Kate+Dicamillo　劉劍

"Goodbye，" Abilene shouted to her grandmother. "I love you."

The ship pulled away from the dock. Pellegrina1） waved to Abilene.

"Goodbye， lady，" she called， "Goodbye."

Edward felt something damp in his ears. Abilene's tears， he supposed. He wished that she would not hold him so tight. To be clutched so fiercely often resulted in wrinkled clothing. Finally， all the people on land， including Pellegrina， disappeared. Edward， for one， was relieved to see the last of her.

As was to be expected， Edward Tulane exacted much attention onboard the ship.

"What a singular2） rabbit，" said an elderly lady with three strings of pearls wrapped around her neck. She bent down to look more closely at Edward.

"Thank you，" said Abilene.

Several little girls onboard gave Edward deep glances full of longing. They asked Abilene if they might hold him.

"No，" said Abilene， "I'm afraid that he's not the kind of rabbit who likes to be held by strangers."

Two young boys， brothers named Martin and Amos， took a particular interest in Edward.

"What does he do？" Martin asked Abilene on their second day at sea. He pointed at Edward who was sitting on a deck chair with his long legs stretched in front of him.

"He doesn't do anything，" said Abilene.

"Does he wind up3） somewhere？" asked Amos.

"No，" said Abilene， "he does not wind up."

"What's the point of him then？" said Martin.

"The point is that he is Edward，" said Abilene.

"That's not much of a point，" said Amos.

"It's not，" agreed Martin. And then， after a long thoughtful pause， he said， "I wouldn't let anybody dress me like that."

"Me neither，" said Amos.

"Do his clothes come off？" asked Martin.

"Of course they do，" said Abilene. "He has many different outfits. And he has his own pajamas4）， too. They are made of silk."

Edward， as usual， was disregarding the conversation. A breeze was blowing in off the sea， and the silk scarf wrapped around his neck billowed5） out behind him. On his head， he wore a straw boater6）. The rabbit was thinking that he must look quite dashing7）.

It came as a total surprise to him when he was grabbed off the deck chair， and first his scarf， and then his jacket and pants， were ripped from his body. He heard his pocket watch hit the deck of the ship； and then， held upside down， he watched the watch roll merrily toward Abilene's feet.endprint

"Look at him，" said Martin. "He's even got underwear." He held Edward aloft8） so that Amos could see.

"Take it off，" shouted Amos.

"NO?。。。? screamed Abilene.

凱特·迪卡米洛（Kate Dicamillo， 1964～），美國(guó)作家，2001年憑借作品《傻狗溫迪克》（Because of Winn-Dixie）獲得紐伯瑞榮譽(yù)書獎(jiǎng)，2004年憑借作品《浪漫鼠德佩羅》（The Tale of Despereaux）獲得紐伯瑞兒童文學(xué)獎(jiǎng)?！稅鄣氯A的奇妙之旅》（The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane）是其發(fā)表于2006年的作品，榮獲波士頓全球號(hào)角書獎(jiǎng)金獎(jiǎng)。這個(gè)故事圍繞一個(gè)名叫愛德華·圖雷恩（Edward Tulane）的瓷兔子玩具展開。他的主人是一個(gè)名叫阿比林（Abilene）的女孩。她對(duì)他寵愛有加，可是有一天卻不小心把他給弄丟了。于是，愛德華開始了一段異乎尋常的旅程，從海洋深處到漁夫的漁網(wǎng)，從垃圾堆的頂部到流浪漢營(yíng)地的篝火邊，從一個(gè)生病的孩子的床前到孟菲斯的街道上……愛德華在這個(gè)奇妙又艱辛的旅程中學(xué)會(huì)了感受愛，回應(yīng)愛，付出愛。

下文選自小說第五章，講述了愛德華被弄丟的經(jīng)過。

“再見，”阿比林朝祖母大聲喊道，“我愛你?！?/p>

船駛離了碼頭。佩勒格里娜朝阿比林揮著手。

“再見，小姐，”她說道，“再見?！?/p>

愛德華感覺自己耳朵里有什么濕濕的東西。他想，也許是阿比林的眼淚吧。他希望她不要把他抱得那么緊——把他抓得這么緊往往會(huì)把他的衣服弄皺。終于，包括佩勒格里娜在內(nèi)的岸上的所有人都在視線里消失了。讓愛德華感到寬慰的一件事是，他再也不用看見佩勒格里娜了。

正如預(yù)料的那樣，愛德華·圖雷恩在船上得到了許多關(guān)注。

“多么奇特的一只兔子啊。”一位脖子上戴著三串珍珠項(xiàng)鏈的年邁女士說道。她彎下身子好更近距離地看愛德華。

“謝謝?！卑⒈攘终f道。

船上的幾個(gè)小女孩向愛德華投來渴望而熱切的目光。她們問阿比林可不可以讓她們抱抱他。

“不行，”阿比林回絕道，“恐怕他不是那種喜歡被陌生人抱的兔子?！?/p>

有一對(duì)名叫馬丁和阿莫斯的小哥倆，他們對(duì)愛德華特別感興趣。

“他是做什么的？”在海上的第二天馬丁問阿比林。他指了指愛德華。那時(shí)愛德華正坐在一張?zhí)梢紊希瑑蓷l長(zhǎng)腿伸展在前面。

“他什么也不做?！卑⒈攘只卮鸬?。

“他身上有什么地方要上發(fā)條嗎？”阿莫斯問。

“不需要，”阿比林說，“他不需要上發(fā)條?！?/p>

“那他存在的意義是什么？”馬丁問。

“意義就是他是愛德華?！卑⒈攘终f。

“這可算不上什么意義。”阿莫斯說。

“的確沒什么意義?！瘪R丁附和道。然后，馬丁沉默地想了好長(zhǎng)一會(huì)兒后又說：“我可不會(huì)讓任何人把我穿成這個(gè)樣子?！?/p>

“我也不會(huì)?！卑⒛拐f。

“他的衣服能脫掉嗎？”馬丁問。

“當(dāng)然可以啦，”阿比林說，“他有很多套不同的衣服，他還有自己的睡衣，它們都是絲綢做的?！?/p>

和往常一樣，愛德華沒有理會(huì)這種談話。海面吹來一陣微風(fēng)，他脖子上圍著的絲綢圍巾在他身后隨風(fēng)飄動(dòng)。他頭上戴著一頂平頂硬草帽。這個(gè)兔子在想自己肯定看起來很時(shí)髦。

他完全沒料到有人會(huì)把他從躺椅上抓起來，先是從他身上拿掉了他的圍巾，接著脫掉了他的夾克和長(zhǎng)褲。他聽到自己的懷表掉在了船的甲板上，然后他被倒拎著，看著自己的懷表歡快地滾向阿比林的腳邊。

“看看他，”馬丁說，“他竟然還穿著內(nèi)衣呢?！彼褠鄣氯A高高舉起好讓阿莫斯也能看見。

“把他的內(nèi)衣脫掉?！卑⒛购暗馈?/p>

“不要?。。?！”阿比林尖叫道。

Martin removed Edward's underwear.

Edward was paying attention now. He was mortified9）. He was completely naked except for the hat on his head， and the other passengers onboard the ship were looking at him， directing curious and embarrassed glances his way.

"Give him to me，" screamed Abilene. "He's mine."

"No，" said Amos to Martin， "give him to me." He clapped his hands together and then held them open. "Toss him，" he said.

"Please，" cried Abilene. "Don't throw him. He's made of china. He'll break."

Martin threw Edward.

And Edward sailed naked through the air. Only a moment ago， the rabbit had thought that being naked in front of a shipload of strangers was the worst thing that could happen to him. But he was wrong. It was much worse being tossed， in the same naked state， from the hands of one grubby10）， laughing boy to another.endprint

Amos caught Edward and held him up， displaying him triumphantly11）.

"Throw him back，" called Martin.

Amos raised his arm， but just as he was getting ready to throw Edward， Abilene tackled12） him， shoving13） her head into his stomach and upsetting the boy's aim.

So it was that Edward did not go flying back into the dirty hands of Martin.

Instead， Edward Tulane went overboard.

馬丁脫掉了愛德華的內(nèi)衣。

愛德華現(xiàn)在留意自己的境遇了。他感到十分窘迫。除了頭上的帽子，他一絲不掛，而且船上其他的乘客都在看他，朝他的方向投去好奇和尷尬的目光。

“把他給我，”阿比林尖叫道，“他是我的?！?/p>

“別給她，”阿莫斯對(duì)馬丁說，“把他給我?！彼牧伺氖?，然后伸出雙手。“把他扔過來?！彼f。

“求求你，”阿比林哭著說，“別扔他。他是瓷的，會(huì)摔壞的?！?/p>

馬丁把愛德華扔了出去。

愛德華光著身子從空中飛過。就在剛才，這只瓷兔子還在想在一船陌生人面前被脫光應(yīng)該是他可能會(huì)遇上的最糟糕的事情了。但是他錯(cuò)了。更加糟糕的是同樣光著身子被一個(gè)臟兮兮的男孩大笑著扔向另一個(gè)男孩。

阿莫斯接住了愛德華，把他舉起來，得意洋洋地

炫耀著。

“把他扔回來?！瘪R丁喊道。

阿莫斯抬起手臂，但是正當(dāng)他準(zhǔn)備把愛德華扔回去的時(shí)候，阿比林?jǐn)r住了他，她一頭撞到了阿莫斯的肚子上，沒讓阿莫斯得逞。

因此，愛德華沒有飛回馬丁臟兮兮的手中。

相反，愛德華·圖雷恩飛到了船外。

《愛德華的奇妙之旅》用優(yōu)美詩(shī)意的語(yǔ)言講述了一個(gè)關(guān)于愛與被愛的故事，讓我們得以和愛德華一起經(jīng)歷一次既奇妙又艱辛、既苦澀又甜蜜的旅程，去學(xué)習(xí)如何愛別人。

愛德華是一只陶瓷兔子，他漂亮優(yōu)雅，也因此自命不凡，高傲冷漠。他的小主人阿比林對(duì)他極盡寵愛，當(dāng)然，他對(duì)自己也是——他愛自己，卻不懂得愛別人，也不愿意懂。正如節(jié)選片段所體現(xiàn)的，他在小主人傷心難過時(shí)不懂心疼主人，卻只是擔(dān)心自己的衣服會(huì)被弄皺；在主人極力袒護(hù)他時(shí)，他卻毫不在意，自顧自地吹海風(fēng)。祖母佩勒格里娜曾給阿比林和愛德華講過一個(gè)故事：一位非常美麗的公主因?yàn)椴粣廴魏稳硕兂闪损嘭i，最后被屠殺。作者借祖母之口講述的這個(gè)看似不相干的故事其實(shí)直截了當(dāng)?shù)攸c(diǎn)明了本書的主題：“如果沒有愛，一個(gè)故事怎么會(huì)有幸福的結(jié)局？”當(dāng)然，它也如魔咒般預(yù)言了愛德華接下來的命運(yùn)：他剛踏上旅途就被兩個(gè)淘氣的男孩搶走，意外掉進(jìn)了海里，從此與深愛他的阿比林分離，開始了前途未卜的漫長(zhǎng)旅程。這次離別對(duì)于愛德華來說是一生中至關(guān)重要的轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)，突發(fā)的變故將他曾經(jīng)引以為傲的資本盡數(shù)剝奪。漂亮的衣服沒了，小主人也不見了，就連陽(yáng)光也看不到了，只剩下一個(gè)赤裸裸的自己面對(duì)著海底無(wú)盡的黑暗與孤寂。那么，他會(huì)有一個(gè)幸福的結(jié)局嗎？

在海底苦苦等待了297天之后，愛德華被善良的漁夫勞倫斯打撈起來帶回了家，送給妻子內(nèi)莉，成了內(nèi)莉的傾訴對(duì)象。愛德華（內(nèi)莉叫他“蘇珊娜”，并把他打扮成女孩的樣子）慢慢學(xué)會(huì)了傾聽，漸漸地還對(duì)勞倫斯和內(nèi)莉產(chǎn)生了依戀之情?？删驮诖藭r(shí)，他被夫婦倆粗魯?shù)呐畠喝舆M(jìn)了垃圾箱。離別的時(shí)刻，他不禁在心底呼喚內(nèi)莉夫婦的名字。

在惡臭的垃圾堆中被壓了180天之后，愛德華被流浪漢布爾的狗翻了出來，從此跟隨他們（布爾把愛德華打扮成逃犯的樣子，并叫他“馬隆”）踏上了漫無(wú)目的的流浪旅程，與他們朝夕相處，漸漸有了深厚的感情。可七年后的一個(gè)夜晚，一個(gè)野蠻的男人一腳將他從布爾身邊踢飛，他又一次在離別的時(shí)候沒有機(jī)會(huì)說聲再見。

然而，麻煩還沒有完結(jié)，愛德華被一個(gè)老太太撿走了，并被她裝扮成嚇唬鳥兒的稻草人（這一次，他的名字被改為“克萊德”），吊在了菜園的竹竿上。幸運(yùn)的是，幾天之后，愛德華就被小男孩布賴斯解救了（愛德華這回成了“詹理思”）。布賴斯是一個(gè)偉大的哥哥，他以瘦弱的肩膀扛起了照顧臥病在床的四歲的妹妹薩拉·魯思的重?fù)?dān)。薩拉像對(duì)待嬰兒一般對(duì)愛德華，愛德華得到了悉心呵護(hù)。為逗妹妹開心，布賴斯用細(xì)繩拴著愛德華，讓他“跳舞”給妹妹看，愛德華從中感受到一種被需要的感覺。直到六個(gè)月之后，薩拉停止了呼吸。愛德華意識(shí)到：“我愛過她。這世界上沒有了薩拉·魯思，我還怎么活下去？”

布賴斯帶著與他相依為命的愛德華去孟菲斯流浪，因?yàn)闆]有足夠的錢付飯錢，愛德華被餐館老板狠狠地摔碎了。那一瞬間，愛德華的頭腦中閃現(xiàn)過所有那些愛他的人，他哭了。一次次的離別讓他學(xué)會(huì)了去愛，可是他的身心都已破碎不堪。布賴斯為了讓以出售舊玩具為業(yè)的克拉克把愛德華修好，雖然有萬(wàn)般不舍，但最終還是選擇了放手，把愛德華留在了克拉克的玩具店。在愛德華被修好后，布萊斯天天來看他，直到克拉克不許他再來才無(wú)奈而不舍地離開。被修好的愛德華被陳列在商店的貨架上，已然心灰意冷、孤獨(dú)絕望。幸運(yùn)的是，他遇見了一個(gè)年逾百歲的洋娃娃，她鼓勵(lì)愛德華要滿懷希望，勇敢去愛，“有人會(huì)來接你的，不過首先你必須打開你的心扉”。就這樣，許多個(gè)春秋之后，接愛德華的人終于來了，那是一個(gè)叫馬吉的小女孩和她的媽媽阿比林。阿比林看到愛德華時(shí)掉落了手中的雨傘，忍不住輕呼他的名字：“愛德華。”而愛德華也欣喜地回應(yīng)著她：“是的，是的，是的。是我。”

愛德華從阿比林身邊離開，經(jīng)歷了漫長(zhǎng)而艱難的旅途、一次次的偶然相遇、一次次的黯然離別，最終如命運(yùn)的輪回般又回到了愛他的阿比林的身邊。只是這一次，阿比林的愛得到了熱烈的回應(yīng)。這不是普通的離別與相遇，而是尋找愛、學(xué)習(xí)愛的旅程。因?yàn)殡x別，愛德華一次次地失去愛他的人，但他也在失落中找到了愛的真諦，獲得了愛的能力。而懂得了愛，故事也就有了完美的結(jié)局。endprint