施勤敏

[导 读]

《穿條纹睡衣的男孩》（The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas）是爱尔兰作家约翰·伯恩（John Boyne）的第四部作品，作品出版后很快成为《纽约时报》评选出来的畅销书、英国十大畅销书，并且荣登欧洲许多畅销书排行榜。本书除了诺贝尔文学奖，几乎囊括欧美所有文学奖。

故事发生在20世纪40年代的柏林。八岁小男孩布鲁诺（Bruno）的父亲是纳粹军官，因升职调遣，带着全家搬到了柏林外的一个偏远郊区。布鲁诺也因此不得不离开心爱的伙伴。寂寞无聊的布鲁诺发现新家隔壁是一个很奇怪的农场，人们都穿着条纹睡衣（the Striped Pyjamas）在干活。正当他想试着多去了解一些的时候，又被警告不许接近那里。实际上，布鲁诺的父亲对家人隐瞒了真相——隔壁是杀人工厂奥斯维辛集中营。然而铁丝网无法阻拦布鲁诺的好奇心，在一次“探险”的过程中，他遇见了铁丝网那边的一个小男孩——穿着条纹衣服的希姆尔（Shmuel）。于是在接下来的一年里，他们每天隔着铁丝网见面，成了最好的朋友。为了帮助好友寻找失踪多日的父亲，布鲁诺决定穿上条纹衣服，越过铁丝网，和希姆尔进行一次终极“探险”——一次改变了所有人命运的探险。

[阅读材料]

The Final Adventure

（excerpted from The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas）

Bruno frowned. He looked up at the sky， and as he did so there was another loud sound， this time the sound of thunder overhead， and just as quickly the sky seemed to grow even darker， almost black， and rain poured down even more heavily than it had in the morning. Bruno closed his eyes for a moment and felt it wash over him. When he opened them again he wasnt so much marching as being swept along by the group of people， and all he could feel was the mud that was caked all over his body and his pyjamas clinging to his skin with all the rain and he longed to be back in his house， watching all this from a distance and not wrapped up in the centre of it.

“Thats it，” he said to Shmuel. “Im going to catch a cold out here. I have to go home.”

But just as he said this， his feet brought him up a set of steps， and as he marched on he found there was no more rain coming down any more because they were all piling into a long room that was surprisingly warm and must have been very securely built because no rain was getting in anywhere. In fact it felt completely airtight.

“Well， thats something，” he said， glad to be out of the storm for a few minutes at least. “I expect well have to wait here till it eases off and then Ill get to go home.”

Shmuel gathered himself very close to Bruno and looked up at him in fright.

“Im sorry we didnt find your papa，” said Bruno. “Its all right，” said Shmuel.

“And Im sorry we didnt really get to play， but when you come to Berlin， thats what well do. And Ill introduce you to… Oh， what were their names again？” he asked himself， frustrated because they were supposed to be his three best friends for life but they had all vanished from his memory now. He couldnt remember any of their names and he couldnt picture any of their faces.

“Actually，” he said， looking down at Shmuel， “it doesnt matter whether I do or dont. Theyre not my best friends any more anyway.” He looked down and did something quite out of character for him： he took hold of Shmuels tiny hand in his and squeezed it tightly.

“Youre my best friend， Shmuel，” he said. “My best friend for life.”

Shmuel may well have opened his mouth to say something back， but Bruno never heard it because at that moment there was a loud gasp from all the marchers who had filled the room， as the door at the front was suddenly closed and a loud metallic sound rang through from the outside.

Bruno raised an eyebrow， unable to understand the sense of all this， but he assumed that it had something to do with keeping the rain out and stopping people from catching colds.

And then the room went very dark and somehow， despite the chaos that followed， Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuels hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let it go.

[参考译文]

布鲁诺皱皱眉头。他抬头看看天，这时又是一声巨响，这次是头顶的雷声，天立刻更暗了，几乎黑了，大雨倾盆而下，比早上的更猛烈。布鲁诺闭上眼睛，感觉到雨把他给浇透了。当他再次睁开眼睛的时候，与其说是他的双脚在行进，还不如说是被人群挤着向前走。他能感觉到的是全身包裹的泥土，和已经湿透了并紧贴在皮肤上的条纹衣服。他真希望能够回到家里，从窗户里旁观这一切，而不是被包围在人群里亲身经历这一切。

“够了，”他对希姆尔说，“我这样会感冒的。我得回家了。”

正说着，他的脚已经把他带上了几级台阶，他继续往前走，感觉没有雨了，原来他们全被推进了一个长长的房间里，里面惊人地温暖。而且这间屋子造得很严实，因为没有一点雨滴进来。其实应该说，这里简直就是完全密封的。

“嗯，现在好点了。”布鲁诺说，他为至少能少淋几分钟的雨而感到高兴，“我想我们可能要在这里等到雨停，然后我就可以回家了。”

希姆尔紧紧贴着布鲁诺，惊恐地看着他。

“很抱歉，我们没能找到你的爸爸。”布鲁诺说。

“没关系。”希姆尔说。

“而且很抱歉，我们没能真正地在一起玩。但是等你来柏林的时候，我们就可以一起玩了。我会把你介绍给……哦，他们叫什么来着？”他问自己，并且为自己没能记住一生中最好的三个朋友的名字而感到沮丧，他们现在已经完全从他的记忆中褪去了。他不再记得他们的名字，也不记得他们的模样。

“事实上，”他低头看着希姆尔，“无论我是否记得都没关系。他们不再是我最好的朋友了。”他低下头，做了一件不符合他性格的事情：他把希姆尔的小手握在自己的手中，紧紧地抓住。

“你是我最好的朋友，希姆尔。”他说，“我一生中最好的朋友。”

希姆尔应该张嘴回应了他，但是布鲁诺再也听不见了。因为这个时候，前面的门突然关上了，房间里所有的列队行进者都发出了大声的喘息声，而屋外则传来了刺耳的金屬铃声。

布鲁诺扬起眉毛，对这一切都不甚理解，但是他想，这可能是为了防雨，以免让人们感冒。

然后房间骤然变得黑暗起来。尽管接下来一片混乱，但是布鲁诺发现他还是紧紧地握着希姆尔的手，世界上没什么可以让他放开希姆尔的手。

故事的最后，两个男孩在温暖的友谊中离开了这个世界。小说以令人痛心的方式批判了纳粹对犹太人残酷的杀戮。正如小说中那句话传达的 Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights， before the dark hour of reason grows（在黑暗的理性到来之前，用于丈量寂寞童年的是听觉、嗅觉以及视觉）。孩子的纯洁的心灵还无法了解成人世界的丑恶，而正是孩子紧握的双手带给了人类和解的希望。这个扣人心弦的故事不仅情节感人、寓意深刻，语言也十分适合高中生阅读。

窥一斑而知全豹，节选的段落完全能让我们体会到小说语言的丰富和生动，例如，“裹挟在人群”中的表达有be swept along， be wrapped up；学生熟悉的单词 cake用在the mud that was caked all over his body中作动词表示“包裹了……”。其中对场景、人物动作和心理的描写更是续写教学的优秀素材。例如，文中的几个动作描写，短小精悍，学生容易掌握和运用：1.Bruno frowned； 2.Shmuel gathered himself very close to Bruno and looked up at him in fright； 3.He took hold of Shmuels tiny hand in his and squeezed it tightly；

4.Bruno raised an eyebrow， unable to understand the sense of all this。

沉浸在小说的欣赏中习得语言该是件快乐的事情吧！