安吉拉·卡特（AngelaCarter，1940～1992）是一位英國女作家，出生于英国东南部港口城市伊斯特本，后搬至英国东北部的约克郡和外祖母共同生活。安吉拉·卡特青年时期在布里斯托大学攻读中世纪文学，她精通法语、德语，也会说日语，到过美国、澳大利亚，也曾经在日本居住过两三年。她当过记者，曾给《卫报》《独立报》撰稿，也曾先后在英国谢菲尔德大学、美国布朗大学、澳大利亚阿德莱德大学和东安格利亚大学任驻校作家，日本作家石黑一雄就曾是她的学生。

安吉拉·卡特是个多产的作家，共出版了九部长篇小说，多个短篇小说集，并著有诗歌和文艺评论，代表作有长篇小说《影子舞》（ShadowDance，1966）、《魔幻玩具铺》（TheMagicToyshop，1967）、《新夏娃的激情》（ThePassionofNewEve，1977）、《马戏团之夜》（NightsattheCircus，1984）和短篇小说集《烟火》（Fireworks，1974）、《染血之室》（TheBloodyChamber，1979）、《黑色维纳斯》（BlackVenus，1985）等。

安吉拉·卡特的写作风格糅女性主义和魔幻现实主义于一体，书中不乏怪诞诡秘甚至有点残酷恐怖的描写，但反映的却都是现实，或者说是一些我们未曾注意的现实。这一点在她根据童话故事改写的一系列故事中表现得很明显。下面我们就来看看安吉拉·卡特改写的灰姑娘的故事，她一共改写了三个版本，我们这里节选的是第二个版本。因为语言难度问题，节选时有所改动。

A burned child lived in the ashes. She looked like charcoal andashes because she lived in the ashes since her mother died and thehot ashes burned her so she was scarred. The burned child lived onthe hearth， covered in ashes， as if she were still mourning.

After her mother died and was buried， her father forgot the motherand forgot the child and married the woman who used to rake theashes， and that was why the child lived in the ashes， and there wasnobody to brush her hair， so it stuck out like a mat， nor to wipe the dirtoff her scarred face， and she had no heart to do it for herself， but sheraked the ashes and slept beside the little cat and got the burned bitsfrom the bottom of the pot to eat， scraping them out， sitting on thefloor， by herself in front of the fire， not as if she were human， becauseshe was still mourning.

Her mother was dead and buried， but felt great pain of love whenshe looked up through the earth and saw the burned child covered inashes.

“Milk the cow， burned child， and bring back all the milk，” said thestepmother， who used to rake the ashes and milk the cow， once upona time， but the burned child did all that， now.

The ghost of the mother went into the cow.

“Drink milk， grow fat，” said the mother”s ghost.

The burned child pulled on the udder and drank enough milkbefore she took the bucket back and nobody saw， and time passed， she drank milk every day， she grew fat， she grew breasts， she grew

There was a man the stepmother wanted and she asked him intothe kitchen to get his dinner， but she made the burned child cook it， although the stepmother did all the cooking before. After the burnedchild cooked the dinner the stepmother sent her off to milk the cow.

“I want that man for myself，” said the burned child to the cow.

The cow let down more milk， and more， and more， enough forthe girl to have a drink and wash her face and wash her hands. Whenshe washed her face， she washed the scars off and now she was notburned at all， but the cow was empty.

“Give your own milk， next time，” said the ghost of the mother insidethe cow. “Youve milked me dry.”

The little cat came by. The ghost of the mother went into the cat. “Your hair wants doing，” said the cat. “Lie down.”

The little cat combed her hair with its clever paws until the burnedchilds hair hung down nicely， but it had been so tangled that the catsclaws were all pulled out before it was finished.

“Comb your own hair， next time，” said the cat. “Youve maimedme.”

The burned child was clean and combed， but naked.

There was a bird sitting in the apple tree. The ghost of the motherleft the cat and went into the bird. The bird struck its own breast with itsbeak. Blood poured down on to the burned child under the tree. It ranover her shoulders and covered her front and covered her back. Whenthe bird had no more blood， the burned child got a red silk dress.

“Make your own dress， next time，” said the bird. “Im through withthat bloody business.” The burned child went into the kitchen to showherself to the man. She was not burned any more， but lovely. The manleft off looking at the stepmother and looked at the girl.

“Come home with me and let your stepmother stay and rake theashes，” he said to her and off they went. He gave her a house andmoney. She did all right.

“Now I can go to sleep，” said the ghost of the mother. “Noweverything is all right. ”

本文选自安吉拉卡特的短篇小说《扫灰娘，又名：母亲的鬼魂》，小说一共包含了三个不同版本的灰姑娘的故事，第一个版本负责将原来的童话敲碎，它对原来的灰姑娘的故事提出了质疑：为什么灰姑娘的父亲任由继母虐待灰姑娘？……