評介《霸王龍的女兒》
廖康
遲書雁的英文小說《霸王龍的女兒》不同於大多數迪斯尼有關動物的故事；這本書不是人通過動物來講述人的故事、思想和感情，而是讓鳥通過人的語言來講述動物的感情、思想和故事。這個小說主要是講一隻名叫“小紅臉”的母雞的故事：她希望她的姐姐們別再啄她，她渴望愛情和自由，她想要適應新的環境，她需要存活和安全，她麵臨兩難境況——是與人作戰還是和解。 簡而言之，這是小紅臉成長的故事。我們在她的成長中看到一隻溫柔的小雞如何變為一個勇敢的母親——是jayken 的母親，這個自創的合成字在小說中一定會給讀者帶來會心一笑。這也是一個流浪漢小說，隨著小紅臉的曆險，我們也會看到其它鳥類的生活：它們的愛情和友誼，驕傲和嫉妒，脫毛與抱窩，為了生存而掙紮，為了統製而戰鬥。
當然，我們人類生活中也有許多這類事件和衝突。小紅臉的故事在許多方麵與我們的故事大同小異。因此，這個小說又不僅僅是關於鳥類的故事；尤其是小紅臉對愛和自由的提問，她在與人作戰還是與人和解問題上的彷徨，以及人和動物與自然應該怎樣在這個世界上和諧相處，都更像是人的思考和猶豫。遲書雁是不到九年前才來美國的移民。在小紅臉的故事中，我們不難看出她自己對生活在這個美麗的新世界的反思。
遲書雁雖然出版過三本中文書，但她初來美國時隻會用英語打招呼，說再見。她一麵繼續用中文寫作並贏得了2010年的全國短篇小說競賽二等獎，同時努力學習英文。她還是動物熱愛者並在後院養有五隻母雞。當她開始用英文寫這些雞的故事時，也曾懷疑自己的英文表達能力。但她覺得“至少我還是能夠用簡單的英語講個好故事吧。畢竟，這是關於雞和鳥的故事，不需要大詞和複雜的句式。”她說服了自己。於是，我們有了個趣味盎然，風格適宜的小說。我一讀就受到故事的吸引並開始關心小紅臉的命運。我想知道她怎樣和傑克私奔，她怎樣在野外生存，她是否會與人類戰鬥…… 我保證，您也會的。
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附英文前言：
Foreword of The Daughter of T-rex
Different from most Disney stories about animals in which humans talk through animals about human plot, ideas, and emotions, The Daughter of T-rex has birds talking in a human language about the emotions, ideas, and plot of animals. This novel is about birds, primarily about a hen called Little Redface: her wish to be left alone by her sisters, her longing for love and freedom, her desire to fit in, her need for security and survival, and her dilemma to fight humans or to reconcile. In a word, this is her Bildungsroman. We see her change and development from a meek chick to a mature hen of jaykens, a portmanteau word invented in this novel that promises delight in its context. This is also a picaresque story through which we see Little Redface’s adventures and the lives of other birds: their love and friendship, pride and jealousy, molting and brooding, struggle for life and fight for dominance.
Obviously, our human experiences teem with similar occurrences and conflicts, and so Little Redface’s story coincide with ours in more ways than one. Therefore, this novel is not only about birds; especially Little Redface’s questions about love and freedom, her choices between fight and tolerance, and how humans can live with nature and other animals harmoniously, these are more of human contemplation and hesitation. The author, Shuyan Chi, is an immigrant who came to the states less than nine years ago, and it is not hard to see in Little Redface’s story her own reflections on the new life in this brave new world.
When Shuyan Chi just came to this country, she could not speak English at all although she was already a published writer in China. She continued to write in Chinese and won the second prize in the Chinese National Short Story Contest in 2010 while she was diligently learning English here. She is also an animal lover and has five chickens in her backyard. When she began to write about them in English, she had doubt about her expressiveness in using the language. “At least, I can tell a good story in simple English. After all it’s about birds and I don’t need sophisticated words and syntax.” She convinced herself, and we have a fascinating story matched with her writing style. I was drawn into this story as soon as I began reading it and became concerned about the fate of Little Redface. I wanted to know how she would elope with Jack, how she would survive in the wild, if she would fight humans… I promise you will, too.
Kang Liao, Ph.D.
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