陈榕

Excerpts1）

Whatsoever thy2） hand findeth to do， do it with thy might....

Hard work？ No， it wasnt really so hard. He wasnt used to walking and stair-climbing， but the physical difficulty of his new job was not what George Grebe felt most. He was delivering relief checks3） in the Negro district， and although he was a native Chicagoan this was not a part of the city he knew much about—it needed a depression4） to introduce him to it. No， it wasnt literally hard work， not as reckoned in foot-pounds5）， but yet he was beginning to feel the strain of it， to grow aware of its peculiar difficulty. He could find the streets and numbers， but the clients were not where they were supposed to be， and he felt like a hunter inexperienced in the camouflage6） of his game. It was an unfavorable day， too—fall， and cold， dark weather， windy. But， anyway， instead of shells7） in his deep trench coat8） pocket he had the cardboard of checks. And he didnt look much like a hunter， either； his was a city figure entirely. He was slender without being tall， stiff in the back， his legs looking shabby in a pair of old tweed9） pants gone through and fringy10） at the cuffs11）. With this stiffness， he kept his head forward， so that his face was red from the sharpness of the weather； and it was an indoors sort of face with gray eyes that persisted in some kind of thought and yet seemed to avoid definiteness of conclusion. He was not so mild as he looked， nor so youthful； and nevertheless there was no effort on his part to seem what he was not. He was an educated man； he was a bachelor； he was in some ways simple； without lushing12）， he liked a drink； his luck had not been good. Nothing was deliberately hidden.

He felt that his luck was better than usual today. When he had reported for work that morning he had expected to be shut up in the relief office at a clerks job， for he had been hired downtown as a clerk， and he was glad to have， instead， the freedom of the streets and welcomed， at least at first， the vigor of the cold and even the blowing of the hard wind. But on the other hand he was not getting on with the distribution of the checks. It was true that it was a city job； nobody expected you to push too hard at a city job. His supervisor， that young Mr. Raynor， had practically told him that. Still， he wanted to do well at it. For one thing， when he knew how quickly he could deliver a batch of checks， he would know also how much time he could expect to clip13） for himself. And then， too， the clients would be waiting for their money. That was not the most important consideration， though it certainly mattered to him. No， but he wanted to do well， simply for doing-wells sake， to acquit14） himself decently of a job because he so rarely had a job to do that required just this sort of energy. Of this peculiar energy he now had a superabundance； once it had started to flow， it flowed all too heavily. And， for the time being anyway， he was balked15）. He could not find Mr. Green.

So he stood in his big-skirted trench coat with a large envelope in his hand and papers showing from his pocket， wondering why people should be so hard to locate who were too feeble or sick to come to the station to collect their own checks. But Raynor had told him that tracking them down was not easy at first and had offered him some advice on how to proceed. “If you can see the postman， hes your first man to ask， and your best bet. If you cant connect with him， try the stores and tradespeople around. Then the janitor and the neighbors. But youll find the closer you come to your man the less people will tell you. They dont want to tell you anything.”

“Because Im a stranger.”

“Because youre white. We ought to have a Negro doing this， but we dont at the moment， and of course youve got to eat， too， and this is public employment. Jobs have to be made. Oh， that holds for me too. Mind you， Im not letting myself out. Ive got three years of seniority on you， thats all. And a law degree. Otherwise， you might be back of the desk and I might be going out into the field this cold day. The same dough16） pays us both and for the same， exact， identical reason. Whats my law degree got to do with it？ But you have to pass out these checks， Mr. Grebe， and itll help if youre stubborn， so I hope you are.”

“Yes， Im fairly stubborn.”

Raynor sketched hard with an eraser in the old dirt of his desk， left-handed， and said， “Sure， what else can you answer to such a question. Anyhow， the trouble youre going to have is that they dont like to give information about anybody. They think youre a plain-clothes dick17） or an installment collector， or summons-server or something like that. Till youve been seen around the neighborhood for a few months and people know youre only from the relief.”

在文学故事的经典情节里，有一类与追寻有关：在神话故事里，它是英雄寻宝；在浪漫传奇中，它是骑士追寻圣杯；在童话里，它是王子寻找被巫婆囚禁在高塔的姑娘。追寻的故事之所以好看，是因为它有悬念，能不能追得上，能不能寻得到，难免令读者牵肠挂肚。此外，在追寻的路上，会遇到千奇百怪的人，看到各式各样的风景，经历机关重重的冒险。《寻找格林先生》也是一则邀约读者见证的追寻故事。这一次，主人公格里比只身上路，不为寻宝，只为找人，他的目标是要找到一位名叫格林的先生。而追寻的地点既不在海上，也不在荒野，而是在都市丛林。能不能最终找到这位格林先生？这个悬念伴随着读者一直行进到了小说的最后一行。

格里比之所以寻找格林先生，是因为这是他的工作。格里比是政府里的一名职员，职责主要是负责发放救济金支票。其中有一张支票，格里比只知道接收者是一位叫做图利弗·格林的先生，而他的地址只有一个简单的门牌号，没有给出具体在哪一幢楼、哪个房间。从某种角度来说，小说中格里比扮演的是传统追寻主题中的英雄角色——他要深入贫民窟，为那些因疾病或残疾无法亲自到救济站领取救济金的人送上支票，助他们渡过难关。然而，这位救世者自己却不是超人。和他需要帮助的穷人一样，他也是深受大萧条时代冲击的受害者。格里比的专业是古典语言学，他通晓拉丁文，曾是圣奥拉夫学院的讲师，后来在芝加哥大学当研究员。然而，时逢大萧条，身居象牙塔的他也不能幸免，丢了工作。知识再渊博，学问再高深，也不能变成养家糊口的面包。格里比卖过罐头、鞋子、窗帘，走了熟人的门路，颇费周折，才成为市政单位的一名小职员。作为低级职员的格里比没有资格坐办公室，他需要出外勤，四处去发放救济金支票。这使他有机会步入芝加哥城的贫民窟，亲眼目睹了在象牙塔里难以想象的衰败、贫困与苦难。将心比心，受过苦的格里比知道人生是何等艰难，贫困是何等折磨人。为此，他兢兢业业地履行着自己的职责，将救济金送达需要它的人。同样的原因，也使得他为这张无人认领的支票而烦恼，在迷宫一样的贫民窟里努力寻找着支票的主人格林先生。

格里比的态度和小说中他的上司雷纳先生形成了对比。雷纳的职务比格里比高，年纪却比格里比轻。雷纳也是知识分子出身，所学专业是法律，同样通晓拉丁文。和格里比一样，因为时代的萧条，雷纳放弃了专业，成为市政部门里的一名职员。然而，和格里比不同的是，雷纳圆滑世故。在他看来，工作就是工作，不负责承担额外的精神意义，也不需要太执着。在他的价值体系里，只有钱是真实的。“虽然什么东西看上去都不是真实的，不论什么东西都代表另一件别的东西，这件东西代表另一件东西，那件东西又代表另一件——不论最后的真实是什么，25元一星期和37元一星期是不能比的。”这样的价值观出现在经济萧条的时代并不稀奇，毕竟生存是第一要义。

生存是第一要义，但生存不是唯一要义。为了生存，人们有时不得不像格里比一样，选择为生计忙碌。然而，人生不仅仅是为了生存，人们也需要像格里比一样，在谋生计的同时发掘这份工作的意义。对于格里比来说，找到格林先生，既可以为对方带来及时的帮助，也可以证明自己的工作并不是徒劳的。小说反复提到，格里比是个顽固的人，是个执拗的人，是个不肯轻易放弃的人。在人口密集的大都会寻找某个素昧平生的人，它的难度丝毫不亚于在浩瀚的海洋寻找神秘的大鱼，在没有路标的沙漠寻找不知藏身何处的绿洲。按照格里比本人的说法，“他觉得自己好像是个对于狩猎对象的伪装缺乏经验的猎人”。然而，他冒着冷风，在破败的社区中寻觅，根据人们提供的每一条可能的线索，爬上不同的大楼，敲开一扇又一扇房门，不放弃任何遇到格林先生的可能。

小说的结尾，格里比来到了一幢平房前，发现那里的邮箱上写着格林先生的名字。当他敲门，出来应门的是一位喝得醉醺醺的女人。她接过单据，替格林签了字。小说中格里比并没有亲眼见到格林先生，也无从知晓这名女子是否会真的将支票转交给格林先生。为此，作为读者，我们其实并不能判断格里比的追寻之旅究竟是获得了成功，还是以失败告终，因为自始至终格林先生都没有露过面。但是支票毕竟是送了出去，送到了某位格林先生的家中。格里比知道自己尽了力，可以坦然面对自己的内心了。

在《寻找格林先生》中，贝娄引用了《圣经》“传道书”第九章第十节中的话：“凡你手所当做的事，要尽力去做。”其实，这段文字的全文是“凡你手所当做的事，要尽力去做。因为在你所必去的阴间，没有工作，没有谋算，没有知识，也没有智慧”。“传道书”的这一节传达出生存的虚空感：每个人都逃脱不了终将死亡的宿命，而死亡会将人类一切的努力化为乌有。贝娄在引用时，却只保留了这一节有关行动的前半句，而将有关虚空的后半句删除。这样的改动使这一节文字传达出了积极的含义：既然死亡是终结，空虚是宿命，莫如不想将来，只念现在，凡你所当做的事，要尽力去做。正如格里比寻找格林先生，无论结果如何，首先需要竭尽全力地寻，需要锲而不舍地找，将未来的虚空留给虚空。而活着，就是要专注在这一刻，做好所当做的事。

1. 英文节选摘自小说的开头部分，主要描写了主人公乔治·格里比（George Grebe）为了给一位叫图利弗·格林（Tulliver Green）的先生发救济金支票，去黑人社区努力找寻他的住处的片段。

2. thy [?a?] pron. 〈古〉你的

3. relief check：救济金支票

4. depression [d??pre?（?）n] n. [经]萧条，不景气；萧条期

5. foot-pound：[物]英尺-磅（功的单位）

6. camouflage [?k?m??flɑ??] n. 伪装，掩饰

7. shell [?el] n. 子弹

8. trench coat：军用雨衣；有腰带的双排扣男式雨衣

9. tweed [twi?d] n. 花呢；花呢服装

10. fringy [fr?nd??] adj. 有缘饰的；穗状的

11. cuff [k?f] n. 袖口

12. lush [l??] vi. 过量饮酒

13. clip [kl?p] vt. 缩短；削减

14. acquit [??kw?t] vt. 脱卸义务和责任

15. balk [b??k] vt. 阻止

16. dough [d??] n. 〈古〉钱

17. dick [d?k] n. 侦探