大半年了,沒有好好讀過一本書。《瓦爾登湖》讀了幾章,沒有讀下去就還給了圖書館,想著自己買一本,Barnes Noble書店沒有現貨,就作罷了。在某人文學作品"無用論"的枕邊風下,不斷從圖書館借來最新的雜誌,每日如螞蟻啃骨頭似地啃著,一本本雜誌啃下來,似乎知道地球各大陸大小國家正在發生什麽,似乎與時共進了,似乎了解最新的科技動態了,似乎不再孤陋寡聞了,可有一天突然就對桌邊的雜誌幾分厭倦,遂撿起了從圖書館借了一兩個月都還沒有開讀的英文翻譯書--Winter Pasture.
一兩個月前借雜誌時,發現圖書館進門的書架上醒目地擺著一本新書。之所以破例把它一同借回家,主要有兩個原因,一是新(我可能是這本書的第一個讀者),二是發現此書的作者是中文拚音Li Juan。那時根本不知道Li Juan是誰。這或許就是我和此書的緣分吧。。。
這是一本描寫牧民生活的書,是國內至今為止第一部敘述哈薩克牧民生活的紀實文學作品。作者李娟在2010年的冬天跟隨哈薩克族Cuma一家人去了位於烏倫古河以南的南疆,放牧生活了三四個月,然後把她的所見所聞所感所想,事無巨細地用文字記錄下來。 歸納總結一下,作者在書中主要寫了三大方麵:
(一) 冬牧場的大環境
作者李娟所踏上的是一個約三萬畝的牧場,黃沙白雪,一望無際,空曠寂寥。說起牧場,人們會以為"那裏‘奶水像河一樣流淌,雲雀在綿羊身上築巢孵’——充分又豐饒。而現實中更多的卻是荒涼和貧瘠,寂寞和無助"。那裏的人口密度是每1.5平方公裏住一個人。以這樣的人口密度是不太有可能有什麽像樣的基礎設施,所以黃沙遍野的牧場幾乎沒有什麽像樣的路,交通極其不方便,能進出的隻有兩種車,摩托車和吉普,因此牧民平常的生活供給很困難。 他們日常的用電靠太陽能,一旦遇上陰天、下雪天, 電的供應也很成問題。 水更是另一個大問題, 唯一的水源是積雪。牧民每天要出門去拾集雪塊,遇到附近沒有積雪,還要走很多路去采雪塊,再用袋子背回來, 一趟一趟。 這樣辛苦背來的水除了每天的喝水,做飯,小心翼翼地用, 自然不舍得用來洗頭洗澡洗衣服,所以要忍受幾個月不洗頭不洗澡不能洗衣服的日子。牧場的氣溫可以低至零下43F,有個別牛羊的乳腺也因此凍壞了。下雪時,雪花不是飄下來,鴿子蛋大小的雪像子彈一樣從空中射下來,風霜打在人身上、臉上如"連被抽了十幾巴掌"那般疼。2009年的冬天,牧場遭遇了前所未有的暴風雪,一半多以上的牛羊群活活凍死。然而這並未阻止Cuma一家2010年冬季再次帶領牛羊駱駝馬匹遷徙前往。
二). 牧民一家人的生活
作者跟隨的那戶人家,男主人Cuma近五十歲,他帶著妻子和19歲的二女兒Kama一起去冬牧場放牧。Kama四五年前為幫助父母放牧,不得已高中輟學。 Kama有個姐姐在伊犁上美術學校,還有一個十五歲的弟弟在縣城的學校寄宿上學。
在冬牧場,一家人住的是用牛羊糞便曬幹後壘的地窩子,燒的也是曬幹的羊糞。像曠野中打地洞過冬的動物一樣,Cuma家的"地窩子"(burrow)掘地6尺。他們壘上曬幹的羊糞做牆壁,架幾根木頭在頂部,再鋪上草,蓋上塑料紙,洞口再加個木板門。四五個人就窩在這一百多尺狹窄漏風的空間裏吃住起居,躲避風寒。地窩子的屋頂上住著一隻狗,隻要狗在屋頂跑動幾下,上麵的塵土沙子就刷刷地往下掉,掉到床上,掉到正在吃飯的碗裏。
牧民們一日基本上隻吃一餐,其他兩餐就是簡單的茶(大多數時候是奶茶)+ nan (印度餅?)。每隔三四天有肉吃,在冬牧場裏他們殺過一匹馬,宰過羊,肉的供應想來還比較充沛,但是蔬菜水果卻十分稀缺,兩顆大白菜要吃上兩個月。
牧民的生活是苦的,尤其是要出去放牧的Cuma, 起早貪黑,披星戴月,為讓羊多吃幾口草,常常放牧到天黑。常年堅辛的勞作、冬天的寒冷,夫妻倆都落下很多病,風濕性之類的毛病常常讓他們疼痛難忍。為止痛,阿司匹林和止痛藥當零食一樣吃,每次兩顆,一天吃四五次,有時候半夜痛的無法入睡,再爬起來加量。一日Cuma夜裏又起來一次吃了四顆止痛片,結果第二日醒來鼻血止不住地流。女兒Kama也因勞作和長期缺乏維他命,年紀輕輕手指就已經彎曲變形。
牧民的精神世界又是孤獨的。人走在曠野,寂靜無聲,“感到什麽也無法填滿眼前的空曠與闊大時,就隻好唱起歌來,隻好用歌聲去放大自己的氣息,用歌聲去占據廣闊的安靜”。這種幾乎與世隔絕,單調,一成不變的生活,這種不見人不見炊煙的大漠原野,帶給人的不是雲卷雲舒,風吹草低見牛羊的美,"既非淒涼也非激越",而是一種"說不出的悵然",一種無法排遣的孤苦。
在那裏,手機基本沒有信號,如果有也是很弱的信號,有時隻能打出去無法接收到。地窩子裏唯一的一台電視修好後成了他們夜晚主要的消遣娛樂,然而受信號和供電的限製,一天隻有晚飯後有一段短暫的時光可以看,畫麵還非常不清楚。
(三) 冬牧場的牲口
此行去冬牧場,同時出發時的有三戶兩家,總共大概有30頭駱駝,500匹羊,100多頭牛和馬。其中一戶人家最後去了別處放牧。另外兩家在作者待的牧場比鄰而居。
就這樣浩浩蕩蕩的隊伍跋涉三天,頂著嚴寒霜凍,遷徙到一塊可以繼續牧養之地。而這隻是四季裏的一個季節。實際上,牧民一年四季都在忙碌,"春天接羔,夏天催膘,秋天配種,冬天孕育,羊的一生就是牧民的一年"。
遊記中最觸動我的有下麵幾幕:
----牧民們親手宰殺了他們看著長大、千辛萬苦帶到牧場、悉心照料、朝夕相處的羊和馬。。。但是或許這也無可非議的,牧民也要吃要活下去。
----牧民為了自己可以喝到牛奶,為了每日的茶水裏可以有香奶可以添加,每日清晨天還朦朦亮,就硬生生將母牛和小牛分道揚鑣,母牛向左走,小牛向右去。一天24小時,母牛和小牛隻有暮歸時才有十分鍾的相聚。日久天長,母牛的記憶深處依然記得自己的寶寶,可當它深情呼喚著插肩而過的小牛時,小牛竟然無動於衷--小牛已經不認識不記得媽媽了。
-----一頭母牛冬天產下小牛,欣喜地舔著剛剛出生的小牛犢。 牧民為了保證小牛犢能在寒風凜冽的冬天存活下來,便把小牛犢抱進了地窩子裏。傷心的母牛抗議叫喚了兩天兩夜,不吃不喝不睡。第三天自己實在太餓了,匆匆出去吃了點草,回來繼續在地窩子門口叫喚抗議。當幾天後就可以奔跑的小牛被放置牧場,母牛又是四處追著貪玩的小牛,想讓它多吃幾口奶,這樣的舔犢之情讓人動容。(想起自己當年喂不肯好好吃飯的女兒,也是追著喂:))
我想作者之所以選擇跟從牧民去體驗這麽艱苦的生活是因為得知國家頒布了要從牧民手中收回牧場,重新安置牧民的政策,也就是說,這是牧民最後一年遊牧的機會,"從此牧民不再是這片大地的主人"。書中寫到,國家將以一畝七塊人民幣的價格補貼給牧民,補貼持續七年。以Cuma一家為例,三萬畝的牧場,Cuma一家大概持有三分之一,也就是說,Cuma一家能得到一年七萬塊人民幣的補貼(2010年前後的人民幣value)。國家或許是從保護生態環境,從改善牧民生活著眼。但是,沒有了牛羊的土地"將失去它們最重要的養料-- 大量牲畜糞便。而沒有了牲畜的反複踩踏,秋天的草籽也失去了使之深入土壤的力量。它們輕飄飄地浮在幹的沙地上,紮不下根去,漸漸爛朽,然後在春天的大風中被吹散。脆弱的生態係統越發脆弱。荒野徹底停留在廣闊無助的岑寂之中。。。。" 如果真是這樣,難道不是更悲哀嗎?
書中還提到政府對少數民族的政策上的照顧。牧民的孩子上學是學雜費全免,包吃包住,除了一年45塊人民幣的校服錢要自己出。因此,什麽無中生有的新疆genocide,我更是不信了。
我一生走過的地方不多,或許今生都不會有機會踏上大西北那片神奇的土地。感謝李娟的這部作品,它就像一首遙遠的牧歌,從南疆傳來,帶著曠野的風,帶著異域的風情,讓我聆聽,讓我走近,讓我沉浸其中。
後記: 為了寫這篇文章,特意去搜了搜作者李娟和豆瓣網上的一些中文摘錄。非常感慨,這樣的文章和文字居然出自一個高中都沒有讀完的70後之手(李娟79年生,寫這部時大概32歲)。這部遊記還榮獲了"人民文學獎"。感謝這時代,給每一個人提供了平台(level the ground), 不論出身,不論師出有門無門,每個人都可以施展各自的才華。我想,是豐富的生活經曆賦予李娟以靈感,是新疆這塊沃土孕育了神奇。
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書中的英文摘抄:
In reality, year after year, everyone must submit to nature’s will, oscillating endlessly between south and north. In spring, the herders follow the melting of the snow northward, and come autumn, they are driven slowly back to the south. They are forever departing, forever saying goodbye. In spring, lambs are delivered; in summer, they are fattened; in autumn, they breed; in winter they are pregnant again.
In this homeland stretching over six hundred miles, in every secret winkle on the earth’s surface, every nook and cranny in which shelter can sought… youth, wealth, love, and hope., everything is swallowed up.
In the end, this wilderness will be left behind. The herders will no longer be its keeper. The cattle and sheep will no longer tread its every surface. The grass seeds that drift onto the earth in autumn will no longer feel the force of stomping hoovers that bury them deep into the soil. The masses of manure the fertilized their growth will no longer fall on them. This land will remain forever open, majestically alone in its vastness. The wilderness will be left behind.
Chemical fertilizers will engorge luxuriant grasses with fats and juices.
Engorge: cause to swell with blood, water, or another fluid.
"the river was engorged by a day-long deluge"
Besides, a sheep’s fate so seamlessly dovetails with the rest of nature—how they resemble plants! They sprout in spring, grow lush in summer, set seed in autumn, and harbor that seed in autumn, and harbor that seed all winter long, pregnant, waiting… While chasing the flock through the wildlands, I often thought about how most of them were with child, how most were calm, content mothers. Suddenly I felt the winter’s significance running deep and far.
In a singsong voice
A paragon of decorum
Spinning around all day like a top
Chatterbox
Gurgle with laughter
Birds appeared ephemerally through spatters of claw marks. Though they belonged to the sky, I rarely spotted them overhead.
As mice leave prints on the ground, the birds leave squawks in the air. In the wilderness, when there is a sudden cacophony of birdcall, a person feels transported to a forest at dawn. But when you look around, there are no birds in sight. The only birds you see from time to time are the massive falcons that quietly land on top of the sand dunes.
Any of the other multitude of flora that sprinkled the wilderness.
Those hushed hearts in the most distant crevices on earth.
Not tinkering with nonsense
Center of gravity
Shirk on his chore
Rummage through the chest
It was the desert after all, but no matter how deprived or constrained you might be, you should not shortchange the dead. He wore the stars and the moon, walked in the wind and the rain, shuttled across this earthly loom from north to south and back. Then, one day, he died. He never had to move again, never had to migrate with the herd gain.
At some point, the western sky had cleared up into a stirring blue and white.
I noticed that on dark, moonless nights, the sky exploded with stars. But as long as there was a moon—even if it was only a sliver of a crescent moon, the Milky Way faded into darkness.
In a moment like that, a camera would have been a barbaric intrusion! My eyes captured the scene with more details and vibrancy than any less possibly could—the last of the nomads, the most quiet and remote way of life!
“Knowing” and “not knowing” grew out of one another. The world was opening from both sides. When I thought the world was a tiny seed, the world turned out to be an apple; When I thought the world was an apple, it turned out to be apple tree; when I thought the world was an apple tree, I looked up and saw the world around me—there was an apple orchard stretching forever in all directions….
Even if I did catch a glimpse of the fate of the nomads and the desert, and learned to understand the basics, I still struggled to articulate it with my unwieldy and anxious tongue. The more I try to make sense of the big picture, the more I’m tripped up by the details. What’s worse, the more I want to point out the most barbaric moments, the more I want to turn around and forgive human nature, especially forgive myself… I really am no use.
The desert was yellow, the snow white, the sky blue, the whole world was pale except for that single dark patch that animals and humans had called home, like a paperweight that pressed firmly down on the rolling land. On that black dot, the distance between sky and earth was farthest.
中文抄摘於豆瓣網,因為沒有讀過中文版的,摘抄有點多:
國內的堂弟正巧這個夏天去敦煌,拍了一些照片在朋友圈,借幾張過來看看蒙古包和大漠黃沙。
那一日公司門口拍的雲
問好!
"我經曆過高原的極寒,所以文字散發著溫暖,我飽嚐過心靈的孤苦,所以目光浸透了悲憐":)) 想想就覺得新疆這個地方很神奇,刀郎,王琪和李娟都是高中都沒有讀完的人,都生活在新疆,都成名了。從讀英文翻譯版,覺得李娟的後半部(很靠近尾聲)寫得蠻鬆散,但是或許人們就是喜歡這種白描似寫法。文學作品還是要以"新穎"取勝,至少題材要新。
是要少上網,少看手機,也為了眼睛"永遠年輕":)) 這首歌要送給大漠呢,祝大漠好人好夢! 謝謝大漠喜歡,周末了,好好休息,周末快樂!
暖冬飽覽群書,令人敬佩!現在這世道,我都很難靜下心來看書了;)
Migration will bring forth problems that one may never face before. People may feel lost in the process. In the example you listed above, it looks like too much individualism left them directionless:))
Thanks again, my friend. Nice chatting with you.
In return, you can say 聖人之道,為而不爭 ;-)
> This essay collections were actually translated by two translators
Translation must be hard. I always felt amazed by the few guys who convert Murakami's work.
Back to Cuma. His story reminded me of a guy from Russia. He said that back in the days of the Soviet Union, many choices were made for the elites (e.g., jobs, houses, or maybe even spouses to some degree). After they migrated to the West, where individualism is the culture, they couldn't make their own choices, couldn't do as well anymore, and sank into depression.
If you are interested, you can compare Chinese version with English one here for a few paragraphs. The other day, I said jokingly to him that I wish that in ten years someone may come to me, asking me to translate Chinese works (I know I am not ready now, but you ARE). He scoffed at the idea, saying that it is not "forward-looking" (缺乏前瞻性:))To him, I am not competitive against the new generation.
This essay collections were actually translated by two translators, one Englishman and one Chinese (how could they align stylishly?). Maybe in ten years, we can work together:)) Just kidding. In ten years, I will be definitely retired, but you might be still young:)). But who knows that with the financial freedom, you may retire earlier than I do:))
Just a joke. Thanks again for your visit. Have a great weekend!
Cuma. He must have been following his ancestral way of life. It was hard living
but it had kept the tribe so far. The world's changing and he had felt it in
many ways and the awareness made him feel trapped. He was too old to break the
mold thrust on him since the day he was born. He had even lost the will to fight
a way out. But the feeling of desolation and helplessness was just as real as
the anxiety from the changes without.
暖冬謬讚了。我有一本李娟的書,《我的阿勒泰》,特別喜歡她的文字和文風。我估計咱倆的或許是同一本書。裏麵還有很多插圖。你讀的比我細致多了,我一般午後,隨意讀一段,好像還沒有讀完:)
秋水很感性,寫得留言很打動人心,謝謝秋水啊,我們都要快快樂樂生活!
小小說的是,讀這本書我很進入,一個多星期就讀完了。想想牧民的苦,我們的這些人真是沒什麽可抱怨的,不知道他們現在的近況如何,有沒有改善? 想想中國雖然這些年富裕了,富人很多,但是窮人更多,西北那一帶窮得可憐的。國內的生態也是個問題。謝謝小小的共鳴,誇讚和鼓勵,就不多寫了。祝小小八月安康!
看到你還經常去圖書館借書,感到很慚愧,我有兩、三年沒有去圖書館了。
謝謝徒兒用心“烹調”的精神美餐!
我慶幸自己命中不是牧人,不然的話,如何麵對宰殺的牲口的場麵?心碎。。
暖冬應該讀原著,翻譯總不一樣。
老實坦白,這篇我沒有細讀,要做家事去。留著下次拜讀。哈哈,
有人把李娟的散文和和散文家沈從文比,他們都來自邊疆,都生活在底層,都缺乏現代文人標配的學曆,而我覺得他們最相似的共同點是作品特別的生活,接地氣。她說:“到目前為止,我的寫作隻與我個人生活有關”。李娟的作品大多紀實,一手資料,直麵社會、民生等問題,也是個牧民生活和書中事件的參與者,和《《無依之地》了一樣。文字也是真實,細膩,生動,好像還喜歡用排比句。
片片很震撼,小小說得好,“暖冬為我們打開了一個不曾有過的新視野,國內發展不平衡,希望這樣真實的故事能引起高層的重視,加大投入開發與建設!” 謝謝暖冬帶著我們大家一起讀好書,寫好評!發現英文翻譯得也挺好的,但感覺讀中文更接地氣。:0
暖冬的文筆細膩優美,真情感人,帶我聆聽南疆傳來的遙遠牧歌~~~
整齊蒙古包,大漠黃沙上的那一輪明月,蒼涼中又有了些溫情,感動!再看到暖冬公司門口的那片片流雲,大漠孤煙到雲淡風清的感覺,很感恩!謝謝暖冬精彩分享,預祝周末愉快!:)
感謝你為我們打開了一個不曾有過的新視野,大草原的實際生活並不像歌曲裏唱的那麽美好,我們大學群一同學,一直向往著去美麗的大草原,去過以後再也不發聲了,說那裏是難以想象的貧窮和艱苦。
謝謝分享你堂弟拍的pp,蒼涼的大漠黃沙,幸有蒙古包的點綴才感到有些人氣。
暖冬書評寫的好,故事打動人心,國內發展不平衡,希望這樣真實的故事能引起高層的重視,加大投入開發與建設!
回複:菲兒和麥子: 對不起,不小心按了關閉評論的鍵,謝謝你們的惦記和臨帖!
麥姐 2021-08-05 05:43:39
回複 悄悄話 回複 '菲兒天地' 的評論 : +1,謝謝暖冬精彩書評,沒看過李娟的書,先從你這兒學習下。
菲兒天地 2021-08-05 05:00:46
回複 悄悄話 讚暖冬的李娟書評,怎麽不開門?:)