The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo選讀

張蕊

Pre-reading:

A 24?year?old computer hacker with the dragon tattoo, Lisbeth Salander, supports herself by doing deep background investigations for Dragan Armansky, who, in turn, worries the anorexic?looking(患厭食癥的) girl is “the perfect victim for anyone who wished her ill.” But Salander possesses the inner strength of a determined survivor. She looks down upon the users and abusers of this world. She wont hesitate to exact her own unique brand of retribution(報應) against small?potatoes bullies(恃強欺弱者), sick predators(食肉動物), and corrupt magnates(巨頭) alike. The issue in this novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is that of shocking violence primarily against women but not excluding(排除) men.

The following extracts(節選) from the original article are Lisbeth Salanders appearance descriptions which shows her strong inner world and unique personality.

閱讀難度：★★★☆☆字數：671字建議閱讀時間：10分鐘

Armanskys star researcher was a pale, anorexic(患厭食癥的人) young woman who had hair as short as a small wire, and a pierced(穿刺的) nose and eyebrows. She had a wasp(黃蜂) tattoo(紋身) about an inch long on her neck, a tattooed circle around her left arm and another around her left ankle. On those occasions when she had been wearing a tank top, Armansky also saw that she had a dragon tattoo on her left shoulder blade. She was a natural redhead, but she dyed her hair black. She looked as though she had just emerged from a week?long orgy(狂歡) with a gang of hard rockers.

She did not in fact have an eating disorder, Armansky was sure of that. On the contrary, she seemed to consume every kind of junk food. She had simply been born thin, with slender bones that made her look girlish and fine?limbed with small hands, narrow wrists, and childlike breasts. She was twenty?four, but she sometimes looked fourteen.

She had a wide mouth, a small nose, and high cheekbones that gave her an almost Asian look. Her movements were quick and spidery, and when she was working at the computer her fingers flew over the keys. Her extreme slenderness would have made a career in modeling impossible, but with the right make?up her face could have put her on any billboard in the world. Sometimes she wore black lipstick, and in spite of the tattoos and the pierced nose and eyebrows she was... well... attractive. It couldnt be explained.

The fact that Salander worked for Dragan Armansky at all was astonishing. She was not the sort of woman with whom he would normally come into contact.

She had been hired as an odd?job woman. Holger Palmgren, a semi?retired lawyer who looked after old J. F. Miltons personal affairs, had told Armansky that this Lisbeth Salander was a quick?witted girl with “a rather trying attitude.” Palmgren had appealed to him to give her a chance, which Armansky had, against his better judgment, promised to do. Palmgren was the type of man who would only take “no” as an encouragement to redouble his efforts, so it was easier to say “yes” right away. Armansky knew that Palmgren devoted himself to troubled kids and other social misfits, but he did have good judgment.

He had regretted his decision to hire the girl the moment he met her. She did not just seem difficult—in his eyes she was the very quintessence(典型) of difficulty. She had dropped out of school and had no sort of higher education.

The first few months she had worked full time, well, almost full time. She turned up at the office now and then. She made coffee, went to the post office, and took care of the copying, but conventional office hours or work routines were boresome to her. On the other hand, she had a talent for irritating(激怒) the other employees. She became known as “the girl with two brain cells”—one for breathing and one for standing up. She never talked about herself. Colleagues who tried to talk to her seldom got a response and soon gave up. Her attitude encouraged neither trust nor friendship, and she quickly became an outsider wandering the corridors of Milton like a stray cat. She was generally considered a hopeless case.

After a month of nothing but trouble, Armansky sent for her, fully intending to let her go. She listened to his catalogue(目錄冊) of her offences without objection and without even raising an eyebrow. She did not have the “right attitude,” he concluded, and was about to tell her that it would probably be a good idea if she looked for employment with another firm that could make better use of her skills. Only then did she interrupt him.

“You know, if you just want an office serf you can get one from the temp agency. I can handle anything and anyone you want, and if you dont have any better use for me than sorting post, then youre an idiot.”

原著簡介

金融記者布隆維斯特是《千禧年》雜志發行人，一向以揭發企業丑聞為職志，卻因一篇報道而獲誹謗罪，為了保全雜志社，他主動辭職。不久大企業家亨利·范耶爾開天價邀其為他撰寫家族史。但亨利真正的目的是要布隆維斯特私下調查范耶爾家族一件年代久遠的海莉·烏莉卡·范耶爾失蹤懸案。于是失業且面臨財務危機的布隆維斯特接受了這一請托。調查中，布隆維特斯認識了阿曼斯基負責的米爾頓公共安保公司里矮小瘦弱的薩蘭德，她看起來像個問題少女，但卻是頂尖級的駭客，對電腦的掌控出神入化，有了她的協助，布隆威斯特的工作取得了突破性的進展，他發現了隱藏在一個光鮮亮麗的顯赫家族背后令人毛骨悚然的秘密：一連串女性奸殺案的謎底……

《龍紋身女孩》極其后續兩部構成的“千禧年三部曲”系列：“一本讓歐洲人上癮的完美小說，三年內全歐狂銷800萬本！”，“在瑞典，平均每3人就擁有1本”，“在法國，每4部車里就可以找到1人擁有,在英美，每個讀了本書的人都為之瘋狂”，全球已售出34國版權。

作者對薩蘭德怪異性格的呈現是多個角度的，她不羈又脆弱，人生中目睹和經歷的人性無盡的黑暗，在黑暗中，她也向黑暗的一面“進化”，帶著不堪的人生經歷，本能的以陰暗人性的表現回擊這個世界，本文節選的部分對女主角的外表描述與其內心強大的獨行俠的特質形成鮮明的對比。

2006年《龍紋身女孩》榮獲北歐犯罪小說協會最佳犯罪小說“玻璃鑰匙”獎

2008年《龍紋身女孩》榮獲ITV3 犯罪驚悚獎、年度國際作家獎

2008年《龍紋身女孩》榮獲南非“Exclusive Books Boeke Prize”

2009年《龍紋身女孩》榮獲英國銀河圖書獎

2009年《龍紋身女孩》榮獲安東尼獎，最佳首作獎

2010年榮獲USA Todays Author of the Year

2011年《龍紋身女孩》榮獲美國奧斯卡獎

閱讀思考

1. Why did the author of the novel describe the main character Salander as an anorexic?looking girl instead of a good?looking one?

2. What kind of character can you see from the words in the end of the passage?

語法指津

1. Her extreme slenderness would have made a career in modeling impossible, but with the right make?up her face could have put her on any billboard in the world. 由于她骨瘦如柴，想當模特兒應該不可能，但倘若上妝得宜，那張臉倒是上得了全世界任何廣告牌。

這是并列句。轉折連詞but連接兩個句子，前一個句子的謂語“would have made a career...”表示“本應該干一番事業，但是沒有干……”，而后面的謂語“could have put her...”表示“本來能做而未做的事情”。

例如：I dont blame you. I would have done the same. 我不怪你，我也會這樣做的。

She could have been seriously injured. 她本來可能傷得很重。

2. Holger Palmgren, a semi?retired lawyer who looked after old J. F. Miltons personal affairs, had told Armansky that this Lisbeth Salander was a quick?witted girl with “a rather trying attitude.” 專門為老約翰·弗雷德里克·米爾頓處理私人事務的半退休律師霍爾格·潘格蘭告訴阿曼斯基，說這個薩蘭德雖然“態度大有問題”，卻十分機靈。

這是復合句。a semi?retired lawyer是Holger Palmgren同位語，后面的who looked after old J. F. Miltons personal affairs是定語從句。我們來看看定語從句和同位語從句的區別：同位語從句屬于名詞性從句，大多由從屬連詞that引導，常常跟在fact, idea, opinion, news, hope, belief等名詞后面，用來解釋或說明這些名詞的具體含義或內容，在邏輯上表現為同位關系。定語從句修飾先行詞，具有形容詞的功能，可以從下面兩點辨析：

1） 從先行詞來看。同位語從句與名詞之間在邏輯上是“主語＋be＋表語”的關系。該名詞是需要做特殊說明的抽象名詞。

例如：They were delighted at the news that their team had won. 當聽到他們的球隊贏了的消息時，他們欣喜若狂。

2） 從引導詞來看。引導詞that在同位語從句中是連詞，只起連接作用，無具體詞義，that不可省略；that在定語從句中是關系代詞，它在從句中充當一定成分：主語或賓語，有具體詞意，作賓語時還可以省略。試比較：

① The factory(that)we visited yesterday is a chemical one. 我們昨天參觀的那家工廠是化工廠。(that在從句中作賓語，所以此句是賓語從句)

② The news that he will leave for Shanghai is true. 他將要去上海的消息是真的。(that只起連接從句的作用，所以此句是同謂語從句)

3. Palmgren had appealed to him to give her a chance, which Armansky had, against his better judgment, promised to do. 潘格蘭懇請他給她一次機會，阿曼斯基勉強答應了。

這是個主從復合句。Which引導的定語從句修飾前面整個句子。句中appeal to“向……呼吁，懇求；訴諸；求助于”， appeal for “懇切請求，懇求”， appeal to... for... “因……向……求助”。

例如：The company is appealing to everyone to save power and water. 公司正呼吁大家節約水電。

He appealed for mercy. 他乞求憐憫。

When you are in trouble, do you appeal to your friends or parents for help? 當你有麻煩的時候，你是求助于朋友還是父母？

4. I can handle anything and anyone you want, and if you dont have any better use for me than sorting post, then youre a fool. 其實如果你只想找個辦事奴才，去人力派遣公司找就有了。我可以替你處理任何事、應付任何人，如果你只會叫我分發郵件，那你就是個笨蛋。

這是個并列復合句。并列連詞and前是個簡單句，后面是帶有條件狀語從句的復合句。

5. Only then did she interrupt him. 她卻在此時打斷了他。

這是倒裝句。副詞only置于句首強調方式狀語、條件狀語、地點狀語、時間狀語時，主句要部分倒裝。only所強調的狀語從句不倒裝，只對主句倒裝。

例如：Only in a big city was it possible to buy a new wheelchair like that. 只有在大城市里才能買到那樣的新輪椅。

Only when we had studied the data again did we realize that there was a mistake. 只有當我們再次研究了這些數據的時候，我們才意識到出了一個錯。

注意：置于句首的only所修飾的不是狀語時，該句不用倒裝。

例如：Only some of the children passed the examination. 只有幾個孩子通過了考試。