块平淡无奇的陨石,他一生都沐浴在她爱的光辉中。或许,在现实中,我们没有特里斯坦那么幸运,也不能在魔幻王国中有一段奇遇。然而,当我们遇到了真爱,或许也就是找到了我们生命中的那一颗星。和她(他)同行,一路的风景都可以美如云端,岁月会让容颜凋败,却无法减少她(他)每一分笑容的光辉。请好好爱一个人,并让她(他)成为生命中那颗永恒的星。