经济学人361:老主题 新故事

 　　When Captain Flint Was Still A Good Man. By Nick Dybek.

　　《那时，弗林特船长仍是个好人》尼克迪贝克著

　　VAST, turbulent and mysterious, the sea is a gift to storytellers. It is a perilous¹ passageway to new lands and a bountiful source of food, beauty and lore².

　　大海，广袤、躁动而神秘的大海，是上天赐给讲故事人的礼物。它是通向新奇世界的惊险通道，是食物的源头，美丽的源头也是传说的源头。

　　Life on the rough seas turns ordinary men into heroes, but also into scoundrels and martyrs³. No wonder these sodden⁴, salt-crusted figures populate some of the best fiction.

　　生活在波涛汹涌的大海上可以既可以把普通人蜕变成英雄，也可将其变成恶棍或者烈士。难怪最好的小说中总不乏那些浑身湿透，透着盐味的角色。

　　Nick Dybek has turned to such enduring tropes for his debut⁵ novel, “When Captain Flint Was Still A Good Man”.

　　尼克迪贝克在自己的处女作小说《那时，弗林特船长仍是个好人》中选用了这一经久不衰的主题。

　　His story is set on Loyalty⁶ Island, a thin peninsula off the coast of Washington state, full of “the stink⁷ of herring, nickel paint, and kelp rotting on moorings and beaches”.

　　他的故事设定在忠诚岛上，这是一座华盛顿州海岸线外的一座半岛。岛上“充斥着鲱鱼、镍漆的味道和挺锚处和海岸边飘来的腐烂的海藻的臭味。”

　　In this remote fishing village, manhood means spending half of every year on a boat near Alaska, winching up crab⁸ pots from the freezing depths of the Bering Sea.

　　在这座遥远的渔村，男子气概意昧着每年花超过半年的时间驾船游弋在阿拉斯加附近，从冰冷的白令海深处，用绞盘绞起虾笼。

　　The women stay behind, the boys hope to join their fathers and the men return home.

　　女人留在家中，孩子们则希望与父亲一起出海。

　　If they are lucky, as shaggy, greasy⁹ strangers, telling stories that "were grey, drenched¹⁰ in icy slime. They made you gasp¹¹ but not smile, and the men who told them smiled—if at all—only at the gasps¹²."

　　如果幸运的话，大人们便可安全返家，像蓬头垢面满身油污的陌生人一样，讲述“灰色的，被冰冷泥浆浸湿的”故事，“这些故事让人屏息凝神，但并不能使人发笑，讲述人如果想笑的话，也只会在喘息间微笑。”

　　The book begins with the village on the edge of a crisis that occurred when the narrator was a boy.

　　故事开始于这座渔村处于危机边缘的时刻，那时讲述者还是个孩子。

　　John Gaunt, the owner of the fishing fleet, is on his death bed. He is the third generation of Gaunts to steer¹³ the fate and fortunes of Loyalty Island, and he has apparently¹⁴ left everything to his son Richard.

　　渔船队老板约翰刚特躺在床上与世长辞。约翰刚特是掌控者忠诚岛命运和财富的刚特家族的第三代，他的死把所有一切身后事都交给了儿子理查德。

　　But the proud locals loathe¹⁵ Richard. They know that he is no fisherman, but an urban and effeminate man, not yet 30, who left town to go to university and rarely comes back.

　　但自豪的当地人讨厌理查德。他们认为理查德算不上渔民，是个娘娘腔的的城里人。理查德当时30岁，很早就离开小镇去上大学，很少回来。

　　Just as the boats are primed for another season, Richard seems ready to sell to the Japanese. The people of Loyalty want only what they already have, and they are prepared to guard it fiercely.

　　正当所有船只未下一个渔季蓄势待发时，理查德似乎想将船只卖给日本人。忠诚岛上居民只想保持现有的生活方式不变，因此他们准备坚定地捍卫这一切。

　　This story is recalled from a distance by Cal. Older and living anonymously¹⁶ in Chicago, Cal was 14 when Loyalty Island faced this uncertain future—an age when he could still lionise his father and the other fishermen, but also be a keen observer.

　　故事是通过远离渔村的一个名叫卡尔的人的回忆展开的。现在的卡尔衣步入老年。默默无闻地居住在芝加哥市，但在忠诚岛遭遇不确定未来的危机时，卡尔年仅14岁，在这个年龄，他仍崇拜自己的父亲和其他渔民，同时又是一个敏锐的观察者。

　　"I was still young enough to believe that the important questions had been answered somewhere," he muses¹⁷, a reminiscence with hard edges.

　　他沉思道，“我当时太年轻，认为重要的问题都有答案”，这样的回忆棱角分明。

　　As a child he sensed that something was not right between his parents, who lived "like strangers on an aeroplane, squeezing politely past each other in tight spaces".

　　虽然是个孩子，他仍能感觉到父母的关系不很正常，他们就像“飞机上的乘客一样，在狭小的空间，客客气气地挤在一起”。

　　But he adored them both—his gruff but gentle father ("hands as thick as strip steaks") and his melancholic¹⁸ wisp of a mother, who was wooed to Loyalty but never fitted in.

　　但他喜欢父母——父亲是个急性子不过温文尔雅，母亲略带一丝忧郁气质。父亲希望母亲能够爱上忠诚岛，但母亲从未融入到这里的生活。

　　Instead she found nourishment¹⁹ in her substantial record collection (from Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska" to John Coltrane's "bawling²⁰" sax), foreign films and John Gaunt, her only local friend.

　　相反，她从大量的唱片、国外电影和与约翰刚特的交往中自得其乐，而约翰刚特是她在当地唯一的朋友。

　　A seafaring life may be full of suffering, but it is also full of a macho romance that lends a larger sense of destiny to it all.

　　虽然航海生活充满苦楚，但同样也能充满阳刚的传奇，增添了一种强烈的人生终极感。

　　Mr Dybek considers several similarly timeworn themes, such as the spaces that grow between people, and especially the currents that set fathers and sons adrift.

　　迪贝克精心布置了若干相似的陈旧话题，如人与人之间产生的距离感，尤其是将父子送往海洋的洋流。

　　At times this book bears the stain of a debut: the circumstances too implausible; the kids too precocious²¹; the similes²² too frequent and the album references too cool (a Facebook-ready list).

　　有时，这本书也会出现处女作的缺陷——如背景不真实，儿童太过早熟，比喻太频繁，参考书目太酷（一张脸谱列表）。

　　But there is also wisdom here, and the momentum²³ of a thrilling yarn²⁴, delivered as if by a scarred man by the consoling light of a fire.

　　但书中自有智慧存，令人兴奋的故事就像是由一名疤面汉子坐在火堆旁向我们娓娓道来一样，火光让人安详。

1 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

2 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

3 martyrs   

n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情）

参考例句：

• the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者
• They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 sodden   

adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑

参考例句：

• We stripped off our sodden clothes.我们扒下了湿透的衣服。
• The cardboard was sodden and fell apart in his hands.纸板潮得都发酥了，手一捏就碎。

5 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

6 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

7 stink   

vi.发出恶臭；糟透，招人厌恶；n.恶臭

参考例句：

• The stink of the rotten fish turned my stomach.腐烂的鱼臭味使我恶心。
• The room has awful stink.那个房间散发着难闻的臭气。

8 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

9 greasy   

adj. 多脂的，油脂的

参考例句：

• He bought a heavy-duty cleanser to clean his greasy oven.昨天他买了强力清洁剂来清洗油污的炉子。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。

10 drenched   

adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• We were caught in the storm and got drenched to the skin. 我们遇上了暴雨，淋得浑身透湿。
• The rain drenched us. 雨把我们淋得湿透。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。

12 gasps   

v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• He leant against the railing, his breath coming in short gasps. 他倚着栏杆，急促地喘气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• My breaths were coming in gasps. 我急促地喘起气来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

14 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

15 loathe   

v.厌恶，嫌恶

参考例句：

• I loathe the smell of burning rubber.我厌恶燃着的橡胶散发的气味。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。

16 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

17 muses   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• We have listened too long to the courtly muses of Europe. 欧洲那种御用的诗才，我们已经听够了。 来自辞典例句
• Shiki muses that this is, at least, probably the right atmosphere. 志贵觉得这至少是正确的气氛。 来自互联网

18 melancholic   

忧郁症患者

参考例句：

• A absurd tragedy accompany a melancholic song by the Tiger Lillies. 一出荒诞的悲剧，在泰戈莱利斯犹豫的歌声中缓缓上演。
• I have never heard her sing a melancholic song. 我从来没有听她唱过忧伤的曲子。

19 nourishment   

n.食物，营养品；营养情况

参考例句：

• Lack of proper nourishment reduces their power to resist disease.营养不良降低了他们抵抗疾病的能力。
• He ventured that plants draw part of their nourishment from the air.他大胆提出植物从空气中吸收部分养分的观点。

20 bawling   

v.大叫，大喊( bawl的现在分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物）

参考例句：

• We heard the dulcet tones of the sergeant, bawling at us to get on parade. 我们听到中士用“悦耳”的声音向我们大喊，让我们跟上队伍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "Why are you bawling at me? “你向我们吼啥子？ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

21 precocious   

adj.早熟的；较早显出的

参考例句：

• They become precocious experts in tragedy.他们成了一批思想早熟、善写悲剧的能手。
• Margaret was always a precocious child.玛格丽特一直是个早熟的孩子。

22 similes   

（使用like或as等词语的）明喻( simile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Similes usually start with "like" or "as". 明喻通常以like或as开头。
• All similes and allegories concerning her began and ended with birds. 要比仿她，要模拟她，总得以鸟类始，还得以鸟类终。

23 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

24 yarn   

n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事

参考例句：

• I stopped to have a yarn with him.我停下来跟他聊天。
• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。