張玫
今年4月是白羊座“言情女王”瓊瑤80歲生日。年初,她對之前所有出版過的作品做了個大動作,在臺灣和大陸分別整理推出最新版的全集,多達(dá)65部作品。繁體中文版交由臺灣春光出版社,簡體中文版則由中南博集天卷文化傳媒有限公司與湖南文藝出版社聯(lián)合出版——已經(jīng)出版的簡體版第一輯叫做“光影輯”,包含瓊瑤早期代表性的6部作品,《窗外》《一簾幽夢》《在水一方》《煙雨濛濛》《庭院深深》和《幾度夕陽紅》。
日前,通過電子郵件往來瓊瑤接受了筆者的采訪。80歲的她坦言目前的生活非常忙碌,“除了忙著校對繁體版的全集,還要補寫全集中的《鬼丈夫》和以前絕版的《不曾失落的日子》,還想完成一些未完成的工作,但依舊和文字工作相關(guān)?!痹谒壑?,65部作品“經(jīng)絞盡我的腦汁,費盡我的時間,寫得我心力交瘁,每一部都有如我親生的兒女?!?h3>關(guān)于作品:繁體版已經(jīng)陸續(xù)絕版簡體版不盡如人意
去年,瓊瑤因是否給失智丈夫平鑫濤插鼻胃管與三名繼子女發(fā)生爭執(zhí),激烈程度比瓊瑤劇還瓊瑤。當(dāng)時,瓊瑤希望醫(yī)生尊重他的個人意愿,不做任何插入式治療,讓他能夠自然地結(jié)束自己的生命。而平鑫濤和前妻生的子女,則堅決主張給父親插上鼻胃管延續(xù)他的生命。為此她寫下了一封“人生中最重要”的長信:“活到這個年紀(jì),已經(jīng)是上蒼給我的恩寵。所以,從此以后,我會笑看死亡?!?img alt="" src="https://cimg.fx361.com/images/2018/05/10/qkimageswhjlwhjl201805whjl20180506-2-l.jpg"/>
隨后,瓊瑤將自己的所有作品版權(quán)從丈夫的出版公司皇冠出版社收回?!蚌螡砟甓嗖。霭嫔缫埠茉缇鸵平唤o他的兒女。我照顧鑫濤,變成生活的重心。盡管如此,我也沒有停止寫作。我的書一部一部地增加,直到出版了65部書,還有許多散落在外的隨筆和作品,不曾收入全集?!杯偓幪寡裕?dāng)鑫濤失智失能又大中風(fēng)后,她的心情跌落谷底。“鑫濤靠插管延長生命之后,我?guī)缀醣罎ⅰH缓?,我又發(fā)現(xiàn),我的65部繁體字版小說,早已不知何時開始,已經(jīng)陸續(xù)絕版了!簡體字版,也不盡如人意?!?/p>
“我想我的作品深受讀者喜愛的原因在于‘真實。我用真情實感寫出來,讀者用真實情感去閱讀、去體會,這是真正打動人的地方?!彼栽谒砟甑臅r候,瓊瑤希望能夠再度整理出版她的全集。
“在各大出版社爭取之下,最后繁體版花落‘城邦,交由春光出版。簡體版是‘博集天卷勝出。兩家出版社所出的書,都非常精致和考究,深得我心。”瓊瑤甚至用“浴火重生”來形容這套書的出版——“它們都是經(jīng)過千錘百煉、嘔心瀝血而生的精華!那樣,我這一生,才沒有遺憾!”
“生于戰(zhàn)亂,長于憂患”的瓊瑤,從小和兩個弟弟,跟著父母,從湖南家鄉(xiāng),一路“逃難”到四川?!?歲時,別的孩子可能正在捉迷藏,玩游戲。我卻赤著傷痕累累的雙腳,走在湘桂鐵路上?!痹谀潜鸟R亂的時代,她已經(jīng)嘗盡顛沛流離之苦?!斑@使我早熟而敏感,堅強也脆弱?!?/p>
1949年,瓊瑤和家人到了臺灣。那年她11歲,童年結(jié)束。父親在師范教書,收入微薄。她和弟妹們,開始了另一段艱苦的生活。也在這時,瓊瑤瘋狂地吞咽著讓她著迷的“文字”?!啊段饔斡洝贰度龂萘x》《水滸傳》……都是這時看的。同時,也迷上了唐詩宋詞,母親在家務(wù)忙完后,會教我唐詩?!?/p>
14歲初二時,她又迷上了翻譯小說。那年暑假,在父親安排下,瓊瑤帶著便當(dāng),整天泡在師大圖書館里。“我看遍所有翻譯小說,直到圖書館長對我說:‘我沒有書可以借給你看了!這些遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過你年齡的書,你都通通看完了?!?/p>
愛讀書的她,很早就開始嘗試寫作,14歲就陸續(xù)有作品在報章雜志上發(fā)表。成為家里唯一有“收入”的孩子?!斑@鼓勵了我,尤其,那小小稿費,對我有大大的用處,我買書,看書,還迷上了電影。電影和寫作也是密不可分的,很早,我就知道,我這一生可能什么事業(yè)都沒有,但是,我會成為一個‘作者。”
瓊瑤的作品主張愛情至上,主人公大多都是純情、美麗、勇敢的女生。比如《窗外》中的江雁容,從外表到性格都是典型的瓊瑤女主,文藝、美麗、執(zhí)著,與大自己20幾歲的老師康南相愛,這在如今看來也是很勇敢的事情;依萍,可能不夠溫柔,但她有一種更加凌厲的美。
這次簡體版出版的第一輯“光影輯”,包含瓊瑤早期代表性的6部作品:《窗外》是瓊瑤首部長篇愛情小說;《一簾幽夢》則是愛做夢的失意女孩被成熟大叔拯救的故事,男主角費云帆號稱中國版白瑞德;《在水一方》是才情女子愛上落魄文人的故事。成功改編成電視劇的《煙雨濛濛》,書寫女性的獨立和救贖。獲得第九屆臺灣電影金馬獎優(yōu)等劇情片獎原著小說《庭院深深》,則是庭院深處深藏多年的愛與救贖的故事?!稁锥认﹃柤t》講述一個女孩的身世之謎,6個人的愛情枷鎖。
受瓊瑤作品影響最深的大約是70后。在那個物質(zhì)精神生活都相對匱乏的年代里,瓊瑤筆下這些曲折、浪漫、青春、純情的故事,經(jīng)常能帶給人強烈的情感波動。像是蕭索秋季中的一抹亮色,給無趣的生活帶來生機。80后、90后的人對于瓊瑤的了解,則大多數(shù)是通過影視作品和網(wǎng)絡(luò)。
事實上,影視作品為了戲劇沖突與收視效果,會有夸張的成分在里邊。但是,當(dāng)我們再來翻開原著時,會發(fā)現(xiàn)很多情節(jié)、對話等都有所差別。比如熟知的電視劇《情深深雨濛濛》改編自小說《煙雨濛濛》,在電視劇中,加入了杜飛與如萍的感情線、可云和方瑜與尓豪的感情線,使得電視劇更具戲劇性。但是,這兩條線在原著《煙雨濛濛》中則并沒有,原著對于依萍與書桓的感情線,以及依萍與陸家的糾葛著墨更多。而電視劇中依萍與書桓的感情經(jīng)歷了種種波折,最后走到一起。但在原著中,如萍、依萍、書桓的人物走向完全不同。
“這世界上有千千萬萬的人,每個人都有自己的一本小說,或是好幾本小說。我的人生也一樣?!睉?yīng)該說,瓊瑤正是個為愛而寫作的人。她的初戀,后來就成就了她的第一部小說《窗外》,發(fā)表在當(dāng)時的《皇冠》雜志。那時,她幫《皇冠》雜志已經(jīng)寫了兩年的短篇和中篇小說,和發(fā)行人平鑫濤也通了兩年信?!拔彝耆珱]有料到,我這部《窗外》會改變我一生的命運,我和這位出版人,也會結(jié)下不解的淵源。我會在以后的人生里,陸續(xù)幫他寫出65本書,而且和他結(jié)為夫妻?!?/p>
《窗外》出版于1963年。那年,她第一次見到鑫濤?!昂髞?,他告訴我,他一生貧苦,立志要成功,所以工作得像一頭牛?!杯偓幚寺赜门:涂椗畞硇稳菡煞蚺c她的愛情——“‘牛不知道什么詩情畫意,更不知道人生里有‘轟轟烈烈的愛情。直到他見到我,這頭‘牛突然發(fā)現(xiàn)了他的‘織女,顛覆了他的生命。至于我這‘織女,從此也在他的安排下,用文字紡織出一部又一部的小說?!?/p>
很少有人能在有生之年,寫出65本書,15部電影劇本,25部電視劇本。也正因為這樣的高產(chǎn),瓊瑤沒有時間見人,也沒時間應(yīng)酬玩樂。她亦不喜歡接受采訪和宣傳?!坝谑?,我發(fā)現(xiàn)大家對我的認(rèn)識是:‘被平鑫濤呵護備至的,溫室里的花朵。一個不食人間煙火的女子!”聽完這樣的言論,瓊瑤都是一笑了之。然而就是這樣的相濡以沫,也逃不過時間的輪回。瓊瑤坦言:“我不會否認(rèn)寫過的愛情,但只有一句我想否認(rèn),那就是:‘愛可以到天長地久?!?/p>
面對丈夫的重病入院,寫盡人間至情至愛的瓊瑤也感慨:“我現(xiàn)在懂了,愛是無法天長地久,因為死亡終究會使人分離。當(dāng)相愛的兩個人都不在了,也沒有其他人會在意他們的地久天長。”
同時她也想和年輕人說,愛情是有階段的,不要以為永遠(yuǎn)是濃情密意,那是不可能的?!皭矍閺牟聹y情意歸屬的醞釀期,再到甜蜜的熱戀期,若走入婚姻,兩個來自不同家庭背景的男女自然會有適應(yīng)期,如果適應(yīng)得很好,這家庭就會走入溫馨期,老夫老妻后,更是從愛情轉(zhuǎn)往親情,最后則是死亡帶來的離別期;但若雙方適應(yīng)不良,那就是風(fēng)暴期了。”
Qiong Yao, a Taiwan-based novelist well known for her romance novels in the last several decades across China, celebrated her 80th-birthday in April 2018. She is reprinting a latest complete collection of her 65 novels. They are going to be published in the island province by Chunguang Publishing House and jointly published on the mainland by two other publishers. The first six novels that represent the early phase of her novelist career have already been republished in simplified Chinese on the mainland.
I contacted Qiong Yao through email and she agreed to answer my questions. The interviews were conducted through emails.
The 80-year-old novelist is busy with proofreading the complete collection in the traditional Chinese, to be published in Taiwan. She is going to add new chapters to and in the complete collection. She is also going to finish whats unfinished. “The 65 books took all my time and all my energy. Every one of them is like a child to me,” recalls the novelist.
Qiong Yao was suddenly thrown into the spotlight last year when a dispute broke out between her and the adult children her husband had in his other marriage. The clash looked more dramatic than the plots in her novels. She hoped doctors would respect her husbands wish and decision before he lost the ability to think and she said she and her husband objected to any intrusive methods. The step children disagreed. She wrote a long public letter to explain how the situation came to this stage.
Over decades, her novels were published by a publishing house operated by her husband. When her husband was unable to work, his adult children took over the publishing business. After the angry dispute, she withdrew all the books from the publishing house. She suffered terribly and felt extremely unhappy about the dispute. Then she discovered that the 65 books in traditional Chinese had all run out and were no longer available in bookstores. Moreover, pirated editions in simplified Chinese were a rampage on and off the internet as well as on the mainland.
So she made up her mind to republish them. Major publishers competed for the business. Eventually she chose one publisher on the island and two publishers on the mainland.
Different people came to know about Qiong Yao through different channels.
Television series brought Qiong Yao to those born in the 1980s and the 1990s. The most influenced audiences are those born in the 1970s. In the years when life was relatively short of luxuries, Qiong Yaos romances with such dramatic twists and innocent people written in such a style attracted them most.
In order to achieve dramatic effects, the television series tended to make stories more complex and added a lot that are nowhere to be found in the original novels. In some cases, characters in both original novels and television adaptations end up in totally different situations.
“There are hundreds of millions of people in the world and everyone has one novel or more novels about oneself. So is my life,” recalls the novelist. Her first story was based on her first love and published in 1963 in a magazine operated by her husband. More short stories and novelettes followed and she and Ping Gantao, her would-be husband wrote letters to each other for two years. “I didnt expect that the first story would change my life and my life would be entangled so intimately with the publisher. I had the foggiest idea that I would write 65 novels for him and marry him.”
In these decades that spanned her prime years, she wrote 65 books, 15 film scripts, and 25 television adaptations. She was so productive in writing that she didnt have time for anything else from the outside world. Some people are under the impression that her husband protected her so well that her life was like a flower in a greenhouse. She doesnt bother to change the impression.
In the interview, she goes out of her way to talk about her new understanding of love. “I dont have second thought about what I have written about love except that love is forever. Now I understand that love can never be forever. Death separates. When the two are both dead, no one else really cares about the forever part of love.”