你向往烏托邦世界嗎
——《記憶傳授人》賞析

文 /曉 菲

◆原作節選◆

Jonas felt nothing unusual at first.He felt only the light touch of the old man’s hands on his back.

He tried to relax,to breathe evenly（均勻地）.Then he shivered.He realized that the touch of the hands felt,suddenly,cold.Atthe same instant,breathing in,he felt the air change,and his very breath was cold.He licked（舔）his lips,and in doing so,his tongue touched the suddenly chilled（冰冷的）air.

It was very startling；but he was not at all frightened,now.He was filled with energy,and he breathed again,feeling the sharp intake of frigid air.Now,too,he could feel cold air swirling（打旋）around his entire body.He felt it blow against his hands where they lay at his sides,and over his back.

起初，喬納思不覺得有什么特別，只感覺到老人的手輕輕地觸摸他的背。

他盡量放松，保持有規律的呼吸。就在這時，他哆嗦了一下。他知道是觸摸他的那只手突然間變冷了。與此同時，他發現吸入的空氣也變得很冷。他舔舔嘴唇，感覺舌頭一陣冰涼。

他大吃一驚，卻一點也不害怕，反而覺得全身上下充滿活力。他再吸一大口氣，讓冰涼的空氣流竄到身體各處。現在，他感覺得到寒冷的空氣在周遭縈繞，拂在他的手上，籠罩在他的背上。

Now he became aware of an entirely new sensation（感覺）：pinpricks？ No,because they were soft and without pain.Tiny,cold,feather like feelings peppered his body and face.He put out his tongue again,and caught one of the dots of cold upon it.It disappeared from his awareness instantly；buthe caught another,and another.

And he could see,though his eyes were closed.He could see a bright,whirling torrent of crystals（結晶體）in the air around him,and he could see them gather on the backs of his hands,like cold fur.

Beyond,through the swirlofwhathe now,somehow,perceived（察覺）was the thing the old man had spoken of— snow — he could look out and down a great distance.He was up high someplace.The ground was thick with the furry snow,buthesat slightly above it on a hard,flat object.

Sled,he knew abruptly（突然地）.He was sitting on a thing called sled（雪橇）.And the sled itself seemed to be poised at the top of a long,extended mound（土堆）that rose from the very land where he was.Even as he thought the word“mound”（土堆）,his new consciousness（意識）told him hill.

Then the sled,with Jonas himself upon it,began to move through the snowfall,and he understood instantly that now he was going downhill.No voice made an explanation.The experience explained itself to him.

His face cut through the frigid air as he began the descent（下降）,moving through the substance called snow on the vehicle called sled, which propelled itself on what he now knew without doubt to be runners.

Comprehending all of those things as he sped downward,he was free to enjoy the breathless glee（歡樂）that overwhelmed him：the speed,the clear cold air,the totalsilence,the feeling ofbalance and excitement and peace.

現在，他有了一種全新的感覺。是針扎嗎？不，針扎不會這樣柔軟又沒有痛楚。細小的、冰冷的、羽毛般的觸感，落在他的身上和臉上。他再伸出舌頭，捕捉一次次寒冷的接觸。那種感覺很快就消失了，但很快又一個接一個地從不同的地方冒出來。

雖然眼睛閉著，他卻看得見景象。他看見四周白茫茫一片，晶瑩、旋轉的結晶體自空中緩緩飄落，聚積在他的手背上，好像一層冰冷的軟毛。

他終于了解老人所說的“雪”是什么東西了。穿透層層雪花，他可以眺望到極遠的地方。他現在身在高處，地上是厚厚的積雪。他因為坐在一個堅硬、平坦的物體上，才讓雪地如此突出。

雪橇，他突然明白了，他正坐在一部雪橇上。他的腳下是蜿蜒地勢的最高點，但雪橇卻安穩地停在上頭。最先閃現在他腦海的是“土堆”這個詞，但是新的知覺告訴他這叫“山丘”。

然后，雪橇載著他穿越紛紛飄落的雪花，往前滑行。喬納思立刻明白自己正在下坡。沒有任何說明，完全是他親身體驗出來的。

當雪橇開始急速下降，冰冷的空氣拂過他的臉龐時，他穿越的物質叫做雪，他腳下的工具叫做雪橇，而推動雪橇前進的就是滑板。他終于完全了解了。他整個人沉浸在喜悅中：速度、清新的冷空氣、完全的靜謐，還有平衡、興奮、祥和的感受。

下降的速度慢慢趨緩，在接近土堆——不對，應該是山丘——的底端時，雪橇前進的速度變慢了，上面也堆滿了雪花。他用身體推動雪橇前進，不想這么快結束這段刺激的旅程。

但是積雪擋住去路，雪橇上的薄滑板再也前進不了，他停了下來。他坐了一會兒，冰冷的手握著繩子，喘著氣。

他試探性地張開眼睛——不是坐雪橇時的眼睛——看見自己躺在床上，動也沒動過。

“我可以問問題嗎？”

老人點點頭，鼓勵他發問。

“為什么雪和其他東西通通不見了呢？”

“因為氣候受到控制的緣故。雪會妨礙農作物生長，限制耕作時間。它那飄忽不定、難以預測的動向還會影響交通，非常不實用，所以在建立同化社區的時候，就被廢除了。”

“山丘也是一樣，”他補充說，“搬運物品的時候，爬山越嶺非常不便，還會減慢卡車、公共汽車的速度，所以也被同化了。”

“先生？”喬納思怯生生地說。

“我還不知道您的大名呢。我本來認為您是記憶傳承人,但是您又說我現在才是記憶傳承人。所以我不知道該怎么稱呼您。”

“就叫我傳授人好了。”

Then,as the angle of incline lessened,as the mound—the hill—flattened,nearing the bottom,the sled’s forward motion slowed.The snow was piled now around it,and he pushed with his body,moving it forward,not wanting the exhilarating ride to end.

Finally the obstruction（障礙物）of the piled snow was too much for the thin runners of the sled,and he came to a stop.He sat there for a moment,panting,holding the rope in his cold hands.He opened his eyes—not his snow-hill-sled eyes,and saw that he was still on the bed,that he had not moved at all.

“Could I ask questions?”

The man nodded,encouraging his question.

“Why don’t we have snow,and sleds,and hills?”he asked.

“Climate Control. Snow made growing food difficult, limited the agricultural periods. And unpredictable（不可預測的）weather made transportation almost impossible at times.It wasn’t a practical thing,so it became obsolete when we went to Sameness.”

“And hills, too,” he added. “They made conveyance of goods unwieldy.Trucks；buses.Slowed them down.So－sameness.”

“Sir?”Jonas said shyly, “It’s just that I don’t know your name.I thought you were The Receiver,but you say that now I’m The Receiver.So I don’t know what to call you.”

The man had sat back down in the comfortable upholstered chair.He moved his shoulders around as ifto ease away an aching sensation.He seemed terribly weary.

“Call me The Giver,”he told Jonas.

1.shiver v.顫抖 2.instant n.瞬間 3.startling adj.令人吃驚的

4.intake v.攝入量 5.frigid adj.嚴寒的 6.pinprick n.針刺

7.pepper v.加胡椒粉 8.whirling adj.旋轉的 9.torrent n.奔流

10.swirl n.漩渦 11.propel v.推進 12.exhilarating adj.令人愉快的

13.obsolete adj.廢棄的 14.conveyance n.運輸工具 15.upholstered adj.經過布置的

◆賞析◆

古希臘哲學家柏拉圖曾替我們勾勒過一個名叫“烏托邦”的世界。“烏托邦”三個字合起來的意思即為“空想的國家”。在那里，財產是公有的，人民是平等的。人與人之間非常默契地本著按需分配的原則，互敬互愛、和睦共處，淡泊名利、遠離矛盾，引得凡夫俗子們好生羨慕。

約莫2000年后，這樣的“空想國家”在作家洛伊絲·勞里筆下再次得以重現。本期推薦的小說《記憶傳授人》（The Giver）則更全面而真實地為我們勾勒出一個完整的烏托邦社區。透過她細膩的文筆，我們共同見證了一個極度完美的社區。這里沒有沖突、貧困、猜疑、不安全感，人們的飲食、職業、婚姻，甚至子女都由社區統一管理和分配。因此，每個人都生活得認認真真、開開心心。每一個家庭都和睦共處，夜不閉戶，非常欣然地享受社區為自己安排的一切。

倘若孩子們在青春發育期產生蒙眬的感情怎么辦？有專門的藥丸讓孩子們回歸理性；他們到了一定的年齡，要邁入社會工作怎么辦？社區通過常年觀察每個孩子的特點，會給他們分配最適合每一個孩子性格特點的工作。如果不是因為男主人公喬納思被選為新一輪的“記憶傳授人”，可能眼前這個看似美好的烏托邦世界永遠都沒有機會被揭開本質。所謂記憶傳授人，就是社區選出來的最有前途的青年。他負責儲存所有其他被淘汰的記憶，比如顏色、愛、戰爭、饑餓、寒冷，甚至死亡。喬納思在上一輩記憶傳授人那里，體會到了從未感知過的情感，進而得知原來眼前的“完美世界”從一開始就剝奪了人類最基本的選擇權利。它讓你沒有機會去愛、去恨、去努力、去爭取、去承受，所以只能心甘情愿地服從安排，順應趨勢。在這個沒有感情的世界中，所有的人性都蕩然無存。而真相被揭開后，善良的喬納思到底應該選擇接受,還是逃離呢？用犧牲情感的代價，去換取和平、寧靜以及永遠與世無爭的心境，到底值不值得？

本期節選的是喬納思第一次感知到“雪”的經歷。雪花的冰冷、雪橇的刺激，卻遠遠抵不過喬納思內心因真相被揭開后受到的震撼。僅僅因為對農作物發展不利，人們就再無機會體會到雪花的純潔與晶瑩，那么活著僅僅就是為了在現實世界來一趟、走一遭嗎？沒有喜怒哀樂、愛恨情仇的紛紛擾擾，是否有資格說自己是“真的活過”這一生呢？

洛伊絲·勞里一定是你能想到的最有天賦的作家之一。1937年3月，她出生于美國夏威夷。因為父親在軍中擔任牙醫，所以一家人也隨著軍隊遷移到世界各地。洛伊絲40歲才開始嘗試完成小時候的夢想——當一名作家。結果卻一鳴驚人，如今她不但是世界知名的作家，還兩次獲得紐伯瑞金牌獎。除了寫作兒童小說、短篇故事，她也撰寫評論、專業的論文。她的寫作素材非常廣泛，風格多樣，有生活幽默小說《阿納斯塔西亞·克魯布尼克》（Anastasia Krupnik）、談戰爭與屠殺的《數星星》（Number the Stars）、描寫未來烏托邦社會的科幻小說《記憶傳授人》（The Giver）等。此外，還有涉及收養、精神疾病、癌癥等議題的20多本著作，她堪稱是一位多才多藝、風格多變的作家。