武艷云

引子

當今社會存在一個有趣的現象：很多未婚年輕人不太愿意回家過年。這倒不是因為他們不孝敬父母。對他們來說，回家過年意味著一種煎熬——不情愿地被帶著相親。家里的親戚好友來訪，第一句通常就是：“找對象了嗎？要不我給你介紹一個？”盡管父母親戚都是出于善意，但年輕一代往往有著自己的生活理念和人生規(guī)劃。特別是在社會變遷急速發(fā)展的今天，代際間觀念和行為上的差異必然會導致沖突與溝通障礙。作為年輕一代的我們，學會如何向前輩表達自己的價值觀和行為取向以便達成代際間的有效溝通，是我們面臨的重要課題。

作者簡介與作品介紹

愛麗斯·沃克（Alice Walker，1 944一今）是當代美國著名作家，先輩是黑人奴隸g]Ep度安人。她在亞特蘭大的斯帕爾曼大學學習期間，親歷了波瀾壯闊的黑人民權運動。此后，愛麗斯·沃克積極從事文學創(chuàng)作，通過文學作品來發(fā)出黑人女性的聲音。艾麗斯·沃克的代表作《紫色》（The Color Purple）曾獲普利策獎。

《生活用品》（Everyday Use）是艾麗斯·沃克短篇小說代表作。小說敘述者“我”有兩個女兒，大女兒迪伊（Dee）時髦自信，熱衷于新鮮事物，小女兒吉（Maggie）恰恰相反，她膽怯安靜，一直與母親生活在一起。有一天，迪伊回來探望并希望能夠取走舊被子作為紀念，但“我”卻更希望將之留給小女兒瑪吉，母女由此產生沖突。

要理解這部小說需要注意的一個重要視角就在于代際沖突。以迪伊為代表的新一代黑人女性一方面受到當時風起云涌的民權運動的影響，希望留住本民族的“根”，但另一方面又接受了現代生活方式的熏陶。新生一代黑人自身的矛盾性便構成了母女沖突的重要原因。

三、漢英對照閱讀

節(jié)選部分描述了女兒Dee帶著男友回家探望的場景，圍繞姓名的使用展開了對話。女兒堅持使用自己的土語姓名Wangero，而非英文名Dee，以此表示對自己家族史和民族文化的認可。選文呈現了母女兩代人之間的觀念沖突。

It is hard to see them clearly through the strong sun.But even the first glimpse of leg out of the car tells me it lS Dee.Her feet were always neat-looking，as if God himself had shaped them with a certain style.FrOm the other side of the car comes a short，stocky man.Hair is all over his head a foot long and hanging frOm his chin like a kinky mule tail. I hear Maggie suck in her breath.“Uhnnnh，” is what it sounds like.Like when you see the wriggling end of a snake just in front of yourtOfoot on the road，Uhnnnh.”

陽光太強，難以看清他們。但只第一眼瞥見從車里伸出的腿，我就知道是迪伊。她的腳看上去總是很精致，好像是上帝親自塑造的那么有型。車的另一側走出一位矮矮胖胖的男子，頭發(fā)蓋住了整個腦袋，足有一英尺長，從下巴那兒垂下，像卷曲的騾子尾巴。我聽到瑪吉深吸了口氣，發(fā)出類似“呃”的聲音，若在路上看見一條蛇尾巴在你腳前蠕動，你也會發(fā)出這樣的聲音：“呃。”

Dee next.A drees down to the ground， in this hot weather.A dress so loud it hurts my eyes.There are yellows and oranges enough to throw back the light of the sun.I feel my whole face warming frOm the heat waves it throws out.Earrings gold，too，and hanging down to her shoulders.Bracelets dangling and making noises when she moves her arm uD to shake the folds of the dress out of her armpits。The dress is loose and flows，and as she walks closer，l like it.1 hear Maggie go“Uhnnnh”again.It is her sisterS hair.It stands straight up like the wool on a sheep.It is black as night and around the edges are two long pigtails that rope about like small lizards disappearing behind her ears.

接著就看到迪伊了。這樣一個大熱天，她穿著接地長裙，裙子俗艷刺眼，各種黃色和橙色反射陽光，發(fā)出的熱浪讓我感覺整個臉都發(fā)燙。還有金耳環(huán)，直垂到肩膀。當她抬起手臂抖開腋窩處的褶皺時，手鐲在碰撞間發(fā)出響聲。她的裙子寬大、飄逸，當她走近時，我喜歡上了那裙子。我聽見瑪吉又“呃”了一聲，這次是沖她姐姐的頭發(fā)：它們直挺挺的，像綿羊身上的絨毛，似夜晚般黑，頭兩側扎有兩條長長的辮子，像小蜥蜴一樣消失在耳后。

“Wa-SU—ZO-Tean-O！”she says。coming on in that gliding way the dress makes her move.The short stocky fellow with the hair to his navel is all grinning and he follows up with“Asalamalakim，my mother and sister！”He moves to hug Maggie but she falls back， right up against the back of my chair～l feel her trembling there and when l look up l see the perspiration falling off her chin.

“媽一媽一早！”她身隨裙動，邊說邊走了過來。那個頭發(fā)垂到肚臍的矮胖男人滿臉堆笑，跟著說：“真主保佑，我的媽媽，我的妹妹！”他上前擁抱瑪吉，但瑪吉直往后縮，緊緊抵住了我的椅子背。我感覺她在發(fā)抖，抬頭看見汗水順著她下巴滴下來。

“Dont get up.”says Dee.Since I am stout it takes something of a push.You can see me trying to move a second or two before I make it.She turns，showing white heels through her sandals，and goes back to the car.Out she peeks next with a Polaroid.She stoops down quickly and lines up picture after picture of me sitting there in front of the house with Maggie cowering behind me.She never takes a shot without making sure the house is included. When a cow comes nibbling around the edge of the yard she snaps it and me and Maggie and the house.Then she puts the Polaroid in the back seat of the car，and comes up and kisses me on the forehead.

“別起來。”迪伊說。因為我比較胖，站起來需要借把力。你可以看到我得先活動活動才能站起來。她轉過身，穿的涼鞋露出白白的腳后跟，回到車里。緊接著，她拿一部“寶麗來”相機。她很快俯身連拍好幾張，都是我坐在房子前，瑪吉縮在我身后，她要確保每張照片都把房子拍進去了。一頭奶牛來院子邊吃草，她就把牛、我、瑪吉連同房子一起抓拍下來。隨后，她把寶麗來放回車后座，這才走上前來親我的額頭。 Meanwhile Asalamalakim is going through motions with MaggieS hand.MaggieS hand is as limp as a fish，and probably as cold，despite the sweat，and she keeps trying to pull it back. It looks like Asalamalakim wants to shake hands but wants to do it fancy.Or maybe he dont know how people shake hands.Anyhow，he soon gives up on Maggie.

此時，“真主保佑”作勢去拉瑪吉的手?，敿氖窒耵~一樣柔軟，可能也一樣冰涼，盡管在出汗。她不斷試著把手往回縮。看樣子，“真主保佑”是想和她握手，又想把這手握得與眾不同，或許他不知道該怎么握手。不管怎樣，他很快就放棄了。

“Well，"l say. "Dee."

“No， Mama，" she says. "Not 'Dee'， Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo！"

“What happened to 'Dee'？"l wanted to know.

“She's dead，" Wangero said.“l(fā) couldn't bear it any longer， being named after the people who oppress me."

“你好，迪伊?！蔽艺f。

“不，媽媽，”她說，“別叫我‘迪伊，叫我‘萬杰蘿·李萬尼卡·克曼約！”

“‘迪伊怎么啦？”我很納悶。

“她已經死了，”萬杰蘿說?！拔以僖彩懿涣肆?，用一個欺壓我的人的名字來取名?！?/p>

“You know as well as me you was named after your aunt Dicie，"l said. Dicie is my sister. She named Dee. We called her "Big Dee" after Dee was born.

”But who was she named after？" asked Wangero.

“l(fā) guess after Grandma Dee，"I said.

“And who was she named after？" asked Wangero.

“Her mother，"I said， and saw Wangero was getting tired. "That's about as far back as I can trace it，"I said. Though， in fact，I probably could have carried it back beyond the Civil War through the branches.

“你我都很清楚，你是隨你姨媽迪西伊取名的?！蔽艺f。迪西伊是我姐姐，是她給迪伊取的名字。迪伊出生后，我們就管迪西伊叫“大迪伊”。

“但她的名字是隨誰取的？”萬杰蘿問。

“我想是隨外婆迪伊吧?！蔽艺f。

“那外婆又是隨誰取的呢？”萬杰蘿問。

“她媽媽?！蔽艺f，然后看到萬杰蘿有些不耐煩了，“我只能追溯到這兒了?！钡聦嵣?，我順藤摸瓜也許能追回到內戰(zhàn)前。

“Well，" said Asalamalakim， "there you are."

”Uhnnnh，"l heard Maggie say.

“There l was not，"l said， "before 'Dicie' cropped up in our family， so why should l try to trace it that far back？"

He just stood there grinning， looking down on me like somebody inspecting a ModelA car. Every once in a while he and Wangero sent eye signals over my head.

“How do you pronounce this name？"l asked.

“You don't have to call me by it if you don't want to，" said Wangero.

“Why shouldn't l？"I asked.“l(fā)f that's what you want us to call you， we'II call you."

“瞧，”“真主保佑”說，“這就對了嘛?！?/p>

呃?！蔽衣牭浆敿l(fā)出的聲音。

“對什么對，”我說，“‘迪西伊這個名字出現我們以前還沒有我，我干嗎要追溯那么遠？

他站在那里咧嘴干笑，又低頭看看我，好像誰在檢查一輛A型汽車。他和萬杰蘿時不時在我頭頂上互相使著眼色

“你的名字怎么念？”我問。

“如果不愿意，您可以不叫我這個名字?！比f杰蘿說。

“為什么不？”我問，“如果你想我們那樣叫你，我們就那樣叫唄?！?/p>

“I know it might sound awkward at first，”said Wangero.

“II'l get used to it，”l said.“Read it out again.”

Well， soon we got the name out of the way. Asalamalakim had a name twice as long and three times as hard. After l tripped over it two or three times he told me to just call him Hakim-a- barber.1 wanted to ask him was he a barber， but l didn't really think he was， so l didn't ask.

“我知道，這名字乍一聽可能別扭?！比f杰蘿說。

“我會習慣的，”我說，“你再念一遍。”

嗯，我們很快就解決了名字問題?！罢嬷鞅Ｓ印钡拿直热f杰蘿長一倍，難兩倍。我念錯兩三遍后，他說我管他叫“理發(fā)師哈基姆”就好了。我想問他是不是理發(fā)師，但又真心覺得他不像，于是就沒問。

“You must belong to those beef-cattle peoples down the road，”l said. They said “Asalamalakim”when they met you， too， but they didn't shake hands. Always too busy： feeding the cattle， fixing the fences， putting up salt-lick shelters， throwing down hay. When the white folks poisoned some of the herd the men stayed up all night with rifles in their hands.I walked a mile and a half just to see the sight.

“你一準兒跟路那頭養(yǎng)菜牛的人是一樣的。”我說。那些人遇到你時也說“真主保佑”，可他們不握手。他們總是忙個不停：喂牛，修籬笆，搭建棚子放置牛舔的鹽塊，堆干草。白人毒死了他們一些牛后，他們手持來福槍，整夜不睡。我曾步行一英里半，就為看那場景。

Hakim-a-barber said，“l(fā) accept some of their doctrines， but farming and raising cattle is not my style.”（They didn't tell me， and I didn't ask， whether Wangero（Dee） had really gone and married him.1

We sat down to eat and right away he said he didn't eat collards and pork was unclean. Wangero， though， went on through the chitlins and cornbread， the greens and everything else. She talked a blue streak over the sweet potatoes. Everything delighted her. Even the fact that we still used the benches her daddy made for the table when we couldn't afford to buy chairs.

理發(fā)師哈基姆說：“他們有些教義我接受，但我不喜歡種地養(yǎng)牛?！保ㄋ麄儧]告訴我，我也沒問，萬杰蘿/迪伊是不是真的嫁給他了。）

我們坐下吃東西，他馬上說不吃羽衣甘藍，還有豬肉是不干凈的。但萬杰蘿照吃不誤，豬腸配玉米面包、綠葉菜等等，什么都吃。她滔滔不絕地聊甘薯。一切都令她開心。當初買不起椅子時她老爹做的配桌長凳，我們仍在使用，連這也讓她開心不已。