那天太太看魯豫采訪羅翔的視頻忽然停下問我，你現在看的書是不是叫《長日將盡》？是，我說。那幾天我正在讀《The Remains of the Day》，就是石黑一雄《長日將盡》的英文原版。原來是魯豫和羅翔的訪談中聊到了這本書，我便坐下聽了一會兒。羅翔說這本書寫的是“人類的偽善”，魯豫說男主人公的“冷漠”無法讓中國讀者共情。關於“偽善”和“冷漠”的評語，我不甚認同。
小說以第一人稱敘事，男主人公Stevens是一位英國管家。敘事的起點是1956 年，但主要故事發生在一戰後到二戰前的英國，敘事以類似日記的形式通過回憶展開。Stevens的東家是身份顯赫的Lord Darlington。故事平行地展開兩條線，一條是Lord Darlington 的政治線，一條是男主人公的感情線，而貫穿全書、同時撐起這兩條線的是男主人公Stevens對管家這個職業懷抱著的神聖情懷和他不可思議的敬業精神。
用“偽善”定性Stevens 我覺得不合適。他虔誠地把做個Great Butler當作人生的最高追求，因此他不對Lord Darlington的親納粹行為做任何價值評判，即便他不同意，不理解，也絕不質疑。比如當Lord Darlington 讓他解雇兩個猶太女傭時，他很吃驚，但隻是問了句“I beg you pardon, Sir?”，就去執行了。在他心裏，管家的天職就是為雇主服務，而像Darlington 這樣“偉大的雇主”做出的一切決定自然有他的道理。與其說Stevens偽善，更貼切的評價大概是被他崇高化了的職業信仰讓他放棄了每個個體的道德堅持。
即便他因為敬業不顧臨終的父親，因為敬業犧牲了跟女管家Miss Kenton的愛情，我覺得說他冷漠也是不妥當的。他平靜、無動於衷的外表下其實壓抑著深刻的感情。但因為作者選擇了高度克製的敘述方式（而這種方式跟男主的身份、訓練和他極端的敬業精神完美契合），或許讓讀者產生Stevens冷漠的印象。
Stevens 的父親也是個管家，年邁之後來到Lord Darlington 家在兒子Stevens手下工作。在Stevens 心裏他父親是個“偉大的管家”，是管家的榜樣。他父親病世的那天晚上，他在為一個盛大的晚會忙碌，因而把父親留在病榻讓 Miss Kenton照顧。Stevens 相信他父親在那樣的場合一定也會那樣做。敘事人，即Stevens自己，出於敬業精神，一字未提自己的心情，但作者從別人的嘴裏讓讀者看到了Stevens 的狀態，比如這段：
I turned to find the young Mr Cardinal beaming happily at me. I smiled also and said: "Fish, sir?"
"When I was young, I used to keep all sorts of tropical fish in a tank. Quite a little aquarium it was. I say, Stevens, are you all right?"
I smiled again. "Quite all right, thank you, sir."
"As you so rightly pointed out, I really should come back here in the spring. Darlington Hall must be rather lovely then. The last time I was here, I think it was winter then too. I say, Stevens, are you sure you're all right there?"
"Perfectly all right, thank you, sir."
"Not feeling unwell, are you?"
"Not at all, sir. Please excuse me."
I proceeded to serve port to some other of the guests. …… I felt something touch my elbow and turned to find Lord Darlington.
"Stevens, are you all right?"
"Yes, sir. Perfectly."
"You look as though you're crying."
I laughed and taking out a handkerchief, quickly wiped my face. "I'm very sorry, sir. The strains of a hard day."
Stevens 和Miss Kenton 一起工作，逐漸親密，但他把兩人的關係控製在工作範疇。Miss Kenton得到她姑媽的死訊那天，Stevens 一直想找個機會安慰她，但職業習慣讓他無從啟齒，每次開口都從工作瑣碎說起，最後話題轉向對Miss Kenton 工作疏忽的挑剔。Miss Kenton 決定訂婚出嫁也正逢 Darlington 家有重要會議。她把這件事告訴了Stevens，而Stevens 隻是平靜地表示祝賀就去忙自己的事了。後來他經過 Miss Kenton 房門時直覺告訴他Miss Kenton在裏麵哭泣。有這樣一段敘述。
As I approached Miss Kenton's door, I saw from the light seeping around its edges that she was still within. And that was the moment, I am now sure, that has remained so persistently lodged in my memory - that moment as I paused in the dimness of the corridor, the tray in my hands, an ever-growing conviction mounting within me that just a few yards away, on the other side of that door, Miss Kenton was at that moment crying. As I recall, there was no real evidence to account for this conviction - I had certainly not heard any sounds of crying - and yet I remember being quite certain that were I to knock and enter, I would discover her in tears. I do not know how long I remained standing there; at the time it seemed a significant period, but in reality, I suspect, it was only a matter of a few seconds. For, of course, I was required to hurry upstairs to serve some of the most distinguished gentlemen of the land and I cannot imagine I would have delayed unduly.
Miss Kenton 在房間裏哭泣的這一幕，Stevens 沒看見，也沒聽見。他站在門外，沒有敲門。那一刻他的內心是何等震顫，才能讓他如此堅信，而且二十年忘不了。他並不冷漠，他隻是習慣於壓抑自己的感受。而習慣，讓他失去了表達的能力。
Stevens 深刻的情感在石黑一雄平靜克製的文字裏無聲地湧動，我覺得這正是這部小說的魅力所在。
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