人生的枷鎖（節選）

威廉·薩默賽特·毛姆

And then he felt the misery of his life. It seemed to his childish mind that this unhappiness must go on for ever. For no particular reason he remembered that cold morning when Emma had taken him out of bed and put him beside his mother. He had not thought of it once since it happened， but now he seemed to feel the warmth of his mothers body against his and her arms around him. Suddenly it seemed to him that his life was a dream， his mothers death， and the life at the vicarage， and these two wretched days at school， and he would awake in the morning and be back again at home. His tears dried as he thought of it. He was too unhappy， it must be nothing but a dream， and his mother was alive， and Emma would come up presently and go to bed. He fell asleep.

But when he awoke next morning it was to the clanging of a bell， and the first thing his eyes saw was the green curtain of his cubicle.

此時，他感受到了生活道路上的凄風苦雨。在他這個人生才剛開始的小孩看來，今后準是苦海無邊的了。不知怎么地，他忽然想起那個寒冷的早晨，埃瑪怎樣將他從床上抱到媽媽身邊。打那以后，他再未回想過那番情景；但是此刻，他似乎又感受到偎依在母親懷里的那股暖意。他頓時覺得，自己所經歷的一切，他母親的溘然辭世，牧師公館里的生活，還有這兩天在學校的不幸遭遇，恍若一場幻夢；而明天一早醒來，自己又在家里了。菲利普想著想著，眼淚漸漸干了。他委實太不幸了，這一切想必是場幻夢；他母親還活著，埃瑪一會兒就會上樓來睡覺的。他睡著了。

然而第二天早晨，他依舊在叮叮當當的鈴聲中愕然醒來，最先躍入眼簾的還是他小臥室里的那幅綠色門簾。

【作品簡介】

《人生的枷鎖》是毛姆的代表作之一。小說主人公菲利普·凱里自幼父母雙亡，不幸又先天殘疾，在冷漠而陌生的環境中度過了童年，性格因此孤僻而敏感。在寄宿學校度過的歲月讓他飽受不合理的學校制度的摧殘，而當他走入社會后，又在愛情上歷經了傷痛。在坎坷的人生道路上，他每跨一步，都要付出艱辛，但思想和個性都獨立不羈的凱里，一直努力掙脫宗教和小市民意識的桎梏，力圖在混沌紛擾的生活漩流中，尋求人生的真諦。

Word Study

misery /m?z?r?/ n. 痛苦；悲慘

Fame brought him nothing but misery.

wretched /ret??d/ adj. 惡劣的；不愉快的

She had a wretched time of it at school.endprint