校長的妻子

托馬斯·克里斯多夫·格林（Thomas Christopher Greene，1968—），美國小說家，出生于馬薩諸塞州的伍斯特市。迄今為止，格林一共出版了四本小說，分別是：《Mirror Lake》（2003）、《I’ll Never Be Long Gone》（2005）、《Envious Moon》（2007）及《The Headmaster’s Wife》（2014）。格林的小說曾被譯為13種語言在多個國家發行暢銷，更是多次被提名愛爾蘭都柏林文學獎。

本期黃金書屋推薦選段節選自《校長的妻子》開篇第一章，如若說此書有何特別之處，不得不提的便是它的敘述手法。本書共有三個部分：《Acrimony》、《Expectations 》及《After》，有趣的是，它雖被劃分為三個部分，講述的卻是相同的故事，唯一的不同點在于敘述者之間差異巨大的立場。如此一來，此書帶給我們的不單單是一場故事大雜燴，它還告訴我們任何人都有可能打破你心中的理所當然。

《校長的妻子》主要講述了一個關于婚姻和愛情的故事：在某個冬日清晨，在中央公園忽然開始裸走的校長亞瑟向警察講述起自己的故事，由于其戀上一個新轉來的學生貝琪·帕帕斯而導致了自己與妻子伊麗莎白的婚姻破裂，自己的兒子伊桑長大后則選擇參軍并遠赴伊拉克反恐來逃避面對破碎的家庭……在各種書籍、電視節目以及電影中，我們都不難聽聞各路人馬講述的婚姻保衛守則，而讀完此書后，小編的腦海里只縈繞著一個英文“成語”——“no zuo no die”。確實如此，海闊憑魚躍，天高任你作，只是作完之后，不還是得“撫今追昔、滿目瘡痍”？

He arrives at the park by walking down Central Park West and then entering through the opening at West Seventy-seventh Street. This is in the winter. It is early morning， and the sun is little more than an orangey haze behind heavy clouds in the east. Light snow flurries fill the air. There are not many people out， a few runner and women bundled against the cold pushing 1）strollers.

He walks down the 2）asphalt 3）drive and when he reaches a path with a small wooden footbridge he stops for a moment， and it is there somewhere， a snatch of memory， but he can not reach it. An elderly couple comes toward him， out for their morning walk. The man gives him a hearty good morning but he looks right through him. What is it he remembers？ It is something beautiful， he is sure of it， but it 4）eludes him like so many things seem to do nowadays.

If he could access it， what he would see was a day twenty years earlier， in this same spot. Though it was not winter， but a bright fall day， the maples bleeding red， and he is not alone. Elizabeth is here， as is his son， Ethan. They had gone to the museum and then had lunch before coming into the park. Ethan’s first trip to New York， and he is five， and though he loved the museum with its giant dinosaur skeletons， it is the park that draws his attention. The day could not be more glorious. Seasonably warm and without a cloud in the sky： a magical Manhattan day.

Ethan runs ahead of them on the path. His wife takes his arm， leans into him. He looks down and smiles at her. They don’t need to speak， for they are both drinking in the moment， the day， the happiness of their boy， and the gift of this experience. There is no reason to give it words.

Ethan finds a 5）gnarled tree on the side of the path， one that grows horizontally just a foot or so above the ground. H e i m m e d i a t e l y climbs up on top of it， 6）shimmying his little body over its trunk， and the two of them sit on a bench a few feet away and watch him.

A couple of times they suggest they should keep walking， but the boy will not have it. He has found a tree perfectly suited for him and he demands in the way that children do that he be watched， admired， and studied as he climbs it one way， then the other. And this is okay， for they are in no rush. It is a small moment， but a perfect one. The child is right： Where else would they rather be？ What could be more complete？

Now， standing on the same path， with the snow picking up and falling more steadily around him， he gives up trying to find this memory and instead focuses on the snow， tracing individual flakes as they come in front of his field of vision and then disappear. He is alone suddenly. There is no one walking in either direction. The park is his. He takes off his hat and places it on the ground. Then he removes his jacket. Next he undoes his tie and then his shirt and his undershirt. Soon he is naked， and he sets off again， leaving his clothes in a neat pile on the path， and he moves up and over the hilly terrain， his eyes straight ahead， oblivious to the people who 7）gasp when they come around a corner to find him marching toward them. All that matters to him is the feel of his bare feet 8）crunching wonderfully on the crusty snow beneath him.

他沿著中央公園西大道走到了公園，然后從西77街的公園門走了進去。此時正是冬天。正值清晨，太陽在東邊濃云的遮蔽下只不過透出一片橘色的朦朧。