The Novel Tale of a Paperback 藏在平裝小說里的故事

何遠遠

一本好書往往因引人入勝的故事而令人愛不釋手，而你有沒有想過書籍本身？它輾轉經過幾任主人的手，多多少少會留下些痕跡。也許，書中有著前任主人隨手夾進去的發票；也許，留白處留著某位讀者草草寫下的幾筆感想；也許，某一頁的邊角還被折著沒有展開……這些細微的痕跡本身就是美好的故事情節，而你的想象則是串起它們的線索。

Sometimes a book is more than just a book.

Consider the novel in which I am engrossed2 at the moment， a story set in Britain and India in the 19th century. It was written in English by an Indian author who now lives in Denmark， and although the paperback edition Im holding was published in New Delhi four years ago， I （an American） purchased it recently from a secondhand bookshop in Tokyo.3

Thats quite a history already. But theres more.

The novel is a tale of myriad mysteries， all expertly woven into a seamless narrative by a very skillful author.4 Yet my particular copy presents even more mysteries than those embodied5 in the books plot and characters.

One summer morning in the year of my paperbacks publication—on July 15， 2012， to be precise—someone else was thumbing through it while eating breakfast in a restaurant in Colaba， the southernmost district of Mumbai.6

I know this because I found a bookmark inside： a receipt for an omelet and caffè latte.7 I know that the bill—286 rupees—was paid at 10：26 a.m.， and I know which Indian bank issued the credit card used in the transaction.8 I even know the name of the waiter who served the meal： Raymond.

That， in itself， is interesting. But I also discovered that the owner of the paperback immediately9 before me was not the person in that Colaba restaurant that July.

In fact， the owner before me was not Indian at all， but Japanese.

I know this because throughout the books first 83 pages are handwritten notes in Japanese—translations of English words with which the reader was unfamiliar.10

Japanese being a language of characters， not letters， it is not easy to determine11 if the note writer was a man or a woman. But the crispness and clarity of the calligraphy and the care taken to inscribe the translations neatly in the limited spaces available on each page all bespeak a womans hand.12

So let us agree that it is a woman. What can we say of her？ Well educated， clearly， and sufficiently fluent in English to feel adequate to the challenge of reading a novel written in a language other than her own.13 Probably young， or at least young enough to possess the discipline14 of a university student—someone who would keep a dictionary at hand while reading a novel.

But there are oddities15 here， too.

How did this young woman know the meaning of certain English words and phrases without having to research them？ Although she looked up translations for “wharf，” “deportment，” “decapitation，” and “bluster，” for example， she did not require her dictionary to understand “accrete，” “languor，” “squalid，” or “burlap”—words that are hardly in common usage.16

And why， after devoting so much effort to17 determining the meaning of so many words， did she suddenly stop？ The last translation in my paperback—ironically， the Japanese characters for the word “tenacity”18—appears on Page 83， less than a third of the way through the novel.

After that， nothing.

Did she give up because the book was proving too difficult？ Did it demand too much of her time？ Did her life circumstances change？ A new job， perhaps？ Or the birth of a baby？ Did she simply lose interest？ Or was there some other reason？

I am left with a raft of riddles.19 Who was the original owner of this book， eating an omelet and sipping20 a latte in a Colaba restaurant that summer morning in 2012？ How did this paperback get to Tokyo from Mumbai？ Who was the Japanese owner who dutifully looked up the words she didnt know and wrote them down， to add to what was already a prodigious vocabulary？21 And why did she stop reading the book long before she had finished it？

I would love to find the answers， because I feel a connection with my fellow22 readers. After all， the three of us were captivated by the same story， and at least one of us made a herculean effort to understand it.23 But I suspect I never shall.

Many a novel presents enigmas24， all of which are resolved by the end of the tale. The enigmas presented by my little paperback， however， defy resolution.25 They leave me to ponder endlessly the puzzles they embody—mysteries expertly woven into a seamless narrative， not by a skillful writer， but this time by the numberless vagaries of life itself.26

1. paperback： 平裝書，簡裝書。

2. be engrossed in： 全神貫注于。

3. Denmark： 丹麥；New Delhi： 新德里，印度首都；second-hand： 賣舊貨的。

4. myriad： 大量的，各種各樣的；mystery： 神秘的事物，難懂的事物；expertly： 熟練地，高超地；weave： 將（素材等）編入（故事或設計中）； seamless： 連貫的，流暢自然的；narrative： 故事，敘事。

5. embody： 包含，包括。

6. publication： 出版，發行； thumb through： 匆匆翻閱，瀏覽（書籍或雜志）；Mumbai： 孟買，印度城市。

7. bookmark： 書簽；receipt： 收據，收條；omelet： 煎蛋卷。

8. bill： 賬單；rupee： 盧比（印度、巴基斯坦等國的貨幣單位）；issue：（正式）發給，供給；credit card： 信用卡；transaction： 交易，業務。

9. immediately： 緊接地，臨靠地。