瞧这一群人！The Man Who Shouted Teresa

　　The Man Who Shouted Teresa 瞧这一群人！

　　犹如一出小品，人物一个个出场：“我”是呐喊的发起者，随后不断有人加入我的行列，他们中有好心帮忙的，也有纯粹凑热闹的……
　　简短直白的语言勾勒出一幅真实的众生相：生活中，有的人盲目，有的人清醒，有的人浮躁，有的人固执……
　　与其说这是作者的一个有意的“玩笑”，不如说作者给了我们一面镜子，让我们看清自己！
　　—— Maisie
　　 Istepped off the ¹⁾pavement, walked backwards a few paces looking up, and, from the middle of the street, brought my hands to my mouth to make a ²⁾megaphone, and shouted toward the top ³⁾stories of the ⁴⁾block: “Teresa!”
　　My shadow⁵⁾took fright at the moon and ⁶⁾huddled at my feet.
　　Someone walked by. Again I shouted: “Teresa!” The man came up to me and said: “If you do not shout louder she will not hear you. Let’s both try. So count to three, on three we shout together.” And he said, “One, two, three.” And we both ⁷⁾yelled, “Tereeeesaaa!”
　　A small group of friends passing by on their way back from the theater or the caf- saw us calling out. They said: “Come on, we will give you a shout too.” And they joined us in the middle of the street and the first man said one to three and then everybody together shouted, “Te-reee-saaa!”
　　Somebody else came by and joined us; a quarter of an hour later there were⁸⁾a whole bunch of us, twenty almost. And ⁹⁾every now and then somebody new came along.
　　Organizing ourselves to give a good shout, all at the same time, was not easy. There was always someone who began before three or who went on too long, but in the end we were managing something fairly efficient. We agreed that the “Te” should be shouted low and long, the “re” high and long, the “sa” low and short. It sounded fine. Just a ¹⁰⁾squabble every now and then when someone was off.
　　We were beginning to get it right when somebody, who, if his voice was anything to ¹¹⁾go by, must have had a very ¹²⁾freckled face, asked: “But are you sure she is home?”
　　“No,” I said.
　　“That is bad,” another said. “Forgotten your key, have you?”
　　“Actually,” I said, “I have my key.”
　　“So,” they asked, “why don’t you go on up?”
　　“I don’t live here,” I answered. “I live on the other side of town.”
　　“Well, then, excuse my curiosity,” the one with the freckled voice asked, “but who lives here?”
　　“I really wouldn’t know,” I said.
　　People were a bit ¹³⁾upset about this.
　　“So, could you please explain,” somebody with a very ¹⁴⁾toothy voice asked, “why you are down here calling out Teresa.”
　　“As far as I am concerned,” I said, “we can call out another name, or try somewhere else if you like.”
　　The others were a bit annoyed.
　　“I hope you were not ¹⁵⁾playing a trick on us,” the freckled one asked ¹⁶⁾suspiciously.
　　“What,” I said, ¹⁷⁾resentfully, and I turned to the others for confirmation of my ¹⁸⁾good faith. The others said nothing.
　　There was a moment of embarrass-ment.
　　“Look,” someone said ¹⁹⁾good-naturedly, “why don’t we call Teresa one more time, then we go home.”
　　So we did it one more time. “One two three Teresa!” but it did not come out very well. Then people ²⁰⁾headed off for home, some one way, some another.
　　I had already turned into the square when I thought I heard a voice still calling: “Tee-reee-sa!”
　　Someone must have stayed on to shout. Someone ²¹⁾stubborn.

　　我走出人行道，后退几步，站在大街中央，抬起头，双手放到嘴边卷成喇叭状，朝着面前大厦最高的几层大声喊：“特丽萨！”
　　我的影子受了月亮的惊吓，蜷缩在我的两脚之间。
　　有个人从我身旁走过。我又喊了一声：“特丽萨！”那个人走上前来对我说：“如果你不喊大声点，她听不见的。不如我们两个一起喊吧。我数三声，数到三的时候我们就一起喊。”他接着说道：“一、二、三。”他刚数完，我们俩就一起大声叫了起来：“特丽——萨——”
　　一小群刚看完演出或者喝完咖啡的朋友回家路过这里。他们见到我们在大叫，便说：“来，我们帮你们一起喊。”他们就在马路中间加入了我们的行列。第一个人数“一、二、三”，然后大家齐声大叫：“特——丽——萨——！”
　　更多的人路过，他们也加入了我们的行列。十五分钟过后，那里聚集了一群人，差不多有二十个。而且，不时还有路过的人加入我们当中。
　　 要把我们这么多人组织起来同时大叫一个名字，并不容易。总有人在数到“三”之前就已经开始喊了，或者有人声音拖得太长。但是，最后我们还是找到了一个十分有效的办法。我们一致同意，“特”字应该喊得声音低一点，长一点，“丽”字要高昂一点，拖长一点，“萨”字则应该低沉简短。这样听起来就很不错。只在有人出错时偶有争吵。
　　眼看我们马上就可以整齐地喊出来了，这时，有一个人突然发问了，从他的声音来推测，他肯定长了一脸雀斑，他问：“你确定她在家吗？”
　　“不确定，”我回答说。
　　“太糟糕了，”另一个人说，“你把钥匙忘在家里了，对不对？”
　　“事实上，”我说，“我带着钥匙。”
　　“那么，”他们接着问，“你为什么不直接上楼去呢？”
　　“我不住在这里，”我回答，“我住在城市的另一头。”
　　“哦，那么，恕我好奇，”那个从声音来猜测脸上长了雀斑的人问道，“那是谁住在这里？”
　　“我其实也不知道，”我说。
　　大家开始有点失望了。
　　“那么，能不能请你解释一下，”一个声音很尖，说话露出牙齿的人说，“你为什么站在这里大声地叫‘特丽萨’呢？”
　　“对我而言，”我说，“我们可以喊另外一个名字，或者是去其他地方试试，如果你们愿意的话。”
　　其他人开始有些恼火了。
　　“你不是在耍弄我们吧，”那个满脸雀斑的人狐疑地问道。
　　“什么？”我生气地反问，转过头去，想请其他人证明我并无恶意。其他人都不作声。
　　一时间，气氛显得相当尴尬。
　　“这样吧，”一个人和善地说，“我们最后一起再叫一次‘特丽萨’，然后就各自回家。”
　　于是，我们一起再叫了一次。“一、二、三，特丽萨！”但这次效果并不好。接着大家就各自回家了。有的人走这边，有的人走那边。
　　我已经拐进广场的时候，还听到有个声音在叫：“特——丽——莎！”
　　一定是还有人留在那儿继续叫。某个固执的人。

我对于文学的前途是有信心的，因为我知道世界上存在着只有文学才能以其特殊的手段给予我们的感受。

—— 伊塔洛·卡尔维诺（Italo Calvino，1923—1985），意大利作家