by John Boyne

本文节选自爱尔兰新锐作家约翰·伯恩2006年出版的小说——《穿条纹睡衣的男孩》。反映二战题材的书籍有不少，或激烈，或偏执，视角各异，有的以宏大著称，有的以奇诡出位，但是以一个孩童的视角来引领读者再次审视那次战争的书籍，可谓没有之一。书中讲述一个8岁男孩布鲁诺一家随着纳粹军官父亲的一纸调令，由柏林迁至乡下。失去朋友们的布鲁诺很快对新家附近的“农庄”产生兴趣，那里有一群身穿“条纹睡衣”的人终日忙碌。布鲁诺的举止让母亲暗暗担忧，但纳粹父亲制止家中任何怀疑既定政策的行为。布鲁诺偷偷结识了铁丝网另一边的同龄男孩希姆尔，在紧张的家庭氛围和姐姐向成人世界的变化中，希姆尔是布鲁诺惟一的朋友。某日布鲁诺决定去铁丝网的另一边，换上“条纹睡衣”以便帮助希姆尔找到父亲，不料却酿造了一场悲剧。

这部围绕着奥斯维辛犹太人集中营的文学作品在出版后立马引起轰动，它不但成为《纽约时报》书榜的畅销书，并且荣登欧洲许多国家的畅销书排行榜的首位。而小说先后获得的奖项更是遍布多个国家，并被翻译成20多种文字在世界各地上市。约翰·伯恩的这部作品更是在2008年被导演马克·赫曼改编为同名电影《穿条纹睡衣的男孩》，通过镜头再现了那些杀戮和令人难以直视的鲜血，而那一切残酷在孩子的眼中却被折射得如此光陆怪离和有趣，但越是被如此掩盖，就越是让人心血尤滴！

Bruno was late arriving at the place in the fence where he met Shmuel everyday， but as usual his new friend was sitting 3）crosslegged on the ground waiting for him.

“Im sorry Im late，” he said， handing some of the bread and cheese through the wire—the bits that he hadnt already eaten on the way when he had grown a little 4）peckish after all. “I was talking to Maria.”

“Whos Maria？” asked Shmuel， not looking up as he gobbled down the food hungrily.

“Shes our maid，” explained Bruno. “Shes very nice although Father says shes 5）overpaid. But she was telling me about this man Pavel who 6） chops our vegetables for us and waits on table. I think he lives on your side of the fence.”

Shmuel looked up for a moment and stopped eating. “On my side？” he asked.

“Yes. Do you know him？ Hes very old and has a white jacket that he wears when hes serving dinner. Youve probably seen him.”

“No，” said Shumel， shaking his head. “I dont know him.”

“But you must，” said Bruno irritably， as if Shmuel were being 7）deliberately difficult.“Hes not as tall as some adults and he has grey hair and 8）stoops over a little.”

布鲁诺来到每天他探望希姆尔的那个栅栏时比平常晚了，而他的新朋友则一如往常地盘着腿坐在地上等他。

“很抱歉我来晚了，”他说着，把一些面包和奶酪从铁丝网递了过去——虽然路上他有点饿，还好没把这点儿东西给吃掉。“我跟玛丽娅聊了一会儿。”

“谁是玛丽娅？”希姆尔问，他狼吞虎咽地吃着，顾不得抬头。

“她是我们家的女仆，”布鲁诺解释道。“她非常好，虽然父亲说她的薪水过高了。但是，她告诉了我关于帕维尔的事，帕维尔是一个来我们家厨房打下手，伺候上菜的人。我想他也住在你们那一边。”

希姆尔不吃东西了，抬起头看了一会儿。“在我们这一边？”他问。

“是的。你认识他吗？他很老，在餐桌旁服务的时候穿一件白色的夹克。你可能见过他。”

“没有，”希姆尔说，摇摇头。“我不认识他。”

“但是你肯定认识的，”布鲁诺生气地说，好像是希姆尔故意在和他顶嘴似的。“他不像一般大人那样高，一头银灰色的头发，有点驼背。”

“I dont think you realize just how many people live on this side of the fence，” said Shumel. “There are thousands of us.”

“But this ones name is Pavel，” insisted Bruno. “When I fell off my swing he cleaned out the cut so it didnt get 9）infected and put a bandage on my leg. Anyway， the reason I wanted to tell you about him is because hes from Poland too. Like you.”

“Most of us here are from Poland，” said Shmuel. “Although there are some from other places too， like Czechoslovakia and—”

“Yes， but thats why I thought you might know him. Anyway， he was a doctor in his hometown before he came here but hes not allowed to be a doctor any more and if Father had known that he had cleaned my knee when I hurt myself then there would have been trouble.”

“The soldiers dont normally like people getting better，” said Shmuel， 10）swallowing the last piece of bread. “It usually works 11）the other way round.”

“我想你不知道栅栏这边住着多少人，”希姆尔说。“成千上万呢。”

“但是，他有名字，帕维尔！”布鲁诺坚持说。“当我从秋千上掉下来的时候，是他帮我清洗伤口以免感染，还给我的腿绑了绷带。不管怎样，我跟你说他，是因为他也是波兰人。像你一样。”

“这里的绝大多数人都是波兰人，”希姆尔说。“虽然也有波兰以外其他地方来的，例如捷克斯洛伐克，还有——”

“是的，但是正因为这样，我才以为你可能认识他。不管怎样，他在他家乡的时候，是一名医生，但是来到这里以后，就不准他行医了。如果我父亲知道是他帮我处理膝盖上的伤口，那么就麻烦了。”

“士兵们一般不喜欢普通人过好日子，”希姆尔说，吞下最后一口面包。“反过来，平民往往对士兵倒是友善的。”

Bruno nodded， even though he didnt quite know what Shmuel meant， and gazed up into the sky. After a few moments he looked through the wire and asked another question that had been praying on his mind.

“Do you know what you want to be when you grow up？” he asked.

“Yes，” said Shmuel. “I want to work in a zoo.”

“A zoo？” asked Bruno.

“I like animals，” said Shmuel quietly.

“Im g o i n g to be a soldier，”said Bruno in a determined voice.“Like Father.”

“I wouldnt like to be a soldier，”said Shmuel.

“I dont mean one like Lieutenant Kotler，” said Bruno quickly. “Not one who 12）strides around as if he owns the place and laughs with your sister and whispers with your mother. I dont think hes a good soldier at all. I mean one like Father. One of the good soldiers.”

“There arent any good soldiers，” said Shmuel.

“Of course there are，” said Bruno.

“Who？”

“Well， Father， for one，” said Bruno.“Thats why he has such an impressive uniform and why everyone calls him Commandant and does whatever he says. The Fury has big things in mind for him because hes such a good soldier.”

“There arent any good soldiers，” repeated Shmuel.

“Except Father，” repeated Bruno， who was hoping that Shmuel wouldnt say that again because he didnt want to have to argue with him. After all， he was the only friend he had here at 13）Out-With. But Father was Father， and Bruno didnt think it was right for someone to say something bad about him.

Both boys stayed very quiet for a few minutes， neither one wanting to say anything he might regret.

“You dont know what its like here，” said Shmuel eventually in a low voice， his words barely carrying across to Bruno.

“You dont have any sisters， do you？” asked Bruno quickly， pretending he hadnt heard that because then he wouldnt have to answer.

“No，” said Shmuel， shaking his head.

“Youre lucky，” said Bruno. “Gretels only twelve and she thinks she knows everything but shes a Hopeless case really. She sits looking out of her window and when she sees Lieutenant Kotler coming she runs downstairs into the hallway and pretends that she was there all along. The other day I caught her doing it and when he came in she jumped and said， ‘Why， Lieutenant Kotler， I didnt know you were here， and I know for a fact that she was waiting for him. ”

布鲁诺点点头，虽然他不是很明白希姆尔的话，他抬头看着天空。过了一会儿，他看着铁丝网的那一边，问了一个心中踌躇已久的问题。

“你知道你长大了以后想做什么吗？”他问。

“知道，”希姆尔说。“我想在动物园里工作。”

“动物园？”布鲁诺问。

“我喜欢动物。”希姆尔平静地说。

“我要成为一名士兵，”布鲁诺坚定地说。“像父亲一样。”

“我不想成为士兵，”希姆尔说。

“我并不是想成为像柳特伦特·科特勒那样的士兵，”布鲁诺马上说。“不是那种到处走来走去好像是他占着地盘，跟你的姐姐说笑，跟你的母亲说悄悄话的那种士兵。我想他根本就不是个好士兵。我是说我想成为父亲那样的士兵，一名好士兵。”

“没有好士兵。”希姆尔说。

“当然有。”布鲁诺说。

“谁？”

“嗯，父亲，就是一个。”布鲁诺说。“所以他能穿一身帅气军装，每个人都称他为将军，按他说的话去做。元首（希特勒）也委派给他非常重要的任务，因为他是一名好士兵。”

“没有好士兵。”希姆尔重复说。

“除了我父亲。”布鲁诺也重复说道，他希望希姆尔不要再说那样的话了，因为他不想和他争论起来。毕竟，这是他在“外围”的唯一的朋友。但是父亲就是父亲，布鲁诺不想让任何人说他的坏话。

两个男孩沉默了几分钟，谁也不想说会让自己后悔的话。

“你不知道这边是个什么样的地方。”希姆尔最后低声说，他的话语布鲁诺几乎听不到。

“你没有姐姐吧？”布鲁诺马上问，假装没有听到希姆尔的话，因为他不想去回答。

“没有。”希姆尔说，摇摇头。

“你很幸运，”布鲁诺说。“格雷特尔只有十二岁，但她认为自己什么都知道，其实她只是个‘无可救药的人。她坐在窗前，如果看到柳特伦特·科特勒来了，她就会跑到楼下的厅堂，假装一直就在那里呆着。有一天我就看到她这么做了，当他进来的时候，她就跳起来说：‘哎呀，柳特伦特·科特勒，你怎么在这啊，我知道事实，她其实就是在等他。”

Bruno hadnt been looking at Shmuel as he said all that， but when he looked again he noticed that his friend had grown even more pale than usual.

“Whats wrong？” he asked. “You look as if youre about to be sick.”

“I dont like talking about him，” said Shmuel.

“About who？” asked Bruno.

“Lieutenant Kotler. He scares me.”

“He scares me too a little，” admitted Bruno.“Hes a 14）bully. And he smells funny. Its all that 15）cologne he puts on.” And then Shmuel started to 16）shiver slightly and Bruno looked around， as if he could see rather than feel whether it was cold or not. “Whats the matter？” he asked. “Its not that cold， is it？ You should have brought a jumper， you know. The evenings are getting 17）chillier.”

布鲁诺说这些的时候并没有看希姆尔，不过当他再抬眼看希姆尔的时候，发觉他的气色比平时更差了。

“怎么了？”他问。“你看起来快要生病了。”

“我不想谈论他。”希姆尔说。

“谈论谁？”布鲁诺问。

“柳特伦特·科特勒。他让我感到害怕。”

“他也让我有点害怕。”布鲁诺承认。“他是一个恶霸。身上有股怪味，因为他喷了太多的古龙水。”这时候，希姆尔开始轻微地发抖，布鲁诺看了看四周，好像他能看到而不是靠感觉判断天气是不是很冷。“怎么了？”他问。“并不太冷，不是吗？你应该带一件短上衣，知道吗。现在晚上越来越凉了。”