A Clockwork Orange (1962) is a dystopian novel by Anthony Burgess.
The title is taken from an old Cockney expression, "as queer as a clockwork orange"¹, and alludes to the prevention of the main character's exercise of his free will through the use of a classical conditioning technique. With this technique, the subject’s emotional responses to violence are systematically paired with a negative stimulation in the form of nausea caused by an emetic medicine administered just before the presentation of films depicting "ultra-violent" situations. Written from the perspective of a seemingly biased and unapologetic protagonist, the novel also contains an experiment in language: Burgess creates a new speech that is the teenage slang of the not-too-distant future.
The novel has been adapted for cinema in a controversial movie by Stanley Kubrick, and also by Andy Warhol; adaptations have also been made for television, radio, and the stage. As well as inspiring a concept album, the novel and films are referred to in, and have inspired, a number of songs and bands.
The title is taken from an old Cockney expression, "as queer as a clockwork orange"¹, and alludes to the prevention of the main character's exercise of his free will through the use of a classical conditioning technique. With this technique, the subject’s emotional responses to violence are systematically paired with a negative stimulation in the form of nausea caused by an emetic medicine administered just before the presentation of films depicting "ultra-violent" situations. Written from the perspective of a seemingly biased and unapologetic protagonist, the novel also contains an experiment in language: Burgess creates a new speech that is the teenage slang of the not-too-distant future.
The novel has been adapted for cinema in a controversial movie by Stanley Kubrick, and also by Andy Warhol; adaptations have also been made for television, radio, and the stage. As well as inspiring a concept album, the novel and films are referred to in, and have inspired, a number of songs and bands.
Crime and Punishment (Russian: Преступление и наказание Prestuplenie i nakazanie) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. This was first published in the Russian literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoevsky's full-length novels following his return from years of exile in the gulags of Siberia, and this is his first great novel of his "mature period" of writing.
Crime and Punishment focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student from St. Petersburg who formulates and executes a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her money. Raskolnikov argues that with the pawnbroker's money he can perform good deeds to counterbalance the crime, while ridding the world of a worthless parasite. This murder he also commits to test Raskolnikov's hypothesis that some people are naturally able to and also have the right to murder. Several times throughout the novel, Raskolnikov also justifies his actions by connecting himself mentally with Napoleon Bonaparte, believing that murder is permissible in pursuit of a higher purpose.
Creation
Dostoevsky conceived the idea of Crime and Punishment in the summer of 1865, having gambled away much of his fortune, unable to pay his bill or afford proper meals. At the time the author owed large sums of money to creditors, and was trying to help the family of his brother Mikhail, who had died in early 1864. Projected under the title The Drunkards, it was to deal "with the present question of drunkness ... [in] all its ramifications, especially the picture of a family and the bringing up of children in these circumstance, etc., etc." Once Dostoevsky conceived Raskolnikov and his crime, now inspired by the case of Pierre François Lacenaire, this theme became ancillary, centering on the story of the Marmeladov family.
Dostoevsky offered his story or novella (at the time Dostoevsky was not thinking of a novel) to the publisher Mikhail Katkov. His monthly journal, The Russian Messenger, was a prestigious publication of its kind, and the outlet for both Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy, but Dostoevsky, having carried on quite bruising polemics with Katkov in early 1860s, had never published anything in its pages. Dostoevsky turned as a last resort to Katkov, and asked for an advance on a proposed contribution after all other appeals elsewhere failed. In a letter to Katkov written in September 1865, Dostoevsky explained to him that the work was to be about a young man who yields to "certain strange, 'unfinished' ideas, yes floating in the air"; he had thus embarked on his plan to explore the moral and psychological dangers of the "radical" ideology. In letters written in November 1865 an important conceptual change occurred: the "story" has become a "novel", and from here on all references to Crime and Punishment are to a novel.
Dostoevsky had to race against time, in order to finish on time both The Gambler and Crime and Punishment. Anna Snitkina, a stenographer who would soon become his second wife, was a great help for Dostoevsky during this difficult task. The first part of Crime and Punishment appeared in the January 1866 issue of The Russian Messenger, and the last one was published in December 1866.
“ At the end of November much had been written and was ready; I burned it all; I can confess that now. I didn't like it myself. A new form, a new plan excited me, and I started all over again. ”
— Dostoevsky's letter to his friend Alexander Wrangel in February 1886
In the complete edition of Dostoevsky's writings published in the Soviet Union, the editors reassembled and printed the notebooks that the writer kept while working on Crime and Punishment, in a sequence roughly corresponding to the various stages of composition. Because of these labors, there is now a fragmentary working draft of the story, or novella, as initially conceived, as well as two other versions of the text. These have been distinguished as the Wiesbaden edition, the Petersburg edition, and the final plan, involving the shift from a first-person narrator to the indigenous variety of third-person form invented by Dostoevsky. The Wiesbaden edition concentrates entirely on the moral/physic reactions of the narrator after the murder. It coincides roughly with the story that Dostoevsky described in his letter to Katkov, and written in a form of a diary or journal, corresponds to what eventually became part II.
“ I wrote [this chapter] with genuine inspiration, but perhaps it is no good; but for them the question is not its literary worth, they are worried about its morality. Here I was in the right—nothing was against morality, and even quite the contrary, but they saw otherwise and, what's more, saw traces of nihilism ... I took it back, and this revision of a large chapter cost me at least three new chapters of work, judging by the effort and the weariness; but I corrected it and gave it back. ”
— Dostoevsky's letter to A.P. Milyukov
Why Dostoevsky abandoned his initial version remains a matter of speculation. According to Joseph Frank, "one possibility is that his protagonist began to develop beyond the boundaries in which he had first been conceived". The notebooks indicate that Dostoevsky was aware of the emergence of new aspects of Raskolnikov's character as the plot action proceeded, and he structured the novel in conformity with this "metamorphosis," Frank says. Dostoevsky thus decided to fuse the story with his previous idea for a novel called The Drunkards. The final version of Crime and Punishment came to birth only when, in November 1865, Dostoevsky decided to recast his novel in the third person. This shift was the culmination of a long struggle, present through all the early stages of composition. Once having decided, Dostoevsky began to rewrite from scratch, and was able to easily integrate sections of the early manuscript into the final text—Frank says that he did not, as he told Wrangel, burn everything he had written earlier.
The final draft went smoothly, except for a clash with the editors of The Russian Messenger, about which very little is known. Since the manuscript Dostoevsky turned in to Katkov was lost, it is unclear what the editors had objected to in the original. In 1889, the editors of the journal commented that "it was not easy for him [Dostoevsky] to give up his intentionally exaggerated idealization of Sonya as a woman who carried self-sacrifice to the point of sacrificing her body". It seems that Dostoevsky had initially given Sonya a much more affirmative role in the scene, in which she reads the Gospel story of the raising of Lazarus to Raskolnikov.
Plot
Raskolnikov, a mentally unstable drop-out student, lives in a tiny, rented room in Saint Petersburg. He refuses all help, even from his friend Razumikhin, and devises a plan to murder and to rob an unpleasant elderly pawn-broker and money-lender, Alyona Ivanovna. His motivation, whether personal or ideological, remains at this point unclear. While still considering the plan, Raskolnikov makes the acquaintance of Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov, a drunkard who recently squandered his family's little wealth. He also receives a letter from his sister and mother, speaking of their coming visit to St. Petersberg, and his sister's sudden marriage plans which they plan on discussing upon their arrival.
After much deliberation, Raskolnikov sneaks into Alyona Ivanovna's apartment where he murders her with an ax. He also kills her half-sister, Lizaveta, who happens to stumble upon the scene of the crime. Shaken by his actions, Raskolnikov manages to only steal a handful of items and a small purse, leaving much of the pawn-broker's wealth untouched. Raskolnikov then flees and manages to leave miraculously unseen and undetected.
After the bungled murder, Raskolnikov falls into a feverish state and begins to worry obsessively over the murder. He hides the stolen items and purse under a rock, and tries desperately to clean his clothing of any blood or evidence. He falls into a fever later that day, though not before calling briefly on his old friend Razumikhin. As the fever comes and goes in the following days, Raskolnikov behaves as though he wishes to betray himself. He shows strange reactions to whosoever mentions the murder of the pawn-broker, which is now known about and talked of in the city. In his delirium, Raskolnikov wanders Petersberg, drawing more and more attention to himself and his relation to the crime. In one of walks through the city, he sees Marmeladov being struck mortally by a carriage in the streets. Rushing to help him, Raskolnikov gives the remainder of his money to the man's family, which includes his teenage daughter, Sonia, who has been forced to become a prostitute to support her family.
In the meantime, Raskolnikov's mother, Pulkheria Alexandrovna, and his sister, Avdotya Romanovna (or Dunya) have arrived in town. Avdotya had been working as a governess for the Svidrigailov family until this point, but was forced out of the position by the head of the family, Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigaïlov. Svidrigailov, a married man, was attracted to Avdotya's physical beauty and her stunning spiritual qualities, and offered her riches and elopement. Avdotya, having none of this, fled the family and lost her source of income, only to meet Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin, a man of modest income and rank. Luzhin proposes to marry Avdotya, thereby securing her and her mother's financial safety, provided she accept him quickly and without question. It is for these very reasons that the two of them come to St. Petersberg, both to meet Luzhin there and to attain Raskolnikov's approval. Luzhin, however, calls on Raskolnikov while he is in a delirious state and presents himself as a foolish, self-righteous and presuming man. Raskolnikov dismisses him immediately as a potential husband for his sister, and realizes that she only accepted him to help her family.
As the novel progresses, Raskolnikov is introduced to the detective Porfiry, who begins to suspect him for the murder purely on psychological grounds. At the same time, a chaste relationship develops between Raskolnikov and Sonya. Sonya, though a prostitute, is full of Christian virtue and is only driven into the profession by her family's poverty. Meanwhile, Razumikhin and Raskolnikov manage to keep Avdotya from continuing her relationship with Luzhin, whose true character is exposed to be conniving and base. At this point, Svidrigailov appears on the scene, having come from the province to Petersberg, almost solely to seek out Avdotya. He reveals that his wife is dead, and that he is willing to pay Avdotya a vast sum of money in exchange for nothing. She, upon hearing the news, refuses flat out, suspecting him of treachery.
As Raskolnikov and Porfiry continue to meet, Raskolnikov's motives for the crime become exposed. Porfiry becomes increasingly certain of the man's guilt, but has no concrete evidence or witnesses with which to back this suspicion up. Raskolnikov's nerves begin to wear thin, and he is constantly struggling with the the idea of confessing, though he knows that he can never be truly convicted. He turns to Sonya for support, and confesses his crime to her. By coincidence, Svidrigailov has taken up residence in a room next to Sonya's and overhears the entire confession. When the two men meet face to face, Svidrigailov acknowledges this fact, and suggests that he may use it against him, should he need to. Svidrigailov also speaks of his own past, in which he reveals that he has committed murder and most recently killed his wife.
Raskolnikov is at this point completely torn; he is urged by Sonya to confess, and Svidrigailov's testimony could potentially convict him. Meantime, Svidrigailov attempts to seduce and then rape Avdotya, who convinces him not to. He then spends a night in confusion, and in the morning shoots himself. This same morning, Raskolnikov goes again to Sonya, who again urges him to confess and to clear his conscience. He makes his way to the police station, where he is met by the news of Svidrigailov's suicide. He hesitates a moment, thinking again that he might get away with a perfect crime, but is persuaded by Sonya to confess.
The epilogue tells of how Raskolnikov is sentenced to penal servitude in Siberia, where Sonya follows him. Avdotya and Razumikhin marry and are left in a happy position by the end of the novel. Raskolnikov, however, struggles in Siberia. It is only after some time serving that his redemption and moral regeneration begin under Sonya's loving influence.
Characters
In Crime and Punishment Dostoevsky succeeds in fusing the personality of his main character, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov (Russian: Родион Романович Раскольников), with his new anti-radical ideological themes. The main plot involves a murder as the result of "ideological intoxication," and depicts all the disastrous moral and psychical consequences that result from the murderer. Raskolnikov's psychology is placed at the center, and carefully interwoven with the ideas behind his transgression; every other feature of the novel illuminates the agonizing dilemma in which Raskolnikov is caught. From another point of view, the novel's plot is another variation of a conventional nineteenth-century theme: an innocent young provincial comes to seek his fortune in the capital, where he succumbs to corruption, and loses all traces of his former freshness and purity. However, as Gary Rosenshield points out, "Raskolnikov succumbs not to the temptations of high society as Honoré de Balzac's Rastignac or Stendhal's Julien Sorel, but to those of rationalistic Petersburg".
Raskolnikov is the protagonist, and the action is focalized primarily from his perspective. Despite its name, the novel does not so much deal with the crime and its formal punishment, as with Raskolnikov's internal struggle (the English translation does not do justice to the plot, however, in Russia, the title means 'transgression' over a border, which is what Raskolnikov emotionally does).[citation needed] The book shows that his punishment results more from his conscience than from the law. He committed murder with the belief that he possessed enough intellectual and emotional fortitude to deal with the ramifications, [based on his paper/thesis, "On Crime", that he is a Napoleon], but his sense of guilt soon overwhelms him. It is only in the epilogue that he realizes his formal punishment, having decided to confess and end his alienation.
Sofia Semyonovna Marmeladova (Russian: Софья Семёновна Мармеладова), variously called Sonia and Sonechka, is the daughter of a drunk, Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov, whom Raskolnikov meets in a tavern at the beginning of the novel, and who, Raskolnikov discerns, shares the same feelings of shame and alienation as he does. She becomes the first person to whom Raskolnikov confesses his crime, and she supports him even though she was friends with one of the victims (Lizaveta). For most of the novel, Sonya serves as the spiritual guide for Raskolnikov. After his confession she follows him to Siberia where she lives in the same town as the prison.
Other characters of the novel are:
* Porfiry Petrovich (Порфирий Петрович) – The detective in charge of solving the murders of Lizaveta and Alyona Ivanovna, who, along with Sonya, guides Raskolnikov towards confession. Unlike Sonya, however, Porfiry does this through psychological games. Despite the lack of evidence, he becomes certain Raskolnikov is the murderer following several conversations with him, but gives him the chance to confess voluntarily. He attempts to confuse and to provoke the unstable Raskolnikov in an attempt to coerce him to confess.
* Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova (Авдотья Романовна Раскольникова) – Raskolnikov's strong willed and self-sacrificial sister, called Dunya, Dounia or Dunechka for short. She initially plans to marry the wealthy, yet smug and self-possessed, Luzhin, to save the family from financial destitution. She has a habit of pacing across the room while thinking. She is followed to Saint Petersburg by the disturbed Svidrigailov, who seeks to win her back through blackmail. She rejects both men in favour of Raskolnikov's loyal friend, Razumikhin.
* Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigaïlov (Аркадий Иванович Свидригайлов) – Sensual, depraved, and wealthy former employer and current pursuer of Dunya, Svidrigaïlov is suspected of multiple acts of murder, and overhears Raskolnikov's confessions to Sonya. With this knowledge he torments both Dunya and Raskolnikov but does not inform the police. When Dunya tells him she could never love him (after attempting to shoot him) he lets her go and commits suicide. Whereas Sonya represents the path to salvation, Svidrigaïlov represents the other path towards suicide. Despite his apparent malevolence, Svidrigaïlov is similar to Raskolnikov in regard to his random acts of charity. He fronts the money for the Marmeladov children to enter an orphanage (after both their parents die), gives Sonya five percent bank notes totalling three thousand rubles, and leaves the rest of his money to his juvenile fiancée.
* Marfa Petrovna Svidrigailova (Марфа Петровна Свидригайлова) – Arkady Svidrigaïlov's deceased wife, whom he is suspected of having murdered, and who he claims has visited him as a ghost. Her bequest of 3,000 rubles to Dunya allows Dunya to reject Luzhin as a suitor.
* Dmitri Prokofich Razumikhin (Дмитрий Прокофьич Разумихин) – Raskolnikov's loyal friend. In terms of Razumikhin's contribution to Dostoevsky's anti-radical thematics, he is intended to represent something of a reconciliation of the pervasive thematic conflict between faith and reason. The fact that his name means reason shows Dostoevsky's desire to employ this faculty as a foundational basis for his Christian faith in God.
* Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladova (Катерина Ивановна Мармеладова) – Semyon Marmeladov's consumptive and ill-tempered second wife, stepmother to Sonya. She drives Sonya into prostitution in a fit of rage, but later regrets it, and beats her children mercilessly, but works ferociously to improve their standard of living. She is obsessed with demonstrating that slum life is far below her station. Following Marmeladov's death, she uses Raskolnikov's money to hold a funeral.
* Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov (Семён Захарович Мармеладов) – Hopeless drunk who indulges in his own suffering, and father of Sonya. Marmeladov could be seen as a Russian equivalent of the character of Micawber in Charles Dickens' novel, David Copperfield.[citation needed]
* Pulkheria Alexandrovna Raskolnikova (Пульхерия Александровна Раскольникова) – Raskolnikov's relatively clueless, hopeful and loving mother. Following Raskolnikov's sentence, she falls ill (mentally and physically) and eventually dies. She hints in her dying stages that she is slightly more aware of her son's fate, which was hidden from her by Dunya and Razumikhin.
* Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin (Пётр Петрович Лужин) – A well-off lawyer who is engaged to Raskolnikov's sister Dunya in the beginning of the novel. His motives for the marriage is rather despicable, as he states more or less that he chose her since she will be completely beholden to him financially.
* Andrey Semyenovich Lebezyatnikov (Андрей Семёнович Лебезятников) – Luzhin's utopian socialist roommate who witnesses his attempt to frame Sonya and subsequently exposes him.
* Alyona Ivanovna (Алёна Ивановна) – Suspicious old pawnbroker who hoards money and is merciless to her patrons. She is Raskolnikov's intended target.
* Lizaveta Ivanovna (Лизавета Ивановна) – Alyona's simple and innocent sister. Raskolnikov murders her when she walks in immediately after Raskolnikov had killed Alyona. Lizaveta was a friend of Sonya's.
* Zosimov (Зосимов) – A friend of Razumikhin and a doctor who cared for Raskolnikov.
* Nastasya Petrovna (Настасья Петровна) – Raskolnikov's landlady's servant and a friend of Raskolnikov.
* Nikodim Fomich (Никодим Фомич)– The amiable Chief of Police.
* Ilya "Gunpowder" Petrovich (Илья Петрович) – A police official and Fomich's assistant.
* Alexander Grigorievich Zamyotov (Александр Григорьевич Заметов) – Head clerk at the police station and friend to Razumikhin. Raskolnikov arouses Zamyotov's suspicions by explaining how he, Raskolnikov, would have committed various crimes, although Zamyotov later apologizes, believing, much to Raskolnikov's amusement, that it was all a farce to expose how ridiculous the suspicions were. This scene illustrates the argument of Raskolnikov's belief in his own superiority as Übermensch.[citation needed]
* Nikolai Dementiev (Николай Дементьев) – A painter and sectarian who admits to the murder, since his sect holds it to be supremely virtuous to suffer for another person's crime.
* Polina Mikhailovna Marmeladova (Полина Михайловна Мармеладова) – Ten-year-old adopted daughter of Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov and younger stepsister to Sonya, sometimes known as Polechka.
Name Word Meaning (in Russian)
Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov raskol a schism, or split; "raskolnik" is "one who splits" or "dissenter"; the verb raskalyvat' means "to cleave", "to chop","to crack","to split" or "to break"
Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin luzha a puddle
Dmitri Prokofich Razumikhin razum reason, intelligence
Alexander Grigorievich Zamyotov zametit to notice, to realize
Andrey Semyenovich Lebezyatnikov lebezit to fawn on somebody, to cringe
Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov marmelad marmalade/jam
Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov Svidrigailo a Lithuanian duke of the fifteenth century
Structure
Crime and Punishment has a distinct beginning, middle and end. The novel is divided into six parts, with an epilogue. The notion of "intrinsic duality" in Crime and Punishment has been commented upon, with the suggestion that there is a degree of symmetry to the book. Edward Wasiolek who has argued that Dostoevsky was a skilled craftsman, highly conscious of the formal pattern in his art, has likened the structure of Crime & Punishment to a "flattened X", saying:
Parts I-III [of Crime and Punishment] present the predominantly rational and proud Raskolnikov: Parts IV-VI, the emerging "irrational" and humble Raskolnikov. The first half of the novel shows the progressive death of the first ruling principle of his character; the last half, the progressive birth of the new ruling principle. The point of change comes in the very middle of the novel.
This compositional balance is achieved by means of the symmetrical distribution of certain key episodes throughout the novel's six parts. The recurrence of these episodes in the two halves of the novel, as David Bethea has argued, is organized according to a mirror-like principle, whereby the "left" half of the novel reflects the "right" half. For her part, Margaret Church discerns a contrapuntal structuring: parts I, III and V deal largely with the main hero's relationship to his family (mother, sister and mother surrogates), while parts II, IV and VI deal with his relationship to the authorities of the state "and to various father figures".
The seventh part of the novel, the Epilogue, has attracted much attention and controversy. Some of Dostoevsky's critics have criticized the novel's final pages as superfluous, anti-climactic, unworthy of the rest of the work, while others have rushed to the defense of the Epilogue, offering various ingenious schemes which conclusively prove its inevitability and necessity. Steven Cassedy argues that Crime and Punishment "is formally two distinct but closely related, things, namely a particular type of tragedy in the classical Greek mold and a Christian resurrection tale". Cassedy concludes that "the logical demands of the tragic model as such are satisfied without the Epilogue in Crime and Punishment ... At the same time, this tragedy contains a Christian component, and the logical demands of this element are met only by the resurrection promised in the Epilogue".
Crime and Punishment is written from a third-person omniscient perspective. It is focalized primarily from the point of view of Raskolnikov; however, it does at times switch to the perspective of Svidrigailov, Razumikhin, Peter Petrovich, or Dunya. This narrative technique, which fuses the narrator very closely with the consciousness and point of view of the central characters of the plot, was original for its period. Franks notes that his identification, through Dostoevsky's use of the time shifts of memory and his manipulation of temporal sequence, begins to approach the later experiments of Henry James, Joseph Conrad, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce. A late nineteenth-century reader was, however, accustomed to more orderly and linear types of expository narration. This led to the persistence of the legend that Dostoevsky was an untidy and negligent craftsman, and to critical observations like the following by Melchior de Vogüé:
"A word ... one does not even notice, a small fact that takes up only a line, have their reverberations fifty pages later ... [so that] the continuity becomes unintelligible if one skips a couple of pages."
Dostoevsky uses different speech mannerisms and sentences of different length for different characters. Those who use artificial language—Luzhin, for example—are identified as unattractive people. Mrs. Marmeladov's disintegrating mind is reflected in her language, too. In the original Russian text, the names of the major characters have something of a double meaning, but in translation the subtlety of the language is sometimes lost. There is even a play with the Russian word for crime ("prestuplenie"), which is literally translated as a stepping across or a transgression. The physical image of crime as a crossing over a barrier or a boundary is lost in translation. So is the religious implication of transgression, which in English refers to a sin rather than a crime.
Symbolism
The Dreams
Raskolnikov's dreams always have a symbolic meaning, which suggests a psychological view. In the dream about the horse, the mare has to sacrifice itself for the men who are too much in a rush to wait. This could be symbolic of women sacrificing themselves for men, just like Raskolnikov's belief that Dunya is sacrificing herself for Rodya by marrying Luzhin. Some critics have suggested this dream is the fullest single expression of the whole novel, containing the nihilistic destruction of an innocent creature and Rodion's suppressed sympathy for it (although the young Rodion in the dream runs to the horse, he still murders the pawnbroker soon after waking). The dream is also mentioned when Raskolnikov talks to Marmeladov. He states that his daughter, Sonya, has to sell her body to earn a living for their family. The dream is also a blatant warning for the impending murder.
In the final pages, Raskolnikov, who at this point is in the prison infirmary, has a feverish dream about a plague of nihilism, that enters Russia and Europe from the east and which spreads senseless dissent (Raskolnikov's name alludes to "raskol", dissent) and fanatic dedication to "new ideas": it finally engulfs all of mankind. Though we don't learn anything about the content of these ideas they clearly disrupt society forever and are seen as exclusively critical assaults on ordinary thinking: it is clear that Dostoevsky was envisaging the new, politically and culturally nihilist ideas which were entering Russian literature and society in this watershed decade, and with which Dostoevsky would be in debate for the rest of his life (cp. Chernyshevsky's What Is to Be Done?, Dobrolyubov's abrasive journalism, Turgenev's Fathers and Sons and Dostoevsky's own The Possessed). Just like the novel demonstrates and argues Dostoevsky's conviction that "if God doesn't exist (or is not recognized) then anything is permissible" the dream sums up his fear that if men won't check their thinking against the realities of life and nature, and if they are unwilling to listen to reason or authority, then no ideas or cultural institutions will last and only brute barbarism can be the result. Janko Lavrin, who took part in the revolutions of the WWI era, knew Lenin and Trotsky and many others, and later would spend years writing and researching on Dostoevsky and other Russian classics, called this final dream "prophetic in its symbolism".
The Cross
Sonya gives Rodya a cross when he goes to turn himself in. He takes his pain upon him by carrying the cross through town, like Jesus; he falls to his knees in the town square on the way to his confession. Sonya carried the cross up until then, which indicates that, as literally mentioned in the book, she suffers for him, in a semi-Christ-like manner. Sonya and Lizaveta had exchanged crosses and become spiritual sisters, originally the cross was Lizaveta's — so Sonya carries Lizaveta's cross, the cross of Rodya's innocent victim, whom he didn't intend to kill.
Saint Petersburg
“ On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. bridge. ”
— Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, I, I
The above opening sentence of the novel has a symbolic function: Russian critic Vadim K. Kozhinov argues that the reference to the "exceptionally hot evening" establishes not only the suffocating atmosphere of Saint Petersburg in midsummer but also "the infernal ambience of the crime itself". Dostoevsky was among the first to recognize the symbolic possibilities of city life and imagery drawn from the city. I. F. I. Evnin regards Crime and Punishment as the first great Russian novel "in which the climactic moments of the action are played out in dirty taverns, on the street, in the sordid black rooms of the poor".
Dostoevsky's Petersburg is the city of unrelieved poverty; "magnificence has no place in it, because magnificence is external, formal abstract, cold". Dostoevsky connects the city's problems to Raskolnikov's thoughts and subsequent actions. The crowded streets and squares, the shabby houses and taverns, the noise and stench, all are transformed by Dostoevsky into a rich store of metaphors for states of mind. Donald Fanger asserts that "the real city [...] rendered with a striking concreteness, is also a city of the mind in the way that its atmosphere answers Raskolnikov's spiritual condition and almost symbolizes it. It is crowded, stifling, and parched."
Themes
Dostoevsky's letter to Katkov reveals his immediate inspiration, to which he remained faithful even after his original plan evolved into a much more ambitious creation: a desire to counteract what he regarded as nefarious consequences arising from the doctrines of Russian nihilism. In the novel, Dostoevsky pinpointed the dangers of both utilitarianism and rationalism, the main ideas of which inspired the radicals, continuing a fierce criticism he had already started with his Notes from Underground. A Slavophile religious believer, Dostoevsky utilized the characters, dialogue and narrative in Crime and Punishment to articulate an argument against westernizing ideas in general. He thus attacked a peculiar Russian blend of French utopian socialism and Benthamite utilitarianism, which had led to what revolutionaries, such as Nikolai Chernyshevsky, called "rational egoism".
The radicals refused, however, to recognize themselves in the novel's pages (Dimitri Pisarev ridiculed the notion that Raskolnikov's ideas could be identified with those of the radicals of his time), since Dostoevsky portrayed nihilistic ideas to their most extreme consequences. The aim of these ideas was altruistic and humanitarian, but these aims were to be achieved by relying on reason and suppressing entirely the spontaneous outflow of Christian pity and compassion. Chernyshevsky's utilitarian ethic proposed that thought and will in man were subject to the laws of physical science. Dostoevsky believed that such ideas limited man to a product of physics, chemistry and biology, negating spontaneous emotional responses. In its latest variety of Bazarovism, Russian nihilism encouraged the creation of an élite of superior individuals to whom the hopes of the future were to be entrusted.
Raskolnikov exemplifies all the potentially disastrous hazards contained in such an ideal. Frank notes that "the moral-psychological traits of his character incorporate this antinomy between instinctive kindness, sympathy, and pity on the one hand and, on the other, a proud and idealistic egoism that has become perverted into a contemptuous disdain for the submissive herd". Raskolnikov's inner conflict in the opening section of the novel results in a utilitarian-altruistic justification for the proposed crime: why not kill a wretched and "useless" old moneylender to alleviate the human misery? Dostoevsky wants to show that this utilitarian type of reasoning and its conclusions had become widespread and commonplace; they were by no means the solitary invention of Raskolnikov's tormented and disordered mind. Such radical and utilitarian ideas act to reinforce the innate egoism of Raskolnikov's character, and to turn him into a hater rather than a lover of his fellow humans. He even becomes fascinated with the majestic image of a Napoleonic personality who, in the interests of a higher social good, believes that he possesses a moral right to kill. Indeed, his "Napoleon-like" plan drags him to a well-calculated murder, the ultimate conclusion of his self-deception with utilitarianism.
In his depiction of the Petersburg background, Dostoevsky accentuates the squalor and human wretchedness that pass before Raskolnikov's eyes. He also uses Raskolnikov's encounter with Marmeladov to present both the heartlessness of Raskolnikov's convictions and the alternative set of values to be set against them. Dostoevsky believes that the "freedom" propounded by the aforementioned ideas is a dreadful freedom "that is contained by no values, because it is before values". The product of this "freedom", Raskolnikov, is in perpetual revolt against society, himself, and God. He thinks that he is self-sufficient and self-contained, but at the end "his boundless self-confidence must disappear in the face of what is greater than himself, and his self-fabricated justification must humble itself before the higher justice of God". Dostoevsky calls for the regeneration and renewal of the "sick" Russian society through the re-discovering of their country, their religion, and their roots.
Reception
The first part of Crime and Punishment published in the January and February issues of The Russian Messenger met with public success. Although the remaining parts of the novel had still to be written, an anonymous reviewer wrote that "the novel promises to be one of the most important works of the author of The House of the Dead". In his memoirs, the conservative belletrist Nikolay Strakhov recalled that in Russia Crime and Punishment was the literary sensation of 1866.
The novel soon attracted the criticism of the liberal and radical critics. G.Z. Yeliseyev sprang to the defense of the Russian student corporations, and wondered, "Has there ever been a case of a student committing murder for the sake of robbery?" Pisarev, aware of the novel's artistic value attempted in 1867 another approach: he argued that Raskolnikov was a product of his environment, and explained that the main theme of the work was poverty and its results. He measured the novel's excellence by the accuracy and understanding with which Dostoevsky portrayed the contemporary social reality, and focused on what he regarded as inconsistencies in the novel's plot. Strakhov rejected Pisarev's contention that the theme of environmental determinism was essential to the novel, and pointed out that Dostoevsky's attitude towards his hero was sympathetic: "This is not mockery of the younger generation, neither a reproach nor an accusation—it is a lament over it."
English translations
* Frederick Whishaw (1885)
* Constance Garnett (1914)
* David Magarshack (1951)
* Princess Alexandra Kropotkin (1953)
* Jessie Coulson (1953)
* Sidney Monas (1968)
* David McDuff (1991)
* Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky (1992)
* Julius Katzer
* Michael Scammell
Film adaptations
Main article: Film adaptations of Crime and Punishment
There have been over 25 film adaptations of Crime and Punishment. They include:
* Raskolnikow (aka Crime and Punishment) (1923, directed by Robert Wiene)
* Crime and Punishment (1935, starring Peter Lorre, Edward Arnold and Marian Marsh)
* Eigoban Tsumi to Batsu (1953, manga by Tezuka Osamu, under his interpretation)
* Crime and Punishment (1970 film) (Soviet film, 1970, starring Georgi Taratorkin, Tatyana Bedova, Vladimir Basov, Victoria Fyodorova) dir. Lev Kulidzhanov
* Rikos ja Rangaistus (1983; Crime and Punishment), the first movie by the Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, with Markku Toikka in the lead role. The story has been transplanted to modern-day Helsinki, Finland.
* Crime and Punishment in Suburbia (2000, an adaptation set in modern America and "loosely based" on the novel)
* Columbo (1971 - 78, and intermittently otherwise, starring the American actor Peter Falk) According to the creator of "Columbo", William Link, the American detective "Columbo", is based in part upon Porfiry Petrovich.
Crime and Punishment focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student from St. Petersburg who formulates and executes a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her money. Raskolnikov argues that with the pawnbroker's money he can perform good deeds to counterbalance the crime, while ridding the world of a worthless parasite. This murder he also commits to test Raskolnikov's hypothesis that some people are naturally able to and also have the right to murder. Several times throughout the novel, Raskolnikov also justifies his actions by connecting himself mentally with Napoleon Bonaparte, believing that murder is permissible in pursuit of a higher purpose.
Creation
Dostoevsky conceived the idea of Crime and Punishment in the summer of 1865, having gambled away much of his fortune, unable to pay his bill or afford proper meals. At the time the author owed large sums of money to creditors, and was trying to help the family of his brother Mikhail, who had died in early 1864. Projected under the title The Drunkards, it was to deal "with the present question of drunkness ... [in] all its ramifications, especially the picture of a family and the bringing up of children in these circumstance, etc., etc." Once Dostoevsky conceived Raskolnikov and his crime, now inspired by the case of Pierre François Lacenaire, this theme became ancillary, centering on the story of the Marmeladov family.
Dostoevsky offered his story or novella (at the time Dostoevsky was not thinking of a novel) to the publisher Mikhail Katkov. His monthly journal, The Russian Messenger, was a prestigious publication of its kind, and the outlet for both Ivan Turgenev and Leo Tolstoy, but Dostoevsky, having carried on quite bruising polemics with Katkov in early 1860s, had never published anything in its pages. Dostoevsky turned as a last resort to Katkov, and asked for an advance on a proposed contribution after all other appeals elsewhere failed. In a letter to Katkov written in September 1865, Dostoevsky explained to him that the work was to be about a young man who yields to "certain strange, 'unfinished' ideas, yes floating in the air"; he had thus embarked on his plan to explore the moral and psychological dangers of the "radical" ideology. In letters written in November 1865 an important conceptual change occurred: the "story" has become a "novel", and from here on all references to Crime and Punishment are to a novel.
Dostoevsky had to race against time, in order to finish on time both The Gambler and Crime and Punishment. Anna Snitkina, a stenographer who would soon become his second wife, was a great help for Dostoevsky during this difficult task. The first part of Crime and Punishment appeared in the January 1866 issue of The Russian Messenger, and the last one was published in December 1866.
“ At the end of November much had been written and was ready; I burned it all; I can confess that now. I didn't like it myself. A new form, a new plan excited me, and I started all over again. ”
— Dostoevsky's letter to his friend Alexander Wrangel in February 1886
In the complete edition of Dostoevsky's writings published in the Soviet Union, the editors reassembled and printed the notebooks that the writer kept while working on Crime and Punishment, in a sequence roughly corresponding to the various stages of composition. Because of these labors, there is now a fragmentary working draft of the story, or novella, as initially conceived, as well as two other versions of the text. These have been distinguished as the Wiesbaden edition, the Petersburg edition, and the final plan, involving the shift from a first-person narrator to the indigenous variety of third-person form invented by Dostoevsky. The Wiesbaden edition concentrates entirely on the moral/physic reactions of the narrator after the murder. It coincides roughly with the story that Dostoevsky described in his letter to Katkov, and written in a form of a diary or journal, corresponds to what eventually became part II.
“ I wrote [this chapter] with genuine inspiration, but perhaps it is no good; but for them the question is not its literary worth, they are worried about its morality. Here I was in the right—nothing was against morality, and even quite the contrary, but they saw otherwise and, what's more, saw traces of nihilism ... I took it back, and this revision of a large chapter cost me at least three new chapters of work, judging by the effort and the weariness; but I corrected it and gave it back. ”
— Dostoevsky's letter to A.P. Milyukov
Why Dostoevsky abandoned his initial version remains a matter of speculation. According to Joseph Frank, "one possibility is that his protagonist began to develop beyond the boundaries in which he had first been conceived". The notebooks indicate that Dostoevsky was aware of the emergence of new aspects of Raskolnikov's character as the plot action proceeded, and he structured the novel in conformity with this "metamorphosis," Frank says. Dostoevsky thus decided to fuse the story with his previous idea for a novel called The Drunkards. The final version of Crime and Punishment came to birth only when, in November 1865, Dostoevsky decided to recast his novel in the third person. This shift was the culmination of a long struggle, present through all the early stages of composition. Once having decided, Dostoevsky began to rewrite from scratch, and was able to easily integrate sections of the early manuscript into the final text—Frank says that he did not, as he told Wrangel, burn everything he had written earlier.
The final draft went smoothly, except for a clash with the editors of The Russian Messenger, about which very little is known. Since the manuscript Dostoevsky turned in to Katkov was lost, it is unclear what the editors had objected to in the original. In 1889, the editors of the journal commented that "it was not easy for him [Dostoevsky] to give up his intentionally exaggerated idealization of Sonya as a woman who carried self-sacrifice to the point of sacrificing her body". It seems that Dostoevsky had initially given Sonya a much more affirmative role in the scene, in which she reads the Gospel story of the raising of Lazarus to Raskolnikov.
Plot
Raskolnikov, a mentally unstable drop-out student, lives in a tiny, rented room in Saint Petersburg. He refuses all help, even from his friend Razumikhin, and devises a plan to murder and to rob an unpleasant elderly pawn-broker and money-lender, Alyona Ivanovna. His motivation, whether personal or ideological, remains at this point unclear. While still considering the plan, Raskolnikov makes the acquaintance of Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov, a drunkard who recently squandered his family's little wealth. He also receives a letter from his sister and mother, speaking of their coming visit to St. Petersberg, and his sister's sudden marriage plans which they plan on discussing upon their arrival.
After much deliberation, Raskolnikov sneaks into Alyona Ivanovna's apartment where he murders her with an ax. He also kills her half-sister, Lizaveta, who happens to stumble upon the scene of the crime. Shaken by his actions, Raskolnikov manages to only steal a handful of items and a small purse, leaving much of the pawn-broker's wealth untouched. Raskolnikov then flees and manages to leave miraculously unseen and undetected.
After the bungled murder, Raskolnikov falls into a feverish state and begins to worry obsessively over the murder. He hides the stolen items and purse under a rock, and tries desperately to clean his clothing of any blood or evidence. He falls into a fever later that day, though not before calling briefly on his old friend Razumikhin. As the fever comes and goes in the following days, Raskolnikov behaves as though he wishes to betray himself. He shows strange reactions to whosoever mentions the murder of the pawn-broker, which is now known about and talked of in the city. In his delirium, Raskolnikov wanders Petersberg, drawing more and more attention to himself and his relation to the crime. In one of walks through the city, he sees Marmeladov being struck mortally by a carriage in the streets. Rushing to help him, Raskolnikov gives the remainder of his money to the man's family, which includes his teenage daughter, Sonia, who has been forced to become a prostitute to support her family.
In the meantime, Raskolnikov's mother, Pulkheria Alexandrovna, and his sister, Avdotya Romanovna (or Dunya) have arrived in town. Avdotya had been working as a governess for the Svidrigailov family until this point, but was forced out of the position by the head of the family, Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigaïlov. Svidrigailov, a married man, was attracted to Avdotya's physical beauty and her stunning spiritual qualities, and offered her riches and elopement. Avdotya, having none of this, fled the family and lost her source of income, only to meet Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin, a man of modest income and rank. Luzhin proposes to marry Avdotya, thereby securing her and her mother's financial safety, provided she accept him quickly and without question. It is for these very reasons that the two of them come to St. Petersberg, both to meet Luzhin there and to attain Raskolnikov's approval. Luzhin, however, calls on Raskolnikov while he is in a delirious state and presents himself as a foolish, self-righteous and presuming man. Raskolnikov dismisses him immediately as a potential husband for his sister, and realizes that she only accepted him to help her family.
As the novel progresses, Raskolnikov is introduced to the detective Porfiry, who begins to suspect him for the murder purely on psychological grounds. At the same time, a chaste relationship develops between Raskolnikov and Sonya. Sonya, though a prostitute, is full of Christian virtue and is only driven into the profession by her family's poverty. Meanwhile, Razumikhin and Raskolnikov manage to keep Avdotya from continuing her relationship with Luzhin, whose true character is exposed to be conniving and base. At this point, Svidrigailov appears on the scene, having come from the province to Petersberg, almost solely to seek out Avdotya. He reveals that his wife is dead, and that he is willing to pay Avdotya a vast sum of money in exchange for nothing. She, upon hearing the news, refuses flat out, suspecting him of treachery.
As Raskolnikov and Porfiry continue to meet, Raskolnikov's motives for the crime become exposed. Porfiry becomes increasingly certain of the man's guilt, but has no concrete evidence or witnesses with which to back this suspicion up. Raskolnikov's nerves begin to wear thin, and he is constantly struggling with the the idea of confessing, though he knows that he can never be truly convicted. He turns to Sonya for support, and confesses his crime to her. By coincidence, Svidrigailov has taken up residence in a room next to Sonya's and overhears the entire confession. When the two men meet face to face, Svidrigailov acknowledges this fact, and suggests that he may use it against him, should he need to. Svidrigailov also speaks of his own past, in which he reveals that he has committed murder and most recently killed his wife.
Raskolnikov is at this point completely torn; he is urged by Sonya to confess, and Svidrigailov's testimony could potentially convict him. Meantime, Svidrigailov attempts to seduce and then rape Avdotya, who convinces him not to. He then spends a night in confusion, and in the morning shoots himself. This same morning, Raskolnikov goes again to Sonya, who again urges him to confess and to clear his conscience. He makes his way to the police station, where he is met by the news of Svidrigailov's suicide. He hesitates a moment, thinking again that he might get away with a perfect crime, but is persuaded by Sonya to confess.
The epilogue tells of how Raskolnikov is sentenced to penal servitude in Siberia, where Sonya follows him. Avdotya and Razumikhin marry and are left in a happy position by the end of the novel. Raskolnikov, however, struggles in Siberia. It is only after some time serving that his redemption and moral regeneration begin under Sonya's loving influence.
Characters
In Crime and Punishment Dostoevsky succeeds in fusing the personality of his main character, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov (Russian: Родион Романович Раскольников), with his new anti-radical ideological themes. The main plot involves a murder as the result of "ideological intoxication," and depicts all the disastrous moral and psychical consequences that result from the murderer. Raskolnikov's psychology is placed at the center, and carefully interwoven with the ideas behind his transgression; every other feature of the novel illuminates the agonizing dilemma in which Raskolnikov is caught. From another point of view, the novel's plot is another variation of a conventional nineteenth-century theme: an innocent young provincial comes to seek his fortune in the capital, where he succumbs to corruption, and loses all traces of his former freshness and purity. However, as Gary Rosenshield points out, "Raskolnikov succumbs not to the temptations of high society as Honoré de Balzac's Rastignac or Stendhal's Julien Sorel, but to those of rationalistic Petersburg".
Raskolnikov is the protagonist, and the action is focalized primarily from his perspective. Despite its name, the novel does not so much deal with the crime and its formal punishment, as with Raskolnikov's internal struggle (the English translation does not do justice to the plot, however, in Russia, the title means 'transgression' over a border, which is what Raskolnikov emotionally does).[citation needed] The book shows that his punishment results more from his conscience than from the law. He committed murder with the belief that he possessed enough intellectual and emotional fortitude to deal with the ramifications, [based on his paper/thesis, "On Crime", that he is a Napoleon], but his sense of guilt soon overwhelms him. It is only in the epilogue that he realizes his formal punishment, having decided to confess and end his alienation.
Sofia Semyonovna Marmeladova (Russian: Софья Семёновна Мармеладова), variously called Sonia and Sonechka, is the daughter of a drunk, Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov, whom Raskolnikov meets in a tavern at the beginning of the novel, and who, Raskolnikov discerns, shares the same feelings of shame and alienation as he does. She becomes the first person to whom Raskolnikov confesses his crime, and she supports him even though she was friends with one of the victims (Lizaveta). For most of the novel, Sonya serves as the spiritual guide for Raskolnikov. After his confession she follows him to Siberia where she lives in the same town as the prison.
Other characters of the novel are:
* Porfiry Petrovich (Порфирий Петрович) – The detective in charge of solving the murders of Lizaveta and Alyona Ivanovna, who, along with Sonya, guides Raskolnikov towards confession. Unlike Sonya, however, Porfiry does this through psychological games. Despite the lack of evidence, he becomes certain Raskolnikov is the murderer following several conversations with him, but gives him the chance to confess voluntarily. He attempts to confuse and to provoke the unstable Raskolnikov in an attempt to coerce him to confess.
* Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikova (Авдотья Романовна Раскольникова) – Raskolnikov's strong willed and self-sacrificial sister, called Dunya, Dounia or Dunechka for short. She initially plans to marry the wealthy, yet smug and self-possessed, Luzhin, to save the family from financial destitution. She has a habit of pacing across the room while thinking. She is followed to Saint Petersburg by the disturbed Svidrigailov, who seeks to win her back through blackmail. She rejects both men in favour of Raskolnikov's loyal friend, Razumikhin.
* Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigaïlov (Аркадий Иванович Свидригайлов) – Sensual, depraved, and wealthy former employer and current pursuer of Dunya, Svidrigaïlov is suspected of multiple acts of murder, and overhears Raskolnikov's confessions to Sonya. With this knowledge he torments both Dunya and Raskolnikov but does not inform the police. When Dunya tells him she could never love him (after attempting to shoot him) he lets her go and commits suicide. Whereas Sonya represents the path to salvation, Svidrigaïlov represents the other path towards suicide. Despite his apparent malevolence, Svidrigaïlov is similar to Raskolnikov in regard to his random acts of charity. He fronts the money for the Marmeladov children to enter an orphanage (after both their parents die), gives Sonya five percent bank notes totalling three thousand rubles, and leaves the rest of his money to his juvenile fiancée.
* Marfa Petrovna Svidrigailova (Марфа Петровна Свидригайлова) – Arkady Svidrigaïlov's deceased wife, whom he is suspected of having murdered, and who he claims has visited him as a ghost. Her bequest of 3,000 rubles to Dunya allows Dunya to reject Luzhin as a suitor.
* Dmitri Prokofich Razumikhin (Дмитрий Прокофьич Разумихин) – Raskolnikov's loyal friend. In terms of Razumikhin's contribution to Dostoevsky's anti-radical thematics, he is intended to represent something of a reconciliation of the pervasive thematic conflict between faith and reason. The fact that his name means reason shows Dostoevsky's desire to employ this faculty as a foundational basis for his Christian faith in God.
* Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladova (Катерина Ивановна Мармеладова) – Semyon Marmeladov's consumptive and ill-tempered second wife, stepmother to Sonya. She drives Sonya into prostitution in a fit of rage, but later regrets it, and beats her children mercilessly, but works ferociously to improve their standard of living. She is obsessed with demonstrating that slum life is far below her station. Following Marmeladov's death, she uses Raskolnikov's money to hold a funeral.
* Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov (Семён Захарович Мармеладов) – Hopeless drunk who indulges in his own suffering, and father of Sonya. Marmeladov could be seen as a Russian equivalent of the character of Micawber in Charles Dickens' novel, David Copperfield.[citation needed]
* Pulkheria Alexandrovna Raskolnikova (Пульхерия Александровна Раскольникова) – Raskolnikov's relatively clueless, hopeful and loving mother. Following Raskolnikov's sentence, she falls ill (mentally and physically) and eventually dies. She hints in her dying stages that she is slightly more aware of her son's fate, which was hidden from her by Dunya and Razumikhin.
* Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin (Пётр Петрович Лужин) – A well-off lawyer who is engaged to Raskolnikov's sister Dunya in the beginning of the novel. His motives for the marriage is rather despicable, as he states more or less that he chose her since she will be completely beholden to him financially.
* Andrey Semyenovich Lebezyatnikov (Андрей Семёнович Лебезятников) – Luzhin's utopian socialist roommate who witnesses his attempt to frame Sonya and subsequently exposes him.
* Alyona Ivanovna (Алёна Ивановна) – Suspicious old pawnbroker who hoards money and is merciless to her patrons. She is Raskolnikov's intended target.
* Lizaveta Ivanovna (Лизавета Ивановна) – Alyona's simple and innocent sister. Raskolnikov murders her when she walks in immediately after Raskolnikov had killed Alyona. Lizaveta was a friend of Sonya's.
* Zosimov (Зосимов) – A friend of Razumikhin and a doctor who cared for Raskolnikov.
* Nastasya Petrovna (Настасья Петровна) – Raskolnikov's landlady's servant and a friend of Raskolnikov.
* Nikodim Fomich (Никодим Фомич)– The amiable Chief of Police.
* Ilya "Gunpowder" Petrovich (Илья Петрович) – A police official and Fomich's assistant.
* Alexander Grigorievich Zamyotov (Александр Григорьевич Заметов) – Head clerk at the police station and friend to Razumikhin. Raskolnikov arouses Zamyotov's suspicions by explaining how he, Raskolnikov, would have committed various crimes, although Zamyotov later apologizes, believing, much to Raskolnikov's amusement, that it was all a farce to expose how ridiculous the suspicions were. This scene illustrates the argument of Raskolnikov's belief in his own superiority as Übermensch.[citation needed]
* Nikolai Dementiev (Николай Дементьев) – A painter and sectarian who admits to the murder, since his sect holds it to be supremely virtuous to suffer for another person's crime.
* Polina Mikhailovna Marmeladova (Полина Михайловна Мармеладова) – Ten-year-old adopted daughter of Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov and younger stepsister to Sonya, sometimes known as Polechka.
Name Word Meaning (in Russian)
Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov raskol a schism, or split; "raskolnik" is "one who splits" or "dissenter"; the verb raskalyvat' means "to cleave", "to chop","to crack","to split" or "to break"
Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin luzha a puddle
Dmitri Prokofich Razumikhin razum reason, intelligence
Alexander Grigorievich Zamyotov zametit to notice, to realize
Andrey Semyenovich Lebezyatnikov lebezit to fawn on somebody, to cringe
Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov marmelad marmalade/jam
Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov Svidrigailo a Lithuanian duke of the fifteenth century
Structure
Crime and Punishment has a distinct beginning, middle and end. The novel is divided into six parts, with an epilogue. The notion of "intrinsic duality" in Crime and Punishment has been commented upon, with the suggestion that there is a degree of symmetry to the book. Edward Wasiolek who has argued that Dostoevsky was a skilled craftsman, highly conscious of the formal pattern in his art, has likened the structure of Crime & Punishment to a "flattened X", saying:
Parts I-III [of Crime and Punishment] present the predominantly rational and proud Raskolnikov: Parts IV-VI, the emerging "irrational" and humble Raskolnikov. The first half of the novel shows the progressive death of the first ruling principle of his character; the last half, the progressive birth of the new ruling principle. The point of change comes in the very middle of the novel.
This compositional balance is achieved by means of the symmetrical distribution of certain key episodes throughout the novel's six parts. The recurrence of these episodes in the two halves of the novel, as David Bethea has argued, is organized according to a mirror-like principle, whereby the "left" half of the novel reflects the "right" half. For her part, Margaret Church discerns a contrapuntal structuring: parts I, III and V deal largely with the main hero's relationship to his family (mother, sister and mother surrogates), while parts II, IV and VI deal with his relationship to the authorities of the state "and to various father figures".
The seventh part of the novel, the Epilogue, has attracted much attention and controversy. Some of Dostoevsky's critics have criticized the novel's final pages as superfluous, anti-climactic, unworthy of the rest of the work, while others have rushed to the defense of the Epilogue, offering various ingenious schemes which conclusively prove its inevitability and necessity. Steven Cassedy argues that Crime and Punishment "is formally two distinct but closely related, things, namely a particular type of tragedy in the classical Greek mold and a Christian resurrection tale". Cassedy concludes that "the logical demands of the tragic model as such are satisfied without the Epilogue in Crime and Punishment ... At the same time, this tragedy contains a Christian component, and the logical demands of this element are met only by the resurrection promised in the Epilogue".
Crime and Punishment is written from a third-person omniscient perspective. It is focalized primarily from the point of view of Raskolnikov; however, it does at times switch to the perspective of Svidrigailov, Razumikhin, Peter Petrovich, or Dunya. This narrative technique, which fuses the narrator very closely with the consciousness and point of view of the central characters of the plot, was original for its period. Franks notes that his identification, through Dostoevsky's use of the time shifts of memory and his manipulation of temporal sequence, begins to approach the later experiments of Henry James, Joseph Conrad, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce. A late nineteenth-century reader was, however, accustomed to more orderly and linear types of expository narration. This led to the persistence of the legend that Dostoevsky was an untidy and negligent craftsman, and to critical observations like the following by Melchior de Vogüé:
"A word ... one does not even notice, a small fact that takes up only a line, have their reverberations fifty pages later ... [so that] the continuity becomes unintelligible if one skips a couple of pages."
Dostoevsky uses different speech mannerisms and sentences of different length for different characters. Those who use artificial language—Luzhin, for example—are identified as unattractive people. Mrs. Marmeladov's disintegrating mind is reflected in her language, too. In the original Russian text, the names of the major characters have something of a double meaning, but in translation the subtlety of the language is sometimes lost. There is even a play with the Russian word for crime ("prestuplenie"), which is literally translated as a stepping across or a transgression. The physical image of crime as a crossing over a barrier or a boundary is lost in translation. So is the religious implication of transgression, which in English refers to a sin rather than a crime.
Symbolism
The Dreams
Raskolnikov's dreams always have a symbolic meaning, which suggests a psychological view. In the dream about the horse, the mare has to sacrifice itself for the men who are too much in a rush to wait. This could be symbolic of women sacrificing themselves for men, just like Raskolnikov's belief that Dunya is sacrificing herself for Rodya by marrying Luzhin. Some critics have suggested this dream is the fullest single expression of the whole novel, containing the nihilistic destruction of an innocent creature and Rodion's suppressed sympathy for it (although the young Rodion in the dream runs to the horse, he still murders the pawnbroker soon after waking). The dream is also mentioned when Raskolnikov talks to Marmeladov. He states that his daughter, Sonya, has to sell her body to earn a living for their family. The dream is also a blatant warning for the impending murder.
In the final pages, Raskolnikov, who at this point is in the prison infirmary, has a feverish dream about a plague of nihilism, that enters Russia and Europe from the east and which spreads senseless dissent (Raskolnikov's name alludes to "raskol", dissent) and fanatic dedication to "new ideas": it finally engulfs all of mankind. Though we don't learn anything about the content of these ideas they clearly disrupt society forever and are seen as exclusively critical assaults on ordinary thinking: it is clear that Dostoevsky was envisaging the new, politically and culturally nihilist ideas which were entering Russian literature and society in this watershed decade, and with which Dostoevsky would be in debate for the rest of his life (cp. Chernyshevsky's What Is to Be Done?, Dobrolyubov's abrasive journalism, Turgenev's Fathers and Sons and Dostoevsky's own The Possessed). Just like the novel demonstrates and argues Dostoevsky's conviction that "if God doesn't exist (or is not recognized) then anything is permissible" the dream sums up his fear that if men won't check their thinking against the realities of life and nature, and if they are unwilling to listen to reason or authority, then no ideas or cultural institutions will last and only brute barbarism can be the result. Janko Lavrin, who took part in the revolutions of the WWI era, knew Lenin and Trotsky and many others, and later would spend years writing and researching on Dostoevsky and other Russian classics, called this final dream "prophetic in its symbolism".
The Cross
Sonya gives Rodya a cross when he goes to turn himself in. He takes his pain upon him by carrying the cross through town, like Jesus; he falls to his knees in the town square on the way to his confession. Sonya carried the cross up until then, which indicates that, as literally mentioned in the book, she suffers for him, in a semi-Christ-like manner. Sonya and Lizaveta had exchanged crosses and become spiritual sisters, originally the cross was Lizaveta's — so Sonya carries Lizaveta's cross, the cross of Rodya's innocent victim, whom he didn't intend to kill.
Saint Petersburg
“ On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. bridge. ”
— Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, I, I
The above opening sentence of the novel has a symbolic function: Russian critic Vadim K. Kozhinov argues that the reference to the "exceptionally hot evening" establishes not only the suffocating atmosphere of Saint Petersburg in midsummer but also "the infernal ambience of the crime itself". Dostoevsky was among the first to recognize the symbolic possibilities of city life and imagery drawn from the city. I. F. I. Evnin regards Crime and Punishment as the first great Russian novel "in which the climactic moments of the action are played out in dirty taverns, on the street, in the sordid black rooms of the poor".
Dostoevsky's Petersburg is the city of unrelieved poverty; "magnificence has no place in it, because magnificence is external, formal abstract, cold". Dostoevsky connects the city's problems to Raskolnikov's thoughts and subsequent actions. The crowded streets and squares, the shabby houses and taverns, the noise and stench, all are transformed by Dostoevsky into a rich store of metaphors for states of mind. Donald Fanger asserts that "the real city [...] rendered with a striking concreteness, is also a city of the mind in the way that its atmosphere answers Raskolnikov's spiritual condition and almost symbolizes it. It is crowded, stifling, and parched."
Themes
Dostoevsky's letter to Katkov reveals his immediate inspiration, to which he remained faithful even after his original plan evolved into a much more ambitious creation: a desire to counteract what he regarded as nefarious consequences arising from the doctrines of Russian nihilism. In the novel, Dostoevsky pinpointed the dangers of both utilitarianism and rationalism, the main ideas of which inspired the radicals, continuing a fierce criticism he had already started with his Notes from Underground. A Slavophile religious believer, Dostoevsky utilized the characters, dialogue and narrative in Crime and Punishment to articulate an argument against westernizing ideas in general. He thus attacked a peculiar Russian blend of French utopian socialism and Benthamite utilitarianism, which had led to what revolutionaries, such as Nikolai Chernyshevsky, called "rational egoism".
The radicals refused, however, to recognize themselves in the novel's pages (Dimitri Pisarev ridiculed the notion that Raskolnikov's ideas could be identified with those of the radicals of his time), since Dostoevsky portrayed nihilistic ideas to their most extreme consequences. The aim of these ideas was altruistic and humanitarian, but these aims were to be achieved by relying on reason and suppressing entirely the spontaneous outflow of Christian pity and compassion. Chernyshevsky's utilitarian ethic proposed that thought and will in man were subject to the laws of physical science. Dostoevsky believed that such ideas limited man to a product of physics, chemistry and biology, negating spontaneous emotional responses. In its latest variety of Bazarovism, Russian nihilism encouraged the creation of an élite of superior individuals to whom the hopes of the future were to be entrusted.
Raskolnikov exemplifies all the potentially disastrous hazards contained in such an ideal. Frank notes that "the moral-psychological traits of his character incorporate this antinomy between instinctive kindness, sympathy, and pity on the one hand and, on the other, a proud and idealistic egoism that has become perverted into a contemptuous disdain for the submissive herd". Raskolnikov's inner conflict in the opening section of the novel results in a utilitarian-altruistic justification for the proposed crime: why not kill a wretched and "useless" old moneylender to alleviate the human misery? Dostoevsky wants to show that this utilitarian type of reasoning and its conclusions had become widespread and commonplace; they were by no means the solitary invention of Raskolnikov's tormented and disordered mind. Such radical and utilitarian ideas act to reinforce the innate egoism of Raskolnikov's character, and to turn him into a hater rather than a lover of his fellow humans. He even becomes fascinated with the majestic image of a Napoleonic personality who, in the interests of a higher social good, believes that he possesses a moral right to kill. Indeed, his "Napoleon-like" plan drags him to a well-calculated murder, the ultimate conclusion of his self-deception with utilitarianism.
In his depiction of the Petersburg background, Dostoevsky accentuates the squalor and human wretchedness that pass before Raskolnikov's eyes. He also uses Raskolnikov's encounter with Marmeladov to present both the heartlessness of Raskolnikov's convictions and the alternative set of values to be set against them. Dostoevsky believes that the "freedom" propounded by the aforementioned ideas is a dreadful freedom "that is contained by no values, because it is before values". The product of this "freedom", Raskolnikov, is in perpetual revolt against society, himself, and God. He thinks that he is self-sufficient and self-contained, but at the end "his boundless self-confidence must disappear in the face of what is greater than himself, and his self-fabricated justification must humble itself before the higher justice of God". Dostoevsky calls for the regeneration and renewal of the "sick" Russian society through the re-discovering of their country, their religion, and their roots.
Reception
The first part of Crime and Punishment published in the January and February issues of The Russian Messenger met with public success. Although the remaining parts of the novel had still to be written, an anonymous reviewer wrote that "the novel promises to be one of the most important works of the author of The House of the Dead". In his memoirs, the conservative belletrist Nikolay Strakhov recalled that in Russia Crime and Punishment was the literary sensation of 1866.
The novel soon attracted the criticism of the liberal and radical critics. G.Z. Yeliseyev sprang to the defense of the Russian student corporations, and wondered, "Has there ever been a case of a student committing murder for the sake of robbery?" Pisarev, aware of the novel's artistic value attempted in 1867 another approach: he argued that Raskolnikov was a product of his environment, and explained that the main theme of the work was poverty and its results. He measured the novel's excellence by the accuracy and understanding with which Dostoevsky portrayed the contemporary social reality, and focused on what he regarded as inconsistencies in the novel's plot. Strakhov rejected Pisarev's contention that the theme of environmental determinism was essential to the novel, and pointed out that Dostoevsky's attitude towards his hero was sympathetic: "This is not mockery of the younger generation, neither a reproach nor an accusation—it is a lament over it."
English translations
* Frederick Whishaw (1885)
* Constance Garnett (1914)
* David Magarshack (1951)
* Princess Alexandra Kropotkin (1953)
* Jessie Coulson (1953)
* Sidney Monas (1968)
* David McDuff (1991)
* Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky (1992)
* Julius Katzer
* Michael Scammell
Film adaptations
Main article: Film adaptations of Crime and Punishment
There have been over 25 film adaptations of Crime and Punishment. They include:
* Raskolnikow (aka Crime and Punishment) (1923, directed by Robert Wiene)
* Crime and Punishment (1935, starring Peter Lorre, Edward Arnold and Marian Marsh)
* Eigoban Tsumi to Batsu (1953, manga by Tezuka Osamu, under his interpretation)
* Crime and Punishment (1970 film) (Soviet film, 1970, starring Georgi Taratorkin, Tatyana Bedova, Vladimir Basov, Victoria Fyodorova) dir. Lev Kulidzhanov
* Rikos ja Rangaistus (1983; Crime and Punishment), the first movie by the Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, with Markku Toikka in the lead role. The story has been transplanted to modern-day Helsinki, Finland.
* Crime and Punishment in Suburbia (2000, an adaptation set in modern America and "loosely based" on the novel)
* Columbo (1971 - 78, and intermittently otherwise, starring the American actor Peter Falk) According to the creator of "Columbo", William Link, the American detective "Columbo", is based in part upon Porfiry Petrovich.
（幻想小说）
一
我是一个荒唐可笑的人。现在他们叫我疯子。在他们看来，如果我依然不像先前那样荒唐的话，那么这一称呼倒是升了一级。不过，我现在已经不生气了，现在我觉得他们全都很可爱，甚至当他们嘲笑我的时候——我反而觉得他们特别可爱。假若望着他们我心里不是那么忧伤的话，我会同他们一道笑的，——不是笑我自己，而是由于喜欢他们。我之所以感到忧伤，是因为他们不懂得真理，而我却懂。唉，一个人懂得真理有多么难啊！但是这一点他们是理解不到的。
不，他们是不会理解的。
过去我感到非常伤心的，是因为我好像很荒唐可笑。不是好像，而是确实荒唐。我一向是非常荒唐可笑的，这一点也许我一生下来就是如此。也许是七岁的时候，我就已经知道自己是个荒唐的人了。后来我上中学，进大学，结果呢——学得越多，越觉得自己荒唐。因此，对于我来说，大学里学到的全部知识仿佛只是最终向我证实和说明：我学习越深入越荒唐。学习如此，生活也是如此。时间一年年过去，我认识到我在各方面都很荒唐，这个认识在我身上也与年俱增。所有的人总是嘲笑我，但是，他们谁也不知道，谁也猜不出，如果说人世间有个什么人最了解我是荒唐人的话，那么这个人就是我自己。使我遗憾不过的正是他们不明了这一点。不过，在这件事情上我自个儿有错：我老是那么高傲，从不愿意向任何人承认自己荒唐。我身上的这种傲慢在与年俱增，倘若我让自己向任何人承认自己荒唐，那么当晚我就会用手枪打碎自己的脑袋。啊，我小时候有多痛苦，生怕忍耐不住而突然向伙伴们坦白承认。然而，当我成长为青年后，虽然对自己很坏的品性一年比一年有更深的认识，但不知为什么心情却反而变得平静多了。的确是不知道为什么，因为我至今还不能断定其原因。这原因也许是由于某种极大地影响我的情况，使我心头积聚着极度的苦闷，这就使我萌发了一种信念：世界上到处都是·无·所·谓。我早就预感到了这一点，但是，完整的信念似乎是最近一年突然出现的。我忽然感到，世界的有无，对于我来说都·无·所·谓。我开始感到并且真正地感到，·我·身·边·空·无·一·物。起初，我总以为，许多东西过去是有的，但是后来我才悟出来，过去也是一无所有，只是不知因为什么才仿佛那样。我逐渐确信，将来也永远是一无所有。于是，我马上就不再对别人生气，也几乎不再对别人留意。说实在的，这种变化甚至在一些微不足道的事情上也会表现出来。比如，有时候我在街上走着走着就撞着了人家。这不是由于沉思的缘故，我有什么要沉思的呢，我当时就根本没有想什么，因为我对什么都无所谓。我要是解决了一些问题有多好，唉，一个问题也没有解决，而有多少问题要解决啊？可是，我一想到·全·无·所·谓，一切问题便不复存在了。
就在那之后我弄清了。我是去年十一月，确切地说是去年十一月三日弄清的。打那以后我的每一瞬间我都记得清清楚楚。这事发生在一个漆黑漆黑的夜晚，恐怕只有这个夜晚才这么黑。当时是十点多钟，我正回家去。记得，我正在想着没有比这更阴暗的时候，甚至在肉体上也感觉得到。倾盆大雨下了一整天，那是一场最寒冷、最阴郁甚至叫人可怕的大雨。我记得，这雨甚至还对人怀着一种公然的敌意。而在十点多钟它却骤然停了，散发出一股令人觉得可怕的潮气，比下雨时还要潮湿，还要寒冷。街道路面上的每一块石板，每一条胡同，处处都在散发着雾气。如果从街上往胡同里望去，那里面也是雾气腾腾的。我突发奇想，如果街灯全部熄灭，会使人愉快些，因为它把什么都照得通明透亮，反而令人感到忧伤。这一天我几乎没有吃东西，晚上早早地到了一位工程师家，当时在坐的还有他的两位朋友。我一直默不作声，似乎很叫他们生厌。他们谈看吸引人的什么事情，甚至突然发起火来。但是在我看来，他们全无所谓，他们激动只不过是做做样子而已。我忽然把我的这一想法对他们说了出来：“先生们，我说你们本来是无所谓的嘛。”他们听了没有生气，反而笑起我来。这是因我的话并无责备意味，而只是我觉得全都无所谓而已。他们看出我这全无所谓之后也就快活起来了。
当我走在大街上想着街灯的时候，我不时望望天空。天空黑得可怕，不过还能清晰地分辨出被撕碎的云块，云块之间是一个个无底的黑斑。在一个黑斑上，我突然发现一颗小星星，于是就仔细地观察起来。这是因为那颗小星星提示我：我决定在今夜自杀。早在两个月前我就果断地下了这一决心，尽管我很穷，还是买了一支漂亮的手枪，并且在当天就装上了子弹。但是，两个月已经过去，手枪依旧放在抽屉里。可我无所谓地想最后找一个不那么无所谓的时机，为什么要这样，我自己也不知道。因此，这两个月来，我每晚回家都想自杀。我一直在等待那个机会。而现在这颗小星星提示了我，我决定今晚·一·定自杀。那颗小星星为什么要提示我呢，我也不明白。
我正在仰望夜空，突然有个小女孩一把抓住我的衣袖。街道上已是空落落的，几乎不见人影。远处有个车夫在轻便马车里睡觉。小女孩约莫八岁，裹着头巾，穿件短外衣，浑身湿淋淋的。但我特别记得的是她那双湿漉漉的破皮鞋，而且现在也还记得。她那双鞋子格外引我注目。她骤然扯住我的衣袖叫喊。她没有哭，但似乎在断断续续地喊着什么，由于冷得全身打战，未能把话说清楚。她被什么事儿吓坏了，绝望地叫着：“好妈妈！好妈妈！”我向她扭过头去，不过什么也没有说又继续走路，但她跑上来把我拉住。她的声音里流露出一种小孩受了极度惊吓的绝望心情。我熟悉这种声音。尽管她没有把话说完，但我明白，或者是她母亲在什么地方快要死去，或者是她们在那里出了什么事，所以她跑出来叫人，想找点什么，去帮助她母亲。可是，我没有跟着她去，相反，却陡然起了赶走她的念头。起先，我要她去找，她却松开手，呜呜咽咽，气喘吁吁，老跟在我身边跑，不肯离开。于是，我冲她跺脚，吼一声。她只是喊着：“老爷！老爷！……”她突然离开了我，飞快地横过街去：街那边来了一个行人。看来，她不再跟着我，而去找那个行人了。
我登上五楼我的住处。我没有和东家住在一起，我有自己的房间。我的房间小而简陋，有一个阁楼上常有的那种半圆形窗户。屋里有一个漆皮面沙发，一张桌子，桌上放着书，两把椅子，还有一把舒适的安乐椅，虽然十分陈旧，但却是一把伏尔泰式的高背深座椅。我坐下来，点燃蜡烛，开始思考。隔壁房里一片嘈杂吵闹声，近三天来都是如此。那里住着一个退伍大尉军官，他邀来一大群客人——五、六个酒肉朋友，正在喝酒、玩牌赌博。昨晚上他们竟然打起来了，我知道，他们有两人互相揪住对方的头发久久不放。女房东想数说他们，但惧怕那大尉。住在我们这儿的还有另一家房客：一位身材瘦小的团长太太，带着三个幼小的孩子。他们住进来后小孩都病倒了。太太和孩子们都害怕大尉，怕得昏厥过去，整夜打哆嗦，画十字，她的幼子被吓得患了癫痫病。我确切知道，大尉有时候在涅瓦大街上拦路乞讨。他没有找到职业，但奇怪的是（我正要说此事），他住进来整整一个月都没有给我制造过麻烦。自然罗，从一开始我就回避同他结识，而他对我从一开头也不感兴趣。不过，他们在一墙之隔的那边，不论怎么喊叫，也不论他们是几个人——我一直都不在乎。我整夜坐着，确实没有听到他们争吵、打架——甚至把他们忘了。我每晚彻夜不眠，这样已经有一年了。我通夜坐在桌旁安乐椅里什么事也不做，只在白天读读书。我这样坐着什么也不去思考，若是有什么念头在脑子里闪现，我也听其自然。每晚要点完一支蜡烛。我静静地在桌旁坐下，把手枪拿出来放在面前。当我放下手枪时，我记得问过自己：“是这样吗？”接着就斩钉截铁地回答自己：“是这样的。”也就是自杀。我知道，我今晚一定会自杀，而在这桌旁还要坐多久——我也说不上。要不是那个小女孩出现，我肯定早已自杀了。
二
您要知道：我虽然全无所谓，但要是拿疼痛来说我还是感觉得出来的。如果有人打了我，我就会感觉得痛的。精神上也是这样：如果发生了什么可怜的事，我就会觉得可怜的，就像过去生活上我还没有对任何事都觉得无所谓时那样。对那个小女孩我也有过怜悯心：我一定要去帮助她。可是我为什么没有去帮呢？是因为当时产生了一个念头：当她拉住我，呼喊我的时候，我面前突然出现一个疑问，而且无法加以解决。问题很无聊，但我很生气。我生气是由于有了这么一个结论：我既然已经决定今夜自杀，那么，我现在对世间的一切比过去任何时候都更加无所谓了。我为什么突然感到我不是全无所谓，而去可怜一个小女孩呢？我记得，我十分同情她，甚至于有过一种奇怪的心疼感，在我这种处境下，这种感觉甚至令人难以相信。的确，我无法更好地把我当时那种转瞬即逝的感觉转述出来，不过，这个感觉直至我回到家在桌旁坐下来仍未消逝，以至我非常生气，这是很久以来不曾有过的。推论一个个纷至沓来。很显然，既然我是人，而不是子虚，暂时也没有化为乌有，那么我就还活着，因此就会有苦恼，有愤怒，有为自己的举止而感到羞耻的心。就算是这样吧。但是，既然我将自杀，比方说，再有两个小时我就要死去了，那么小女孩于我有什么相干呢？羞耻心、世间的一切与我又有什么相干呢？我行将化为乌有，彻底消亡。我知道，我即将·完·全消失，因而一切也将不复存在，那么，这种认识对于我对小女孩的爱怜之心，对于做了卑鄙事以后的羞耻心，不能没有丝毫影响吧？须知，正因为如此，我才会对不幸的小女孩跺脚，向她粗野地吼叫，好像在说，“我不仅没有同情心，而且如果要我去干毫无人性的丑行，现在我都可以去干的，因为两个小时之后一切都将逝去了。”您能相信吗？这就是我对她吼叫的原因。对这一点我现在几乎深信不疑。十分显然，生命和世界现在仿佛都要取决于我，甚至可以这么说，现在这世界仿佛也是为我一个人而创造的：我自杀了，世界也就不再有了，至少对于我来说是如此。我的知觉一旦消失，整个世界也就随即消亡，就像幽灵一样，就像依附于我的知觉一样，因为这整个世界和全人类也许就是我自己一个人。至于我死后，对任何人来说也许真的什么都不再存在了，这一点已不必去谈了。我记得，我坐在那儿反反复复地思考着所有这些接踵而来的新问题，甚至生出异念，异想天开起来。比方，我突发奇想，假如我以前生活在月球上或火星上，在那里做了最无耻的事情并且遭到斥责和羞辱，这除非有时在梦境中或在噩梦中才能感觉和想象得到；又假如，我后来来到了地球上，而又记得自己在别的星球上的所作所为，此外，还知道我再也不会回到月球上，那么，当我从地球上仰望月球时，——是否会觉得·无·所·谓呢？是否会为自己的丑行而感到羞愧呢？思考这些问题是无益的、多余的，因为手枪已摆在我的面前，我的整个身心也感觉到了·这·事必将发生。但是，这些问题刺激着我，使我愤怒。不先把问题弄明白，我似乎暂时还不能死去。总之，这个小女孩救了我，由于这些问题我迟延了自杀。这时，大尉房里的嘈杂声开始平息下来：他们玩过牌后在准备睡觉，不过暂时还有人在嘟嘟囔囔说胡话，懒洋洋地轻声叫骂。就在这时，我坐在桌旁安乐椅里忽然睡着了，这是从来没有过的。我完全是在不知不觉中睡着的。大家知道，梦是一种稀奇古怪的东西：有的十分清晰，细节都似珠宝饰物那样精美；有的你会觉得一晃而过，仿佛超越了时空全无感觉。引起梦境的似乎不是理智，而是愿望，不是大脑，而是心灵；然而，我的理智在梦中有时有多巧妙，而且会生出一些完全不可思议的事情来。例如，我哥哥去世已经五年，我有时还梦见他：他帮我做事，我们互相关心，而我在梦中一直十分清楚和记得，我哥哥已经死了，埋了。他虽然是死人，仍在我身边为我忙碌，为什么我的理智会完全容忍发生这一切呢？好，不谈这个，说说我的那个梦吧。是的，我当时做了一个梦，就是十一月三日的那个梦！他们现在还在耍笑我，说那只不过是一场梦而已。不过，既然那个梦能告诉我真理，是梦不是梦难道不是都无所谓吗？你要是发现和认清了真理，那么，不论你是睡着还是醒着的时候都知道，这就是真理，没有也不可能有别的真理了。好吧，就算这是做梦，就算这样，但是，被你们说得天花乱坠的那种生活，我却要用自杀来结束它了，而我的梦，我的梦——啊，则给我展示了一种崭新的光辉灿烂、焕然一新、充满活力的生活！
请听我继续说吧。
三
我说过，我在不知不觉中睡着了，仿佛还在思考着那些问题。我忽然梦见，我坐在那里拿起手枪来直对着心脏——是心脏，不是脑袋；以前我是打算一定对准脑袋，正对右太阳穴开枪的。我对准胸膛等了一、二秒钟，忽然房里的蜡烛、桌子和墙壁全都在我眼前晃动、旋转起来。我连忙开了一枪。
您有时会梦见从高处掉下来，或是被人砍杀，但是您从不会感到疼痛，除非您自己真的撞在了床上，才会感到痛，并且往往会痛得醒过来。我这次做梦时也是这样：我不感到痛，但觉得一枪把全身都震撼了，一切都顿时消失，四周一团漆黑。我仿佛又瞎又聋，僵直地仰卧在一件硬邦邦的东西上，什么也看不见，一动也不能动。人们在我旁边走来走去，叫着喊着，大尉在低声说话，女房东在尖声叫嚷，——突然间喧嚣声停息下来，原来他们在用一口紧闭的棺材抬着我走。我感到棺材在晃动，寻思着原因，顿时使我大吃一惊：原来我已经死了，真的死了。我明白了，毫不怀疑，我看不见，也动不了，然而还有感觉，也能思维。不过，我马上就听其自然，像往常做梦那样，平心静气地接受这个现实。
于是，他们把我埋入土中。他们都走了，剩下我一个人，孤零零的一个人。我不能活动。过去不是在梦中时，我常想我会怎样被埋入坟墓，由坟墓联想到的不过是潮湿和寒冷而已，眼下我可真的感到了寒冷，尤其是脚趾尖，不过再没有别的什么感觉了。我躺着，奇怪的是无所期待，心平气和地承认死人是没有什么可盼望的了。可就是感到潮湿。我不知躺了多久，——一个小时，或者几天，也许有好多天了。但忽然间，从棺盖上渗进来一滴水落到我闭着的左眼上，一分钟后又一滴，又一分钟后第三滴，就这样连连不断，每分钟落下来一滴。一股无比的愤懑从我心底升起，我感到心底一阵疼痛。“这是伤口”，我想了想。“是枪伤，里面还有一粒子弹……”水还在滴落，每分钟一滴，径直掉到我那只闭着的眼睛上。我突然祈求起来，但不是用声音，因为我是不能动弹的，而是用我的整个身心，向着使我变成这样的主宰者祈求：
“不管你是什么人，但如果有你在，如果有比眼下发生的更合乎情理的事，那么你就让它也在这儿出现吧。而如果因为我缺乏理智而自杀，你要报复我，让我往后的日子过得难堪、荒唐，那么就请注意，我在任何时候所遭受的任何苦难都将无法与我要默默地承受的那种羞愧相比，哪怕那苦难要绵延千百万年！……”
我祈求之后不再说话，深深的沉默几乎持续了整整一分钟。又掉下一滴水，但我知道，而且深知和确信，一切都将马上发生变化。这不，我的坟墓真的突然裂开了。也就是说我不知道坟墓到底是被打开的还是被掘开的，不过，我被一个没有见过的黑怪物抓住，于是我们不知不觉地来到了天空中。我蓦地发现：这是一个深夜，一个前所未有的漆黑漆黑的夜晚！我们在远离地球的太空中疾飞。我对抓我的怪物什么也不问，我在等待着，我非常高傲。我深信自己不会害怕，而且一想到不会害怕时，我便兴奋不已。我记不起飞行了多长时间，而且也想象不出来，因为一切都像平常做梦时一样，当你跨越时空，超越存在和理智的规律时，你就只会在心灵的憧憬点上停下来。我记得，我在漆黑中忽然看见一颗小星星。“这是天狼星吧？”我骤然忍不住问道，因为我本来是什么也不想打听的。“不，这就是你回家时从云层间看到的那颗星星。”那个抓我的怪物答道。这时我才看到，这怪物有一张仿佛与人一样的面孔。奇怪的是，我却不喜欢这怪物，甚至对它感到十分厌恶。我所期待的是彻底的虚无，正因为如此，我才对着自己的心脏开枪。而今我落在了怪物的手中，它当然不是人，但它是·存·在·着·的，是活着的：“啊，原来坟墓的外面也还有生命哩！”我像做梦似的胡思乱想，不过我的心底依然如故。“如果·复·生，”我想，“重又生活在某人的旨意下，那么，我是不会去接受别人的控制与的！”“你知道我害怕你，所以你看不起我。”我忽然不顾体面地对我的旅伴提出问题说，这问题含有自我表白的意味，因而我的心底像被针刺一样感到屈辱。他没有回答我，但我马上觉得，并没有人鄙视我，耻笑我，也没有人可怜我，同时也发觉，我们旅行的目的不清楚而且神秘莫测，不过只与我一人有关。一种恐惧感在我心中慢慢升起。默不作声的旅伴身上的一种东西在无声地但却痛苦地感染着我，仿佛在我身上涌动。我们在昏暗而神秘的太空中急飞。我已经很久没有见到那些熟悉的星星了。我知道，太空中有些星星的光要数千年甚至数百万年才能到达地球上，我们也许已经飞过了这一个距离。在极度揪心的苦闷中我似乎在期待着某种东西。刹那间，一种熟悉的扣人心弦的感觉使我震荡：我忽然看见了我们的太阳。我知道，这不可能是那个养育过我们地球的太阳，我们距离我们的太阳无限的远，但不知为什么，我的整个身心却感到，这个太阳和我们的那个太阳一模一样，是我们太阳的复制品，是我们太阳的孪生兄弟。动人心弦的甜美感在我心底激起一阵欣慰：给我生命的亲切的阳光的威力在我心中回荡，使我心灵复苏，我被埋进坟墓后，第一次感到有了生机，原先的那种生机。
“而如果这就是太阳，如果这确实就是我们的那个太阳，”我高呼起来，“那么，地球又在哪儿呢？”旅伴就把一颗小星星指给我看，那小星星在黑暗中闪烁着绿光。我们径直朝它飞去。
“宇宙中莫非真有一模一样的东西？大自然的规律果真是这样？……如果这是另一个地球，那么它难道和我们的地球完全一样……和我们那个不幸的、可怜的，但又宝贵、永远可爱的地球，和我们那个即使在最忘恩负义的儿女心中也能唤起对它苦爱的地球完全一样吗？……”我无比激动地呼喊起来，对被我离开的原先的那个地球有着难以抑制的眷恋。那个被我拒绝的可怜的小女孩的身影在我面前一闪而过。
“一切你都会看到的，”我的旅伴回答说。听得出来，他的话中夹带着忧伤。我们在迅速地靠近那颗行星，行星在我眼中越变越大，我已经分辨出了海洋和欧洲的轮廓，一种奇特的伟大而纯洁的妒意突然在我心间涌起：“怎么可能有一模一样的东西呢？而且又为了什么呢？我爱，只能爱我离开的那个地球，我这个忘恩负义的人向心房开枪结束生命时，我的血就洒在了那上面。但是任何时候，任何时候我都没有中断过我对那个地球的爱，就是在离开它的那个晚上，我也许比任何时候都爱得更苦。在这新的地球上也有痛苦吗？在我们那个地球上，我们的确只能怀着痛苦去爱，并且也不知道还有别的什么方式去爱它。为了爱，我甘愿受苦。我愿意，我渴望就在此刻含着热泪去亲吻我离去的那一个地球，我不愿意，也不接受在任何别的地球上复生！……”
可是，我的旅伴已经把我扔下。我好像毫无感觉地霎时间就来到了另一个地球上——一个晴天丽日下的人间天堂。我好像站在我们地球上希腊群岛中的一个小岛上，又好像是与这些岛屿毗连的大陆沿海的某个地方。啊，一切的一切都完全像我们地球上一样，可就是这儿似乎到处是一派节日的气氛，洋溢着伟大、圣洁、最后胜利的欢乐。温柔、碧绿的大海轻轻地拍打着堤岸，环抱着毫不掩饰的几乎是属意专一的爱恋亲吻着海岸。树木参天，娟秀葱茏，片片绿叶轻柔、亲昵地沙沙响，我感觉它们像是在诉说情话迎接我的到来。茂密的野草开满鲜花，馨香四溢。一群群的鸟儿在天空中飞过，毫不畏惧地落在我的肩上、手上，抖动着可爱的小翅膀，喜滋滋地拍打我。我终于见到和认识了这片乐土上的人们。他们主动地走过来，拥着我，亲吻我。他们是太阳的儿女，自己那个太阳的儿女，——啊，他们长得多么俊美！在我们地球上，我从来没有见过人有这么美。也许只有在我们的孩子身上，在他们的孩提时代，才能找到这种美的久远的虽然是模糊的痕迹。这些幸福的人们眼睛放射着明亮的光芒，他们的脸上闪现着智慧的光彩和泰然自若的神色，而人人都满面春风；他们的话语和声音充溢着天真烂漫的愉悦。啊，扫视他们一眼，一切一切我马上就一目了然！这是没有被恶行玷污的一方净土，生息在它上面的是一些清清白白的人，他们生活在这天堂里，据祖辈相传，这也是我们获罪的先人曾经居住过的地方，所不同的只是这儿处处是天堂。人们欢笑着，涌向我，对我亲亲热热，把我领到家去，个个都给予我安抚。啊，他们什么也不问我，但他们似乎什么都知道，我觉得他们想的是尽快驱走我脸上的痛苦。
四
然而，您要知道，唉，这只是一场梦！但是，这些纯洁、美丽的人们的盛情给我的感受，已永远留在我的心间，而且我觉得，他们的这种盛情至今仍在不断地感染着我。我亲身见到他们，了解他们并且相信他们。我喜欢他们，后来还为他们蒙受过苦难。啊，甚至在当时我马上就明白过来，在很多方面我并不完全了解他们；我作为当代进步人士及卑微的彼得堡人似乎没有解决这个问题，即他们没有受过我们那样的教育却懂得那么多的事情。不过，我很快就明白了，他们知识的充实与吸收，用的是另一种与我们地球上不同的方法，而且他们的追求也完全不同。他们与世无争，淡泊名利，他们不像我们那样竭力去寻求生活，因为他们生活得很充实。可是，他们的知识要比我们的高深得多，因为我们的知识力图说明生活是什么，力图去认识生活，以便去教会别人生活；他们呢，他们不学科学就懂得该如何生活。这一点我明白，但我不懂得他们的知识。他们指点我观赏他们的树木，我却不能体会他们欣赏树木时的那份情素：他们仿佛同类相通，心心相印。您可知道，如果我说他们能同树木交谈，大概我没有说错吧！是的，他们找到了树木的语言，我也确信，树木也懂他们的话语。他们就是这样看待整个大自然包括动物的。动物同他们和平相处，不向他们发起进攻，而且喜欢他们，为他们的爱心所驯服。他们指引我观看星星，并同我谈星星的事儿，我听不明白，但我相信，他们像是有某种方法同天上的星辰进行交往，不只是思想上的，而是有一种生动活泼的途径。啊，这些人没有强求我了解他们，我不了解，他们也还是爱我，但是我知道，他们永远也无法理解我的，因此，我几乎不跟他们谈我们地球上的事。在他们面前我只是频频亲吻他们生息的土地，以表达对他们无言的崇敬。他们见了，任凭我去表示，不因我的崇敬而羞愧，因为他们自己也很尊崇。我有时满脸泪痕地去吻他们的脚，他们没有因为我而难过，当我知道他们将用多么炽热的爱来回报我时，我心头有多兴奋！我有时惊奇地自问：他们怎么始终不去欺凌我这样的人，一次也没有激起像我这样的人的醋意和嫉妒呢？我多次自问：我这个爱吹牛说谎的人，怎么能不对他们说说自己所知道的事情，——这些事情他们当然是一无所知的，怎么能不想以此使他们震惊，或者哪怕只是出于对他们的爱慕呢？他们都像孩子们那样欢蹦乱跳、兴高采烈。他们在自己美丽的园林中和树林里漫游，唱着自己优美的歌儿，食用容易消化的食物、自己树上的果实、自己森林里的蜂蜜，以及那些喜欢他们的动物的乳汁。他们只需从事轻微的劳动就能轻而易举地解决自身的衣食问题。他们男欢女爱，生儿育女，但我从未发现他们·贪·淫·好·色。在我们地球上几乎所有的人都难逃的劫数，淫欲是人类万恶之源。他们为新生命的降临而欢天喜地，这是他们幸福乐园的新人。他们相互间没有争吵，没有妒忌，甚至不知道争吵与嫉妒为何物。他们的孩子是大家的，因为大家组成一个家庭。他们差不多完全没有疾病，虽然也有死亡；他们的老人死得安详，好像睡着了似的，人们围在身旁为他送终，他含笑地向人们祝福，人们也报以愉悦的微笑送别。此时，我没有看见人们悲伤、流泪，有的只是加倍的恍若狂喜的爱，但却是一种泰然、充实、沉静的狂喜。可以认为，他们和逝者之间，甚至在他死后仍然互相交往，死亡也割不断彼此的尘世联系。当我问及他们有无永恒的生命时，他们近乎不懂我的意思，但很显然，他们坚信不疑，对他们而言这不成为问题。他们这里没有寺庙，但他们与整个宇宙有着休戚相关、生气勃勃、分割不开的联系；他们不信宗教，但他们确信，当人间的欢乐达到尘世的极限时，那么，对他们——生者和死者来说，同整个宇宙更为广泛的交往就会到来。他们兴味盎然地盼望着这一时刻，不慌不忙，无忧无虑，似乎早已胸有成竹，互通信息。每晚睡觉以前，他们都爱同声合唱和谐悦耳的歌曲。他们用这些歌曲表达一天的种种感受，讴歌和告别即将逝去的一天。他们赞美大自然，赞美大地，赞美海洋，赞美森林。他们喜好创作描写对方的歌曲，像小孩那样互相夸赞；这是一些质朴无华的歌，但它们发自内心，感人肺腑。不只在歌曲中，看来也在度过整个一生中，他们都是互相赞赏的。这是无所不包、普普通通的一种爱慕。另有一些歌曲庄严奔放，我差不多全听不懂。我认识歌词，但老是品味不出其中的全部含义。我的脑子似乎难于理解，但我的心灵却似乎在不知不觉中愈来愈领悟得到。我常常对他们说，这一切我过去早有预感，所有这些欢乐和赞歌在我们地球上对我来说却是无边的忧烦，有时竟是难以忍受的痛苦；当我的心灵进入梦幻，脑海中出现憧憬时，我就预感到会有他们这些人，会有他们的赞歌；在我们地球上，面对西斜的残阳我常常热泪涔涔……我恨我们地球上的人，但恨中总包含着苦闷：我为什么恨他们而又不能不爱他们呢？我为什么不能不宽恕他们呢？我爱他们，但爱中也总是有着苦闷：我为什么爱他们又同时要恨他们呢？看得出来，这里的人听了之后，不理解我说的什么，但我不会因为我同他们说过一席话而感到遗憾，因为我知道，他们理解我无限思念我别离的那些人。是啊，当他们用充盈爱抚的亲切目光瞧着我的时候，当我在他们面前，感到我的心灵也逐渐变得像他们的一样纯洁、诚实的时候，我就不再因为不理解他们而有所遗憾了。生活竟是如此充实、丰满。身临其境的一番感受使我精神激奋，于是我默默地祝福他们。
啊，所有的人现在都当面嘲笑我，一口咬定说，梦里的东西不可能像我现在所描述的那样细致入微，我在梦中的所见或感受不过是梦境产生的幻象，而那些细节是我梦醒后自己杜撰出来的。当我向他们坦言，说实际上也许是如此时——天啊，他们当着我的面笑得有多欢，他们有多快活啊！是啊，真的如此，我完全被梦幻的感受陶醉了，而且只有这种感受才完整地保留在我备受创伤的心中：可是，梦中真实的形体和真实的形态，即梦境中实际所见的那些形象，丰满得如此和谐，如此美妙，如此生动，以致我梦醒后自然无法用我们贫乏的语言去表达出来，因而它们在我的脑海里必然变得淡漠起来，于是在后来，我也许真的不自觉地编造出一些细节，尤其在情急之下想一吐为快，失实之事自然难免了。不过，我怎能不相信这都是实有的呢？事实也许比我说的还要完美、清晰和兴味千倍呢？就算这是一场梦，然而，这一切不可能是没有的。您听我说个秘密吧：也许所有这一切根本就不是梦呢！因为当时发生的事逼真得如此惊人，梦中是不能构想出来的。暂且说，这梦是我心里想成的，但是，我的心难道能虚构出后来遇到的那种惊心动魄的真理吗？我自个儿在心里怎么可能臆造或幻想出那种真理呢？我那渺小的心脏和空虚、多变的头脑，怎么能达到那真理的灵感呢！啊，您自己评评吧。我一直隐瞒到现在，但如今我要把这真理和盘托出来。问题是我……把他们全都教坏啦！
五
是啊，是啊，结果是我把他们全教坏啦！这怎么会发生的——我不明白，但我记得清清楚楚。梦境穿越数千年，在我心里仅仅留下整体的感受。我只知道，他们堕落的原因是我。我像一条可憎的毛虫，又像传染了许多国家的鼠疫杆菌，把这块我来之前没有罪恶的乐土全玷污了。他们学会了撒谎，爱上了虚伪，尝到了谎言的甜头。唉，起初他们也许·本·无·邪·念，只是出于戏谑、卖弄、好玩，也许真有点儿动心，可是这一动心竟深入心底，正合他们的心意。随后就出现了淫欲，淫欲滋生忌妒，忌妒导致残暴……唉，我不明白，也记不起了，但很快就发生了第一次流血：他们惊讶、恐惧，开始出现分歧，随后就分道扬镳。派别出现了，他们互相敌视，漫骂、指责。他们尝到了羞辱的滋味，并将它视为一种美德。有了荣誉的观念，各派自立旗号。他们开始动物，动物躲避他们逃入森林，并成了他们的仇敌。为了拉山头，立门户，争名夺利，互相斗殴。他们势不两立，视对方若寇仇。他们品尝了灾难，并且爱上了灾难。他们渴望苦难，说只有经过苦难才会赢来真理。这时，他们发明了学问。他们恶贯满盈时，却说什么手足亲情、人道主义，而且很了解这些字眼的含义。他们罪行累累时，却想出什么正义来，并且制定一套套的法典维护正义，而为了法典的执行架起了断头台。他们对往事已经记忆模糊，甚至不愿相信自己曾经是纯洁、幸福的，连过去是否幸福也一笑置之，说那是梦幻罢了。他们甚至无法想象出幸福的模样，而奇怪的是：他们绝不相信往日有过幸福，认为那是一种神话。他们渴望重新做个纯洁、幸福者，像孩童那样心系愿望，把它奉若神明，修建神庙，为自己的理想和“希望”祈祷，同时又深知好梦难圆，希望无法实现，却又眼泪汪汪地对它顶礼膜拜，敬若神明。可是，倘若他们能够回到他们失去的那块纯洁无瑕的福地去，倘若有人突然把这地方重新展现给他们，问他们是否愿意返回故土，那他们一定会予以拒绝。他们回答说：“即使我们虚伪、凶恶、行为不轨，这一点我们·清·楚，并为此而痛哭、苦恼、自我折磨、自我惩罚，其程度也许更甚于尚不知姓氏的仁慈法官将要对我们的审判。但我们有学问，学问将使我们重新找到真理，我们会自觉接受真理，认识重于感觉，对生活的了解重于生活本身。学问将给我们聪慧，聪慧将发现规律，而认识幸福的规律重于幸福。”他们就是这么说，说过之后更是只顾自己，再说，他们也不可能有别的选择。每个人都死抱私利，挖空心思去损害和减少别人的利益，认为生存就是如此。于是，出现了奴役，甚至是自愿的奴役：弱者甘心屈服于强者，以便强者帮助他们去压迫更弱者。出现了贤达之士。贤达挥泪进谏，——数说他们妄自尊大、肆无忌惮、失却和谐以及寡廉鲜耻。贤达遭到嘲讽和打击，他们的鲜血洒在圣殿的门上。可是，出现了另一些人，他们开始考虑：如何把所有的人重新联合起来，让每个人照旧只顾自己，同时又不妨碍他人，从而使大家如同生活在一个友好的社会中。为了这一理想，爆发了一次又一次的战争。所有参战者这时都坚信，学问、智慧和自我保全意识，最终必将使人们联结成为一个和睦共处、有理性的社会，而眼下为了加快事业的进程，“智者”在竭力尽快把“愚人”和不了解他们理想的人全都消灭，以免妨碍理想的实现。但是，自我保全意识开始迅速减弱，出现了骄横者和贪淫者，他们公然要求占有一切或抛弃一切。为了占有一切，他们为非作歹，如若不能得逞——便自杀身亡。出现了各种宗教，崇拜虚无和自戕，以期在虚无缥缈中求取永恒的安息。这些人在徒劳中终于疲惫不堪，满脸苦相，而他们还宣称受苦是一种享受，因为在受苦中才有思想。他们编撰歌曲颂扬苦难。我痛心疾首地来到他们中间，为他们惋惜，不过，我也许比过去更爱他们，那时他们的脸上还没有痛苦，他们还是纯洁、美丽的。他们的这块土地原本是天堂，而今被他们玷污了，有了灾难，我才更爱它。唉，我老是喜欢灾难和痛苦，但只是为了自我担待，而对于他们我怜悯得痛哭流涕。我祈求他们原谅，我无限自责、自咒和自我鄙薄。我对他们说，这一切都是我干的，是我一个人干的；是我给他们带来了伤风败俗、道德沦丧与弄虚作假，我恳求他们把我钉在十字架上，我教他们做十字架。我不能，也无力自杀，但我情愿接受他们的折磨，我渴望痛苦，渴望在痛苦中洒尽我最后的一滴血。可是，他们只是嘲笑我，最后竟把我看作疯子。他们不认为我有罪，表示只接受符合他们意愿的事，整个现状则不能改变。最后，他们向我宣布，我对他们构成了危害，如果我不闭上嘴的话，就要把我关进疯人院。当时我心如刀割，痛不欲生，觉得快要死了，这时……正在这时我醒过来了。
此时已是清晨，也就是天色尚未破晓，但也有五点钟左右了。我是坐在安乐椅里醒过来的，蜡烛已经燃完，大尉房里的人都已进入梦乡，四周静悄悄的，我们住宅里很少是这样。首先，我异常吃惊地跳将起来；过去，我从未发生类似的情况，哪怕是鸡毛蒜皮的事：比如，我就从来没有在安乐椅里这样睡着过。突然间，
当我站着慢慢清醒过来时，——那支子弹上了膛准备好的手枪倏地扑入我的眼帘，可我一把将它推开了！啊，我现在要活下去，活下去！我举起双手疾呼永恒的真理；不是疾呼，而是哭泣；我浑身充满狂热，无比的狂热。对，活下去，就——传道去！此刻我决心去传道，而且始终不渝！我要去传道，去传道——传什么道？传播真理，因为我看到了真理，我亲眼看见真理的光华四射！
于是，从那时起我就传起道来了！还有——我爱所有嘲笑我的人，胜似其他所有的人。为什么是这样——我不明白，也无法解释清楚，不过，就让它这样吧。他们都说我糊涂了，就是说，要是眼下都这么糊涂，那么往后可怎么办呢？事实的确如此：我是糊涂了，往后也许更糟。无疑，当我要搞清怎样去传道时，也就是该说些什么话，该做些什么事的时候，我一定会有很多错，因为传道这件事是很难做好的。瞧，我现在把一切都弄清楚了，不过，请听我说：谁能不出错呢！然而要知道，上至圣贤，下至盗匪，大家起码都朝着同一方向，奔向同一目标，只是各人的路子不同而已。这是一个古老的真理，不过，这里也有新情况：我不可能完全糊涂，因为我看到了真理，我看出并且知道，人是会变得美丽、幸福，不会丧失生存能力的。我不愿意也不会相信，是人类的常态。你知道，他们大家嘲笑的正是我的这种信念。可我怎么能没有这个信念呢：我看到了真理，——那不是我脑子里臆造出来的，而是我看到的，看到的，它那栩栩如生的形象永远充溢我心间。我看到的真理是如此的完美，以致我不可能相信人类会没有真理。总之，我怎么会糊涂呢？当然啦，发生偏差，甚至可能好多次，也还可能说出一些见外的话，但这不会为时太久，因为我所看到的活生生的形象将永远与我同在，并永远匡正我，指引我。啊，我精神振奋，朝气蓬勃，向前，向前，哪怕走他一千年。您知道，我把他们全教坏了，起初我甚至想隐瞒，但这是错误的——是我的第一个错误！不过，真理对我耳语，说我在撒谎，却又护卫我，引导我。可是，天堂是如何建造起来的——我不知道，因为我不善于用言辞去描述。梦醒后我遗忘了许多，至少把一些主要的、重要的词语给忘了。不过，即使如此，我还是要去说，不停地说，因为毕竟是我亲眼所见，哪怕我不善于描绘我的所见所闻。然而嘲笑我的人并不了解这一点，他们说：“你见到的是梦幻、幻觉、幻象，”嗨！难道这是什么聪明透顶？他们竟是那么自鸣得意！梦？什么是梦呢？我们的一生不就是一场梦吗？我要再说一遍：哪怕这梦永远不能实现，哪怕不会有什么天堂（这一点我已经明了！）——可我还是要去传道。其实，这很简单：只消一天，·一·个·小·时，一切便会一蹴而就的！重要的是你要像爱自己那样去爱别人，这是关键所在，这也就是一切，别的什么都无所谓，因为你马上就会知道如何建立起天堂了。其实，这不过是个古老的真理，被人们重复、背诵过不知多少遍，可它却没有生存下来！所谓“对生活的了解重于生活本身，认识幸福的规律重于幸福”——必须与之进行斗争！我将参加斗争。只要大家有此心愿，那么便会马到成功！
我一定要找到那个小女孩……我这就去！就去！
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我是一个荒唐可笑的人。现在他们叫我疯子。在他们看来，如果我依然不像先前那样荒唐的话，那么这一称呼倒是升了一级。不过，我现在已经不生气了，现在我觉得他们全都很可爱，甚至当他们嘲笑我的时候——我反而觉得他们特别可爱。假若望着他们我心里不是那么忧伤的话，我会同他们一道笑的，——不是笑我自己，而是由于喜欢他们。我之所以感到忧伤，是因为他们不懂得真理，而我却懂。唉，一个人懂得真理有多么难啊！但是这一点他们是理解不到的。
不，他们是不会理解的。
过去我感到非常伤心的，是因为我好像很荒唐可笑。不是好像，而是确实荒唐。我一向是非常荒唐可笑的，这一点也许我一生下来就是如此。也许是七岁的时候，我就已经知道自己是个荒唐的人了。后来我上中学，进大学，结果呢——学得越多，越觉得自己荒唐。因此，对于我来说，大学里学到的全部知识仿佛只是最终向我证实和说明：我学习越深入越荒唐。学习如此，生活也是如此。时间一年年过去，我认识到我在各方面都很荒唐，这个认识在我身上也与年俱增。所有的人总是嘲笑我，但是，他们谁也不知道，谁也猜不出，如果说人世间有个什么人最了解我是荒唐人的话，那么这个人就是我自己。使我遗憾不过的正是他们不明了这一点。不过，在这件事情上我自个儿有错：我老是那么高傲，从不愿意向任何人承认自己荒唐。我身上的这种傲慢在与年俱增，倘若我让自己向任何人承认自己荒唐，那么当晚我就会用手枪打碎自己的脑袋。啊，我小时候有多痛苦，生怕忍耐不住而突然向伙伴们坦白承认。然而，当我成长为青年后，虽然对自己很坏的品性一年比一年有更深的认识，但不知为什么心情却反而变得平静多了。的确是不知道为什么，因为我至今还不能断定其原因。这原因也许是由于某种极大地影响我的情况，使我心头积聚着极度的苦闷，这就使我萌发了一种信念：世界上到处都是·无·所·谓。我早就预感到了这一点，但是，完整的信念似乎是最近一年突然出现的。我忽然感到，世界的有无，对于我来说都·无·所·谓。我开始感到并且真正地感到，·我·身·边·空·无·一·物。起初，我总以为，许多东西过去是有的，但是后来我才悟出来，过去也是一无所有，只是不知因为什么才仿佛那样。我逐渐确信，将来也永远是一无所有。于是，我马上就不再对别人生气，也几乎不再对别人留意。说实在的，这种变化甚至在一些微不足道的事情上也会表现出来。比如，有时候我在街上走着走着就撞着了人家。这不是由于沉思的缘故，我有什么要沉思的呢，我当时就根本没有想什么，因为我对什么都无所谓。我要是解决了一些问题有多好，唉，一个问题也没有解决，而有多少问题要解决啊？可是，我一想到·全·无·所·谓，一切问题便不复存在了。
就在那之后我弄清了。我是去年十一月，确切地说是去年十一月三日弄清的。打那以后我的每一瞬间我都记得清清楚楚。这事发生在一个漆黑漆黑的夜晚，恐怕只有这个夜晚才这么黑。当时是十点多钟，我正回家去。记得，我正在想着没有比这更阴暗的时候，甚至在肉体上也感觉得到。倾盆大雨下了一整天，那是一场最寒冷、最阴郁甚至叫人可怕的大雨。我记得，这雨甚至还对人怀着一种公然的敌意。而在十点多钟它却骤然停了，散发出一股令人觉得可怕的潮气，比下雨时还要潮湿，还要寒冷。街道路面上的每一块石板，每一条胡同，处处都在散发着雾气。如果从街上往胡同里望去，那里面也是雾气腾腾的。我突发奇想，如果街灯全部熄灭，会使人愉快些，因为它把什么都照得通明透亮，反而令人感到忧伤。这一天我几乎没有吃东西，晚上早早地到了一位工程师家，当时在坐的还有他的两位朋友。我一直默不作声，似乎很叫他们生厌。他们谈看吸引人的什么事情，甚至突然发起火来。但是在我看来，他们全无所谓，他们激动只不过是做做样子而已。我忽然把我的这一想法对他们说了出来：“先生们，我说你们本来是无所谓的嘛。”他们听了没有生气，反而笑起我来。这是因我的话并无责备意味，而只是我觉得全都无所谓而已。他们看出我这全无所谓之后也就快活起来了。
当我走在大街上想着街灯的时候，我不时望望天空。天空黑得可怕，不过还能清晰地分辨出被撕碎的云块，云块之间是一个个无底的黑斑。在一个黑斑上，我突然发现一颗小星星，于是就仔细地观察起来。这是因为那颗小星星提示我：我决定在今夜自杀。早在两个月前我就果断地下了这一决心，尽管我很穷，还是买了一支漂亮的手枪，并且在当天就装上了子弹。但是，两个月已经过去，手枪依旧放在抽屉里。可我无所谓地想最后找一个不那么无所谓的时机，为什么要这样，我自己也不知道。因此，这两个月来，我每晚回家都想自杀。我一直在等待那个机会。而现在这颗小星星提示了我，我决定今晚·一·定自杀。那颗小星星为什么要提示我呢，我也不明白。
我正在仰望夜空，突然有个小女孩一把抓住我的衣袖。街道上已是空落落的，几乎不见人影。远处有个车夫在轻便马车里睡觉。小女孩约莫八岁，裹着头巾，穿件短外衣，浑身湿淋淋的。但我特别记得的是她那双湿漉漉的破皮鞋，而且现在也还记得。她那双鞋子格外引我注目。她骤然扯住我的衣袖叫喊。她没有哭，但似乎在断断续续地喊着什么，由于冷得全身打战，未能把话说清楚。她被什么事儿吓坏了，绝望地叫着：“好妈妈！好妈妈！”我向她扭过头去，不过什么也没有说又继续走路，但她跑上来把我拉住。她的声音里流露出一种小孩受了极度惊吓的绝望心情。我熟悉这种声音。尽管她没有把话说完，但我明白，或者是她母亲在什么地方快要死去，或者是她们在那里出了什么事，所以她跑出来叫人，想找点什么，去帮助她母亲。可是，我没有跟着她去，相反，却陡然起了赶走她的念头。起先，我要她去找，她却松开手，呜呜咽咽，气喘吁吁，老跟在我身边跑，不肯离开。于是，我冲她跺脚，吼一声。她只是喊着：“老爷！老爷！……”她突然离开了我，飞快地横过街去：街那边来了一个行人。看来，她不再跟着我，而去找那个行人了。
我登上五楼我的住处。我没有和东家住在一起，我有自己的房间。我的房间小而简陋，有一个阁楼上常有的那种半圆形窗户。屋里有一个漆皮面沙发，一张桌子，桌上放着书，两把椅子，还有一把舒适的安乐椅，虽然十分陈旧，但却是一把伏尔泰式的高背深座椅。我坐下来，点燃蜡烛，开始思考。隔壁房里一片嘈杂吵闹声，近三天来都是如此。那里住着一个退伍大尉军官，他邀来一大群客人——五、六个酒肉朋友，正在喝酒、玩牌赌博。昨晚上他们竟然打起来了，我知道，他们有两人互相揪住对方的头发久久不放。女房东想数说他们，但惧怕那大尉。住在我们这儿的还有另一家房客：一位身材瘦小的团长太太，带着三个幼小的孩子。他们住进来后小孩都病倒了。太太和孩子们都害怕大尉，怕得昏厥过去，整夜打哆嗦，画十字，她的幼子被吓得患了癫痫病。我确切知道，大尉有时候在涅瓦大街上拦路乞讨。他没有找到职业，但奇怪的是（我正要说此事），他住进来整整一个月都没有给我制造过麻烦。自然罗，从一开始我就回避同他结识，而他对我从一开头也不感兴趣。不过，他们在一墙之隔的那边，不论怎么喊叫，也不论他们是几个人——我一直都不在乎。我整夜坐着，确实没有听到他们争吵、打架——甚至把他们忘了。我每晚彻夜不眠，这样已经有一年了。我通夜坐在桌旁安乐椅里什么事也不做，只在白天读读书。我这样坐着什么也不去思考，若是有什么念头在脑子里闪现，我也听其自然。每晚要点完一支蜡烛。我静静地在桌旁坐下，把手枪拿出来放在面前。当我放下手枪时，我记得问过自己：“是这样吗？”接着就斩钉截铁地回答自己：“是这样的。”也就是自杀。我知道，我今晚一定会自杀，而在这桌旁还要坐多久——我也说不上。要不是那个小女孩出现，我肯定早已自杀了。
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您要知道：我虽然全无所谓，但要是拿疼痛来说我还是感觉得出来的。如果有人打了我，我就会感觉得痛的。精神上也是这样：如果发生了什么可怜的事，我就会觉得可怜的，就像过去生活上我还没有对任何事都觉得无所谓时那样。对那个小女孩我也有过怜悯心：我一定要去帮助她。可是我为什么没有去帮呢？是因为当时产生了一个念头：当她拉住我，呼喊我的时候，我面前突然出现一个疑问，而且无法加以解决。问题很无聊，但我很生气。我生气是由于有了这么一个结论：我既然已经决定今夜自杀，那么，我现在对世间的一切比过去任何时候都更加无所谓了。我为什么突然感到我不是全无所谓，而去可怜一个小女孩呢？我记得，我十分同情她，甚至于有过一种奇怪的心疼感，在我这种处境下，这种感觉甚至令人难以相信。的确，我无法更好地把我当时那种转瞬即逝的感觉转述出来，不过，这个感觉直至我回到家在桌旁坐下来仍未消逝，以至我非常生气，这是很久以来不曾有过的。推论一个个纷至沓来。很显然，既然我是人，而不是子虚，暂时也没有化为乌有，那么我就还活着，因此就会有苦恼，有愤怒，有为自己的举止而感到羞耻的心。就算是这样吧。但是，既然我将自杀，比方说，再有两个小时我就要死去了，那么小女孩于我有什么相干呢？羞耻心、世间的一切与我又有什么相干呢？我行将化为乌有，彻底消亡。我知道，我即将·完·全消失，因而一切也将不复存在，那么，这种认识对于我对小女孩的爱怜之心，对于做了卑鄙事以后的羞耻心，不能没有丝毫影响吧？须知，正因为如此，我才会对不幸的小女孩跺脚，向她粗野地吼叫，好像在说，“我不仅没有同情心，而且如果要我去干毫无人性的丑行，现在我都可以去干的，因为两个小时之后一切都将逝去了。”您能相信吗？这就是我对她吼叫的原因。对这一点我现在几乎深信不疑。十分显然，生命和世界现在仿佛都要取决于我，甚至可以这么说，现在这世界仿佛也是为我一个人而创造的：我自杀了，世界也就不再有了，至少对于我来说是如此。我的知觉一旦消失，整个世界也就随即消亡，就像幽灵一样，就像依附于我的知觉一样，因为这整个世界和全人类也许就是我自己一个人。至于我死后，对任何人来说也许真的什么都不再存在了，这一点已不必去谈了。我记得，我坐在那儿反反复复地思考着所有这些接踵而来的新问题，甚至生出异念，异想天开起来。比方，我突发奇想，假如我以前生活在月球上或火星上，在那里做了最无耻的事情并且遭到斥责和羞辱，这除非有时在梦境中或在噩梦中才能感觉和想象得到；又假如，我后来来到了地球上，而又记得自己在别的星球上的所作所为，此外，还知道我再也不会回到月球上，那么，当我从地球上仰望月球时，——是否会觉得·无·所·谓呢？是否会为自己的丑行而感到羞愧呢？思考这些问题是无益的、多余的，因为手枪已摆在我的面前，我的整个身心也感觉到了·这·事必将发生。但是，这些问题刺激着我，使我愤怒。不先把问题弄明白，我似乎暂时还不能死去。总之，这个小女孩救了我，由于这些问题我迟延了自杀。这时，大尉房里的嘈杂声开始平息下来：他们玩过牌后在准备睡觉，不过暂时还有人在嘟嘟囔囔说胡话，懒洋洋地轻声叫骂。就在这时，我坐在桌旁安乐椅里忽然睡着了，这是从来没有过的。我完全是在不知不觉中睡着的。大家知道，梦是一种稀奇古怪的东西：有的十分清晰，细节都似珠宝饰物那样精美；有的你会觉得一晃而过，仿佛超越了时空全无感觉。引起梦境的似乎不是理智，而是愿望，不是大脑，而是心灵；然而，我的理智在梦中有时有多巧妙，而且会生出一些完全不可思议的事情来。例如，我哥哥去世已经五年，我有时还梦见他：他帮我做事，我们互相关心，而我在梦中一直十分清楚和记得，我哥哥已经死了，埋了。他虽然是死人，仍在我身边为我忙碌，为什么我的理智会完全容忍发生这一切呢？好，不谈这个，说说我的那个梦吧。是的，我当时做了一个梦，就是十一月三日的那个梦！他们现在还在耍笑我，说那只不过是一场梦而已。不过，既然那个梦能告诉我真理，是梦不是梦难道不是都无所谓吗？你要是发现和认清了真理，那么，不论你是睡着还是醒着的时候都知道，这就是真理，没有也不可能有别的真理了。好吧，就算这是做梦，就算这样，但是，被你们说得天花乱坠的那种生活，我却要用自杀来结束它了，而我的梦，我的梦——啊，则给我展示了一种崭新的光辉灿烂、焕然一新、充满活力的生活！
请听我继续说吧。
三
我说过，我在不知不觉中睡着了，仿佛还在思考着那些问题。我忽然梦见，我坐在那里拿起手枪来直对着心脏——是心脏，不是脑袋；以前我是打算一定对准脑袋，正对右太阳穴开枪的。我对准胸膛等了一、二秒钟，忽然房里的蜡烛、桌子和墙壁全都在我眼前晃动、旋转起来。我连忙开了一枪。
您有时会梦见从高处掉下来，或是被人砍杀，但是您从不会感到疼痛，除非您自己真的撞在了床上，才会感到痛，并且往往会痛得醒过来。我这次做梦时也是这样：我不感到痛，但觉得一枪把全身都震撼了，一切都顿时消失，四周一团漆黑。我仿佛又瞎又聋，僵直地仰卧在一件硬邦邦的东西上，什么也看不见，一动也不能动。人们在我旁边走来走去，叫着喊着，大尉在低声说话，女房东在尖声叫嚷，——突然间喧嚣声停息下来，原来他们在用一口紧闭的棺材抬着我走。我感到棺材在晃动，寻思着原因，顿时使我大吃一惊：原来我已经死了，真的死了。我明白了，毫不怀疑，我看不见，也动不了，然而还有感觉，也能思维。不过，我马上就听其自然，像往常做梦那样，平心静气地接受这个现实。
于是，他们把我埋入土中。他们都走了，剩下我一个人，孤零零的一个人。我不能活动。过去不是在梦中时，我常想我会怎样被埋入坟墓，由坟墓联想到的不过是潮湿和寒冷而已，眼下我可真的感到了寒冷，尤其是脚趾尖，不过再没有别的什么感觉了。我躺着，奇怪的是无所期待，心平气和地承认死人是没有什么可盼望的了。可就是感到潮湿。我不知躺了多久，——一个小时，或者几天，也许有好多天了。但忽然间，从棺盖上渗进来一滴水落到我闭着的左眼上，一分钟后又一滴，又一分钟后第三滴，就这样连连不断，每分钟落下来一滴。一股无比的愤懑从我心底升起，我感到心底一阵疼痛。“这是伤口”，我想了想。“是枪伤，里面还有一粒子弹……”水还在滴落，每分钟一滴，径直掉到我那只闭着的眼睛上。我突然祈求起来，但不是用声音，因为我是不能动弹的，而是用我的整个身心，向着使我变成这样的主宰者祈求：
“不管你是什么人，但如果有你在，如果有比眼下发生的更合乎情理的事，那么你就让它也在这儿出现吧。而如果因为我缺乏理智而自杀，你要报复我，让我往后的日子过得难堪、荒唐，那么就请注意，我在任何时候所遭受的任何苦难都将无法与我要默默地承受的那种羞愧相比，哪怕那苦难要绵延千百万年！……”
我祈求之后不再说话，深深的沉默几乎持续了整整一分钟。又掉下一滴水，但我知道，而且深知和确信，一切都将马上发生变化。这不，我的坟墓真的突然裂开了。也就是说我不知道坟墓到底是被打开的还是被掘开的，不过，我被一个没有见过的黑怪物抓住，于是我们不知不觉地来到了天空中。我蓦地发现：这是一个深夜，一个前所未有的漆黑漆黑的夜晚！我们在远离地球的太空中疾飞。我对抓我的怪物什么也不问，我在等待着，我非常高傲。我深信自己不会害怕，而且一想到不会害怕时，我便兴奋不已。我记不起飞行了多长时间，而且也想象不出来，因为一切都像平常做梦时一样，当你跨越时空，超越存在和理智的规律时，你就只会在心灵的憧憬点上停下来。我记得，我在漆黑中忽然看见一颗小星星。“这是天狼星吧？”我骤然忍不住问道，因为我本来是什么也不想打听的。“不，这就是你回家时从云层间看到的那颗星星。”那个抓我的怪物答道。这时我才看到，这怪物有一张仿佛与人一样的面孔。奇怪的是，我却不喜欢这怪物，甚至对它感到十分厌恶。我所期待的是彻底的虚无，正因为如此，我才对着自己的心脏开枪。而今我落在了怪物的手中，它当然不是人，但它是·存·在·着·的，是活着的：“啊，原来坟墓的外面也还有生命哩！”我像做梦似的胡思乱想，不过我的心底依然如故。“如果·复·生，”我想，“重又生活在某人的旨意下，那么，我是不会去接受别人的控制与的！”“你知道我害怕你，所以你看不起我。”我忽然不顾体面地对我的旅伴提出问题说，这问题含有自我表白的意味，因而我的心底像被针刺一样感到屈辱。他没有回答我，但我马上觉得，并没有人鄙视我，耻笑我，也没有人可怜我，同时也发觉，我们旅行的目的不清楚而且神秘莫测，不过只与我一人有关。一种恐惧感在我心中慢慢升起。默不作声的旅伴身上的一种东西在无声地但却痛苦地感染着我，仿佛在我身上涌动。我们在昏暗而神秘的太空中急飞。我已经很久没有见到那些熟悉的星星了。我知道，太空中有些星星的光要数千年甚至数百万年才能到达地球上，我们也许已经飞过了这一个距离。在极度揪心的苦闷中我似乎在期待着某种东西。刹那间，一种熟悉的扣人心弦的感觉使我震荡：我忽然看见了我们的太阳。我知道，这不可能是那个养育过我们地球的太阳，我们距离我们的太阳无限的远，但不知为什么，我的整个身心却感到，这个太阳和我们的那个太阳一模一样，是我们太阳的复制品，是我们太阳的孪生兄弟。动人心弦的甜美感在我心底激起一阵欣慰：给我生命的亲切的阳光的威力在我心中回荡，使我心灵复苏，我被埋进坟墓后，第一次感到有了生机，原先的那种生机。
“而如果这就是太阳，如果这确实就是我们的那个太阳，”我高呼起来，“那么，地球又在哪儿呢？”旅伴就把一颗小星星指给我看，那小星星在黑暗中闪烁着绿光。我们径直朝它飞去。
“宇宙中莫非真有一模一样的东西？大自然的规律果真是这样？……如果这是另一个地球，那么它难道和我们的地球完全一样……和我们那个不幸的、可怜的，但又宝贵、永远可爱的地球，和我们那个即使在最忘恩负义的儿女心中也能唤起对它苦爱的地球完全一样吗？……”我无比激动地呼喊起来，对被我离开的原先的那个地球有着难以抑制的眷恋。那个被我拒绝的可怜的小女孩的身影在我面前一闪而过。
“一切你都会看到的，”我的旅伴回答说。听得出来，他的话中夹带着忧伤。我们在迅速地靠近那颗行星，行星在我眼中越变越大，我已经分辨出了海洋和欧洲的轮廓，一种奇特的伟大而纯洁的妒意突然在我心间涌起：“怎么可能有一模一样的东西呢？而且又为了什么呢？我爱，只能爱我离开的那个地球，我这个忘恩负义的人向心房开枪结束生命时，我的血就洒在了那上面。但是任何时候，任何时候我都没有中断过我对那个地球的爱，就是在离开它的那个晚上，我也许比任何时候都爱得更苦。在这新的地球上也有痛苦吗？在我们那个地球上，我们的确只能怀着痛苦去爱，并且也不知道还有别的什么方式去爱它。为了爱，我甘愿受苦。我愿意，我渴望就在此刻含着热泪去亲吻我离去的那一个地球，我不愿意，也不接受在任何别的地球上复生！……”
可是，我的旅伴已经把我扔下。我好像毫无感觉地霎时间就来到了另一个地球上——一个晴天丽日下的人间天堂。我好像站在我们地球上希腊群岛中的一个小岛上，又好像是与这些岛屿毗连的大陆沿海的某个地方。啊，一切的一切都完全像我们地球上一样，可就是这儿似乎到处是一派节日的气氛，洋溢着伟大、圣洁、最后胜利的欢乐。温柔、碧绿的大海轻轻地拍打着堤岸，环抱着毫不掩饰的几乎是属意专一的爱恋亲吻着海岸。树木参天，娟秀葱茏，片片绿叶轻柔、亲昵地沙沙响，我感觉它们像是在诉说情话迎接我的到来。茂密的野草开满鲜花，馨香四溢。一群群的鸟儿在天空中飞过，毫不畏惧地落在我的肩上、手上，抖动着可爱的小翅膀，喜滋滋地拍打我。我终于见到和认识了这片乐土上的人们。他们主动地走过来，拥着我，亲吻我。他们是太阳的儿女，自己那个太阳的儿女，——啊，他们长得多么俊美！在我们地球上，我从来没有见过人有这么美。也许只有在我们的孩子身上，在他们的孩提时代，才能找到这种美的久远的虽然是模糊的痕迹。这些幸福的人们眼睛放射着明亮的光芒，他们的脸上闪现着智慧的光彩和泰然自若的神色，而人人都满面春风；他们的话语和声音充溢着天真烂漫的愉悦。啊，扫视他们一眼，一切一切我马上就一目了然！这是没有被恶行玷污的一方净土，生息在它上面的是一些清清白白的人，他们生活在这天堂里，据祖辈相传，这也是我们获罪的先人曾经居住过的地方，所不同的只是这儿处处是天堂。人们欢笑着，涌向我，对我亲亲热热，把我领到家去，个个都给予我安抚。啊，他们什么也不问我，但他们似乎什么都知道，我觉得他们想的是尽快驱走我脸上的痛苦。
四
然而，您要知道，唉，这只是一场梦！但是，这些纯洁、美丽的人们的盛情给我的感受，已永远留在我的心间，而且我觉得，他们的这种盛情至今仍在不断地感染着我。我亲身见到他们，了解他们并且相信他们。我喜欢他们，后来还为他们蒙受过苦难。啊，甚至在当时我马上就明白过来，在很多方面我并不完全了解他们；我作为当代进步人士及卑微的彼得堡人似乎没有解决这个问题，即他们没有受过我们那样的教育却懂得那么多的事情。不过，我很快就明白了，他们知识的充实与吸收，用的是另一种与我们地球上不同的方法，而且他们的追求也完全不同。他们与世无争，淡泊名利，他们不像我们那样竭力去寻求生活，因为他们生活得很充实。可是，他们的知识要比我们的高深得多，因为我们的知识力图说明生活是什么，力图去认识生活，以便去教会别人生活；他们呢，他们不学科学就懂得该如何生活。这一点我明白，但我不懂得他们的知识。他们指点我观赏他们的树木，我却不能体会他们欣赏树木时的那份情素：他们仿佛同类相通，心心相印。您可知道，如果我说他们能同树木交谈，大概我没有说错吧！是的，他们找到了树木的语言，我也确信，树木也懂他们的话语。他们就是这样看待整个大自然包括动物的。动物同他们和平相处，不向他们发起进攻，而且喜欢他们，为他们的爱心所驯服。他们指引我观看星星，并同我谈星星的事儿，我听不明白，但我相信，他们像是有某种方法同天上的星辰进行交往，不只是思想上的，而是有一种生动活泼的途径。啊，这些人没有强求我了解他们，我不了解，他们也还是爱我，但是我知道，他们永远也无法理解我的，因此，我几乎不跟他们谈我们地球上的事。在他们面前我只是频频亲吻他们生息的土地，以表达对他们无言的崇敬。他们见了，任凭我去表示，不因我的崇敬而羞愧，因为他们自己也很尊崇。我有时满脸泪痕地去吻他们的脚，他们没有因为我而难过，当我知道他们将用多么炽热的爱来回报我时，我心头有多兴奋！我有时惊奇地自问：他们怎么始终不去欺凌我这样的人，一次也没有激起像我这样的人的醋意和嫉妒呢？我多次自问：我这个爱吹牛说谎的人，怎么能不对他们说说自己所知道的事情，——这些事情他们当然是一无所知的，怎么能不想以此使他们震惊，或者哪怕只是出于对他们的爱慕呢？他们都像孩子们那样欢蹦乱跳、兴高采烈。他们在自己美丽的园林中和树林里漫游，唱着自己优美的歌儿，食用容易消化的食物、自己树上的果实、自己森林里的蜂蜜，以及那些喜欢他们的动物的乳汁。他们只需从事轻微的劳动就能轻而易举地解决自身的衣食问题。他们男欢女爱，生儿育女，但我从未发现他们·贪·淫·好·色。在我们地球上几乎所有的人都难逃的劫数，淫欲是人类万恶之源。他们为新生命的降临而欢天喜地，这是他们幸福乐园的新人。他们相互间没有争吵，没有妒忌，甚至不知道争吵与嫉妒为何物。他们的孩子是大家的，因为大家组成一个家庭。他们差不多完全没有疾病，虽然也有死亡；他们的老人死得安详，好像睡着了似的，人们围在身旁为他送终，他含笑地向人们祝福，人们也报以愉悦的微笑送别。此时，我没有看见人们悲伤、流泪，有的只是加倍的恍若狂喜的爱，但却是一种泰然、充实、沉静的狂喜。可以认为，他们和逝者之间，甚至在他死后仍然互相交往，死亡也割不断彼此的尘世联系。当我问及他们有无永恒的生命时，他们近乎不懂我的意思，但很显然，他们坚信不疑，对他们而言这不成为问题。他们这里没有寺庙，但他们与整个宇宙有着休戚相关、生气勃勃、分割不开的联系；他们不信宗教，但他们确信，当人间的欢乐达到尘世的极限时，那么，对他们——生者和死者来说，同整个宇宙更为广泛的交往就会到来。他们兴味盎然地盼望着这一时刻，不慌不忙，无忧无虑，似乎早已胸有成竹，互通信息。每晚睡觉以前，他们都爱同声合唱和谐悦耳的歌曲。他们用这些歌曲表达一天的种种感受，讴歌和告别即将逝去的一天。他们赞美大自然，赞美大地，赞美海洋，赞美森林。他们喜好创作描写对方的歌曲，像小孩那样互相夸赞；这是一些质朴无华的歌，但它们发自内心，感人肺腑。不只在歌曲中，看来也在度过整个一生中，他们都是互相赞赏的。这是无所不包、普普通通的一种爱慕。另有一些歌曲庄严奔放，我差不多全听不懂。我认识歌词，但老是品味不出其中的全部含义。我的脑子似乎难于理解，但我的心灵却似乎在不知不觉中愈来愈领悟得到。我常常对他们说，这一切我过去早有预感，所有这些欢乐和赞歌在我们地球上对我来说却是无边的忧烦，有时竟是难以忍受的痛苦；当我的心灵进入梦幻，脑海中出现憧憬时，我就预感到会有他们这些人，会有他们的赞歌；在我们地球上，面对西斜的残阳我常常热泪涔涔……我恨我们地球上的人，但恨中总包含着苦闷：我为什么恨他们而又不能不爱他们呢？我为什么不能不宽恕他们呢？我爱他们，但爱中也总是有着苦闷：我为什么爱他们又同时要恨他们呢？看得出来，这里的人听了之后，不理解我说的什么，但我不会因为我同他们说过一席话而感到遗憾，因为我知道，他们理解我无限思念我别离的那些人。是啊，当他们用充盈爱抚的亲切目光瞧着我的时候，当我在他们面前，感到我的心灵也逐渐变得像他们的一样纯洁、诚实的时候，我就不再因为不理解他们而有所遗憾了。生活竟是如此充实、丰满。身临其境的一番感受使我精神激奋，于是我默默地祝福他们。
啊，所有的人现在都当面嘲笑我，一口咬定说，梦里的东西不可能像我现在所描述的那样细致入微，我在梦中的所见或感受不过是梦境产生的幻象，而那些细节是我梦醒后自己杜撰出来的。当我向他们坦言，说实际上也许是如此时——天啊，他们当着我的面笑得有多欢，他们有多快活啊！是啊，真的如此，我完全被梦幻的感受陶醉了，而且只有这种感受才完整地保留在我备受创伤的心中：可是，梦中真实的形体和真实的形态，即梦境中实际所见的那些形象，丰满得如此和谐，如此美妙，如此生动，以致我梦醒后自然无法用我们贫乏的语言去表达出来，因而它们在我的脑海里必然变得淡漠起来，于是在后来，我也许真的不自觉地编造出一些细节，尤其在情急之下想一吐为快，失实之事自然难免了。不过，我怎能不相信这都是实有的呢？事实也许比我说的还要完美、清晰和兴味千倍呢？就算这是一场梦，然而，这一切不可能是没有的。您听我说个秘密吧：也许所有这一切根本就不是梦呢！因为当时发生的事逼真得如此惊人，梦中是不能构想出来的。暂且说，这梦是我心里想成的，但是，我的心难道能虚构出后来遇到的那种惊心动魄的真理吗？我自个儿在心里怎么可能臆造或幻想出那种真理呢？我那渺小的心脏和空虚、多变的头脑，怎么能达到那真理的灵感呢！啊，您自己评评吧。我一直隐瞒到现在，但如今我要把这真理和盘托出来。问题是我……把他们全都教坏啦！
五
是啊，是啊，结果是我把他们全教坏啦！这怎么会发生的——我不明白，但我记得清清楚楚。梦境穿越数千年，在我心里仅仅留下整体的感受。我只知道，他们堕落的原因是我。我像一条可憎的毛虫，又像传染了许多国家的鼠疫杆菌，把这块我来之前没有罪恶的乐土全玷污了。他们学会了撒谎，爱上了虚伪，尝到了谎言的甜头。唉，起初他们也许·本·无·邪·念，只是出于戏谑、卖弄、好玩，也许真有点儿动心，可是这一动心竟深入心底，正合他们的心意。随后就出现了淫欲，淫欲滋生忌妒，忌妒导致残暴……唉，我不明白，也记不起了，但很快就发生了第一次流血：他们惊讶、恐惧，开始出现分歧，随后就分道扬镳。派别出现了，他们互相敌视，漫骂、指责。他们尝到了羞辱的滋味，并将它视为一种美德。有了荣誉的观念，各派自立旗号。他们开始动物，动物躲避他们逃入森林，并成了他们的仇敌。为了拉山头，立门户，争名夺利，互相斗殴。他们势不两立，视对方若寇仇。他们品尝了灾难，并且爱上了灾难。他们渴望苦难，说只有经过苦难才会赢来真理。这时，他们发明了学问。他们恶贯满盈时，却说什么手足亲情、人道主义，而且很了解这些字眼的含义。他们罪行累累时，却想出什么正义来，并且制定一套套的法典维护正义，而为了法典的执行架起了断头台。他们对往事已经记忆模糊，甚至不愿相信自己曾经是纯洁、幸福的，连过去是否幸福也一笑置之，说那是梦幻罢了。他们甚至无法想象出幸福的模样，而奇怪的是：他们绝不相信往日有过幸福，认为那是一种神话。他们渴望重新做个纯洁、幸福者，像孩童那样心系愿望，把它奉若神明，修建神庙，为自己的理想和“希望”祈祷，同时又深知好梦难圆，希望无法实现，却又眼泪汪汪地对它顶礼膜拜，敬若神明。可是，倘若他们能够回到他们失去的那块纯洁无瑕的福地去，倘若有人突然把这地方重新展现给他们，问他们是否愿意返回故土，那他们一定会予以拒绝。他们回答说：“即使我们虚伪、凶恶、行为不轨，这一点我们·清·楚，并为此而痛哭、苦恼、自我折磨、自我惩罚，其程度也许更甚于尚不知姓氏的仁慈法官将要对我们的审判。但我们有学问，学问将使我们重新找到真理，我们会自觉接受真理，认识重于感觉，对生活的了解重于生活本身。学问将给我们聪慧，聪慧将发现规律，而认识幸福的规律重于幸福。”他们就是这么说，说过之后更是只顾自己，再说，他们也不可能有别的选择。每个人都死抱私利，挖空心思去损害和减少别人的利益，认为生存就是如此。于是，出现了奴役，甚至是自愿的奴役：弱者甘心屈服于强者，以便强者帮助他们去压迫更弱者。出现了贤达之士。贤达挥泪进谏，——数说他们妄自尊大、肆无忌惮、失却和谐以及寡廉鲜耻。贤达遭到嘲讽和打击，他们的鲜血洒在圣殿的门上。可是，出现了另一些人，他们开始考虑：如何把所有的人重新联合起来，让每个人照旧只顾自己，同时又不妨碍他人，从而使大家如同生活在一个友好的社会中。为了这一理想，爆发了一次又一次的战争。所有参战者这时都坚信，学问、智慧和自我保全意识，最终必将使人们联结成为一个和睦共处、有理性的社会，而眼下为了加快事业的进程，“智者”在竭力尽快把“愚人”和不了解他们理想的人全都消灭，以免妨碍理想的实现。但是，自我保全意识开始迅速减弱，出现了骄横者和贪淫者，他们公然要求占有一切或抛弃一切。为了占有一切，他们为非作歹，如若不能得逞——便自杀身亡。出现了各种宗教，崇拜虚无和自戕，以期在虚无缥缈中求取永恒的安息。这些人在徒劳中终于疲惫不堪，满脸苦相，而他们还宣称受苦是一种享受，因为在受苦中才有思想。他们编撰歌曲颂扬苦难。我痛心疾首地来到他们中间，为他们惋惜，不过，我也许比过去更爱他们，那时他们的脸上还没有痛苦，他们还是纯洁、美丽的。他们的这块土地原本是天堂，而今被他们玷污了，有了灾难，我才更爱它。唉，我老是喜欢灾难和痛苦，但只是为了自我担待，而对于他们我怜悯得痛哭流涕。我祈求他们原谅，我无限自责、自咒和自我鄙薄。我对他们说，这一切都是我干的，是我一个人干的；是我给他们带来了伤风败俗、道德沦丧与弄虚作假，我恳求他们把我钉在十字架上，我教他们做十字架。我不能，也无力自杀，但我情愿接受他们的折磨，我渴望痛苦，渴望在痛苦中洒尽我最后的一滴血。可是，他们只是嘲笑我，最后竟把我看作疯子。他们不认为我有罪，表示只接受符合他们意愿的事，整个现状则不能改变。最后，他们向我宣布，我对他们构成了危害，如果我不闭上嘴的话，就要把我关进疯人院。当时我心如刀割，痛不欲生，觉得快要死了，这时……正在这时我醒过来了。
此时已是清晨，也就是天色尚未破晓，但也有五点钟左右了。我是坐在安乐椅里醒过来的，蜡烛已经燃完，大尉房里的人都已进入梦乡，四周静悄悄的，我们住宅里很少是这样。首先，我异常吃惊地跳将起来；过去，我从未发生类似的情况，哪怕是鸡毛蒜皮的事：比如，我就从来没有在安乐椅里这样睡着过。突然间，
当我站着慢慢清醒过来时，——那支子弹上了膛准备好的手枪倏地扑入我的眼帘，可我一把将它推开了！啊，我现在要活下去，活下去！我举起双手疾呼永恒的真理；不是疾呼，而是哭泣；我浑身充满狂热，无比的狂热。对，活下去，就——传道去！此刻我决心去传道，而且始终不渝！我要去传道，去传道——传什么道？传播真理，因为我看到了真理，我亲眼看见真理的光华四射！
于是，从那时起我就传起道来了！还有——我爱所有嘲笑我的人，胜似其他所有的人。为什么是这样——我不明白，也无法解释清楚，不过，就让它这样吧。他们都说我糊涂了，就是说，要是眼下都这么糊涂，那么往后可怎么办呢？事实的确如此：我是糊涂了，往后也许更糟。无疑，当我要搞清怎样去传道时，也就是该说些什么话，该做些什么事的时候，我一定会有很多错，因为传道这件事是很难做好的。瞧，我现在把一切都弄清楚了，不过，请听我说：谁能不出错呢！然而要知道，上至圣贤，下至盗匪，大家起码都朝着同一方向，奔向同一目标，只是各人的路子不同而已。这是一个古老的真理，不过，这里也有新情况：我不可能完全糊涂，因为我看到了真理，我看出并且知道，人是会变得美丽、幸福，不会丧失生存能力的。我不愿意也不会相信，是人类的常态。你知道，他们大家嘲笑的正是我的这种信念。可我怎么能没有这个信念呢：我看到了真理，——那不是我脑子里臆造出来的，而是我看到的，看到的，它那栩栩如生的形象永远充溢我心间。我看到的真理是如此的完美，以致我不可能相信人类会没有真理。总之，我怎么会糊涂呢？当然啦，发生偏差，甚至可能好多次，也还可能说出一些见外的话，但这不会为时太久，因为我所看到的活生生的形象将永远与我同在，并永远匡正我，指引我。啊，我精神振奋，朝气蓬勃，向前，向前，哪怕走他一千年。您知道，我把他们全教坏了，起初我甚至想隐瞒，但这是错误的——是我的第一个错误！不过，真理对我耳语，说我在撒谎，却又护卫我，引导我。可是，天堂是如何建造起来的——我不知道，因为我不善于用言辞去描述。梦醒后我遗忘了许多，至少把一些主要的、重要的词语给忘了。不过，即使如此，我还是要去说，不停地说，因为毕竟是我亲眼所见，哪怕我不善于描绘我的所见所闻。然而嘲笑我的人并不了解这一点，他们说：“你见到的是梦幻、幻觉、幻象，”嗨！难道这是什么聪明透顶？他们竟是那么自鸣得意！梦？什么是梦呢？我们的一生不就是一场梦吗？我要再说一遍：哪怕这梦永远不能实现，哪怕不会有什么天堂（这一点我已经明了！）——可我还是要去传道。其实，这很简单：只消一天，·一·个·小·时，一切便会一蹴而就的！重要的是你要像爱自己那样去爱别人，这是关键所在，这也就是一切，别的什么都无所谓，因为你马上就会知道如何建立起天堂了。其实，这不过是个古老的真理，被人们重复、背诵过不知多少遍，可它却没有生存下来！所谓“对生活的了解重于生活本身，认识幸福的规律重于幸福”——必须与之进行斗争！我将参加斗争。只要大家有此心愿，那么便会马到成功！
我一定要找到那个小女孩……我这就去！就去！
Hannibal is a novel written by Thomas Harris, published in 1999. It is the third in his series featuring his iconic character Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the cannibalistic serial killer, and the second to feature FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling. The novel takes place seven years after the events of The Silence of the Lambs and deals with the intended revenge of one of Hannibal Lecter's victims. It was adapted as a film of the same name in 2001, directed by Ridley Scott.
Synopsis
Seven years after Hannibal Lecter escaped from secure confinement, Clarice Starling witnesses her career crumble around her when a drug raid goes dreadfully wrong and she shoots and kills Evelda Drumgo, an armed meth dealer who was also carrying her child at the time, in self-defense. However, when Lecter sends her a letter offering condolence and requesting more information about her personal life, the F.B.I. finds a use for her once again.
Meanwhile Mason Verger, a horribly disfigured, crippled child molester and one of Lecter's few surviving victims, has been plotting gruesome revenge against the fugitive serial killer, which involves using Clarice as bait.
Reception
Although the ending was controversial, reaction to the novel was generally very positive. Robert McCrum, writing in The Guardian, called it "the exquisite satisfaction of a truly great melodrama". Martin Amis writing in Talk (in an essay later reprinted in The War Against Cliche) said that Hannibal was a work of "profound and virtuoso vulgarity", stating Harris "has become a serial murderer of English sentences and Hannibal is a necropolis of prose".
Author Stephen King, an admitted fan of the series, has said that he considers Hannibal to be one of the two greatest popular horror novels of all time, the other being The Exorcist.
Characters in Hannibal
* Hannibal Lecter
* Clarice Starling
* Mason Verger
* Margot Verger
* Rinaldo Pazzi
* Paul Krendler
* Barney Matthews
* Cordell
* Oreste Pini
* Dr. Doemling
* Carlo Deogracias
* Romula Cjesku
* Gnocco
* Jack Crawford
* Ardelia Mapp
* Evelda Drumgo
Synopsis
Seven years after Hannibal Lecter escaped from secure confinement, Clarice Starling witnesses her career crumble around her when a drug raid goes dreadfully wrong and she shoots and kills Evelda Drumgo, an armed meth dealer who was also carrying her child at the time, in self-defense. However, when Lecter sends her a letter offering condolence and requesting more information about her personal life, the F.B.I. finds a use for her once again.
Meanwhile Mason Verger, a horribly disfigured, crippled child molester and one of Lecter's few surviving victims, has been plotting gruesome revenge against the fugitive serial killer, which involves using Clarice as bait.
Reception
Although the ending was controversial, reaction to the novel was generally very positive. Robert McCrum, writing in The Guardian, called it "the exquisite satisfaction of a truly great melodrama". Martin Amis writing in Talk (in an essay later reprinted in The War Against Cliche) said that Hannibal was a work of "profound and virtuoso vulgarity", stating Harris "has become a serial murderer of English sentences and Hannibal is a necropolis of prose".
Author Stephen King, an admitted fan of the series, has said that he considers Hannibal to be one of the two greatest popular horror novels of all time, the other being The Exorcist.
Characters in Hannibal
* Hannibal Lecter
* Clarice Starling
* Mason Verger
* Margot Verger
* Rinaldo Pazzi
* Paul Krendler
* Barney Matthews
* Cordell
* Oreste Pini
* Dr. Doemling
* Carlo Deogracias
* Romula Cjesku
* Gnocco
* Jack Crawford
* Ardelia Mapp
* Evelda Drumgo
The Silence of the Lambs is a novel by Thomas Harris. First published in 1988, it is a sequel to Harris' 1981 novel Red Dragon. Both novels feature the cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, this time pitted against FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling. The novel became a bestseller, and its Oscar-winning 1991 film adaptation is still widely ranked among the best films ever made.
Plot summary
The novel opens with Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee, being asked to carry out an errand by Jack Crawford, the head of the FBI division that draws up psychological profiles of serial killers. Starling is asked to present a questionnaire to brilliant forensic psychiatrist and cannibalistic sociopath, Hannibal Lecter. Lecter is serving nine consecutive life sentences in a Maryland mental institution for his murders.
We also learn of Jack Crawford's hunt for a serial killer dubbed "Buffalo Bill", whose modus operandi involves kidnapping overweight women, starving them for about a week initially then killing and skinning them, before dumping the bodies in nearby rivers. The nickname was started by Kansas City Police Homicide Division, as a joke that "he likes to skin his humps."
When Bill's sixth victim is found in West Virginia, Starling helps Crawford perform the autopsy. Starling finds a moth pupa in the throat of the victim, and just as Lecter predicted, she has been scalped. Diamond-shaped patches of skin have also been taken from her shoulders. Furthermore, autopsy reports indicate that Bill killed her within four days of her capture, much faster than his earlier victims. On the basis of Lecter's prediction, Starling believes that he knows who Buffalo Bill really is. She also asks why she was sent to fish for information on Buffalo Bill without being told she was doing so; Crawford explains that if she had had an agenda, Lecter would never have spoken up.
Starling takes the pupa to the Smithsonian, where it is eventually identified as the Death's-head Hawkmoth, which would not naturally occur where the victim was found.
In Tennessee, Catherine Baker Martin, the daughter of Senator Ruth Martin, is kidnapped. Within six hours, her blouse is found on the roadside, slit up the back: Buffalo Bill's calling card. Crawford is advised that no less than the President of the United States has expressed "intense interest" in the case, and that a successful rescue is preferable. Crawford estimates they have three days before Catherine is killed.
After Starling leaves, Lecter reminisces on the past, recalling a conversation with Benjamin Raspail. Raspail, during that therapy session, explained Klaus's death at the hands of Raspail's jealous former lover, Jame Gumb, who then used Klaus's skin to make an apron. Raspail also revealed that Gumb had an epiphany upon watching a moth hatch. Lecter's pleasant ruminations are interrupted when Chilton steps in. A listening device allowed him to record Starling's conversation, and Chilton has found out that Crawford's deal is a lie. He offers one of his own: If Lecter reveals Buffalo Bill's identity, he will indeed get a transfer to another asylum, but only if Chilton gets credit for getting the information from him. Lecter insists that he'll only give the information to Senator Martin in person, in Tennessee. Chilton agrees. Unknown to Chilton, Lecter has previously hidden under his tongue a paperclip and some parts of a pen, both of which were mistakenly given to him by untrained orderlies during his stay at the asylum. He fashions the pen pieces and paperclip into an improvised lockpick, which he later uses to pick his handcuff locks.
In Tennessee, Lecter toys with Senator Martin briefly, enjoying the woman's anguish, but eventually gives her some information about Buffalo Bill: his name is William "Billy" Rubin, and he has suffered from elephant ivory anthrax, a knifemaker's disease. He also provides an accurate physical description. The information is a red herring: bilirubin is a pigment in human bile and a chief coloring agent in human excrement, which the forensic lab compares to the color of Chilton's hair.
Shortly after this, Lecter manages to escape by killing off his captors and eviscerating them, using the face of one as a mask to fool paramedics. Starling continues her search for Buffalo Bill, eventually tracking him down.
Characters
* Clarice Starling
* Dr. Hannibal Lecter
* Jack Crawford
* Jame Gumb/Buffalo Bill
* Barney Matthews
* Ardelia Mapp
* Dr. Frederick Chilton
* Catherine Baker Martin
* Senator Ruth Martin
* Paul Krendler
* Noble Pilcher
* Albert Roden
* I. J. Miggs
Influences
Jame Gumb was based on five real-life serial killers:
* Ed Gein, a Wisconsin man who robbed graves and murdered women in order to flay their bodies and make clothing out of them. Gein was also the inspiration for Norman Bates in the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho and Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
* Gary Ridgway, who like Gumb only murdered women and dumped his victims bodies' in rivers, often with objects inserted inside their bodies.
* Ted Bundy, who killed dozens of women in the 1970s, often luring victims by pretending he was injured with a cast on his arm, a technique Gumb used to lure Catherine Martin into his van. Similar to Lecter, Bundy also offered to help investigators find other serial murderers by "giving insights" into their psychology while he was in death row, specifically about the Green River Killer.
* Gary M. Heidnik, who held women captive in a deep hole in his basement.
* Edmund Kemper, a man who murdered women and had sex with his victims.
Film adaptation
Main article: The Silence of the Lambs (film)
Following the 1986 adaptation of Red Dragon (filmed as Manhunter), The Silence of the Lambs was adapted by Jonathan Demme in 1991. The Silence of the Lambs became the third film in Oscar history to win the five most prestigious Academy Awards - Actor in a leading role, Actress in a leading role, Director, Motion Picture and Screenplay. It stars Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling and Ted Levine as the serial killer Buffalo Bill. It continues to be listed among the best movies ever made to this day.
Literary significance
The novel was a great success and Craig Brown of the Mail on Sunday wrote, "No thriller writer is better attuned than Thomas Harris to the rhythms of suspense. No horror writer is more adept at making the stomach churn", The Independent wrote "Utterly gripping" and Amazon wrote "...driving suspense, compelling characters,...a well-executed thriller..." Children's novelist Roald Dahl also greatly enjoyed the novel, describing it as "subtle, horrific and splendid, the best book I have read in a long time."
Awards and nominations
* The novel won the 1988 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel.
* It was nominated for the 1989 World Fantasy Award.
Plot summary
The novel opens with Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee, being asked to carry out an errand by Jack Crawford, the head of the FBI division that draws up psychological profiles of serial killers. Starling is asked to present a questionnaire to brilliant forensic psychiatrist and cannibalistic sociopath, Hannibal Lecter. Lecter is serving nine consecutive life sentences in a Maryland mental institution for his murders.
We also learn of Jack Crawford's hunt for a serial killer dubbed "Buffalo Bill", whose modus operandi involves kidnapping overweight women, starving them for about a week initially then killing and skinning them, before dumping the bodies in nearby rivers. The nickname was started by Kansas City Police Homicide Division, as a joke that "he likes to skin his humps."
When Bill's sixth victim is found in West Virginia, Starling helps Crawford perform the autopsy. Starling finds a moth pupa in the throat of the victim, and just as Lecter predicted, she has been scalped. Diamond-shaped patches of skin have also been taken from her shoulders. Furthermore, autopsy reports indicate that Bill killed her within four days of her capture, much faster than his earlier victims. On the basis of Lecter's prediction, Starling believes that he knows who Buffalo Bill really is. She also asks why she was sent to fish for information on Buffalo Bill without being told she was doing so; Crawford explains that if she had had an agenda, Lecter would never have spoken up.
Starling takes the pupa to the Smithsonian, where it is eventually identified as the Death's-head Hawkmoth, which would not naturally occur where the victim was found.
In Tennessee, Catherine Baker Martin, the daughter of Senator Ruth Martin, is kidnapped. Within six hours, her blouse is found on the roadside, slit up the back: Buffalo Bill's calling card. Crawford is advised that no less than the President of the United States has expressed "intense interest" in the case, and that a successful rescue is preferable. Crawford estimates they have three days before Catherine is killed.
After Starling leaves, Lecter reminisces on the past, recalling a conversation with Benjamin Raspail. Raspail, during that therapy session, explained Klaus's death at the hands of Raspail's jealous former lover, Jame Gumb, who then used Klaus's skin to make an apron. Raspail also revealed that Gumb had an epiphany upon watching a moth hatch. Lecter's pleasant ruminations are interrupted when Chilton steps in. A listening device allowed him to record Starling's conversation, and Chilton has found out that Crawford's deal is a lie. He offers one of his own: If Lecter reveals Buffalo Bill's identity, he will indeed get a transfer to another asylum, but only if Chilton gets credit for getting the information from him. Lecter insists that he'll only give the information to Senator Martin in person, in Tennessee. Chilton agrees. Unknown to Chilton, Lecter has previously hidden under his tongue a paperclip and some parts of a pen, both of which were mistakenly given to him by untrained orderlies during his stay at the asylum. He fashions the pen pieces and paperclip into an improvised lockpick, which he later uses to pick his handcuff locks.
In Tennessee, Lecter toys with Senator Martin briefly, enjoying the woman's anguish, but eventually gives her some information about Buffalo Bill: his name is William "Billy" Rubin, and he has suffered from elephant ivory anthrax, a knifemaker's disease. He also provides an accurate physical description. The information is a red herring: bilirubin is a pigment in human bile and a chief coloring agent in human excrement, which the forensic lab compares to the color of Chilton's hair.
Shortly after this, Lecter manages to escape by killing off his captors and eviscerating them, using the face of one as a mask to fool paramedics. Starling continues her search for Buffalo Bill, eventually tracking him down.
Characters
* Clarice Starling
* Dr. Hannibal Lecter
* Jack Crawford
* Jame Gumb/Buffalo Bill
* Barney Matthews
* Ardelia Mapp
* Dr. Frederick Chilton
* Catherine Baker Martin
* Senator Ruth Martin
* Paul Krendler
* Noble Pilcher
* Albert Roden
* I. J. Miggs
Influences
Jame Gumb was based on five real-life serial killers:
* Ed Gein, a Wisconsin man who robbed graves and murdered women in order to flay their bodies and make clothing out of them. Gein was also the inspiration for Norman Bates in the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho and Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
* Gary Ridgway, who like Gumb only murdered women and dumped his victims bodies' in rivers, often with objects inserted inside their bodies.
* Ted Bundy, who killed dozens of women in the 1970s, often luring victims by pretending he was injured with a cast on his arm, a technique Gumb used to lure Catherine Martin into his van. Similar to Lecter, Bundy also offered to help investigators find other serial murderers by "giving insights" into their psychology while he was in death row, specifically about the Green River Killer.
* Gary M. Heidnik, who held women captive in a deep hole in his basement.
* Edmund Kemper, a man who murdered women and had sex with his victims.
Film adaptation
Main article: The Silence of the Lambs (film)
Following the 1986 adaptation of Red Dragon (filmed as Manhunter), The Silence of the Lambs was adapted by Jonathan Demme in 1991. The Silence of the Lambs became the third film in Oscar history to win the five most prestigious Academy Awards - Actor in a leading role, Actress in a leading role, Director, Motion Picture and Screenplay. It stars Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling and Ted Levine as the serial killer Buffalo Bill. It continues to be listed among the best movies ever made to this day.
Literary significance
The novel was a great success and Craig Brown of the Mail on Sunday wrote, "No thriller writer is better attuned than Thomas Harris to the rhythms of suspense. No horror writer is more adept at making the stomach churn", The Independent wrote "Utterly gripping" and Amazon wrote "...driving suspense, compelling characters,...a well-executed thriller..." Children's novelist Roald Dahl also greatly enjoyed the novel, describing it as "subtle, horrific and splendid, the best book I have read in a long time."
Awards and nominations
* The novel won the 1988 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel.
* It was nominated for the 1989 World Fantasy Award.
The Scarlet Letter (1850) is a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, considered to be his masterpiece and most famous work. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who gives birth after committing adultery and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.
Plot summary
The novel takes place during the summer in 17th-century Boston, Massachusetts in a Puritan village. A young woman, named Hester Prynne, has been led from the town prison with her infant daughter in her arms and on the breast of her gown "a rag of scarlet cloth" that "assumed the shape of a letter." It was the uppercase letter "A". The Scarlet Letter "A" represents the act of adultery that she has committed and it is to be a symbol of her sin—a badge of shame—for all to see. A man, who was elderly and a stranger to the town, enters the crowd and asks another onlooker what's happening. He responds by explaining that Hester is being punished for adultery. Hester's husband, who is much older than she, and whose real name is unknown, has sent her ahead to America whilst settling affairs in Europe. However, her husband does not arrive in Boston, and the consensus is that he has been lost at sea. It is apparent that, while waiting for her husband, Hester has had an affair, leading to the birth of her daughter. She will not reveal her lover's identity, however, and the scarlet letter, along with her subsequent public shaming, is the punishment for her sin and secrecy. On this day Hester is led to the town scaffold and harangued by the town fathers, but she again refuses to identify her child's father.
The elderly onlooker is Hester's missing husband, who is now practicing medicine and calling himself Roger Chillingworth. He settles in Boston, intent on revenge. He reveals his true identity to no one but Hester, whom he has sworn to secrecy. Several years pass. Hester supports herself by working as a seamstress, and her daughter Pearl grows into a willful, impish child—in Hawthorne's work, Pearl is more of a symbol than an actual character—and is said to be the scarlet letter come to life as both Hester's love and her punishment. Shunned by the community, they live in a small cottage on the outskirts of Boston. Community officials attempt to take Pearl away from Hester, but with the help of Arthur Dimmesdale, an eloquent minister, the mother and daughter manage to stay together. Dimmesdale, however, appears to be wasting away and suffers from mysterious heart trouble, seemingly caused by psychological distress. Chillingworth attaches himself to the ailing minister and eventually moves in with him so that he can provide his patient with round-the-clock care. Chillingworth also suspects that there may be a connection between the minister's torments and Hester's secret, and he begins to test Dimmesdale to see what he can learn. One afternoon, while the minister sleeps, Chillingworth discovers something undescribed to the reader, supposedly an "A" burned into Dimmesdale's chest, which convinces him that his suspicions are correct.
The Scarlet Letter. Painting by T. H. Matteson. This 1860 oil-on-canvas may have been made with Hawthorne's advice.
Dimmesdale's psychological anguish deepens, and he invents new tortures for himself. In the meantime, Hester's charitable deeds and quiet humility have earned her a reprieve from the scorn of the community. One night, when Pearl is about seven years old, she and her mother are returning home from a visit to the deathbed of John Winthrop when they encounter Dimmesdale atop the town scaffold, trying to punish himself for his sins. Hester and Pearl join him, and the three link hands. Dimmesdale refuses Pearl's request that he acknowledge her publicly the next day, and a meteor marks a dull red "A" in the night sky. It is interpreted by the townsfolk to mean Angel, as a prominent figure in the community had died that night, but Dimmesdale sees it as meaning adultery. Hester can see that the minister's condition is worsening, and she resolves to intervene. She goes to Chillingworth and asks him to stop adding to Dimmesdale's self-torment. Chillingworth refuses. She suggests that she may reveal his true identity to Dimmesdale.
Later in the story, while walking through the forest, the sun would not shine on Hester, although Pearl could bask in it. They then encounter Dimmesdale, as he is taking a walk in the woods that day. Hester informs Dimmesdale of the true identity of Chillingworth and the former lovers decide to flee to Europe, where they can live with Pearl as a family. They will take a ship sailing from Boston in four days. Both feel a sense of release, and Hester removes her scarlet letter and lets down her hair. The sun immediately breaks through the clouds and trees to illuminate her release and joy. Pearl, playing nearby, does not recognize her mother without the letter. She is unnerved and expels a shriek until her mother points out the letter on the ground. Hester beckons Pearl to come to her, but Pearl will not go to her mother until Hester buttons the letter back onto her dress. Pearl then goes to her mother. Dimmesdale gives Pearl a kiss on the forehead, which Pearl immediately tries to wash off in the brook, because he again refuses to make known publicly their relationship. However, he too clearly feels a release from the pretense of his former life, and the laws and sins he has lived with.
The day before the ship is to sail, the townspeople gather for a holiday put on in honor of an election and Dimmesdale preaches his most eloquent sermon ever. Meanwhile, Hester has learned that Chillingworth knows of their plan and has booked passage on the same ship. Dimmesdale, leaving the church after his sermon, sees Hester and Pearl standing before the town scaffold. He impulsively mounts the scaffold with his lover and his daughter, and confesses publicly, exposing the mark supposedly seared into the flesh of his chest. He falls dead just after Pearl kisses him.
Frustrated in his revenge, Chillingworth dies a year later. Hester and Pearl leave Boston, and no one knows what has happened to them. Many years later, Hester returns alone, still wearing the scarlet letter, to live in her old cottage and resumes her charitable work. She receives occasional letters from Pearl, who was rumored to have married a European aristocrat and established a family of her own. Pearl also inherits all of Chillingworth's money even though he knows she is not his daughter. There is a sense of liberation in her and the townspeople, especially the women, who had finally begun to forgive Hester of her tragic indiscretion. When Hester dies, she is buried in "a new grave near an old and sunken one, in that burial ground beside which King's Chapel has since been built. It was near that old and sunken grave, yet with a space between, as if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle. Yet one tombstone served for both." The tombstone was decorated with a letter "A", for Hester and Dimmesdale.
Major themes
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Sin
The experience of Hester and Dimmesdale recalls the story of Adam and Eve because, in both cases, sin results in expulsion and suffering. But it also results in knowledge—specifically, in knowledge of what it means to be human. For Hester, the scarlet letter functions as "her passport into regions where other women dared not tread", leading her to "speculate" about her society and herself more "boldly" than anyone else in New England.
As for Dimmesdale, the "cheating minister" of his sin gives him "sympathies so intimate with the sinful brotherhood of mankind, so that his chest vibrate[s] in unison with theirs." His eloquent and powerful sermons derive from this sense of empathy. The narrative of the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is quite in keeping with the oldest and most fully authorized principles in Christian thought. His "Fall" is a descent from apparent grace to his own damnation; he appears to begin in purity. He ends in corruption. The subtlety is that the minister is his own deceiver, convincing himself at every stage of his spiritual pilgrimage that he is saved.
The rosebush, its beauty a striking contrast to all that surrounds it—as later the beautifully embroidered scarlet A will be–is held out in part as an invitation to find "some sweet moral blossom" in the ensuing, tragic tale and in part as an image that "the deep heart of nature" (perhaps God) may look more kindly on the errant Hester and her child than her Puritan neighbors do. Throughout the work, the nature images contrast with the stark darkness of the Puritans and their systems.
Chillingworth's misshapen body reflects (or symbolizes) the anger in his soul, which builds as the novel progresses, similar to the way Dimmesdale's illness reveals his inner turmoil. The outward man reflects the condition of the heart.
Although Pearl is a complex character, her primary function within the novel is as a symbol. Pearl herself is the embodiment of the scarlet letter, and Hester rightly clothes her in a beautiful dress of scarlet, embroidered with gold thread, just like the scarlet letter upon Hester's bosom. Parallels can be drawn between Pearl and the character Beatrice in Rappaccini's Daughter. Both are studies in the same direction, though from different standpoints. Beatrice is nourished upon poisonous plants, until she herself becomes poisonous. Pearl, in the mysterious prenatal world, imbibes the poison of her parents' guilt.
Past and present
The clashing of past and present is explored in various ways. For example, the character of the old General, whose heroic qualities include a distinguished name, perseverance, integrity, compassion, and moral inner strength, is said to be "the soul and spirit of New England hardihood". Now put out to pasture, he sometimes presides over the Custom House run by corrupt public servants, who skip work to sleep, allow or overlook smuggling, and are supervised by an inspector with "no power of thought, nor depth of feeling, no troublesome sensibilities", who is honest enough but without a spiritual compass.
Hawthorne himself had ambivalent feelings about the role of his ancestors in his life. In his autobiographical sketch, Hawthorne described his ancestors as "dim and dusky", "grave, bearded, sable-cloaked, and steel crowned", "bitter persecutors" whose "better deeds" would be diminished by their bad ones. There can be little doubt of Hawthorne's disdain for the stern morality and rigidity of the Puritans, and he imagined his predecessors' disdainful view of him: unsuccessful in their eyes, worthless and disgraceful. "A writer of story books!" But even as he disagrees with his ancestors' viewpoint, he also feels an instinctual connection to them and, more importantly, a "sense of place" in Salem. Their blood remains in his veins, but their intolerance and lack of humanity becomes the subject of his novel.
Publication history
Hawthorne originally planned The Scarlet Letter to be a shorter novelette which was part of a collection to be named Old Time Legends. His publisher, James Thomas Fields, convinced him to expand the novelette to a full-length novel. Hawthorne's wife Sophia later disputed that Fields had a larger role than this, complaining that "he has made the absurd boast that he was the sole cause of the Scarlet Letter being published!" She noted that her husband's friend Edwin Percy Whipple, a critic, approached Fields to consider its publication.
The Scarlet Letter was published as a novel in the spring of 1850 by Ticknor & Fields, beginning Hawthorne's most lucrative period. When he delivered the final pages to Fields in February 1850, Hawthorne said that "some portions of the book are powerfully written" but doubted it would be popular. In fact, the book was an instant best-seller though, over fourteen years, it brought its author only $1,500. Its initial publication brought wide protest from natives of Salem, who did not approve of how Hawthorne had depicted them in his introduction "The Custom-House". A 2,500-copy second edition of The Scarlet Letter included a preface by Hawthorne dated March 30, 1850, that he had decided to reprint his introduction "without the change of a word... The only remarkable features of the sketch are its frank and genuine good-humor... As to enmity, or ill-feeling of any kind, personal or political, he utterly disclaims such motives".
The Scarlet Letter was also one of the first mass-produced books in America. Into the mid-nineteenth century, bookbinders of home-grown literature typically hand-made their books and sold them in small quantities. The first mechanized printing of The Scarlet Letter, 2,500 volumes, sold out within ten days, and was widely read and discussed to an extent not much experienced in the young country up until that time. Copies of the first edition are often sought by collectors as rare books, and may fetch up to around $6,000 USD.
Critical response
On its publication, critic Evert Augustus Duyckinck, a friend of Hawthorne's, said he preferred the author's Washington Irving-like tales. Another friend, critic Edwin Percy Whipple, objected to the novel's "morbid intensity" with dense psychological details, writing that the book "is therefore apt to become, like Hawthorne, too painfully anatomical in his exhibition of them". Orestes Brownson complained that Hawthorne did not understand Christianity, confession, and remorse. A review in the Church Review and Ecclesiastical Register concluded the author "perpetrates bad morals."
On the other hand, 20th century writer D. H. Lawrence said that there could be no more perfect work of the American imagination than The Scarlet Letter. Henry James once said of the novel, "It is beautiful, admirable, extraordinary; it has in the highest degree that merit which I have spoken of as the mark of Hawthorne's best things--an indefinable purity and lightness of conception...One can often return to it; it supports familiarity and has the inexhaustible charm and mystery of great works of art."
The book's immediate and lasting success are due to the way it addresses spiritual and moral issues from a uniquely American standpoint.[citation needed] In 1850, adultery was an extremely risqué subject, but because Hawthorne had the support of the New England literary establishment, it passed easily into the realm of appropriate reading. It has been said that this work represents the height of Hawthorne's literary genius; dense with terse descriptions. It remains relevant for its philosophical and psychological depth, and continues to be read as a classic tale on a universal theme.
Allusions
* Anne Hutchinson, mentioned in Chapter 1, The Prison Door, was a religious dissenter (1591–1643). In the 1630s she was excommunicated by the Puritans and exiled from Boston and moved to Rhode Island.
* Martin Luther (1483–1545) was a leader of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.
* Sir Thomas Overbury and Dr. Forman were the subjects of an adultery scandal in 1615 in England. Dr. Forman was charged with trying to poison his adulterous wife and her lover. Overbury was a friend of the lover and was perhaps poisoned.
* John Winthrop (1588–1649), first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
* King's Chapel Burying Ground in the final paragraph exists; the Elizabeth Pain gravestone is traditionally considered an inspiration for the protagonists' grave.
Plot summary
The novel takes place during the summer in 17th-century Boston, Massachusetts in a Puritan village. A young woman, named Hester Prynne, has been led from the town prison with her infant daughter in her arms and on the breast of her gown "a rag of scarlet cloth" that "assumed the shape of a letter." It was the uppercase letter "A". The Scarlet Letter "A" represents the act of adultery that she has committed and it is to be a symbol of her sin—a badge of shame—for all to see. A man, who was elderly and a stranger to the town, enters the crowd and asks another onlooker what's happening. He responds by explaining that Hester is being punished for adultery. Hester's husband, who is much older than she, and whose real name is unknown, has sent her ahead to America whilst settling affairs in Europe. However, her husband does not arrive in Boston, and the consensus is that he has been lost at sea. It is apparent that, while waiting for her husband, Hester has had an affair, leading to the birth of her daughter. She will not reveal her lover's identity, however, and the scarlet letter, along with her subsequent public shaming, is the punishment for her sin and secrecy. On this day Hester is led to the town scaffold and harangued by the town fathers, but she again refuses to identify her child's father.
The elderly onlooker is Hester's missing husband, who is now practicing medicine and calling himself Roger Chillingworth. He settles in Boston, intent on revenge. He reveals his true identity to no one but Hester, whom he has sworn to secrecy. Several years pass. Hester supports herself by working as a seamstress, and her daughter Pearl grows into a willful, impish child—in Hawthorne's work, Pearl is more of a symbol than an actual character—and is said to be the scarlet letter come to life as both Hester's love and her punishment. Shunned by the community, they live in a small cottage on the outskirts of Boston. Community officials attempt to take Pearl away from Hester, but with the help of Arthur Dimmesdale, an eloquent minister, the mother and daughter manage to stay together. Dimmesdale, however, appears to be wasting away and suffers from mysterious heart trouble, seemingly caused by psychological distress. Chillingworth attaches himself to the ailing minister and eventually moves in with him so that he can provide his patient with round-the-clock care. Chillingworth also suspects that there may be a connection between the minister's torments and Hester's secret, and he begins to test Dimmesdale to see what he can learn. One afternoon, while the minister sleeps, Chillingworth discovers something undescribed to the reader, supposedly an "A" burned into Dimmesdale's chest, which convinces him that his suspicions are correct.
The Scarlet Letter. Painting by T. H. Matteson. This 1860 oil-on-canvas may have been made with Hawthorne's advice.
Dimmesdale's psychological anguish deepens, and he invents new tortures for himself. In the meantime, Hester's charitable deeds and quiet humility have earned her a reprieve from the scorn of the community. One night, when Pearl is about seven years old, she and her mother are returning home from a visit to the deathbed of John Winthrop when they encounter Dimmesdale atop the town scaffold, trying to punish himself for his sins. Hester and Pearl join him, and the three link hands. Dimmesdale refuses Pearl's request that he acknowledge her publicly the next day, and a meteor marks a dull red "A" in the night sky. It is interpreted by the townsfolk to mean Angel, as a prominent figure in the community had died that night, but Dimmesdale sees it as meaning adultery. Hester can see that the minister's condition is worsening, and she resolves to intervene. She goes to Chillingworth and asks him to stop adding to Dimmesdale's self-torment. Chillingworth refuses. She suggests that she may reveal his true identity to Dimmesdale.
Later in the story, while walking through the forest, the sun would not shine on Hester, although Pearl could bask in it. They then encounter Dimmesdale, as he is taking a walk in the woods that day. Hester informs Dimmesdale of the true identity of Chillingworth and the former lovers decide to flee to Europe, where they can live with Pearl as a family. They will take a ship sailing from Boston in four days. Both feel a sense of release, and Hester removes her scarlet letter and lets down her hair. The sun immediately breaks through the clouds and trees to illuminate her release and joy. Pearl, playing nearby, does not recognize her mother without the letter. She is unnerved and expels a shriek until her mother points out the letter on the ground. Hester beckons Pearl to come to her, but Pearl will not go to her mother until Hester buttons the letter back onto her dress. Pearl then goes to her mother. Dimmesdale gives Pearl a kiss on the forehead, which Pearl immediately tries to wash off in the brook, because he again refuses to make known publicly their relationship. However, he too clearly feels a release from the pretense of his former life, and the laws and sins he has lived with.
The day before the ship is to sail, the townspeople gather for a holiday put on in honor of an election and Dimmesdale preaches his most eloquent sermon ever. Meanwhile, Hester has learned that Chillingworth knows of their plan and has booked passage on the same ship. Dimmesdale, leaving the church after his sermon, sees Hester and Pearl standing before the town scaffold. He impulsively mounts the scaffold with his lover and his daughter, and confesses publicly, exposing the mark supposedly seared into the flesh of his chest. He falls dead just after Pearl kisses him.
Frustrated in his revenge, Chillingworth dies a year later. Hester and Pearl leave Boston, and no one knows what has happened to them. Many years later, Hester returns alone, still wearing the scarlet letter, to live in her old cottage and resumes her charitable work. She receives occasional letters from Pearl, who was rumored to have married a European aristocrat and established a family of her own. Pearl also inherits all of Chillingworth's money even though he knows she is not his daughter. There is a sense of liberation in her and the townspeople, especially the women, who had finally begun to forgive Hester of her tragic indiscretion. When Hester dies, she is buried in "a new grave near an old and sunken one, in that burial ground beside which King's Chapel has since been built. It was near that old and sunken grave, yet with a space between, as if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle. Yet one tombstone served for both." The tombstone was decorated with a letter "A", for Hester and Dimmesdale.
Major themes
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Sin
The experience of Hester and Dimmesdale recalls the story of Adam and Eve because, in both cases, sin results in expulsion and suffering. But it also results in knowledge—specifically, in knowledge of what it means to be human. For Hester, the scarlet letter functions as "her passport into regions where other women dared not tread", leading her to "speculate" about her society and herself more "boldly" than anyone else in New England.
As for Dimmesdale, the "cheating minister" of his sin gives him "sympathies so intimate with the sinful brotherhood of mankind, so that his chest vibrate[s] in unison with theirs." His eloquent and powerful sermons derive from this sense of empathy. The narrative of the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is quite in keeping with the oldest and most fully authorized principles in Christian thought. His "Fall" is a descent from apparent grace to his own damnation; he appears to begin in purity. He ends in corruption. The subtlety is that the minister is his own deceiver, convincing himself at every stage of his spiritual pilgrimage that he is saved.
The rosebush, its beauty a striking contrast to all that surrounds it—as later the beautifully embroidered scarlet A will be–is held out in part as an invitation to find "some sweet moral blossom" in the ensuing, tragic tale and in part as an image that "the deep heart of nature" (perhaps God) may look more kindly on the errant Hester and her child than her Puritan neighbors do. Throughout the work, the nature images contrast with the stark darkness of the Puritans and their systems.
Chillingworth's misshapen body reflects (or symbolizes) the anger in his soul, which builds as the novel progresses, similar to the way Dimmesdale's illness reveals his inner turmoil. The outward man reflects the condition of the heart.
Although Pearl is a complex character, her primary function within the novel is as a symbol. Pearl herself is the embodiment of the scarlet letter, and Hester rightly clothes her in a beautiful dress of scarlet, embroidered with gold thread, just like the scarlet letter upon Hester's bosom. Parallels can be drawn between Pearl and the character Beatrice in Rappaccini's Daughter. Both are studies in the same direction, though from different standpoints. Beatrice is nourished upon poisonous plants, until she herself becomes poisonous. Pearl, in the mysterious prenatal world, imbibes the poison of her parents' guilt.
Past and present
The clashing of past and present is explored in various ways. For example, the character of the old General, whose heroic qualities include a distinguished name, perseverance, integrity, compassion, and moral inner strength, is said to be "the soul and spirit of New England hardihood". Now put out to pasture, he sometimes presides over the Custom House run by corrupt public servants, who skip work to sleep, allow or overlook smuggling, and are supervised by an inspector with "no power of thought, nor depth of feeling, no troublesome sensibilities", who is honest enough but without a spiritual compass.
Hawthorne himself had ambivalent feelings about the role of his ancestors in his life. In his autobiographical sketch, Hawthorne described his ancestors as "dim and dusky", "grave, bearded, sable-cloaked, and steel crowned", "bitter persecutors" whose "better deeds" would be diminished by their bad ones. There can be little doubt of Hawthorne's disdain for the stern morality and rigidity of the Puritans, and he imagined his predecessors' disdainful view of him: unsuccessful in their eyes, worthless and disgraceful. "A writer of story books!" But even as he disagrees with his ancestors' viewpoint, he also feels an instinctual connection to them and, more importantly, a "sense of place" in Salem. Their blood remains in his veins, but their intolerance and lack of humanity becomes the subject of his novel.
Publication history
Hawthorne originally planned The Scarlet Letter to be a shorter novelette which was part of a collection to be named Old Time Legends. His publisher, James Thomas Fields, convinced him to expand the novelette to a full-length novel. Hawthorne's wife Sophia later disputed that Fields had a larger role than this, complaining that "he has made the absurd boast that he was the sole cause of the Scarlet Letter being published!" She noted that her husband's friend Edwin Percy Whipple, a critic, approached Fields to consider its publication.
The Scarlet Letter was published as a novel in the spring of 1850 by Ticknor & Fields, beginning Hawthorne's most lucrative period. When he delivered the final pages to Fields in February 1850, Hawthorne said that "some portions of the book are powerfully written" but doubted it would be popular. In fact, the book was an instant best-seller though, over fourteen years, it brought its author only $1,500. Its initial publication brought wide protest from natives of Salem, who did not approve of how Hawthorne had depicted them in his introduction "The Custom-House". A 2,500-copy second edition of The Scarlet Letter included a preface by Hawthorne dated March 30, 1850, that he had decided to reprint his introduction "without the change of a word... The only remarkable features of the sketch are its frank and genuine good-humor... As to enmity, or ill-feeling of any kind, personal or political, he utterly disclaims such motives".
The Scarlet Letter was also one of the first mass-produced books in America. Into the mid-nineteenth century, bookbinders of home-grown literature typically hand-made their books and sold them in small quantities. The first mechanized printing of The Scarlet Letter, 2,500 volumes, sold out within ten days, and was widely read and discussed to an extent not much experienced in the young country up until that time. Copies of the first edition are often sought by collectors as rare books, and may fetch up to around $6,000 USD.
Critical response
On its publication, critic Evert Augustus Duyckinck, a friend of Hawthorne's, said he preferred the author's Washington Irving-like tales. Another friend, critic Edwin Percy Whipple, objected to the novel's "morbid intensity" with dense psychological details, writing that the book "is therefore apt to become, like Hawthorne, too painfully anatomical in his exhibition of them". Orestes Brownson complained that Hawthorne did not understand Christianity, confession, and remorse. A review in the Church Review and Ecclesiastical Register concluded the author "perpetrates bad morals."
On the other hand, 20th century writer D. H. Lawrence said that there could be no more perfect work of the American imagination than The Scarlet Letter. Henry James once said of the novel, "It is beautiful, admirable, extraordinary; it has in the highest degree that merit which I have spoken of as the mark of Hawthorne's best things--an indefinable purity and lightness of conception...One can often return to it; it supports familiarity and has the inexhaustible charm and mystery of great works of art."
The book's immediate and lasting success are due to the way it addresses spiritual and moral issues from a uniquely American standpoint.[citation needed] In 1850, adultery was an extremely risqué subject, but because Hawthorne had the support of the New England literary establishment, it passed easily into the realm of appropriate reading. It has been said that this work represents the height of Hawthorne's literary genius; dense with terse descriptions. It remains relevant for its philosophical and psychological depth, and continues to be read as a classic tale on a universal theme.
Allusions
* Anne Hutchinson, mentioned in Chapter 1, The Prison Door, was a religious dissenter (1591–1643). In the 1630s she was excommunicated by the Puritans and exiled from Boston and moved to Rhode Island.
* Martin Luther (1483–1545) was a leader of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.
* Sir Thomas Overbury and Dr. Forman were the subjects of an adultery scandal in 1615 in England. Dr. Forman was charged with trying to poison his adulterous wife and her lover. Overbury was a friend of the lover and was perhaps poisoned.
* John Winthrop (1588–1649), first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
* King's Chapel Burying Ground in the final paragraph exists; the Elizabeth Pain gravestone is traditionally considered an inspiration for the protagonists' grave.
Washington Square is a short novel by Henry James. Originally published in 1880 as a serial in Cornhill Magazine and Harper's New Monthly Magazine, it is a structurally simple tragicomedy that recounts the conflict between a dull but sweet daughter and her brilliant, domineering father. The plot of the novel is based upon a true story told to James by his close friend, British actress Fanny Kemble. The book is often compared to Jane Austen's work for the clarity and grace of its prose and its intense focus on family relationships. James was hardly a great admirer of Jane Austen, so he might not have regarded the comparison as flattering. In fact, James was not a great fan of Washington Square itself. He tried to read it over for inclusion in the New York Edition of his fiction (1907–1909) but found that he couldn't, and the novel was not included. Other readers, though, have sufficiently enjoyed the book to make it one of the more popular works of the Jamesian canon.
Plot summary
Dr. Austin Sloper, a rich and intelligent widower, lives in Washington Square, New York with his only surviving child, Catherine, a sweet-natured woman who is a great disappointment to her father, being physically plain and, he believes, mentally dull. Sloper's beloved wife, along with a promising young son, died many years before. His silly busybody sister, the widowed Lavinia Penniman, is the only other member of the doctor's household.
One day, Catherine meets the charming Morris Townsend at a party and is swept off her feet. Morris courts Catherine, aided by Mrs. Penniman, who loves melodrama. Dr. Sloper strongly disapproves, believing him to be after Catherine's money alone. When Catherine and Morris announce their engagement, he checks into Morris's background and finds him to be penniless and parasitic. The doctor forbids his daughter to marry Townsend, and the loyal Catherine cannot bring herself to choose between her father and her fiancé.
Dr. Sloper understands Catherine's strait and pities her a little, but also finds an urbane entertainment in the situation. In an effort to resolve the matter, he announces that he will not leave any money to Catherine if she marries Morris; he then takes her on a twelve month grand tour of Europe. During their months abroad, he mentions Catherine's engagement only twice; once while they are alone together in the Alps, and again on the eve of their return voyage. On both occasions, Catherine holds firm in her desire to marry. After she refuses for a second time to give Morris up, Sloper sarcastically compares her to a sheep fattened up for slaughter. With this, he finally goes too far: Catherine recognises his contempt, withdraws from him, and prepares to bestow all her love and loyalty on Morris.
Upon her return, however, Morris breaks off the relationship when Catherine convinces him that her father will never relent. Catherine, devastated, eventually recovers her equanimity but is never able to forget the injury. Many years pass; Catherine refuses two respectable offers of marriage and grows into a middle aged spinster. Dr. Sloper finally dies and leaves her a sharply reduced income in his will out of fear that Townsend will reappear. In fact, Morris – now fat, balding, cold-eyed, but still somewhat attractive – does eventually pay a call on Catherine, hoping to reconcile; but she calmly rebuffs his overtures. In the last sentence, James tells us that "Catherine,... picking up her morsel of fancy-work, had seated herself with it again — for life, as it were."
Characters
The four principal characters are Catherine, Dr. Sloper, Mrs. Penniman, and Morris Townsend. Dr. Sloper's sister, Mrs. Almond, and Townsend's sister, Mrs. Montgomery, are significant but secondary.
Catherine Sloper, often referred to by the narrator as "poor Catherine", is Dr. Sloper's only surviving child; her brother died at the age of three, and her mother succumbed to complications of childbirth a week after Catherine was born. She is sweet-natured and honest; however, she is also shy, plain, and not considered 'clever'. This makes her a great disappointment to her father.
Dr. Austin Sloper, a man in his early fifties, has succeeded brilliantly in his profession. He has never recovered from the death of his wife, a beautiful and vivacious woman who died shortly after Catherine's birth. Dr. Sloper is clever, experienced, perceptive, satirical, and he is almost always certain he is right. He often speaks ironically to Catherine, who has no way to retaliate; however, she loves him anyway. She is also afraid of him, and defying his disapproval of Morris is a fearful step.
Lavinia Penniman, Sloper's childless, long-widowed sister, provides comic relief derived from her unrealistic romantic scheming, wild hyperbole, and duplicitousness. She takes a keen vicarious interest in Catherine's courtship, and later becomes infatuated with Morris as a tyrannical son, whose love affairs are of the greatest interest. She manipulates both Catherine and Morris, trying to shape their relationship into a romantic melodrama in which she plays a leading role; almost invariably, however, she makes matters worse.
Morris Townsend, a tall, handsome man of about thirty, has squandered a small inheritance travelling the world and now lives with his sister. He is a typical fortune-hunter, and Dr. Sloper immediately suspects his artificial nature. James also gives Townsend some intelligence and grace, however; as a result, Catherine is unable to resist his attentions. James describes Townsend as a "statue," an "apparition," and "a knight in a poem."
Mrs. Almond, Sloper's other sister, is sensible and clever, and has a large, blooming family. Sloper frequently confides in her about Catherine's entanglement with Morris, and his sarcastic view of the situation contrasts with hers, which is more sympathetic.
Marian Almond Mrs Almond's daughter, is an important contrast to Catherine. Marian is the conventional, flirtatious and confident young woman that Catherine isn't, who also marries "punctually".
Mrs. Montgomery is a widow living in genteel poverty with her five children. Dr. Sloper pays a call on her so they can discuss her brother, Morris. With some persuasion, he induces Mrs. Montgomery to admit that Morris takes money from her, returns very little, and makes her suffer.
Structure
The novel is told from a third-person omniscient point of view, although we don't know anything about the narrator. The narrator often offers his comments directly to the reader.
The novella begins at a distance from the characters, describing the background of the Sloper family. It then recounts in detail the story of Catherine's romance with Morris Townsend. When Morris jilts her, the focus shifts back to a long view. As James puts it: "Our story has hitherto moved with very short steps, but as it approaches its termination it must take a long stride." The final few chapters are taken once more in short steps, ending with the striking vignette of Catherine's refusal of Morris.
Major themes
The bitterest irony in the story is that Dr. Sloper, a brilliant and successful physician, is exactly right about Morris Townsend, and yet he shows cruelty to his defenseless and loving daughter. If the doctor had been incorrect in his appraisal of the worthless Townsend, he would only be a stock villain. As it is, the doctor's head works perfectly but his heart has grown cold after the death of his beautiful and gifted wife.
Catherine gradually grows throughout the story into right judgment of her situation. As James puts it simply but memorably: "From her point of view the great facts of her career were that Morris Townsend had trifled with her affection, and that her father had broken its spring. Nothing could ever alter these facts; they were always there, like her name, her age, her plain face. Nothing could ever undo the wrong or cure the pain that Morris had inflicted on her, and nothing could ever make her feel towards her father as she felt in her younger years." Catherine will never be brilliant, but she learns to be clear-sighted.
Literary significance & criticism
"Everybody likes Washington Square, even the denigrators of Henry James," wrote critic Donald Hall, and most other commentators have echoed the sentiment. Although James himself regarded the novel with near contempt, readers have enjoyed its linear narrative technique, its straightforward prose (far removed from the convoluted language of James's later career), and the sharply etched portraits of the four main characters. Even the rusty plot revolving around "the will" has charmed many critics with its old-fashioned simplicity.
Catherine's slow but unmistakable development into independence and wisdom is a notable success for James and has been much appreciated by critics and readers in general.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
Ruth and Augustus Goetz adapted the novel for a very successful play, The Heiress, originally performed on Broadway in 1947 with Wendy Hiller as Catherine and Basil Rathbone as Dr. Sloper, and revived a number of times since.
The play was adapted for film in 1949, and starred Olivia de Havilland as Catherine, Ralph Richardson as Dr. Sloper, and Montgomery Clift as Morris. William Wyler directed. Both play and movie hewed closely to the novel and cribbed many of the best lines directly from James' dialogue. However, the Goetz version does make a few changes to the story and to the character of Catherine, making her angry enough to refuse to see her father on his deathbed, and clever enough to devise a ruse to avenge herself on Morris.
Polish director Agnieszka Holland made another major movie version in 1997, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Albert Finney, and Ben Chaplin, with Maggie Smith as Mrs. Penniman. While this film also takes some liberties with the original text, it is in the main a more faithful adaptation.
Plot summary
Dr. Austin Sloper, a rich and intelligent widower, lives in Washington Square, New York with his only surviving child, Catherine, a sweet-natured woman who is a great disappointment to her father, being physically plain and, he believes, mentally dull. Sloper's beloved wife, along with a promising young son, died many years before. His silly busybody sister, the widowed Lavinia Penniman, is the only other member of the doctor's household.
One day, Catherine meets the charming Morris Townsend at a party and is swept off her feet. Morris courts Catherine, aided by Mrs. Penniman, who loves melodrama. Dr. Sloper strongly disapproves, believing him to be after Catherine's money alone. When Catherine and Morris announce their engagement, he checks into Morris's background and finds him to be penniless and parasitic. The doctor forbids his daughter to marry Townsend, and the loyal Catherine cannot bring herself to choose between her father and her fiancé.
Dr. Sloper understands Catherine's strait and pities her a little, but also finds an urbane entertainment in the situation. In an effort to resolve the matter, he announces that he will not leave any money to Catherine if she marries Morris; he then takes her on a twelve month grand tour of Europe. During their months abroad, he mentions Catherine's engagement only twice; once while they are alone together in the Alps, and again on the eve of their return voyage. On both occasions, Catherine holds firm in her desire to marry. After she refuses for a second time to give Morris up, Sloper sarcastically compares her to a sheep fattened up for slaughter. With this, he finally goes too far: Catherine recognises his contempt, withdraws from him, and prepares to bestow all her love and loyalty on Morris.
Upon her return, however, Morris breaks off the relationship when Catherine convinces him that her father will never relent. Catherine, devastated, eventually recovers her equanimity but is never able to forget the injury. Many years pass; Catherine refuses two respectable offers of marriage and grows into a middle aged spinster. Dr. Sloper finally dies and leaves her a sharply reduced income in his will out of fear that Townsend will reappear. In fact, Morris – now fat, balding, cold-eyed, but still somewhat attractive – does eventually pay a call on Catherine, hoping to reconcile; but she calmly rebuffs his overtures. In the last sentence, James tells us that "Catherine,... picking up her morsel of fancy-work, had seated herself with it again — for life, as it were."
Characters
The four principal characters are Catherine, Dr. Sloper, Mrs. Penniman, and Morris Townsend. Dr. Sloper's sister, Mrs. Almond, and Townsend's sister, Mrs. Montgomery, are significant but secondary.
Catherine Sloper, often referred to by the narrator as "poor Catherine", is Dr. Sloper's only surviving child; her brother died at the age of three, and her mother succumbed to complications of childbirth a week after Catherine was born. She is sweet-natured and honest; however, she is also shy, plain, and not considered 'clever'. This makes her a great disappointment to her father.
Dr. Austin Sloper, a man in his early fifties, has succeeded brilliantly in his profession. He has never recovered from the death of his wife, a beautiful and vivacious woman who died shortly after Catherine's birth. Dr. Sloper is clever, experienced, perceptive, satirical, and he is almost always certain he is right. He often speaks ironically to Catherine, who has no way to retaliate; however, she loves him anyway. She is also afraid of him, and defying his disapproval of Morris is a fearful step.
Lavinia Penniman, Sloper's childless, long-widowed sister, provides comic relief derived from her unrealistic romantic scheming, wild hyperbole, and duplicitousness. She takes a keen vicarious interest in Catherine's courtship, and later becomes infatuated with Morris as a tyrannical son, whose love affairs are of the greatest interest. She manipulates both Catherine and Morris, trying to shape their relationship into a romantic melodrama in which she plays a leading role; almost invariably, however, she makes matters worse.
Morris Townsend, a tall, handsome man of about thirty, has squandered a small inheritance travelling the world and now lives with his sister. He is a typical fortune-hunter, and Dr. Sloper immediately suspects his artificial nature. James also gives Townsend some intelligence and grace, however; as a result, Catherine is unable to resist his attentions. James describes Townsend as a "statue," an "apparition," and "a knight in a poem."
Mrs. Almond, Sloper's other sister, is sensible and clever, and has a large, blooming family. Sloper frequently confides in her about Catherine's entanglement with Morris, and his sarcastic view of the situation contrasts with hers, which is more sympathetic.
Marian Almond Mrs Almond's daughter, is an important contrast to Catherine. Marian is the conventional, flirtatious and confident young woman that Catherine isn't, who also marries "punctually".
Mrs. Montgomery is a widow living in genteel poverty with her five children. Dr. Sloper pays a call on her so they can discuss her brother, Morris. With some persuasion, he induces Mrs. Montgomery to admit that Morris takes money from her, returns very little, and makes her suffer.
Structure
The novel is told from a third-person omniscient point of view, although we don't know anything about the narrator. The narrator often offers his comments directly to the reader.
The novella begins at a distance from the characters, describing the background of the Sloper family. It then recounts in detail the story of Catherine's romance with Morris Townsend. When Morris jilts her, the focus shifts back to a long view. As James puts it: "Our story has hitherto moved with very short steps, but as it approaches its termination it must take a long stride." The final few chapters are taken once more in short steps, ending with the striking vignette of Catherine's refusal of Morris.
Major themes
The bitterest irony in the story is that Dr. Sloper, a brilliant and successful physician, is exactly right about Morris Townsend, and yet he shows cruelty to his defenseless and loving daughter. If the doctor had been incorrect in his appraisal of the worthless Townsend, he would only be a stock villain. As it is, the doctor's head works perfectly but his heart has grown cold after the death of his beautiful and gifted wife.
Catherine gradually grows throughout the story into right judgment of her situation. As James puts it simply but memorably: "From her point of view the great facts of her career were that Morris Townsend had trifled with her affection, and that her father had broken its spring. Nothing could ever alter these facts; they were always there, like her name, her age, her plain face. Nothing could ever undo the wrong or cure the pain that Morris had inflicted on her, and nothing could ever make her feel towards her father as she felt in her younger years." Catherine will never be brilliant, but she learns to be clear-sighted.
Literary significance & criticism
"Everybody likes Washington Square, even the denigrators of Henry James," wrote critic Donald Hall, and most other commentators have echoed the sentiment. Although James himself regarded the novel with near contempt, readers have enjoyed its linear narrative technique, its straightforward prose (far removed from the convoluted language of James's later career), and the sharply etched portraits of the four main characters. Even the rusty plot revolving around "the will" has charmed many critics with its old-fashioned simplicity.
Catherine's slow but unmistakable development into independence and wisdom is a notable success for James and has been much appreciated by critics and readers in general.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
Ruth and Augustus Goetz adapted the novel for a very successful play, The Heiress, originally performed on Broadway in 1947 with Wendy Hiller as Catherine and Basil Rathbone as Dr. Sloper, and revived a number of times since.
The play was adapted for film in 1949, and starred Olivia de Havilland as Catherine, Ralph Richardson as Dr. Sloper, and Montgomery Clift as Morris. William Wyler directed. Both play and movie hewed closely to the novel and cribbed many of the best lines directly from James' dialogue. However, the Goetz version does make a few changes to the story and to the character of Catherine, making her angry enough to refuse to see her father on his deathbed, and clever enough to devise a ruse to avenge herself on Morris.
Polish director Agnieszka Holland made another major movie version in 1997, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Albert Finney, and Ben Chaplin, with Maggie Smith as Mrs. Penniman. While this film also takes some liberties with the original text, it is in the main a more faithful adaptation.
三位中年女士围坐在墨西哥酒店的早餐桌旁，外套松散地披在她们的肩上，看得出来，
她们是费城郊区上层社会住宅区的那些女士们中的一部分。
“请给我一点咖啡，”埃伦·亚内尔小姐用西班牙语对招待说。她曾在国外旅游过，知
道如何与外国服务员打交道。
“嗯，咖啡要半热的。”说话的是维拉·朱利特夫人，她是三人中年纪最长的，正觉得
墨西哥的早餐冷嗖嗖的。1第三位女士路茜小姐没说话，只是看了看表，马瑞欧该到了。片
刻之后，招待把一壶半热的咖啡放到了她们的桌上。
“我想，路茜，”埃伦说，“让马瑞欧早点来，也许是个不错的主意。这样我们就能到
外面找个地方吃上一顿热点的：更好的早饭了。”
“马瑞欧已经替我们做了很多事了。”路茜说。当提到这个年轻西哥导游的名字，她的
脸就激动得微微发红。她感到激动和脸红是因为她的女伴提到他，而她正想像着他强壮甚至
有些粗野的墨西哥人的腿。昨天，她们的墨西哥导游划船送她们去雪契米科水上花园时，她
看到了那双腿。
在五十二年宁静的独身生活中，路茜·布朗小姐也许从未想到过一个男人的腿（当然更
不会在早餐桌旁）。这是到达墨西哥一个月以来的一个令人心烦意乱的变化。这类的变化也
许早就发生了，那时她生病的父亲刚刚去世，却又出入意料地留给她一笔遗产。而路茜小姐
自己直到在这里碰到马瑞欧那天才发现这种变化的存在。
那天一开始，她感到会是多事的一天。当在充满阳光的酒店卧房醒来时。路茜感到一种
渴求自由的感觉也苏醒了。这种感觉一直存在，隐隐地撼动她庄重的灵魂。吃早饭时它索绕
在摆放餐桌的院子里。餐桌上飘荡的，还有她的女伴喋喋不休的谈话（旅途的费用实际上是
路茜为她们负担的）。但无论是维拉对清晨的冷空气的抱怨还是埃伦对塔西克城势利的评价
都不能中断这种感觉。
对路茜小姐来说，生活中似乎只有费城，塔西克城褪色的粉红屋顶和阁楼呈羽毛形状的
教堂是一个不能实现的梦：一个玫瑰红的城市，几乎有时间那样古老……那天，当她看到那
枚戒指时也许就是她旅途中最快乐的一刻。
在树叶广场的一个银器店里，维拉和埃伦正在为一个银壶和店主讨价还价时，路茜发现
了那枚戒指。在她的眼里，它并不高雅，几乎可以说得上粗俗，招遥戒面是一颗硕大的但不
值钱的蓝宝石，戒托是银质的。但在戒指中似乎闪烁着一种神秘的光芒吸引着路茜。她把戒
指套在手指上，让它反射出上午的阳光。她觉得它使她母亲的定婚戒指都黯然失色，尽管那
订婚戒指的价值在这只宝石戒指的五十倍之上。路茜小姐感到一种莫名的兴奋。瞥了一眼维
拉和埃伦令人气闷的背影，她开始把戒指从手指上取下来。
但戒指在手指上纹丝不动，这时维拉和埃伦转过身来，看到了它，轻轻叫了起来：“路
茜，它真漂亮。”“简直像一枚订婚戒指。”
路茜小姐的脸又红了，“别犯傻，我只是试试，它对我来说太年轻了。戴上它我看上
去……”她继续想把它弄下来。墨西哥店主在旁边低声恭维着她。
“得了，”埃伦说，“买下它吧。”
“真是讨厌，不过看来我是弄不下来了，我想我得……”路茜小姐用远超过那蓝宝石戒
指价值的钱把它买下来。尽管如此，那笔钱对她仍是无足轻重的，这次旅行，经济方面的事
由埃伦负责，因为在这方面她很“在行”。因为戒指卡在路茜小姐手指上，她还想和店主侃
侃价，但路茜小姐说：“回酒店我会用肥皂和热水把它弄下来的。”不过她一直也没能把戒
指从手指上给弄下来。
在塔西克城，路茜小姐的精力好像特别充沛。晚上吃饭前维拉和埃伦都在房间里休息，
想把脚的酸痛减轻一点，而她决定再去一趟广场上的圣塔·普里斯卡教堂。第一次参观这个
教堂，和她的女伴在一起她总觉得不太自在，她想独自在冷清、灰暗、简陋的教堂里体会它
独特的气氛。那种气氛与路茜家乡的教堂的气氛是不同的。
穿过橡木门，路茜小姐步入教堂大厅，修饰着黄金叶花朵和天使像的圣坛在她面前隐约
闪现。一个年老的农妇，身着黑衣，手里的蜡烛照在圣女像上。一条狗跑进教堂，四处看了
看，又跑出去了。这些小小的场景给路茜小姐一种奇异的感受。它们带着天主教的和异国的
情调，似乎在召唤着她。一种她自己也说不清的冲动使她屈膝跪下，模仿着那个年老的农
妇，开始祈祷。她的蓝宝石戒指在灰暗的烛光中闪动着和这教堂一样奇异的光芒。
路茜小姐只跪下一小会儿，当站起来时，她感到右边有一个人。她转过头看见一个墨西
哥小伙子。他穿着一尘不染的白衣，跪在凡码外的地方，浓密的黑发在他虔诚的额头上反射
出点点微光。路茜小姐站起身时，他们的目光正好相遇。那只是短短一瞥，但他的脸给她留
下了一个鲜明的印象。路茜小姐看到他褐色的皮肤，奇特的双眼，还有一种深沉温和的耐
心。总之，简短的相遇让她感到已经看到了一些这个陌生城市的陌生的人们的内心。简短的
相遇使路茜小姐记住了那个墨西哥小伙子。当然她不会把这个告诉维拉和埃伦的。
路茜小姐离开教堂、心情愉快地向酒店走去。黄昏的阳光已越来越暗，当她穿过拥挤的
集市到通向酒店的街上时，已经是晚上了。街上没几个人，她的脚步声回响在石板路上，听
上去显得分外孤独，一个男人的影子摇摇晃晃地向她走来。这时街上除了他们没有第三个行
人，但路茜小姐并不害怕，只是提醒自己前面是个醉鬼，要离他远点。那个喝醉的人摇摇晃
晃地越走越近，路茜小姐有点想折回后面的集市，但她很快打消了这个念头，她是美国人，
是不会被伤害的。她继续向前走着。
但恐惧仍然还在。当她走到那男人面前，他盯着她，向她挥手，要钱。那是个满脸胡子
的流浪仅，满嘴酒气，说着她听不懂的西班牙语。路茜小姐是从他的手势和表情猜出他在乞
讨。但她对这些街头流浪汉没有什么同情心。她摇摇头，准备继续向前走。
一只肮脏的手拉住她的衣袖，难懂的西班牙语又响起来。她用劲甩开那只手。那个男人
眼里闪现出愤怒的神情，他恼火地举起手臂。
显然那个流浪汉并不想伤害她，但路茜小姐本能地向后一退，她的鞋根卡在路面上的石
板缝隙中，她摔倒了。她躺在那儿，站不起来，她的脚踝扭伤了。
流浪汉站在她旁边。这时路茜小姐感到了真正的恐惧。一种不由自主、忽然发生的恐惧
压倒了她。
忽然在街边的阴影中，另一个男人的身影出现了，一个整洁的穿白衣的男人。路茜小姐
看不到他的脸，但她知道是教堂里的那个小伙子。她看到他把那个流浪汉推开，然后要他
走。流浪汉回头看了看，摇摇晃晃地走开了。
路茜小姐感到一个人的脸离自己的脸很近，接着一只有力的手托住她的背，扶她起来。
她听不懂小伙子说的话，但他的语调很温和，充满关心。
“女士，”他说，看了看流浪汉离开的方向，“他已经走了。”这个墨西哥年轻人的牙
在月光下反射出洁白的光。他接着说：“我叫马瑞欧，从教堂那边过来。让我送你回酒店，
好吗？”
路茜小姐的脚踝很痛，马瑞欧一直把她送到酒店，再把她送回房间。她的情形在维拉和
埃伦之间引起了一阵慌乱。看到马瑞欧仍然关切地站在一旁，埃伦拿起她的提袋，问：“我
们该给他多少钱，路茜？”但路茜小姐不想这样做，她说：“不，钱对这个年轻人会是一种
侮辱。”
马瑞欧似乎听懂了她的话，他也说了几句，但路茜小姐却不怎么能听懂。最后马瑞欧拿
起她戴蓝宝石戒指的手，吻了吻，鞠躬，然后离开了房间。
那就是马瑞欧如何走入了这三位女士的生活，而且显然他并不想很快离开她们。第二天
早上，他来到酒店，找到了路茜小姐。
这次路茜小姐第一次正面看到他的脸。他并不是很英俊，他的睫毛很长，但眼睛靠得太
近了。厚厚的嘴唇上长着八字胡，但胡须稀疏，不大好看。只是他的手指有力而修长。总的
来说，这个小伙子给人某种热情和可信的感觉。
他解释自己是个大学生，想在假期挣点钱，所以希望能做女士们的导游。由于路茜小姐
的脚扭伤了，他建议替她们雇辆车，司机也由他兼任。而他索要的报酬却令人吃惊的少，而
且坚持不需要付更多。
第二天他租到一辆车，便宜的租金使即使精打细算的埃伦小姐也十分满意。于是马瑞欧
开始热情而认真地带着她们在各个景点之间游玩。
衣着整洁的马瑞欧的陪伴令路茜女士很高兴，其实三位女士都很高兴。他为她们订了不
少游览计划。一天，他带她们攀登玻卜卡贝特山，好几个小时之中，她们在世界上最美最神
秘的山峰前，激动不已。有时当马瑞欧和路酋小姐单独在一起的时候，马瑞欧总是把路茜小
姐的手握在掌中，轻轻地抚摸。
那是马瑞欧用他的方式，绕过语言的障碍告诉她，他非常高兴能和她一起分享这次美妙
的墨西哥之旅。被他有力的手握住，路茜小姐手指上的戒指又收紧了，但她并没有感到痛，
她所感受到的是另一种与疼痛完全不同的感觉。
在玻卜卡贝特山之行后，路茜小姐决定应该离开塔西克城，去墨西哥城了。
她让埃伦去告诉马瑞欧他的使命结束了，还让埃伦带去了额外的几百比索的酬劳。埃伦
转告了马瑞欧，但马瑞欧没有接受那笔钱，而是找到了路茜小姐。他告诉她，墨西哥城里有
不少人并不友好，他伸出他强壮的胳膊说他想继续照顾她们，而且为她们介绍墨西哥城里的
风光。他强壮的胳膊挥动着，似乎在拥抱着天空、太阳还有墨西哥的群山。他黑色的眼睛和
长长的睫毛，却拥抱着路茜小姐。
路茜小姐感到似乎有一种本能在促使着她同意了马瑞欧的要求。马瑞欧和她们一起来到
了墨西哥城。到达墨西哥城第二个星期，他们决定去游览墨西哥金字塔。
像往常一样，路茜小姐和马瑞欧坐在前排。他是个出色的司机，路茜小姐喜欢看他全神
贯注开车时的侧影，也喜欢听他不时地喃喃自语，但不大喜欢他用目光注视她的脸，然后向
下滑到她的胸前。
他的凝注让她有些不自在，她用英语对他说：“马瑞欧，你是美国入说的那种花花公
子。你肯定认识很多女孩。”
开始他似乎没听懂。沉默片刻，他说：“女孩，花花公子，你是说我吗？不。”他把手
伸进衣袋，拿出一张照片，“女士，这就是我的女孩……”路茜小姐拿过照片，发现是一个
比她还老的妇人。她头发花白，眼睛大而忧伤，岁月和疾病在她的脸上留下条条细纹。“是
你妈妈！”路茜小姐说：“给我讲讲她的事，好吗？”
马瑞欧尽量用她能听懂的词汇告诉她他妈妈的故事。她妈妈非常穷，一辈子住在一个叫
古德罗斯的小村子里，艰难地抚养着一群没有父亲的孩子，如同人间的圣女。路茜小姐从他
的话里听出他对她母亲几乎是一种崇拜的爱。
听到马瑞欧的话，路茜小姐决定在她的旅行结束前，她要向马瑞欧问到他母亲的地址，
然后寄一笔钱给她，让她能帮助马瑞欧上完大学。也许她的儿子会因为过分的自尊而难以说
服，但作为母亲，她会接受的。
“那是金字塔吗？”埃伦的声音打断了路茜小姐的思索。“嗯，它们比不上埃及的金字
塔。”埃伦继续说。
但路茜小姐被那两座太阳金字塔和月亮金字塔打动了。她凝视着幽暗、古老的金字塔，
心中感到一种奇特的兴奋感觉。这种感觉在塔西克城的教堂里她也同样碰到过。“这些石阶
我是爬不上去了，“埃伦泄气地说：“我太老了，天气也太热。”
维拉尽管没觉得热，但她也老了。她站在金字塔底，衣服披在肩上，手里拿着从不离手
的香烟，说：“你去吧，路茜，你还年轻，而且也好动。”
于是路茜和马瑞欧开始向上爬。
在马瑞欧的帮助下，她爬到了太阳金字塔的顶上。虽然陡峭的石阶令她累得喘不过气
来，但登上塔顶的感觉真是好极了。
塔顶只有他们两个人，他们坐在一起。一个是费城来的富有的小姐，一个是偏僻小村里
走出的小伙子，紧挨着坐在一起。他们看着巨大的平原，古老的村落和它们的庙字散落其
间，向下望去可以看到从庙字通向月亮金字塔的被称为死亡之途的路。马瑞欧开始给她讲祭
把仪式的故事。在过去，这种仪式每年都有一次。
路茜小姐半闭着眼睛，一边听着他的话一边想像着当时的情形：人群涌向他们脚下的平
原；巫师站在指定的某级石阶上；塔顶是一位衣服一尘不染的青年，那当然就是马瑞欧。
马瑞欧是村民们奉献的祭品，他将被奉献给神灵。她感到对他的怜悯，她伸出了她的手
——那支戴着无法摘下的戒指的左手，她的手找到了他的，被他温暖有力的手指轻轻地握
篆…路茜小姐几乎不知道马瑞欧什么时候抱住了她，他的头垂到她的胸前。直到她闻到他皮
肤的甜香味和头发间香波的气味，她才猛然清醒过来。她猛地跳起来，似乎从几个世纪的时
光中回到眼前，想起还有两个女伴在塔下等着，想起还有许多的石阶要下。
在返回墨西哥城的路上，路茜小姐决定自己和维拉坐在后面的坐位上，把埃伦换到前面
和马瑞欧坐在一起。
回到酒店时，路茜小姐说：“明天是星期天，马瑞欧，你最好休息一下，不用来陪我们
了。”
他开始反对这个建议。当路茜重复道：“不，明天不行，马瑞欧。“他脸上的表情就像
一个失望的孩子。但很快他的表情变了，他的眼睛挑战般地直视她的双眼。
回到房间，路茜小姐感到心猛烈地跳个不停。那眼神所代表的东西是她以往从不敢妄想
的东西。她明白，那是一种渴望的眼神。
由于某种原因，她不能理解，而她的心中也从未梦想过，马瑞欧在追求她。
他在热烈地追求她。晚上在上床之前，路茜小姐做了几件以前她从未做过的事。
她穿着睡衣长时间地站在卧室里的长镜前，真切地感到，自己是一个女人。
她没有看到自己有什么新的惊人的东西。但这只是她的外表没有将她内心将要发生的和
已经发生的惊人的变化表现出来而已。
她并不美丽，即使年轻的时候也不曾美丽过，而现在已人到中年了。她的头发快白了，
松散的搭在额前。她的眼睛仍然清澈，而且正充满了欢乐，但在它们周围却是岁月留给她的
阴影与皱纹。
在睡衣下面，她的胸依然挺实，但身材却已经不行了。事实上，无论她的面孔还是身
材，都没有什么地方能够吸引人了。而她却被人追求。她知道，一个墨西哥的英俊年轻人感
到了她身上某种吸引人的东西。
路茜小姐对很多事并非一无所知，她知道不少年轻人追求年老的女人而事实上希望最后
继承她们的财产。但马瑞欧除了拒绝任何额外的报酬以外，甚至不知道路茜小姐是她们三人
中最富有的一个。只有费城的一个律师和她家族的一些人知道她真正拥有多少财产。不，如
果马瑞欧是为了钱，他就该把眼光放到埃伦身上。埃伦掌握着她们的钱袋，而且在任何时候
都不让任何人知道她手里的钱实际上属于路茜。
面貌普通、衣着单调的路茜小姐身上没有任何地方显示出富有。她母亲的订婚戒指上有
一颗值钱的钻石，但也只有专业的珠宝商人才能看出来。而那个蓝宝石戒指也不值得任何人
为它花费精力与时间。如果她能把它从手指上弄下来，作为感谢，她会很高兴把这戒指送给
他。
不，墨西哥城里有上千的女人比她显得更富有，还有更多的女人年轻美丽，值得马瑞欧
为之倾倒，还有……猛然间，路茜小姐为这事的不合逻辑感到一丝恐惧。
也许是未婚女性的本能触动了她的神经，使她警惕到一种莫名的危险。
路茜小姐决心她必须了结这件事，她静静地躺在床上，作出了路茜小姐和维拉在长途车
站等候。她们都紧紧拥着自己的外衣，似乎很冷。维拉确实有点着凉，她也总是如此。而今
天虽然有春日的阳光在照耀，路茜小姐却也感觉到了阵阵的冷意。她的双眼，还有鼻子都是
红红的。
她们等的是埃伦，她落在后面是为了把酬劳付给马瑞欧，而去帕兹考罗的汽车20分钟
后启程。埃伦来了，她的鼻子也是红红的。
“你不能那样干，路茜，”她抱怨说，“那样太狠心了。”她把两张一百比索的钞票交
到路茜手里。“我觉得把这个给他时他就像要打人。她解释说，“而且他读到你的信时就像
孩子那样地哭起来。”
路茜小姐听了默不作声。在去帕兹考罗的整个路上她都几乎一言不发。
宁静的帕兹考罗湖旁的一家旅店的走廊上，三位女士围坐桌旁开始吃晚饭。从不愿安静
的埃伦在讨论着第二天的计划。路茜小姐却显然心不在焉。她的目光转向墨绿色的湖面，研
究着湖上一串串的小岛还有在湖面掠过的秃鹰，它们发出粗糙的叫声，贪婪的寻找着动物的
尸体。过了一会，她站起来说：“有一点冷了，我要回房间去了，晚安。”路茜小姐的房间
有个小阳台，可以从另一个角度看到湖面。
阳台下面就是沉人黑暗的湖面，晚归的渔夫们用模糊的声音交流着一天的收获，偶尔就
唱上一段当地的民歌。
路茜小姐静静地坐着，看着他们，心中想着马瑞欧。自打离开墨西哥城，她就在想念马
瑞欧，现在她为自己鲁莽的赶走马瑞欧而后悔不已。她应该自己和他说。她难过地猜测他会
怎样猜疑……这些想法深深地刺痛着她，她伤害了他……她的胡思乱想被打断了，因为她在
下面的渔夫中看到了一个雪白修长的身影。路茜目不转睛地盯着他，心开始狂跳起来。她扶
着栏杆，极力向前探，向黑暗中望去。的确，路茜看到一个熟悉的影子在那里敏捷、优雅地
闪动着。
但那不会是马瑞欧，他被留在数百英里外的墨西哥城了，而且路酋还特意吩咐埃伦不要
告诉他她们的去向。
穿白衣的人影从远处向她窗户所在的湖岸飘来。从湖岸上射出的一片灯光照在他的身
上，使人能够看清楚。那是马瑞欧。
她探下身去，心就像一只不知所措的鸟儿跳个不停。他就在她下面，他们之间只有十五
英尺。
“路茜小姐，我终于找到你了，”他用西班牙语说：“我知道，我会找到你的。”
“但，马瑞欧，你是怎么……？”“长途汽车公司告诉我你们到这里来了，我也买了一
张票，就来了。”
她看见他高兴地笑着，雪白的牙忽隐忽现。“路茜小姐，为什么你一声不响地就离开了
呢？甚至没有说一声再见。”她没有回答。
“但我现在来了，我仍然为你效劳。明天你和我到湖上去，好吗？在其她两个女士醒来
之前，就你和我。湖上有月亮，我们还能看见日出。”“好吧……”
“明早五点我来接你，我会弄条船。鸟儿们还没醒，我就会在这里等你了。”
“好吧……”“晚安，我的小姐。”
路茜小姐回到房间，当她换上衣服躺到床上，她感到自己的手在颤抖。
直到凌晨，她还没有平静下来，直到窗户下传来低低的口哨告诉她马瑞欧已经到了，她
感到自己仍在颤抖。
她飞快地穿上衣服，理理头发，披上件衣服，跑下楼去。旅店里很安静，没人看见她穿
过走廊，也没人看见她顺着斜坡来至“马瑞欧的船旁。
他抬起她的手，把它放到唇边，然后轻轻地把她扶上船。
她没有一点反对，就像神父将她引向每个人都要经历的那个神圣之地。
马瑞欧说得对，天上挂着月亮，是柠檬色的满月。不透光的湖面上反射出一缕缕的月光。
路酋小姐坐在船里，虽然很凉，却似乎完全没有注意到。她注视着马瑞欧，他站在船
尾，划着船向湖里深处划去。他把裤子挽起来，一直至“膝盖以上。月光下他的腿强壮，粗
野。他还唱着歌。
路茜小姐以前未曾想到他的嗓音如此优美。歌声听上去很甜，还带着一种说不出的忧
伤。马瑞欧注视着她，目光从她的脸向下移动，一直到她放在膝上的双手。手指上那枚便宜
的蓝宝石戒指在夜色中幽幽地反射着月光。
小船向多岛屿的湖心深处划去，路茜小姐已经忘记了其他的一切，包括她身处何时，何
地。闪烁的星辰和圆润的月亮她都已视而不见。她所感受到的只有一种深沉的宁静，似乎这
种几乎难以觉察的感觉要持续到时间的尽头。
她听到了马瑞欧的声音：“听，是鸟儿们在叫。”
她听到了这一群群岛屿中的乌鸣，但目光所及的地方却只能看到在天空中无声息盘旋的
秃鹰。
马瑞欧停下来，拿出他们的早饭。有牛肉，面包，黄油，还有奶酪，他还带了一瓶红酒。
他用一把大折叠刀把黄油抹在面包上，递给路茜小姐。她这时才感到真的是很饿。她吃
面包，喝着红酒。酒精进入到她的血液中，令她感到阵阵如少女般的快乐。无论马瑞欧说什
么她都会发笑，马瑞欧也在笑，他的目光也停留在她的身上。
他们吃着早饭，就像蜜月中的夫妇。太阳渐渐取代了月亮的位置，把金红色的光芒洒向
湖面。在几英里之内，她所能看到的只有秃鹰，还有就是远处飘来的阵阵歌声。
最后一片面包吃完了，酒也喝完了，马瑞欧又拿起桨，向湖心更深处划去。他不停地
划，再不说一句话。
当她一看到那个岛，路茜小姐就知道它是马瑞欧所选的那一个，它看上去人迹罕至，也
远离其他岛屿，岸边草长得很高，很密，就像岛的流苏。
他把船靠上去，草立刻将他们包围起来，就像进入了另一个小得多的世界，他们自己的
世界。他握住她的手，轻轻他说了两个字：“来吧。”
她跟着他如同一个听话的孩子。他找到一块干的地方，他为她铺上一件衣服，让她坐
下。然后他紧挨着她也坐下来，将她搂在怀中。她能看到他的脸，离她很近，还看见他黑色
的眼睛，似乎更近，还能感到他温暖的，带着酒味的呼吸。
她闭上眼，知道自从遇到马瑞欧那天起就注定会有的一刻就要到来。从教堂相遇的那一
天起，几乎每一件事都在暗示着这一刻终会到来。她能感到他的手轻轻抚摸着她的头发，她
的脸，还感到他的手握着她的手，握到了那枚蓝宝石戒指。
她感到他抚弄着那枚戒指，他的手指都流露出那种倾慕。整个过程看上去很复杂，却也
并不多么奇特。
他的手开始向上移动，他的手指移到她的喉咙，轻轻地停下来，她没有叫，更没有感到
恐惧。
他的双手开始用力地收紧，他的嘴唇向她的嘴唇压下去，他们深深地吻着，第一次也是
唯一的一次吻着。
马瑞欧扔开沾血的折刀。他讨厌看到血，为了拿到那个戒指他要砍下一根手指更让他觉
得恶心。
至于她手上那枚她母亲的定婚戒指他看也没看。那枚普通，便宜的蓝宝石戒指几个星期
以来使他对其他任何事物都熟视无睹了。
他把衣服盖在路茜小姐的尸体上。本来他想把她放到有草的水面下，但又觉得会飘浮出
去，让渔夫发现。
这个岛几年也不会有人来，而真的有人来的时候——他抬头看了看似乎永远都在盘旋的
秃鹰。
再没有回头看一眼，马瑞欧向小船走去，划向陆地。到岸边之后，他把小船翻过来，让
它顺水飘走。这样，它就会一直飘到湖的中心地带。
一个美国妇女和一个经验不足的船夫驾船进入湖中。他们途中落水，都被淹死了。警察
们不会在这个巨大的湖中搜寻他们的尸体的。
马瑞欧搭上一辆返回方向的运货车。明天，如果能搭上另一辆车，他也许就会在古德罗
斯村了。他想他的母亲肯定会喜欢那戒指的。
她们是费城郊区上层社会住宅区的那些女士们中的一部分。
“请给我一点咖啡，”埃伦·亚内尔小姐用西班牙语对招待说。她曾在国外旅游过，知
道如何与外国服务员打交道。
“嗯，咖啡要半热的。”说话的是维拉·朱利特夫人，她是三人中年纪最长的，正觉得
墨西哥的早餐冷嗖嗖的。1第三位女士路茜小姐没说话，只是看了看表，马瑞欧该到了。片
刻之后，招待把一壶半热的咖啡放到了她们的桌上。
“我想，路茜，”埃伦说，“让马瑞欧早点来，也许是个不错的主意。这样我们就能到
外面找个地方吃上一顿热点的：更好的早饭了。”
“马瑞欧已经替我们做了很多事了。”路茜说。当提到这个年轻西哥导游的名字，她的
脸就激动得微微发红。她感到激动和脸红是因为她的女伴提到他，而她正想像着他强壮甚至
有些粗野的墨西哥人的腿。昨天，她们的墨西哥导游划船送她们去雪契米科水上花园时，她
看到了那双腿。
在五十二年宁静的独身生活中，路茜·布朗小姐也许从未想到过一个男人的腿（当然更
不会在早餐桌旁）。这是到达墨西哥一个月以来的一个令人心烦意乱的变化。这类的变化也
许早就发生了，那时她生病的父亲刚刚去世，却又出入意料地留给她一笔遗产。而路茜小姐
自己直到在这里碰到马瑞欧那天才发现这种变化的存在。
那天一开始，她感到会是多事的一天。当在充满阳光的酒店卧房醒来时。路茜感到一种
渴求自由的感觉也苏醒了。这种感觉一直存在，隐隐地撼动她庄重的灵魂。吃早饭时它索绕
在摆放餐桌的院子里。餐桌上飘荡的，还有她的女伴喋喋不休的谈话（旅途的费用实际上是
路茜为她们负担的）。但无论是维拉对清晨的冷空气的抱怨还是埃伦对塔西克城势利的评价
都不能中断这种感觉。
对路茜小姐来说，生活中似乎只有费城，塔西克城褪色的粉红屋顶和阁楼呈羽毛形状的
教堂是一个不能实现的梦：一个玫瑰红的城市，几乎有时间那样古老……那天，当她看到那
枚戒指时也许就是她旅途中最快乐的一刻。
在树叶广场的一个银器店里，维拉和埃伦正在为一个银壶和店主讨价还价时，路茜发现
了那枚戒指。在她的眼里，它并不高雅，几乎可以说得上粗俗，招遥戒面是一颗硕大的但不
值钱的蓝宝石，戒托是银质的。但在戒指中似乎闪烁着一种神秘的光芒吸引着路茜。她把戒
指套在手指上，让它反射出上午的阳光。她觉得它使她母亲的定婚戒指都黯然失色，尽管那
订婚戒指的价值在这只宝石戒指的五十倍之上。路茜小姐感到一种莫名的兴奋。瞥了一眼维
拉和埃伦令人气闷的背影，她开始把戒指从手指上取下来。
但戒指在手指上纹丝不动，这时维拉和埃伦转过身来，看到了它，轻轻叫了起来：“路
茜，它真漂亮。”“简直像一枚订婚戒指。”
路茜小姐的脸又红了，“别犯傻，我只是试试，它对我来说太年轻了。戴上它我看上
去……”她继续想把它弄下来。墨西哥店主在旁边低声恭维着她。
“得了，”埃伦说，“买下它吧。”
“真是讨厌，不过看来我是弄不下来了，我想我得……”路茜小姐用远超过那蓝宝石戒
指价值的钱把它买下来。尽管如此，那笔钱对她仍是无足轻重的，这次旅行，经济方面的事
由埃伦负责，因为在这方面她很“在行”。因为戒指卡在路茜小姐手指上，她还想和店主侃
侃价，但路茜小姐说：“回酒店我会用肥皂和热水把它弄下来的。”不过她一直也没能把戒
指从手指上给弄下来。
在塔西克城，路茜小姐的精力好像特别充沛。晚上吃饭前维拉和埃伦都在房间里休息，
想把脚的酸痛减轻一点，而她决定再去一趟广场上的圣塔·普里斯卡教堂。第一次参观这个
教堂，和她的女伴在一起她总觉得不太自在，她想独自在冷清、灰暗、简陋的教堂里体会它
独特的气氛。那种气氛与路茜家乡的教堂的气氛是不同的。
穿过橡木门，路茜小姐步入教堂大厅，修饰着黄金叶花朵和天使像的圣坛在她面前隐约
闪现。一个年老的农妇，身着黑衣，手里的蜡烛照在圣女像上。一条狗跑进教堂，四处看了
看，又跑出去了。这些小小的场景给路茜小姐一种奇异的感受。它们带着天主教的和异国的
情调，似乎在召唤着她。一种她自己也说不清的冲动使她屈膝跪下，模仿着那个年老的农
妇，开始祈祷。她的蓝宝石戒指在灰暗的烛光中闪动着和这教堂一样奇异的光芒。
路茜小姐只跪下一小会儿，当站起来时，她感到右边有一个人。她转过头看见一个墨西
哥小伙子。他穿着一尘不染的白衣，跪在凡码外的地方，浓密的黑发在他虔诚的额头上反射
出点点微光。路茜小姐站起身时，他们的目光正好相遇。那只是短短一瞥，但他的脸给她留
下了一个鲜明的印象。路茜小姐看到他褐色的皮肤，奇特的双眼，还有一种深沉温和的耐
心。总之，简短的相遇让她感到已经看到了一些这个陌生城市的陌生的人们的内心。简短的
相遇使路茜小姐记住了那个墨西哥小伙子。当然她不会把这个告诉维拉和埃伦的。
路茜小姐离开教堂、心情愉快地向酒店走去。黄昏的阳光已越来越暗，当她穿过拥挤的
集市到通向酒店的街上时，已经是晚上了。街上没几个人，她的脚步声回响在石板路上，听
上去显得分外孤独，一个男人的影子摇摇晃晃地向她走来。这时街上除了他们没有第三个行
人，但路茜小姐并不害怕，只是提醒自己前面是个醉鬼，要离他远点。那个喝醉的人摇摇晃
晃地越走越近，路茜小姐有点想折回后面的集市，但她很快打消了这个念头，她是美国人，
是不会被伤害的。她继续向前走着。
但恐惧仍然还在。当她走到那男人面前，他盯着她，向她挥手，要钱。那是个满脸胡子
的流浪仅，满嘴酒气，说着她听不懂的西班牙语。路茜小姐是从他的手势和表情猜出他在乞
讨。但她对这些街头流浪汉没有什么同情心。她摇摇头，准备继续向前走。
一只肮脏的手拉住她的衣袖，难懂的西班牙语又响起来。她用劲甩开那只手。那个男人
眼里闪现出愤怒的神情，他恼火地举起手臂。
显然那个流浪汉并不想伤害她，但路茜小姐本能地向后一退，她的鞋根卡在路面上的石
板缝隙中，她摔倒了。她躺在那儿，站不起来，她的脚踝扭伤了。
流浪汉站在她旁边。这时路茜小姐感到了真正的恐惧。一种不由自主、忽然发生的恐惧
压倒了她。
忽然在街边的阴影中，另一个男人的身影出现了，一个整洁的穿白衣的男人。路茜小姐
看不到他的脸，但她知道是教堂里的那个小伙子。她看到他把那个流浪汉推开，然后要他
走。流浪汉回头看了看，摇摇晃晃地走开了。
路茜小姐感到一个人的脸离自己的脸很近，接着一只有力的手托住她的背，扶她起来。
她听不懂小伙子说的话，但他的语调很温和，充满关心。
“女士，”他说，看了看流浪汉离开的方向，“他已经走了。”这个墨西哥年轻人的牙
在月光下反射出洁白的光。他接着说：“我叫马瑞欧，从教堂那边过来。让我送你回酒店，
好吗？”
路茜小姐的脚踝很痛，马瑞欧一直把她送到酒店，再把她送回房间。她的情形在维拉和
埃伦之间引起了一阵慌乱。看到马瑞欧仍然关切地站在一旁，埃伦拿起她的提袋，问：“我
们该给他多少钱，路茜？”但路茜小姐不想这样做，她说：“不，钱对这个年轻人会是一种
侮辱。”
马瑞欧似乎听懂了她的话，他也说了几句，但路茜小姐却不怎么能听懂。最后马瑞欧拿
起她戴蓝宝石戒指的手，吻了吻，鞠躬，然后离开了房间。
那就是马瑞欧如何走入了这三位女士的生活，而且显然他并不想很快离开她们。第二天
早上，他来到酒店，找到了路茜小姐。
这次路茜小姐第一次正面看到他的脸。他并不是很英俊，他的睫毛很长，但眼睛靠得太
近了。厚厚的嘴唇上长着八字胡，但胡须稀疏，不大好看。只是他的手指有力而修长。总的
来说，这个小伙子给人某种热情和可信的感觉。
他解释自己是个大学生，想在假期挣点钱，所以希望能做女士们的导游。由于路茜小姐
的脚扭伤了，他建议替她们雇辆车，司机也由他兼任。而他索要的报酬却令人吃惊的少，而
且坚持不需要付更多。
第二天他租到一辆车，便宜的租金使即使精打细算的埃伦小姐也十分满意。于是马瑞欧
开始热情而认真地带着她们在各个景点之间游玩。
衣着整洁的马瑞欧的陪伴令路茜女士很高兴，其实三位女士都很高兴。他为她们订了不
少游览计划。一天，他带她们攀登玻卜卡贝特山，好几个小时之中，她们在世界上最美最神
秘的山峰前，激动不已。有时当马瑞欧和路酋小姐单独在一起的时候，马瑞欧总是把路茜小
姐的手握在掌中，轻轻地抚摸。
那是马瑞欧用他的方式，绕过语言的障碍告诉她，他非常高兴能和她一起分享这次美妙
的墨西哥之旅。被他有力的手握住，路茜小姐手指上的戒指又收紧了，但她并没有感到痛，
她所感受到的是另一种与疼痛完全不同的感觉。
在玻卜卡贝特山之行后，路茜小姐决定应该离开塔西克城，去墨西哥城了。
她让埃伦去告诉马瑞欧他的使命结束了，还让埃伦带去了额外的几百比索的酬劳。埃伦
转告了马瑞欧，但马瑞欧没有接受那笔钱，而是找到了路茜小姐。他告诉她，墨西哥城里有
不少人并不友好，他伸出他强壮的胳膊说他想继续照顾她们，而且为她们介绍墨西哥城里的
风光。他强壮的胳膊挥动着，似乎在拥抱着天空、太阳还有墨西哥的群山。他黑色的眼睛和
长长的睫毛，却拥抱着路茜小姐。
路茜小姐感到似乎有一种本能在促使着她同意了马瑞欧的要求。马瑞欧和她们一起来到
了墨西哥城。到达墨西哥城第二个星期，他们决定去游览墨西哥金字塔。
像往常一样，路茜小姐和马瑞欧坐在前排。他是个出色的司机，路茜小姐喜欢看他全神
贯注开车时的侧影，也喜欢听他不时地喃喃自语，但不大喜欢他用目光注视她的脸，然后向
下滑到她的胸前。
他的凝注让她有些不自在，她用英语对他说：“马瑞欧，你是美国入说的那种花花公
子。你肯定认识很多女孩。”
开始他似乎没听懂。沉默片刻，他说：“女孩，花花公子，你是说我吗？不。”他把手
伸进衣袋，拿出一张照片，“女士，这就是我的女孩……”路茜小姐拿过照片，发现是一个
比她还老的妇人。她头发花白，眼睛大而忧伤，岁月和疾病在她的脸上留下条条细纹。“是
你妈妈！”路茜小姐说：“给我讲讲她的事，好吗？”
马瑞欧尽量用她能听懂的词汇告诉她他妈妈的故事。她妈妈非常穷，一辈子住在一个叫
古德罗斯的小村子里，艰难地抚养着一群没有父亲的孩子，如同人间的圣女。路茜小姐从他
的话里听出他对她母亲几乎是一种崇拜的爱。
听到马瑞欧的话，路茜小姐决定在她的旅行结束前，她要向马瑞欧问到他母亲的地址，
然后寄一笔钱给她，让她能帮助马瑞欧上完大学。也许她的儿子会因为过分的自尊而难以说
服，但作为母亲，她会接受的。
“那是金字塔吗？”埃伦的声音打断了路茜小姐的思索。“嗯，它们比不上埃及的金字
塔。”埃伦继续说。
但路茜小姐被那两座太阳金字塔和月亮金字塔打动了。她凝视着幽暗、古老的金字塔，
心中感到一种奇特的兴奋感觉。这种感觉在塔西克城的教堂里她也同样碰到过。“这些石阶
我是爬不上去了，“埃伦泄气地说：“我太老了，天气也太热。”
维拉尽管没觉得热，但她也老了。她站在金字塔底，衣服披在肩上，手里拿着从不离手
的香烟，说：“你去吧，路茜，你还年轻，而且也好动。”
于是路茜和马瑞欧开始向上爬。
在马瑞欧的帮助下，她爬到了太阳金字塔的顶上。虽然陡峭的石阶令她累得喘不过气
来，但登上塔顶的感觉真是好极了。
塔顶只有他们两个人，他们坐在一起。一个是费城来的富有的小姐，一个是偏僻小村里
走出的小伙子，紧挨着坐在一起。他们看着巨大的平原，古老的村落和它们的庙字散落其
间，向下望去可以看到从庙字通向月亮金字塔的被称为死亡之途的路。马瑞欧开始给她讲祭
把仪式的故事。在过去，这种仪式每年都有一次。
路茜小姐半闭着眼睛，一边听着他的话一边想像着当时的情形：人群涌向他们脚下的平
原；巫师站在指定的某级石阶上；塔顶是一位衣服一尘不染的青年，那当然就是马瑞欧。
马瑞欧是村民们奉献的祭品，他将被奉献给神灵。她感到对他的怜悯，她伸出了她的手
——那支戴着无法摘下的戒指的左手，她的手找到了他的，被他温暖有力的手指轻轻地握
篆…路茜小姐几乎不知道马瑞欧什么时候抱住了她，他的头垂到她的胸前。直到她闻到他皮
肤的甜香味和头发间香波的气味，她才猛然清醒过来。她猛地跳起来，似乎从几个世纪的时
光中回到眼前，想起还有两个女伴在塔下等着，想起还有许多的石阶要下。
在返回墨西哥城的路上，路茜小姐决定自己和维拉坐在后面的坐位上，把埃伦换到前面
和马瑞欧坐在一起。
回到酒店时，路茜小姐说：“明天是星期天，马瑞欧，你最好休息一下，不用来陪我们
了。”
他开始反对这个建议。当路茜重复道：“不，明天不行，马瑞欧。“他脸上的表情就像
一个失望的孩子。但很快他的表情变了，他的眼睛挑战般地直视她的双眼。
回到房间，路茜小姐感到心猛烈地跳个不停。那眼神所代表的东西是她以往从不敢妄想
的东西。她明白，那是一种渴望的眼神。
由于某种原因，她不能理解，而她的心中也从未梦想过，马瑞欧在追求她。
他在热烈地追求她。晚上在上床之前，路茜小姐做了几件以前她从未做过的事。
她穿着睡衣长时间地站在卧室里的长镜前，真切地感到，自己是一个女人。
她没有看到自己有什么新的惊人的东西。但这只是她的外表没有将她内心将要发生的和
已经发生的惊人的变化表现出来而已。
她并不美丽，即使年轻的时候也不曾美丽过，而现在已人到中年了。她的头发快白了，
松散的搭在额前。她的眼睛仍然清澈，而且正充满了欢乐，但在它们周围却是岁月留给她的
阴影与皱纹。
在睡衣下面，她的胸依然挺实，但身材却已经不行了。事实上，无论她的面孔还是身
材，都没有什么地方能够吸引人了。而她却被人追求。她知道，一个墨西哥的英俊年轻人感
到了她身上某种吸引人的东西。
路茜小姐对很多事并非一无所知，她知道不少年轻人追求年老的女人而事实上希望最后
继承她们的财产。但马瑞欧除了拒绝任何额外的报酬以外，甚至不知道路茜小姐是她们三人
中最富有的一个。只有费城的一个律师和她家族的一些人知道她真正拥有多少财产。不，如
果马瑞欧是为了钱，他就该把眼光放到埃伦身上。埃伦掌握着她们的钱袋，而且在任何时候
都不让任何人知道她手里的钱实际上属于路茜。
面貌普通、衣着单调的路茜小姐身上没有任何地方显示出富有。她母亲的订婚戒指上有
一颗值钱的钻石，但也只有专业的珠宝商人才能看出来。而那个蓝宝石戒指也不值得任何人
为它花费精力与时间。如果她能把它从手指上弄下来，作为感谢，她会很高兴把这戒指送给
他。
不，墨西哥城里有上千的女人比她显得更富有，还有更多的女人年轻美丽，值得马瑞欧
为之倾倒，还有……猛然间，路茜小姐为这事的不合逻辑感到一丝恐惧。
也许是未婚女性的本能触动了她的神经，使她警惕到一种莫名的危险。
路茜小姐决心她必须了结这件事，她静静地躺在床上，作出了路茜小姐和维拉在长途车
站等候。她们都紧紧拥着自己的外衣，似乎很冷。维拉确实有点着凉，她也总是如此。而今
天虽然有春日的阳光在照耀，路茜小姐却也感觉到了阵阵的冷意。她的双眼，还有鼻子都是
红红的。
她们等的是埃伦，她落在后面是为了把酬劳付给马瑞欧，而去帕兹考罗的汽车20分钟
后启程。埃伦来了，她的鼻子也是红红的。
“你不能那样干，路茜，”她抱怨说，“那样太狠心了。”她把两张一百比索的钞票交
到路茜手里。“我觉得把这个给他时他就像要打人。她解释说，“而且他读到你的信时就像
孩子那样地哭起来。”
路茜小姐听了默不作声。在去帕兹考罗的整个路上她都几乎一言不发。
宁静的帕兹考罗湖旁的一家旅店的走廊上，三位女士围坐桌旁开始吃晚饭。从不愿安静
的埃伦在讨论着第二天的计划。路茜小姐却显然心不在焉。她的目光转向墨绿色的湖面，研
究着湖上一串串的小岛还有在湖面掠过的秃鹰，它们发出粗糙的叫声，贪婪的寻找着动物的
尸体。过了一会，她站起来说：“有一点冷了，我要回房间去了，晚安。”路茜小姐的房间
有个小阳台，可以从另一个角度看到湖面。
阳台下面就是沉人黑暗的湖面，晚归的渔夫们用模糊的声音交流着一天的收获，偶尔就
唱上一段当地的民歌。
路茜小姐静静地坐着，看着他们，心中想着马瑞欧。自打离开墨西哥城，她就在想念马
瑞欧，现在她为自己鲁莽的赶走马瑞欧而后悔不已。她应该自己和他说。她难过地猜测他会
怎样猜疑……这些想法深深地刺痛着她，她伤害了他……她的胡思乱想被打断了，因为她在
下面的渔夫中看到了一个雪白修长的身影。路茜目不转睛地盯着他，心开始狂跳起来。她扶
着栏杆，极力向前探，向黑暗中望去。的确，路茜看到一个熟悉的影子在那里敏捷、优雅地
闪动着。
但那不会是马瑞欧，他被留在数百英里外的墨西哥城了，而且路酋还特意吩咐埃伦不要
告诉他她们的去向。
穿白衣的人影从远处向她窗户所在的湖岸飘来。从湖岸上射出的一片灯光照在他的身
上，使人能够看清楚。那是马瑞欧。
她探下身去，心就像一只不知所措的鸟儿跳个不停。他就在她下面，他们之间只有十五
英尺。
“路茜小姐，我终于找到你了，”他用西班牙语说：“我知道，我会找到你的。”
“但，马瑞欧，你是怎么……？”“长途汽车公司告诉我你们到这里来了，我也买了一
张票，就来了。”
她看见他高兴地笑着，雪白的牙忽隐忽现。“路茜小姐，为什么你一声不响地就离开了
呢？甚至没有说一声再见。”她没有回答。
“但我现在来了，我仍然为你效劳。明天你和我到湖上去，好吗？在其她两个女士醒来
之前，就你和我。湖上有月亮，我们还能看见日出。”“好吧……”
“明早五点我来接你，我会弄条船。鸟儿们还没醒，我就会在这里等你了。”
“好吧……”“晚安，我的小姐。”
路茜小姐回到房间，当她换上衣服躺到床上，她感到自己的手在颤抖。
直到凌晨，她还没有平静下来，直到窗户下传来低低的口哨告诉她马瑞欧已经到了，她
感到自己仍在颤抖。
她飞快地穿上衣服，理理头发，披上件衣服，跑下楼去。旅店里很安静，没人看见她穿
过走廊，也没人看见她顺着斜坡来至“马瑞欧的船旁。
他抬起她的手，把它放到唇边，然后轻轻地把她扶上船。
她没有一点反对，就像神父将她引向每个人都要经历的那个神圣之地。
马瑞欧说得对，天上挂着月亮，是柠檬色的满月。不透光的湖面上反射出一缕缕的月光。
路酋小姐坐在船里，虽然很凉，却似乎完全没有注意到。她注视着马瑞欧，他站在船
尾，划着船向湖里深处划去。他把裤子挽起来，一直至“膝盖以上。月光下他的腿强壮，粗
野。他还唱着歌。
路茜小姐以前未曾想到他的嗓音如此优美。歌声听上去很甜，还带着一种说不出的忧
伤。马瑞欧注视着她，目光从她的脸向下移动，一直到她放在膝上的双手。手指上那枚便宜
的蓝宝石戒指在夜色中幽幽地反射着月光。
小船向多岛屿的湖心深处划去，路茜小姐已经忘记了其他的一切，包括她身处何时，何
地。闪烁的星辰和圆润的月亮她都已视而不见。她所感受到的只有一种深沉的宁静，似乎这
种几乎难以觉察的感觉要持续到时间的尽头。
她听到了马瑞欧的声音：“听，是鸟儿们在叫。”
她听到了这一群群岛屿中的乌鸣，但目光所及的地方却只能看到在天空中无声息盘旋的
秃鹰。
马瑞欧停下来，拿出他们的早饭。有牛肉，面包，黄油，还有奶酪，他还带了一瓶红酒。
他用一把大折叠刀把黄油抹在面包上，递给路茜小姐。她这时才感到真的是很饿。她吃
面包，喝着红酒。酒精进入到她的血液中，令她感到阵阵如少女般的快乐。无论马瑞欧说什
么她都会发笑，马瑞欧也在笑，他的目光也停留在她的身上。
他们吃着早饭，就像蜜月中的夫妇。太阳渐渐取代了月亮的位置，把金红色的光芒洒向
湖面。在几英里之内，她所能看到的只有秃鹰，还有就是远处飘来的阵阵歌声。
最后一片面包吃完了，酒也喝完了，马瑞欧又拿起桨，向湖心更深处划去。他不停地
划，再不说一句话。
当她一看到那个岛，路茜小姐就知道它是马瑞欧所选的那一个，它看上去人迹罕至，也
远离其他岛屿，岸边草长得很高，很密，就像岛的流苏。
他把船靠上去，草立刻将他们包围起来，就像进入了另一个小得多的世界，他们自己的
世界。他握住她的手，轻轻他说了两个字：“来吧。”
她跟着他如同一个听话的孩子。他找到一块干的地方，他为她铺上一件衣服，让她坐
下。然后他紧挨着她也坐下来，将她搂在怀中。她能看到他的脸，离她很近，还看见他黑色
的眼睛，似乎更近，还能感到他温暖的，带着酒味的呼吸。
她闭上眼，知道自从遇到马瑞欧那天起就注定会有的一刻就要到来。从教堂相遇的那一
天起，几乎每一件事都在暗示着这一刻终会到来。她能感到他的手轻轻抚摸着她的头发，她
的脸，还感到他的手握着她的手，握到了那枚蓝宝石戒指。
她感到他抚弄着那枚戒指，他的手指都流露出那种倾慕。整个过程看上去很复杂，却也
并不多么奇特。
他的手开始向上移动，他的手指移到她的喉咙，轻轻地停下来，她没有叫，更没有感到
恐惧。
他的双手开始用力地收紧，他的嘴唇向她的嘴唇压下去，他们深深地吻着，第一次也是
唯一的一次吻着。
马瑞欧扔开沾血的折刀。他讨厌看到血，为了拿到那个戒指他要砍下一根手指更让他觉
得恶心。
至于她手上那枚她母亲的定婚戒指他看也没看。那枚普通，便宜的蓝宝石戒指几个星期
以来使他对其他任何事物都熟视无睹了。
他把衣服盖在路茜小姐的尸体上。本来他想把她放到有草的水面下，但又觉得会飘浮出
去，让渔夫发现。
这个岛几年也不会有人来，而真的有人来的时候——他抬头看了看似乎永远都在盘旋的
秃鹰。
再没有回头看一眼，马瑞欧向小船走去，划向陆地。到岸边之后，他把小船翻过来，让
它顺水飘走。这样，它就会一直飘到湖的中心地带。
一个美国妇女和一个经验不足的船夫驾船进入湖中。他们途中落水，都被淹死了。警察
们不会在这个巨大的湖中搜寻他们的尸体的。
马瑞欧搭上一辆返回方向的运货车。明天，如果能搭上另一辆车，他也许就会在古德罗
斯村了。他想他的母亲肯定会喜欢那戒指的。
“安娜！什么风把你吹来的？”他拉我进屋子，拖了把皮椅放到他桌边。“明晚你一定
要来赴宴，我妻子昨天打电话给你时，你声音好怪。”
“除非你把我逮捕，否则我一定到。”我说，“里恩，我这次来可不是社交性的拜访。”
皮椅柔软而舒适，但我无法轻松。我不到三十五岁，双腿修长白皙，黑皮椅衬托出我美
丽的头发和金黄色的羊皮外衣。然而我和男人在一起很少觉得自然。甚至和里恩，我的老朋
友，在一起我仍感到周身发硬。
里恩在桌子后面坐下来，微笑说，“别告诉我你闯了红灯。我在每期警员训练班上课
时，标准的训词有一段就是：“不论阶级，秉公处理，没有权，但安娜·凯恩除外。”
“那是将来的事，”我微笑说，“如果我记得不错，历史上唯一拦住先父的车，还罚款
的警员就是你。”
他咯咯一笑，“当时法官总说我那样做是为了出名。”
“难道不是吗？”我取笑他，因为那个插曲使里恩获得了诚实尽责的执法者的美名。我
父亲一生从未利用他的地位和威望为自己槁特权。直到晚年他对一些禁止停车区变得有点傲
慢，而初出茅庐的里恩给他开出了罚单。这一切都随时光远去，现在的里恩是本城的地方检
察官，正在办理奥丁的命案。
奥丁是唯一在家乡白手起家的百万富翁，是真正从一穷二白而成富翁的。现在他死了，
是被他家的铜拨火棍打死的。
星期三晚上是本城传统的厨子休假日，奥丁太太切兰也放了假，因为她母亲准备为女儿
女婿开个晚会庆贺他们的结婚十五周年。切兰七点就被接到她母亲那儿去看看还有什么要准
备的，因为她母亲半身不遂。奥丁则一人在家穿衣打扮，同时处理一些文件。
晚会安排在九点开始。八点半时奥丁家没人接电话，他太太不见奥丁到场，就派司机回
去看看。司机发现门开着，奥丁趴在桌上，头部伤得很重。
第二天一名疑犯被捕，但我还是花了两天时间才鼓足勇气来面对里恩。刚进他办公室时
我就想转身离开，但我天性中的正直驱使着我，使我问他：“里恩，你能肯定你们抓到的那
人就是杀死奥丁的凶手？”
友谊，迷惑，还有官员的谨慎开始在他脸上交替出现。
“里恩，请回答我，我不仅仅是好奇地问问，或者奥丁是我们的朋友。那个史杰夫已经
被提审，但我从报上和听别人说，没有真正的证据证明是他干的。”
里恩吐出一口气，官员特有的谨慎开始消失。“好的，安娜，你在报上已经看到够多
了，不过我对史杰夫的处境并不乐观，他似乎是唯一有动机的人。他恨奥丁，又没有不在场
的证据。还有，那天下午他还恐吓奥丁，说他要杀奥叮”“事情并不是简简单单的解雇，”
里恩解释说，“史杰夫说奥丁悔约，他可能也有自己的道理。我们都知道奥丁成功地利用那
个破农场才发达成本州电子工业巨子，其中还做了一些违背道德的事。几个月前在一次商业
会议上他认识了史杰夫，认识到史杰夫的潜力，就用给股份把他诱来了，不幸的是奥丁的允
诺都没有写在契约上，空口无凭。”
“他可能不想以暴力收尾，但他承认当晚酒喝多了。或许他只想说服奥让他兑现诺言，
或许他听到晚会的事，想趁奥丁和切兰都不在去洗劫一番。”
“你有没有考虑过，凶手可能是真正的窃贼，他在报上的社交栏里看到新闻，以为奥丁
家空无一人。而奥丁的出现使他感到意外，在惊慌中下了手。”
“不可能，门上没有强行进入的痕迹，保险箱里还有八百多元现金。此外我们发现一杯
喝了一半的饮料，还有一杯新倒的，没有碰过，可见是倒给访客的。那一定是他认识的人，
而且他不怕那人。”
里恩忽然想起，我一度曾和奥丁订过婚。因此他又说：“对不起，安娜，我无意说死者
的坏话，毕竟那时解除婚约的是你，你一定是看清了他的另一面。”
“他一向自高自大，只顾自己，不考虑别人。他认为我们当面照顾他，在背后嘲笑他，
打中学起，他就想在我们面前显一显。”
“他办到了，不是吗？”里恩说。
“你难道不认为奥丁是个势利小人？”我冷冷他说，“不过我今天来不是来挖灰烬的，
我关心的是这位叫史杰夫的人。”
对这话里恩皱了皱眉头。但他接着说：“没人记得六点半以后看见过他，而奥丁遇害的
时间是七点半到八点半。史杰夫说他回家睡觉了，可一样没人证明。”
我深吸一口气。“有的，他和我在一起。我可以感到血液从我脸上流逝。有一会儿我以
为自己会昏过去。里恩不信：“和你？”
我点点头，“我相信他们会记得我在酒吧里，那天我的厨娘放假，我懒得做饭，就到外
面吃。餐厅里人很多，但我注意到史杰夫，当他在七点左右离开时，我跟着他出去，在外面
接他上车，以后到午夜，他一直和我在一起。”
里恩凝视着我，想把这些话和我的形象联系在一起。他和全城的人都认为我是神圣贞洁
的，除了奥丁和高登我曾和他们订过婚外，从没男人碰过我。我知道里恩正在回忆很久以前
在一次乡村俱乐部的舞会上，他想在后院里吻我而挨的一耳光，如今我竟亲口说曾干过“这
样”的事。
“秋天总是很凄凉，”我小心地用着字眼，“夏未初秋，如果不是高登因车祸死亡的
话、我已经和他结婚了。我一直小心谨慎。别那样看我，里恩！我不是冰块，不论大家怎么
想，我总是血肉之躯，你能够了解吗？”
“当然。”他不安他说，但我知道他并没有了解。
“史杰夫似乎很可靠，从道听途说中，我听到关于他和奥丁的争吵，我以为他已经离开
这城市了。像你说的，他看来高尚，忠诚。”
“比我认为的更好，”里恩同意我的看法，“当然，他必须明白，如果你否认事实的
话，没人会相信他。但他可能以为聋房东是个好借口，免得——”“免得拖冷若冰霜、佳以
接近的凯恩小姐下水？我难过地说。
“安娜，不要自责，”里恩言不由衷地说，“史杰夫在这里只住几个月，他不会了解，
凯恩家族在这里代表诚实公正，不论任何代价。”当他想到代价时，他皱起眉头，露出不悦
的神色，我差不多可以看见他不顾一切，一定要保护我的名誉的样子。
“当然，我们要签一份口供。不过你可以简单点，只说你和史杰夫七点离开餐厅，两人
在一起，直到……嗯，让我们就说，你们从七点到七点半一直在一起，那段时间和凶杀案最
有关。我再和皮姆谈谈，让他在言论上缓和一些。这一来地方上或许会有微词，但不用担
心，安娜，在凯恩城，你是受尊敬和爱戴的。有关系的人们会记得高登，他们会原谅你。”
一位速记员记下我的供词，我签了字之后，我问里恩可否见见史杰夫。他不太乐意，但
还是派人到看守所把人带来了。
史杰夫小心地进入里恩的办公室，他貌不惊人，但有一张开朗纯厚的脸和充满智慧的蓝
眼睛。
“他们说已经有一位证人出面为我作证。”说完，转头看到我，他两眼眯起来说：“凯
恩小姐！”
“没关系，”我向他保证，“我已经告诉检查官，星期三我接你上车以及我们在一起的
事。你自己不亲自说，是你错误的侠义举动。”
史杰夫看我很久，然后转身向里恩，“你是不是相信我啦！”
“但白说，不相信，”里恩说，“但至少我已向凯恩小姐提过。她已向我说出事实，现
在你不用再呆在看守所了。”
尽管里恩反对，我还是提议开车送史杰夫去机常差不多快到机场时，他终于开口说：
“你是个了不起的女人，凯恩小姐。我忍不住在想，在你美丽、冰冷的表面下，是什么样的
火，那使我希望星期三的晚上真的是和你在一起。而且你也很聪明，检查官可能被你稚气的
坦白吓坏了，才悟不到这样你也为自己找到了不在场的证据。你为什么要杀奥丁？”我直视
路面，闭口不答。
“当然，认识奥丁，并不爱他。史杰夫沉思，“传闻你和他订过婚，但那已是十五年前
的事。为什么现在才杀他，除非——当然，他们发现他的时候，保险箱开着，你拿走了什
么？凯恩小姐，旧情书？或者你以前不遵守交通规则签的供认书。”
“照片。”我把车停在机场大楼旁。我说，“五张很清晰的照片，四年前他在我们旅社
的房里拍的。”
“我花了十一年时间才发现奥丁给我点燃的火并未熄灭，只是盖着灰而已。四年前，我
们无意中在纽约相遇，我们之间一切又重新燃起。我们情欲火热，使我别无所求，只要他让
我爱他。他小心地使我们的恋情得以保密，而不是我。和他在一起我完全不知羞耻。有一年
多时间，只要他拿起电话，告诉我时间和地点，他都可以如愿，好像我的道德完全麻木了。
“然而，渐渐的，我开始对切兰感到内疚，我飞到欧洲，试着控制自己的感情。奥丁让
我安定了一个月，然后寄了一张照片到我的旅馆，他在照片背后写道：‘我还有四张类似的
照片，那几张更能表现你的迷人之处。记住，如果你一周之内不回来的话，我就把它们登在
报上。’我本来可能自己会回来，可收到那封信后，我恨他。
“差不多一年，他没有惹我，我以为我获得自由了。但你和他一吵，揭开他的旧疮疤。
你知道，在他心中我代表镇上的中心人物，那伙人知道他的‘底细’，而且永远不会对他的
钱动心，也不会像城外的那些人对他表示尊重。他就把仇恨发泄到我身上。每当有人骂他母
亲是不检点的侍女，他父亲是酗酒的农夫时，他就折磨我。你的行为明显地触怒了他，还有
你骂他的一些话。
“星期三下午他打电话给我，要我七点半去他那儿。我到时他已经半醉了，说他不需要
切兰了，他要离婚，和我结婚。然后叫我脱光衣服。当我抗拒时，他打我，然后打开保险
箱，在我面前展示那些照片。我想抢过来扔进火里，但他又打我，还把照片像扇子一样摊在
桌子上，让我忍无可忍。忽然间，拨火棍就在我手中，于是，于是……”史杰夫拥住我，紧
紧地抱住，直到我的全身颤抖停止。他呐呐她说：“我到这儿的第一个星期，就有人指着你
告诉我你在未婚夫死后就没再看男人一眼。知道吗？你差不多是个传奇人物。以后我经常听
到凯恩家族的美德：代代是刚正不阿的市长，法官，现在是一位美丽、贞洁的处女，她崇拜
家族的荣誉。然而今天你把一切都扔进泥潭中，为的是你荒唐的正义感，不忍心让一位陌生
人来替你顶罪。”
“不是陌生人，”我发动车子，同时颤抖地对他微笑，“你和奥丁争吵后就不是了，我
敌人的敌人，就是我的朋友。”
他咧嘴笑笑，打开车门犹豫了一下，然后俯下身吻我面颊：“谢谢你，朋友。”
要来赴宴，我妻子昨天打电话给你时，你声音好怪。”
“除非你把我逮捕，否则我一定到。”我说，“里恩，我这次来可不是社交性的拜访。”
皮椅柔软而舒适，但我无法轻松。我不到三十五岁，双腿修长白皙，黑皮椅衬托出我美
丽的头发和金黄色的羊皮外衣。然而我和男人在一起很少觉得自然。甚至和里恩，我的老朋
友，在一起我仍感到周身发硬。
里恩在桌子后面坐下来，微笑说，“别告诉我你闯了红灯。我在每期警员训练班上课
时，标准的训词有一段就是：“不论阶级，秉公处理，没有权，但安娜·凯恩除外。”
“那是将来的事，”我微笑说，“如果我记得不错，历史上唯一拦住先父的车，还罚款
的警员就是你。”
他咯咯一笑，“当时法官总说我那样做是为了出名。”
“难道不是吗？”我取笑他，因为那个插曲使里恩获得了诚实尽责的执法者的美名。我
父亲一生从未利用他的地位和威望为自己槁特权。直到晚年他对一些禁止停车区变得有点傲
慢，而初出茅庐的里恩给他开出了罚单。这一切都随时光远去，现在的里恩是本城的地方检
察官，正在办理奥丁的命案。
奥丁是唯一在家乡白手起家的百万富翁，是真正从一穷二白而成富翁的。现在他死了，
是被他家的铜拨火棍打死的。
星期三晚上是本城传统的厨子休假日，奥丁太太切兰也放了假，因为她母亲准备为女儿
女婿开个晚会庆贺他们的结婚十五周年。切兰七点就被接到她母亲那儿去看看还有什么要准
备的，因为她母亲半身不遂。奥丁则一人在家穿衣打扮，同时处理一些文件。
晚会安排在九点开始。八点半时奥丁家没人接电话，他太太不见奥丁到场，就派司机回
去看看。司机发现门开着，奥丁趴在桌上，头部伤得很重。
第二天一名疑犯被捕，但我还是花了两天时间才鼓足勇气来面对里恩。刚进他办公室时
我就想转身离开，但我天性中的正直驱使着我，使我问他：“里恩，你能肯定你们抓到的那
人就是杀死奥丁的凶手？”
友谊，迷惑，还有官员的谨慎开始在他脸上交替出现。
“里恩，请回答我，我不仅仅是好奇地问问，或者奥丁是我们的朋友。那个史杰夫已经
被提审，但我从报上和听别人说，没有真正的证据证明是他干的。”
里恩吐出一口气，官员特有的谨慎开始消失。“好的，安娜，你在报上已经看到够多
了，不过我对史杰夫的处境并不乐观，他似乎是唯一有动机的人。他恨奥丁，又没有不在场
的证据。还有，那天下午他还恐吓奥丁，说他要杀奥叮”“事情并不是简简单单的解雇，”
里恩解释说，“史杰夫说奥丁悔约，他可能也有自己的道理。我们都知道奥丁成功地利用那
个破农场才发达成本州电子工业巨子，其中还做了一些违背道德的事。几个月前在一次商业
会议上他认识了史杰夫，认识到史杰夫的潜力，就用给股份把他诱来了，不幸的是奥丁的允
诺都没有写在契约上，空口无凭。”
“他可能不想以暴力收尾，但他承认当晚酒喝多了。或许他只想说服奥让他兑现诺言，
或许他听到晚会的事，想趁奥丁和切兰都不在去洗劫一番。”
“你有没有考虑过，凶手可能是真正的窃贼，他在报上的社交栏里看到新闻，以为奥丁
家空无一人。而奥丁的出现使他感到意外，在惊慌中下了手。”
“不可能，门上没有强行进入的痕迹，保险箱里还有八百多元现金。此外我们发现一杯
喝了一半的饮料，还有一杯新倒的，没有碰过，可见是倒给访客的。那一定是他认识的人，
而且他不怕那人。”
里恩忽然想起，我一度曾和奥丁订过婚。因此他又说：“对不起，安娜，我无意说死者
的坏话，毕竟那时解除婚约的是你，你一定是看清了他的另一面。”
“他一向自高自大，只顾自己，不考虑别人。他认为我们当面照顾他，在背后嘲笑他，
打中学起，他就想在我们面前显一显。”
“他办到了，不是吗？”里恩说。
“你难道不认为奥丁是个势利小人？”我冷冷他说，“不过我今天来不是来挖灰烬的，
我关心的是这位叫史杰夫的人。”
对这话里恩皱了皱眉头。但他接着说：“没人记得六点半以后看见过他，而奥丁遇害的
时间是七点半到八点半。史杰夫说他回家睡觉了，可一样没人证明。”
我深吸一口气。“有的，他和我在一起。我可以感到血液从我脸上流逝。有一会儿我以
为自己会昏过去。里恩不信：“和你？”
我点点头，“我相信他们会记得我在酒吧里，那天我的厨娘放假，我懒得做饭，就到外
面吃。餐厅里人很多，但我注意到史杰夫，当他在七点左右离开时，我跟着他出去，在外面
接他上车，以后到午夜，他一直和我在一起。”
里恩凝视着我，想把这些话和我的形象联系在一起。他和全城的人都认为我是神圣贞洁
的，除了奥丁和高登我曾和他们订过婚外，从没男人碰过我。我知道里恩正在回忆很久以前
在一次乡村俱乐部的舞会上，他想在后院里吻我而挨的一耳光，如今我竟亲口说曾干过“这
样”的事。
“秋天总是很凄凉，”我小心地用着字眼，“夏未初秋，如果不是高登因车祸死亡的
话、我已经和他结婚了。我一直小心谨慎。别那样看我，里恩！我不是冰块，不论大家怎么
想，我总是血肉之躯，你能够了解吗？”
“当然。”他不安他说，但我知道他并没有了解。
“史杰夫似乎很可靠，从道听途说中，我听到关于他和奥丁的争吵，我以为他已经离开
这城市了。像你说的，他看来高尚，忠诚。”
“比我认为的更好，”里恩同意我的看法，“当然，他必须明白，如果你否认事实的
话，没人会相信他。但他可能以为聋房东是个好借口，免得——”“免得拖冷若冰霜、佳以
接近的凯恩小姐下水？我难过地说。
“安娜，不要自责，”里恩言不由衷地说，“史杰夫在这里只住几个月，他不会了解，
凯恩家族在这里代表诚实公正，不论任何代价。”当他想到代价时，他皱起眉头，露出不悦
的神色，我差不多可以看见他不顾一切，一定要保护我的名誉的样子。
“当然，我们要签一份口供。不过你可以简单点，只说你和史杰夫七点离开餐厅，两人
在一起，直到……嗯，让我们就说，你们从七点到七点半一直在一起，那段时间和凶杀案最
有关。我再和皮姆谈谈，让他在言论上缓和一些。这一来地方上或许会有微词，但不用担
心，安娜，在凯恩城，你是受尊敬和爱戴的。有关系的人们会记得高登，他们会原谅你。”
一位速记员记下我的供词，我签了字之后，我问里恩可否见见史杰夫。他不太乐意，但
还是派人到看守所把人带来了。
史杰夫小心地进入里恩的办公室，他貌不惊人，但有一张开朗纯厚的脸和充满智慧的蓝
眼睛。
“他们说已经有一位证人出面为我作证。”说完，转头看到我，他两眼眯起来说：“凯
恩小姐！”
“没关系，”我向他保证，“我已经告诉检查官，星期三我接你上车以及我们在一起的
事。你自己不亲自说，是你错误的侠义举动。”
史杰夫看我很久，然后转身向里恩，“你是不是相信我啦！”
“但白说，不相信，”里恩说，“但至少我已向凯恩小姐提过。她已向我说出事实，现
在你不用再呆在看守所了。”
尽管里恩反对，我还是提议开车送史杰夫去机常差不多快到机场时，他终于开口说：
“你是个了不起的女人，凯恩小姐。我忍不住在想，在你美丽、冰冷的表面下，是什么样的
火，那使我希望星期三的晚上真的是和你在一起。而且你也很聪明，检查官可能被你稚气的
坦白吓坏了，才悟不到这样你也为自己找到了不在场的证据。你为什么要杀奥丁？”我直视
路面，闭口不答。
“当然，认识奥丁，并不爱他。史杰夫沉思，“传闻你和他订过婚，但那已是十五年前
的事。为什么现在才杀他，除非——当然，他们发现他的时候，保险箱开着，你拿走了什
么？凯恩小姐，旧情书？或者你以前不遵守交通规则签的供认书。”
“照片。”我把车停在机场大楼旁。我说，“五张很清晰的照片，四年前他在我们旅社
的房里拍的。”
“我花了十一年时间才发现奥丁给我点燃的火并未熄灭，只是盖着灰而已。四年前，我
们无意中在纽约相遇，我们之间一切又重新燃起。我们情欲火热，使我别无所求，只要他让
我爱他。他小心地使我们的恋情得以保密，而不是我。和他在一起我完全不知羞耻。有一年
多时间，只要他拿起电话，告诉我时间和地点，他都可以如愿，好像我的道德完全麻木了。
“然而，渐渐的，我开始对切兰感到内疚，我飞到欧洲，试着控制自己的感情。奥丁让
我安定了一个月，然后寄了一张照片到我的旅馆，他在照片背后写道：‘我还有四张类似的
照片，那几张更能表现你的迷人之处。记住，如果你一周之内不回来的话，我就把它们登在
报上。’我本来可能自己会回来，可收到那封信后，我恨他。
“差不多一年，他没有惹我，我以为我获得自由了。但你和他一吵，揭开他的旧疮疤。
你知道，在他心中我代表镇上的中心人物，那伙人知道他的‘底细’，而且永远不会对他的
钱动心，也不会像城外的那些人对他表示尊重。他就把仇恨发泄到我身上。每当有人骂他母
亲是不检点的侍女，他父亲是酗酒的农夫时，他就折磨我。你的行为明显地触怒了他，还有
你骂他的一些话。
“星期三下午他打电话给我，要我七点半去他那儿。我到时他已经半醉了，说他不需要
切兰了，他要离婚，和我结婚。然后叫我脱光衣服。当我抗拒时，他打我，然后打开保险
箱，在我面前展示那些照片。我想抢过来扔进火里，但他又打我，还把照片像扇子一样摊在
桌子上，让我忍无可忍。忽然间，拨火棍就在我手中，于是，于是……”史杰夫拥住我，紧
紧地抱住，直到我的全身颤抖停止。他呐呐她说：“我到这儿的第一个星期，就有人指着你
告诉我你在未婚夫死后就没再看男人一眼。知道吗？你差不多是个传奇人物。以后我经常听
到凯恩家族的美德：代代是刚正不阿的市长，法官，现在是一位美丽、贞洁的处女，她崇拜
家族的荣誉。然而今天你把一切都扔进泥潭中，为的是你荒唐的正义感，不忍心让一位陌生
人来替你顶罪。”
“不是陌生人，”我发动车子，同时颤抖地对他微笑，“你和奥丁争吵后就不是了，我
敌人的敌人，就是我的朋友。”
他咧嘴笑笑，打开车门犹豫了一下，然后俯下身吻我面颊：“谢谢你，朋友。”
这是一部奇特的小说。它以真人真事为题材，描写了鲜为人知的多重人格，揭示了生动奇幻的变态心理。本书七十年代在美国出版后立即引起轰动，当年列为《时代》杂志畅销书目之首，几年内出版了五百多万册，迄今影响不衰。
本书主人公西碧尔常失去记忆，每当失去记忆之时她就变成了一个化身，前后多达十五个化身。每个化身都有不同的姓名、年龄、性格、爱好和处世态度，她们都在特定的需要中随时现身。西碧尔本人干不出来的事就由化身替她来干。她这种人格分裂起源于童年时代的精神创伤。幼小的西碧尔遭到令人发指的残害。这类小说在我国出版界还极为罕见。
译者的话
原序
第一部 现状
1.停摆的钟
2.内心世界的战争
3.兽穴和巨蛇
4.化身
5.佩吉·卢·鲍德温
6.维多利亚·安托万内特·沙鲁
7.为什么
第二部 来由
8.威洛·科纳斯
9.不存在的昨天
10.偷窃时间的贼
11.寻找中心
12.沉默的目击者
13.恐怖的笑声
14.海蒂
15.被蹂躏的孩子
16.疯狂之家
17.威拉德
第三部 解脱
18.核实和抗争
19.男孩子们
20.正统的话语
21.神谴的酒
22.填补时间的空白
第四部 重建
23.退缩的白大褂
24.自杀
25.开始恢复记忆
26.各奔前程
27.躯体中的囚徒
28.融合的历程
29.他们也是我呀
30.步履维艰
31.拉蒙
32.合而为一
尾声
附录
本书主人公西碧尔常失去记忆，每当失去记忆之时她就变成了一个化身，前后多达十五个化身。每个化身都有不同的姓名、年龄、性格、爱好和处世态度，她们都在特定的需要中随时现身。西碧尔本人干不出来的事就由化身替她来干。她这种人格分裂起源于童年时代的精神创伤。幼小的西碧尔遭到令人发指的残害。这类小说在我国出版界还极为罕见。
译者的话
原序
第一部 现状
1.停摆的钟
2.内心世界的战争
3.兽穴和巨蛇
4.化身
5.佩吉·卢·鲍德温
6.维多利亚·安托万内特·沙鲁
7.为什么
第二部 来由
8.威洛·科纳斯
9.不存在的昨天
10.偷窃时间的贼
11.寻找中心
12.沉默的目击者
13.恐怖的笑声
14.海蒂
15.被蹂躏的孩子
16.疯狂之家
17.威拉德
第三部 解脱
18.核实和抗争
19.男孩子们
20.正统的话语
21.神谴的酒
22.填补时间的空白
第四部 重建
23.退缩的白大褂
24.自杀
25.开始恢复记忆
26.各奔前程
27.躯体中的囚徒
28.融合的历程
29.他们也是我呀
30.步履维艰
31.拉蒙
32.合而为一
尾声
附录
我不知道怎么办。我不知道，也没有人可问。他们说，闪电不会两次击在同一个地方，可是，你怎么能那么确定呢？
一个寡妇带着一个小姑娘，租下了幽谷屋，听到这个消息，我非常高兴，这下我可有玩伴了。我们家全是些老人，奶奶、阿加莎姑妈还有叔叔奈德，他只在周末来这里。连他也很老了——大约30岁。我有三个姐姐，可是她们都很大了，不愿意跟我玩，她们认为我是个傻丫头。
所以我迫不及待地等奶奶去拜访克拉德太太，只有在她拜访之后，我才能邀请小姑娘来玩。我渴望早点有个小伙伴。
但是，在此之前，我却先遇到了哈莉特。
实际上，奶奶根本没有去拜访幽谷屋，而我跟哈莉特的会面也纯属偶然。
那天下午，我的奶妈玛丽派我替她去寄一封信。在回家的路上，我看到两个陌生人迎面走来。在我们这个小村子里，大家互相都认识，所以一看到陌生人，我马上猜出她们一定是克拉德太太和她的女儿。
我先看了哈莉特一眼，不禁大吃一惊。她比我矮，像她母亲一样优雅，她们俩穿的衣服非常漂亮，我们这里从来没人穿过。她是个非常引人注目的女孩子，皮肤洁白如雪，一对棕色眼睛特别大，还有浓密的睫毛。
但是，我第一眼就知道，她绝对不会是我的玩伴。因为，虽然她比我小两个月，但她已经不是孩子了。她像个小大人，甚至她的举止也显得从容不迫。我知道，她决不会像我那样鲁莽笨拙，动不动久打破东西。不过，当我们走近时，我还是冲她露出微笑，我想向她表明，奶奶不去拜访她们，可不是我的错。
她直勾勾地盯着我，让我觉得自己就像个幽灵一样。在不安中，我转而去看克拉德太太，于是又大吃一惊。我听奈德叔叔说，莉莉是个绝代佳人，她走过时，大家纷纷冲到窗户边看她。
克拉德太太就是那样的绝代佳人。她看到我在注视她，就冲我微微一笑，我一下子目瞪口呆地怔在那里。她的笑容真是太灿烂了。
她没有说话，她知道这里的社交规矩。我们擦身而过后，我听到哈莉特说：“没必要理睬，我们不认识她。”
克拉德太太的声音像她的人一样可爱。“我希望我们认识，哈莉特。为了你的缘故，我希望我们认识。”
“我遇见克拉德太太和她女儿了，”我回到家后，告诉玛丽，“为什么奶奶不拜访她们呢？”
“别问了！”玛丽说，我觉得她自己其实也不知道。但是，后来我听到她问女仆：“我倒想知道，克拉德先生是谁？”
我趴到栏杆上。“他死了，”我喊道。我猜想他一定是个非常邪恶的人。克拉德太太就是因为他才变得不受欢迎的。
奶奶仍然没有去拜访她们。大约一个月后，我再次遇到克拉德母女。玛丽带我到罗宾逊先生的店里去买一副手套。罗宾逊先生总是站在店门口，迎接客人，他的两个女儿鲁西和艾尔西在店里服务。
我们买好了我的手套，玛丽和鲁西在商店的最里面低声聊天，这时，克拉德太太和哈莉特走了进来。克拉德太太要给她女儿买一副皮手筒。我们大家都戴皮手筒，大部分是带黑尾巴的白兔皮的，用一根丝带挂到脖子上。
艾尔西说白兔手筒已经卖完了，她拿出一副非常漂亮的棕色皮手筒。艾尔西说，这比白的更耐用。
哈莉特勃然大怒。“我不要棕色的，”她喊道，“这么脏的颜色。”
她跑到我站的这边，我正在那里看胸针，有一个猫形胸针，我觉得它非常漂亮。
“这些都是垃圾，”哈莉特用一种轻蔑的口气说。她拿起一个小金盒，又把它扔下。“这不是真的，”她轻蔑地哼了一声。
她自己就带着一个非常漂亮的小金盒，她开始在我面前晃悠它。她可能偶然碰到了里面的弹簧，链条分开，盒子掉到地上。我弯下腰把它捡起来。盒子的一面有三颗珍珠，另一面刻着H．W.两个字母。
“这是你奶奶的吗？”我说。我奶奶就给过我一个。
“当然不是，”哈莉特说，低下头，这样我可以给她重新挂上。“别扯我的头发。这是我6岁时给我的。”
“但是，这上面的字母不是你的名字啊，”我坚持说。
“那是因为我父亲走了，”她说。我知道她的意思是说他去世了。“以前我叫哈莉特·温特，我们在海边有一栋房子，我奶奶的房子比你奶奶的大得多。我也有一个姑妈，格雷斯姑妈。”
“我就要这个棕色的手筒吧，”我们听到克拉德太太说。
哈莉特回过头，笑了起来。“你用那么小的手筒，看上去一定很可笑，”她说。“如果你把它给我，我决不会用它的。我会把它从窗口扔出去的。”她使劲跺了跺脚。
艾尔西包手筒时，克拉德太太转过头来说：“你是道尔屋的小姑娘，对吗？”
玛丽一定是听到她的问话了。“喂，维琪小姐，”她说，“我告诉过你，别打扰别人。”她伸出手，我很不情愿地走过去，拉住她的手。克拉德太太接过包好的手筒，走出商店，哈莉特跟在她身后。
“她只是个小娃娃，”我听到哈莉特轻蔑地说，“她喜欢小猫胸针。”
“我知道有人应该好好教训一下，”玛丽在回家的路上说，“那个大小姐！”
“玛丽，”我并不想跟她说，可是实在没什么人可说了，我问，“如果我父亲死了，我需要改自己的姓名吗？”
“什么？”玛丽叫道，“维琪，你说得真好笑，你怎么会有这种想法呢？”
“哈莉特·克拉德过去叫哈莉特·温特，那是在她父亲去世前，”我说，“她住在一栋靠海的房子里，她也有一个奶奶，还有一个叫格雷斯的叔叔。”
片刻的沉默。然后玛丽声音很奇怪地说：“这是她告诉你的吗？天哪，我早该想到了！”
“想到什么？”我问。
她拉了我一下，催我快点走。“你知道你奶奶不喜欢别人传闲话，”她警告我说，“那是很庸俗的。”
午饭有客人，所以我在自己过去的婴儿室吃饭。大人不允许我到厨房吃饭，我其实很喜欢那里。饭后，我拿着我的书，来到花园。那本书非常乏味，我希望奈德叔叔从伦敦给我带一本新的来，他在伦敦工作。
我想到花园抓青蛙，但是没有找到，于是我决定向厨子要一杯水，即使我抓不到青蛙，至少我可以画一只。
我经过厨房窗口时，看到厨子和一群女仆围坐在一张桌子边，头靠着头。
“这是千真万确的，”玛丽说，“她不可能编那么一个故事！”
“她到这里来，竟然还指望着体面人会去拜访她！”一个女仆说。
“我觉得这非常有意思，”另一个女仆说，“一个真正的凶手。”
“她不是，”厨子说，“法庭说不是。这可怜的人总得找个地方住啊。”
“怪不得那个小姑娘那么乖戾。”玛丽说，“我不能原谅她的，就是这一点：把哈莉特卷进去。”
“她是被卷进去的，”厨子说，“被毒死的是她父亲。”
我蹲在窗户下，兴奋得全身发抖。
“真奇怪，我竟然没有早想到，”玛丽沉思道，“我的意思是说，她叫哈莉特，照片又上了报纸。”
一个女仆说：“报纸？那是四个月前的事吧？科茨先生最近来过吗？”
我们家的旧报纸都放在地下室，科茨先生隔几个月来一次，收购旧报纸。
我听到地下室的门打开了，我知道女仆下去查了。我轻轻站起身，但是，我相信，即使我站在窗台上，她们也不会注意到我。她们都太专注了。
女仆回来后，我听到翻报纸的声音，过了很长一段时间，厨子说道：“找到啦！这里有哈莉特在法庭上的照片。”
她们都忙着看报纸，没有注意到奈德叔叔走进去。他比平常来得早，而且一来就直奔厨房。他是家里最受欢迎的人。这不仅是因为他长得英俊，还因为他总是那么沉静，遇事从不慌乱。
“我打断了讨论会吗？”我听到他说，“一张多么可爱的脸啊！我好像见过它，啊，想起来了。为什么你们又把温特案子翻出来？它已经结束了。”
玛丽告诉他说：“这是幽谷屋新来的那位女士，她的女儿今天早晨在罗宾逊商店跟维琪小姐说过话。”
当奈德叔叔再次开口说话时，我几乎听不出是他的声音。“天哪，”他说，“旧事重提。我想每个人都不想让她忘记。她在哪儿？我是说维琪？”
“在花园里，”玛丽说。
我从窗户边溜到屋角，然后跑到花园，打开书本，等着他的到来。
“读得很高兴，是吗？”奈德叔叔说，“你什么时候开始倒着看书了？”
“你给我带新书了吗？”我问，“这本书我已经读完了。”
“你在这儿多长时间了？”奈德叔叔问。“维琪，别撒谎。”
“我并不是故意要听的，”我脱口而出，不知道奈德叔叔会怎么处理这事。“我去要水，她们刚好在说话，我听到哈莉特的名字。”
“你听到什么？”叔叔问。
“克拉德太太——毒死了她丈夫。”我结结巴巴地说。
“不对。陪审团已经洗清了她的罪名，她没有毒死她丈夫，她被释放了。”
“如果她没有做，”我说，“那她为什么要改名换姓呢？”
“因为无罪是不够的，大家必须相信你是无罪的。你明白吗？”
我点点头。“我想我明白。去年圣诞节，阿加莎姑妈说我打破了客厅的花瓶。其实我没有，一定是风吹的。但是，她不相信我的话。”
我记得，当时我很吃惊，发现你说了实话，却不被别人相信，因为你无法证明。只有我自己知道，我没有打破花瓶。有时候，我奇怪上帝怎么沉默不语呢？为什么不出面帮助那些麻烦缠身的人呢？不过，如果真是那样的话，人间不就是完全公平的了？那又要天堂干什么？
“克拉德太太也是这样的吗？”我问。
奈德叔叔点点头。“是的，维琪，”他说，“她也是同样的情况。”
那天晚上，我走过客厅时，看到阿加莎姑妈在往一张牛皮纸上贴报纸。我马上猜到那是有关审讯克拉德太太的报道。阿加莎姑妈好像脑袋后面长了眼睛一样，头也不回地叫道：“维琪，我以前告诉过你，不要四处乱打听，这很不好。”
我快步跑回自己的床上，我下了决心，一定要搞到那些报纸，读完所有的报道。
我不得不等了一个多星期。奈德叔叔已经回伦敦了，我简直就是自己家里的囚徒。大人甚至不让我一个人去寄信。
一天下午，雇来的一辆马车送奶奶和阿加莎姑妈出去串门。我听到阿加莎姑妈大声说，她们可能晚点儿回来。我猜她们觉得有责任把克拉德太太的事告诉所有的人。
我很幸运，玛丽牙疼，不得不去拔牙，屋里只剩下厨子。她告诉我别淘气，乖乖地在花园玩。
一等到四周没人，我马上溜进书房。我确信报纸在奈德叔叔的柜子里。柜子是锁着的，可是我在他的书桌抽屉里找到了钥匙。我从柜子里拿出报纸，厚厚的一大摞，上面有克拉德太太、哈莉特和温特先生的照片，报纸上称温特先生为“死者”，称克拉德太太为“温特太太”。
我抓起报纸，飞快地跑到阁楼，那里不会有人打扰我。我坐在一张旧椅子上，开始读那些报纸。
有些词我搞不懂，不得不读好几遍，不过，大致的过程我还是看懂了，下面是我读到的故事。
大约10年前，玛格丽特·克拉德18岁，她跟比她大许多的查尔斯·温特结婚，他们生了一个女儿，哈莉特，她母亲非常宠爱她。
在他死前一个月，温特先生的工作发生变动，他要到国外去工作，由于那里的气候，不能带小孩一起去。他提出把哈莉特留给他的母亲和未婚的妹妹格雷斯照管。温特太太说，无论如何她都不愿意和她的女儿分开。哈莉特是个被宠坏了的孩子，她大吵大闹，声称如果她母亲离开她，她就要跳水自杀。
双方谁也不让步。温特太太说，如果她丈夫坚持要去海外工作，那她就留在国内，不随他一起去。事情陷入了僵局，这种情况一直持续到温特先生死前一星期，就在这时，温特先生突然病倒了，发高烧。虽然温特太太在跟她丈夫闹矛盾，但她还是非常尽心地照顾他。温特家只有一个仆人，另一个已经辞掉了，因为温特先生要离开这里。所以，大部分饭菜都是由温特太太自己做的，病人也主要由她照顾。医生说，病情并不严重，高烧很快就会退，不会有什么大问题。
温特先生仍然坚持要离开这里，去国外工作，他也仍然坚持要他妻子陪他一起去。
在致命的那天下午，仆人出去看望她父母，那天因为突然下起雨来，所以哈莉特就在病房外面的楼梯平台上玩，她玩的是玩具茶会，这事听上去似乎无关紧要，其实却关系重大。
大约4点钟时，温特太太告诉哈莉特，她要去楼下准备茶点。
“陪你父亲坐着，等我回来，”她说，“他要什么就给他，别惹他生气，他的病还很严重呢。”
这与医生的看法大相径庭，医生认为他已经开始康复了。
大约15分钟后，温特太太端着茶盘回来，哈莉特又去玩她的玩具茶会。片刻之后，病房里传来呻吟和呕吐的声音。哈莉特仍然在原地玩游戏，一直到她母亲来到门口，说：“你父亲病情突然恶化，我们应该去叫布莱尔医生，但是谁去叫他呢？阿丽丝出去了，他病得这么严重，我不想让你单独跟他在一起。”
哈莉特说：“我可以去叫医生。”外面下着雨，温特太太很不愿意让哈莉特一个人出去，不过她觉得别无选择。于是她给了哈莉特一张字条，不久以后，格雷斯姑妈在乘车回家的路上，看到哈莉特。
格雷斯姑妈停下车，问哈莉特为什么一个人在外面乱跑。哈莉特已经迷了路，她解释她父亲病情突然恶化，格雷斯姑妈马上开车到医生家，并陪着医生和孩子回到她哥哥家。
温特太大开的门，她说：“啊，医生，快点进来吧，他好像不行了。我不知道是什么引起病情恶化的，不可能是因为吃了什么不好的东西，因为他吃的所有东西都是我亲手做的。”
她领他们上了楼，病房的门开着。温特先生一见到他妹妹，就用微弱的声音说：“格雷斯，我被下了毒。”
格雷斯想要留下，但医生要做检查，就把她和哈莉特赶出病房。
对温特太太很不利的一件事是，她没有留下任何呕吐物。后来，格雷斯被允许回到病房中，她坐在床边，握着她哥哥的手，问他：“亨利，是谁下的毒？”但他已经昏迷过去了，说不出话了。
后来，格雷斯带着哈莉特回到家，哈莉特非常不愿意跟她回家。
医生留下来，大约凌晨4点钟时，在昏迷了很长一段时间之后，温特死了。
医生根据死者所说的话，坚持在解剖尸体前，不签发死亡证书。
格雷斯不能回家，她写了一张字条，派阿丽丝送回家。
不久，警察来到哈莉特奶奶家，要求见哈莉特。她似乎非常镇静地问：“他死了？是被毒死的吗？会不会是牛奶里有什么东西？”
警察说，到目前为止，他们还不知道牛奶的事。于是哈莉特讲了一件事。在她母亲下楼后，她父亲说：“我很渴。你能给我一点喝的东西的吗？”
水杯被温特太太拿到楼下，到厨房接热水去了。哈莉特手边没有水，她说，她有些玩茶会用的牛奶，问那行不行。
她父亲说：“那也行。”于是哈莉特把牛奶倒进玻璃杯，这时他说：“从药柜里把我的药瓶拿给我。”他用牛奶吃了一片药。
他把玻璃杯还给她，说：“别告诉你母亲这事，她不喜欢我吃药。”然后他又自言自语地说，“有时候我觉得，我死了她会很高兴的。”
警察问哈莉特：“为什么以前你不说这事呢？”
哈莉特说：“因为我父亲不让我说。”
“你什么时候告诉你母亲的？”
“我没有告诉她。我没有再见到她。”
“你告诉过别人吗？”
“没有人可告诉的。”
“你还有奶奶和姑妈嘛。”
“我绝不会告诉她们我们家的事，”哈莉特说。
检察官要陪审团相信，牛奶的故事是编造的，是为了帮助温特太太，但是，哈莉特坚持说这是真的。她没有机会和她母亲一起编造这样一个故事，也没有人相信她会自己编这么一个故事出来。
玻璃杯和茶盘上的茶杯都被洗干净了，那是温特太太等医生时洗的，这样就无法弄清楚毒药是怎么进来的。除了茶之外．温特先生还吃了几口甜饼，其它的甜饼还在茶盘上，可是温特先生咬过的那块已经扔掉了。温特太太说她想让病房显得整洁干净，她没有理由怀疑她丈夫被下了毒。
尸体解剖表明，他吃的毒药来自一个铁罐，那是买来杀花园里老鼠的。铁罐放在花园棚子里的架子上。花匠告诉法庭，这铁罐是温特先生给他的。他只见过温特太太一次，那次她向他要鲜花放在屋里。
温特先生不喜欢把花砍下来摆到屋里。花匠说他好几次听到他们为此争吵。他从来没有进过屋，他总是把蔬菜和鲜花送到厨房门口，如果他想喝茶，总是由一个仆人从厨房窗口递给他。
在法庭上，他们想让人们相信，温特太太喜欢那个花匠，花匠30岁左右，长得不错。不过，我觉得这是很可笑的，他只是个花匠，又没有什么钱。
哈莉特被叫到法庭上，检察官说她是一个重要的证人。我可以想象她非常镇静地说，“我不知道”，“我不记得了”。她说她母亲那天根本没有去花园，她自己下雨前倒是在花园草地上玩着。她母亲下楼准备茶点时，她正望着窗外，如果她母亲去花棚，她会看见的。没有发现湿的鞋子和裙子，警察在屋里也找不到更多的毒药。
关于这个案件的报道太多了，我没法全部读完，不过，最后，陪审团认定温特太太没有投毒。他们说没有充分的证据表明是故意投毒。我猜他们的意思是，可能是他自己吃的。
有一张剪报上说，温特太太带着她的孩子离开她的住地，到别处开始新的生活。我觉得这很可笑。你过了30岁，就很老了，不可能开始新的生活。
我的主要感觉就是非常羡慕哈莉特。她在10岁前就成了女主角！报纸上有她的照片。我开始做白日梦，梦想自己也站在法庭上，为奈德叔叔作证。当然，他不会被指控谋杀，不过他可能被控抢银行，或者说，人们认为他抢劫了银行。
我沉溺于自己的幻想中，在放回报纸时，差点被奶奶抓住。
“今天下午你在干什么？”阿加莎姑妈问，我告诉她我在读书。我腋下挟着奈德叔叔送我的新书。我开始觉得自己像哈莉特一样狡猾。
现在，我渴望再次见到她，但是，她和她母亲就像一对钻到地下的狐狸一样，根本见不着。我决定亲自把她找出来。一天下午，我把我的皮球从前门弹出去，然后我自己跟着向山坡下跑去。
幽谷屋就在山坡下，它之所以总是空着，原因之一就是那里非常潮湿。当我走近门口时，可以听到哈莉特在说话，我奇怪谁那么大胆，竟然去找她玩。
我故意把皮球扔进她的花园，然后从门口向里张望，这时，我发现她的同伴是想像的。她正坐在草地上，那套著名的茶具摊开在一张白布上。她看到我后，就严厉地问：“你想干什么？”
“我的皮球掉到你的花园了，”我说。
她想了一下，然后说：“你最好过来，把它拣走。”
我非常喜欢那套茶具，做得非常逼真。哈莉特用彩色石子、树叶和树枝来当饼干和面包。
“如果你愿意，可以留下喝茶，”她漫不经心地说，“我反正已经给你留下一个空位。”
“你怎么知道我要来？”我问，“其他人来得非常晚，是吗？”
她轻蔑地看了我一眼。“他们已经来了，”她说，“你看不见他们，那可不能怪我。”
她拿起一个茶壶，倒出看不见的茶。
“你自己加奶油吧，”她说，指指罐子。
我小心地把它倒出来。然后我拿起糖罐，摇出几块糖，放进茶杯中。让我大吃一惊的是，哈莉特抓住我的手。
“不经邀请，你不应该自己动手，”她说。我想擅自动手拿蛋糕时，我奶奶也总是打我的手。
“但是我已经拿了糖，”我说。
“那杯茶不是给你的，是给你奶奶的，”哈莉特指着草地上的一个地方，我顺从地把杯子放下。
“现在给你姑母，”她递给我一个茶杯，“还有狄克逊太太，她也不加糖。”
“奈德叔叔的呢？”我催促道。
“啊，我们不邀请男人，”哈莉特说，“如果你是个独居的女人，你不能邀请他们。再说，我们不想要他们。”
“我总是要奈德叔叔，”我说，并且残酷地补充了一句，“你不想念你父亲吗？”
“哦，他从来不跟我玩，他总是很忙，”她用最冷静的声音回答说，“父亲们不玩，他们四处旅行。”她狠狠瞪了我一眼，“你的父亲呢？他也走了？”
“他去印度了，他现在已经有另外一个妻子了。我想这里就是我的家。”
“那么他走了，”她听上去很得意，“我见过你的姑妈阿加莎。我母亲说她是个老处女。”我不知道这是什么意思，不过听起来不是什么好事。我还来不及回答，就听到有人叫我的名字，一回头，发现奈德叔叔站在门口。
“你奶奶正为你担心呢，维琪，”他说，“你应该告诉大家，你被邀请来喝茶。”
他冲哈莉特点点头，摘下帽子。
“她自己想留下的，”哈莉特漫不经心地说。
我开始向他解释事情的来龙去脉，这时，我发现他不再看我了。
他在凝视刚刚打开的前门。克拉德太太正走过来。
“我来自我介绍一下，”他说，“我是维琪的叔叔，爱德华·奥哈尔。维琪忘记告诉我们她去哪儿了。”
“很高兴哈莉特有个小伙伴，”克拉德太太说，“这里小孩子不多。”
哈莉特气愤地说：“我已经9岁，不是小孩了，而且我没有邀请她，她自己想要来的，她故意把她的皮球从墙上扔进来！”
“那她真是太抬举我们了。”她母亲说。她转向奈德叔叔，“我很乐意再次邀请她，不过，我们很快就要离开这里了。”
“那真是太遗憾了，”奈德叔叔说，“他们说这房子……”
“很潮湿。对，但不是因为这一点。主要是我不喜欢工业城市，甚至不喜欢考文垂。”
“如果有进城的门，那么应该也有出城的门，”我叔叔说。
“一扇秘密的门，”克拉德太太说，我再次看到她那灿烂的笑容。我想，她应该多笑笑，她的笑容会照亮整个世界。
“如果你找不到钥匙，那么有人会为你找到的。”
“如果它只向一个方向开放呢？”
“可以走进去。”
他们就像两个打网球的人，把球打来打去，不理睬旁人。我不明白他们在说什么，但是，我着迷地听着。
“这是一个孤独的地方，”克拉德太太说。
“那要看你跟谁在一起了。而且你要知道，”我叔叔说，“人不必要被大众左右。这就是说，一个人不必听信流言飞语。”
“你是第一个对我说这话的人。”
我看得出，他们俩都忘记了我们的存在，如果不是哈莉特插进来，这种交谈可能会无休止地进行下去，她说：“如果维琪的奶奶很为她担心，她是不是应该回家了？”
“也许你最后会改变主意的，”奈德叔叔催促说，“很抱歉打断你的茶会，哈莉特。”
“哦，很多人还留着呢，”哈莉特像个大人一样说。她看着我，“我告诉过你，我们不要男人。他们一来就弄得乱七八糟，然后就走了。”
“克拉德太太说到考文垂，那是什么意思啊？”回家上坡的路上，我问奈德叔叔。
“那个地方大家都不说话。”
“那为什么还去那儿呢？”
“人们不是去那里，人们是被赶到那里的。他们别无选择。”
在山坡顶上，阿加莎姑妈站在那里等。“你去哪儿了？”她训斥道。
“她的皮球掉到山坡下了，她去拾球，”奈德叔叔说。
他只字不提克拉德太太或哈莉特……
突然，我对克拉德母女失去了兴趣。韦斯顿一家来附近居住，他们的女儿辛西亚跟我们一起读书。我遇见她的第一天，就知道她是我等待已久的人。像我一样，她还是个孩子，我们立刻成为好朋友。
在那炎热漫长的夏天，我们形影不离。奶奶很快就去拜访她家，所以我可以随意邀请辛西亚来我们家玩，连玛丽也很喜欢她。我一想到哈莉特，就觉得她特别傲慢任性。我偶尔还会看到她，所以我知道她们还没有离开幽谷屋，但是，她对我来说，再也不重要了，或者说，我这么认为。
8月份，韦斯顿一家去海边。我们从来不出去，奶奶说乡下的空气非常好。我非常怀念辛西亚。我常常躺在果园长长的草丛中，编造一些我舍身救她的故事。
阿加莎姑妈总是训斥我：“如果你整天鼻子紧挨着书本，你会毁了你的眼睛和脑袋。”
奈德叔叔星期五还是过来，但是，甚至他也不那么有吸引力了。我每天都盼望着辛西亚早日归来。
那天下午，我的世界当着我的面爆炸了。
我读书读得很烦，于是想找点乐子。我四处张望，看到一个刺猬在花园边打洞。我跑到花园外面，可是刺猬已经不见了。我想去看看，附近有没有吉普赛人。可是，我却看到两个人在散步，一个是男的，另一个是女的，突然，那个男的把女的搂到他的怀里，他们像一个人那样站着。
他们是克拉德太太和奈德叔叔。
我不记得自己是不是叫出声，反正他们非常投入，根本没有听到我的声音。我刻意看出，他们不是第一次在这里相会。她投向他的怀抱，就象小鸟进巢一样自然。辛西亚和我有时谈到爱情和婚姻，总是认为它们是不可分离的，可是，奈德叔叔怎么可以跟克拉德太太结婚呢？
可是，他好像真的要那么做。同一天晚上，他要把这件事告诉了奶奶。我回过神来后．就急急忙忙地跑回屋里，一头扎到奶奶的怀里。
“什么事把你吓成这样？”她问。她有时候会变得非常温柔。“你没事吧？”
她把我领到客厅，把爷爷40年前带回来的中国玩具娃娃给我。这可是不同寻常的待遇。我躲到沙发后面，避开奶奶锐利的眼睛。她和阿加莎姑妈坐在长沙发的两头，一起绣一块祭坛的布。这时，奈德叔叔走了进来。
“你听到最近的谣言了吗？”阿加莎姑妈问他。“他们说克拉德太太终于准备离开幽谷屋了。我真不明白，她怎么会住那么长时间。”
“一个人会厌倦奔波的，”奈德叔叔说。
“现在她又要到别处去了，”阿加莎姑妈很得意地说。
“但这次她不是单独一人，也不是没有保护的。我将跟她一起离去。”
“你不应该开这种玩笑，”阿加莎姑妈叫道，“即使开玩笑，也不能开这样的玩笑，她是一位那么卑贱的女人。”
“玛格丽特不是卑贱的女人，”奈德叔叔说，“不久她将成为我的妻子。”
奶奶问道：“你发疯了吗？和这样一个女人结婚，你会毁了你自己的。谁还会跟你做生意呢？”
“哦，我们不会连累你们的，”奈德叔叔说，“我要到加拿大去工作。你们知道，我一直很喜欢旅行，很想到一个新的地方，那个地方的人不会整天无所事事，总是传闲话。”
“你不在意你孩子的母亲曾经被控谋杀前夫，受到过审讯？”
“她被判无罪，”奈德说。
“因为缺乏证据。”
“因为发现她是无辜的。”
“不对，”奶奶说，“她没有办法被定罪，这是截然不同的两码事。爱德华，如果你这么做的话，那我们就断绝一切来往。”
“我不相信你这话是当真的，”奈德叔叔说，“但是，无论如何我也不会放弃玛格丽特。我全身心地爱她。”
我一定是动了一下，因为突然他们意识到我在沙发后面。阿加莎姑妈抓住我，告诉我偷听是非常可耻的。
“别训她了，”奈德叔叔怒气冲冲地说，“我很乐意带她跟我们一起走。不管怎么说，维琪，我希望不久的将来，你会来看望我们。”
但是，我推开他。“你将属于她们，”我喊道，“你会忘掉我们。再说，你也不知道她没有犯罪。”
我猛地冲出客厅。
几天后，我在路上遇见哈莉特。消息已经传遍了全村，幽谷屋一副将被遗弃的样子。
“为什么你们要惹他？”我脱口叫道，“你们到来之前，我们是很快乐的。”
“是他惹我们，”她反驳道，“我们谁也不需要。”
“你母亲可不这么想。我看到他们在一起。”
“她属于我，”哈莉特尖叫道。
“再也不是了，”我像她一样残酷地说，“现在他最重要了。”
突然，她不生气了，她似乎在几英里之外，虽然我们面对面站着。
“他最好当心点，”她说，“我告诉过你，我是个女巫，我想要什么事发生，它就会发生。”
“你并不想要这事发生，”我嘲讽地说。
但她只是笑笑，跑开了。
那天晚上，狂风大作，雷声轰鸣。我躺在床上，全身发抖，痛恨外面的风雨声。我想起哈莉和她的话。“我想要什么事发生，它就会发生。”她想要的，就是完全占有她母亲，以前有人想分开她们，他已经死了。
这就像黑夜中的一道闪电。
就在那一刻，我知道了温特先生之死的真相。
我并不责怪警察没有想到这一点——谁会怀疑一个9岁的小孩呢？在我的眼前，浮现出一幅图景：她故意把毒药放进牛奶中，那天早晨，她在花园玩，看到花匠把毒药放在外面杀老鼠，谁会注意一个小女孩的行踪呢？她一定是拿了毒药，等待时机用它，她没有想到机会当天就来了。但是，不管怎么说，她都决定要投毒，因为她知道最终她母亲会离开她——作为妻子，她别无选择。
我奇怪她为什么不拿着玻璃杯到厨房接水，但是，毒药放在牛奶中更不容易看出。她然后把玻璃杯洗干净，不留下任何痕迹。
我知道，我告诉你我知道，但是，我不知道怎么证明。没有一个人会相信我的话，我甚至会因此而受到鞭打。
这时，我想起那天在幽谷屋花园的茶会。那个糖罐！警察可能会搜查整个屋子，寻找毒药的痕迹，但是，他们不会想到是一个小孩干的。他们不知道，哈莉特从来就不是一个小孩。
现在必须警告奈德叔叔，剩下的时间不多了，但是，我首先应该搞到糖罐。没有证据的指控是浪费时间。
第二天，我大摇大摆地去幽谷屋。那里一片凄凉的样子，墙上的画都取下来了，地毯也都卷了起来。
克拉德太太出来迎接我。爱情使她更漂亮了，虽然我认为那是不可能的。我知道我要破坏那种幸福：我认为她一点也不知道哈莉特的所作所为。
“我来看哈莉特，”我告诉她。
“她正在帮我收拾东西，”克拉德太太说。然后她喊道，“哈莉特，维琪向你告别来了。”哈莉特慢慢地走出来，停在楼梯中间。“再见，”她说。她的脸阴沉沉的，很不友好。
“不能这么说再见，”克拉德太太笑着告诉她。“进来，维琪。你没有捎来你奶奶的口信吧？瞧，我问了一个愚蠢的问题。你想在这儿干什么？”
“我想再玩一次茶具，”我说，“我从来没有见过那么漂亮的东西。”
“哦，那已经打包了，”哈莉特漫不经心地说，“你来得太晚了。”
“我们正在洗它们呢，”克拉德太太说。
哈莉特点点头，“一件一件地洗。”
她的眼睛紧盯着我的，我明白她知道我在怀疑什么，她正在嘲笑我，因为我现在已无能为力。
我说：“糖罐里有糖。”
哈莉特说：“如果没有，就不好了。”
“为什么你不把它送给维琪呢？”克拉德太太催促道，“留个纪念嘛。”
“没有那东西，她就不记得我们了？”哈莉特说，但她还是顺从地去取装茶具的盒子。我知道我决不会玩它的，我恨它，我会把它踩得稀烂，但是，我不用费力了。
克拉德太太说：“哈莉特自己会想念它的，”就在这时，传来一声巨响。我们赶快跑过去，看到茶具已经掉在地上摔坏了，哈莉特正俯身看着那些碎片。
“当心，”克拉德太太警告说，“别割伤了你自己。怎么回事？”
“我不当心掉在地上了，”哈莉特镇静地说，“我不得不松手，否则就会伤了我自己。”
“我们会再送你一套的，维琪，”她母亲保证说，“这些已经坏了，只能扔到垃圾箱去。”她拿来一把扫帚，把碎片扫起来，包到纸里。我知道，我最后的机会从我手中溜走了。现在，没有证据了，一点证据也没有了。
“喝一杯真的茶怎么样？”克拉德太太说，“刚好我们还有些蛋糕。维琪，你要加糖吗？”我心想：“当我老了，写回忆录时，我可以说我曾经跟一个杀人犯喝过茶。”
那是5天前的事。明天克拉德太太和哈莉特要去伦敦，奈德叔叔在那里等她们，克拉德太太和奈德叔叔会结婚，此后就太晚了。
现在是凌晨三点钟，还剩下4个小时。还有时间产生奇迹：雷电把幽谷屋烧成灰烬，烧死里面的住户……
我坐着等待黎明，天慢慢亮了。
我不知道怎么办。
我不知道，也没有人可以问……
一个寡妇带着一个小姑娘，租下了幽谷屋，听到这个消息，我非常高兴，这下我可有玩伴了。我们家全是些老人，奶奶、阿加莎姑妈还有叔叔奈德，他只在周末来这里。连他也很老了——大约30岁。我有三个姐姐，可是她们都很大了，不愿意跟我玩，她们认为我是个傻丫头。
所以我迫不及待地等奶奶去拜访克拉德太太，只有在她拜访之后，我才能邀请小姑娘来玩。我渴望早点有个小伙伴。
但是，在此之前，我却先遇到了哈莉特。
实际上，奶奶根本没有去拜访幽谷屋，而我跟哈莉特的会面也纯属偶然。
那天下午，我的奶妈玛丽派我替她去寄一封信。在回家的路上，我看到两个陌生人迎面走来。在我们这个小村子里，大家互相都认识，所以一看到陌生人，我马上猜出她们一定是克拉德太太和她的女儿。
我先看了哈莉特一眼，不禁大吃一惊。她比我矮，像她母亲一样优雅，她们俩穿的衣服非常漂亮，我们这里从来没人穿过。她是个非常引人注目的女孩子，皮肤洁白如雪，一对棕色眼睛特别大，还有浓密的睫毛。
但是，我第一眼就知道，她绝对不会是我的玩伴。因为，虽然她比我小两个月，但她已经不是孩子了。她像个小大人，甚至她的举止也显得从容不迫。我知道，她决不会像我那样鲁莽笨拙，动不动久打破东西。不过，当我们走近时，我还是冲她露出微笑，我想向她表明，奶奶不去拜访她们，可不是我的错。
她直勾勾地盯着我，让我觉得自己就像个幽灵一样。在不安中，我转而去看克拉德太太，于是又大吃一惊。我听奈德叔叔说，莉莉是个绝代佳人，她走过时，大家纷纷冲到窗户边看她。
克拉德太太就是那样的绝代佳人。她看到我在注视她，就冲我微微一笑，我一下子目瞪口呆地怔在那里。她的笑容真是太灿烂了。
她没有说话，她知道这里的社交规矩。我们擦身而过后，我听到哈莉特说：“没必要理睬，我们不认识她。”
克拉德太太的声音像她的人一样可爱。“我希望我们认识，哈莉特。为了你的缘故，我希望我们认识。”
“我遇见克拉德太太和她女儿了，”我回到家后，告诉玛丽，“为什么奶奶不拜访她们呢？”
“别问了！”玛丽说，我觉得她自己其实也不知道。但是，后来我听到她问女仆：“我倒想知道，克拉德先生是谁？”
我趴到栏杆上。“他死了，”我喊道。我猜想他一定是个非常邪恶的人。克拉德太太就是因为他才变得不受欢迎的。
奶奶仍然没有去拜访她们。大约一个月后，我再次遇到克拉德母女。玛丽带我到罗宾逊先生的店里去买一副手套。罗宾逊先生总是站在店门口，迎接客人，他的两个女儿鲁西和艾尔西在店里服务。
我们买好了我的手套，玛丽和鲁西在商店的最里面低声聊天，这时，克拉德太太和哈莉特走了进来。克拉德太太要给她女儿买一副皮手筒。我们大家都戴皮手筒，大部分是带黑尾巴的白兔皮的，用一根丝带挂到脖子上。
艾尔西说白兔手筒已经卖完了，她拿出一副非常漂亮的棕色皮手筒。艾尔西说，这比白的更耐用。
哈莉特勃然大怒。“我不要棕色的，”她喊道，“这么脏的颜色。”
她跑到我站的这边，我正在那里看胸针，有一个猫形胸针，我觉得它非常漂亮。
“这些都是垃圾，”哈莉特用一种轻蔑的口气说。她拿起一个小金盒，又把它扔下。“这不是真的，”她轻蔑地哼了一声。
她自己就带着一个非常漂亮的小金盒，她开始在我面前晃悠它。她可能偶然碰到了里面的弹簧，链条分开，盒子掉到地上。我弯下腰把它捡起来。盒子的一面有三颗珍珠，另一面刻着H．W.两个字母。
“这是你奶奶的吗？”我说。我奶奶就给过我一个。
“当然不是，”哈莉特说，低下头，这样我可以给她重新挂上。“别扯我的头发。这是我6岁时给我的。”
“但是，这上面的字母不是你的名字啊，”我坚持说。
“那是因为我父亲走了，”她说。我知道她的意思是说他去世了。“以前我叫哈莉特·温特，我们在海边有一栋房子，我奶奶的房子比你奶奶的大得多。我也有一个姑妈，格雷斯姑妈。”
“我就要这个棕色的手筒吧，”我们听到克拉德太太说。
哈莉特回过头，笑了起来。“你用那么小的手筒，看上去一定很可笑，”她说。“如果你把它给我，我决不会用它的。我会把它从窗口扔出去的。”她使劲跺了跺脚。
艾尔西包手筒时，克拉德太太转过头来说：“你是道尔屋的小姑娘，对吗？”
玛丽一定是听到她的问话了。“喂，维琪小姐，”她说，“我告诉过你，别打扰别人。”她伸出手，我很不情愿地走过去，拉住她的手。克拉德太太接过包好的手筒，走出商店，哈莉特跟在她身后。
“她只是个小娃娃，”我听到哈莉特轻蔑地说，“她喜欢小猫胸针。”
“我知道有人应该好好教训一下，”玛丽在回家的路上说，“那个大小姐！”
“玛丽，”我并不想跟她说，可是实在没什么人可说了，我问，“如果我父亲死了，我需要改自己的姓名吗？”
“什么？”玛丽叫道，“维琪，你说得真好笑，你怎么会有这种想法呢？”
“哈莉特·克拉德过去叫哈莉特·温特，那是在她父亲去世前，”我说，“她住在一栋靠海的房子里，她也有一个奶奶，还有一个叫格雷斯的叔叔。”
片刻的沉默。然后玛丽声音很奇怪地说：“这是她告诉你的吗？天哪，我早该想到了！”
“想到什么？”我问。
她拉了我一下，催我快点走。“你知道你奶奶不喜欢别人传闲话，”她警告我说，“那是很庸俗的。”
午饭有客人，所以我在自己过去的婴儿室吃饭。大人不允许我到厨房吃饭，我其实很喜欢那里。饭后，我拿着我的书，来到花园。那本书非常乏味，我希望奈德叔叔从伦敦给我带一本新的来，他在伦敦工作。
我想到花园抓青蛙，但是没有找到，于是我决定向厨子要一杯水，即使我抓不到青蛙，至少我可以画一只。
我经过厨房窗口时，看到厨子和一群女仆围坐在一张桌子边，头靠着头。
“这是千真万确的，”玛丽说，“她不可能编那么一个故事！”
“她到这里来，竟然还指望着体面人会去拜访她！”一个女仆说。
“我觉得这非常有意思，”另一个女仆说，“一个真正的凶手。”
“她不是，”厨子说，“法庭说不是。这可怜的人总得找个地方住啊。”
“怪不得那个小姑娘那么乖戾。”玛丽说，“我不能原谅她的，就是这一点：把哈莉特卷进去。”
“她是被卷进去的，”厨子说，“被毒死的是她父亲。”
我蹲在窗户下，兴奋得全身发抖。
“真奇怪，我竟然没有早想到，”玛丽沉思道，“我的意思是说，她叫哈莉特，照片又上了报纸。”
一个女仆说：“报纸？那是四个月前的事吧？科茨先生最近来过吗？”
我们家的旧报纸都放在地下室，科茨先生隔几个月来一次，收购旧报纸。
我听到地下室的门打开了，我知道女仆下去查了。我轻轻站起身，但是，我相信，即使我站在窗台上，她们也不会注意到我。她们都太专注了。
女仆回来后，我听到翻报纸的声音，过了很长一段时间，厨子说道：“找到啦！这里有哈莉特在法庭上的照片。”
她们都忙着看报纸，没有注意到奈德叔叔走进去。他比平常来得早，而且一来就直奔厨房。他是家里最受欢迎的人。这不仅是因为他长得英俊，还因为他总是那么沉静，遇事从不慌乱。
“我打断了讨论会吗？”我听到他说，“一张多么可爱的脸啊！我好像见过它，啊，想起来了。为什么你们又把温特案子翻出来？它已经结束了。”
玛丽告诉他说：“这是幽谷屋新来的那位女士，她的女儿今天早晨在罗宾逊商店跟维琪小姐说过话。”
当奈德叔叔再次开口说话时，我几乎听不出是他的声音。“天哪，”他说，“旧事重提。我想每个人都不想让她忘记。她在哪儿？我是说维琪？”
“在花园里，”玛丽说。
我从窗户边溜到屋角，然后跑到花园，打开书本，等着他的到来。
“读得很高兴，是吗？”奈德叔叔说，“你什么时候开始倒着看书了？”
“你给我带新书了吗？”我问，“这本书我已经读完了。”
“你在这儿多长时间了？”奈德叔叔问。“维琪，别撒谎。”
“我并不是故意要听的，”我脱口而出，不知道奈德叔叔会怎么处理这事。“我去要水，她们刚好在说话，我听到哈莉特的名字。”
“你听到什么？”叔叔问。
“克拉德太太——毒死了她丈夫。”我结结巴巴地说。
“不对。陪审团已经洗清了她的罪名，她没有毒死她丈夫，她被释放了。”
“如果她没有做，”我说，“那她为什么要改名换姓呢？”
“因为无罪是不够的，大家必须相信你是无罪的。你明白吗？”
我点点头。“我想我明白。去年圣诞节，阿加莎姑妈说我打破了客厅的花瓶。其实我没有，一定是风吹的。但是，她不相信我的话。”
我记得，当时我很吃惊，发现你说了实话，却不被别人相信，因为你无法证明。只有我自己知道，我没有打破花瓶。有时候，我奇怪上帝怎么沉默不语呢？为什么不出面帮助那些麻烦缠身的人呢？不过，如果真是那样的话，人间不就是完全公平的了？那又要天堂干什么？
“克拉德太太也是这样的吗？”我问。
奈德叔叔点点头。“是的，维琪，”他说，“她也是同样的情况。”
那天晚上，我走过客厅时，看到阿加莎姑妈在往一张牛皮纸上贴报纸。我马上猜到那是有关审讯克拉德太太的报道。阿加莎姑妈好像脑袋后面长了眼睛一样，头也不回地叫道：“维琪，我以前告诉过你，不要四处乱打听，这很不好。”
我快步跑回自己的床上，我下了决心，一定要搞到那些报纸，读完所有的报道。
我不得不等了一个多星期。奈德叔叔已经回伦敦了，我简直就是自己家里的囚徒。大人甚至不让我一个人去寄信。
一天下午，雇来的一辆马车送奶奶和阿加莎姑妈出去串门。我听到阿加莎姑妈大声说，她们可能晚点儿回来。我猜她们觉得有责任把克拉德太太的事告诉所有的人。
我很幸运，玛丽牙疼，不得不去拔牙，屋里只剩下厨子。她告诉我别淘气，乖乖地在花园玩。
一等到四周没人，我马上溜进书房。我确信报纸在奈德叔叔的柜子里。柜子是锁着的，可是我在他的书桌抽屉里找到了钥匙。我从柜子里拿出报纸，厚厚的一大摞，上面有克拉德太太、哈莉特和温特先生的照片，报纸上称温特先生为“死者”，称克拉德太太为“温特太太”。
我抓起报纸，飞快地跑到阁楼，那里不会有人打扰我。我坐在一张旧椅子上，开始读那些报纸。
有些词我搞不懂，不得不读好几遍，不过，大致的过程我还是看懂了，下面是我读到的故事。
大约10年前，玛格丽特·克拉德18岁，她跟比她大许多的查尔斯·温特结婚，他们生了一个女儿，哈莉特，她母亲非常宠爱她。
在他死前一个月，温特先生的工作发生变动，他要到国外去工作，由于那里的气候，不能带小孩一起去。他提出把哈莉特留给他的母亲和未婚的妹妹格雷斯照管。温特太太说，无论如何她都不愿意和她的女儿分开。哈莉特是个被宠坏了的孩子，她大吵大闹，声称如果她母亲离开她，她就要跳水自杀。
双方谁也不让步。温特太太说，如果她丈夫坚持要去海外工作，那她就留在国内，不随他一起去。事情陷入了僵局，这种情况一直持续到温特先生死前一星期，就在这时，温特先生突然病倒了，发高烧。虽然温特太太在跟她丈夫闹矛盾，但她还是非常尽心地照顾他。温特家只有一个仆人，另一个已经辞掉了，因为温特先生要离开这里。所以，大部分饭菜都是由温特太太自己做的，病人也主要由她照顾。医生说，病情并不严重，高烧很快就会退，不会有什么大问题。
温特先生仍然坚持要离开这里，去国外工作，他也仍然坚持要他妻子陪他一起去。
在致命的那天下午，仆人出去看望她父母，那天因为突然下起雨来，所以哈莉特就在病房外面的楼梯平台上玩，她玩的是玩具茶会，这事听上去似乎无关紧要，其实却关系重大。
大约4点钟时，温特太太告诉哈莉特，她要去楼下准备茶点。
“陪你父亲坐着，等我回来，”她说，“他要什么就给他，别惹他生气，他的病还很严重呢。”
这与医生的看法大相径庭，医生认为他已经开始康复了。
大约15分钟后，温特太太端着茶盘回来，哈莉特又去玩她的玩具茶会。片刻之后，病房里传来呻吟和呕吐的声音。哈莉特仍然在原地玩游戏，一直到她母亲来到门口，说：“你父亲病情突然恶化，我们应该去叫布莱尔医生，但是谁去叫他呢？阿丽丝出去了，他病得这么严重，我不想让你单独跟他在一起。”
哈莉特说：“我可以去叫医生。”外面下着雨，温特太太很不愿意让哈莉特一个人出去，不过她觉得别无选择。于是她给了哈莉特一张字条，不久以后，格雷斯姑妈在乘车回家的路上，看到哈莉特。
格雷斯姑妈停下车，问哈莉特为什么一个人在外面乱跑。哈莉特已经迷了路，她解释她父亲病情突然恶化，格雷斯姑妈马上开车到医生家，并陪着医生和孩子回到她哥哥家。
温特太大开的门，她说：“啊，医生，快点进来吧，他好像不行了。我不知道是什么引起病情恶化的，不可能是因为吃了什么不好的东西，因为他吃的所有东西都是我亲手做的。”
她领他们上了楼，病房的门开着。温特先生一见到他妹妹，就用微弱的声音说：“格雷斯，我被下了毒。”
格雷斯想要留下，但医生要做检查，就把她和哈莉特赶出病房。
对温特太太很不利的一件事是，她没有留下任何呕吐物。后来，格雷斯被允许回到病房中，她坐在床边，握着她哥哥的手，问他：“亨利，是谁下的毒？”但他已经昏迷过去了，说不出话了。
后来，格雷斯带着哈莉特回到家，哈莉特非常不愿意跟她回家。
医生留下来，大约凌晨4点钟时，在昏迷了很长一段时间之后，温特死了。
医生根据死者所说的话，坚持在解剖尸体前，不签发死亡证书。
格雷斯不能回家，她写了一张字条，派阿丽丝送回家。
不久，警察来到哈莉特奶奶家，要求见哈莉特。她似乎非常镇静地问：“他死了？是被毒死的吗？会不会是牛奶里有什么东西？”
警察说，到目前为止，他们还不知道牛奶的事。于是哈莉特讲了一件事。在她母亲下楼后，她父亲说：“我很渴。你能给我一点喝的东西的吗？”
水杯被温特太太拿到楼下，到厨房接热水去了。哈莉特手边没有水，她说，她有些玩茶会用的牛奶，问那行不行。
她父亲说：“那也行。”于是哈莉特把牛奶倒进玻璃杯，这时他说：“从药柜里把我的药瓶拿给我。”他用牛奶吃了一片药。
他把玻璃杯还给她，说：“别告诉你母亲这事，她不喜欢我吃药。”然后他又自言自语地说，“有时候我觉得，我死了她会很高兴的。”
警察问哈莉特：“为什么以前你不说这事呢？”
哈莉特说：“因为我父亲不让我说。”
“你什么时候告诉你母亲的？”
“我没有告诉她。我没有再见到她。”
“你告诉过别人吗？”
“没有人可告诉的。”
“你还有奶奶和姑妈嘛。”
“我绝不会告诉她们我们家的事，”哈莉特说。
检察官要陪审团相信，牛奶的故事是编造的，是为了帮助温特太太，但是，哈莉特坚持说这是真的。她没有机会和她母亲一起编造这样一个故事，也没有人相信她会自己编这么一个故事出来。
玻璃杯和茶盘上的茶杯都被洗干净了，那是温特太太等医生时洗的，这样就无法弄清楚毒药是怎么进来的。除了茶之外．温特先生还吃了几口甜饼，其它的甜饼还在茶盘上，可是温特先生咬过的那块已经扔掉了。温特太太说她想让病房显得整洁干净，她没有理由怀疑她丈夫被下了毒。
尸体解剖表明，他吃的毒药来自一个铁罐，那是买来杀花园里老鼠的。铁罐放在花园棚子里的架子上。花匠告诉法庭，这铁罐是温特先生给他的。他只见过温特太太一次，那次她向他要鲜花放在屋里。
温特先生不喜欢把花砍下来摆到屋里。花匠说他好几次听到他们为此争吵。他从来没有进过屋，他总是把蔬菜和鲜花送到厨房门口，如果他想喝茶，总是由一个仆人从厨房窗口递给他。
在法庭上，他们想让人们相信，温特太太喜欢那个花匠，花匠30岁左右，长得不错。不过，我觉得这是很可笑的，他只是个花匠，又没有什么钱。
哈莉特被叫到法庭上，检察官说她是一个重要的证人。我可以想象她非常镇静地说，“我不知道”，“我不记得了”。她说她母亲那天根本没有去花园，她自己下雨前倒是在花园草地上玩着。她母亲下楼准备茶点时，她正望着窗外，如果她母亲去花棚，她会看见的。没有发现湿的鞋子和裙子，警察在屋里也找不到更多的毒药。
关于这个案件的报道太多了，我没法全部读完，不过，最后，陪审团认定温特太太没有投毒。他们说没有充分的证据表明是故意投毒。我猜他们的意思是，可能是他自己吃的。
有一张剪报上说，温特太太带着她的孩子离开她的住地，到别处开始新的生活。我觉得这很可笑。你过了30岁，就很老了，不可能开始新的生活。
我的主要感觉就是非常羡慕哈莉特。她在10岁前就成了女主角！报纸上有她的照片。我开始做白日梦，梦想自己也站在法庭上，为奈德叔叔作证。当然，他不会被指控谋杀，不过他可能被控抢银行，或者说，人们认为他抢劫了银行。
我沉溺于自己的幻想中，在放回报纸时，差点被奶奶抓住。
“今天下午你在干什么？”阿加莎姑妈问，我告诉她我在读书。我腋下挟着奈德叔叔送我的新书。我开始觉得自己像哈莉特一样狡猾。
现在，我渴望再次见到她，但是，她和她母亲就像一对钻到地下的狐狸一样，根本见不着。我决定亲自把她找出来。一天下午，我把我的皮球从前门弹出去，然后我自己跟着向山坡下跑去。
幽谷屋就在山坡下，它之所以总是空着，原因之一就是那里非常潮湿。当我走近门口时，可以听到哈莉特在说话，我奇怪谁那么大胆，竟然去找她玩。
我故意把皮球扔进她的花园，然后从门口向里张望，这时，我发现她的同伴是想像的。她正坐在草地上，那套著名的茶具摊开在一张白布上。她看到我后，就严厉地问：“你想干什么？”
“我的皮球掉到你的花园了，”我说。
她想了一下，然后说：“你最好过来，把它拣走。”
我非常喜欢那套茶具，做得非常逼真。哈莉特用彩色石子、树叶和树枝来当饼干和面包。
“如果你愿意，可以留下喝茶，”她漫不经心地说，“我反正已经给你留下一个空位。”
“你怎么知道我要来？”我问，“其他人来得非常晚，是吗？”
她轻蔑地看了我一眼。“他们已经来了，”她说，“你看不见他们，那可不能怪我。”
她拿起一个茶壶，倒出看不见的茶。
“你自己加奶油吧，”她说，指指罐子。
我小心地把它倒出来。然后我拿起糖罐，摇出几块糖，放进茶杯中。让我大吃一惊的是，哈莉特抓住我的手。
“不经邀请，你不应该自己动手，”她说。我想擅自动手拿蛋糕时，我奶奶也总是打我的手。
“但是我已经拿了糖，”我说。
“那杯茶不是给你的，是给你奶奶的，”哈莉特指着草地上的一个地方，我顺从地把杯子放下。
“现在给你姑母，”她递给我一个茶杯，“还有狄克逊太太，她也不加糖。”
“奈德叔叔的呢？”我催促道。
“啊，我们不邀请男人，”哈莉特说，“如果你是个独居的女人，你不能邀请他们。再说，我们不想要他们。”
“我总是要奈德叔叔，”我说，并且残酷地补充了一句，“你不想念你父亲吗？”
“哦，他从来不跟我玩，他总是很忙，”她用最冷静的声音回答说，“父亲们不玩，他们四处旅行。”她狠狠瞪了我一眼，“你的父亲呢？他也走了？”
“他去印度了，他现在已经有另外一个妻子了。我想这里就是我的家。”
“那么他走了，”她听上去很得意，“我见过你的姑妈阿加莎。我母亲说她是个老处女。”我不知道这是什么意思，不过听起来不是什么好事。我还来不及回答，就听到有人叫我的名字，一回头，发现奈德叔叔站在门口。
“你奶奶正为你担心呢，维琪，”他说，“你应该告诉大家，你被邀请来喝茶。”
他冲哈莉特点点头，摘下帽子。
“她自己想留下的，”哈莉特漫不经心地说。
我开始向他解释事情的来龙去脉，这时，我发现他不再看我了。
他在凝视刚刚打开的前门。克拉德太太正走过来。
“我来自我介绍一下，”他说，“我是维琪的叔叔，爱德华·奥哈尔。维琪忘记告诉我们她去哪儿了。”
“很高兴哈莉特有个小伙伴，”克拉德太太说，“这里小孩子不多。”
哈莉特气愤地说：“我已经9岁，不是小孩了，而且我没有邀请她，她自己想要来的，她故意把她的皮球从墙上扔进来！”
“那她真是太抬举我们了。”她母亲说。她转向奈德叔叔，“我很乐意再次邀请她，不过，我们很快就要离开这里了。”
“那真是太遗憾了，”奈德叔叔说，“他们说这房子……”
“很潮湿。对，但不是因为这一点。主要是我不喜欢工业城市，甚至不喜欢考文垂。”
“如果有进城的门，那么应该也有出城的门，”我叔叔说。
“一扇秘密的门，”克拉德太太说，我再次看到她那灿烂的笑容。我想，她应该多笑笑，她的笑容会照亮整个世界。
“如果你找不到钥匙，那么有人会为你找到的。”
“如果它只向一个方向开放呢？”
“可以走进去。”
他们就像两个打网球的人，把球打来打去，不理睬旁人。我不明白他们在说什么，但是，我着迷地听着。
“这是一个孤独的地方，”克拉德太太说。
“那要看你跟谁在一起了。而且你要知道，”我叔叔说，“人不必要被大众左右。这就是说，一个人不必听信流言飞语。”
“你是第一个对我说这话的人。”
我看得出，他们俩都忘记了我们的存在，如果不是哈莉特插进来，这种交谈可能会无休止地进行下去，她说：“如果维琪的奶奶很为她担心，她是不是应该回家了？”
“也许你最后会改变主意的，”奈德叔叔催促说，“很抱歉打断你的茶会，哈莉特。”
“哦，很多人还留着呢，”哈莉特像个大人一样说。她看着我，“我告诉过你，我们不要男人。他们一来就弄得乱七八糟，然后就走了。”
“克拉德太太说到考文垂，那是什么意思啊？”回家上坡的路上，我问奈德叔叔。
“那个地方大家都不说话。”
“那为什么还去那儿呢？”
“人们不是去那里，人们是被赶到那里的。他们别无选择。”
在山坡顶上，阿加莎姑妈站在那里等。“你去哪儿了？”她训斥道。
“她的皮球掉到山坡下了，她去拾球，”奈德叔叔说。
他只字不提克拉德太太或哈莉特……
突然，我对克拉德母女失去了兴趣。韦斯顿一家来附近居住，他们的女儿辛西亚跟我们一起读书。我遇见她的第一天，就知道她是我等待已久的人。像我一样，她还是个孩子，我们立刻成为好朋友。
在那炎热漫长的夏天，我们形影不离。奶奶很快就去拜访她家，所以我可以随意邀请辛西亚来我们家玩，连玛丽也很喜欢她。我一想到哈莉特，就觉得她特别傲慢任性。我偶尔还会看到她，所以我知道她们还没有离开幽谷屋，但是，她对我来说，再也不重要了，或者说，我这么认为。
8月份，韦斯顿一家去海边。我们从来不出去，奶奶说乡下的空气非常好。我非常怀念辛西亚。我常常躺在果园长长的草丛中，编造一些我舍身救她的故事。
阿加莎姑妈总是训斥我：“如果你整天鼻子紧挨着书本，你会毁了你的眼睛和脑袋。”
奈德叔叔星期五还是过来，但是，甚至他也不那么有吸引力了。我每天都盼望着辛西亚早日归来。
那天下午，我的世界当着我的面爆炸了。
我读书读得很烦，于是想找点乐子。我四处张望，看到一个刺猬在花园边打洞。我跑到花园外面，可是刺猬已经不见了。我想去看看，附近有没有吉普赛人。可是，我却看到两个人在散步，一个是男的，另一个是女的，突然，那个男的把女的搂到他的怀里，他们像一个人那样站着。
他们是克拉德太太和奈德叔叔。
我不记得自己是不是叫出声，反正他们非常投入，根本没有听到我的声音。我刻意看出，他们不是第一次在这里相会。她投向他的怀抱，就象小鸟进巢一样自然。辛西亚和我有时谈到爱情和婚姻，总是认为它们是不可分离的，可是，奈德叔叔怎么可以跟克拉德太太结婚呢？
可是，他好像真的要那么做。同一天晚上，他要把这件事告诉了奶奶。我回过神来后．就急急忙忙地跑回屋里，一头扎到奶奶的怀里。
“什么事把你吓成这样？”她问。她有时候会变得非常温柔。“你没事吧？”
她把我领到客厅，把爷爷40年前带回来的中国玩具娃娃给我。这可是不同寻常的待遇。我躲到沙发后面，避开奶奶锐利的眼睛。她和阿加莎姑妈坐在长沙发的两头，一起绣一块祭坛的布。这时，奈德叔叔走了进来。
“你听到最近的谣言了吗？”阿加莎姑妈问他。“他们说克拉德太太终于准备离开幽谷屋了。我真不明白，她怎么会住那么长时间。”
“一个人会厌倦奔波的，”奈德叔叔说。
“现在她又要到别处去了，”阿加莎姑妈很得意地说。
“但这次她不是单独一人，也不是没有保护的。我将跟她一起离去。”
“你不应该开这种玩笑，”阿加莎姑妈叫道，“即使开玩笑，也不能开这样的玩笑，她是一位那么卑贱的女人。”
“玛格丽特不是卑贱的女人，”奈德叔叔说，“不久她将成为我的妻子。”
奶奶问道：“你发疯了吗？和这样一个女人结婚，你会毁了你自己的。谁还会跟你做生意呢？”
“哦，我们不会连累你们的，”奈德叔叔说，“我要到加拿大去工作。你们知道，我一直很喜欢旅行，很想到一个新的地方，那个地方的人不会整天无所事事，总是传闲话。”
“你不在意你孩子的母亲曾经被控谋杀前夫，受到过审讯？”
“她被判无罪，”奈德说。
“因为缺乏证据。”
“因为发现她是无辜的。”
“不对，”奶奶说，“她没有办法被定罪，这是截然不同的两码事。爱德华，如果你这么做的话，那我们就断绝一切来往。”
“我不相信你这话是当真的，”奈德叔叔说，“但是，无论如何我也不会放弃玛格丽特。我全身心地爱她。”
我一定是动了一下，因为突然他们意识到我在沙发后面。阿加莎姑妈抓住我，告诉我偷听是非常可耻的。
“别训她了，”奈德叔叔怒气冲冲地说，“我很乐意带她跟我们一起走。不管怎么说，维琪，我希望不久的将来，你会来看望我们。”
但是，我推开他。“你将属于她们，”我喊道，“你会忘掉我们。再说，你也不知道她没有犯罪。”
我猛地冲出客厅。
几天后，我在路上遇见哈莉特。消息已经传遍了全村，幽谷屋一副将被遗弃的样子。
“为什么你们要惹他？”我脱口叫道，“你们到来之前，我们是很快乐的。”
“是他惹我们，”她反驳道，“我们谁也不需要。”
“你母亲可不这么想。我看到他们在一起。”
“她属于我，”哈莉特尖叫道。
“再也不是了，”我像她一样残酷地说，“现在他最重要了。”
突然，她不生气了，她似乎在几英里之外，虽然我们面对面站着。
“他最好当心点，”她说，“我告诉过你，我是个女巫，我想要什么事发生，它就会发生。”
“你并不想要这事发生，”我嘲讽地说。
但她只是笑笑，跑开了。
那天晚上，狂风大作，雷声轰鸣。我躺在床上，全身发抖，痛恨外面的风雨声。我想起哈莉和她的话。“我想要什么事发生，它就会发生。”她想要的，就是完全占有她母亲，以前有人想分开她们，他已经死了。
这就像黑夜中的一道闪电。
就在那一刻，我知道了温特先生之死的真相。
我并不责怪警察没有想到这一点——谁会怀疑一个9岁的小孩呢？在我的眼前，浮现出一幅图景：她故意把毒药放进牛奶中，那天早晨，她在花园玩，看到花匠把毒药放在外面杀老鼠，谁会注意一个小女孩的行踪呢？她一定是拿了毒药，等待时机用它，她没有想到机会当天就来了。但是，不管怎么说，她都决定要投毒，因为她知道最终她母亲会离开她——作为妻子，她别无选择。
我奇怪她为什么不拿着玻璃杯到厨房接水，但是，毒药放在牛奶中更不容易看出。她然后把玻璃杯洗干净，不留下任何痕迹。
我知道，我告诉你我知道，但是，我不知道怎么证明。没有一个人会相信我的话，我甚至会因此而受到鞭打。
这时，我想起那天在幽谷屋花园的茶会。那个糖罐！警察可能会搜查整个屋子，寻找毒药的痕迹，但是，他们不会想到是一个小孩干的。他们不知道，哈莉特从来就不是一个小孩。
现在必须警告奈德叔叔，剩下的时间不多了，但是，我首先应该搞到糖罐。没有证据的指控是浪费时间。
第二天，我大摇大摆地去幽谷屋。那里一片凄凉的样子，墙上的画都取下来了，地毯也都卷了起来。
克拉德太太出来迎接我。爱情使她更漂亮了，虽然我认为那是不可能的。我知道我要破坏那种幸福：我认为她一点也不知道哈莉特的所作所为。
“我来看哈莉特，”我告诉她。
“她正在帮我收拾东西，”克拉德太太说。然后她喊道，“哈莉特，维琪向你告别来了。”哈莉特慢慢地走出来，停在楼梯中间。“再见，”她说。她的脸阴沉沉的，很不友好。
“不能这么说再见，”克拉德太太笑着告诉她。“进来，维琪。你没有捎来你奶奶的口信吧？瞧，我问了一个愚蠢的问题。你想在这儿干什么？”
“我想再玩一次茶具，”我说，“我从来没有见过那么漂亮的东西。”
“哦，那已经打包了，”哈莉特漫不经心地说，“你来得太晚了。”
“我们正在洗它们呢，”克拉德太太说。
哈莉特点点头，“一件一件地洗。”
她的眼睛紧盯着我的，我明白她知道我在怀疑什么，她正在嘲笑我，因为我现在已无能为力。
我说：“糖罐里有糖。”
哈莉特说：“如果没有，就不好了。”
“为什么你不把它送给维琪呢？”克拉德太太催促道，“留个纪念嘛。”
“没有那东西，她就不记得我们了？”哈莉特说，但她还是顺从地去取装茶具的盒子。我知道我决不会玩它的，我恨它，我会把它踩得稀烂，但是，我不用费力了。
克拉德太太说：“哈莉特自己会想念它的，”就在这时，传来一声巨响。我们赶快跑过去，看到茶具已经掉在地上摔坏了，哈莉特正俯身看着那些碎片。
“当心，”克拉德太太警告说，“别割伤了你自己。怎么回事？”
“我不当心掉在地上了，”哈莉特镇静地说，“我不得不松手，否则就会伤了我自己。”
“我们会再送你一套的，维琪，”她母亲保证说，“这些已经坏了，只能扔到垃圾箱去。”她拿来一把扫帚，把碎片扫起来，包到纸里。我知道，我最后的机会从我手中溜走了。现在，没有证据了，一点证据也没有了。
“喝一杯真的茶怎么样？”克拉德太太说，“刚好我们还有些蛋糕。维琪，你要加糖吗？”我心想：“当我老了，写回忆录时，我可以说我曾经跟一个杀人犯喝过茶。”
那是5天前的事。明天克拉德太太和哈莉特要去伦敦，奈德叔叔在那里等她们，克拉德太太和奈德叔叔会结婚，此后就太晚了。
现在是凌晨三点钟，还剩下4个小时。还有时间产生奇迹：雷电把幽谷屋烧成灰烬，烧死里面的住户……
我坐着等待黎明，天慢慢亮了。
我不知道怎么办。
我不知道，也没有人可以问……
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