The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson

馬克·吐溫（Mark Twain），原名塞繆爾·朗赫恩·克萊門斯（Samuel Langhorne Clemens），是美國著名小說家及幽默大師。1835年11月30日，馬克·吐溫出生于美國密蘇里州的佛羅里達。四歲時，他隨全家遷往密蘇里州的漢尼拔，這個位于密西西比河畔的蓄奴小鎮后來成為《湯姆·索亞歷險記》（The Adventures of Tom Sawyer）和《哈克貝里·芬歷險記》（Adventures of Huckleberry Finn）中圣·彼得堡的原型。11歲時，馬克·吐溫的父親去世，他便輟學開始工作，先后在印刷廠當過學徒，在密西西比河上當過領航員，在內華達州當過礦工。這些經歷都為他以后的創作生涯提供了豐富的素材。馬克·吐溫擅長使用口語化的表達，在語言和主題層面對美國文學獨特性的確立起了開拓性的作用?！渡倒贤栠d的悲劇》（The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson）是馬克·吐溫的一部長篇小說，主要講述了一個白人孩子和一個黑人孩子被調包所引發的故事。

Excerpts1）

Dawson’s Landing was a slaveholding town， with a rich， slave-worked grain and pork country back of it. The town was sleepy and comfortable and contented. It was fifty years old， and was growing slowly—very slowly， in fact， but still it was growing.

The chief citizen was York Leicester Driscoll， about forty years old， judge of the county court. He was very proud of his old Virginian ancestry， and in his hospitalities and his rather formal and stately manners， he kept up its traditions. He was fine and just and generous. To be a gentleman—a gentleman without stain or blemish2）—was his only religion， and to it he was always faithful. He was respected， esteemed， and beloved by all of the community. He was well off， and was gradually adding to his store. He and his wife were very nearly happy， but not quite， for they had no children. The longing for the treasure of a child had grown stronger and stronger as the years slipped away， but the blessing never came—and was never to come.

Percy Northumberland Driscoll， brother to the judge， and younger than he by five years， was a married man， and had had children around his hearthstone3）; but they were attacked in detail by measles4）， croup5）， and scarlet fever， and this had given the doctor a chance with his effective antediluvian6） methods; so the cradles were empty. He was a prosperous man， with a good head for speculations， and his fortune was growing. On the first of February， 1830， two boy babes were born in his house; one to him， one to one of his slave girls， Roxana by name. Roxana was twenty years old. She was up and around the same day， with her hands full， for she was tending both babes.

Mrs. Percy Driscoll died within the week. Roxy remained in charge of the children. She had her own way， for Mr. Driscoll soon absorbed himself in his speculations and left her to her own devices.

In that same month of February， Dawson’s Landing gained a new citizen. This was Mr. David Wilson， a young fellow of Scotch parentage. He had wandered to this remote region from his birthplace in the interior of the State of New York， to seek his fortune. He was twenty-five years old， college bred， and had finished a post-college course in an Eastern law school a couple of years before.

He was a homely， freckled， sandy-haired young fellow， with an intelligent blue eye that had frankness and comradeship in it and a covert twinkle of a pleasant sort. But for an unfortunate remark of his， he would no doubt have entered at once upon a successful career at Dawson’s Landing. But he made his fatal remark the first day he spent in the village， and it “gaged7）” him. He had just made the acquaintance of a group of citizens when an invisible dog began to yelp and snarl and howl and make himself very comprehensively disagreeable， whereupon young Wilson said， much as one who is thinking aloud：

“I wish I owned half of that dog.”

“Why？” somebody asked.

“Because I would kill my half.”

The group searched his face with curiosity， with anxiety even， but found no light there， no expression that they could read. They fell away from him as from something uncanny， and went into privacy to discuss him. One said：

“’Pears to be a fool.”

“’Pears？” said another. “Is， I reckon you better say.”

“Said he wished he owned half of the dog， the idiot，” said a third. “What did he reckon would become of the other half if he killed his half？ Do you reckon he thought it would live？”

“Why， he must have thought it， unless he is the downrightest fool in the world; because if he hadn’t thought it， he would have wanted to own the whole dog， knowing that if he killed his half and the other half died， he would be responsible for that half just the same as if he had killed that half instead of his own. Don’t it look that way to you， gents？”

“Yes， it does. If he owned one half of the general dog， it would be so; if he owned one end of the dog and another person owned the other end， it would be so， just the same; particularly in the first case， because if you kill one half of a general dog， there ain’t any man that can tell whose half it was; but if he owned one end of the dog， maybe he could kill his end of it and—”

“No， he couldn’t either; he couldn’t and not be responsible if the other end died， which it would. In my opinion that man ain’t in his right mind.”

“In my opinion he hain’t got any mind.”

No. 3 said： “Well， he’s a lummox8）， anyway.”

“That’s what he is;” said No. 4. “He’s a labrick9）—just a Simon-pure10） labrick， if there was one.”

“Yes， sir， he’s a dam11） fool. That’s the way I put him up，” said No. 5. “Anybody can think different that wants to， but those are my sentiments.”

“I’m with you， gentlemen，” said No. 6. “Perfect jackass—yes， and it ain’t going too far to say he is a pudd’nhead. If he ain’t a pudd’nhead， I ain’t no judge， that’s all.”

Mr. Wilson stood elected. The incident was told all over the town， and gravely discussed by everybody. Within a week he had lost his first name; Pudd’nhead took its place. In time he came to be liked， and well liked too; but by that time the nickname had got well stuck on， and it stayed. That first day’s verdict made him a fool， and he was not able to get it set aside， or even modified. The nickname soon ceased to carry any harsh or unfriendly feeling with it， but it held its place， and was to continue to hold its place for twenty long years.

1. 英文節選部分選自小說的第一節，主要描述了威爾遜初到道森碼頭小鎮時的情景，并交代了其“傻瓜”綽號的由來。

2. blemish [?blem??] n. （人品性上的）污點，缺點

3. hearthstone [?hɑ?θst??n] n. 家;家庭生活

4. measles [?mi?z（?）lz] n. [內科]麻疹;風疹

5. croup [kru?p] n. 哮吼，格魯布（一種兒童疾病，伴有呼吸困難和干咳）

6. antediluvian [??ntid??lu?vi?n] adj. 早已過時的，十分老式的

7. gage [ɡe?d?] vt. 判定，評價（人物）

8. lummox [?l?m?ks] n. 笨蛋

9. labrick：指神經病、傻瓜，是作者小時候居住地的方言。

10. simon-pure [sa?m?n?pj??] adj. 真正的;地道的

11. dam [d?m] adj. （=damn）十足的，完全的

作品賞析

《傻瓜威爾遜的悲劇》自1893年開始在報紙上連載，1894年結集出版。故事發生在美國南北戰爭前，地點是一個叫做道森碼頭的蓄奴小鎮，根據小說交代，該小鎮位于密蘇里州的密西西比河畔。作為一本小說的名字，“傻瓜威爾遜的悲劇”與小說的正文之間似乎存在兩處有趣的脫節。其一，在標題中占據“男一號”地位的“傻瓜威爾遜”在小說中的“戲份”并沒有得到凸顯，更像是一個負責開篇、結尾以及為每章配上題引的配角;其二，從一個才出場便被認定為“傻瓜”的異鄉客到受人敬仰的鎮長，從一個因為“傻瓜”頭銜接不到訴訟委托的賦閑律師到在法庭上揭露驚天秘密的小鎮英雄，從一個頂著“傻瓜”頭銜長達20余年的邊緣人物到受人追捧、一呼百應的大紅人，威爾遜的故事似乎無論如何也不該被稱為“悲劇”。然而在馬克·吐溫筆下，小鎮上的各色人物一再重復著威爾遜式的傻瓜行為，似乎都變成了這個有關“傻瓜”故事的主角;而在種族制度的背景下，小鎮上所謂的正義、秩序甚至威爾遜美國夢式的個人成功故事，也都被打上了悲劇的烙印。

威爾遜式的傻瓜行為可以被總結為“殺死半只狗”。在故事的一開場，25歲的威爾遜從法律學校畢業，初踏道森碼頭鎮，他本以為能在此大展宏圖，誰知卻毀在了自己的一句玩笑話上。當聽到附近有一只惡犬狂吠時，威爾遜說道：“那只狗要是有一半歸我才好呢?！北恍陆Y識的村民追問何出此言時，威爾遜繼續講道：“因為我想把我那半只狗打死?！贝搜砸怀?，小鎮居民認定這個“居然以為半只狗也能活”的年輕人不是腦筋有病，就是個怪物，自此威爾遜有了“傻瓜”的綽號。

由此看來，“殺死半只狗”可以被理解為一個看不清整體依存關系，始于傷人，最終害己的寓言故事。這個故事雖然被小鎮居民嗤之以鼻，但是縱觀小說全文，隨后登場的角色卻紛紛重蹈了“威爾遜式傻瓜”的覆轍。

在威爾遜來到小鎮的那個月，該鎮有兩個身份迥異的男孩在同一天出生了：一個是投機商人波賽·德利斯科爾之子、鎮上最顯赫的德利斯科爾家族的小少爺湯姆，另一個則是女奴羅克珊之子、身上流著三十二分之一黑人血液的錢伯斯。因為家里的黑奴偷了錢，波賽·德利斯科爾威脅黑奴們，說要將他們賣到有著“黑人地獄”之稱的“大河下游”。在惶恐和絕望之中，女奴羅克珊為自己的兒子錢伯斯換上了少爺湯姆的衣服，打算帶著孩子體體面面地一死了之，但她卻突然醒悟，反正旁人看不出自己的孩子和自己服侍的小少爺之間的差別，由此“你不仁我不義”地將兩個孩子掉了包。波賽·德利斯科爾本意是責罰黑奴，卻導致自己的兒子被當做黑奴來教養，波賽·德利斯科爾由此變成了“威爾遜式的傻瓜”。

此后的20年間，頂著少爺頭銜的錢伯斯對自己的身世毫不知情，長成了一個嗜賭、偷盜、行為無度的年輕人。女奴羅克珊本意是報復奴隸主，卻導致自己的兒子身染不良習氣，羅克珊也成了“威爾遜式的傻瓜”。

為了幫親生兒子錢伯斯償還賭債，免得他被取消繼承權，間接地斷了自己的財路，羅克珊主動要求錢伯斯把自己當做奴隸賣掉，等他繼承財產后再把自己贖回。不料此時已知自己身世的錢伯斯卻偷偷把自己的生母賣到了“大河下游”，絲毫沒有贖回的打算。滿心怒火的羅克珊從種植園逃出來，逼迫錢伯斯偷錢將自己贖回，這才引發了錢伯斯在偷竊時失手殺死了波賽·德利斯科爾的哥哥——法官約克·德利斯科爾。錢伯斯本意是打算斬斷與生母的糾纏，卻反過來激怒了母親，在其壓力下淪為殺人犯，錢伯斯最終也變成了“威爾遜式的傻瓜”。

在故事的最后，威爾遜在法庭上展示了被調包前五個月大的錢伯斯和湯姆的指紋，通過與兇器上的指紋相對比，將錢伯斯的殺人罪行以及虛假身份公之于眾。這樣的結尾看似皆大歡喜：兇手錢伯斯被判了死刑，湯姆被恢復了少爺身份，威爾遜被選為鎮長。然而從結果來看，這一勝利并不能讓道森碼頭小鎮在本質上有所改變：罪人錢伯斯連被判死刑的資格都沒有，因此被當成財產賣到了“大河下游”;恢復了少爺身份的湯姆若是不改變自小習慣了的奴隸舉止，則會被眾人嘲笑，但若是接受了少爺做派，很難說不會像錢伯斯一樣變得驕橫無端;而選舉威爾遜當鎮長的人們與當初為他扣上“傻瓜”帽子將其放逐于社會邊緣的人們是同一群小鎮居民。因此，這樣的“勝利”是悲劇性的：不義的制度并未被觸及，制度中的選民強化了固有的偏見，而不是接受了新的教育。故事開篇與結尾處的道森碼頭鎮雖然相隔20年，一切卻還是老樣子，看不到變革與進步的希望。

在論及個人成功時，19世紀美國超驗運動領軍人物拉爾夫·愛默生曾寫道：“在一個時刻試圖把你變成其他模樣的世界里，堅持做自己才是最大的成就?！比粢勒者@個標準衡量，威爾遜的個人成功故事也是悲劇性的：在道森碼頭度過的20年時間確實把傻瓜威爾遜變成了小鎮需要他成為的模樣。