by John Boyne

本文節(jié)選自愛爾蘭新銳作家約翰·伯恩2006年出版的小說——《穿條紋睡衣的男孩》。反映二戰(zhàn)題材的書籍有不少，或激烈，或偏執(zhí)，視角各異，有的以宏大著稱，有的以奇詭出位，但是以一個孩童的視角來引領(lǐng)讀者再次審視那次戰(zhàn)爭的書籍，可謂沒有之一。書中講述一個8歲男孩布魯諾一家隨著納粹軍官父親的一紙調(diào)令，由柏林遷至鄉(xiāng)下。失去朋友們的布魯諾很快對新家附近的“農(nóng)莊”產(chǎn)生興趣，那里有一群身穿“條紋睡衣”的人終日忙碌。布魯諾的舉止讓母親暗暗擔(dān)憂，但納粹父親制止家中任何懷疑既定政策的行為。布魯諾偷偷結(jié)識了鐵絲網(wǎng)另一邊的同齡男孩希姆爾，在緊張的家庭氛圍和姐姐向成人世界的變化中，希姆爾是布魯諾惟一的朋友。某日布魯諾決定去鐵絲網(wǎng)的另一邊，換上“條紋睡衣”以便幫助希姆爾找到父親，不料卻釀造了一場悲劇。

這部圍繞著奧斯維辛猶太人集中營的文學(xué)作品在出版后立馬引起轟動，它不但成為《紐約時報》書榜的暢銷書，并且榮登歐洲許多國家的暢銷書排行榜的首位。而小說先后獲得的獎項更是遍布多個國家，并被翻譯成20多種文字在世界各地上市。約翰·伯恩的這部作品更是在2008年被導(dǎo)演馬克·赫曼改編為同名電影《穿條紋睡衣的男孩》，通過鏡頭再現(xiàn)了那些殺戮和令人難以直視的鮮血，而那一切殘酷在孩子的眼中卻被折射得如此光陸怪離和有趣，但越是被如此掩蓋，就越是讓人心血尤滴！

Bruno was late arriving at the place in the fence where he met Shmuel everyday， but as usual his new friend was sitting 3）crosslegged on the ground waiting for him.

“Im sorry Im late，” he said， handing some of the bread and cheese through the wire—the bits that he hadnt already eaten on the way when he had grown a little 4）peckish after all. “I was talking to Maria.”

“Whos Maria？” asked Shmuel， not looking up as he gobbled down the food hungrily.

“Shes our maid，” explained Bruno. “Shes very nice although Father says shes 5）overpaid. But she was telling me about this man Pavel who 6） chops our vegetables for us and waits on table. I think he lives on your side of the fence.”

Shmuel looked up for a moment and stopped eating. “On my side？” he asked.

“Yes. Do you know him？ Hes very old and has a white jacket that he wears when hes serving dinner. Youve probably seen him.”

“No，” said Shumel， shaking his head. “I dont know him.”

“But you must，” said Bruno irritably， as if Shmuel were being 7）deliberately difficult.“Hes not as tall as some adults and he has grey hair and 8）stoops over a little.”

布魯諾來到每天他探望希姆爾的那個柵欄時比平常晚了，而他的新朋友則一如往常地盤著腿坐在地上等他。

“很抱歉我來晚了，”他說著，把一些面包和奶酪從鐵絲網(wǎng)遞了過去——雖然路上他有點(diǎn)餓，還好沒把這點(diǎn)兒東西給吃掉。“我跟瑪麗婭聊了一會兒?！?/p>

“誰是瑪麗婭？”希姆爾問，他狼吞虎咽地吃著，顧不得抬頭。

“她是我們家的女仆，”布魯諾解釋道?！八浅：茫m然父親說她的薪水過高了。但是，她告訴了我關(guān)于帕維爾的事，帕維爾是一個來我們家廚房打下手，伺候上菜的人。我想他也住在你們那一邊?！?/p>

希姆爾不吃東西了，抬起頭看了一會兒?！霸谖覀冞@一邊？”他問。

“是的。你認(rèn)識他嗎？他很老，在餐桌旁服務(wù)的時候穿一件白色的夾克。你可能見過他?！?/p>

“沒有，”希姆爾說，搖搖頭。“我不認(rèn)識他?！?/p>

“但是你肯定認(rèn)識的，”布魯諾生氣地說，好像是希姆爾故意在和他頂嘴似的。“他不像一般大人那樣高，一頭銀灰色的頭發(fā)，有點(diǎn)駝背。”

“I dont think you realize just how many people live on this side of the fence，” said Shumel. “There are thousands of us.”

“But this ones name is Pavel，” insisted Bruno. “When I fell off my swing he cleaned out the cut so it didnt get 9）infected and put a bandage on my leg. Anyway， the reason I wanted to tell you about him is because hes from Poland too. Like you.”

“Most of us here are from Poland，” said Shmuel. “Although there are some from other places too， like Czechoslovakia and—”

“Yes， but thats why I thought you might know him. Anyway， he was a doctor in his hometown before he came here but hes not allowed to be a doctor any more and if Father had known that he had cleaned my knee when I hurt myself then there would have been trouble.”

“The soldiers dont normally like people getting better，” said Shmuel， 10）swallowing the last piece of bread. “It usually works 11）the other way round.”

“我想你不知道柵欄這邊住著多少人，”希姆爾說?！俺汕先f呢?！?/p>

“但是，他有名字，帕維爾！”布魯諾堅持說?！爱?dāng)我從秋千上掉下來的時候，是他幫我清洗傷口以免感染，還給我的腿綁了繃帶。不管怎樣，我跟你說他，是因?yàn)樗彩遣ㄌm人。像你一樣。”

“這里的絕大多數(shù)人都是波蘭人，”希姆爾說?！半m然也有波蘭以外其他地方來的，例如捷克斯洛伐克，還有——”

“是的，但是正因?yàn)檫@樣，我才以為你可能認(rèn)識他。不管怎樣，他在他家鄉(xiāng)的時候，是一名醫(yī)生，但是來到這里以后，就不準(zhǔn)他行醫(yī)了。如果我父親知道是他幫我處理膝蓋上的傷口，那么就麻煩了。”

“士兵們一般不喜歡普通人過好日子，”希姆爾說，吞下最后一口面包?！胺催^來，平民往往對士兵倒是友善的。”

Bruno nodded， even though he didnt quite know what Shmuel meant， and gazed up into the sky. After a few moments he looked through the wire and asked another question that had been praying on his mind.

“Do you know what you want to be when you grow up？” he asked.

“Yes，” said Shmuel. “I want to work in a zoo.”

“A zoo？” asked Bruno.

“I like animals，” said Shmuel quietly.

“Im g o i n g to be a soldier，”said Bruno in a determined voice.“Like Father.”

“I wouldnt like to be a soldier，”said Shmuel.

“I dont mean one like Lieutenant Kotler，” said Bruno quickly. “Not one who 12）strides around as if he owns the place and laughs with your sister and whispers with your mother. I dont think hes a good soldier at all. I mean one like Father. One of the good soldiers.”

“There arent any good soldiers，” said Shmuel.

“Of course there are，” said Bruno.

“Who？”

“Well， Father， for one，” said Bruno.“Thats why he has such an impressive uniform and why everyone calls him Commandant and does whatever he says. The Fury has big things in mind for him because hes such a good soldier.”

“There arent any good soldiers，” repeated Shmuel.

“Except Father，” repeated Bruno， who was hoping that Shmuel wouldnt say that again because he didnt want to have to argue with him. After all， he was the only friend he had here at 13）Out-With. But Father was Father， and Bruno didnt think it was right for someone to say something bad about him.

Both boys stayed very quiet for a few minutes， neither one wanting to say anything he might regret.

“You dont know what its like here，” said Shmuel eventually in a low voice， his words barely carrying across to Bruno.

“You dont have any sisters， do you？” asked Bruno quickly， pretending he hadnt heard that because then he wouldnt have to answer.

“No，” said Shmuel， shaking his head.

“Youre lucky，” said Bruno. “Gretels only twelve and she thinks she knows everything but shes a Hopeless case really. She sits looking out of her window and when she sees Lieutenant Kotler coming she runs downstairs into the hallway and pretends that she was there all along. The other day I caught her doing it and when he came in she jumped and said， ‘Why， Lieutenant Kotler， I didnt know you were here， and I know for a fact that she was waiting for him. ”

布魯諾點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭，雖然他不是很明白希姆爾的話，他抬頭看著天空。過了一會兒，他看著鐵絲網(wǎng)的那一邊，問了一個心中躊躇已久的問題。

“你知道你長大了以后想做什么嗎？”他問。

“知道，”希姆爾說?！拔蚁朐趧游飯@里工作?！?/p>

“動物園？”布魯諾問。

“我喜歡動物?！毕Ｄ窢柶届o地說。

“我要成為一名士兵，”布魯諾堅定地說。“像父親一樣?！?/p>

“我不想成為士兵，”希姆爾說。

“我并不是想成為像柳特倫特·科特勒那樣的士兵，”布魯諾馬上說?！安皇悄欠N到處走來走去好像是他占著地盤，跟你的姐姐說笑，跟你的母親說悄悄話的那種士兵。我想他根本就不是個好士兵。我是說我想成為父親那樣的士兵，一名好士兵?！?/p>

“沒有好士兵?！毕Ｄ窢栒f。

“當(dāng)然有?！辈剪斨Z說。

“誰？”

“嗯，父親，就是一個?！辈剪斨Z說?！八运艽┮簧韼洑廛娧b，每個人都稱他為將軍，按他說的話去做。元首（希特勒）也委派給他非常重要的任務(wù)，因?yàn)樗且幻檬勘！?/p>

“沒有好士兵?！毕Ｄ窢栔貜?fù)說。

“除了我父親?！辈剪斨Z也重復(fù)說道，他希望希姆爾不要再說那樣的話了，因?yàn)樗幌牒退麪幷撈饋怼．吘?，這是他在“外圍”的唯一的朋友。但是父親就是父親，布魯諾不想讓任何人說他的壞話。

兩個男孩沉默了幾分鐘，誰也不想說會讓自己后悔的話。

“你不知道這邊是個什么樣的地方?！毕Ｄ窢栕詈蟮吐曊f，他的話語布魯諾幾乎聽不到。

“你沒有姐姐吧？”布魯諾馬上問，假裝沒有聽到希姆爾的話，因?yàn)樗幌肴セ卮稹?/p>

“沒有?！毕Ｄ窢栒f，搖搖頭。

“你很幸運(yùn)，”布魯諾說?！案窭滋貭栔挥惺q，但她認(rèn)為自己什么都知道，其實(shí)她只是個‘無可救藥的人。她坐在窗前，如果看到柳特倫特·科特勒來了，她就會跑到樓下的廳堂，假裝一直就在那里呆著。有一天我就看到她這么做了，當(dāng)他進(jìn)來的時候，她就跳起來說：‘哎呀，柳特倫特·科特勒，你怎么在這啊，我知道事實(shí)，她其實(shí)就是在等他?！?/p>

Bruno hadnt been looking at Shmuel as he said all that， but when he looked again he noticed that his friend had grown even more pale than usual.

“Whats wrong？” he asked. “You look as if youre about to be sick.”

“I dont like talking about him，” said Shmuel.

“About who？” asked Bruno.

“Lieutenant Kotler. He scares me.”

“He scares me too a little，” admitted Bruno.“Hes a 14）bully. And he smells funny. Its all that 15）cologne he puts on.” And then Shmuel started to 16）shiver slightly and Bruno looked around， as if he could see rather than feel whether it was cold or not. “Whats the matter？” he asked. “Its not that cold， is it？ You should have brought a jumper， you know. The evenings are getting 17）chillier.”

布魯諾說這些的時候并沒有看希姆爾，不過當(dāng)他再抬眼看希姆爾的時候，發(fā)覺他的氣色比平時更差了。

“怎么了？”他問。“你看起來快要生病了?！?/p>

“我不想談?wù)撍??！毕Ｄ窢栒f。

“談?wù)撜l？”布魯諾問。

“柳特倫特·科特勒。他讓我感到害怕。”

“他也讓我有點(diǎn)害怕?！辈剪斨Z承認(rèn)?！八且粋€惡霸。身上有股怪味，因?yàn)樗麌娏颂嗟墓琵埶??！边@時候，希姆爾開始輕微地發(fā)抖，布魯諾看了看四周，好像他能看到而不是靠感覺判斷天氣是不是很冷?！霸趺戳?？”他問?！安⒉惶洌皇菃?？你應(yīng)該帶一件短上衣，知道嗎?，F(xiàn)在晚上越來越?jīng)隽??！?img src="https://cimg.fx361.com/images/2018/07/08/qkimagesfkyyfkyy201305fkyy20130517-8-l.jpg"/>