关于斯蒂芬·金,我们都知道他是以写恐怖小说闻名于世的美国畅销书作家,因为他的作品超越了传统的恐怖小说—不是以具象,而是以气氛来获得恐怖效果,并赢得巨大成功,令他被《纽约时报》誉为“现代恐怖小说大师”。他的多部作品被改编为电影,据说,论原著被改编为影视剧的比率,斯蒂芬·金可以排第二,第一则是莎士比亚。其中最经典的是《肖申克的救赎》,最伟大的是《闪灵》,而最优秀的就是《伴我同行》—也是作者本人最喜欢的一部,因为原著《尸体》本身就有着浓重的斯蒂芬·金自传色彩。 
故事里的四个小孩的家庭都不幸福,他们都受到学校、家庭,以及比自己年长的孩子的忽视或欺辱。一次偶然的机会,他们得知当地一个小孩失踪、并可能遇害,为了表现自己的英勇,他们决定在警察之前找到尸体。在寻找的路上,他们的友情,特别是以作者为原型的“戈迪”和以作者已故挚友为原型的“克里斯”之间的感情得到了升华。
值得一提的是,本选段的第一、二段并没有在电影中出现,而是原著的开篇,我们节选的是由著名的有声书朗读者Frank Muller朗读的版本,他的声音内敛而动情,是欣赏有声小说的不二选择;另外,饰演克里斯的演员River Phoenix,当时只有15岁,他在23岁那年去世,这位天才演员短暂的一生却获得极大的演艺声誉;此外,该电影标题的灵感来自于Ben E. King 1962年的同名传世歌曲《Stand by Me》。
发音：美式发音 语速：140词/分钟 使用方法：精听+角色扮演
Writer: The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of because words 1)diminish them—words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they’re brought out. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you’ve said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That’s the worst, I think. 【注】When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller, but for want of an understanding ear.
作者:最重要的事情往往最难以启齿。你不好意思说出口,因为言语会缩小事情的重要性——原本萦绕在脑中一些天大的事情,一经脱口而出,便立时缩为原本的实际大小。不过其实远远不止如此,是不是?最重要的事情,往往和埋藏在你内心深处的秘密有密切关系,有如敌人乐于取走的藏宝图。或许有一天你鼓足勇气,把心中的一切和盘托出,结果只落得让别人看笑话,因为他们压根不懂你在说什么,也不知道你为什么觉得事情那么重要,还会说着说着,几乎要哭了出来。我想普天下最糟糕的事,莫过于怀着满腔心事与秘密,却非无人可诉,而是没有人听得懂。
I was twelve going on thirteen when I first saw a dead human being. It happened in 1960, a long time ago. Although sometimes it doesn’t seem that long to me, especially on the nights I wake up from dreams where the hail falls into his open eyes.
在我十二快到十三岁的时候,第一次见到死尸。那是1960年,很久以前了。但是有时这事对于我来说,并没有那么久远,特别是在那些午夜梦回中,我梦见冰雹坠入那死者眼中的情景。
All: “Have Gun, Will Travel (a 1950’s hit TV show) reads the card of a man. A knight without armor in a savage land. His fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind. A soldier of fortune is a man called, Paladin.”
Vern: Hey, I’m kinda hungry. Who’s got the food?
Teddy: Oh, shit! Did anybody bring anything?
Chris: Not me. Gordie?
Teddy: Oh, oh, this is great! What are we supposed to do, eat our feet?!
Chris: You mean you didn’t bring anything either?
Teddy: This wasn’t my idea! It was Vern’s idea. (to Vern)Why didn’t you bring something?
Vern: What am I supposed to do, think of everything? I brought the comb!
Teddy: Oh, great! You brought the comb! What do you need a comb for? You don’t even have any hair!
Vern: I brought it for you guys!
Gordie: Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Let’s see how much money we got. (The boys take a seat between the rails to count their money.) Yeah, I got a dollar-two. Sixty-eight cents from Chris. Sixty cents from Teddy. Seven cents, Vern?
Vern: I haven’t found my pennies yet.
Gordie: Well, two-thirty-seven’s not bad. Quidacioluo’s (grocery store) is at the end of that little road that goes by the 2)junkyard. I think we can get some stuff there.
Chris: Train coming.
Gordie: Do you think I’m weird?
Chris: Definitely.
Gordie: No man, seriously. Am I weird?
Chris: Yeah, but so what? Everybody’s weird. You ready for school?
Gordie: No.
Chris: Junior High. You know what that means? By next June we’ll all be split-up.
Gordie: What’re you talking about? Why would that happen?
Chris: It’s not gonna be like grammar school, that’s why. You’ll be taking your college courses and me, Teddy, and Vern will all be in the shop courses with the rest of the 3)retards making ashtrays and birdhouses. You’re gonna meet a lot of new guys, smart guys.
Gordie: Meet a lot of 4)pussies is what you mean.
Chris: No man. Don’t say that. Don’t even think that.
Gordie: I’m not going in with a lot of pussies. Forget it!
Chris: Well, then you’re an asshole!
Gordie: What’s asshole about wanting to be with your friends?!
Chris: It’s asshole if your friends drag you down! You hang with us you’ll just be another wise guy with shit for brains. I mean you could be a real writer someday, Gordie.
Gordie: I don’t wanna be a writer. It’s stupid! It’s a stupid waste of time!
Chris: ①That’s your Dad talking.
Gordie: Bullshit!
Chris: Bull-true! I know how your Dad feels about you. He doesn’t give a shit about you. ②Danny was the one he cared about, and don’t try to tell me different! You’re just a kid, Gordie.
Gordie: Oh gee, thanks Dad!
Chris: I wish the hell I was your Dad! You wouldn’t be going around talking about taking these stupid shop courses if I was. It’s like God gave you something, man, all those stories that you can make up—and he said: This is what we got for you kid, try not to lose it. But kids lose everything unless there’s someone there to look out for them and if your parents are too fucked up to do it, then maybe I should.
Vern: (Realizing that Chris and Gordie have fallen way behind.) Come on, you guys! Let’s get moving.
Teddy: Yeah. By the time we get there the kid won’t even be dead anymore!
(By night, the boys get rest in a wasteland.)
Chris: Hey, Verno, where’s the radio? Let’s see if we can get some sounds.
Vern: Here.
Writer: We talked into the night. The kind of talk that seemed important, until you discover girls.
Gordie: Alright, alright. Mickey’s a mouse. Donald’s a duck. Pluto’s a dog. What’s Goofy?
Vern: If I could only have one food for the rest of my life? That’s easy. Pez (candys). Cherry flavored Pez. No question about it.
Teddy: Goofy’s a dog. He’s definitely a dog.
Gordie: I knew The $64,000 Question was fixed. There’s no way anybody could know that much about opera.
Chris: He can’t be a dog. He wears a hat and drives a car.
Gordie: Wagon Train’s a really cool show, but did you ever notice that they never get anywhere? They just keep Wagon Train-ing.
Vern: God. That’s weird. What the hell is Goofy?
Teddy: I cherish these moments. (the other boys are laughing) What? What did I say?
四个男孩:“《枪战英豪》(上世纪五十年代美国的一个热播电视剧)深明男人之心,身怀单枪会遍英雄好汉,赤手空拳不畏龙潭虎穴。快枪利眼闯过惊涛骇浪,这个豪杰就叫白乐定。”
维恩:我肚子饿了,谁带了吃的?
泰迪:哦,真糟糕!都没人带吃的吗?
克里斯:我没带。戈迪,你呢?
泰迪:哦,哦,好极了!我们要怎么办?难道啃自己的脚?!
克里斯:你是说你也没带东西?
泰迪:又不是我提议要去的!全是维恩出的主意。(对维恩说)你为什么不带点吃的呢?
维恩:我怎么可能什么都想得到?我带了梳子!
泰迪:哦,真了不起!你带了梳子!带梳子有什么用?你连头发都没有!
维恩:我是为你们准备的!
戈迪:嘿嘿嘿嘿嘿!看看我们有多少钱。(男孩们坐在火车轨上数他们的钱。)好的,我有一块二分,克里斯有六毛八分,泰迪带了六毛钱,维恩只有七分钱?
维恩:我还没有找到存钱筒。
戈迪:总共两块三毛七分,不错了。那条小路的尽头,垃圾场旁边有家“奎达乔罗”(杂货店),我想我们可以去那买点东西。
克里斯:火车来了。
戈迪:你觉得我怪异吗?
克里斯:不是才怪呢。
戈迪:老兄,我是说真的。我真的很怪异吗?
克里斯:是的,那又怎么样?每个人都有怪异的地方。你准备好上学了?
戈迪:没呢。
克里斯:初中。你知道那代表什么吗?明年六月我们就要散了。
戈迪:你说什么呢?怎么会呢?
克里斯:因为那时一切都和上小学不一样了。跟着你要读大学先修班。而我,泰迪和维恩得和其他白痴一起进就业班,学做烟灰缸和鸟笼等之类的东西。到时你会认识很多新朋友,全都是聪明人。
戈迪:你的意思是认识一堆娘娘腔。
克里斯:不要这样说,老兄,也千万别这样想。
戈迪:我不会去和一群娘娘腔混在一起的,算了吧!
克里斯:那么,你就是个混蛋!
戈迪:想和你们做朋友就是混蛋?!
克里斯:和害你堕落的人来往就是混蛋!和我们在一起,你只会变成又一个满脑子浆糊的聪明人的。我是说,有一天你也许会成为作家的,戈迪。
戈迪:我才不要当什么鬼作家。那太愚蠢了!浪费时间!
克里斯:那全是你爸的口气。
戈迪:胡扯!
克里斯:才怪!我知道你爸怎么看你,他根本不管你。他一向只关心丹尼(戈迪品学兼优的哥哥),别告诉我我说错了!你还只是个孩子, 戈迪。
戈迪:哦,天,谢谢你,老爸!
克里斯:我倒真希望我是你老爸!那样你就不至于再说想上这些愚蠢就业班的话了。上帝赐予你珍贵的礼物,兄弟,你编的那些故事——他说,这是我们能给你的,孩子,不要糟蹋了它。但除非有人好好看顾,要不孩子总会糟蹋东西。如果你父母不愿尽责,也许真该由我来看顾着你。
维恩:(意识到克里斯和戈迪落后了很多。)两位老兄,快点!跟紧点!
泰迪:是啊,(再不快点,)等我们到那里,那小鬼说不定又活过来了!
(走到晚上,他们在一片荒地上休息。)
克里斯:嘿,维恩,收音机呢?听听有没有什么可听的。
维恩:在这里。
作者:我们一直聊到深夜。说来说去都是些在还没有发现女孩可爱之前、觉得相当有趣的废话。
戈迪:好了,好了,米老鼠是只老鼠,唐老鸭是只鸭子,布鲁托则是只狗,那么古菲是什么动物?
维恩:若我以后只能吃一样东西,我会挑什么?太容易猜了,当然是“皮士”(糖果)了,还是樱桃味的“皮士”,不用想都知道。
泰迪:古菲是只狗,绝对是只狗。
戈迪:我想那个叫《64000美元问题》的猜谜游戏一定有事先安排的,没有人能知道那么多关于歌剧的东西的。
克里斯:古菲不可能是狗,他戴帽子而且还开车呢。
戈迪:《篷车英雄》(上世纪五十年代美国的一个电视剧)真的很好看,可是你们有没有发现,他们始终走不到目的地。只是一直坐着篷车走个不停。
维恩:天啊。真是古怪,古菲究竟是什么鬼玩意儿?
泰迪:我珍惜此时此刻。(其他男孩笑了起来)怎么了?我说了什么?
【注】Grammar Point
When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller, but for want of an understanding ear.
这貌似不完整的句子其实是接上一句的延伸,对上句作解释,是上句的状语从句。在表达中,有的时候状语会以从语法角度上看不完整句子的结构出现,旨在突出它想表达的内容。在这个从句中,过去分词结构locked within是stays的状语,表明其状态;而后面的并列介词结构not for want of a teller和for want of an understanding ear是表目的的状语。
Smart Sentences
① That’s your Dad talking. 那全是你爸的口气。
that’s sb. talking: used to indicate what was just said sounds like it was coming from sb.(像某人的语气)。例如:
—Sis, you can’t wait till the last minute to do your homework.
妹,你不能等到最后才做功课。
—That’s Mom talking. I don’t need that from you.
真像妈妈的口气,我可不想听你说这些。
② Danny was the one he cared about, and don’t try to tell me different! 他一向只关心丹尼,别告诉我我说错了!
don’t try to tell me different: used to emphasize what I believe is the truth(用以强调自己的想法是事实)。例如:
You don’t want him to join your team because he was your ex-boyfriend. And don’t try to tell me different.
你不想他加入你的小组是因为他是你的前男友。可别告诉我我说错了。