Lord Jim 吉姆老爷

杰瑞发布于2025-05-13

约瑟夫·康拉德(1857—1924),英国最伟大的小说家之一,《吉姆老爷》是康拉德最重要的代表作之一。小说的主人公吉姆因一时的怯懦在发生海难时弃船逃生,由此背负起渎职和背信弃义的耻辱,尽管事后他勇敢地承担起责任,一个人去面对法庭的审判,可自此以后他始终无法走出这种耻辱的阴影。马洛船长欣赏吉姆的为人,理解他道德的困境,最终安排他躲进与文明隔绝的土著人居住区帕图桑。吉姆以自己的勇敢和正直赢得当地土著的忠心爱戴,被尊称为“吉姆老爷”。可惜好景不长,他因一念之慈给了一伙亡命海盗一条生路,可这伙海盗离去时却背信弃义,杀死了头人的儿子、吉姆的挚友。吉姆满腔悲愤,从容赴死,以一死洗尽自己的耻辱。小说的叙述手法别具一格,分成三个部分,分别采用第三人称叙述、马洛作为旁观者的第一人称的讲述和马洛写给一位朋友的书信的展示讲完整个故事,多角度多层次的叙述技巧使一个简单的故事...

After all , I did know much more about myself. And then, I repeat, I was going home - to that distant place we all come from. We the famous and the unknown, travel in our thousands all over the world, earning beyond the seas our good name, our fortune or perhaps just enough bread for that day. But when we go home, we meet again our friends, our family, and others - those whom we obey and those whom we love. More than that, we have to meet the soul of the country, that lives in its air, in its valleys, in its rivers and its trees - a wordless friend and judge. To breathe in the peace of home, to be happy there, I think we have to return with a clear conscience. I know what Jim felt something of this. He would never go home now. Never! He could not bear the idea of it.
毕竟,我对自己了解得更多。然后,我再说一遍,我要回家了——回到我们都来自的那个遥远的地方。我们,无论是名人还是无名小卒,成千上万地在世界各地旅行,在海外赚取我们的好名声、财富,或者仅仅是那一天的面包。但当我们回家时,我们会再次见到我们的朋友、家人和其他人——我们服从的人和我们爱的人。更重要的是,我们必须认识这个国家的灵魂,它生活在空气、山谷、河流和树木中——一个无言的朋友和评判者。为了在家里呼吸宁静,在那里快乐,我认为我们必须问心无愧地回来。我知道吉姆对此的感受。他现在再也不会回家了。从不他无法忍受这种想法。
I don't want to be rude; it is sensible to have no dreams - and safe - and useful - and boring. But surely, my friends, you too have known, once in your time, the brightness of life, the fire that burns in you so strongly and unexpectedly, then, too soon, disappears!
我不想粗鲁;没有梦想是明智的,是安全的,是有用的,也是无聊的。但我的朋友们,你们也知道,在你们的时代,生活的光明,在你们身上燃烧得如此强烈和出乎意料的火焰,然后,很快就会消失!
吉卜林的小说《要做国王的人》(The Man Who would be the king)也影射布鲁克王国。两个招摇撞骗的英国人决定在落后地区自立为王,他们在印度偏郊被土著人奉为神,建立了国家。1975年这部小说被搬上荧幕,电影《国王迷》由老戏骨肖恩·康纳利主演。