平凡的簡

張玲

Like many book-lovers I am sure， I find that I can look back on my life and recognise certain books which helped to shape the person I am now， and certain characters who remained with me long after reading the final page. Among these， it would be impossible not to include Jane Eyre. What stood out to me at 12 years old， when I first encountered the character Jane， was a certain quality which I shared， but which I had never seen in any great literary figure before.

She was strong， good， witty， intelligent and brave， and yet she was repeatedly overlooked by the majority of the other characters in Charlotte Bront?s novel. Why？ She was an introvert.

From the readers perspective， we bear witness to1） Janes innermost thoughts and are carried2） by the depth of her passions. But these are emotions which she rarely shows to those around her and as a result， she is a constant victim of prejudice and is brushed aside3） by all but a select few.

I loved， and still love， that Bront? chose to put a character like Jane at the centre of her novel. All of our emotions， as readers， are pinned onto her—an introvert whose personality we love and get to know so closely. When I first read Jane Eyre， I was not only introverted， but painfully shy in addition， and very much accustomed to the general presumption made by those who didnt know me well， that I simply lacked personality.

I still recall a well-intended but somewhat backhanded4） compliment I received after playing an impassioned role in a middle school drama performance. A classmate informed me， with no sense of irony whatsoever， that for someone so quiet I had a lot of feelings. By this point in time， I was fairly used to being met with surprise whenever I displayed vaguely strong emotions or voiced an opinion. More than anything else， the comment merely amused me.

Still， reading Jane Eyre for the first time， I remember the sense of joy and reassurance in discovering that there was a place in literature—and a significant one at that—for people like me. I remember the thrill of hearing Jane defend her impoverished background and protest her rich and beautiful personality. She asserts her equality with Mr. Rochester， not through her meager social standing， but in heart and absolute spirit： “Do you think I am an automaton？—a machine without feelings？ Do you think， because I am poor， obscure， plain， and little， I am soulless and heartless？ You think wrong！—I have as much soul as you—and full as much heart！”

In Jane， I also found hope， as although the majority overlook her， she does meet those who are willing to get to know her， are interested in， and ultimately love her for who she is： Helen Burns， the Rivers sisters， and of course Mr. Rochester， who in Janes words was， “the first to recognise me， and to love what he saw.” These are meaningful and fruitful relationships， and all the more so5） because of the nature of her personality.

She inspired me because although she is quiet， she is by no means a pushover6）. She is daring in her integrity， standing up for herself and for her moral values in the face of opposition and adversity. And she is a gentle reminder to the world that even the small and downtrodden7） can have personalities and passions of depth and fire.

我相信自己跟許多愛書之人一樣，回首走過的人生之路時，發現自己總能記起某些特定的書，它們助我成為現在的我；我也總能想起書中某些特定的人物，他們在我讀完書許多年后依然與我如影隨形。這些人物中，不可能沒有簡·愛。當我12歲第一次遇到簡這個人物時，讓我印象最深的是簡身上的一種特質，這種特質我身上也有，但我以前從未在任何偉大的文學人物身上看到過。

簡堅強、善良、風趣、聰明且勇敢，可在夏洛蒂·勃朗特的這部小說中，她卻一再被其他大多數人物忽視。為什么？因為她性格內向。

站在讀者的角度，我們見證了簡內心最深處的想法，被她強烈的情感所感染。但是她卻很少在身邊的人面前流露這些情感，所以她常遭受偏見，除了少數幾個有見地的人，其他人都漠視她。

我以前很喜歡——現在也是——勃朗特選擇將簡這樣一位人物作為她小說的主角。作為讀者，我們所有的感情都系于她——一個性格內向的人——身上，我們愛她的個性，且能如此近距離地了解她的個性。第一次讀《簡·愛》時，我不僅性格內向，還極其靦腆，那些不怎么了解我的人普遍覺得我缺少個性，而我對此推測很是習以為常。

我還記得在中學的一次戲劇表演中，我扮演了一個充滿激情的角色，這之后我收到了一份出于好意但卻帶有幾分挖苦味道的稱贊。一個同學語氣不帶一絲諷刺地對我說，沒想到我如此安靜的一個人有這么豐富的情感。每當我稍微表現出強烈的感情或者表達自己的意見時，都會遭遇別人驚訝的反應，那時我早已對此習以為常。最重要的是，對這位同學的話，我僅僅覺得好笑而已。

不過我還記得第一次讀《簡·愛》時感受到的快樂和安慰，因為我發現在文學作品中還有一個位置——在這部作品中還是一個舉足輕重的位置——留給像我一樣的人。我還記得聽到簡為自己的貧寒出身辯護，為自己豐富而美好的個性申辯時，我心中感受到的激動。她宣稱自己和羅徹斯特先生是平等的，不是說她低微的社會地位，而是心靈和純粹的精神上的平等：“你以為我是一臺機器嗎？一臺沒有感情的機器？你以為，就因為我貧窮、低微、平凡、渺小，我就沒有靈魂，沒有感情嗎？你想錯了！——我和你擁有同樣的靈魂，同樣完整的感情！”

在簡身上，我還看到了希望，盡管大多數人都忽視她，但是她的確遇到了那些愿意了解她、關注她以及最終愛上真實的她的人：海倫·伯恩斯、瑞弗姐妹，當然還有羅徹斯特先生。用簡的話說，羅切斯特先生是“第一個認可我、愛上他所看到的我的人”。與這些人的關系富有意義并結出了累累果實，而簡的個性特點使得這一點尤為明顯。

簡激勵了我，因為盡管她性格文靜，但她決不是一個輕易被擊敗的人。她勇敢正直，面對敵意和逆境時，她維護并堅守自己的道德價值觀。她用一種委婉的方式提醒世人，即便最渺小、最卑微的人也可以有自己的個性以及深邃的、火一般的激情。