墳場之書

The Graveyard Book

尼爾·蓋曼（Neil Gaiman， 1960—）是一位移居美國的英國當代奇幻、科幻小說大師，被無數人視為新一代幻想文學的代表，連斯蒂芬·金（Stephen King）也對其贊譽有加，稱其為“故事寶庫”。蓋曼獲獎的小說不在少數，作品也是部部暢銷。這部2008年出版的《墳場之書》（又譯作《墓園里的男孩》）收獲了紐伯瑞大獎、雨果獎等獎項，并入圍世界奇幻文學獎。

盡管類別歸屬于兒童奇幻文學，《墳場之書》卻有著一大批青少年和成人讀者。這么一個不親切的書名，讓人瞬間想起那部講述死后審判的《亞尼的死者之書》。但這確確實實是一部講述愛與溫暖、童年與冒險的成長小說。故事講述一個小嬰兒逃離殺手魔掌來到墓地，被一群鬼魂撫養長大，而最后卻不得不離開，獨自回到人的世界的經歷。故事由八個章節組成，每個章節又可以看作是一個獨立的冒險故事。這里除了幽靈，還有吸血鬼、三頭怪獸、食尸鬼和女巫，盡管聽來兇惡，但他們大都懷揣著一顆溫柔的心。本文節選自小說第四章《女巫的墓碑》。小說出版前，這一章也曾作為獨立中篇小說收錄在作者蓋曼的選集《M代表魔法》（M Is for Magic）和杰克·丹恩（Jack Dann）等人選編的《巫師：現代奇幻小說大師的魔法故事》（Wizards ： Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy）中，并入選2008年度軌跡獎最佳中篇奇幻小說（Locus Award for Best Novelette）。本期選段為故事主人公諾伯蒂（Nobody）從蘋果樹上摔下，落到“禁忌之地”——埋葬著有罪之人和女巫的“制陶人之地”，并遇到女巫……

The Graveyard Book

He turned his head， looked up and behind him. She was older than him， but not a grown-up， and she looked neither friendly nor unfriendly. Wary， mostly. She had a face that was intelligent and not even a little bit beautiful.

“I’m Bod，” he said.

“The live boy？”she asked.

Bod nodded.

“I thought you must be，” she said.“We’ve heard of you， even over here， in the Potter’s Field. What do they call you？”

“Owens，” he said.“Nobody Owens. Bod， for short.”

“1）How-de-do， young Master Bod.”

Bod looked her up and down. She wore a plain white 2）shift. Her hair was 3）mousy and long， and there was something of the 4）goblin in her face—a sideways hint of a smile that seemed to 5）linger， no matter what the rest of her face was doing.

“Were you a suicide？” he asked. “Did you steal a shilling？”

“Never stole 6）nuffink，” she said， “Not even a handkerchief. Anyway，” she said， 7）pertly， “the suicides is all over there， on the other side of that 8）hawthorn， and the 9）gallows birds are in the blackberry-patch， both of them. One was a coiner， 10）t’other a 11）highwayman， or so he says， although if you ask me I doubt he was more than a common 12）footpad and nightwalker.”

“Ah，” said Bod. Then， suspicion forming， 13）tentatively， he said， “They say a witch is buried here.”

She nodded. “14）Drownded and burnded and buried here without as much as a stone to mark the spot.”

“You were drowned and burned？”

She settled down on the hill of grass-cuttings beside him， and held his 15）throbbing leg with her chilly hands. “They come to my little cottage at dawn， before I’m proper awake， and drags me out onto the Green. ‘You’re a witch！’ they shouts， fat and fresh scrubbed all pink in the morning， like so many 16）pigwiggins scrubbed clean for market day. One by one they gets up beneath the sky and tells of milk gone sour and horses gone lame， and finally Mistress Jemima gets up， the fattest， pinkest， best-scrubbed of them all， and tells how as Solomon Porritt now 17）cuts her dead and instead hangs around the washhouse like a wasp about a honeypot， and it’s all my magic， says she， that made him so and the poor young man must be 18）bespelled. So they strap me to the 19）cucking stool and forces it under the water of the 20）duckpond， saying if I’m a witch I’ll neither drown nor care， but if I am not a witch I’ll feel it. And Mistress Jemima’s father gives them each a silver 21）groat to hold the stool down under the foul green water for a long time， to see if I’d choke on it.”

“And did you？”

“Oh yes. Got a lungful of water. It 22）done for me.”

“Oh，” said Bod. “Then you weren’t a witch after all.”

The girl fixed him with her beady ghost-eyes and smiled a 23）lopsided smile. She still looked like a goblin， but now she looked like a pretty goblin， and Bod didn’t think she would have needed magic to attract Solomon Porritt， not with a smile like that.“What nonsense. Of course I was a witch. They learned that when they untied me from the cucking stool and stretched me on the Green， nine-parts dead and all covered with duckweed and stinking pond-muck. I rolled my eyes back in my head， and I cursed each and every one of them there on the village Green that morning， that none of them would ever rest easily in a grave. I was surprised at how easily it came， the cursing. Like dancing it was， when your feet pick up the steps of a new 24）measure your ears have never heard and your head don’t know， and they dance it till dawn.”She stood， and 25）twirled， and kicked， and her bare feet flashed in the moonlight. “That was how I cursed them， with my last 26）gurgling pond-watery breath. And then I 27）expired. They burned my body on the Green until I was nothing but blackened 28）charcoal， and they popped me in a hole in the Potter’s Field without so much as a headstone to mark my name.” And it was only then that she paused， and seemed， for a moment， 29）wistful.

他扭過頭，仰頸往背后看去。她年齡比他大，但還不是成年人。她看上去不是很友好，卻也沒什么敵意。