雪孩子

by Eowyn Ivey

烏蕪 譯

雪孩子

The Snow Child

by Eowyn Ivey

烏蕪 譯

S he woke to the breaking of twigs and the flash of fre in the darkness, and for a moment she thought she was home and had nodded off in front of the woodstove. That wasn’t right, though. It was too dark, too cold. Her body ached, and she couldn’t move. Something bound her. It was heavy and smelled familiar. Like home. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement in front of the fre. A fgure bending over, putting something to the fames. Then breaking something over a knee, then more flames. The fgure turned toward her, blocking the light.

“Mabel? Are you awake?”

She couldn’t speak. Her jaw seemed sealed, the muscles stiff. She tried to nod, but it hurt.

Everything hurt.

“Mabel? It’s me—Jack. Can you hear me?” And he was beside her, kneeling, brushing her hair back from her face.

“Are you warmer? I’ve got the fre going good now. You feel it?”

Jack. She could smell him, the scent of cut wood and wool. He reached around her, pressing at her sides like he was tucking a child into bed, and she knew why she felt bound. She was wrapped in blankets. She was confused again. Was she home, in her own bed? But the air was so cold and stirring slightly, and overhead there were branches and beyond them a sky so black and full of stars.

Stars? Where had they all come from, like bits of ice?

聽到樹枝被折斷的聲音，看到黑暗中的火光，她醒了過來。有一瞬間，她以為自己在家里的柴火灶前打盹。但不是。周圍太黑太冷了。她身上很痛，無法動彈。有什么東西束縛著她，很沉，有一股熟悉的味道。家的味道。她眼角一瞥，看到火堆前有人影晃動。有個人彎下身子，往火堆放入某樣東西，然后不知用膝蓋折斷了什么，火旺了起來。那個人向她走了過來，擋住了火光。

“梅布爾？你醒了嗎？”

她說不出話。她的下巴好像被封住了，肌肉僵硬。她試圖點頭應答，但感到很痛。

全身都痛。

“梅布爾？是我——杰克。你聽得到我說話嗎？”他跪在她身邊，幫她把蓋在臉上的頭發(fā)捋到后面。

“你現(xiàn)在感覺暖和點了嗎？我把火生好了。感覺到了嗎？”

是杰克。她能聞到他身上的味道，木柴以及羊毛的氣味。他抱住她，緊摟她身子兩邊，就像在哄孩子睡覺一樣。她知道為什么自己會有束縛感了。她被裹在了毯子里面。她再次感到很迷惑。她在家嗎，在自己的床上嗎？但周圍的空氣很冷，有微微的風聲，他們的頭上是樹枝，透過樹枝，她看到了漆黑的夜空中繁星一片。

星星？像一粒粒雪花的星星，它們來自哪里？

《雪孩子》是美國女作家伊玟歐·艾維（Eowyn Ivey）的小說處女作，該書情節(jié)設計巧妙，敘事引人入勝，文筆優(yōu)美，帶有自然主義和神秘主義色彩，獲得了2013年的普利策小說獎提名。故事背景設置在1920年的阿拉斯加州，講述了一對老夫婦Mabel與Jack因失去了剛出生的孩子，心里一直帶著抹不去的傷痕，多年來一直過著痛苦的生活。……