Creative Writing

賞析/夏輝

埃特加·凱雷特

埃特加·凱雷特（Etgar Keret），1967年出生于以色列的拉馬干，父母均為納粹大屠殺幸存者。1992年，他出版了第一部短篇小說集《管道》（Pipelines）。1994年，他的第二部短篇小說集《消失的基辛格》（Missing Kissinger）獲得廣泛關(guān)注。從1998年起，他的作品開始被翻譯成英文。2004年，他的英文版短篇小說集《想做上帝的巴士司機》（The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God & Other Stories）出版。2006年，凱雷特當選為以色列“文化杰出基金”優(yōu)秀藝術(shù)家。2007年，他和妻子合作導演的首部電影《水母》（Jellyfish）獲戛納電影節(jié)金棕櫚最佳處女作獎。凱雷特喜歡在作品中使用日常語言、方言、俗語，文風簡練，他對20世紀90年代以來以色列短篇小說的繁榮有很大貢獻。短篇小說《創(chuàng)意寫作》（Creative Writing）收錄在凱雷特2012年出版的短篇小說集《突然，響起一陣敲門聲》（Suddenly， a Knock on the Door）中。

Excerpts1）

The first story Maya wrote was about a world in which people split themselves in two instead of reproducing. In that world， every person could， at any given moment， turn into two beings， each half his/her age. Some chose to do this when they were young； for instance， an eighteen-year-old might split into two nine-year-olds. Others would wait until theyd established themselves professionally and financially and go for it only in middle age. The heroine of Mayas story was splitless. She had reached the age of eighty and， despite all the social pressure， insisted on not splitting. At the end of the story， she died.

It was a good story， except for the ending. There was something depressing about that part， Aviad2） thought. Depressing and predictable. But in the writing workshop she had signed up for， Maya actually got a lot of compliments on the ending. The instructor3）， who was supposed to be this well-known writer， even though Aviad had never heard of him， told her that there was something soul-piercing4） about the banality5） of the ending， or some other piece of crap6）. Aviad saw how happy that compliment made Maya. She was very excited when she told him about it. She recited what the writer had said to her the way people recite a verse from the Bible. And Aviad， who had originally tried to suggest a different ending， backpedaled7） and said that it was all a matter of taste and that he really didnt understand much about it.

It had been her mothers idea that she should go to a creative writing workshop. Shed said that a friends daughter had attended one and enjoyed it very much. Aviad also thought it would be good for Maya to get out more， to do something with herself. He could always bury himself in work， but since the miscarriage8）， she never left the house. Whenever he came home he found her in the living room， sitting up straight on the couch. Not reading， not watching TV， not even crying. When Maya hesitated about the course， Aviad knew how to persuade her. “Go once， give it a try，” he said， “the way a kid goes to day camp.” Later he realized that it had been a little insensitive of him to use a child as an example after what theyd been through two months before. But Maya actually smiled and said that day camp might be just what she needed.

The second story she wrote was about a world in which you could see only the people you loved. The protagonist9） was a married man in love with his wife. One day， his wife walked right into him in the hallway and the glass he was holding fell and shattered on the floor. A few days later， she sat down on him as he was dozing in an armchair. Both times， she wriggled out of it10） with an excuse： shed had something else on her mind； she hadnt been looking when she sat down. But the husband started to suspect that she didnt love him anymore. To test his theory， he decided to do something drastic11）： he shaved off the left side of his mustache. He came home with half a mustache， clutching a bouquet of anemones12）. His wife thanked him for the flowers and smiled. He could sense her groping the air as she tried to give him a kiss. Maya called the story “Half a Mustache，” and told Aviad that when she had read it aloud in the workshop， some people cried. Aviad said， “Wow，” and kissed her on the forehead. That night， they fought about some stupid little thing. Shed forgotten to pass on a message or something like that， and he yelled at her. He was to blame， and in the end he apologized. “I had a hellish day at work，” he said， and he stroked her leg， trying to make up for his outburst， “Do you forgive me？” She forgave him.

Her third story started out funny. It was about a pregnant woman who gave birth to a cat. The hero of the story was the husband， who suspected that the cat wasnt his. A fat ginger13） tomcat14） that slept on the lid of the dumpster right below the window of the couples bedroom gave the husband a condescending15） look every time he went downstairs to throw out the garbage. In the end， there was a violent clash between the husband and the cat. The husband threw a stone at the cat， who countered with bites and scratches. The injured husband， his wife， and the kitten she was breastfeeding went to the clinic for him to get a rabies16） shot. He was humiliated and in pain， but tried not to cry while they were waiting. The kitten， sensing his suffering， curled itself from its mothers embrace， went over to him， and licked his face tenderly， offering a consoling “Meow.”

“Did you hear that？” the mother asked emotionally. “He said ‘Daddy.”

At that point， the husband could no longer hold back his tears. And when Aviad read that passage， he had to try hard not to cry too. Maya said that shed started writing the story even before she knew she was pregnant again. “Isnt it weird，” she asked， “how my brain didnt know yet， but my subconscious did？”

1. 英文節(jié)選部分選自小說的前半部分，主要介紹了女主人公瑪雅（Maya）寫的三個小故事的內(nèi)容。

2. Aviad：阿維亞德，小說中瑪雅的丈夫

3. instructor [?n?str?kt?（r）] n. 教員；指導者

4. piercing [?p??（r）s??] adj. 打動人心的

5. banality [b??n?l?ti] n. 平庸，陳腐

6. crap [kr?p] n. 廢話

7. backpedal [?b?k?ped（?）l] vi. 改變立場；變卦；（意見等的）撤回

8. miscarriage [?m?sk?r?d?] n. 流產(chǎn)

9. protagonist [pr???t?ɡ?n?st] n. （故事或戲劇中的）主要人物，主角

10. wriggle out of sth.：逃脫，避開

11. drastic [?dr?st?k] adj. 極端的

12. anemone [??nem?ni] n. 銀蓮花

13. ginger [?d??nd??（r）] adj. 姜黃色的

14. tomcat [?t?m?k?t] n. 公貓

15. condescending [?k?nd??send??] adj. 表現(xiàn)出高（某人）一等的，帶有優(yōu)越感的

16. rabies [?re?bi?z] n. [內(nèi)科]狂犬病

作品賞析

短篇小說《創(chuàng)意寫作》的主人公是一對名為阿維亞德和瑪雅的年輕夫婦。妻子瑪雅剛剛遭遇了流產(chǎn)。在母親和丈夫的鼓勵下，瑪雅參加了一門創(chuàng)意寫作課程，誰知在寫作過程中她竟展現(xiàn)出了驚人的文學天賦。這門寫作課在幫助她走出傷痛陰影的同時，也給包括她丈夫在內(nèi)的身邊人的生活帶來了微妙的變化。

在創(chuàng)意寫作課上，瑪雅寫了三個小故事。在第一個故事的世界中，“人們采取分裂的方式而不是生育的方式進行繁殖”。故事的主人公是一個直到80歲依然拒絕分裂繁殖的老婦人。她承受著巨大的社會壓力，卻把這份堅持一直帶到了墳墓里。在第二個故事的世界中，“你只看得到你愛的人”。故事中的丈夫疑心妻子已經(jīng)不再愛他了，為了證實這一想法，他故意把胡子剃掉半邊，想看看妻子的反應，結(jié)果他的這一變化確實沒有引起妻子的注意。在第三個故事中，一對年輕夫婦生下了一只貓咪。懷疑妻子不忠的丈夫與樓下的公貓大打了一架，為此他需要到醫(yī)院打破傷風針。

瑪雅寫的三個小故事雖然都是虛構(gòu)的，場景也都設置在奇異時空，內(nèi)容甚至充滿了怪誕與荒唐之感，但是故事所傳達出的情緒卻都源自愛情與婚姻生活中的日常體驗，蘊含著引發(fā)共鳴的真實情感。而正是憑借對可能性的想象與探究，這些亦真亦幻的小故事為瑪雅以及身邊人提供了慰藉。

一個要依靠分裂進行繁殖的人類世界雖為虛構(gòu)，繁衍及哺育的抉擇中所涉及的犧牲與壓力卻所言不虛。在虛構(gòu)的世界中，“分裂后的每個人年齡只有原來那個人的一半”。而在現(xiàn)實世界中，尤其對于女性而言，生育所帶來的改變——伴隨著身體狀況、時間精力、職業(yè)前景等方面驟然“減半”的種種可能性——對女性的影響程度似乎不亞于一場自我的“解體”。在應對妻子流產(chǎn)給家庭生活帶來的沖擊中，丈夫阿維亞德可以輕巧脫身，反正“公司里總是有忙不完的事情”。而妻子瑪雅自流產(chǎn)后，就從未出過家門，整日“像尊雕像似的，挺著身子呆坐在客廳里，不看書，不看電視，甚至也不哭”。由于這種犧牲與壓力承擔的不平衡性，對于故事中“堅持不進行分裂的老婦人最后死了”這樣的結(jié)尾，丈夫阿維亞德認為既“俗套”又“消極”，而創(chuàng)意寫作班的大部分女性成員卻對它贊賞有加，仿佛奇異時空中的老婦人抵死堅持的生活方式，已經(jīng)為所有深陷“解體”困境的女性出了一口惡氣。

如果說關(guān)于分裂繁殖的故事中關(guān)注的是備受壓力的女性，那么《半邊胡子》的故事則進行了轉(zhuǎn)換，把關(guān)注點放在了愛情與婚姻中備受煎熬的男性身上。“你只看得到你愛的人”，這與其說是故事中一個天馬行空的設定，不如說是日常生活中隨處可見的“由于習以為常而熟視無睹”的真實表現(xiàn)。當瑪雅在班上大聲朗讀這個故事的時候，有些人哭了起來。然而《半邊胡子》并非完全是一個悲傷的故事。與“負心漢”和“黃臉婆”這樣的慣常設定相比，故事中單是“變了心卻又滿口謊話”的太太與“愁腸百結(jié)卻只能剃掉半邊胡子”的老公這樣的角色反轉(zhuǎn)，已經(jīng)讓人忍俊不禁。

與前兩個故事相比，《貓爸爸》的重點落在了男性情緒的起伏變化上。妻子與“姜黃色的肥公貓”偷情產(chǎn)子的情節(jié)雖然荒誕，男性與男性之間的激烈競爭與敵意，以及男性在承受這些壓力時特有的孤獨體驗與挫敗，卻牽動著阿維亞德的情緒。聽到故事的最后，丈夫阿維亞德“拼命忍著”，“好不容易才沒讓自己的眼淚掉下來”。此后不久，阿維亞德也報了一門創(chuàng)意寫作課。對他而言，妻子瑪雅的創(chuàng)意寫作作品中所采取的荒誕形式不僅沒有損害對真實情感的表達，反而像哈哈鏡一樣，在看似怪異的扭曲中努力探索著真實的困境。他寫了一則有關(guān)魚的故事。一條在大海里自由游弋的魚被邪惡的巫婆變成了一個男人，而這個男人在尋找歸途的過程中，兢兢業(yè)業(yè)地扮演人類角色，勤奮工作，努力賺錢，事業(yè)蒸蒸日上，后來竟然逐漸忘了自己曾經(jīng)是一條魚。直到有一天，他隔著別墅的玻璃看到大海，才意識到自己“仍然是條魚，一條多年沒有嘗過海水味道的魚”。隱藏在忙碌與富足背后對身份的迷惘，正是阿維亞德的創(chuàng)意寫作試圖探究的話題。

在《為了報仇看電影》中，韓落松寫道，“有的時候，看電影，為的是報仇，向庸常的生活報仇”，因為生活常常“波瀾不驚、缺少奇跡、灰暗無光”。而在小說家埃特加·凱雷特的世界里，生活不僅庸常無趣，而且充滿了死亡與變故，傷痛與失落。他的父母都是猶太大屠殺的幸存者。而他開始寫作，是因為在同一個部隊服役的朋友有一天突然自殺了。“我寫自殺，并不是因為我有自殺傾向，”在談到自己最初的創(chuàng)作動機時，凱雷特說道，“而是因為寫自殺能使我反思‘活著這個義項。”從這個角度來講，通過對可能性的想象與探究，凱雷特也可謂是通過創(chuàng)意寫作獲得了心靈上的治愈。

與《創(chuàng)意寫作》中遭受流產(chǎn)創(chuàng)傷的瑪雅一樣，小說集《突然，響起一陣敲門聲》所著眼的人物身上背負的傷痛來源各異：謊言與虛偽，戰(zhàn)爭與殺戮，財富與貧窮，愛情中的背叛與疏離，婚姻中的孤獨與猜忌。而把它們聯(lián)系起來的，是對于應對困境可能性的“創(chuàng)意”講述，因為心靈的柔軟不僅是疼痛與傷口的原因，更是想象力與詩意的源起。