War Horse《戰馬》

Michael+Morpurgo

邁克爾·莫波格（Michael Morpurgo， 1943～），英國最受歡迎的兒童文學作家之一，迄今為止已創作了百余部兒童文學作品，獲獎無數，多部作品被改編成電影、電視劇、舞臺劇和歌劇，代表作有《柑橘與檸檬啊》（Private Peaceful）、《健介的王國》（Kensuke&apos；s Kingdom）、 《鯨魚何時來到》（When the Whales Came）、《我的朋友瓦特》（My Friend Walter）、《走出塵埃》（Out of the Ashes）等。1999年，他被評為“兒童桂冠作家”；2006年，他憑借在文學領域的貢獻被授予大英帝國軍官勛章。其代表作《戰馬》（War Horse）出版于1982年，隨后被改編為舞臺劇和電影，風靡全球。該小說以馬兒喬伊（Joey）的視角，講述了它和13歲少年艾伯特（Albert）相識、相知、被迫分離后歷經戰火又重聚的成長故事。

下文選自小說第17章，講述的是喬伊和艾伯特在歷經多年戰火后偶然相逢，艾伯特認出喬伊之前的一幕。

The men scattered in all directions， leaving me with a young soldier who began to lead me away toward a stable1）. "And you，" came that booming2） voice again， "Major3） Martin will be down from the house in ten minutes to examine that horse. Make sure that horse is so thundering4） clean and thundering shiny you could use him as a shaving mirror， right？"

"Yes， Sergeant，" came the reply. A reply that sent a sudden shiver of recognition through me. Quite where I had heard the voice before I did not know. I knew only that those two words sent a tremor5） of joy and hope and expectation through my body and warmed me from the inside out. He led me slowly across the cobbles6）， and I tried all the while to see his face better. But he kept just that much ahead of me so that all I could see was a neatly shaven neck and a pair of pink ears.

"How the devil did you get yourself stuck out there in no-man&apos；s land， you old silly？" he said. "That&apos；s what everyone wants to know ever since the message came back that they&apos；d be bringing you here. And how the devil did you get yourself in such a state？ I swear there&apos；s not an inch of you that isn&apos；t covered in mud or blood. No telling what you look like under all that mess. Still， we&apos；ll soon see. I&apos；ll tie you up here and get the worse of it off in the open air. Then I&apos；ll brush you up in the right way before the officer gets here. Come on， you silly， you. Once I&apos；ve got you cleaned up， then the officer can see you and he&apos；ll tidy up that nasty cut of yours. Can&apos；t give you food， I&apos；m sorry to say， nor any water， not till he says so. That&apos；s what the sergeant told me. That&apos；s just in case they have to operate on you."

And the way he whistled as he cleaned out the brushes was the whistle that went with the voice I knew. It confirmed my rising hopes， and I knew then that I could not be mistaken. In my overwhelming delight， I reared up on my back legs and cried out to him to recognize me. I wanted to make him see who I was. "Hey， careful there， you silly. Nearly knocked my hat off，" he said gently， keeping a firm hold on the rope and smoothing my nose as he always had done whenever I was unhappy. "No need for that. You&apos；ll be all right. Lot of fuss about nothing. Knew a young horse once just like you， he was really proper jumpy7） he was till I got to know him and he got to know me."

"You talking to them horses again， Albert？" came a voice from inside the next stable. "God&apos；s truth！ What makes you think they understand a word you say？"

"Some of them may not， David，" said Albert. "But one day， one day one of them will. He&apos；ll come in here and he&apos；ll recognize my voice. He&apos；s bound to come in here. And then you&apos；ll see a horse that understands every word that&apos；s said to him."

"You&apos；re not going on about your Joey again？" The head that came with the voice leaned over the stable door. "Won&apos；t you ever give it up， Berty？ I&apos；ve told you before if I&apos；ve told you a thousand times. They say there&apos；s near half a million horses out here， and you joined the Veterinary Corps just on the off chance8） you might come across him." I pawed the ground with my bad leg in an effort to make Albert look at me more closely， but he just patted my neck and set to work cleaning me up. "There&apos；s just one chance in half a million that your Joey walks in here. You got to be more realistic. He could be dead—a lot of them are. He could have gone off to Palestine with the cavalry. He could be anywhere along hundreds of miles of trenches9）. If you weren&apos；t so good with horses， and if you weren&apos；t the best friend I had， I&apos；d think you&apos；d gone a bit screwy the way you go about your Joey."

"You&apos；ll understand why when you see him， David，" Albert said crouching down to scrape the caked mud off my underside. "You&apos；ll see. There&apos；s no horse like him anywhere in the whole world. He&apos；s a bright red bay with a black mane and tail. He has a white cross on his forehead and four white socks that are all even to the last inch. He stands over sixteen hands and he&apos；s perfect from head to tail. I can tell you， I can tell you that when you see him you&apos；ll know him. I could pick him out of a crowd of a thousand horses. There&apos；s just something about him. Captain Nicholls， you know， he&apos；s dead now—the one I told you about that bought Joey from my father， he sent me Joey&apos；s picture—he knew it. He saw it the first time he set eyes on him. I&apos；ll find him， David. That&apos；s what I came all this way for， and I&apos；m going to find him. Either I&apos；ll find， or he&apos；ll find me. I told you， I made him a promise， and I&apos；m going to keep it."

"You&apos；re crazy as a loon10）， Berty，" said his friends opening a stable door and coming over to examine my leg. "Crazy as a loon， that&apos；s all I can say." He picked up my hoof11） and lifted it gently. "This one&apos；s got white socks on his front legs， anyway—that&apos；s as far as I can tell under all this blood and mud. I&apos；ll just sponge12） the wound away a bit， clean it up for you while I&apos；m here. You&apos；ll never get this one cleaned up in time else. And I&apos；ve finished mucking out13） my stable. Not a lot else to do， and it looks as if you could do with a hand. Old Sergeant Thunder won&apos；t mind， not if I&apos；ve done all he told me， and I have."

The two men worked tirelessly on me， scraping and brushing and washing. I stood quite still trying only to nuzzle14） Albert to make him turn and look at me. But he was busy at my tails and my hindquarters15） now.

"Three，" said his friend， washing off another of my hooves. "That&apos；s three white socks."

"Stop it， David，" said Albert. "I know what you think. I know everyone thinks I&apos；ll never find him. There&apos；s thousands of army horses with four white socks—I know that， but there&apos；s only one with a blaze in the shape of a cross on the forehead. And how many horses shine red like fire in the evening sun？ I tell you， there&apos；s not another one like him， not in the whole wide world."

"Four，" said David. "That&apos；s four legs and four white socks. Only the cross on the forehead now， and splash of red paint on this muddy mess of a horse， and you&apos；ll have your Joey standing here."

"Don&apos；t tease，" said Albert quietly. "Don&apos；t tease， David. You know how serious I am about Joey. It&apos；ll mean all the world to me to find him again. Only friend I ever had before I came to the war. I told you. I grew up with him， I did. Only creature on this earth I felt any kinship for."

David was standing now by my head. He lifted my mane and brushed gently at first then vigorously at my forehead， blowing the dust away from my eyes. He peered closely and then set to again brushing down toward the end of my nose and up again between my ears till I tossed my head with impatience.

"Berty，" he said quietly. "I&apos；m not teasing， honest I&apos；m not. Not now. You said your Joey had four white socks， all even to the inch？ Right？"

"Right，" said Albert， still brushing away at my tail.

"And you said Joey had a white cross on his forehead？"

"Right." Albert was still completely disinterested.

"Now， I have never even seen a horse like that， Berty，" said David， using his hand to smooth down the hair on my forehead. "Wouldn&apos；t have thought it possible."

人群向四面八方散去，只剩下我和一個年輕士兵，他開始牽著我向馬廄走去?！斑€有你，”那洪亮的聲音又傳來，“馬丁少校10分鐘后會從屋里下來查看那匹馬。一定要把它收拾得干干凈凈，閃亮到能用它來當刮胡子用的鏡子，聽到了嗎？”

“是，中士?！蹦莻€士兵回答。這個聲音似曾相識，讓我全身猛地一顫。但到底之前在哪里聽過這個聲音，我不知道。我只知道，那兩個詞讓我因充滿快樂、希望和期待而全身顫抖，從內到外都溫暖了起來。他牽著我慢慢地走過鵝卵石路，一路上我都試著想把他的臉看得更清楚。但他走在前面，一直就離我有那么一段距離，我只能看到他那刮得很干凈的脖子和一對泛著粉色的耳朵。

“你這個傻瓜，你到底是怎么讓自己被困在無人區的？”他說。“自從有消息說你會被送到這里來之后每個人都想弄明白。還有，你到底是怎么把自己折騰成這個鬼樣子的？我敢說你身上沒有一寸地方不沾著泥或血的?，F在這樣臟兮兮的，根本看不出你長啥樣。不過我們很快就會看到啦。我要把你先拴在這兒，在外面把你身上比較臟的東西弄掉。然后我會在長官到這兒之前好好把你刷洗干凈。來，過來，你這個傻瓜。等我給你洗好了，長官就可以來看你了，然后他就會把你身上這些可怕的傷口都收拾干凈的。不過實在抱歉，我現在不能給你吃的，也不能給你水，得等長官下命令了才行。中士就是這么跟我說的。那是以防萬一他們需要給你做手術。”

他一邊清洗干凈那些刷子一邊吹著口哨，他吹口哨的方式跟我認識的那個聲音吹口哨的方式一模一樣。我心中升起的希望被證實了，我隨即就知道我不可能認錯。我興奮極了，抬起兩條前腿沖他叫了一聲，想讓他認出我來。我想讓他看看我是誰。“小心，你這個大傻瓜。你差點把我帽子弄掉?！彼p聲說，一邊牢牢抓著韁繩，一邊輕撫我的鼻子，就像以前每當我不高興時他經常做的那樣?！安恍枰@樣，你不會有事的。沒什么可擔心的。我以前也認識一匹小馬，就像你一樣，他也老緊張兮兮的，直到我倆互相熟悉了才好一些?！?/p>

“你又在跟馬講話了嗎，艾伯特？”隔壁馬廄里傳來一個聲音?！疤彀?，你怎么就覺得它們能聽懂你說的話呢？”

“有的馬可能聽不懂，戴維，”艾伯特說，“但是，總有一天，有一天會有那么一匹馬能聽得懂的。它會到這兒來，它會認出我的聲音。它一定會到這兒來的。到時候你就會看到一匹能聽懂對它說的每句話的馬?！?/p>

“你不會又要開始講你的喬伊了吧？”說話的人一邊說著一邊把頭俯在馬廄的門板上?！澳阌肋h不會放棄是嗎，伯蒂（編注：艾伯特的昵稱）？我都跟你說過上千次了。他們說外頭戰場上差不多有50萬匹馬，而你加入獸醫隊竟然是希望能有機會遇到喬伊?！蔽矣梦业膫扰倭伺俚?，希望能讓艾伯特更仔細地看看我，但他只是拍了拍我的脖子，就開始給我清理?！澳愕膯桃羴淼竭@里的概率只有50萬分之一。你得更現實一點。他有可能死了——很多馬都死了。他也有可能隨著騎兵團去了巴勒斯坦。他有可能在這長達上百英里的戰壕的任何一個地方。如果你不是這么擅長跟馬相處，還有如果你不是我最好的朋友，我簡直會覺得你是想喬伊想得腦子出問題了。”

“等你見到它，你就明白我為什么會這樣了，戴維?！卑匾贿呎f，一邊蹲下身把我肚子上板結的泥塊刮下來?！澳銜靼椎?。世界上沒有哪匹馬像它一樣。它是一匹棗紅馬，紅色的皮毛閃閃發亮，有著黑色的鬃毛和尾巴。前額有一個白色的十字，四蹄雪白，白色延伸到四條腿上的高度分毫不差。他身高超過16手（編注：馬的身高是以“手”為單位。一手就是一個手掌的寬度），從頭到尾都無可挑剔。我可以告訴你，我告訴你，你一看到就知道是它。我能從上千匹馬里找到它。它就是有特別之處。尼科爾斯上尉，你知道的，他已經犧牲了。我跟你講過的，就是從我父親手里買走喬伊的那個人，他給我寄過喬伊的畫——他都懂得。他第一眼看到喬伊的時候就看出來了。我會找到它的，戴維。我大老遠來這里就是為了找到它，我一定會找到他的。不是我找到它，就是它找到我。我跟你說，我答應過它，我一定會做到?！?/p>

“你真是個瘋子，伯蒂，”他的朋友邊說邊打開馬廄的門過來檢查我的腿。“真是個瘋子，我沒別的可說了。”他抓住我的蹄子輕輕地抬起來。“這家伙前腿也是白的——又是泥又是血的，我也只能看出這么多了。我來幫你擦一下它的傷口，清理一下，不然你絕對沒法及時清理干凈這家伙。我已經清理完我的馬廄了，剩下的活也不多了，你看起來也正需要一個幫手。那個大嗓門的老中士不會介意的，只要我把他讓我做的事情都做完，而我已經做完了?！?/p>

兩人開始不知疲倦地給我清理，又是刮又是刷又是洗的。我一動不動地站著，只是試著用鼻子蹭蹭艾伯特，想讓他轉身看看我。但是他正忙著清理我的尾巴和臀部。

“三個，”他朋友說，剛洗干凈我的另一只蹄子?！叭齻€白色蹄子?！?/p>

“行了，戴維，”艾伯特說，“我知道你在想什么。我知道所有人都覺得我永遠都不可能找到它。四蹄雪白的戰馬有上千匹——這我都知道，但只有一匹前額上閃耀著十字形的花紋。有多少馬的毛發會在夕陽中閃閃發亮，仿若火焰呢？我告訴你，沒有一匹馬會和它一樣，全世界都沒有第二匹那樣的馬。”

“四個了，”戴維說，“四條腿，四個白色蹄子?，F在就差前額上的十字了，你再往這匹沾滿泥巴的馬身上潑上紅漆，你就能看到你的喬伊站在這兒了?！?/p>

“別開玩笑，”艾伯特靜靜地說，“戴維，別開玩笑。你知道我對喬伊的事有多認真。我要找到它，這對我是最重要的。它是我在參戰前唯一的朋友。我跟你說過，我是跟它一起長大的，真的，它是我在這個世界上唯一親近的朋友。”

這時戴維站在了我的頭旁邊。他撩起我的鬃毛，先是輕輕地接著用力地刷著我的前額，把塵土從我眼睛上吹掉。他細細端詳了我一會兒，又開始一直向下朝著我的鼻梁末端刷去，然后又向上在我的兩耳之間刷來刷去，直到我不耐煩地甩甩頭。

“伯蒂，”他低聲說，“我沒在開玩笑，真的沒有，這會兒才不會逗你。你剛才說你的喬伊四蹄雪白，白色的高度在四條腿上都一樣是嗎？”

“是的。”艾伯特說，一邊繼續刷我的尾巴。

“你還提到喬伊前額上有個白色十字？”

“對?！卑厝耘f漫不經心地答道。

“好了，我以前可從來沒見過那樣的馬，伯蒂，”戴維說，一邊用手捋順我額上的鬃毛，“從來沒想過有這樣的可能?！?/p>

1. stable [?ste?bl] n. 馬廄，馬棚

2. boom [bu?m] v. 用深沉、洪亮的聲音說，以低沉有回響的聲音發出

3. Major [?me?d??（r）] n. 英國陸軍（或海軍陸戰隊）少校

4. thundering [?θ?nd?（r）??] adv. <口>非常，極

5. tremor [?trem?（r）] n. 顫抖；激動

6. cobble [?k?bl] n. 鵝卵石

7. jumpy [?d??mpi] adj. 易受驚的；緊張不安的

8. on the off chance： 抱著一線希望；僥幸一試，碰運氣

9. trench [trent?] n. 戰壕

10. crazy as a loon： <美俚>完全瘋狂的

11. hoof [hu?f] n. （牛、馬等的）蹄

12. sponge [sp?nd?] vt. 用海綿（或類似物）擦掉，抹去

13. muck out： <口>打掃馬廄（或豬欄等）；給（馬、豬等）清除糞便

14. nuzzle [?n?zl] vt. （用鼻、嘴等）挨擦

15. hindquarters [?ha?nd?kw??t?z] n. 【復】（動物的）后腿；后腿和臀部

賞析

馬在中國傳統文化中是一個很重要的意象。項羽之烏雅、呂布之赤兔、劉備之的盧，在帝王將相的故事里，常常躍動著諸多良馬的身影；“想當年，金戈鐵馬，氣吞萬里如虎”，在無數文人的壯志酬籌中，也總少不了策馬沙場的情懷。馬在西方文化中同樣如此：從亞歷山大大帝的東征西戰到拿破侖的馳騁歐洲，從象征著忠誠榮耀的中世紀騎士到詮釋著自由豪放的美國西部牛仔，馬在每一幅充滿英雄主義色彩的歷史畫卷中都占有一席之地。古往今來，人們歌頌著馬的力量與忠義，也渴望著像千里馬一樣被慧眼所識。然而，在英國桂冠作家麥克·莫波格的小說《戰馬》中，以及在英國皇家劇院和美國知名導演斯皮爾伯格分別據此改編的同名舞臺劇與電影里，人們在這匹叫做喬伊的戰馬身上，感受到的卻是另外一種情愫，一種距離英雄偉業甚遠，卻離平常人心更近的溫暖與感動。

時間回溯到第一次世界大戰前夕，1914年。在英國德文郡鄉下的一個農場，13歲的男孩艾伯特第一次在自家馬廄里見到了剛剛6個月大的小馬駒喬伊。艾伯特和喬伊一起快樂地成長，彼此默契無間，建立起愈來愈親密的關系。因為父親的逼迫，艾伯特還在一周內訓練喬伊學會了犁地的本事。雖然農活不算輕松，但能和艾伯特一起享受靜謐的田園時光，對喬伊來說就宛如天堂了。然而，戰爭打破了他們的平靜生活。艾伯特的父親為了保住瀕臨破產的農場，把喬伊賣給了軍隊。傷心欲絕的艾伯特與小伙伴告別，并發誓“無論你在哪里，我一定會找到你”。

離開德文郡奔赴軍營后，喬伊的命運就不斷發生著翻天覆地的變化：它與另外一匹叫托普桑的戰馬一同分配到法國戰場，在第一次戰役中，買下喬伊的尼克爾斯上校就陣亡在德軍的機關槍下。后來，喬伊和托普桑被德軍所俘，它們當過救護車，也運送過彈藥。不幸的是，在接連不斷的無情炮火之下，原本健壯的托普桑因過度勞累和食物短缺最終死亡。正當喬伊為失去最好的朋友而悲慟時，突然遭到坦克襲擊，受驚的喬伊在恐懼與迷茫中穿越鐵絲網密集的無人區，最終回到英軍的營地。

傷痕累累的喬伊被送到獸醫站，不料竟神奇般地與小主人艾伯特重逢。選段描寫的正是艾伯特為喬伊擦洗身上的泥漬和血跡，卻尚未認出眼前這匹英勇的戰馬正是自己兒時伙伴的情形。這一堪比奇跡的重逢自然也預示著其后的皆大歡喜：喬伊在艾伯特的精心照料下逐漸康復，戰爭結束后也跟隨主人回到過去的伊甸園中。這段發生在一匹馬和一個男孩之間的傳奇友誼以這樣一種充滿溫情和完滿的方式結尾，慰藉著萬千讀者的心靈。

眾所周知，一戰之慘烈在人類歷史上前所未有，但小說直接描寫戰爭場面的卻只是寥寥數筆，作者莫波格對戰爭的反思更多則是通過喬伊的視角來呈現的。然而，在這場滿目瘡痍的災難中，在人類的信念和希望幾乎被摧毀殆盡的時刻，有些美好的事物卻從未消逝，例如人與馬之間的關系，這也是小說著墨最濃之處。艾伯特與喬伊之間的情誼自不消說，還有給喬伊畫肖像的尼克爾斯上校，給喬伊讀家信的騎兵沃倫，精心呵護托普桑的“瘋老頭兒”弗里德里克，為喬伊和托普桑祈禱的小女孩埃米莉……他們將馬兒視作高貴而充滿靈性的生物，竭盡全力保護著它們，甚至還把它們當作真正的朋友，對其推心置腹。毫無疑問這些正是人性閃耀的時刻，正如法國思想家蒙田所言：“對別人的善良的信任，足以證明自己的善良。”盡管戰爭奪走了所有這些人的生命，但卻并未讓他們變成和槍炮坦克一樣麻木冰冷的行尸走肉，這或許正是莫波格希望傳遞給讀者的溫暖與希望——無論身處怎樣的絕望之境，人性之善都不可被扭曲，無法被剝奪，也注定會勝利。

除了人與馬之間的關系，小說中也刻畫了馬與馬、人與人之間的真摯情感。在農場時，喬伊和老馬喬伊彼此陪伴；在戰場上，喬伊和托普桑相依為命——它們總是無條件信任并熱愛著彼此，沒有任何爭執、嫉妒和仇恨。人與人的關系就復雜許多，但總有那么一些瞬間，讓你相信人與人也可以像馬兒一樣和平相處。當滿身傷痕的喬伊置身無人區中，穿著土黃色制服的英國士兵與穿著灰色制服的德國士兵同時來到喬伊身邊，希望將它解救出去。而這一次，雙方化解矛盾的辦法是扔硬幣，然后在英國士兵帶走喬伊后兩人互道珍重，各自離開。這一幕如此感人，幾乎可視為小說中謳歌人性的最強音：別忘記你我本來的善良，哪怕只是星星點點。當我們對萬物生靈報之以柔軟的愛意，所有分歧都會殊途同歸，即使是在戰爭的廢墟之上，我們依舊能重塑起人類趨于至善的信心。