所有東西都粘到他身上了

正如前一篇“詩·樂園”的評論所述，美國作家雷蒙德·卡佛一生作品中詩歌和小說都非常出彩，尤其是他的小說更為他贏得了“美國二十世紀下半葉最重要的小說家”和小說界“簡約主義”大師的美譽，甚至有人認為他是“繼海明威之后美國最具影響力的短篇小說作家”。盡管在中國國內，卡佛的知名度還不算太高，但他的文風和語言深刻影響了王朔、蘇童、李洱等中國作家。而廣受中國讀者喜愛的日本作家村上春樹更視卡佛為偶像，他的暢銷書《當我談跑步時我談些什么》便深深烙上了向偶像致敬的痕跡。

本文就是卡佛的短篇小說集《當我們談論愛情時我們在談論什么》中的一篇。文中提及的主人公早婚、艱難謀生的境況，與19歲就結婚、年紀輕輕就挑起家庭重任的卡佛似乎有很多共通之處。要了解這位文學大師，領略卡佛的文字風格和寫作技巧，此文絕對是十分值得一讀的作品。

She put a plate in front of him with bacon， a waffle. He spread butter and poured 21)syrup. But when he started to cut， he turned the plate into his lap.

I don’t believe it， he said， jumping up from the table.

If you could see yourself， the girl said.

The boy looked down at himself， at everything stuck to his underwear.

I was starved， he said， shaking his head.

You were starved， she said， laughing.

He peeled off the woolen underwear and threw it at the bathroom door. Then he opened his arms and the girl moved into them.

We won’t fight anymore， she said.

The boy said， We won’t.

He gets up from his chair and refills their glasses.

That’s it， he says. End of story. I admit it’s not much of a story.

I was interested， she says.

He shrugs and carries his drink over to the window. It’s dark now but still snowing.

Things change， he says. I don’t know how they do. But they do without your realizing it or wanting them to.

Yes， that’s true， only—But she does not finish what she started.

She drops the subject. In the window’s reflection he sees her study her nails. Then she raises her head. Speaking brightly， she asks if he is going to show her the city， after all.

He says， Put your boots on and let’s go.

But he stays by the window， remembering. They had laughed. They had leaned on each other and laughed until the tears had come， while everything else—the cold， and where he’d go in it—was outside， for a while anyway.

她在他面前放了個盤子，上面有咸肉和一塊華夫餅。他往上面抹上黃油，澆上糖漿。但當他開始切餅的時候，卻把盤子打翻到了腿上。

真沒想到會這樣，他說著從桌子旁跳了起來。

看看你自己這個樣子，女孩說。

男孩低下頭看著自己，看到所有東西都粘在他的內衣上面了。

我餓壞了，他說道，一邊搖著頭。

你是餓壞了，她說，哈哈大笑起來。

他扒下羊毛內衣，往浴室門那兒一扔，然后張開雙臂，女孩鉆了進來。

我們再也不吵架了，她說。

男孩說，不吵了。

他從椅子上站了起來，把他們的酒杯重新倒滿。……