《我们的祖先》出版于一九六零年，系由一九五二年发表的《分成两半的子爵》、一九五七年发表的《树上的男爵》和一九五九年发表的《不存在的骑士》合并而成的三部曲。
《分成两半的子爵》讨论了缺憾、偏颇、人性的匮乏。故事的起点是非常简单、非常鲜明的意象或情境：劈成两半的子爵，两片人体各自继续过着自己的生活－－一半是邪恶的子爵，极尽破坏之能事，一半是善良的子爵，处处助人。爬到树上的男孩不愿意下来，一辈子在树上度过；一具中空的甲胄自认为是一名男子，不断贯彻它自己的意志力。故事由意象滋长出来，而不是来自作者想要阐述的理念；意象在故事之中的发展，也全凭故事的内在逻辑。这些故事的意义——准确地说，这些故事以意象为基础而衍生的意义网络——总是有点不确定的；我们无法坚持一种毫无疑义的、强制认可的诠释。
不过《分成两半的子爵》最引我感触的却不是书中的主人翁（即分成两半的子爵本人），而是该书的叙事者：一名小孩。这本书的故事都出自这名小孩之口，由她/ 他见证众人的悲欢：而唯有我们读者才知道这名小孩的孤独。
《分成两半的子爵》一书看来似乎具有快乐的结局（happy ending），但我读起来却觉凄然：这名说故事的孩子，该怎么办？在读最后一页的时候，我难过得很。
Plot summary
The Viscount Medardo of Terralba, and his squire Kurt, ride across the plague-ravaged plain of Bohemia en route to join the Christian army in the Turkish wars of the seventeenth century. On the first day of fighting, a Turkish swordsman unhorses the inexperienced Viscount. Fearless, he scrambles over the battlefield with sword bared, and is split in two by a cannonball hitting him square in the chest.
As a result of the injury, Viscount Medardo becomes two people: Gramo (the Bad) and Buono (the Good). The army field doctors save Gramo through a stitching miracle, the Viscount is “alive and cloven.” [1] With one eye and a dilated single nostril, he returns to Terralba, twisting the half mouth of his half face into a scissors-like half smile. Meanwhile, a group of hermits find Buono in the midst of a pile of dead bodies. They tend to him and he recovers. After a long pilgrimage, Buono returns home.
There are now two Viscounts in Terralba. Gramo lives in the castle, Buono lives in the forest. Gramo causes damage and pain, Buono does good deeds. Pietrochiodo, the carpenter, is more adept at building guillotines for Gramo than the machines requested by Buono. Eventually, the villagers dislike both viscounts, as Gramo's malevolence provokes hostility and Buono's altruism provokes uneasiness.
Pamela, the peasant, prefers Buono to Gramo, but her parents want her to marry Gramo. She is ordered to consent to Gramo's marriage proposal. On the day of the wedding, Pamela marries Buono, because Gramo arrives late. Gramo challenges Buono to a duel to decide who shall be Pamela's husband. As a result, they are both severely wounded.
Dr. Trelawney takes the two bodies and sews the two sides together. Viscount finally is whole. He and his wife Pamela (now the Viscontessa) live happily together until the end of their days.
Characters
* Medardo, the Viscount of Terralba
* The narrator, Medardo’s young nephew
* Dr. Trelawney, the English court physician
* Pamela, the shepherdess
* Sebastiana, faithful nurse to the Viscount
* Pietrochiodo, the court carpenter
* Ezekiel, leader of a Huguenot colony
* Esau, Ezekiel’s son
* Ariolfo, the former Viscount of Terralba, Medardo’s father
* Kurt, Medardo’s squire
Trivia
In the name of the physician, Dr. Trelawney, you can see a tribute to Robert Louis Stevenson, author of the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), perhaps the most famous tale of split personality between good and evil. Stevenson also wrote Treasure Island (1883), one of whose characters is a certain Squire Trelawney.
《分成两半的子爵》讨论了缺憾、偏颇、人性的匮乏。故事的起点是非常简单、非常鲜明的意象或情境：劈成两半的子爵，两片人体各自继续过着自己的生活－－一半是邪恶的子爵，极尽破坏之能事，一半是善良的子爵，处处助人。爬到树上的男孩不愿意下来，一辈子在树上度过；一具中空的甲胄自认为是一名男子，不断贯彻它自己的意志力。故事由意象滋长出来，而不是来自作者想要阐述的理念；意象在故事之中的发展，也全凭故事的内在逻辑。这些故事的意义——准确地说，这些故事以意象为基础而衍生的意义网络——总是有点不确定的；我们无法坚持一种毫无疑义的、强制认可的诠释。
不过《分成两半的子爵》最引我感触的却不是书中的主人翁（即分成两半的子爵本人），而是该书的叙事者：一名小孩。这本书的故事都出自这名小孩之口，由她/ 他见证众人的悲欢：而唯有我们读者才知道这名小孩的孤独。
《分成两半的子爵》一书看来似乎具有快乐的结局（happy ending），但我读起来却觉凄然：这名说故事的孩子，该怎么办？在读最后一页的时候，我难过得很。
Plot summary
The Viscount Medardo of Terralba, and his squire Kurt, ride across the plague-ravaged plain of Bohemia en route to join the Christian army in the Turkish wars of the seventeenth century. On the first day of fighting, a Turkish swordsman unhorses the inexperienced Viscount. Fearless, he scrambles over the battlefield with sword bared, and is split in two by a cannonball hitting him square in the chest.
As a result of the injury, Viscount Medardo becomes two people: Gramo (the Bad) and Buono (the Good). The army field doctors save Gramo through a stitching miracle, the Viscount is “alive and cloven.” [1] With one eye and a dilated single nostril, he returns to Terralba, twisting the half mouth of his half face into a scissors-like half smile. Meanwhile, a group of hermits find Buono in the midst of a pile of dead bodies. They tend to him and he recovers. After a long pilgrimage, Buono returns home.
There are now two Viscounts in Terralba. Gramo lives in the castle, Buono lives in the forest. Gramo causes damage and pain, Buono does good deeds. Pietrochiodo, the carpenter, is more adept at building guillotines for Gramo than the machines requested by Buono. Eventually, the villagers dislike both viscounts, as Gramo's malevolence provokes hostility and Buono's altruism provokes uneasiness.
Pamela, the peasant, prefers Buono to Gramo, but her parents want her to marry Gramo. She is ordered to consent to Gramo's marriage proposal. On the day of the wedding, Pamela marries Buono, because Gramo arrives late. Gramo challenges Buono to a duel to decide who shall be Pamela's husband. As a result, they are both severely wounded.
Dr. Trelawney takes the two bodies and sews the two sides together. Viscount finally is whole. He and his wife Pamela (now the Viscontessa) live happily together until the end of their days.
Characters
* Medardo, the Viscount of Terralba
* The narrator, Medardo’s young nephew
* Dr. Trelawney, the English court physician
* Pamela, the shepherdess
* Sebastiana, faithful nurse to the Viscount
* Pietrochiodo, the court carpenter
* Ezekiel, leader of a Huguenot colony
* Esau, Ezekiel’s son
* Ariolfo, the former Viscount of Terralba, Medardo’s father
* Kurt, Medardo’s squire
Trivia
In the name of the physician, Dr. Trelawney, you can see a tribute to Robert Louis Stevenson, author of the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), perhaps the most famous tale of split personality between good and evil. Stevenson also wrote Treasure Island (1883), one of whose characters is a certain Squire Trelawney.
卡尔维诺《我们的祖先》三部曲作为对人的生存问题的考察，三部小说各有侧重。《不存在的骑士》是人争取存在，《分成两半的子爵》是人摆脱生命不完整的痛苦，《树上的男爵》则回答，人怎样才能找到一条生活的道路。
《树上的男爵》的故事情节大致是这样的：1776年6月15日，意大利翁布罗萨的贵族少年柯希莫·迪·隆多（那时他12岁），因为和专制的父亲阿米尼奥·迪·隆多男爵发生了争执，一气之下爬到了树上，并发誓不再下树。一开始，所有的人都没在意，认为这只是小孩子的一时气话，不必当真，但柯希莫坚守誓言，决意在树上一直生活下去。
这一待就是五十多年，柯希莫直到去世也没有下过树。小说写了这五十多年中发生的一些重要事件，来反映他独一无二的树栖生活。这种生活多姿多彩，充满挑战。如果柯希莫没有爬上树，那么他的一生可能也就是过着贵族应该享受的中规中矩平庸安逸的生活了，但是他不接受这种地面上的生活，所以他爬上了树，决不下来。在树上，他打猎、读书、恋爱、旅行，他和各种各样的人交往，使一个凶残的大盗爱上了小说，他帮助小城建立了防火系统，挫败了土耳其海盗，打退了狼群的袭击；他广泛阅读，比同时代人更早的接受新思想，他与伏尔泰和卢梭通信，印刷自己的出版物，成为当地共济会的创始人，在大革命期间组织了当地的革命，成为市政委员会的一员，连拿破仑视察意大利的时候都慕名来拜访他。
《我们的祖先》中三部小说的样式都是不同的，《分成两半的子爵》是童话，《不存在的骑士》模拟了中世纪的骑士小说，而《树上的男爵》采用的是现实主义手法。尽管柯希莫这个人物和他的故事都是虚构的，但一切的细节和历史背景无不符合现实，柯希莫的一举一动无不符合情合理，树上的生活也解释得令人感到那是完全可能的。我想，形式服从主题，采用现实主义手法是和这部小说要讨论的“人如何找到自己的生活道路”有关的，因为这个问题带有很强的实践性，人的行动受到现实的制约，不考虑现实因素是很难把这个问题说清楚的，即使说了也没有说服力。童话故事是没有办法让人鼓起勇气和信心的，那是神仙的生活，不是人的生活。
下面就讨论这本小说的具体含义。《树上的男爵》中“树”是有象征的。柯希莫爬到树上这种行为也是有象征的。我从书里选了两段，就是很好的说明。先看这一段：
“我哥哥认为，”我回答说，“谁想看清尘世就应同它保持必要的距离。”伏尔泰很欣赏这样的答复。
“从前，只是大自然创造生命现象，”他总结道，“现在是理智。”
再看这一段：
伯爵说：“你留在树上做什么事情呢？没有理由呀！”
柯希莫张开双臂：“我比你们早到这上面来，先生们，我也要留到最后！”
“你要后退吗？”伯爵大声嚷。
“不，是抵抗。”男爵回答。
从这两段可以看出，小说中“树上的生活”和“地上的生活”是两个对立的概念。“地上的生活”象征平庸、世俗、乏味，“树上的生活”象征理想、高尚、富有精神性，“树上的生活” 高于“地上的生活”。柯希莫爬到树上象征他不甘于平庸的生活，他坚持决不下树象征他不放弃自己的理想，用他自己的话说，这是一种“抵抗”。
从这个象征出发，对人物的进行分析，可以看到一方面柯希莫喜欢“树上的生活”，感到很自由，不愿下树，但另一方面他又摆脱不了“地上的生活”，尽管他不下树，但生活还是离不开要和地面上的人们打交道，地面上发生的事情还是要对他发生影响。毕竟，“树”比“地面”高不了多少。小说中，柯希莫积极参加社会事务，并没有因为待在树上而遁世，但事实上他也不可能遁世，他追求自己的理想只能是局部的和修正的，而不可能是彻底的决绝的，准确的说，其中愿望和精神胜利的成分更多一些。柯希莫每到迷茫和郁闷的时候，就会爬到树的最顶端，向远方眺望，这个小说中一再提到的细节，是有着深刻寓意的。他没有放弃“抵抗”，但他也爬不到天上。
结尾的时候，柯希莫老来病至，奄奄一息，人们把床架到树上，让他躺着，医生用梯子爬到树上给他看病，但柯希莫仍然不愿意这样被动的等待死亡。当一只热气球飞过树顶，他象个孩子一样一跃而起，抓住气球的锚绳，被它带着飞走了。这个结局为人物的塑造完成了最后一笔，这就是一个理想主义者的一生，他的生命中充满了寻找和探索，哪怕是死亡也无法让他改变。
通过柯希莫的一生，卡尔维诺想告诉我们什么呢？他为我们指出了一条什么样的生活道路呢？我想，可以这样说，生活的出路还是在现实中，但又高于现实，寻找这种出路本身就构成了生活的意义。寻找离不开勇气，而勇气又来自纯洁的理想。一个人如果在这些大的原则下度过自己的一生，那他的生命就不会虚度。至于生命应该以什么样的方式来结束，人类的将来到底会是什么样，小说里有一个暗示，那是说柯希莫想写一本宣扬他树上生活的书，他打算这样结束那本书：
作者创立了在树顶上完善国家，说服全人类在那里定居，并且生活的幸福，他自己却走下树，生活在已经荒芜的土地上。
小说中，还写了很多人物的死亡，有十几个，而且所有的人的生活都不幸福，虽然在写法上并没有渲染这些内容，好象只是不经意的偶然提到，但读来还是令人怅然。我想，正是因为短暂的生命中有那么多困难和不如意，死亡又在一旁窥视着我们，所以我们没有时间忧伤和叹息，我们必须认真的对待生命，去思考，去寻找。
Characters
* Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo' (main character)
* Baron Arminio (Cosimo's father)
* Corradina (Cosimo's mother)
* Battista (Cosimo's elder sister)
* Biagio (Cosimo's younger brother)
* Abbot Fauchefleur (Cosimo and Biago's care-taker)
* Viola (the love of Cosimo's life)
Plot summary
The story is about a twelve-year-old boy named Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo', and is narrated by his younger brother, Biagio. It's set along the Ligurian Coast (the north-western coast of Italy, and commonly includes southern France because of the similarity in the scenery) in the eighteenth-century, in the town of Ombrosa. At the time, the regions of Italy haven't united yet, and the region along the Ligurian Coast isn't currently ruled by a legitimate king.
Biagio, Cosimo's brother and the narrator, provides the history of their family. Cosimo's father, Baron Arminio, married the General of the War of Succession (his mother), Corradina. La Guerra di Successione (the War of Succession) is a war between the Baron Arminio and an opposing family whom has equal rights to the throne. The parents who both have identical interests in claiming the throne agree to marry (even though they don't love each other) to give their children more rights to the throne.
The Baron, who is half-mad with a malicious streak, abuses his children constantly; and without the mother who is usually fighting in the war on horseback with the head general (Cosimo's grandfather), causes the children to run wild and misbehave.
In fact, Battista, the eldest sister of the three, used to be coaxed by Arminio to get married at a young age, so she decides to become a priestess, thus avoiding premature marriage. Without Battista, Arminio focuses on Cosimo (only twelve-years-old) and contrives a plan to betroth him to a grand-duchess he might find.
Battista is driven to insanity, and expresses this through her cooking. From toads to mice, rats to grasshoppers, Battista becomes the cook of the castle-like mansion in Ombrosa, and the Baron forces Cosimo and Biagio to eat the disgusting meals.
One day, when the Baron invites the Courts of France to lunch at noon, Battista arrives with her French cuisine new meal, snails. At the point where Arminio forces Cosimo to eat the snails, it becomes the turning point for him - the point where he can no longer handle his father's abuse.
Fleeing from the table, Cosimo uses his ability to climb up a live oak tree in the backyard - Cosimo and his eight-year-old brother Biagia often occupy their recreational time by climbing trees. Storming out of the house, with the other diners trailing behind, came the Baron scolding Cosimo for embarrassing him in front of the Court of France, who eats snails for a delicacy.
Excerpt from p. 15:
"Quando sarai stanco di star li' cambierai idea!" gli grido'.
"Non cambiero' mai idea," fece mio fratello, dal ramo.
"Ti faro' vedere io , appena scendi!"
"E io non scendero' piu'." E mantenne la parola.
English translation:
"When you are tired of staying there you will change your mind!" he shouted.
"I will never change my mind," said my brother, from the branch [of the live oak].
"I'll show you, now get down here!"
"And I will not come down, ever." And he kept his word.
With a spadino (little sword) and tricorno (cocked hat), Cosimo travels from branch to branch, and eventually reaches the boundary of his backyard, bordered by an enormous brick wall. On the opposite side live the Marchese (Marquis) and his family, with an enormous garden, like the Piovasco's, although with exotic plants from Asia, America (newly founded at the time), and apparently, even Australia (an imagined country at the time). Cosimo jumps from one of his trees to a foreign tree, Magnolia, into the D'Ondariva's garden. Cosimo slowly descends from tree to tree to the lowest branch, when he finally sees a blonde-haired girl on a see-saw (appearing ten-years-old).
From the branch, Cosimo uses his spadino (little sword) to pierce the apple in the girl's hand.
Ultimately, Cosimo finds a way to stay in the trees for most of his life.
Reception
While sometimes dismissed as a cute fable, this story finds its very strength in its ability to be read and analyzed on a number of levels: as a romance story, environmentally, narratologically, sociologically, and in questioning the role of the individual and the community. The novel received the Viareggio Prize in 1957. However, Calvino "refused the prize on the grounds that its acceptance simply helped shore up an outmoded institution, the literary prize!"
《树上的男爵》的故事情节大致是这样的：1776年6月15日，意大利翁布罗萨的贵族少年柯希莫·迪·隆多（那时他12岁），因为和专制的父亲阿米尼奥·迪·隆多男爵发生了争执，一气之下爬到了树上，并发誓不再下树。一开始，所有的人都没在意，认为这只是小孩子的一时气话，不必当真，但柯希莫坚守誓言，决意在树上一直生活下去。
这一待就是五十多年，柯希莫直到去世也没有下过树。小说写了这五十多年中发生的一些重要事件，来反映他独一无二的树栖生活。这种生活多姿多彩，充满挑战。如果柯希莫没有爬上树，那么他的一生可能也就是过着贵族应该享受的中规中矩平庸安逸的生活了，但是他不接受这种地面上的生活，所以他爬上了树，决不下来。在树上，他打猎、读书、恋爱、旅行，他和各种各样的人交往，使一个凶残的大盗爱上了小说，他帮助小城建立了防火系统，挫败了土耳其海盗，打退了狼群的袭击；他广泛阅读，比同时代人更早的接受新思想，他与伏尔泰和卢梭通信，印刷自己的出版物，成为当地共济会的创始人，在大革命期间组织了当地的革命，成为市政委员会的一员，连拿破仑视察意大利的时候都慕名来拜访他。
《我们的祖先》中三部小说的样式都是不同的，《分成两半的子爵》是童话，《不存在的骑士》模拟了中世纪的骑士小说，而《树上的男爵》采用的是现实主义手法。尽管柯希莫这个人物和他的故事都是虚构的，但一切的细节和历史背景无不符合现实，柯希莫的一举一动无不符合情合理，树上的生活也解释得令人感到那是完全可能的。我想，形式服从主题，采用现实主义手法是和这部小说要讨论的“人如何找到自己的生活道路”有关的，因为这个问题带有很强的实践性，人的行动受到现实的制约，不考虑现实因素是很难把这个问题说清楚的，即使说了也没有说服力。童话故事是没有办法让人鼓起勇气和信心的，那是神仙的生活，不是人的生活。
下面就讨论这本小说的具体含义。《树上的男爵》中“树”是有象征的。柯希莫爬到树上这种行为也是有象征的。我从书里选了两段，就是很好的说明。先看这一段：
“我哥哥认为，”我回答说，“谁想看清尘世就应同它保持必要的距离。”伏尔泰很欣赏这样的答复。
“从前，只是大自然创造生命现象，”他总结道，“现在是理智。”
再看这一段：
伯爵说：“你留在树上做什么事情呢？没有理由呀！”
柯希莫张开双臂：“我比你们早到这上面来，先生们，我也要留到最后！”
“你要后退吗？”伯爵大声嚷。
“不，是抵抗。”男爵回答。
从这两段可以看出，小说中“树上的生活”和“地上的生活”是两个对立的概念。“地上的生活”象征平庸、世俗、乏味，“树上的生活”象征理想、高尚、富有精神性，“树上的生活” 高于“地上的生活”。柯希莫爬到树上象征他不甘于平庸的生活，他坚持决不下树象征他不放弃自己的理想，用他自己的话说，这是一种“抵抗”。
从这个象征出发，对人物的进行分析，可以看到一方面柯希莫喜欢“树上的生活”，感到很自由，不愿下树，但另一方面他又摆脱不了“地上的生活”，尽管他不下树，但生活还是离不开要和地面上的人们打交道，地面上发生的事情还是要对他发生影响。毕竟，“树”比“地面”高不了多少。小说中，柯希莫积极参加社会事务，并没有因为待在树上而遁世，但事实上他也不可能遁世，他追求自己的理想只能是局部的和修正的，而不可能是彻底的决绝的，准确的说，其中愿望和精神胜利的成分更多一些。柯希莫每到迷茫和郁闷的时候，就会爬到树的最顶端，向远方眺望，这个小说中一再提到的细节，是有着深刻寓意的。他没有放弃“抵抗”，但他也爬不到天上。
结尾的时候，柯希莫老来病至，奄奄一息，人们把床架到树上，让他躺着，医生用梯子爬到树上给他看病，但柯希莫仍然不愿意这样被动的等待死亡。当一只热气球飞过树顶，他象个孩子一样一跃而起，抓住气球的锚绳，被它带着飞走了。这个结局为人物的塑造完成了最后一笔，这就是一个理想主义者的一生，他的生命中充满了寻找和探索，哪怕是死亡也无法让他改变。
通过柯希莫的一生，卡尔维诺想告诉我们什么呢？他为我们指出了一条什么样的生活道路呢？我想，可以这样说，生活的出路还是在现实中，但又高于现实，寻找这种出路本身就构成了生活的意义。寻找离不开勇气，而勇气又来自纯洁的理想。一个人如果在这些大的原则下度过自己的一生，那他的生命就不会虚度。至于生命应该以什么样的方式来结束，人类的将来到底会是什么样，小说里有一个暗示，那是说柯希莫想写一本宣扬他树上生活的书，他打算这样结束那本书：
作者创立了在树顶上完善国家，说服全人类在那里定居，并且生活的幸福，他自己却走下树，生活在已经荒芜的土地上。
小说中，还写了很多人物的死亡，有十几个，而且所有的人的生活都不幸福，虽然在写法上并没有渲染这些内容，好象只是不经意的偶然提到，但读来还是令人怅然。我想，正是因为短暂的生命中有那么多困难和不如意，死亡又在一旁窥视着我们，所以我们没有时间忧伤和叹息，我们必须认真的对待生命，去思考，去寻找。
Characters
* Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo' (main character)
* Baron Arminio (Cosimo's father)
* Corradina (Cosimo's mother)
* Battista (Cosimo's elder sister)
* Biagio (Cosimo's younger brother)
* Abbot Fauchefleur (Cosimo and Biago's care-taker)
* Viola (the love of Cosimo's life)
Plot summary
The story is about a twelve-year-old boy named Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo', and is narrated by his younger brother, Biagio. It's set along the Ligurian Coast (the north-western coast of Italy, and commonly includes southern France because of the similarity in the scenery) in the eighteenth-century, in the town of Ombrosa. At the time, the regions of Italy haven't united yet, and the region along the Ligurian Coast isn't currently ruled by a legitimate king.
Biagio, Cosimo's brother and the narrator, provides the history of their family. Cosimo's father, Baron Arminio, married the General of the War of Succession (his mother), Corradina. La Guerra di Successione (the War of Succession) is a war between the Baron Arminio and an opposing family whom has equal rights to the throne. The parents who both have identical interests in claiming the throne agree to marry (even though they don't love each other) to give their children more rights to the throne.
The Baron, who is half-mad with a malicious streak, abuses his children constantly; and without the mother who is usually fighting in the war on horseback with the head general (Cosimo's grandfather), causes the children to run wild and misbehave.
In fact, Battista, the eldest sister of the three, used to be coaxed by Arminio to get married at a young age, so she decides to become a priestess, thus avoiding premature marriage. Without Battista, Arminio focuses on Cosimo (only twelve-years-old) and contrives a plan to betroth him to a grand-duchess he might find.
Battista is driven to insanity, and expresses this through her cooking. From toads to mice, rats to grasshoppers, Battista becomes the cook of the castle-like mansion in Ombrosa, and the Baron forces Cosimo and Biagio to eat the disgusting meals.
One day, when the Baron invites the Courts of France to lunch at noon, Battista arrives with her French cuisine new meal, snails. At the point where Arminio forces Cosimo to eat the snails, it becomes the turning point for him - the point where he can no longer handle his father's abuse.
Fleeing from the table, Cosimo uses his ability to climb up a live oak tree in the backyard - Cosimo and his eight-year-old brother Biagia often occupy their recreational time by climbing trees. Storming out of the house, with the other diners trailing behind, came the Baron scolding Cosimo for embarrassing him in front of the Court of France, who eats snails for a delicacy.
Excerpt from p. 15:
"Quando sarai stanco di star li' cambierai idea!" gli grido'.
"Non cambiero' mai idea," fece mio fratello, dal ramo.
"Ti faro' vedere io , appena scendi!"
"E io non scendero' piu'." E mantenne la parola.
English translation:
"When you are tired of staying there you will change your mind!" he shouted.
"I will never change my mind," said my brother, from the branch [of the live oak].
"I'll show you, now get down here!"
"And I will not come down, ever." And he kept his word.
With a spadino (little sword) and tricorno (cocked hat), Cosimo travels from branch to branch, and eventually reaches the boundary of his backyard, bordered by an enormous brick wall. On the opposite side live the Marchese (Marquis) and his family, with an enormous garden, like the Piovasco's, although with exotic plants from Asia, America (newly founded at the time), and apparently, even Australia (an imagined country at the time). Cosimo jumps from one of his trees to a foreign tree, Magnolia, into the D'Ondariva's garden. Cosimo slowly descends from tree to tree to the lowest branch, when he finally sees a blonde-haired girl on a see-saw (appearing ten-years-old).
From the branch, Cosimo uses his spadino (little sword) to pierce the apple in the girl's hand.
Ultimately, Cosimo finds a way to stay in the trees for most of his life.
Reception
While sometimes dismissed as a cute fable, this story finds its very strength in its ability to be read and analyzed on a number of levels: as a romance story, environmentally, narratologically, sociologically, and in questioning the role of the individual and the community. The novel received the Viareggio Prize in 1957. However, Calvino "refused the prize on the grounds that its acceptance simply helped shore up an outmoded institution, the literary prize!"
《不存在的骑士》（意大利语：Il cavaliere inesistente，英语：The nonexistent knight）是伊塔罗·卡尔维诺之作品，于1959年出版，当时作者已经退出了共产党。
《不存在的骑士》与《分成两半的子爵》和《树上的男爵》合组为《我们的祖先》三部曲，它们皆为当代中篇小说，具幽默的风格和寓言性，是卡尔维诺早期的主要作品。此后，他开始创作文学，为求把文学的艺术发展王更理想的境界。
不存在的骑士-小说内容
阿吉洛夫（Agilulf）是法兰西查里曼大帝麾下的一个骑士，有别于其他的骑士，阿吉洛夫并不存在，亦没有肉身，是一具会骑马的中空的甲胄。但借着坚定的意志，他不但可以与人类生存，更是一个完美的骑士—精通剑术，战争，历史，数学，家居布置等等。正因如此（阿吉洛夫常常追求完美和真理，又不肯说谎），每个人都讨厌他。
在战云密布的时代，汉波—一个年轻有为的男子—因父亲被回教将军所杀而潜入法兰西（基督教）大军的军营，希望有一位骑士可以帮助他，但跑了一整天，又得到阿吉洛夫的指点，仍不得要领，反而要于次日跟随大军进行一场乱七八糟的战役。后汉波来一遇上了女骑士布拉妲梦，就立即忘记要为父亲复仇，决心拥有她。
同时，骑士朵利斯蒙（Torrismund）因为自己的真实身世而威胁了阿吉洛夫的骑士荣誉，阿吉洛夫就离开调查，查里曼大帝和其他骑士都暗暗高兴，除了爱慕他的布拉妲梦，知道消息后立即追逐阿吉洛夫。汉波见后起了妒意，也骑马急追。
最后真相大白，每个人都确知阿吉洛夫是清白的，但此时灰心的阿吉洛夫已经离开了众人，没有收到最后的真相。汉波到森林找到了他的空甲胄，以及一张批准汉波穿着空甲胄的纸条。
不存在的骑士-评论
不存在的骑士-存在与不存在
本书的主要是探讨存在和不存在，以及知道或不知道自己是否存在的问题。阿吉洛夫是不存在但认为自己存在的骑士，而他的仆人Gurduloo—一个神经似乎不正常的男子—则是存在但认为自己不存在。
在第四和第五章，作者写下：
It was not rare then to find names and thoughts and forms and institutions that corresponded to nothing in existence. (Chapter4)
I (Agilulf) can truly call myself privileged, I who can live without it (carcass) and do all… Many things I manage to do better than those who exist, since I lack their usual defects of coarseness, carelessness, incoherence, smell. (Chapter5)
作者于此小说以不存在的阿吉洛夫去表示那些只有名字存在而在我们身边又不以实体存在的事物—它们都是在人类的眼中十分美好，完美，做事可以比我们更有效率。有些人甚至会信任或爱上它们，认为它们比真实存在的更真实（solid），但当然会有人妒嫉或讨厌它们；然而，它们可能会像阿吉洛夫一样经不起某种打击（如声誉受损）而消失得无影无踪。
普遍认为，阿吉洛夫是指机构人，即为大型团体与机构之代表。
…the world was polluted with objects and capacities and persons who lacked any name or distinguishing mark. (Chapter 4)
而存在但认为自己不存在的Gurduloo会随着环境，周围的物件和气候而改变自己存在的名字，形式等等，所以他所欠缺的是上述的“特征”（distinguishing mark）。可能作者相信我们的世界就是充满这种人事物，甚至，我们就是其中之一：
… asked the emperor graciously, “He (Gurduloo) doesn't seem to me know what's going through that pate of his.”
“Who are we to understand, Majesty?” The old peasant was speaking the modest wisdom of one who had seen a good deal of life… (Chapter 3)
(Torrismund said) “Am I to consider myself an equal to this squire of mine, Gurduloo, who doesn't even know if he exists or not?”
(Peasants said) “He will learn too…We ourselves did not know we exist… One can also learn to be…” (Chapter 11)
不存在的骑士-传说与真实及矛盾
不存在的骑士-传说与真实
传说中的圣杯武士曾出现于此书。圣杯武士可说是英国最著名的英雄传说，电影夺宝奇兵的第三集亦是与他们有关。在这些难以证明的传说中，圣杯武士给予别人的印象都是神圣和伟大的。骑士朵利斯蒙在遇见他们前和时，都有同样的想法，甚至渴望加入他们的行列，直至圣杯武士口里声称爱护整个世界，拳头却抓紧战矛刺杀平民。这种矛盾是小说中常见的讽刺方法，主要是为反映社会的黑暗。
不存在的骑士-矛盾
卡尔维诺在写作我们的祖先三部曲时，似乎希望可以同时诉说出世界和人类言行所包含的矛盾—天生且不能被改善的矛盾。在二部曲分成两半的子爵中，作者亦至少提及了两种人性的矛盾。
不存在的骑士-平等观
圣杯武士在此书中是掌权者，控制着住于古渥登平民的生活，但在骑士朵利斯蒙的支持下，他们赶走了圣杯武士，并开始他们的和平生活。其后，大帝要求朵利斯蒙作古渥登的伯爵，但农民反而要求朵利斯蒙以百姓的生份居住于古渥登。
（农民说：）“…We've obeyed for so long…But now we've seen one can live quite well without having truck with either knights or counts… Stay here if you wish… but as equals…”
这使人想起共产主义最基本的原则：当地的农民了解到原来脱离统治可以是脱离迫压，生活因而得到改善。但当然，位于他们之上的还是他们的法律（our laws respected by ourselves）。
不存在的骑士-人物身份
根据Gore Vidal—美国作家—于艾文理大学发表的论文，他认为卡尔维诺在此小说中故意把一个人物的身份冠以不同代名词，即是：“我”和“他”可能是同一个角色，这一手法在日后其他的著作中都有出现。
Plot
The Nonexistent Knight is set in the time of Charlemagne, and draws material from the literary cycle known as the Matter of France, referencing Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. The knight Agilulf is a righteous, perfectionist, faithful and pious knight with only one shortcoming: he doesn't exist. Inside his armor there is no man, just an echoing voice that reverberates through the metal. Nevertheless, he serves the army of a Christian king out of "goodwill and faith in the holy cause".
Characters (In The English Version)
* Agilulf, the nonexistent knight.
* Gurduloo, a deranged man who becomes Agilulf's squire.
* Raimbaut, young noble who is obsessed with the idea of avenging his father by killing Argalif Isohar.
* Torrismund, a young knight who plays as Raimbaut's literary foil.
* Bradamante, a female knight, from Orlando Furioso.
* The narrator, Sister Theodora, a nun who is spinning Sir Agilulf's tale.
Themes
Agilulf does not exist as a person, but only as the fulfillment of the rules and protocols of knighthood. This theme is strongly connected to modern conditions: Agilulf has been described as "the symbol of the 'robotized' man, who performs bureaucratic acts with near-absolute unconsciousness."[1] The romance is also a bit of a satire, playing with the fact that Agilulf is both the ideal of man and nonexistent, along with many suggestions that Sister Theodora is actually making up most of the story. In the end, she must face that such a perfect knight could only live in one's imagination.
The idea of confusion of one's own identity with others and the outside world continued to be developed in Calvino's later works.[2]
Reception
The Nonexistent Knight was collected together with The Cloven Viscount and The Baron in the Trees in a single volume, Our Ancestors, for which Calvino was awarded the Salento Prize in 1960.[3] The book was adapted to film by the Italian director Pino Zac in 1970.
《不存在的骑士》与《分成两半的子爵》和《树上的男爵》合组为《我们的祖先》三部曲，它们皆为当代中篇小说，具幽默的风格和寓言性，是卡尔维诺早期的主要作品。此后，他开始创作文学，为求把文学的艺术发展王更理想的境界。
不存在的骑士-小说内容
阿吉洛夫（Agilulf）是法兰西查里曼大帝麾下的一个骑士，有别于其他的骑士，阿吉洛夫并不存在，亦没有肉身，是一具会骑马的中空的甲胄。但借着坚定的意志，他不但可以与人类生存，更是一个完美的骑士—精通剑术，战争，历史，数学，家居布置等等。正因如此（阿吉洛夫常常追求完美和真理，又不肯说谎），每个人都讨厌他。
在战云密布的时代，汉波—一个年轻有为的男子—因父亲被回教将军所杀而潜入法兰西（基督教）大军的军营，希望有一位骑士可以帮助他，但跑了一整天，又得到阿吉洛夫的指点，仍不得要领，反而要于次日跟随大军进行一场乱七八糟的战役。后汉波来一遇上了女骑士布拉妲梦，就立即忘记要为父亲复仇，决心拥有她。
同时，骑士朵利斯蒙（Torrismund）因为自己的真实身世而威胁了阿吉洛夫的骑士荣誉，阿吉洛夫就离开调查，查里曼大帝和其他骑士都暗暗高兴，除了爱慕他的布拉妲梦，知道消息后立即追逐阿吉洛夫。汉波见后起了妒意，也骑马急追。
最后真相大白，每个人都确知阿吉洛夫是清白的，但此时灰心的阿吉洛夫已经离开了众人，没有收到最后的真相。汉波到森林找到了他的空甲胄，以及一张批准汉波穿着空甲胄的纸条。
不存在的骑士-评论
不存在的骑士-存在与不存在
本书的主要是探讨存在和不存在，以及知道或不知道自己是否存在的问题。阿吉洛夫是不存在但认为自己存在的骑士，而他的仆人Gurduloo—一个神经似乎不正常的男子—则是存在但认为自己不存在。
在第四和第五章，作者写下：
It was not rare then to find names and thoughts and forms and institutions that corresponded to nothing in existence. (Chapter4)
I (Agilulf) can truly call myself privileged, I who can live without it (carcass) and do all… Many things I manage to do better than those who exist, since I lack their usual defects of coarseness, carelessness, incoherence, smell. (Chapter5)
作者于此小说以不存在的阿吉洛夫去表示那些只有名字存在而在我们身边又不以实体存在的事物—它们都是在人类的眼中十分美好，完美，做事可以比我们更有效率。有些人甚至会信任或爱上它们，认为它们比真实存在的更真实（solid），但当然会有人妒嫉或讨厌它们；然而，它们可能会像阿吉洛夫一样经不起某种打击（如声誉受损）而消失得无影无踪。
普遍认为，阿吉洛夫是指机构人，即为大型团体与机构之代表。
…the world was polluted with objects and capacities and persons who lacked any name or distinguishing mark. (Chapter 4)
而存在但认为自己不存在的Gurduloo会随着环境，周围的物件和气候而改变自己存在的名字，形式等等，所以他所欠缺的是上述的“特征”（distinguishing mark）。可能作者相信我们的世界就是充满这种人事物，甚至，我们就是其中之一：
… asked the emperor graciously, “He (Gurduloo) doesn't seem to me know what's going through that pate of his.”
“Who are we to understand, Majesty?” The old peasant was speaking the modest wisdom of one who had seen a good deal of life… (Chapter 3)
(Torrismund said) “Am I to consider myself an equal to this squire of mine, Gurduloo, who doesn't even know if he exists or not?”
(Peasants said) “He will learn too…We ourselves did not know we exist… One can also learn to be…” (Chapter 11)
不存在的骑士-传说与真实及矛盾
不存在的骑士-传说与真实
传说中的圣杯武士曾出现于此书。圣杯武士可说是英国最著名的英雄传说，电影夺宝奇兵的第三集亦是与他们有关。在这些难以证明的传说中，圣杯武士给予别人的印象都是神圣和伟大的。骑士朵利斯蒙在遇见他们前和时，都有同样的想法，甚至渴望加入他们的行列，直至圣杯武士口里声称爱护整个世界，拳头却抓紧战矛刺杀平民。这种矛盾是小说中常见的讽刺方法，主要是为反映社会的黑暗。
不存在的骑士-矛盾
卡尔维诺在写作我们的祖先三部曲时，似乎希望可以同时诉说出世界和人类言行所包含的矛盾—天生且不能被改善的矛盾。在二部曲分成两半的子爵中，作者亦至少提及了两种人性的矛盾。
不存在的骑士-平等观
圣杯武士在此书中是掌权者，控制着住于古渥登平民的生活，但在骑士朵利斯蒙的支持下，他们赶走了圣杯武士，并开始他们的和平生活。其后，大帝要求朵利斯蒙作古渥登的伯爵，但农民反而要求朵利斯蒙以百姓的生份居住于古渥登。
（农民说：）“…We've obeyed for so long…But now we've seen one can live quite well without having truck with either knights or counts… Stay here if you wish… but as equals…”
这使人想起共产主义最基本的原则：当地的农民了解到原来脱离统治可以是脱离迫压，生活因而得到改善。但当然，位于他们之上的还是他们的法律（our laws respected by ourselves）。
不存在的骑士-人物身份
根据Gore Vidal—美国作家—于艾文理大学发表的论文，他认为卡尔维诺在此小说中故意把一个人物的身份冠以不同代名词，即是：“我”和“他”可能是同一个角色，这一手法在日后其他的著作中都有出现。
Plot
The Nonexistent Knight is set in the time of Charlemagne, and draws material from the literary cycle known as the Matter of France, referencing Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. The knight Agilulf is a righteous, perfectionist, faithful and pious knight with only one shortcoming: he doesn't exist. Inside his armor there is no man, just an echoing voice that reverberates through the metal. Nevertheless, he serves the army of a Christian king out of "goodwill and faith in the holy cause".
Characters (In The English Version)
* Agilulf, the nonexistent knight.
* Gurduloo, a deranged man who becomes Agilulf's squire.
* Raimbaut, young noble who is obsessed with the idea of avenging his father by killing Argalif Isohar.
* Torrismund, a young knight who plays as Raimbaut's literary foil.
* Bradamante, a female knight, from Orlando Furioso.
* The narrator, Sister Theodora, a nun who is spinning Sir Agilulf's tale.
Themes
Agilulf does not exist as a person, but only as the fulfillment of the rules and protocols of knighthood. This theme is strongly connected to modern conditions: Agilulf has been described as "the symbol of the 'robotized' man, who performs bureaucratic acts with near-absolute unconsciousness."[1] The romance is also a bit of a satire, playing with the fact that Agilulf is both the ideal of man and nonexistent, along with many suggestions that Sister Theodora is actually making up most of the story. In the end, she must face that such a perfect knight could only live in one's imagination.
The idea of confusion of one's own identity with others and the outside world continued to be developed in Calvino's later works.[2]
Reception
The Nonexistent Knight was collected together with The Cloven Viscount and The Baron in the Trees in a single volume, Our Ancestors, for which Calvino was awarded the Salento Prize in 1960.[3] The book was adapted to film by the Italian director Pino Zac in 1970.
《看不见的城市》的第一版是在1972年11月由都灵的埃伊纳乌迪出版社出版的。在这本书出版的时候，从1972年底到1973年初，卡尔维诺曾在多家报纸的文章和访谈中谈到它。
下面用卡尔维诺1983年3月29日在纽约哥伦比亚大学写作硕士班的一次讲座中的文字，来介绍“奥斯卡”丛书中的这个新版。讲座原为英文，这里用的是意大利文本，它是以1972到 1973年的两次访谈为基础的，并且大部分在意大利没有发表过。
在《看不见的城市》里人们找不到能认得出的城市。所有的城市都是虚构的; 我给它们每一个都起了一个女人的名字。这本书是由一些短小的章节构成的，每个章节都应提供机会，让我们对某个城市或泛指意义上的城市进行反思。
作者简介 ······
伊塔洛·卡尔维诺介绍：
关于生平·卡尔维诺写到：“我仍然属于和克罗齐一样的人，认为一个作者，只有作品有价值。因此我不提供传记资料。我会告诉你你想知道的东西 但我从来不会告诉你真实。”
生于古巴，1985年9月1913在滨海别墅猝然离世，而与当年的诺贝尔文学奖失之交臂。
父母都是热带植物学家，“我的家庭中只有科学研究是受尊重的。我是败类，是家里唯一从事文学的人。”
少年时光里写满书本、漫画、电影。他梦想成为戏剧家高中毕业后却进入大学农艺系，随后从文学院毕业。
1947年出版他的第一部小说《通向蜘蛛巢的小径》，从此致力于开发小说叙述艺术的无限可能。
曾隐居巴黎15年，与列维·斯特劳斯、罗兰·巴特、格诺等人交往密切。
1985年夏天准备哈佛讲学时患病。主刀医生表示自己未曾见过任何大脑构造像卡尔维诺的那般复杂精致。
未读“看不见的城市”前，我对卡尔维诺此人毫无所知。阅读“看不见的城市”一书时，在读完他就“城市”所进行的一系列“概念”思考后，我抱着对他轻快迷幻的句子和深邃的思想的惊叹，对他本人产生了浓厚的兴趣。在网上一查，才发现他本人是一位先诗歌，戏剧和寓言，而后小说进行写作，古巴出生，意大利成长，在全世界享有极高声誉的当代作家。
“英雄不问出处。” 诚如古语所说。尽管对他“看不见的城市”一书所怀的无限好感，但也许我本不必就此君的出处去寻根问底。忘记事物的本质，而去对表象寻根问底――这种迷惑本是我辈的缺陷，但不知不觉，我却又犯下了这个错误。而更为可笑的是作者在这本“看不见的城市”一书中，某种意义上所期待的，正是竭力的去让忽必烈汗或者读者，去抛开那些让人迷惑的有关“城市”的种种表象，来就“城市”――这一日益复杂的环境去进行感性的思索。
“存在的就是合理的，”我不由的想起了这句有名的哲学名言。迷惑于现今不得不去面对的生活种种，忽略诸如“为什么？”“怎么样？”“假如…”一类的问题，想必也是合理的。不过这种“合理”所真正说明的，可能却是为什么人类的思维能力未能随着时代的进步而有创造性的发展的缘故吧。 我并非反对科技。我承认科技的发展和当今人类的丰富物质生活有着密切的联系。犹如此刻没有电脑，没有互联网，我将不能在短短的几分钟里获得有关卡尔维诺其人的信息。但回顾千年来人类就生存问题所进行的思考进程，我看到更多的却是科技发展所带来的，不仅仅是那些让人类盲目的去依赖科学，机械化的思考和生存方式，同时也是最自然，最原始的那些有关美丽和幻想的思维的逐渐退化。
也许你同我一样，很早以前就已无数次的问过自己那些“我是谁？”“你是谁？”一类的问题。那么你有想过你生活的环境究竟是什么吗？那些你所生活的或人们在言谈中总是透露出无限向往的“城市”归根到底是什么呢？
“城市犹如梦境：凡可以想像的东西都可以梦见，但是，即使最离奇的梦境也是一幅谜画，其中隐藏着欲望，或着隐藏着反面的恐惧，像梦一样。”这便是马可或者说作者卡尔维诺本人对“城市”的理解。
在未读本书前，如同大多数现代人一样，我对城市这个概念从未认真的去想过。回顾我人生这短短的数十年，仿佛总是永无疲惫的带着行李，从一个城市迁徙到另一个城市，然后再从那个城市迁徙到另外一个城市。 无论这循环的候鸟式的搬迁究竟有多少次，却总是喜剧式的以同样一个结局而告终――带着疲惫和生锈的思想一次又一次的被梦想抛弃并终结在某个城市里的房间里。
在马可或者卡尔维诺眼里，“城市犹如梦境。” 这是对我们所置身的环境进行的多么具有诗意的描述啊。但人人都知道，无论梦境多么的美妙，梦境毕竟只是梦境――既非真实，也永远都不会变为真实。那么说到底，在马可或卡尔维诺眼里，我们所谈论，所生活着的“城市，” 难道都并非是真实的吗？...面对卡尔维诺的这本书，这些从未思考过的问题猛如当头棒喝一般，让我体会到了我的生活的麻痹。
或许远远不止这些…..是的，什么城市？城市的本质是什么？为什么是城市？这个城市和那个城市是否有不同之处？你眼中的城市和我了解的城市是一样的吗？这无数本应很早就去思考的问题，然而却就在这我们辗转的劳累的生活中，失去了应得到的思考价值。作为生活在这个高度城市化的时代的具有现代属性的我们，毫无疑问的说，卡尔维诺不仅仅给我带来一些不该忽略的思考，同时也让我对生活的麻木感到羞愧。
“城市犹如梦境。” 此说法似乎表明了“城市”不是真实的。那么我们现在谈论生存着的这个被称之为“城市”的东西究竟是什么呢？是人们在漂浮着的巨大海龟背上所建造的家园？还是我们在巨人口中多年经营的场所？在繁忙麻痹的成长过程中，我再次的面对了那些自孩童时代就怀有的对身边世界的疑问和好奇。于是，在开篇读到忽必烈汗在对聆听马可对其经历过的不同城市进行描述时，他不经意的简要的以自己的经验将其统统的概括成“类”的时候，我能深刻的体会忽必烈汗内心深处的所感到的厌倦。
“忽必烈汗已经留意到，马可波罗的城市差不多都是一个模样的，仿佛只要改变一下组合的元素就可以从一个城转移到另一个城，不必动身旅行。”
与忽必烈汗的对“城市”的高度概念化的浓缩思维相比，是马可或卡尔维诺没有认识到这些城市的相同，所以才会不烦其厌极力的去进行描述呢？还是这些城市在马可或卡尔维诺的眼里尽管有着相同之处但却在本质上却是不同的呢？或者说，是马可或卡尔维诺已经超脱了生活的桎梏，从而能进一步的去质问生活的环境？我带着疑问继续往下读并找到了答案。
“城市也由欲望和恐惧造成。尽管二者之间只有秘密的交流、荒谬的规律和虚假的比例，尽管每种事物隐藏着另一种事物…城市也认为自己是心思和机缘的造物，可是两者都支不起城墙。你喜欢一个城，不在于它有七种或七十种奇景，只在于它对你的问题所提示的答案。或者在于它迫你回答的问题，像底比斯通过斯芬克斯之口提问一样..”
读到这里我才恍然大悟，原来马可心中的城市与我们所理解的“城市”并非是我们自以为是，以文明自居的那些由种种概念堆积起来的生存单位。
诚然，卡尔维诺其他的作者不同。他在整篇文章里丝毫没有对“什么是城市”做出一个明确的回答。相反，他只是往返的穿梭在马可与忽必烈汗的有关城市的对话之中。当我意识到这个地方的时候，我不得不感叹作者感性的思维和巧妙的写作技巧。是的，卡尔维诺不仅在文章中非常巧妙的回避了“什么是城市”这个极端枯燥并被几千年人类文明概念化了的问题。同时也费劲心机的诱导读者对其固有的对城市的认识带着怀疑去进行审视。于是，在阅读该书的时候，我禁不住去想，作者的回避是否怀有某种目的。如果真有有目的的话，在我看来，那无非是为了强调人作为独立的个体所应当具体的，而不是被我们生活逐渐磨灭的个体主验。
为了避免庸俗的去向读者对城市进行枯燥乏味，长篇大调的描述，在本书中，作者极力的去避免那些已经数据化了的种种城市的标准。在某种程度上，他甚至回避了那些包括他自有的对城市的认识…在面对于那些可能对读者城市的认识产生怀疑的一切概念化了的东西，如城市的人口性质，人口密度或地域特征等种种，卡尔维诺都极力的去避免。可能作者唯有坦然的通过马可的口对城市进行充满了幻想和诗意的描述，去告诉读者他眼里城市是什么，（城市是在欲望和恐惧中疯狂生长的梦）作者才能使读者在阅读时激发年幼时对身边事物的好奇吧。也许唯有这样，才能再度的去诱发我们的那些在人类成长中，那些随着年龄，早以被生活残疾了的创造性的思索吧。换句话来说，可能这正是此刻我为什么我写这篇读书笔记的原因。
然而问题却远远不止这些。在作者眼里，“城市”既是梦境，但却又真真正正的存在。在马可的口里，佐贝德是真实的“满披月色的白色城市，它的街道纠缠得像一团毛线。”但它却建立在一群男子带着他们对一位梦中披着长头发，裸着身体奔跑的女子的共同的向往……瓦尔德拉达是真实的“古人在湖畔建立起来的，有阳台的房子层层重叠，高处的街道在临湖的一边有铁栏围着护墙。”但它却与自己的湖泊中的倒影相混淆，让所有“城里”的快乐和恐惧不断的重复。“
欲望和恐惧都是无法用概念和实物进行精确定义，但又实实在在的存在。卡尔维诺眼里的城市也是如此。
如同城市的真实存在一样，卡尔维诺向读者展示的并非是意识中城市的虚幻。在卡尔维诺的笔下，城市是既有的，存在的，但又无法去下定义的。于是作者不但回避了去为“什么是城市”下定义，同时作者也暗示了人作为独立的个体在认知上的统一和不统一。
统一的，是人对美好事物向往的一致性。在马可对佐贝德建立所进行的描述我们可以看到这种统一。认知上的不统一，作者在文中则通过描写忽必烈汗与马可波罗对城市的不同认知来表现出来。是的，通过二人的对话，我们不难看出，这种不同性不仅仅在于感知与经验的差异，同时也在于忽必烈汗与马可波罗的主体的不同特性。对于马可来说，他是一个富有种种人生经验的旅行者，而忽必烈汗，则是一来自草原的入侵胜利者。于是我禁不住去大胆的猜想他们对城市的不同理解来源于谈话主体的不同的身份特征。也许远远不止身份的不同，此外诸如文化差异教育程度等等的不同可能也是产生不同认识的原因。
… …
在体会到上述的一些感受后，我终于知道了我心底的“城市…”那个“城市”有着鲜花和大厦；有麻木生存的行尸和精力充沛的诗人；有号啕大哭和有欢歌笑语；太阳落下后，不见月亮却有霓虹灯彻夜通亮…
也许这些并非是真正的城市，只是我的梦境罢了。或许你也需要进一步的去寻证――如忽必烈汗向马可寻证一样――
“'去罢，去搜索所有的海岸，找出这个城，’可汗对马可说，’然后回来告诉我，我的梦是不是符和现实。’”
但我想我们知道－－我们不能去指望任何人－－不能去指望马可，不能去指望忽必烈汗，不能去望卡尔维诺...因为唯有通过我们自己的寻找，我们才会对它真正的了解――如马可所回答的那样――
“‘请原谅， 汗王， 或早或迟，有一天我总会从那个码头开航的，’马可说，‘但是我不会回来告诉你。那城确实存在，而它有一个简单的秘密：它只知道出发，不知道回航。”
那么，就让我们挥别所在的这个"城市，" 立即出航。
Description
The book explores imagination and the imaginable through the descriptions of cities by an explorer, Marco Polo. The book is framed as a conversation between the aging and busy emperor Kublai Khan, who constantly has merchants coming to describe the state of his expanding and vast empire, and Polo. The majority of the book consists of brief prose poems describing 55 cities, apparently narrated by Polo. Short dialogues between the two characters are interspersed every five to ten cities and are used to discuss various ideas presented by the cities on a wide range of topics including linguistics and human nature. The book structured around an interlocking pattern of numbered sections, while the length of each section's title graphically outlines a continuously oscillating sine wave, or perhaps a city skyline. The interludes between Khan and Polo are no less poetically constructed than the cities, and form a framing device, a story with a story, that plays with the natural complexity of language and stories.
Marco Polo and Kublai Khan do not speak the same language. When Polo is explaining the various cities, he uses objects from the city to tell the story. The implication is that that each character understands the other through their own interpretation of what they are saying. They literally are not speaking the same language, which leaves many decisions for the individual reader.
The book, because of its approach to the imaginative potentialities of cities, has been used by architects and artists to visualize how cities can be[1], their secret folds, where the human imagination is not necessarily limited by the laws of physics or the limitations of modern urban theory. It offers an alternative approach to thinking about cities, how they are formed and how they function.
The book was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1975.
The Travels of Marco Polo, Polo's travel diaries depicting his journeys through the Mongol Empire which were written in the 13th century, share with Invisible Cities the brief, often fantastic accounts of the cities Polo visits, accompanied by descriptions of the city's inhabitants, notable imports and exports, and whatever interesting tales Polo had heard about the region.
下面用卡尔维诺1983年3月29日在纽约哥伦比亚大学写作硕士班的一次讲座中的文字，来介绍“奥斯卡”丛书中的这个新版。讲座原为英文，这里用的是意大利文本，它是以1972到 1973年的两次访谈为基础的，并且大部分在意大利没有发表过。
在《看不见的城市》里人们找不到能认得出的城市。所有的城市都是虚构的; 我给它们每一个都起了一个女人的名字。这本书是由一些短小的章节构成的，每个章节都应提供机会，让我们对某个城市或泛指意义上的城市进行反思。
作者简介 ······
伊塔洛·卡尔维诺介绍：
关于生平·卡尔维诺写到：“我仍然属于和克罗齐一样的人，认为一个作者，只有作品有价值。因此我不提供传记资料。我会告诉你你想知道的东西 但我从来不会告诉你真实。”
生于古巴，1985年9月1913在滨海别墅猝然离世，而与当年的诺贝尔文学奖失之交臂。
父母都是热带植物学家，“我的家庭中只有科学研究是受尊重的。我是败类，是家里唯一从事文学的人。”
少年时光里写满书本、漫画、电影。他梦想成为戏剧家高中毕业后却进入大学农艺系，随后从文学院毕业。
1947年出版他的第一部小说《通向蜘蛛巢的小径》，从此致力于开发小说叙述艺术的无限可能。
曾隐居巴黎15年，与列维·斯特劳斯、罗兰·巴特、格诺等人交往密切。
1985年夏天准备哈佛讲学时患病。主刀医生表示自己未曾见过任何大脑构造像卡尔维诺的那般复杂精致。
未读“看不见的城市”前，我对卡尔维诺此人毫无所知。阅读“看不见的城市”一书时，在读完他就“城市”所进行的一系列“概念”思考后，我抱着对他轻快迷幻的句子和深邃的思想的惊叹，对他本人产生了浓厚的兴趣。在网上一查，才发现他本人是一位先诗歌，戏剧和寓言，而后小说进行写作，古巴出生，意大利成长，在全世界享有极高声誉的当代作家。
“英雄不问出处。” 诚如古语所说。尽管对他“看不见的城市”一书所怀的无限好感，但也许我本不必就此君的出处去寻根问底。忘记事物的本质，而去对表象寻根问底――这种迷惑本是我辈的缺陷，但不知不觉，我却又犯下了这个错误。而更为可笑的是作者在这本“看不见的城市”一书中，某种意义上所期待的，正是竭力的去让忽必烈汗或者读者，去抛开那些让人迷惑的有关“城市”的种种表象，来就“城市”――这一日益复杂的环境去进行感性的思索。
“存在的就是合理的，”我不由的想起了这句有名的哲学名言。迷惑于现今不得不去面对的生活种种，忽略诸如“为什么？”“怎么样？”“假如…”一类的问题，想必也是合理的。不过这种“合理”所真正说明的，可能却是为什么人类的思维能力未能随着时代的进步而有创造性的发展的缘故吧。 我并非反对科技。我承认科技的发展和当今人类的丰富物质生活有着密切的联系。犹如此刻没有电脑，没有互联网，我将不能在短短的几分钟里获得有关卡尔维诺其人的信息。但回顾千年来人类就生存问题所进行的思考进程，我看到更多的却是科技发展所带来的，不仅仅是那些让人类盲目的去依赖科学，机械化的思考和生存方式，同时也是最自然，最原始的那些有关美丽和幻想的思维的逐渐退化。
也许你同我一样，很早以前就已无数次的问过自己那些“我是谁？”“你是谁？”一类的问题。那么你有想过你生活的环境究竟是什么吗？那些你所生活的或人们在言谈中总是透露出无限向往的“城市”归根到底是什么呢？
“城市犹如梦境：凡可以想像的东西都可以梦见，但是，即使最离奇的梦境也是一幅谜画，其中隐藏着欲望，或着隐藏着反面的恐惧，像梦一样。”这便是马可或者说作者卡尔维诺本人对“城市”的理解。
在未读本书前，如同大多数现代人一样，我对城市这个概念从未认真的去想过。回顾我人生这短短的数十年，仿佛总是永无疲惫的带着行李，从一个城市迁徙到另一个城市，然后再从那个城市迁徙到另外一个城市。 无论这循环的候鸟式的搬迁究竟有多少次，却总是喜剧式的以同样一个结局而告终――带着疲惫和生锈的思想一次又一次的被梦想抛弃并终结在某个城市里的房间里。
在马可或者卡尔维诺眼里，“城市犹如梦境。” 这是对我们所置身的环境进行的多么具有诗意的描述啊。但人人都知道，无论梦境多么的美妙，梦境毕竟只是梦境――既非真实，也永远都不会变为真实。那么说到底，在马可或卡尔维诺眼里，我们所谈论，所生活着的“城市，” 难道都并非是真实的吗？...面对卡尔维诺的这本书，这些从未思考过的问题猛如当头棒喝一般，让我体会到了我的生活的麻痹。
或许远远不止这些…..是的，什么城市？城市的本质是什么？为什么是城市？这个城市和那个城市是否有不同之处？你眼中的城市和我了解的城市是一样的吗？这无数本应很早就去思考的问题，然而却就在这我们辗转的劳累的生活中，失去了应得到的思考价值。作为生活在这个高度城市化的时代的具有现代属性的我们，毫无疑问的说，卡尔维诺不仅仅给我带来一些不该忽略的思考，同时也让我对生活的麻木感到羞愧。
“城市犹如梦境。” 此说法似乎表明了“城市”不是真实的。那么我们现在谈论生存着的这个被称之为“城市”的东西究竟是什么呢？是人们在漂浮着的巨大海龟背上所建造的家园？还是我们在巨人口中多年经营的场所？在繁忙麻痹的成长过程中，我再次的面对了那些自孩童时代就怀有的对身边世界的疑问和好奇。于是，在开篇读到忽必烈汗在对聆听马可对其经历过的不同城市进行描述时，他不经意的简要的以自己的经验将其统统的概括成“类”的时候，我能深刻的体会忽必烈汗内心深处的所感到的厌倦。
“忽必烈汗已经留意到，马可波罗的城市差不多都是一个模样的，仿佛只要改变一下组合的元素就可以从一个城转移到另一个城，不必动身旅行。”
与忽必烈汗的对“城市”的高度概念化的浓缩思维相比，是马可或卡尔维诺没有认识到这些城市的相同，所以才会不烦其厌极力的去进行描述呢？还是这些城市在马可或卡尔维诺的眼里尽管有着相同之处但却在本质上却是不同的呢？或者说，是马可或卡尔维诺已经超脱了生活的桎梏，从而能进一步的去质问生活的环境？我带着疑问继续往下读并找到了答案。
“城市也由欲望和恐惧造成。尽管二者之间只有秘密的交流、荒谬的规律和虚假的比例，尽管每种事物隐藏着另一种事物…城市也认为自己是心思和机缘的造物，可是两者都支不起城墙。你喜欢一个城，不在于它有七种或七十种奇景，只在于它对你的问题所提示的答案。或者在于它迫你回答的问题，像底比斯通过斯芬克斯之口提问一样..”
读到这里我才恍然大悟，原来马可心中的城市与我们所理解的“城市”并非是我们自以为是，以文明自居的那些由种种概念堆积起来的生存单位。
诚然，卡尔维诺其他的作者不同。他在整篇文章里丝毫没有对“什么是城市”做出一个明确的回答。相反，他只是往返的穿梭在马可与忽必烈汗的有关城市的对话之中。当我意识到这个地方的时候，我不得不感叹作者感性的思维和巧妙的写作技巧。是的，卡尔维诺不仅在文章中非常巧妙的回避了“什么是城市”这个极端枯燥并被几千年人类文明概念化了的问题。同时也费劲心机的诱导读者对其固有的对城市的认识带着怀疑去进行审视。于是，在阅读该书的时候，我禁不住去想，作者的回避是否怀有某种目的。如果真有有目的的话，在我看来，那无非是为了强调人作为独立的个体所应当具体的，而不是被我们生活逐渐磨灭的个体主验。
为了避免庸俗的去向读者对城市进行枯燥乏味，长篇大调的描述，在本书中，作者极力的去避免那些已经数据化了的种种城市的标准。在某种程度上，他甚至回避了那些包括他自有的对城市的认识…在面对于那些可能对读者城市的认识产生怀疑的一切概念化了的东西，如城市的人口性质，人口密度或地域特征等种种，卡尔维诺都极力的去避免。可能作者唯有坦然的通过马可的口对城市进行充满了幻想和诗意的描述，去告诉读者他眼里城市是什么，（城市是在欲望和恐惧中疯狂生长的梦）作者才能使读者在阅读时激发年幼时对身边事物的好奇吧。也许唯有这样，才能再度的去诱发我们的那些在人类成长中，那些随着年龄，早以被生活残疾了的创造性的思索吧。换句话来说，可能这正是此刻我为什么我写这篇读书笔记的原因。
然而问题却远远不止这些。在作者眼里，“城市”既是梦境，但却又真真正正的存在。在马可的口里，佐贝德是真实的“满披月色的白色城市，它的街道纠缠得像一团毛线。”但它却建立在一群男子带着他们对一位梦中披着长头发，裸着身体奔跑的女子的共同的向往……瓦尔德拉达是真实的“古人在湖畔建立起来的，有阳台的房子层层重叠，高处的街道在临湖的一边有铁栏围着护墙。”但它却与自己的湖泊中的倒影相混淆，让所有“城里”的快乐和恐惧不断的重复。“
欲望和恐惧都是无法用概念和实物进行精确定义，但又实实在在的存在。卡尔维诺眼里的城市也是如此。
如同城市的真实存在一样，卡尔维诺向读者展示的并非是意识中城市的虚幻。在卡尔维诺的笔下，城市是既有的，存在的，但又无法去下定义的。于是作者不但回避了去为“什么是城市”下定义，同时作者也暗示了人作为独立的个体在认知上的统一和不统一。
统一的，是人对美好事物向往的一致性。在马可对佐贝德建立所进行的描述我们可以看到这种统一。认知上的不统一，作者在文中则通过描写忽必烈汗与马可波罗对城市的不同认知来表现出来。是的，通过二人的对话，我们不难看出，这种不同性不仅仅在于感知与经验的差异，同时也在于忽必烈汗与马可波罗的主体的不同特性。对于马可来说，他是一个富有种种人生经验的旅行者，而忽必烈汗，则是一来自草原的入侵胜利者。于是我禁不住去大胆的猜想他们对城市的不同理解来源于谈话主体的不同的身份特征。也许远远不止身份的不同，此外诸如文化差异教育程度等等的不同可能也是产生不同认识的原因。
… …
在体会到上述的一些感受后，我终于知道了我心底的“城市…”那个“城市”有着鲜花和大厦；有麻木生存的行尸和精力充沛的诗人；有号啕大哭和有欢歌笑语；太阳落下后，不见月亮却有霓虹灯彻夜通亮…
也许这些并非是真正的城市，只是我的梦境罢了。或许你也需要进一步的去寻证――如忽必烈汗向马可寻证一样――
“'去罢，去搜索所有的海岸，找出这个城，’可汗对马可说，’然后回来告诉我，我的梦是不是符和现实。’”
但我想我们知道－－我们不能去指望任何人－－不能去指望马可，不能去指望忽必烈汗，不能去望卡尔维诺...因为唯有通过我们自己的寻找，我们才会对它真正的了解――如马可所回答的那样――
“‘请原谅， 汗王， 或早或迟，有一天我总会从那个码头开航的，’马可说，‘但是我不会回来告诉你。那城确实存在，而它有一个简单的秘密：它只知道出发，不知道回航。”
那么，就让我们挥别所在的这个"城市，" 立即出航。
Description
The book explores imagination and the imaginable through the descriptions of cities by an explorer, Marco Polo. The book is framed as a conversation between the aging and busy emperor Kublai Khan, who constantly has merchants coming to describe the state of his expanding and vast empire, and Polo. The majority of the book consists of brief prose poems describing 55 cities, apparently narrated by Polo. Short dialogues between the two characters are interspersed every five to ten cities and are used to discuss various ideas presented by the cities on a wide range of topics including linguistics and human nature. The book structured around an interlocking pattern of numbered sections, while the length of each section's title graphically outlines a continuously oscillating sine wave, or perhaps a city skyline. The interludes between Khan and Polo are no less poetically constructed than the cities, and form a framing device, a story with a story, that plays with the natural complexity of language and stories.
Marco Polo and Kublai Khan do not speak the same language. When Polo is explaining the various cities, he uses objects from the city to tell the story. The implication is that that each character understands the other through their own interpretation of what they are saying. They literally are not speaking the same language, which leaves many decisions for the individual reader.
The book, because of its approach to the imaginative potentialities of cities, has been used by architects and artists to visualize how cities can be[1], their secret folds, where the human imagination is not necessarily limited by the laws of physics or the limitations of modern urban theory. It offers an alternative approach to thinking about cities, how they are formed and how they function.
The book was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1975.
The Travels of Marco Polo, Polo's travel diaries depicting his journeys through the Mongol Empire which were written in the 13th century, share with Invisible Cities the brief, often fantastic accounts of the cities Polo visits, accompanied by descriptions of the city's inhabitants, notable imports and exports, and whatever interesting tales Polo had heard about the region.
在《通往蜘蛛巢的小路》中，卡尔维诺首先选择了一个孩子的视角，将人物的分量先减轻，少年皮恩有着孩子的好奇和天真，也因为混迹于底层的小酒馆似懂非懂地了解一些成人世界，半大不懂的心灵可以使他在现实与想象之间自由的穿行，他所有行动的愿望只是为了能找到一个理解他同时他也能理解的朋友，可以和他一起去看他的蜘蛛巢；同时为了反抗那种当时意共的文学为政治服务的“指令文学”（Committed Literature）中的“革命浪漫主义”，他把书中别的游击队人物都还原成他们的本来面目，正如第九章中通过政委吉姆之口所说的，“德利托支队：小偷，宪兵，军人，黑市交易者，流浪汉。这些人在一起成为社会的弊端，在扭曲中挣扎。他们没有任何东西要保卫，没有任何东西要改变。……他们没有任何祖国，不论是真实的还是臆造出来的。但是，你知道他们身上有勇气，也有怒气。他们的生活受到损害，他们的街道又黑又暗，他们的家破烂不堪，他们从小就学会污言秽语，总对人使坏。只要有一个莫名其妙的原因，只要走错一步或心血来潮，就会使他们走到另外一方去……” ，但是在危机时刻的一种人类自救与互助的冲动是他们走到了一起，使他们成为推动历史的动力。还历史以一种本来的面目，或者说是超越了政治宣传话语的卡尔维诺眼下的历史。让那些被宣传工具淹没声音和面孔走到了前台来。接下来是小说的场景和道具，他选择的场景是自己记忆中的故乡，没有大战争场景的恢宏，避开了烽火燃烧的村庄原野，只是利古丽亚沿海小城的风景，他也避开了海滩，椰树等观光景致，而是从圣雷莫旧城的幽暗拱门开展，一路延伸到森林，几何形状的康乃馨花床，葡萄园围墙的古老干枯、几欲颓圮的橄榄树林，苔草漫漫的山丘骡径悉数收于笔下。故事在这样一种宁静古朴的氛围中展开显得别样的精致，但却体现出了地域的特征，同时这份风景也负担起了一部分的历史。战后，“当时的别墅都已经被征收、改建为禁闭室和监狱……康乃馨的花田早已是无人管理的废地，无法横越……” 。在战后阅读到这样的风景，每个人都会油然而生一种战争创伤的回忆。小说的道具是把手枪，是皮恩偷的，从他作妓女的姐姐接待的德国军官那里，目的只是想溶入成人的世界，因为酒吧里成人们正在议论组建游击队，大人们玩笑地用拥有一把枪作为加入条件来嘲笑皮恩并企图把他排斥在成人的世界之外。手枪作为武器，是一种暴力的象征，但是在小说里，卡尔维诺把手枪作为线索的同时，也减轻了它的戾气，皮恩偷到手枪之后把它藏在自己常去玩的森林中河边的蜘蛛巢中，但是他却从来没有使用过它，除了刚偷到枪后在蜘蛛巢前兴奋地打了一枪，结果引来了德军的追捕，对于他而言“武器”是非常遥远的东西，他只是想借此进入成人世界，从而被认可。对于卡尔维诺而言，选择拿起枪来进入战争也是在没有准备的情况下迫不得已的行为。蜘蛛巢，则是皮恩的精神家园，是他心里的秘密所在，是他能和朋友共同分享的世界。小说的情节的设置也拉开了与战争的距离，彷佛只是一个不远之处正在发生战争的童话世界。因为过去是如此虽然并不遥远，但是历史的沉重可能会破坏记忆或者叙述的真实性，卡尔维诺在《一次战斗的记忆》（Memories of a Battle）中写道：“我现在害怕当记忆被组织起来后将会马上使之陷于出错误的导向，是被矫饰过的，像青年与战争总是煽情的那样，沦为在时代的风格下一个叙事，只能展现我们自认为这就是我们看到和说的事件，而不是真正的事实” 。所以在情节的设置上，卡尔维诺也尽量减轻他的历史沉重感，让它游离在历史进行时的边缘。皮恩偷到枪之后酒馆里并没人相信他，倒是德军对他的“信任”使他感到欣慰，只是这次偷枪使皮恩成了政治犯，也使他在牢里认识了游击队的传奇人物红狼，他和红狼一起越狱。之后红狼却找了个借口甩开了皮恩，皮恩在森林里遇到了游击队员“表兄”，“表兄”把他领到了游击队的驻地，但是游击队里的人只把他当小孩看，谁也不信他有一把p38式的德制手枪。只是让他在营地里削土豆皮，皮恩还是没有找到自己的知心朋友，无法融入那个成人的世界。卡尔维诺也没有通过皮恩的眼来看一场游击战，他倒是让皮恩目睹了连长是如何与厨子的妻子在杜鹃丛中做爱的，以及其它的一些混乱。严肃的历史在这里被卡尔维诺撕开了一个豁口，露出其中的荒诞的真实。在最后还是“表兄”表现出了对皮恩的信任，皮恩带他去看了蜘蛛巢，分享自己的秘密，结尾略带光明“他们继续走着，大人和孩子，在黑夜中，在萤火虫飞舞中，手拉着手” ，其中却包含了一种忧郁，皮恩的忧郁。皮恩想要进入群体，但是他自身的天真状态和群体的对他的不信任不断地阻挠着他，就算他已经处在那个集体中，实际的他仍是被排除或自排除于集体之外的，他看到的那个集体的混乱不堪，那都不是他曾预料或期待的；这是属于卡尔维诺的忧郁，一种想要溶入到时代中，却不断地被推迟的忧郁，这种推迟与其说来自于时代，毋宁说是卡尔维诺自身的那种对两种平衡的追求和知识分子先天的怀疑眼光造成的。通过一个童话似的故事，卡尔维诺努力减轻着历史与政治的实的因素，最后历史的忧郁感却在一种乐观的结尾中凸现，这不能不说是他选择“轻”的成功。也正是以这种“轻”使他没有沦为一个“指令文学”作家，成功地超越了狭隘的政治宣传，凸现出自己的写作个性。
The book follows the antihero Pin, an orphaned cobbler's apprentice in a town on the Ligurian coast, where he lives with his sister, a prostitute. After stealing a pistol from a Nazi sailor, Pin searches for an identity with a partisan group. All the while, the people he meets mock him without his knowing. The title refers to Pin's secret hiding place, directions to which he touts as a prize to any adults who win his trust.
Some critics view the work as unexceptional, on the grounds that it fails to address the issues other than from a very naive perspective; others credit it with being skillfully written and make a virtue of its portrayal of the complex emotions and politics of adults, as seen through the eyes of a child. However one passage about prisoners-of-war being made to dig their own grave before being shot is universally regarded as impressive.
The book follows the antihero Pin, an orphaned cobbler's apprentice in a town on the Ligurian coast, where he lives with his sister, a prostitute. After stealing a pistol from a Nazi sailor, Pin searches for an identity with a partisan group. All the while, the people he meets mock him without his knowing. The title refers to Pin's secret hiding place, directions to which he touts as a prize to any adults who win his trust.
Some critics view the work as unexceptional, on the grounds that it fails to address the issues other than from a very naive perspective; others credit it with being skillfully written and make a virtue of its portrayal of the complex emotions and politics of adults, as seen through the eyes of a child. However one passage about prisoners-of-war being made to dig their own grave before being shot is universally regarded as impressive.
世界尽头与冷酷仙境Plot summary
The story is split between parallel narratives. The odd-numbered chapters take place in 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland', although the phrase is not used anywhere in the text, only in page headers. The narrator is a "Calcutec," a human data processor/encryption system who has been trained to use his subconscious as an encryption key. The Calcutecs work for the quasi-governmental System, as opposed to the criminal "Semiotecs" who work for the Factory and who are generally fallen Calcutecs. The relationship between the two groups is simple: the System protects data while the Semiotecs steal it, although it is suggested that one man might be behind both. The narrator completes an assignment for a mysterious scientist, who is exploring "sound reduction". He works in a laboratory hidden within an anachronistic version of Tokyo's sewer system.
The even-numbered chapters deal with a newcomer to 'the End of the World', a strange, isolated walled Town depicted in the frontispiece map as being surrounded by a perfect and impenetrable wall. The narrator is in the process of being accepted into the Town. His shadow has been "cut off" and this shadow lives in the "shadow grounds" where he is not expected to survive the winter. Residents of the town are not allowed to have a shadow, and, it transpires, do not have a mind. Or is it only suppressed? The narrator is assigned quarters and a job as the current "dreamreader": a process intended to remove the traces of mind from the Town. He goes to the Library every evening where, assisted by the Librarian, he learns to read dreams from the skulls of unicorns. These "beasts" passively accept their role, sent out of the Town at night, to their enclosure where many die of cold during the winter.
The two storylines converge, exploring concepts of consciousness, the subconscious and identity.
In the original Japanese, the narrator uses the more formal first-person pronoun watashi to refer to himself in the 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland' narrative and the more intimate boku in the 'End of the World'. Translator Alfred Birnbaum achieved a similar effect in English by putting the 'End of the World' sections in the present tense.
Characters
In both narratives, none of the characters are named. Each is instead referred to by occupation or a general description, such as "the librarian" or "the big guy."
Hard-boiled wonderland
* The narrator - a Calcutec in his mid-thirties (35) who, aside from his unusual profession, lives the life of a typical Tokyo yuppie. Although very observant, he gives little thought to the strangeness of the world around him.
* The old man/the scientist - considered a great yet absent-minded scientist who hires the narrator to process information. He is researching "sound reduction". He has developed a way of reading the subconscious and actually recording it as comprehensible, if unrelated images. He had the inspiration of then editing these images to embed a fictional story into the subconscious of his subjects, one of whom is of course the narrator. He did this by working with the System due to the attractiveness of its facilities, though he disliked working for anyone. He later goes to Finland as said by his granddaughter to escape.
* The granddaughter in pink - the old man’s seventeen year old assistant, caretaker and granddaughter, described as chubby but attractive, invariably dressed in all pink. She did not go to any school as her grandfather tells her it is useless and rather teaches her all she needs to know in life; and thus she knows a couple of languages, how to handle a gun, among other things. In the beginning of the novel, the old man "reduces" her sound, leaving her unable to speak. She tries, without any trace of subtlety, to convince the narrator to sleep with her.
* The librarian - the always-hungry girl who helps the narrator research unicorns and becomes his 48-hour girlfriend.
* Junior and Big Boy - two thugs who, on unknown orders, harass the narrator.
* INKlings - sewer-dwelling people described as "Kappa" who have developed their own culture. They are so dangerous the scientist lives in their realm, protected by a repelling device, to keep away from those who want to steal his data. It is said that they worship a fish (and leeches). They also do not eat fresh flesh; rather, once they catch a human, they submerge him in water and wait for him to rot in a few days before eating him.
End of the world
* The narrator - a newcomer to 'the End of the World'. As an initiation into the village, his shadow is cut off and his eyes pierced to make him averse to daylight and give him the ability to "read dreams", his allotted task. He cannot remember his former life nor understand what has happened to him.
* The narrator's shadow - apparently human in form. He retains the narrator's memory of their former life together, but he is doomed to die, separated as he is, and is harshly (but not cruelly) treated by his custodian, the gatekeeper. Upon his death, the narrator would then cease to have a 'mind'.
* The gatekeeper - the guardian and maintenance foreman of 'the End of the World.' He instructs the narrator in his duties, and keeps the narrator’s shadow effectively a prisoner, putting him to work - disposing of dead beasts who die during winter.
* The librarian - the Town’s librarian who keeps the unicorn skulls in which the "dreams" reside. She assists the narrator in his work. She has no “mind” but her mother did, and the narrator becomes increasingly convinced that her mind is in fact only hidden, not irretrievably lost. The connection between this librarian and the other, in Hard Boiled Wonderland, is never made explicit.
* The colonel - an old man, the narrator's neighbour provides advice and support, and nurses him when he falls sick.
* The caretaker - a young man who tends the power station. An outsider who provides a miniature accordion, a possible key in the narrator's efforts to recover his mind and memories.
Influences
Murakami has often referred to his love of Western literature and particular admiration for hard-boiled pioneer Raymond Chandler. 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland' owes much to American "hard-boiled" detective fiction, as well as to science fiction and cyberpunk, but the book does not belong in any of those categories.
The 'end of the world' has much in common with The Castle by Franz Kafka. Both deal with newcomers to strange villages who are both intrigued and horrified by the behavior of the villagers. The image of losing one's shadow when approaching the end of the world is found in Knut Hamsun's 1898 novel Victoria. The same idea appeared earlier, in the 1814 story of "Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte" ("Peter Schlemihl's Remarkable Story") by Adelbert von Chamisso. The theme of the human brain storing encrypted data is found in William Gibson's short story Johnny Mnemonic, but in interviews Murakami says this was not an influence.
Critical acclaim
Jay Rubin, who has translated many of Murakami's later works into English, said that Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is his favorite Murakami novel and that it "is just a shock after reading the black and white, autobiographical fiction that is such the norm in Japan."
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World was awarded the prestigious Tanizaki Prize in 1985.
Book information
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (English edition) by Haruki Murakami; translated by Alfred Birnbaum.
* Hardcover ISBN 4-7700-1544-5, published in September 1991 by Kodansha International
* Paperback ISBN 0-679-74346-4, published on March 2, 1993 by Vintage Press
本书是作者篇幅最大的小说三部曲。 失业者冈田亨的妻子久美子在其兄长、众议员，黑暗势力代表人物绵谷升的胁迫下失踪了。冈田身边来了许多怪人：女巫师、 “意识娼妇”、失手使男友车祸死亡的少女、旧军人等。同时也发生了许多怪事。冈田到一口深井里冥思苦想后，出来在奇怪的母子“肉豆蔻”、“肉桂”的帮助下向绵谷升挑战，在虚幻中将其击伤，久美子又在现实中将其杀死。本书色彩诡异，规模宏大，虚实交叉，被称为当代的“一千零一夜”。 本书在1997年曾由译林出版，在读者中已具有一定影响。
Two chapters were originally published in The New Yorker under the titles The Zoo Attack on July 31, 1995, and Another Way to Die on January 20, 1997. A slightly different version of the first chapter translated by Alfred Birnbaum was published in the collection The Elephant Vanishes under the title The Wind-up Bird and Tuesday's Women. In addition, the character name Noboru Wataya is used in Family Affair of The Elephant Vanishes, while having a similar personality and background, the character is not related to the one in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle of the same name. Noboru Wataya is also used in Jay Rubin's translation of The Elephant Vanishes in The Elephant Vanishes.
The original Japanese edition was released in three parts, which make up the three "books" of the single volume English language version.
1. Dorobō kasasagi hen (泥棒かささぎ編?)
2. Yogen suru tori hen (予言する鳥編?)
3. Torisashi otoko hen (鳥刺し男編?)
For this novel, Murakami received the Yomiuri Literary Award, which was awarded to him by one of his harshest former critics, Oe Kenzaburo.
Plot summary
The novel is about a low-key unemployed man, Toru Okada, whose cat runs away. A chain of events follow that prove that his seemingly mundane boring life is much more complicated than it appears.
Main characters
While this book has many major and minor characters, these are among the most important:
* Toru Okada: The narrator and protagonist, Toru is a passive and often apathetic young man living in suburban Japan. He is Kumiko's husband and continually follows the orders or wishes of others. Currently unemployed, he is the embodiment of passivity.
* Kumiko Okada: Kumiko is Toru's wife and, as the breadwinner of the couple, is the more autonomous of the two. She works in the publishing business.
* Noboru Wataya: Noboru is Kumiko's older brother. He is presented as a mediagenic figure; the public loves him, but Toru cannot stand him. Noboru appears as an academic in the beginning, becomes a politician in the story, and has no apparent personal life. He is said to be hidden behind a façade — all style, and no substance. ("Noboru Wataya" is also the name Toru and Kumiko gave to their pet cat, whom Toru later renames Mackerel, like the fish; the character name also appeared in Family Affair, translated by Jay Rubin, of The Elephant Vanishes collection.)
* May Kasahara: May is a middleteen girl who should be in school, but, by choice, is not. Toru and May carry on a fairly constant exchange throughout a good deal of the novel; when May is not present, she writes to him (though the reader can peruse them, her letters never reach him). Their conversations in person are often bizarre and revolve around death and the deterioration of human life. Even more bizarre is the cheerful and decidedly non-serious air with which these conversations take place.
* Lieutenant Mamiya: Mamiya was an officer during the Japanese military efforts in Manchukuo, and meets Toru while carrying out the particulars of Mr. Honda's will. He has been emotionally scarred by witnessing the flaying of a superior officer and several nights spent in a dried-up well. He tells Toru his story both in person and in letters.
* Malta Kano: Malta Kano is a medium of sorts who changed her name to "Malta" after performing some kind of "austerities" on the island of Malta for some time. She is enlisted by Kumiko to help the Okadas find their missing cat.
* Creta Kano: Malta's younger sister and apprentice of sorts, she describes herself as a "prostitute of the mind." Disturbingly, for Toru, Creta has a nearly identical face and figure to Kumiko.
* Nutmeg Akasaka: Nutmeg first meets Toru as he sits on a bench watching people's faces every day in Shinjuku. The second time they meet she is attracted to the blue-black mark on his right cheek. She and Toru share a few strange coincidences: the wind-up bird in Toru's yard and the blue-black cheek mark appear in Nutmeg's World War II-related stories, and also Nutmeg's father and Lieutenant Mamiya (an acquaintance of Toru's) are linked by World War II. "Nutmeg Akasaka" is a pseudonym she chose for herself after insisting to Toru that her "real" name is irrelevant. Her real name is never mentioned in the novel.
* Cinnamon Akasaka: Cinnamon is Nutmeg's adult son who hasn't spoken since age 6. He communicates through a system of hand movements and mouthed words. Somehow, people who've just met him (who presumably have never lipread or used sign language) find him perfectly comprehensible. "Cinnamon," too, is a pseudonym created by Nutmeg.
Missing chapters
Two chapters from the third volume of the original three-volume Japanese paperback edition were not included in the English translation. In addition, one of the chapters near the excluded two was moved ahead of another chapter, taking it out of the context of the original order.
The two missing chapters elaborate on the relationship between Toru Okada and Creta Kano, and a "hearing" of the wind-up bird as Toru burns a box of Kumiko's belongings.
Translation
The English translation of the novel was carried out by Jay Rubin.
It must also be noted that in addition to very notable differences between the Japanese and English versions, there are also differences between the original Japanese hardcover and paperback editions.
Further differences exist between the American and British editions, but these are much more superficial.
The German translation by Giovanni and Ditte Bandini is based on the English translation, not on the Japanese original.
Book information
* Murakami, Haruki. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. translated by Jay Rubin. ISBN 0-679-77543-9.
* Murakami, Haruki. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. translated by Jay Rubin. ISBN 1-86046-581-1.
Two chapters were originally published in The New Yorker under the titles The Zoo Attack on July 31, 1995, and Another Way to Die on January 20, 1997. A slightly different version of the first chapter translated by Alfred Birnbaum was published in the collection The Elephant Vanishes under the title The Wind-up Bird and Tuesday's Women. In addition, the character name Noboru Wataya is used in Family Affair of The Elephant Vanishes, while having a similar personality and background, the character is not related to the one in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle of the same name. Noboru Wataya is also used in Jay Rubin's translation of The Elephant Vanishes in The Elephant Vanishes.
The original Japanese edition was released in three parts, which make up the three "books" of the single volume English language version.
1. Dorobō kasasagi hen (泥棒かささぎ編?)
2. Yogen suru tori hen (予言する鳥編?)
3. Torisashi otoko hen (鳥刺し男編?)
For this novel, Murakami received the Yomiuri Literary Award, which was awarded to him by one of his harshest former critics, Oe Kenzaburo.
Plot summary
The novel is about a low-key unemployed man, Toru Okada, whose cat runs away. A chain of events follow that prove that his seemingly mundane boring life is much more complicated than it appears.
Main characters
While this book has many major and minor characters, these are among the most important:
* Toru Okada: The narrator and protagonist, Toru is a passive and often apathetic young man living in suburban Japan. He is Kumiko's husband and continually follows the orders or wishes of others. Currently unemployed, he is the embodiment of passivity.
* Kumiko Okada: Kumiko is Toru's wife and, as the breadwinner of the couple, is the more autonomous of the two. She works in the publishing business.
* Noboru Wataya: Noboru is Kumiko's older brother. He is presented as a mediagenic figure; the public loves him, but Toru cannot stand him. Noboru appears as an academic in the beginning, becomes a politician in the story, and has no apparent personal life. He is said to be hidden behind a façade — all style, and no substance. ("Noboru Wataya" is also the name Toru and Kumiko gave to their pet cat, whom Toru later renames Mackerel, like the fish; the character name also appeared in Family Affair, translated by Jay Rubin, of The Elephant Vanishes collection.)
* May Kasahara: May is a middleteen girl who should be in school, but, by choice, is not. Toru and May carry on a fairly constant exchange throughout a good deal of the novel; when May is not present, she writes to him (though the reader can peruse them, her letters never reach him). Their conversations in person are often bizarre and revolve around death and the deterioration of human life. Even more bizarre is the cheerful and decidedly non-serious air with which these conversations take place.
* Lieutenant Mamiya: Mamiya was an officer during the Japanese military efforts in Manchukuo, and meets Toru while carrying out the particulars of Mr. Honda's will. He has been emotionally scarred by witnessing the flaying of a superior officer and several nights spent in a dried-up well. He tells Toru his story both in person and in letters.
* Malta Kano: Malta Kano is a medium of sorts who changed her name to "Malta" after performing some kind of "austerities" on the island of Malta for some time. She is enlisted by Kumiko to help the Okadas find their missing cat.
* Creta Kano: Malta's younger sister and apprentice of sorts, she describes herself as a "prostitute of the mind." Disturbingly, for Toru, Creta has a nearly identical face and figure to Kumiko.
* Nutmeg Akasaka: Nutmeg first meets Toru as he sits on a bench watching people's faces every day in Shinjuku. The second time they meet she is attracted to the blue-black mark on his right cheek. She and Toru share a few strange coincidences: the wind-up bird in Toru's yard and the blue-black cheek mark appear in Nutmeg's World War II-related stories, and also Nutmeg's father and Lieutenant Mamiya (an acquaintance of Toru's) are linked by World War II. "Nutmeg Akasaka" is a pseudonym she chose for herself after insisting to Toru that her "real" name is irrelevant. Her real name is never mentioned in the novel.
* Cinnamon Akasaka: Cinnamon is Nutmeg's adult son who hasn't spoken since age 6. He communicates through a system of hand movements and mouthed words. Somehow, people who've just met him (who presumably have never lipread or used sign language) find him perfectly comprehensible. "Cinnamon," too, is a pseudonym created by Nutmeg.
Missing chapters
Two chapters from the third volume of the original three-volume Japanese paperback edition were not included in the English translation. In addition, one of the chapters near the excluded two was moved ahead of another chapter, taking it out of the context of the original order.
The two missing chapters elaborate on the relationship between Toru Okada and Creta Kano, and a "hearing" of the wind-up bird as Toru burns a box of Kumiko's belongings.
Translation
The English translation of the novel was carried out by Jay Rubin.
It must also be noted that in addition to very notable differences between the Japanese and English versions, there are also differences between the original Japanese hardcover and paperback editions.
Further differences exist between the American and British editions, but these are much more superficial.
The German translation by Giovanni and Ditte Bandini is based on the English translation, not on the Japanese original.
Book information
* Murakami, Haruki. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. translated by Jay Rubin. ISBN 0-679-77543-9.
* Murakami, Haruki. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. translated by Jay Rubin. ISBN 1-86046-581-1.
一头控制全日本的超能力羊失踪了，它的宿主、黑社会头子命在旦夕。潦倒的东京青年职员无意中得到羊的照片，不料就此成了黑社会的胁迫对象，携着女友踏上了寻羊冒险之旅。在北海道的雪山绝地，他终于到了照片的拍摄者——不，那只是其阴魂，因为这位绰号“鼠”的朋友，已经与那罪恶之源同归于尽了。
《寻羊冒险记》是村上春树继处女作《且听风吟》 、《1973年的弹珠游戏》后的第三部小说，与上述两部作品构成“我与鼠”系列三部曲。《寻羊冒险记》是第三部，用现实与虚幻交织的奇特之笔，打开了日本的新文学之门。小说极富寓言性与神话色彩，作者认为该小说的创作“顺利到最后，在恰到火候处止笔”。《寻羊冒险记》是村上的第一部够规模的长篇，村上因此获得了野间文艺新人赏。
In A Wild Sheep Chase, Murakami blends elements of American and English literature with Japanese contexts, exploring post-WWII Japanese cultural identity. The book is part mystery and part fantasy with a postmodern twist.
Plot summary
This mock-detective tale follows an unnamed Japanese man through Tokyo and Hokkaidō in 1978. The passive, chain-smoking main character gets swept away on an adventure that leads him on a hunt for a sheep that hasn’t been seen for years. The apathetic protagonist meets a woman with magically seductive ears and a strange man who dresses as a sheep and talks in slurs; in this way there are elements of Japanese animism or Shinto. The manipulation of the narrator into the hunt and repeated references to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes raise connections to "The Red-Headed League."
Sequel
Murakami wrote a sequel to this book, entitled Dance Dance Dance, which also follows the adventures of the unnamed protagonist and the Sheep Man. However, its plot, tone and the majority of the characters are sufficiently different that Dance Dance Dance can be seen as separate from the "Trilogy of the Rat."
Awards
* Noma Literary Newcomer's Prize
《寻羊冒险记》是村上春树继处女作《且听风吟》 、《1973年的弹珠游戏》后的第三部小说，与上述两部作品构成“我与鼠”系列三部曲。《寻羊冒险记》是第三部，用现实与虚幻交织的奇特之笔，打开了日本的新文学之门。小说极富寓言性与神话色彩，作者认为该小说的创作“顺利到最后，在恰到火候处止笔”。《寻羊冒险记》是村上的第一部够规模的长篇，村上因此获得了野间文艺新人赏。
In A Wild Sheep Chase, Murakami blends elements of American and English literature with Japanese contexts, exploring post-WWII Japanese cultural identity. The book is part mystery and part fantasy with a postmodern twist.
Plot summary
This mock-detective tale follows an unnamed Japanese man through Tokyo and Hokkaidō in 1978. The passive, chain-smoking main character gets swept away on an adventure that leads him on a hunt for a sheep that hasn’t been seen for years. The apathetic protagonist meets a woman with magically seductive ears and a strange man who dresses as a sheep and talks in slurs; in this way there are elements of Japanese animism or Shinto. The manipulation of the narrator into the hunt and repeated references to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes raise connections to "The Red-Headed League."
Sequel
Murakami wrote a sequel to this book, entitled Dance Dance Dance, which also follows the adventures of the unnamed protagonist and the Sheep Man. However, its plot, tone and the majority of the characters are sufficiently different that Dance Dance Dance can be seen as separate from the "Trilogy of the Rat."
Awards
* Noma Literary Newcomer's Prize
《海边的卡夫卡》的主人公是一位自称名叫田村卡夫卡——小说始终未交代其真名——的少年。他在十五岁生日前夜独自离家出走，乘坐夜行长途巴士远赴四国。出走的原因是为了逃避父亲所作的比俄底浦斯王还要可怕的预言：尔将弑父，将与尔母、尔姐交合。卡夫卡四岁时，母亲突然失踪，带走了比卡夫卡年长四岁、其实是田村家养女的姐姐，不知何故却将亲生儿子抛弃。他从未见过母亲的照片，甚至连名字也不知道。仿佛是运命在冥冥之中引导，他偶然来到某私立图书馆，遂栖身于此。馆长佐伯女士是位四十多岁气质高雅的美妇，有着波澜曲折的神秘身世。卡夫卡疑心她是自己的生母，佐伯却对此不置可否。卡夫卡恋上了佐伯，并与之发生肉体关系。小说还另设一条副线，副线的主角是老人中田，他在二战期间读小学时，经历过一次神秘的昏迷事件，从此丧失了记忆，将学过的知识完全忘记，甚至不会认字计数，却获得了与猫对话的神秘能力。中田在神智失控的情况下杀死了一个自称焦尼·沃卡（Johnny Walker）、打扮得酷似那著名威士忌酒商标上所画的英国绅士的狂人，一路搭车也来到此地。小说共分49章，奇数章基本上用写实手法讲述卡夫卡的故事，偶数章则用魔幻手法展现中田的奇遇。两种手法交互使用，编织出极富强烈虚构色彩的、奇幻诡诘的现代寓言。佐伯是将这两个故事联结为一体的结合点，而弑父的预言似乎最终也未能避免，因为狂人焦尼·沃卡居然是卡夫卡生父乔装改扮的，真正的凶手也并非中田……
Plot summary
Comprising two distinct but interrelated plots, the narrative runs back and forth between the two, taking up each plotline in alternating chapters.
The odd chapters tell the 15 year old Kafka's story as he runs away from his father's house to escape an Oedipal curse and to embark upon a quest to find his mother and sister. After a series of adventures, he finds shelter in a quiet, private library in Takamatsu, run by the distant and aloof Miss Saeki and the androgynous Oshima. There he spends his days reading the unabridged Richard Francis Burton translation of A Thousand and One Nights and the collected works of Natsume Sōseki until the police begin inquiring after him in connection with a brutal murder.
The even chapters tell Nakata's story. Due to his uncanny abilities, he has found part-time work in his old age as a finder of lost cats (a clear reference to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle). The case of one particular lost cat puts him on a path that ultimately takes him far away from his home, ending up on the road for the first time in his life. He befriends a truck-driver named Hoshino. Hoshino takes him on as a passenger in his truck and soon becomes very attached to the old man.
Nakata and Kafka are on a collision course throughout the novel, but their convergence takes place as much on a metaphysical plane as it does in reality and, in fact, that can be said of the novel itself. Due to the Oedipal theme running through much of the novel, Kafka on the Shore has been called a modern Greek tragedy.
Major themes
Kafka on the Shore demonstrates Murakami's typical blend of popular culture, quotidian detail, magical realism, suspense, humor, an involved and at times confusing plot, and potent sexuality. It also features an increased emphasis on Japanese religious traditions, particularly Shinto. The main characters are significant departures from the typical protagonist of a Murakami novel, such as Toru Watanabe of Norwegian Wood and Toru Okada of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, who are typically in their 20s or 30s and have rather humdrum personalities. However, many of the same themes re-occur in Kafka on the Shore as were first developed in these and other previous novels.
The power and beauty of music as a communicative medium is a central theme of the novel—the very title comes from a pop song Kafka is given on a record in the library. The music of Beethoven, specifically the Archduke Trio is also used as a redemptive metaphor. Among other prominent themes are: the virtues of self-sufficiency and efficiency, the relation of dreams and reality, the specter of the heritage of World War II, the threat of fate, the uncertain grip of prophecy, and the power of nature.
G. W. F. Hegel has an influence on the book and is referenced directly at one point. Dialectics (Thesis, antithesis, synthesis) in particular play a role.
Characters
Humans
* Kafka Tamura: Clearly named in honor of the Czech writer Franz Kafka, Kafka is a "cool, tall, fifteen-year-old boy lugging a backpack and a bunch of obsessions" and the son of the famous sculptor Koichi Tamura. His mother and sister left the family almost before he became conscious of them. He occasionally interacts with a hectoring, exhortative alter ego "The boy named Crow" (as told in the story, although jackdaw is closer to Czech meaning). Crow tells himself throughout the novel that he must be "the toughest fifteen-year-old in the world."
* Satoru Nakata: Nakata lost many of his mental faculties when, as one of sixteen schoolchildren out on a mushroom-gathering field-trip toward the end of World War II, he was rendered unconscious following a mysterious flash of light in the sky . Unlike the other children, who lost consciousness briefly, Nakata remained unconscious for many weeks, and, upon finally awakening, found that his memory and his ability to read had disappeared, as well as his higher intellectual functions. In their place, Nakata found he was able to communicate with cats. Nakata and Kafka may also be different parts of the same person.
* Oshima: A 21-year-old, gay female-to-male transsexual. He is a librarian and an owner of a mountain retreat who becomes close to Kafka throughout the course of the novel; also a haemophiliac.
* Hoshino: A truck driver in his mid-twenties. He befriends Nakata, due to his resemblance to his own grandfather, and transports and assists Nakata towards his uncertain goal.
* Miss Saeki: The manager of a private library, where Oshima works and where Kafka lives through much of the novel. She was previously a singer, and performed the song "Kafka on the Shore", which unites many of the novel's themes and gives it its title. She may also be Kafka's mother.
* Sakura: A young woman Kafka meets on the bus who helps him later on. She may be his sister.
* Johnnie Walker: A cat killer who plans to make a flute out of cats' souls. He may also be Kafka's father, the renowned sculptor Koichi Tamura. His name is taken from Johnnie Walker, a brand of Scotch whisky, and he dresses to appear like the man featured in the brand's logo.
* Colonel Sanders: A "concept" who takes the form of a pimp or hustler. He is named after, and appears similar to, Harland Sanders, the founder and face of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Cats
* Goma: A lost cat owned by Mrs. Koizumi.
* Kawamura: A cat who was addled after being hit by a bicycle. Though they can communicate, Nakata is unable to understand Kawamura's repetitive and strange sentences.
* Mimi: An intelligent Siamese cat.
* Okawa: A tabby cat.
* Toro: A black cat.
Understanding the novel
After the novel's release, Murakami's Japanese publisher set up a website allowing readers to submit questions regarding the meaning of the book. 8,000 questions were received and Murakami responded personally to about 1,200 of them. In an interview posted on his English language website, Murakami states that the secret to understanding the novel lies in reading it multiple times: "Kafka on the Shore contains several riddles, but there aren't any solutions provided. Instead, several of these riddles combine, and through their interaction the possibility of a solution takes shape. And the form this solution takes will be different for each reader. To put it another way, the riddles function as part of the solution. It's hard to explain, but that's the kind of novel I set out to write".
Plot summary
Comprising two distinct but interrelated plots, the narrative runs back and forth between the two, taking up each plotline in alternating chapters.
The odd chapters tell the 15 year old Kafka's story as he runs away from his father's house to escape an Oedipal curse and to embark upon a quest to find his mother and sister. After a series of adventures, he finds shelter in a quiet, private library in Takamatsu, run by the distant and aloof Miss Saeki and the androgynous Oshima. There he spends his days reading the unabridged Richard Francis Burton translation of A Thousand and One Nights and the collected works of Natsume Sōseki until the police begin inquiring after him in connection with a brutal murder.
The even chapters tell Nakata's story. Due to his uncanny abilities, he has found part-time work in his old age as a finder of lost cats (a clear reference to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle). The case of one particular lost cat puts him on a path that ultimately takes him far away from his home, ending up on the road for the first time in his life. He befriends a truck-driver named Hoshino. Hoshino takes him on as a passenger in his truck and soon becomes very attached to the old man.
Nakata and Kafka are on a collision course throughout the novel, but their convergence takes place as much on a metaphysical plane as it does in reality and, in fact, that can be said of the novel itself. Due to the Oedipal theme running through much of the novel, Kafka on the Shore has been called a modern Greek tragedy.
Major themes
Kafka on the Shore demonstrates Murakami's typical blend of popular culture, quotidian detail, magical realism, suspense, humor, an involved and at times confusing plot, and potent sexuality. It also features an increased emphasis on Japanese religious traditions, particularly Shinto. The main characters are significant departures from the typical protagonist of a Murakami novel, such as Toru Watanabe of Norwegian Wood and Toru Okada of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, who are typically in their 20s or 30s and have rather humdrum personalities. However, many of the same themes re-occur in Kafka on the Shore as were first developed in these and other previous novels.
The power and beauty of music as a communicative medium is a central theme of the novel—the very title comes from a pop song Kafka is given on a record in the library. The music of Beethoven, specifically the Archduke Trio is also used as a redemptive metaphor. Among other prominent themes are: the virtues of self-sufficiency and efficiency, the relation of dreams and reality, the specter of the heritage of World War II, the threat of fate, the uncertain grip of prophecy, and the power of nature.
G. W. F. Hegel has an influence on the book and is referenced directly at one point. Dialectics (Thesis, antithesis, synthesis) in particular play a role.
Characters
Humans
* Kafka Tamura: Clearly named in honor of the Czech writer Franz Kafka, Kafka is a "cool, tall, fifteen-year-old boy lugging a backpack and a bunch of obsessions" and the son of the famous sculptor Koichi Tamura. His mother and sister left the family almost before he became conscious of them. He occasionally interacts with a hectoring, exhortative alter ego "The boy named Crow" (as told in the story, although jackdaw is closer to Czech meaning). Crow tells himself throughout the novel that he must be "the toughest fifteen-year-old in the world."
* Satoru Nakata: Nakata lost many of his mental faculties when, as one of sixteen schoolchildren out on a mushroom-gathering field-trip toward the end of World War II, he was rendered unconscious following a mysterious flash of light in the sky . Unlike the other children, who lost consciousness briefly, Nakata remained unconscious for many weeks, and, upon finally awakening, found that his memory and his ability to read had disappeared, as well as his higher intellectual functions. In their place, Nakata found he was able to communicate with cats. Nakata and Kafka may also be different parts of the same person.
* Oshima: A 21-year-old, gay female-to-male transsexual. He is a librarian and an owner of a mountain retreat who becomes close to Kafka throughout the course of the novel; also a haemophiliac.
* Hoshino: A truck driver in his mid-twenties. He befriends Nakata, due to his resemblance to his own grandfather, and transports and assists Nakata towards his uncertain goal.
* Miss Saeki: The manager of a private library, where Oshima works and where Kafka lives through much of the novel. She was previously a singer, and performed the song "Kafka on the Shore", which unites many of the novel's themes and gives it its title. She may also be Kafka's mother.
* Sakura: A young woman Kafka meets on the bus who helps him later on. She may be his sister.
* Johnnie Walker: A cat killer who plans to make a flute out of cats' souls. He may also be Kafka's father, the renowned sculptor Koichi Tamura. His name is taken from Johnnie Walker, a brand of Scotch whisky, and he dresses to appear like the man featured in the brand's logo.
* Colonel Sanders: A "concept" who takes the form of a pimp or hustler. He is named after, and appears similar to, Harland Sanders, the founder and face of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Cats
* Goma: A lost cat owned by Mrs. Koizumi.
* Kawamura: A cat who was addled after being hit by a bicycle. Though they can communicate, Nakata is unable to understand Kawamura's repetitive and strange sentences.
* Mimi: An intelligent Siamese cat.
* Okawa: A tabby cat.
* Toro: A black cat.
Understanding the novel
After the novel's release, Murakami's Japanese publisher set up a website allowing readers to submit questions regarding the meaning of the book. 8,000 questions were received and Murakami responded personally to about 1,200 of them. In an interview posted on his English language website, Murakami states that the secret to understanding the novel lies in reading it multiple times: "Kafka on the Shore contains several riddles, but there aren't any solutions provided. Instead, several of these riddles combine, and through their interaction the possibility of a solution takes shape. And the form this solution takes will be different for each reader. To put it another way, the riddles function as part of the solution. It's hard to explain, but that's the kind of novel I set out to write".
本书是村上春树紧接于《挪威的森林》之后发表的又一部重要长篇小说。其内容与《寻羊冒险记》相衔接，主人公“我”与《寻羊冒险记》中的主人公是同一个人。小说分两条线索，一条是“我”与老同学、电影明星五反田结识了两名应召女郎，五反田出于心理扭曲杀死了她们，自己也投海自杀。另一条是“我”结识了孤单的女孩“雪”、她的摄影家母亲 “雨”与“雨”的男友笛克，但善良的笛克却死于车祸。“我”在死亡阴影下过了一段惊魂的日子，最后与一个宾馆女服务员相恋并获得了安全感。
小说揭示了资本主义社会的不合理性对人的心灵的扭曲以及这种社会下人的精神孤独和生命的脆弱，在手法上现实与虚幻交织，艺术水准高超。
Dance Dance Dance (ダンス・ダンス・ダンス, Dansu dansu dansu?) is the sixth novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. First published in 1988, the English translation by Alfred Birnbaum was released in 1994. The book is a sequel to Murakami's novel A Wild Sheep Chase, although the plot lines are not entirely contiguous. In 2001, Murakami said that writing Dance Dance Dance had been a healing act after his unexpected fame following the publication of Norwegian Wood and that, because of this, he had enjoyed writing Dance more than any other novel.
Plot summary
The novel follows the surreal misadventures of an unnamed protagonist who makes a living as a commercial writer. The protagonist is compelled to return to the Dolphin Hotel, a seedy establishment where he once spent the night with a woman he loved, despite the fact he never even knew her real name. She has since disappeared without a trace, the Dolphin Hotel has been purchased by a large corporation and converted into a slick, fashionable, western-style hotel.
The protagonist begins experiencing dreams in which this woman and the Sheep Man — a strange individual dressed in an old sheep skin who speaks in a monotonous rush — appear to him and lead him to uncover two mysteries. The first is metaphysical in nature, viz. how to survive the unsurvivable. The second is the murder of a call-girl in which an old school friend of the protagonist, now a famous film actor, is a prime suspect. Along the way, the protagonist meets a clairvoyant and troubled 13-year-old girl, her equally troubled parents, a one-armed poet, and a sympathetic receptionist.
Major themes
Several of the novel's themes are hallmarks of Murakami's writing. Dance Dance Dance deals with themes of loss and abandonment, as do many of Murakami's other novels. Often, the male protagonist in a Murakami novel will lose a mother, spouse, or girlfriend. Other common Murakami themes this novel includes are alienation, absurdity and the ultimate discovery of a human connection.
There is a character in the story named Hiraku Makimura, which is an anagram of "Haruki Murakami." Makimura of the novel is also a best selling author.
Differences in English Translation
The supernatural character known as the Sheep Man speaks differently between the two versions. The character speaks normal Japanese in the original work, but in the English translations, his speech is written without any spaces between words.
小说揭示了资本主义社会的不合理性对人的心灵的扭曲以及这种社会下人的精神孤独和生命的脆弱，在手法上现实与虚幻交织，艺术水准高超。
Dance Dance Dance (ダンス・ダンス・ダンス, Dansu dansu dansu?) is the sixth novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. First published in 1988, the English translation by Alfred Birnbaum was released in 1994. The book is a sequel to Murakami's novel A Wild Sheep Chase, although the plot lines are not entirely contiguous. In 2001, Murakami said that writing Dance Dance Dance had been a healing act after his unexpected fame following the publication of Norwegian Wood and that, because of this, he had enjoyed writing Dance more than any other novel.
Plot summary
The novel follows the surreal misadventures of an unnamed protagonist who makes a living as a commercial writer. The protagonist is compelled to return to the Dolphin Hotel, a seedy establishment where he once spent the night with a woman he loved, despite the fact he never even knew her real name. She has since disappeared without a trace, the Dolphin Hotel has been purchased by a large corporation and converted into a slick, fashionable, western-style hotel.
The protagonist begins experiencing dreams in which this woman and the Sheep Man — a strange individual dressed in an old sheep skin who speaks in a monotonous rush — appear to him and lead him to uncover two mysteries. The first is metaphysical in nature, viz. how to survive the unsurvivable. The second is the murder of a call-girl in which an old school friend of the protagonist, now a famous film actor, is a prime suspect. Along the way, the protagonist meets a clairvoyant and troubled 13-year-old girl, her equally troubled parents, a one-armed poet, and a sympathetic receptionist.
Major themes
Several of the novel's themes are hallmarks of Murakami's writing. Dance Dance Dance deals with themes of loss and abandonment, as do many of Murakami's other novels. Often, the male protagonist in a Murakami novel will lose a mother, spouse, or girlfriend. Other common Murakami themes this novel includes are alienation, absurdity and the ultimate discovery of a human connection.
There is a character in the story named Hiraku Makimura, which is an anagram of "Haruki Murakami." Makimura of the novel is also a best selling author.
Differences in English Translation
The supernatural character known as the Sheep Man speaks differently between the two versions. The character speaks normal Japanese in the original work, but in the English translations, his speech is written without any spaces between words.
大江健三郎于1979年发表了长篇小说《同时代的游戏》，相较于中国传统文化中对桃花源的那种逃避现实的理想之地，这部作品中的乌托邦则明显侧重于通过现世的革命和建设达到理想之境。从这个文本的隐结构中可以发现，大江健三郎在构建森林中这个乌托邦的过程中，不时以中国革命和建设为参照系，试图从中探索出一条由此通往理想国的具有普遍意义的通途。当然，大江健三郎在自己的文学世界里建立根据地的尝试，《同时代的游戏》显然不是第一次，也不会是最后一次。大江健三郎说，他文学作品中构建的根据地(乌托邦)实际上是源于毛泽东的根据地。
大江健三郎最早接触的根据地方面的文章是《中国的红色政权为什么能够存在？》，在那篇文章里，毛泽东围绕根据地的建立和发展做了很好的阐述。后来在大学里学习了毛泽东著作后，大江健三郎便意识到，他的故乡的农民也曾举行过几次暴动，最终却没能坚持下来，归根结底，就是没能像毛泽东那样建立稳固的根据地。日本的暴动者为什么不在山区建立根据地呢？如果建立了根据地，情况又将如何？这是大江健三郎一直在思考的问题，并且在作品中表现了出来。
The Game of Contemporaneity was originally inspired on Diego Rivera’s mural 'Dream on a Sunday Afternoon in the Central Alameda'. Oe’s approach to history and story-telling, like in the mural, exposes the themes of simultaneity, ambiguity and thus complexity. The story centres itself around the alternative world of the dissident samurai, as opposed to that of the Emperor. The samurai turn into demons after having being chased into the forest. The story of the village serves as a microcosmic representation of the history of the nation as a whole. It has its own creation myth and fertility goddess, as well as having a composite healer/trickster called: The One Who Destroys. Although the novel exposes the themes of marginalisation and outsiderhood, it also provides hope for a new beginning. This emphasizes the central theme of the novel: simultaneous ambiguity, in the amalgamation of past and present, fact and dream, as well as history and myth. Oe uses satire, parody and black humour to describe the many deeds and events of the samurai. This culminates in the Fifty-Day War, in which the samurai and the imperial army battle one another, with The One Who Destroys leading the battle against the The No-Name Captain of the imperial guard. It ends in the samurai surrendering to avoid the destruction of the forest (mori). The word 'mori' in itself is ambivalent in that in Japanese it conjures an image of regeneration or rebirth and in Latin that of death.
This novel has been considered as a main example of the current of Magic Realism in Japanese Literature. Other Japanese authors with considerable literary contributions to this genre are: Abe Kobo, Yasunari Kawabata and Yasushi Inoue.
大江健三郎最早接触的根据地方面的文章是《中国的红色政权为什么能够存在？》，在那篇文章里，毛泽东围绕根据地的建立和发展做了很好的阐述。后来在大学里学习了毛泽东著作后，大江健三郎便意识到，他的故乡的农民也曾举行过几次暴动，最终却没能坚持下来，归根结底，就是没能像毛泽东那样建立稳固的根据地。日本的暴动者为什么不在山区建立根据地呢？如果建立了根据地，情况又将如何？这是大江健三郎一直在思考的问题，并且在作品中表现了出来。
The Game of Contemporaneity was originally inspired on Diego Rivera’s mural 'Dream on a Sunday Afternoon in the Central Alameda'. Oe’s approach to history and story-telling, like in the mural, exposes the themes of simultaneity, ambiguity and thus complexity. The story centres itself around the alternative world of the dissident samurai, as opposed to that of the Emperor. The samurai turn into demons after having being chased into the forest. The story of the village serves as a microcosmic representation of the history of the nation as a whole. It has its own creation myth and fertility goddess, as well as having a composite healer/trickster called: The One Who Destroys. Although the novel exposes the themes of marginalisation and outsiderhood, it also provides hope for a new beginning. This emphasizes the central theme of the novel: simultaneous ambiguity, in the amalgamation of past and present, fact and dream, as well as history and myth. Oe uses satire, parody and black humour to describe the many deeds and events of the samurai. This culminates in the Fifty-Day War, in which the samurai and the imperial army battle one another, with The One Who Destroys leading the battle against the The No-Name Captain of the imperial guard. It ends in the samurai surrendering to avoid the destruction of the forest (mori). The word 'mori' in itself is ambivalent in that in Japanese it conjures an image of regeneration or rebirth and in Latin that of death.
This novel has been considered as a main example of the current of Magic Realism in Japanese Literature. Other Japanese authors with considerable literary contributions to this genre are: Abe Kobo, Yasunari Kawabata and Yasushi Inoue.
作者是心理描写的专家，醉心于病态的心理描写，不仅写行为的结果，而且着重描述行为发生的心理活动过程，特别是那些自觉不自觉的反常行为、近乎昏迷与疯狂的反常状态。而人物的思想行为反常，恰恰又是他作品的特点。《普罗哈尔钦先生》中的普罗哈尔钦，《脆弱的心》中的舒姆科夫，《荒唐人的梦》、《拙劣的笑话》、《性格温和的女人》以及《白夜》中的主人公，都是“反常”的怪人。作者似乎想通过人物的乖张行为、幻想、作梦、昏迷、发疯等等来反映现实，造成别具一格的真实，因为他认为“按照现实的本来面目来表现现实是不可能的”。也许，这一点正是作者艺术的独特处。
作者笔下的人物，虽然地位低微，行为反常，荒唐可笑，但内心里却或多或少地保留着某些高尚的品质，比如《波尔袒科夫》中的主人公波尔袒科夫虽然是一个“货真价实的受苦受难者”，但却“心地善良”，是“世界上最最诚实、最最高尚的一个，”“甚至敢于舍己救人”，“有时他还甘冒风险，不惜牺牲自己的一切，几乎有点英雄气概”。就是“爱财如命”的普罗哈尔钦先生“虽然不是出身名门望族，为人却忠实可靠”，而且还是一个“性格温和的好人”。作者虽然写了他们不少荒唐可笑的行为，但却没有将他们丑化，所以这些苦命人的形象在读者心中激起的不是对他们的蔑视，而是深深的同情。对他们荒唐可笑的行为，我们可能禁不住发笑，但笑后一想，又往往觉得想哭，甚至情不自禁地洒下同情之泪。我以为这是作者艺术表现力的高明处。
作者笔下的人物，虽然地位低微，行为反常，荒唐可笑，但内心里却或多或少地保留着某些高尚的品质，比如《波尔袒科夫》中的主人公波尔袒科夫虽然是一个“货真价实的受苦受难者”，但却“心地善良”，是“世界上最最诚实、最最高尚的一个，”“甚至敢于舍己救人”，“有时他还甘冒风险，不惜牺牲自己的一切，几乎有点英雄气概”。就是“爱财如命”的普罗哈尔钦先生“虽然不是出身名门望族，为人却忠实可靠”，而且还是一个“性格温和的好人”。作者虽然写了他们不少荒唐可笑的行为，但却没有将他们丑化，所以这些苦命人的形象在读者心中激起的不是对他们的蔑视，而是深深的同情。对他们荒唐可笑的行为，我们可能禁不住发笑，但笑后一想，又往往觉得想哭，甚至情不自禁地洒下同情之泪。我以为这是作者艺术表现力的高明处。
前不久我买得一处房屋。所在地点十分佳美。让人觉得就像是在希腊一样。房屋四周的树木也都归属于我。其中有一株树巨大无比，在夏天，绿阴如盖，我不会以溽暑为苦了。我要找人修筑一座露天平台。黄昏时分，在平台上，我将眺望希腊夕照……
在这里，在某些时刻，阳光是纯一而绝对的，把一切都照得通体分明，是多重性的，同时又是准确无误的，猛烈地射向那惟一的一个目标……
——一九六○年夏日听到的谈话
在这里，在某些时刻，阳光是纯一而绝对的，把一切都照得通体分明，是多重性的，同时又是准确无误的，猛烈地射向那惟一的一个目标……
——一九六○年夏日听到的谈话
荒原狼是个年近50的人，名叫哈立·哈勒。几年前，他租下了我姑妈家的阁楼，在这里住了不到一年的时间。他沉默寡言，不爱交际，确实像他自称的那样，是一只狼，一个陌生的、野性而又胆怯的、来自另一个世界的动物。他的脸充满智慧，表情温柔，但内心世界动荡不安。他想的比别人多，智力上具有那种近乎冷静的客观性。这种人没有虚荣心，他们从不希望闪光，从不固执己见。
我一开始就注意到他与众不同，我觉得这个人有某种精神病或忧郁症。有一天，他在付清一切欠款后，悄无声息地离开了我们的城市，从此以后就杳无音信了。他把他的一份手稿留给了我。通过阅读他的手记我才认识到，他的精神病并不是什么个人的奇思怪想，而是这个时代的通病。下面是他的手记：
这一天又像往常那样过去了：一种既无特殊痛苦又无特殊忧虑，既无真正苦恼也无绝望的日子。在大多数人看来，这是一件美事。遗憾的是我受不了这种平静的生活，我总是燃起对强烈感情的渴望。夜幕降临，我来到十分安静的老城区，突然从一条漆黑的胡同里窜出一个人，扛着广告牌，上面写着“无政府主义的晚会!魔术剧——限制入……”。我想买票进入，但是他丢给我一本书之后，转眼之间就不见了。
回家后，我从大衣中掏出那本书，书名是《论荒原狼——仅供狂人阅读》。这本小册子毫无掩饰地勾画出我郁郁寡欢的人生，而且书的主人公竟然也叫哈立。
有一天我在城郊遇到一个殡葬队，发现有个人很面熟，好像就是那个扛广告牌的人。他告诉我，如果需要消遣就到黑鹰酒店去。到了那儿之后，我遇到了一个很漂亮的姑娘，我们友好地谈了起来。这个姑娘很了解我，劝我不要轻生，还教我跳舞。我们约好下次见面。
这位姑娘名叫赫尔米拉，她使我对生活产生了新的兴趣。我们在一家酒店见面，赫尔米拉给我介绍了一位叫玛利亚的姑娘。她说要让我学会恋爱。一种新的、可怕的、瓦解一切的东西正从四面八方涌来。几天后，我和她们一起参加一个化装舞会。舞会之后，有人告诉我赫尔米拉在“地狱”里等我。我进入地下室，看到很多房间，每个房间都代表着人类灵魂各个神秘的侧面。在最后一个房间内，我看到赫尔米拉和一个男人赤身裸体的躺在一起。狂怒之下，我刺死了赫尔米拉。
在一个光秃秃的院子里，法官判我永生，还罚我被耻笑一次。因为我用镜子里的刀杀死了镜子里的姑娘，企图把魔术剧当做自杀的工具。那个和赫尔米拉在一起的男人，把缩成一个棋子大小的赫尔米拉装进了口袋。
我猜到了这件事的意义，我会把游戏玩得更好。
荒原狼-欣赏导航
《荒原狼》是一部充满了狂暴幻想、具有表现主义色彩的小说。小说先是虚拟了一个出版者对哈勒的手记的第一人称叙述，描述了哈勒这个人物的形象和行为特征。然后又根据哈勒留下的手记，通过另一个的第一人称叙述展开后面的情节。黑塞在小说中大量运用了梦幻形式，把第一次世界大战之后的一个中年欧洲知识分子的内心世界淋漓尽致地展示出来，使其成为20世纪西方小说的经典之作。
作品主人公哈勒是才智之士，有着丰富细腻的内心世界。他很孤独，很少向别人敞开心扉。他好像是来自另外一个星球，对人世间的虚荣、做作、追名逐利和自私浅薄极其厌恶。但与此同时他又发现，自己的这种厌恶感更多的是指向自己。正因为如此，哈勒时时刻刻处于一种巨大的分裂和痛苦之中，用他的话来说，就是他身上有两种截然相反的东西在斗争着：狼性和人性。人性和狼性互不协调，当人性沉睡而狼性苏醒的时候，哈勒就走向堕落；当人性苏醒而狼性沉睡的时候，哈勒就会对自己的堕落和罪恶充满厌恶。正是人性和狼性的严重敌对，使哈勒产生了孤独感和自杀倾向。
那么拯救之路在哪里?一开始，哈勒企图用身上的人性去压制狼性，但结果却是不断陷入更大的苦闷之中。然后他用狼性来取代人性，则更行不通。这其实说明，哈勒将人的本性简单地看成狼性和人性的二元对立是错误的，是一种“毫无希望的儿戏”，“是对现实的强奸”。认识舞女赫尔米拉之后，哈勒逐渐认识到了这个错误。经赫尔米拉介绍，哈勒先后认识了舞女玛利亚和赫尔米拉的男友、音乐师巴伯罗。在他们的熏陶之下，哈勒逐渐接受了许多自己原先根本不能接受的东西。他认识到，人的本性极其复杂，不是由两种而是由上百种、上千种本质构成，不是在两极之间摇摆，而是在无数对极性之间摇摆。
在小说最后的“魔术剧”中，哈勒终于找到了真正的解救之道。正因为世界和自我都是多元的而不是二元的，所以无论是回归人性还是回归狼性都是枉然。“回头根本没有路，既回不到狼那里，也回不到儿童时代”。面对这个世界所有的背谬和荒诞，只有用笑和幽默来对付。小说的最后，哈勒终于将生活戏剧的所有“十万”个棋子装进口袋，而且决定反复去体会生存的痛苦，将游戏玩得更好些，“总有一天会学会笑”。
Background and publication history
In 1924 Hermann Hesse remarried wedding singer Ruth Wenger. After several weeks however, he left Basel, only returning near the end of the year. Upon his return he rented a separate apartment, adding to his isolation. After a short trip to Germany with Wenger, Hesse stopped seeing her almost completely. The resulting feeling of isolation and inability to make lasting contact with the outside world, led to increasing despair and thoughts of suicide.
Hesse began writing Steppenwolf in Basel, and finished it in Zürich. In 1926, a precursor to the book, a collection of poems titled The Crisis. From Hermann Hesse's Diary was published. The novel was later released in 1927. The first English edition was published in 1929 by Martin Secker in the United Kingdom and by Henry Holt and Company in the United States. This version was translated by Basil Creighton.
Plot summary
The book is presented as a manuscript by its protagonist, a middle-aged man named Harry Haller, who leaves it to a chance acquaintance, the nephew of his landlady. The acquaintance adds a short preface of his own and then has the manuscript published. The title of this "real" book-in-the-book is Harry Haller's Records (For Madmen Only).
As it begins, the hero is beset by reflections on his being ill-suited for the world of everyday regular people, specifically for frivolous bourgeois society. In his aimless wanderings about the city he encounters a person carrying an advertisement for a magic theatre who gives him a small book, Treatise on the Steppenwolf. This treatise, cited in full in the novel's text as Harry reads it, addresses Harry by name and strikes him as describing himself uncannily. It is a discourse of a man who believes himself to be of two natures: one high, the spiritual nature of man; while the other is low, animalistic; a "wolf of the steppes". This man is entangled in an irresolvable struggle, never content with either nature because he cannot see beyond this self-made concept. The pamphlet gives an explanation of the multifaceted and indefinable nature of every man's soul, which Harry is either unable or unwilling to recognize. It also discusses his suicidal intentions, describing him as one of the "suicides"; people who, deep down, knew they would take their own life one day. But to counter this it hails his potential to be great, to be one of the "Immortals".
The next day Harry meets a former academic friend with whom he had often discussed Indian mythology, and who invites Harry to his home. While there, Harry is disgusted by the nationalistic mentality of his friend, who inadvertently criticizes a column written by Harry, and offends the man and his wife by criticizing his wife's picture of Goethe, which Harry feels is too thickly sentimental and insulting to Goethe's true brilliance, reassuring the proposition that Harry is, and will always be a stranger to his society.
Trying to postpone returning home (to where he has planned suicide), Harry walks aimlessly around the town for most of the night, finally stopping to rest at a dance hall where he happens on a young woman, Hermine, who quickly recognizes his desperation. They talk at length; Hermine alternately mocks Harry's self-pity and indulges him in his explanations regarding his view of life, to his astonished relief. Hermine promises a second meeting, and provides Harry with a reason to live (or at least a substantial excuse that justifies his decision to continue living) that he eagerly embraces.
During the next few weeks, Hermine introduces Harry to the indulgences of what he calls the "bourgeois". She teaches Harry to dance, introduces him to the casual use of drugs, finds him a lover (Maria), and more importantly, forces him to accept these as legitimate and worthy aspects of a full life.
The Magic Theatre
Hermine also introduces Harry to a mysterious saxophonist named Pablo, who appears to be the very opposite of what Harry considers a serious, thoughtful man. After attending a lavish masquerade ball, Pablo brings Harry to his metaphorical "magic theatre", where concerns and notions that plagued his soul disintegrate while he participates with the ethereal and phantasmal. The Magic Theatre is a place where he experiences the fantasies that exist in his mind. They are described as a long horseshoe-shaped corridor that is a mirror on one side and a great many doors on the other. Then, Harry enters five of these labeled doors, each of which symbolizes a fraction of his life.
Major characters
* Harry Haller – the protagonist, a middle-aged man
* Pablo – a saxophonist
* Hermine – a young woman Haller meets at a dance
* Maria – Hermine's friend
Character relationship diagram
Critical analysis
In the preface to the novel's 1960 edition, Hesse wrote that Steppenwolf was "more often and more violently misunderstood" than any of his other books. Hesse felt that his readers focused only on the suffering and despair that are depicted in Harry Haller's life, thereby missing the possibility of transcendence and healing. This could be due to the fact that at that time Western readers were not familiar with Buddhist philosophy, and therefore missed the point when reading it, because the notion of a human being consisting of a myriad of fragments of different souls is in complete contradiction of Judeo-Christian theologies. Also in the novel, Pablo instructs Harry Haller to relinquish his personality at one point, or at least for the duration of his journey through the corridors of the Magic Theater. In order to do so Harry must learn to use laughter to overcome the tight grip of his personality, to literally laugh at his personality until it shatters into so many small pieces. This concept also ran counter to the egocentric Western culture.
Hermann Hesse in 1926
Hesse is a master at blurring the distinction between reality and fantasy. In the moment of climax, it's debatable whether Haller actually kills Hermine or whether the "murder" is just another hallucination in the Magic Theater. It is argued that Hesse does not define reality based on what occurs in physical time and space; rather, reality is merely a function of metaphysical cause and effect. What matters is not whether the murder actually occurred, but rather that at that moment it was Haller's intention to kill Hermine. In that sense, Haller's various states of mind are of more significance than his actions.
It is also notable that the very existence of Hermine in the novel is never confirmed; the manuscript left in Harry Haller's room reflects a story that completely revolves around his personal experiences. In fact when Harry asks Hermine what her name is, she turns the question around. When he is challenged to guess her name, he tells her that she reminds him of a childhood friend named Hermann, and therefore he concludes, her name must be Hermine. Metaphorically, Harry creates Hermine as if a fragment of his own soul has broken off to form a female counterpart.
The underlying theme of transcendence is shown within group interaction and dynamics. Throughout the novel Harry concerns himself with being different, with separating himself from those he is around. Harry believes that he is better than his surroundings and fails to understand why he cannot be recognized as such, which raises the idea that in order to rise above a group one must first become one with a part of it.
The multilayered soul of human nature is the major theme in the novel and its two main characters, Harry Haller and Hermine, illustrate this. Harry illustrates through an inner conflict and an outer conflict. Inwardly, he believes two opposing natures battle over possession of him, a man and a wolf, high and low, spirit and animal. While he actually longs to live as a wolf free of social convention, he lives as a bourgeois bachelor, but his opposing wolfish nature isolates him from others until he meets Hermine.
Hermine represents the duality of human nature through an outer conflict. Hermine is a socialite, a foil to the isolated bachelor, and she coerces Harry to agree to subject himself to society, learning from her, in exchange for her murder. As Harry struggles through social interaction his isolation diminishes and he and Hermine grow closer to one another as the moment of her death approaches. The climax of the dualistic struggle culminates in the Magic Theater where Harry, seeing himself as a wolf, murders Hermine the socialite.
Critical reception
Later German Edition
From the very beginning, reception was harsh. American novelist Jack Kerouac dismissed it in Big Sur (1962) and it has had a long history of mixed critical reception and opinion at large. Already upset with Hesse's novel Siddhartha, political activists and patriots railed against him, and against the book, seeing an opportunity to discredit Hesse. Even close friends and longtime readers criticized the novel for its perceived lack of morality in its open depiction of sex and drug use, a criticism that indeed remained the primary rebuff of the novel for many years. However as society changed and formerly taboo topics such as sex and drugs became more openly discussed, critics came to attack the book for other reasons; mainly that it was too pessimistic, and that it was a journey in the footsteps of a psychotic and showed humanity through his warped and unstable viewpoint, a fact that Hesse did not dispute, although he did respond to critics by noting the novel ends on a theme of new hope.
Popular interest in the novel was renewed in the 1960s, primarily because it was seen as a counterculture book and because of its depiction of free love and frank drug usage. It was also introduced in many new colleges for study and interest in the book and in Hermann Hesse was feted in America for more than a decade afterwards.
"Treatise on the Steppenwolf"
The "Treatise on the Steppenwolf" is a booklet given to Harry Haller which describes himself. It is a literary mirror and, from the outset, describes what Harry had not learned, namely "to find contentment in himself and his own life." The cause of his discontent was the perceived dualistic nature of a human and a wolf within Harry. The treatise describes, as earmarks of his life, a threefold manifestation of his discontent: one, isolation from others, two, suicidal tendencies, and three, relation to the bourgeois. Harry isolates himself from others socially and professionally, frequently resists the temptation to take his life, and experiences feelings of benevolence and malevolence for bourgeois notions. The booklet predicts Harry may come to terms with his state in the dawning light of humor.
References in popular culture
Hesse's 1928 short story "Harry, the Steppenwolf" forms a companion piece to the novel. It is about a wolf named Harry who is kept in a zoo, and who entertains crowds by destroying images of German cultural icons like Goethe and Mozart.
The name Steppenwolf has become notable in popular culture for various organizations and establishments. In 1967, the band Steppenwolf, headed by German-born singer John Kay, took their name from the novel. The Belgian band DAAU (die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung) is named after one of the advertising slogans of the novel's magical theatre. The Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, which was founded in 1974 by actor Gary Sinise, also took its name from the novel. The 'lengthy track "Steppenwolf" appears on English rock band Hawkwind's album Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music and is directly inspired by the novel, including references to the magic theatre and the dual nature of the wolfman-manwolf (lutocost). Robert Calvert had initially written and performed the lyrics on 'Distances Between Us' by Adrian Wagner in 1974. The song also appears on later, live Hawkwind CD's and DVDs.
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Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The novel was adapted into a film of the same name in 1974. Starring Max Von Sydow and Dominique Sanda, it was directed by Fred Haines.
我一开始就注意到他与众不同，我觉得这个人有某种精神病或忧郁症。有一天，他在付清一切欠款后，悄无声息地离开了我们的城市，从此以后就杳无音信了。他把他的一份手稿留给了我。通过阅读他的手记我才认识到，他的精神病并不是什么个人的奇思怪想，而是这个时代的通病。下面是他的手记：
这一天又像往常那样过去了：一种既无特殊痛苦又无特殊忧虑，既无真正苦恼也无绝望的日子。在大多数人看来，这是一件美事。遗憾的是我受不了这种平静的生活，我总是燃起对强烈感情的渴望。夜幕降临，我来到十分安静的老城区，突然从一条漆黑的胡同里窜出一个人，扛着广告牌，上面写着“无政府主义的晚会!魔术剧——限制入……”。我想买票进入，但是他丢给我一本书之后，转眼之间就不见了。
回家后，我从大衣中掏出那本书，书名是《论荒原狼——仅供狂人阅读》。这本小册子毫无掩饰地勾画出我郁郁寡欢的人生，而且书的主人公竟然也叫哈立。
有一天我在城郊遇到一个殡葬队，发现有个人很面熟，好像就是那个扛广告牌的人。他告诉我，如果需要消遣就到黑鹰酒店去。到了那儿之后，我遇到了一个很漂亮的姑娘，我们友好地谈了起来。这个姑娘很了解我，劝我不要轻生，还教我跳舞。我们约好下次见面。
这位姑娘名叫赫尔米拉，她使我对生活产生了新的兴趣。我们在一家酒店见面，赫尔米拉给我介绍了一位叫玛利亚的姑娘。她说要让我学会恋爱。一种新的、可怕的、瓦解一切的东西正从四面八方涌来。几天后，我和她们一起参加一个化装舞会。舞会之后，有人告诉我赫尔米拉在“地狱”里等我。我进入地下室，看到很多房间，每个房间都代表着人类灵魂各个神秘的侧面。在最后一个房间内，我看到赫尔米拉和一个男人赤身裸体的躺在一起。狂怒之下，我刺死了赫尔米拉。
在一个光秃秃的院子里，法官判我永生，还罚我被耻笑一次。因为我用镜子里的刀杀死了镜子里的姑娘，企图把魔术剧当做自杀的工具。那个和赫尔米拉在一起的男人，把缩成一个棋子大小的赫尔米拉装进了口袋。
我猜到了这件事的意义，我会把游戏玩得更好。
荒原狼-欣赏导航
《荒原狼》是一部充满了狂暴幻想、具有表现主义色彩的小说。小说先是虚拟了一个出版者对哈勒的手记的第一人称叙述，描述了哈勒这个人物的形象和行为特征。然后又根据哈勒留下的手记，通过另一个的第一人称叙述展开后面的情节。黑塞在小说中大量运用了梦幻形式，把第一次世界大战之后的一个中年欧洲知识分子的内心世界淋漓尽致地展示出来，使其成为20世纪西方小说的经典之作。
作品主人公哈勒是才智之士，有着丰富细腻的内心世界。他很孤独，很少向别人敞开心扉。他好像是来自另外一个星球，对人世间的虚荣、做作、追名逐利和自私浅薄极其厌恶。但与此同时他又发现，自己的这种厌恶感更多的是指向自己。正因为如此，哈勒时时刻刻处于一种巨大的分裂和痛苦之中，用他的话来说，就是他身上有两种截然相反的东西在斗争着：狼性和人性。人性和狼性互不协调，当人性沉睡而狼性苏醒的时候，哈勒就走向堕落；当人性苏醒而狼性沉睡的时候，哈勒就会对自己的堕落和罪恶充满厌恶。正是人性和狼性的严重敌对，使哈勒产生了孤独感和自杀倾向。
那么拯救之路在哪里?一开始，哈勒企图用身上的人性去压制狼性，但结果却是不断陷入更大的苦闷之中。然后他用狼性来取代人性，则更行不通。这其实说明，哈勒将人的本性简单地看成狼性和人性的二元对立是错误的，是一种“毫无希望的儿戏”，“是对现实的强奸”。认识舞女赫尔米拉之后，哈勒逐渐认识到了这个错误。经赫尔米拉介绍，哈勒先后认识了舞女玛利亚和赫尔米拉的男友、音乐师巴伯罗。在他们的熏陶之下，哈勒逐渐接受了许多自己原先根本不能接受的东西。他认识到，人的本性极其复杂，不是由两种而是由上百种、上千种本质构成，不是在两极之间摇摆，而是在无数对极性之间摇摆。
在小说最后的“魔术剧”中，哈勒终于找到了真正的解救之道。正因为世界和自我都是多元的而不是二元的，所以无论是回归人性还是回归狼性都是枉然。“回头根本没有路，既回不到狼那里，也回不到儿童时代”。面对这个世界所有的背谬和荒诞，只有用笑和幽默来对付。小说的最后，哈勒终于将生活戏剧的所有“十万”个棋子装进口袋，而且决定反复去体会生存的痛苦，将游戏玩得更好些，“总有一天会学会笑”。
Background and publication history
In 1924 Hermann Hesse remarried wedding singer Ruth Wenger. After several weeks however, he left Basel, only returning near the end of the year. Upon his return he rented a separate apartment, adding to his isolation. After a short trip to Germany with Wenger, Hesse stopped seeing her almost completely. The resulting feeling of isolation and inability to make lasting contact with the outside world, led to increasing despair and thoughts of suicide.
Hesse began writing Steppenwolf in Basel, and finished it in Zürich. In 1926, a precursor to the book, a collection of poems titled The Crisis. From Hermann Hesse's Diary was published. The novel was later released in 1927. The first English edition was published in 1929 by Martin Secker in the United Kingdom and by Henry Holt and Company in the United States. This version was translated by Basil Creighton.
Plot summary
The book is presented as a manuscript by its protagonist, a middle-aged man named Harry Haller, who leaves it to a chance acquaintance, the nephew of his landlady. The acquaintance adds a short preface of his own and then has the manuscript published. The title of this "real" book-in-the-book is Harry Haller's Records (For Madmen Only).
As it begins, the hero is beset by reflections on his being ill-suited for the world of everyday regular people, specifically for frivolous bourgeois society. In his aimless wanderings about the city he encounters a person carrying an advertisement for a magic theatre who gives him a small book, Treatise on the Steppenwolf. This treatise, cited in full in the novel's text as Harry reads it, addresses Harry by name and strikes him as describing himself uncannily. It is a discourse of a man who believes himself to be of two natures: one high, the spiritual nature of man; while the other is low, animalistic; a "wolf of the steppes". This man is entangled in an irresolvable struggle, never content with either nature because he cannot see beyond this self-made concept. The pamphlet gives an explanation of the multifaceted and indefinable nature of every man's soul, which Harry is either unable or unwilling to recognize. It also discusses his suicidal intentions, describing him as one of the "suicides"; people who, deep down, knew they would take their own life one day. But to counter this it hails his potential to be great, to be one of the "Immortals".
The next day Harry meets a former academic friend with whom he had often discussed Indian mythology, and who invites Harry to his home. While there, Harry is disgusted by the nationalistic mentality of his friend, who inadvertently criticizes a column written by Harry, and offends the man and his wife by criticizing his wife's picture of Goethe, which Harry feels is too thickly sentimental and insulting to Goethe's true brilliance, reassuring the proposition that Harry is, and will always be a stranger to his society.
Trying to postpone returning home (to where he has planned suicide), Harry walks aimlessly around the town for most of the night, finally stopping to rest at a dance hall where he happens on a young woman, Hermine, who quickly recognizes his desperation. They talk at length; Hermine alternately mocks Harry's self-pity and indulges him in his explanations regarding his view of life, to his astonished relief. Hermine promises a second meeting, and provides Harry with a reason to live (or at least a substantial excuse that justifies his decision to continue living) that he eagerly embraces.
During the next few weeks, Hermine introduces Harry to the indulgences of what he calls the "bourgeois". She teaches Harry to dance, introduces him to the casual use of drugs, finds him a lover (Maria), and more importantly, forces him to accept these as legitimate and worthy aspects of a full life.
The Magic Theatre
Hermine also introduces Harry to a mysterious saxophonist named Pablo, who appears to be the very opposite of what Harry considers a serious, thoughtful man. After attending a lavish masquerade ball, Pablo brings Harry to his metaphorical "magic theatre", where concerns and notions that plagued his soul disintegrate while he participates with the ethereal and phantasmal. The Magic Theatre is a place where he experiences the fantasies that exist in his mind. They are described as a long horseshoe-shaped corridor that is a mirror on one side and a great many doors on the other. Then, Harry enters five of these labeled doors, each of which symbolizes a fraction of his life.
Major characters
* Harry Haller – the protagonist, a middle-aged man
* Pablo – a saxophonist
* Hermine – a young woman Haller meets at a dance
* Maria – Hermine's friend
Character relationship diagram
Critical analysis
In the preface to the novel's 1960 edition, Hesse wrote that Steppenwolf was "more often and more violently misunderstood" than any of his other books. Hesse felt that his readers focused only on the suffering and despair that are depicted in Harry Haller's life, thereby missing the possibility of transcendence and healing. This could be due to the fact that at that time Western readers were not familiar with Buddhist philosophy, and therefore missed the point when reading it, because the notion of a human being consisting of a myriad of fragments of different souls is in complete contradiction of Judeo-Christian theologies. Also in the novel, Pablo instructs Harry Haller to relinquish his personality at one point, or at least for the duration of his journey through the corridors of the Magic Theater. In order to do so Harry must learn to use laughter to overcome the tight grip of his personality, to literally laugh at his personality until it shatters into so many small pieces. This concept also ran counter to the egocentric Western culture.
Hermann Hesse in 1926
Hesse is a master at blurring the distinction between reality and fantasy. In the moment of climax, it's debatable whether Haller actually kills Hermine or whether the "murder" is just another hallucination in the Magic Theater. It is argued that Hesse does not define reality based on what occurs in physical time and space; rather, reality is merely a function of metaphysical cause and effect. What matters is not whether the murder actually occurred, but rather that at that moment it was Haller's intention to kill Hermine. In that sense, Haller's various states of mind are of more significance than his actions.
It is also notable that the very existence of Hermine in the novel is never confirmed; the manuscript left in Harry Haller's room reflects a story that completely revolves around his personal experiences. In fact when Harry asks Hermine what her name is, she turns the question around. When he is challenged to guess her name, he tells her that she reminds him of a childhood friend named Hermann, and therefore he concludes, her name must be Hermine. Metaphorically, Harry creates Hermine as if a fragment of his own soul has broken off to form a female counterpart.
The underlying theme of transcendence is shown within group interaction and dynamics. Throughout the novel Harry concerns himself with being different, with separating himself from those he is around. Harry believes that he is better than his surroundings and fails to understand why he cannot be recognized as such, which raises the idea that in order to rise above a group one must first become one with a part of it.
The multilayered soul of human nature is the major theme in the novel and its two main characters, Harry Haller and Hermine, illustrate this. Harry illustrates through an inner conflict and an outer conflict. Inwardly, he believes two opposing natures battle over possession of him, a man and a wolf, high and low, spirit and animal. While he actually longs to live as a wolf free of social convention, he lives as a bourgeois bachelor, but his opposing wolfish nature isolates him from others until he meets Hermine.
Hermine represents the duality of human nature through an outer conflict. Hermine is a socialite, a foil to the isolated bachelor, and she coerces Harry to agree to subject himself to society, learning from her, in exchange for her murder. As Harry struggles through social interaction his isolation diminishes and he and Hermine grow closer to one another as the moment of her death approaches. The climax of the dualistic struggle culminates in the Magic Theater where Harry, seeing himself as a wolf, murders Hermine the socialite.
Critical reception
Later German Edition
From the very beginning, reception was harsh. American novelist Jack Kerouac dismissed it in Big Sur (1962) and it has had a long history of mixed critical reception and opinion at large. Already upset with Hesse's novel Siddhartha, political activists and patriots railed against him, and against the book, seeing an opportunity to discredit Hesse. Even close friends and longtime readers criticized the novel for its perceived lack of morality in its open depiction of sex and drug use, a criticism that indeed remained the primary rebuff of the novel for many years. However as society changed and formerly taboo topics such as sex and drugs became more openly discussed, critics came to attack the book for other reasons; mainly that it was too pessimistic, and that it was a journey in the footsteps of a psychotic and showed humanity through his warped and unstable viewpoint, a fact that Hesse did not dispute, although he did respond to critics by noting the novel ends on a theme of new hope.
Popular interest in the novel was renewed in the 1960s, primarily because it was seen as a counterculture book and because of its depiction of free love and frank drug usage. It was also introduced in many new colleges for study and interest in the book and in Hermann Hesse was feted in America for more than a decade afterwards.
"Treatise on the Steppenwolf"
The "Treatise on the Steppenwolf" is a booklet given to Harry Haller which describes himself. It is a literary mirror and, from the outset, describes what Harry had not learned, namely "to find contentment in himself and his own life." The cause of his discontent was the perceived dualistic nature of a human and a wolf within Harry. The treatise describes, as earmarks of his life, a threefold manifestation of his discontent: one, isolation from others, two, suicidal tendencies, and three, relation to the bourgeois. Harry isolates himself from others socially and professionally, frequently resists the temptation to take his life, and experiences feelings of benevolence and malevolence for bourgeois notions. The booklet predicts Harry may come to terms with his state in the dawning light of humor.
References in popular culture
Hesse's 1928 short story "Harry, the Steppenwolf" forms a companion piece to the novel. It is about a wolf named Harry who is kept in a zoo, and who entertains crowds by destroying images of German cultural icons like Goethe and Mozart.
The name Steppenwolf has become notable in popular culture for various organizations and establishments. In 1967, the band Steppenwolf, headed by German-born singer John Kay, took their name from the novel. The Belgian band DAAU (die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung) is named after one of the advertising slogans of the novel's magical theatre. The Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, which was founded in 1974 by actor Gary Sinise, also took its name from the novel. The 'lengthy track "Steppenwolf" appears on English rock band Hawkwind's album Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music and is directly inspired by the novel, including references to the magic theatre and the dual nature of the wolfman-manwolf (lutocost). Robert Calvert had initially written and performed the lyrics on 'Distances Between Us' by Adrian Wagner in 1974. The song also appears on later, live Hawkwind CD's and DVDs.
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Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The novel was adapted into a film of the same name in 1974. Starring Max Von Sydow and Dominique Sanda, it was directed by Fred Haines.
米兰·昆德拉1975年流亡法国后创作了《生活在别处》这部充满了现代主义色彩的杰作，在作品中他把主人公——一个敏感的年轻诗人雅罗米尔的内心世界刻画的细致入微，在描写手法上也独具个性，尤其是一个梦境套着一个梦境的超现实主义手法使我们再次领略了现代派小说的精髓。其中还大量涉及了象征主义诗歌，虽然我们未曾接触到他的先锋电影，但从他作品中，我们无时不刻感到如同摄影机般捕捉着事件的运动感。
简介 ······
《生活在别处》是一个年轻艺术家的肖像画。昆德拉以其独到的笔触塑造出雅罗米尔这样一个形象，描绘了这个年轻诗人充满激情而又短暂的一生，具有“发展小说”的许多特点。就其题材而言，表现一个艺术家（或知识分子）是本世纪文学的一个重要领域，因为展示我们这个复杂的时代也只有复杂的人物才能承担。在这部作品中，作者对诗人创作过程的分析是微妙而精细的。创作过程当然不仅指下笔写作的过程，而且更广义地指一个诗人的全部成长过程。用作者自己的话说，这部小说是“对我所称之为抒情态度的一个分析。”正是在这样的创作意图下，这部书最初曾被题名为《抒情时代》。作者所要表现和所要探究的是，人的心灵所具有的激情，它的产生和它的结果。因而这本书又是一本现代心理小说，表现了一个诗人的艺术感觉的成长。书中每一章 节的名称都展示了诗人生命历程的一个阶段。他的童年、少年和青年时代，他怎样读书，怎样恋爱，以及怎样做梦等等。关于时代的全貌和他人的活动都迟到了远处，一切观察的焦点都集中在主人公身上，并且与他的内心活动有关。有如激情的涧水，在时间的乱山碎石中流过，两岸的景致并不重要，重要的是溪流将流向沃野还是沙漠。换句话说，作者在这里所关心的是诗人心理和精神上的发育。为了潜入到人物意识中最隐秘的角落，作者采用了一种我们可以称之为客观意识流的叙述方式：时间与空间交织（不同时期不同地点所发生的事常常出现在同一段叙述中），现实与梦幻交织（第二章 《泽维尔》完全是一个梦套一个梦），情节的跳宏，思考的猝然与不连贯，故意模糊主语的陈述，这些都使此书更接近于诗歌而不是小说。假如我们把书中这些抒情性的因素去掉，这部作品的内容就剩不下什么了。这种形式使我们更能切近诗人的内心活动，感触到诗人的激情是怎样产生和燃烧的。
简介 ······
《生活在别处》是一个年轻艺术家的肖像画。昆德拉以其独到的笔触塑造出雅罗米尔这样一个形象，描绘了这个年轻诗人充满激情而又短暂的一生，具有“发展小说”的许多特点。就其题材而言，表现一个艺术家（或知识分子）是本世纪文学的一个重要领域，因为展示我们这个复杂的时代也只有复杂的人物才能承担。在这部作品中，作者对诗人创作过程的分析是微妙而精细的。创作过程当然不仅指下笔写作的过程，而且更广义地指一个诗人的全部成长过程。用作者自己的话说，这部小说是“对我所称之为抒情态度的一个分析。”正是在这样的创作意图下，这部书最初曾被题名为《抒情时代》。作者所要表现和所要探究的是，人的心灵所具有的激情，它的产生和它的结果。因而这本书又是一本现代心理小说，表现了一个诗人的艺术感觉的成长。书中每一章 节的名称都展示了诗人生命历程的一个阶段。他的童年、少年和青年时代，他怎样读书，怎样恋爱，以及怎样做梦等等。关于时代的全貌和他人的活动都迟到了远处，一切观察的焦点都集中在主人公身上，并且与他的内心活动有关。有如激情的涧水，在时间的乱山碎石中流过，两岸的景致并不重要，重要的是溪流将流向沃野还是沙漠。换句话说，作者在这里所关心的是诗人心理和精神上的发育。为了潜入到人物意识中最隐秘的角落，作者采用了一种我们可以称之为客观意识流的叙述方式：时间与空间交织（不同时期不同地点所发生的事常常出现在同一段叙述中），现实与梦幻交织（第二章 《泽维尔》完全是一个梦套一个梦），情节的跳宏，思考的猝然与不连贯，故意模糊主语的陈述，这些都使此书更接近于诗歌而不是小说。假如我们把书中这些抒情性的因素去掉，这部作品的内容就剩不下什么了。这种形式使我们更能切近诗人的内心活动，感触到诗人的激情是怎样产生和燃烧的。
王尔德的唯美主义艺术观在他的小说《道林.格雷的画像》中有充分的体现,主要包括艺术与形式,艺术与生活,艺术与道德三个方面与其艺术观相对应的王尔德的人生观,在其入狱前后发生了明显的改变。艺术与人生的冲突和融合也就是王尔德的艺术魅力所在。
The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and becomes infatuated with him, believing his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry's world view. Espousing a new hedonism, Lord Henry suggests the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfillment of the senses. Realizing that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses his desire to sell his soul to ensure the portrait Basil has painted would age rather than himself. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, plunging him into debauched acts. The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sin displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is considered a work of classic gothic horror fiction with a strong Faustian theme.
The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and becomes infatuated with him, believing his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry's world view. Espousing a new hedonism, Lord Henry suggests the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfillment of the senses. Realizing that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses his desire to sell his soul to ensure the portrait Basil has painted would age rather than himself. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, plunging him into debauched acts. The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sin displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is considered a work of classic gothic horror fiction with a strong Faustian theme.
弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫是二十世纪上半叶西方现代主义文学的代表人物。她既是“意识流”小说理论的阐述者，又是“诗化小说”的倡导者。她一生都力求突破传统，在西方文学发展史上树立了一座新的里程碑，成为浩瀚的文学星空中一颗熠熠闪光的明星。 本文首先考察弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫对于“诗化小说”的理论建构。时代变化了，人们的生活也变化了，“而人与人之间的关系一旦发生了变化，信仰、行为、政治和文学也随之而发生变化”。 因此，弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫将小说的重心转向人的内心世界，这是历史的转变在文学上的反映。 弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫提出了“主观真实论”。她认为，小说应该更重视的是人的内心世界，要求由重视外部真实转向表现人物的内心真实，杜绝当时英国文坛那些“物质主义者”“只关心躯体而不关心人的灵魂”，以此来拯救英国小说。最后，弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫提出了“诗化小说论”。她的小说与传统意义上的小说是截然不同的，她的“诗化小说”运用诗的技巧，诗的语言，构造诗的意境，它是用散文写成的，但那是一种具有许多诗歌特征的散文。 弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫不仅在理论上建构了自己的“诗化小说”，并将这种文学理想应用到文学创作中去。早期的“意识流”小说《墙上的斑点》、《雅各布的房间》，为她实验自己的“诗化小说”奠定了基础，同时也使她看到了“诗化小说”的希望之光。弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫随后创作了《达洛卫夫人》、《到灯塔去》、《海浪》等长篇小说，成了她“诗化小说”的成功代表。首先，在《达洛卫夫人》中，弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫的“诗化小说”不像传统小说那样着眼于人物的刻画，它并不局限于叙述故事，表现人物的悲欢离合，而是具有诗歌的某些属性。它开始表现人与自然、 人与命运之间的关系，更主要的是采用那个不协调因素的奇异的混合体——现代心灵——的模式。其次，在《到灯塔去》中，弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫在作品中大量运用象征，整部小说都是一个象征体，使小说更具有诗的意蕴。最后，《海浪》是弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫的“诗化小说”的集大成之作。她对人物不作客观真实的描绘，使人物变成了抽象的模式和没有躯壳的灵魂。纯诗一般的独白片断，象生生不息的海浪一样自由自在地生成。通过对这三部作品的分析，我们对弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫的“诗化小说”的特点可以获得深刻的认识。 最后，本文对弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫的“诗化小说”所引发的争论，作了一个综述。首先，面对传统的现实主义小说对“客观真实”的重视，她提出的“主观真实”引起了争论。弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫不写“专名”式的典型人物，从对外部世界的观照、摹写，转向对人的本性和情感世界的审美表述，小说思维明显地呈现了“向内转”的审美意向。这成为她为挣脱传统的藩篱而跨出的第一步。其次，弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫小说的“诗化”特征也引起了文学界的争论。她的小说具有很强的诗意特征，作品中充满了自由联想、意象、隐喻、象征、抒情等诗歌因素。她将诗歌的技巧运用在小说中，给传统小说的读者造成了阅读困难；也这些因素使得许多评论家不能接受她的作品。然而，她的创新为文坛注入了新鲜的血液，这正是评论家们所赞誉的。 纵观古希腊到十九世纪末的西方文坛，弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫的“诗化小说”的出现并不是一个偶然的现象，它是西方文艺思潮发展到一定阶段的必然结果。“诗化小说”为现代小说带来新的面貌，新的气息，它标志着小说创作在审美的道路上大大跨进了一步，为小说的艺术创新做出了重大贡献。
The novel centres, in a very ambiguous way, around the life story of the protagonist Jacob Flanders, and is presented entirely by the impressions other characters have of Jacob [except for those times when we do indeed get Jacob's perspective]. Thus, although it could be said that the book is primarily a character study and has little in the way of plot or background, the narrative is constructed as a void in place of the central character, if indeed the novel can be said to have a 'protagonist' in conventional terms. Motifs of emptiness and absence haunt the novel and establish its elegiac feel. Jacob is described to us, but in such indirect terms that it would seem better to view him as an amalgamation of the different perceptions of the characters and narrator. He does not exist as a concrete reality, but rather as a collection of memories and sensations.
Plot summary
Set in pre-war England, the novel begins in Jacob's childhood and follows him through college at Cambridge, and then into adulthood. The story is told mainly through the perspectives of the women in Jacob's life, including the repressed upper-middle-class Clara Durrant and the uninhibited young art student Florinda, with whom he has an affair. His time in London forms a large part of the story, though towards the end of the novel he travels to Italy, then Greece. Jacob eventually dies in the war and in lieu of a description of the death scene, Woolf describes the empty room that he leaves behind.
Literary significance
The novel is a departure from Woolf's earlier two novels, The Voyage Out (1915) and Night and Day (1919), which are more conventional in form. The work is seen as an important modernist text; its experimental form is viewed as a progression of the innovative writing style Woolf presented in her earlier collection of short fiction titled Monday or Tuesday (1919).
The novel centres, in a very ambiguous way, around the life story of the protagonist Jacob Flanders, and is presented entirely by the impressions other characters have of Jacob [except for those times when we do indeed get Jacob's perspective]. Thus, although it could be said that the book is primarily a character study and has little in the way of plot or background, the narrative is constructed as a void in place of the central character, if indeed the novel can be said to have a 'protagonist' in conventional terms. Motifs of emptiness and absence haunt the novel and establish its elegiac feel. Jacob is described to us, but in such indirect terms that it would seem better to view him as an amalgamation of the different perceptions of the characters and narrator. He does not exist as a concrete reality, but rather as a collection of memories and sensations.
Plot summary
Set in pre-war England, the novel begins in Jacob's childhood and follows him through college at Cambridge, and then into adulthood. The story is told mainly through the perspectives of the women in Jacob's life, including the repressed upper-middle-class Clara Durrant and the uninhibited young art student Florinda, with whom he has an affair. His time in London forms a large part of the story, though towards the end of the novel he travels to Italy, then Greece. Jacob eventually dies in the war and in lieu of a description of the death scene, Woolf describes the empty room that he leaves behind.
Literary significance
The novel is a departure from Woolf's earlier two novels, The Voyage Out (1915) and Night and Day (1919), which are more conventional in form. The work is seen as an important modernist text; its experimental form is viewed as a progression of the innovative writing style Woolf presented in her earlier collection of short fiction titled Monday or Tuesday (1919).
如果在冬夜，一个旅人
作者:塔洛·卡尔维诺
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作者:塔洛·卡尔维诺
第1章
第2章
第3章
第4章
第5章
第6章
第7章
第8章
第9章
第10章
第11章
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柏拉图，如同他那个时代的许多伟大的人，是个梦想家。在他的幻界之中，人本应是雌
雄同体的；只是为了人所犯下的罪，人就被分成了两部分，于是就有了男人和女人的分别。
柏拉图还证明了：完美的世界不能多于五个，因为正则的数学体系只有五种。柏拉图的
“理想国”是他的最紧要的梦幻的体现。在柏拉图的幻境里，人先是睡觉，然后醒来张着眼
四下观看，然后又是睡觉；人也不应该把了肉眼去看日食，要弄桶水来看水中的倒影，不然
会变成瞎子的。梦幻，在柏拉图的时代，还有极好的名誉。
今天，我要讲的就是柏拉图的一个梦，这个梦可不是一点趣味也没有的那种。在柏拉图
的这个梦里，伟大的地米古斯，那位留芳万世的几何家，那位在太空制造了无数圆球并在每
颗球上放了许许多人的，要看看妖怪们到底从他那学了多少东西。于是，地米古斯给了每一
位妖怪一些物质去发挥他们的想象，要是没人介意，打个比方吧，那就象菲底阿思和宙苛西
斯教他们的门徒那样：给个像，让他们照着画。
魔王领了他那块物质，就是我们现在称为地球的。一阵忙碌之后，魔王把地球弄成了现
在的这个样子。魔王高兴极了，他觉着这是一件可以被称为杰作的上上品。魔王觉着他已成
功地让妒忌之神都闭上了她的嘴，他盘算着该如何欣赏即刻可至的其他妖怪的颂词。使魔王
大惑不解的是：兄弟们送给他的只是一阵不屑的嘘声。
兄弟中那个最好挖苦人的家伙还凑上前来说了这样的话：
“可不是吗，你倒真地干了件了不起的事呢！你把你那世界分成了两部分；又为了阻断
两边的来往，还那么小心地弄了那么些水在两个半球之间。要是有谁胆敢靠近你做的那两个
极地，谁就得给冻僵；谁胆敢靠近赤道，谁就得给烤焦了。你又是那样深谋远虑，造了那么
大片的沙漠，任何试图穿越它的不是得给饿毙就是得给渴死。我倒是没从你造的那些牛、
羊、公鸡、母鸡身上找出什么毛病来；可我觉着没法理解你为什么要弄出那么些毒蛇和蜘
蛛。你那些洋葱、洋蓟是好东西，可你干嘛又弄那么老些毒草种得到处都是？除非你想着去
毒一毒那些你造的人们。而且，我没数错的话，你大约造了三十几种猴子，还有更多种类的
狗，可你只造了四种或是五种人。你又给了这后一种动物一种本能，就是你唤它作推理的；
可实际上，那个什么推理不过是一种可笑的玩意儿，离那个你唤它作愚蠢的不会远于一寸。
除了上边提到的，你还一点也不尊重你造的那些两条腿的朋友们，你只给了他们少得可怜的
一点自卫；你把他们丢在那样一种混沌之中，只给他们那么星点补偿；你又给了他们那么多
情感、那样少的用来抵御感情的智慧与谨慎。你一准早就没想要这个球面上在任何时间有许
多的人可以生存；你又弄了那天花去日复一日地折磨他们，整得他们的数目每隔几年就要少
去十分之一，还给那余下的十分之九以疾病；你还嫌这些还不够，又让那幸存的人们不是对
簿公堂就是自相残杀。
“为了你这所谓的杰作，人们还要对你终生顶礼膜拜。”
听到这，魔王的脸红了。魔王觉察出这里面倒也是涉及了不但有实在的而且有精神上的
邪恶；可他还是坚称：他那杰作里边，基本上讲，是善多于恶的。
“听着，好心肠的伙计，没有比到处去挑毛病更容易的了，”魔王说，“你不想想，造
一种动物，给了他们推理的本能不算，还搭上自由意志，又要想法不使他们滥用他们那自
由，容易吗？也不想想，养出一万种植物，出点有毒的算什么？你以为，那么多的水、沙
子、土，你就能造出个又没海又没沙漠的球来？
“看看你自己吧，我的专出冷言冷语的朋友，你不是刚造完那个木星吗，也让咱来看看
你做得那条大带子、那长夜、那四颗月亮。看看，你造的那个世界，是不是上面的居民既不
生病也不愚蠢。”
有跑得快的妖怪立刻去了趟木星，回来和哥几个说了说，于是，大伙又一块去笑那刚刚
还在猛挑刺的主儿。哥几个里做事最认真的那妖怪，这回他造得土星，可即使是他也没能免
受嘲讽。其他造了火星、水星、金星的也都给找出了好些特丢面子的错误。
后来，好几大本书、无数小册子被制造了出来记述这造太阳系记；天底下想得出来的花
言巧语无所不用；老话说得好：言多有失。费了那么多纸写下那么多字，弄出老些个自相矛
盾处。
后来，伟大的地米古斯对那几个妖怪说：
“你们几个做的那几个球各有好的一面和不好的另一面，经过热烈的讨论，大伙都有了
不同程度的更进一步的理解。你们几个离完美还有好些距离。这样吧，你们的作品就留在这
一亿年好了。再过一亿年，你们都会知道更多，做起事来就会好许多了的。不要对你们自己
要求过高，要知道，这个宇宙里，只有我才能制造完美与永恒。”
这就是柏拉图传给他的门徒的教条。柏拉图刚完成他的高谈阔论，有位门徒高叫道，
“您醒了吗？”
雄同体的；只是为了人所犯下的罪，人就被分成了两部分，于是就有了男人和女人的分别。
柏拉图还证明了：完美的世界不能多于五个，因为正则的数学体系只有五种。柏拉图的
“理想国”是他的最紧要的梦幻的体现。在柏拉图的幻境里，人先是睡觉，然后醒来张着眼
四下观看，然后又是睡觉；人也不应该把了肉眼去看日食，要弄桶水来看水中的倒影，不然
会变成瞎子的。梦幻，在柏拉图的时代，还有极好的名誉。
今天，我要讲的就是柏拉图的一个梦，这个梦可不是一点趣味也没有的那种。在柏拉图
的这个梦里，伟大的地米古斯，那位留芳万世的几何家，那位在太空制造了无数圆球并在每
颗球上放了许许多人的，要看看妖怪们到底从他那学了多少东西。于是，地米古斯给了每一
位妖怪一些物质去发挥他们的想象，要是没人介意，打个比方吧，那就象菲底阿思和宙苛西
斯教他们的门徒那样：给个像，让他们照着画。
魔王领了他那块物质，就是我们现在称为地球的。一阵忙碌之后，魔王把地球弄成了现
在的这个样子。魔王高兴极了，他觉着这是一件可以被称为杰作的上上品。魔王觉着他已成
功地让妒忌之神都闭上了她的嘴，他盘算着该如何欣赏即刻可至的其他妖怪的颂词。使魔王
大惑不解的是：兄弟们送给他的只是一阵不屑的嘘声。
兄弟中那个最好挖苦人的家伙还凑上前来说了这样的话：
“可不是吗，你倒真地干了件了不起的事呢！你把你那世界分成了两部分；又为了阻断
两边的来往，还那么小心地弄了那么些水在两个半球之间。要是有谁胆敢靠近你做的那两个
极地，谁就得给冻僵；谁胆敢靠近赤道，谁就得给烤焦了。你又是那样深谋远虑，造了那么
大片的沙漠，任何试图穿越它的不是得给饿毙就是得给渴死。我倒是没从你造的那些牛、
羊、公鸡、母鸡身上找出什么毛病来；可我觉着没法理解你为什么要弄出那么些毒蛇和蜘
蛛。你那些洋葱、洋蓟是好东西，可你干嘛又弄那么老些毒草种得到处都是？除非你想着去
毒一毒那些你造的人们。而且，我没数错的话，你大约造了三十几种猴子，还有更多种类的
狗，可你只造了四种或是五种人。你又给了这后一种动物一种本能，就是你唤它作推理的；
可实际上，那个什么推理不过是一种可笑的玩意儿，离那个你唤它作愚蠢的不会远于一寸。
除了上边提到的，你还一点也不尊重你造的那些两条腿的朋友们，你只给了他们少得可怜的
一点自卫；你把他们丢在那样一种混沌之中，只给他们那么星点补偿；你又给了他们那么多
情感、那样少的用来抵御感情的智慧与谨慎。你一准早就没想要这个球面上在任何时间有许
多的人可以生存；你又弄了那天花去日复一日地折磨他们，整得他们的数目每隔几年就要少
去十分之一，还给那余下的十分之九以疾病；你还嫌这些还不够，又让那幸存的人们不是对
簿公堂就是自相残杀。
“为了你这所谓的杰作，人们还要对你终生顶礼膜拜。”
听到这，魔王的脸红了。魔王觉察出这里面倒也是涉及了不但有实在的而且有精神上的
邪恶；可他还是坚称：他那杰作里边，基本上讲，是善多于恶的。
“听着，好心肠的伙计，没有比到处去挑毛病更容易的了，”魔王说，“你不想想，造
一种动物，给了他们推理的本能不算，还搭上自由意志，又要想法不使他们滥用他们那自
由，容易吗？也不想想，养出一万种植物，出点有毒的算什么？你以为，那么多的水、沙
子、土，你就能造出个又没海又没沙漠的球来？
“看看你自己吧，我的专出冷言冷语的朋友，你不是刚造完那个木星吗，也让咱来看看
你做得那条大带子、那长夜、那四颗月亮。看看，你造的那个世界，是不是上面的居民既不
生病也不愚蠢。”
有跑得快的妖怪立刻去了趟木星，回来和哥几个说了说，于是，大伙又一块去笑那刚刚
还在猛挑刺的主儿。哥几个里做事最认真的那妖怪，这回他造得土星，可即使是他也没能免
受嘲讽。其他造了火星、水星、金星的也都给找出了好些特丢面子的错误。
后来，好几大本书、无数小册子被制造了出来记述这造太阳系记；天底下想得出来的花
言巧语无所不用；老话说得好：言多有失。费了那么多纸写下那么多字，弄出老些个自相矛
盾处。
后来，伟大的地米古斯对那几个妖怪说：
“你们几个做的那几个球各有好的一面和不好的另一面，经过热烈的讨论，大伙都有了
不同程度的更进一步的理解。你们几个离完美还有好些距离。这样吧，你们的作品就留在这
一亿年好了。再过一亿年，你们都会知道更多，做起事来就会好许多了的。不要对你们自己
要求过高，要知道，这个宇宙里，只有我才能制造完美与永恒。”
这就是柏拉图传给他的门徒的教条。柏拉图刚完成他的高谈阔论，有位门徒高叫道，
“您醒了吗？”
（意）马莱巴 沈萼梅/刘锡荣 译
一只帕多瓦种的母鸡，在靠近帕尔马城的一所农庄里出生长大，它有个毛病：生出的鸡蛋的蛋壳很容易碎。原因在于其它的母鸡都吃小石子和石灰微粒，所以：它们生下的鸡蛋壳都结实；而它只吃小麦、高粱和玉米粒，或者吃小虫子，它吃的虫子有玫瑰色的、黑色的和其它各种颜色的，它从来不吃小石子和石灰微粒，因为它消化不了。要是偶然吃下去一颗石子，那石子就整天呆在它的胃里了，而且使它整夜合不上眼，所以，它生的鸡蛋壳很容易破碎。
一天帕多瓦母鸡听到一位卖鸡蛋的商人对农庄的女主人抱怨说，有一只母鸡生的蛋太容易破了，每次运输途中都得碎。母鸡听了十分担心，因为它知道，一旦女主人发现了那些蛋壳易破碎的鸡蛋都是它生的话，那么很可能就会把它宰了。农庄附近有一家大理石匠铺。一夭，母鸡试着去尝大理石粉末。石粉既不好吃也不难吃，但跟小石子和石灰微粒一样难消化。第二天，它生下的鸡蛋蛋壳呈大理石的颜色，外表十分好看，但还是很容易打碎。另有一天母鸡从石匠铺面前走过时，看到有一桶罐子打开着，上面写有“硬化剂”的字样。“但愿这东西没有毒。”可怜的母鸡自言自语道。母鸡在那白色的糊状物上啄了两三下，原来那是石匠用来粘大理石的粘胶。它随后跑回到鸡舍去，因为要是吃了那东西要死的话。它情愿死在自己的窝里也不能死在马路上。它久久地睁着眼睛等着肚子作疼，最后它睡着了，它一夜睡到大天亮。黎明时它生了蛋。
它不像往常那样啼叫以通知女主人来取蛋，它拿了鸡蛋到一片树丛后面去。母鸡先用嘴啄，然后拿一块石子敲：这一回，它生的蛋可真硬，于是，它就把鸡蛋放回鸡舍去。
帕多瓦母鸡生下的蛋在运输途中没有破碎，它被放在市场的货摊上，让一位工人的妻子煎鸡蛋吃。女人回到家，把所有鸡蛋都在碗边，她拿起帕多瓦母鸡生的这个鸡蛋在碗边一敲。但鸡醚有打碎，碗却打碎了。“咦，真怪！”女人自言自语，她拿起鸡蛋，在大理石做的桌子角上敲。大理石被敲掉了一角。她拿来了锤子，试着用锤子敲鸡蛋。还是敲不碎，于是她把那只蛋放在一边，因为她不好意思对丈夫和儿子说自己连一只鸡蛋也敲不碎。
丈夫与儿子吃了用三只鸡蛋煎的蛋，而不是四只。妻子说人家卖给她一只不新鲜的鸡蛋，也许已经坏了，所以她故意没煎进去。
第二天，她那个大学生儿子把几寅烂西红柿和那只鸡蛋放进包里，因为那天有部长来参观。那个部长诡计多端，他想与大学生们见面，让他们鼓掌欢迎。大学生们商议好给予他应有的欢迎。当那位部长一出现在学校门口时，烂西红柿和臭鸡蛋朝他劈头盖脑地扔过去，那个工人的儿子瞄准了部长，把那只敲不碎的鸡蛋朝他的前额扔过去。只听见“啪”，像是打过去一块石头似的，部长应声倒地。大家把他抬出去，用冰水袋敷在他的额头上，因为部长的前额正中长出一个大鼓包。尽管用冰水敷，他那个肿包越来越大，活像犀牛的角。
打从那天以后，部长再也不接见大学生了，也不再去参观什么开幕式了，因为不管怎么冷敷和治疗，部长额头上的那块包怎么也消不下去了。
一只帕多瓦种的母鸡，在靠近帕尔马城的一所农庄里出生长大，它有个毛病：生出的鸡蛋的蛋壳很容易碎。原因在于其它的母鸡都吃小石子和石灰微粒，所以：它们生下的鸡蛋壳都结实；而它只吃小麦、高粱和玉米粒，或者吃小虫子，它吃的虫子有玫瑰色的、黑色的和其它各种颜色的，它从来不吃小石子和石灰微粒，因为它消化不了。要是偶然吃下去一颗石子，那石子就整天呆在它的胃里了，而且使它整夜合不上眼，所以，它生的鸡蛋壳很容易破碎。
一天帕多瓦母鸡听到一位卖鸡蛋的商人对农庄的女主人抱怨说，有一只母鸡生的蛋太容易破了，每次运输途中都得碎。母鸡听了十分担心，因为它知道，一旦女主人发现了那些蛋壳易破碎的鸡蛋都是它生的话，那么很可能就会把它宰了。农庄附近有一家大理石匠铺。一夭，母鸡试着去尝大理石粉末。石粉既不好吃也不难吃，但跟小石子和石灰微粒一样难消化。第二天，它生下的鸡蛋蛋壳呈大理石的颜色，外表十分好看，但还是很容易打碎。另有一天母鸡从石匠铺面前走过时，看到有一桶罐子打开着，上面写有“硬化剂”的字样。“但愿这东西没有毒。”可怜的母鸡自言自语道。母鸡在那白色的糊状物上啄了两三下，原来那是石匠用来粘大理石的粘胶。它随后跑回到鸡舍去，因为要是吃了那东西要死的话。它情愿死在自己的窝里也不能死在马路上。它久久地睁着眼睛等着肚子作疼，最后它睡着了，它一夜睡到大天亮。黎明时它生了蛋。
它不像往常那样啼叫以通知女主人来取蛋，它拿了鸡蛋到一片树丛后面去。母鸡先用嘴啄，然后拿一块石子敲：这一回，它生的蛋可真硬，于是，它就把鸡蛋放回鸡舍去。
帕多瓦母鸡生下的蛋在运输途中没有破碎，它被放在市场的货摊上，让一位工人的妻子煎鸡蛋吃。女人回到家，把所有鸡蛋都在碗边，她拿起帕多瓦母鸡生的这个鸡蛋在碗边一敲。但鸡醚有打碎，碗却打碎了。“咦，真怪！”女人自言自语，她拿起鸡蛋，在大理石做的桌子角上敲。大理石被敲掉了一角。她拿来了锤子，试着用锤子敲鸡蛋。还是敲不碎，于是她把那只蛋放在一边，因为她不好意思对丈夫和儿子说自己连一只鸡蛋也敲不碎。
丈夫与儿子吃了用三只鸡蛋煎的蛋，而不是四只。妻子说人家卖给她一只不新鲜的鸡蛋，也许已经坏了，所以她故意没煎进去。
第二天，她那个大学生儿子把几寅烂西红柿和那只鸡蛋放进包里，因为那天有部长来参观。那个部长诡计多端，他想与大学生们见面，让他们鼓掌欢迎。大学生们商议好给予他应有的欢迎。当那位部长一出现在学校门口时，烂西红柿和臭鸡蛋朝他劈头盖脑地扔过去，那个工人的儿子瞄准了部长，把那只敲不碎的鸡蛋朝他的前额扔过去。只听见“啪”，像是打过去一块石头似的，部长应声倒地。大家把他抬出去，用冰水袋敷在他的额头上，因为部长的前额正中长出一个大鼓包。尽管用冰水敷，他那个肿包越来越大，活像犀牛的角。
打从那天以后，部长再也不接见大学生了，也不再去参观什么开幕式了，因为不管怎么冷敷和治疗，部长额头上的那块包怎么也消不下去了。
我躺在床上，看着窗外那夕阳照耀下的杨树，树上的叶子忽然从金黄变成火红，天空也变成了墨水似的暗蓝色。我的心情变得好起来。我从床上爬起来，到外边去。那棵杨树的叶子都变成了红绸子似的火焰，在树枝上轻盈地飘动。从太阳上流出很多金色的河流，在暗暗的天顶上流动。大街上的灯忽然全亮了，一串串发光的气球浮在空中。我心情愉快，骑上自行车到立交桥下去找我的女朋友。
她站在那儿等我，穿着一件发紫光的连衣裙，头上有一团微微发红的月白色光辉。那一点红色是着急的颜色。我跳下自行车说：“你有点着急了吧，其实时候还不到。”
她没说话，头上的光又有点发绿。我说：“为什么不好意思？这儿很黑，别人看不到我们。”
她头上的光飘忽不定起来。我说：“什么事使你不耐烦了呢？”
她斩钉截铁地说：“你！你什么都知道，像上帝一样，真讨厌！”
我不说话了，转过头去看那些骑车的人。他们鱼贯穿过桥下黑影，拖着五颜六色的光尾巴，好像鱼缸里的热带鱼在游动。忽然她又来捅我，说：“咱们到外面走走吧，你把见到的事情说给我听。”我们就一起到桥上去。因为刚才我说她不好意思，这时她就挽着我的胳膊，其实臊得从头到脚都罩在绿光里。我说：“你真好看，像翡翠雕成的一样。”
她大吃一惊：“怎么啦？”
“你害羞呢？”
她一把摔开我的胳膊说：“跟你在一起连害羞都害不成，真要命。你看，那个人真可怕！”
对面走过一个人，脸腮上一边蹲了一只晶莹碧绿的大癞蛤蟆。我问她那人怎么啦，她说他满脸都是大疙瘩。我说不是疙瘩，是一对蛤蟆在上面安息。她说真有意思。后来一个大胖子骑车走过，肚子好像开了锅似的乱响，这是因为他天天都和老婆吵架。过了一会，开过一辆红旗车，里面坐了一个男扮女装的老处女，威严得像个将军，皱纹像地震后的裂纹，大腿像筷子，阴毛又粗又长，像钢剑一样闪闪发光。我把见过的事情告诉她，不过没告诉她我在首长的小肚子上看见一豪猪。她笑个不停，还说要我把这些事写到我的诗集里去。
我有一本诗集，写的都是我在这种时刻的所见所闻。除了她，我没敢给任何人看，生怕被送到精神病院里去，但是她看了以后就爱上了我。我们早就在办事处登记结婚了，可是还保持着纯洁的关系。我老想把她带到我那儿去，那天我也说：“晚上到我那儿吧！”
“不，我今天不喜欢。”
“可是你什么时候喜欢呢！”
她忽然拉住我的手，把脸凑过来说：“你真的这么着忙吗？”我吻了她一下，刹时间天昏地暗，好像整个世界都倒了个儿，原来在左边的全换到右边去了。我前边站了一个男人，我自己倒穿起了连衣裙，后脚跟下好像长了一对猪蹄，而且头重脚轻得直要往前栽倒。我惊叫一生，声气轻微。
等我惊魂稍定，就对自己很不满意。我的肩膀浑圆，胸前肥嘟嘟的，身材又变得那么矮小，尤其是脚下好像踩着高跷，简直要把脚筋绷断。于是我尖声尖气地叫起来：“这是怎么了？”
那个男人说：“我也不知道，不知怎么就换过来了。嘿，这可真有意思。”
原来那个男人前十秒钟还是我呢，现在就成了她了。我说：“有什么意思！这可糟透了！还能换过来吗？”
她的声音充满了幸灾乐祸：“你问我，我问谁去？”
我气急败坏地说：“这太可怕了！这种情况要持续很久吗？”
“谁知道呢？也许会这么一直持续下去，我当个老头终此一生呢。我觉得这也不要紧，你我反正也到了这个程度了，还分什么彼此呢！”
我急得直跺脚，高跟鞋发出蹄子般的声音。我说：“我可不干！我不干！这叫什么事呀！”
“小声点！你嚷嚷什么呀。这事又不是我做主。这儿不好说话，咱们到你家去吧。”
我不走，非要把事情弄明白不可：“不行，咱俩得说清楚了。要是暂时的，我还可以替你支撑着，久了我可不干。”
“这种事情谁能说得准呢。你的衣服全是一股怪味，皮鞋还夹脚呢。我也讨厌当个男人，当两天新鲜新鲜还可以。咱们回家吧。”
我和她一起往回走，她推着自行车。我走起路来很费劲，不光高跟鞋别扭，裙子还绊腿。身体也不大听我使唤，走了一百多步，走出我一头大汗来。我一屁股坐在马路牙子上想喘喘气，她就怪声怪气地说：“你就这么往地下坐呀！”
“我累了！”
“哟，我的裙子可是全新的，尼龙针织的呢！快起来，好好掸掸土！”
我勉强站起来，满怀仇恨地瞪了她一眼。为了表示对她的蔑视，我没有掸土，又往前走了。走了几步，高跟鞋穿着太憋气，就把它脱下来提在手里。走了一段，我还是不能满意，就说：“你怎么长这么小的脚！虽说个儿小，这脚也小得不成比例。你就用这种蹄子走路吗？”
她哼了一声：“不要怨天尤人，拿出点男子气概来！”
男子气概从那儿来呢，我头上长满了长头发，真是气闷非常，浑身上下都不得劲。我们摸着黑走进我的房子，坐在我为结婚买来的双人床上，好半天没有开灯。后来她说：“你的脚真臭！我要去洗一洗。”
我说：“你去吧！”
她走到那间厕所兼洗澡间里去了，在那儿哗啦哗啦的溅了半天水。我躺在床上直发傻。后来她回来了，光着膀子，小声说：“真把我吓坏了，嘿嘿，你在外边显得像个好人似的，脱下衣服一看，一副强盗相。你也去洗洗吧，凉快。”
我到洗澡间里照照镜子，真不成个体统。脱下衣服一照镜子，我差一点昏死过去。乖乖，她长得真是漂亮，可惜不会给我带来什么好处。我洗了洗，把衣服又都穿上，把灯关上，又到床上去。她在黑地里摸到我，说：“怎么样，还满意吧，咱长得比你帅多了。”
我带着哭腔说：“帅，帅。他妈的，但愿今天晚上能换回来，要不明天怎么见人。”
“嘿，我觉得还挺带劲。明天去打个电话，说咱们歇三天婚假。”
这倒是个好主意。“可是三天以后呢？”
“这倒有点讨厌。这样吧，我上你的班，你上我的班，怎么样？我讨厌上男厕所，不过事到临头也只好这么办了。”
我反对这样。我主张上公安局投诚，或者上法院自首，请政府来解决这个问题。她哈哈大笑：“谁管你这事儿！去了无非是叫人看个笑话。”
她这话也不无道理。我想了又想，什么好办法也想不出来。可是她心满意足地躺下了，还说：“有问题明日再说，今天先睡觉。”
我也困得要命，但是不喜欢和她睡一个床。我说：“咱们可说好了，躺下谁也别胡来。”她说：“怎么叫胡来，我还不会呢。”于是我就放心和她并头睡去。
第二天早上，我叫她给两个工作单位打电话，叫我们歇婚假。她回来后说：“请假照准了。今天咱们干什么？奥，你去到我宿舍把我的箱子拿来。”
我说：“你的东西，你去拿。”
“瞎说！我这个样子能拿得出来吗？你爱去不去，反正拿来是你用。”
我坐在床上，忽然鼻子一酸，哭了起来。她走过来，拍我的肩膀说：“这才像个女人。看你这样子我都喜欢了。你去吧，没事儿。”
我被逼无奈，只好我去拿东西。走到街上，我怕露了马脚，只好做出女人样，扭扭捏捏的走路。路上的男人都筑曲线毕露的连衣裙太糟糕，真不如做件大襟褂子，再把头发盘得和老太太一样。
她宿舍里没人，我像贼一样溜进去，把箱子提了出来。回到家里，只见她还比手划脚的拿保险刀刮胡子，胡子没剃下来，倒把眉毛刮下来不少。我大喝一声：“别糟践我的眉毛！你应该这样刮”……。她学会之后很高兴，就打开箱子，传授我那些破烂的用法，真是叫人恶心到极点。
变成女人之后，我变得千刁万恶，上午一小时就和她吵了十一架。我觉得屋里布置得不好，让她移动一下，她不乐意，我就嘟哝个不停。后来又去做午饭，她买的菜，我嫌贵嫌老。她买了一瓶四块钱的葡萄酒，我一听价钱就声嘶力竭地怪叫起来，她只好用两个枕头把耳朵捂住。我对一切都感到不满，在厨房里摔摔打打，打碎了两三个碟子。她开头极力忍受，后来忍无可忍，就厉声喝斥我。我立刻火冒三丈，想冲出去把她揪翻，谁知力不从心，反被她按倒在沙发上。
她不怀好意地冷笑着说：“你别胡闹了，否则我就打你的屁股！”
我咬牙切齿地说：“放我起来！”
她在我屁股上轻轻打了一下，我立刻尖叫起来：“救命呀！打人了！”她马上松了手，拿到一边去，脸上满是不屑之色：“至于的吗？就打了那么一下。”我坐起来，嚎哭着说：“好哇！才结婚第一天就打人，这日子可怎么过……”我又嘟哝了一阵，可是她不理我，我也就不说什么了。
吃过晚饭，她提议出去走走。可我宁愿待在家里。我们看了会电视，然后我就去洗澡，准备睡觉。不知为什么，我觉得她的身体十分讨厌。在那婀娜多姿的曲线里包含着一种令人作呕的味道，丰满的乳房和修长的大腿都很使我反感。长着这样的东西只能引起好色之徒的卑鄙感情，所以我应该尽可能少出门。
要当一个女人，应该远离淫秽。我希望脸上爬满皱纹，乳房下垂，肚子上的肉搭拉下来，这才是新中国妇女应有的形象。招引男人的眼目的，一定是个婊子。我觉得我现在这个形象和婊子就差不多。
当我们两个一起躺在床上时，她告诉我：“你今天的表现比较像个女人了。照这样下去，三四天后你就能适应女人生活，可以去上班，不至于露马脚了。”
我听了以后很高兴，可是她又说：“你的情绪可和我过去不一样，显得像个老太太。不过在妇联工作这样很合适。”
我告诉她，她的表现很像个男人。我们俩谈得投机起来。她推心置腹地告诉我：她很想“胡来”一下。我坚决拒绝了。可是过了一会，我又想到她可能会起意到外边也去胡来，这就太糟糕了。我就告诉她，可以和我“胡来”，但是不准和别的女人乱搞，她答应了。我告诉她“胡来”的方法，她就爬到我身上来，摸摸索索地很让人讨厌。忽然我觉得奇痛难忍，就杀猪也似的哀号一声，把她吓得连动都不敢动，过了好半天才说：“我下来了。”可我在黑地里哭了好久，想着不报她弄伤我之仇誓不为人。
第二天早上，我醒来时发现自己又变成了原来的形象。她躺在我身边，瞪大眼睛，显然已经醒了很久了。她还是那个漂亮女人，从任何方面来说都是一个好妻子。我伸手去摸她的肩膀，她哆嗦了一下，然后说：“我不是在做梦吧？”
“做什么梦？”
“我昨天好像是个男人。”
我认为她说得对，但是这不能改变现状。我伸手把她抱在怀里，她羞得满脸通红，但是表现得还算老实。后来她起了床，站在床前说：“这么变来变去可受不了，现在我真不知该站在男人的立场上还是该站在女人的立场上了。”
这话说得不错。男人和女人之间天然不和，她们偶尔愿意和男人在一起，而后就开始折腾起来，向男人发泄仇恨。到现在为止，我们夫妻和睦，可我始终防着她一手。
注：原稿无题，标题系编者所
她站在那儿等我，穿着一件发紫光的连衣裙，头上有一团微微发红的月白色光辉。那一点红色是着急的颜色。我跳下自行车说：“你有点着急了吧，其实时候还不到。”
她没说话，头上的光又有点发绿。我说：“为什么不好意思？这儿很黑，别人看不到我们。”
她头上的光飘忽不定起来。我说：“什么事使你不耐烦了呢？”
她斩钉截铁地说：“你！你什么都知道，像上帝一样，真讨厌！”
我不说话了，转过头去看那些骑车的人。他们鱼贯穿过桥下黑影，拖着五颜六色的光尾巴，好像鱼缸里的热带鱼在游动。忽然她又来捅我，说：“咱们到外面走走吧，你把见到的事情说给我听。”我们就一起到桥上去。因为刚才我说她不好意思，这时她就挽着我的胳膊，其实臊得从头到脚都罩在绿光里。我说：“你真好看，像翡翠雕成的一样。”
她大吃一惊：“怎么啦？”
“你害羞呢？”
她一把摔开我的胳膊说：“跟你在一起连害羞都害不成，真要命。你看，那个人真可怕！”
对面走过一个人，脸腮上一边蹲了一只晶莹碧绿的大癞蛤蟆。我问她那人怎么啦，她说他满脸都是大疙瘩。我说不是疙瘩，是一对蛤蟆在上面安息。她说真有意思。后来一个大胖子骑车走过，肚子好像开了锅似的乱响，这是因为他天天都和老婆吵架。过了一会，开过一辆红旗车，里面坐了一个男扮女装的老处女，威严得像个将军，皱纹像地震后的裂纹，大腿像筷子，阴毛又粗又长，像钢剑一样闪闪发光。我把见过的事情告诉她，不过没告诉她我在首长的小肚子上看见一豪猪。她笑个不停，还说要我把这些事写到我的诗集里去。
我有一本诗集，写的都是我在这种时刻的所见所闻。除了她，我没敢给任何人看，生怕被送到精神病院里去，但是她看了以后就爱上了我。我们早就在办事处登记结婚了，可是还保持着纯洁的关系。我老想把她带到我那儿去，那天我也说：“晚上到我那儿吧！”
“不，我今天不喜欢。”
“可是你什么时候喜欢呢！”
她忽然拉住我的手，把脸凑过来说：“你真的这么着忙吗？”我吻了她一下，刹时间天昏地暗，好像整个世界都倒了个儿，原来在左边的全换到右边去了。我前边站了一个男人，我自己倒穿起了连衣裙，后脚跟下好像长了一对猪蹄，而且头重脚轻得直要往前栽倒。我惊叫一生，声气轻微。
等我惊魂稍定，就对自己很不满意。我的肩膀浑圆，胸前肥嘟嘟的，身材又变得那么矮小，尤其是脚下好像踩着高跷，简直要把脚筋绷断。于是我尖声尖气地叫起来：“这是怎么了？”
那个男人说：“我也不知道，不知怎么就换过来了。嘿，这可真有意思。”
原来那个男人前十秒钟还是我呢，现在就成了她了。我说：“有什么意思！这可糟透了！还能换过来吗？”
她的声音充满了幸灾乐祸：“你问我，我问谁去？”
我气急败坏地说：“这太可怕了！这种情况要持续很久吗？”
“谁知道呢？也许会这么一直持续下去，我当个老头终此一生呢。我觉得这也不要紧，你我反正也到了这个程度了，还分什么彼此呢！”
我急得直跺脚，高跟鞋发出蹄子般的声音。我说：“我可不干！我不干！这叫什么事呀！”
“小声点！你嚷嚷什么呀。这事又不是我做主。这儿不好说话，咱们到你家去吧。”
我不走，非要把事情弄明白不可：“不行，咱俩得说清楚了。要是暂时的，我还可以替你支撑着，久了我可不干。”
“这种事情谁能说得准呢。你的衣服全是一股怪味，皮鞋还夹脚呢。我也讨厌当个男人，当两天新鲜新鲜还可以。咱们回家吧。”
我和她一起往回走，她推着自行车。我走起路来很费劲，不光高跟鞋别扭，裙子还绊腿。身体也不大听我使唤，走了一百多步，走出我一头大汗来。我一屁股坐在马路牙子上想喘喘气，她就怪声怪气地说：“你就这么往地下坐呀！”
“我累了！”
“哟，我的裙子可是全新的，尼龙针织的呢！快起来，好好掸掸土！”
我勉强站起来，满怀仇恨地瞪了她一眼。为了表示对她的蔑视，我没有掸土，又往前走了。走了几步，高跟鞋穿着太憋气，就把它脱下来提在手里。走了一段，我还是不能满意，就说：“你怎么长这么小的脚！虽说个儿小，这脚也小得不成比例。你就用这种蹄子走路吗？”
她哼了一声：“不要怨天尤人，拿出点男子气概来！”
男子气概从那儿来呢，我头上长满了长头发，真是气闷非常，浑身上下都不得劲。我们摸着黑走进我的房子，坐在我为结婚买来的双人床上，好半天没有开灯。后来她说：“你的脚真臭！我要去洗一洗。”
我说：“你去吧！”
她走到那间厕所兼洗澡间里去了，在那儿哗啦哗啦的溅了半天水。我躺在床上直发傻。后来她回来了，光着膀子，小声说：“真把我吓坏了，嘿嘿，你在外边显得像个好人似的，脱下衣服一看，一副强盗相。你也去洗洗吧，凉快。”
我到洗澡间里照照镜子，真不成个体统。脱下衣服一照镜子，我差一点昏死过去。乖乖，她长得真是漂亮，可惜不会给我带来什么好处。我洗了洗，把衣服又都穿上，把灯关上，又到床上去。她在黑地里摸到我，说：“怎么样，还满意吧，咱长得比你帅多了。”
我带着哭腔说：“帅，帅。他妈的，但愿今天晚上能换回来，要不明天怎么见人。”
“嘿，我觉得还挺带劲。明天去打个电话，说咱们歇三天婚假。”
这倒是个好主意。“可是三天以后呢？”
“这倒有点讨厌。这样吧，我上你的班，你上我的班，怎么样？我讨厌上男厕所，不过事到临头也只好这么办了。”
我反对这样。我主张上公安局投诚，或者上法院自首，请政府来解决这个问题。她哈哈大笑：“谁管你这事儿！去了无非是叫人看个笑话。”
她这话也不无道理。我想了又想，什么好办法也想不出来。可是她心满意足地躺下了，还说：“有问题明日再说，今天先睡觉。”
我也困得要命，但是不喜欢和她睡一个床。我说：“咱们可说好了，躺下谁也别胡来。”她说：“怎么叫胡来，我还不会呢。”于是我就放心和她并头睡去。
第二天早上，我叫她给两个工作单位打电话，叫我们歇婚假。她回来后说：“请假照准了。今天咱们干什么？奥，你去到我宿舍把我的箱子拿来。”
我说：“你的东西，你去拿。”
“瞎说！我这个样子能拿得出来吗？你爱去不去，反正拿来是你用。”
我坐在床上，忽然鼻子一酸，哭了起来。她走过来，拍我的肩膀说：“这才像个女人。看你这样子我都喜欢了。你去吧，没事儿。”
我被逼无奈，只好我去拿东西。走到街上，我怕露了马脚，只好做出女人样，扭扭捏捏的走路。路上的男人都筑曲线毕露的连衣裙太糟糕，真不如做件大襟褂子，再把头发盘得和老太太一样。
她宿舍里没人，我像贼一样溜进去，把箱子提了出来。回到家里，只见她还比手划脚的拿保险刀刮胡子，胡子没剃下来，倒把眉毛刮下来不少。我大喝一声：“别糟践我的眉毛！你应该这样刮”……。她学会之后很高兴，就打开箱子，传授我那些破烂的用法，真是叫人恶心到极点。
变成女人之后，我变得千刁万恶，上午一小时就和她吵了十一架。我觉得屋里布置得不好，让她移动一下，她不乐意，我就嘟哝个不停。后来又去做午饭，她买的菜，我嫌贵嫌老。她买了一瓶四块钱的葡萄酒，我一听价钱就声嘶力竭地怪叫起来，她只好用两个枕头把耳朵捂住。我对一切都感到不满，在厨房里摔摔打打，打碎了两三个碟子。她开头极力忍受，后来忍无可忍，就厉声喝斥我。我立刻火冒三丈，想冲出去把她揪翻，谁知力不从心，反被她按倒在沙发上。
她不怀好意地冷笑着说：“你别胡闹了，否则我就打你的屁股！”
我咬牙切齿地说：“放我起来！”
她在我屁股上轻轻打了一下，我立刻尖叫起来：“救命呀！打人了！”她马上松了手，拿到一边去，脸上满是不屑之色：“至于的吗？就打了那么一下。”我坐起来，嚎哭着说：“好哇！才结婚第一天就打人，这日子可怎么过……”我又嘟哝了一阵，可是她不理我，我也就不说什么了。
吃过晚饭，她提议出去走走。可我宁愿待在家里。我们看了会电视，然后我就去洗澡，准备睡觉。不知为什么，我觉得她的身体十分讨厌。在那婀娜多姿的曲线里包含着一种令人作呕的味道，丰满的乳房和修长的大腿都很使我反感。长着这样的东西只能引起好色之徒的卑鄙感情，所以我应该尽可能少出门。
要当一个女人，应该远离淫秽。我希望脸上爬满皱纹，乳房下垂，肚子上的肉搭拉下来，这才是新中国妇女应有的形象。招引男人的眼目的，一定是个婊子。我觉得我现在这个形象和婊子就差不多。
当我们两个一起躺在床上时，她告诉我：“你今天的表现比较像个女人了。照这样下去，三四天后你就能适应女人生活，可以去上班，不至于露马脚了。”
我听了以后很高兴，可是她又说：“你的情绪可和我过去不一样，显得像个老太太。不过在妇联工作这样很合适。”
我告诉她，她的表现很像个男人。我们俩谈得投机起来。她推心置腹地告诉我：她很想“胡来”一下。我坚决拒绝了。可是过了一会，我又想到她可能会起意到外边也去胡来，这就太糟糕了。我就告诉她，可以和我“胡来”，但是不准和别的女人乱搞，她答应了。我告诉她“胡来”的方法，她就爬到我身上来，摸摸索索地很让人讨厌。忽然我觉得奇痛难忍，就杀猪也似的哀号一声，把她吓得连动都不敢动，过了好半天才说：“我下来了。”可我在黑地里哭了好久，想着不报她弄伤我之仇誓不为人。
第二天早上，我醒来时发现自己又变成了原来的形象。她躺在我身边，瞪大眼睛，显然已经醒了很久了。她还是那个漂亮女人，从任何方面来说都是一个好妻子。我伸手去摸她的肩膀，她哆嗦了一下，然后说：“我不是在做梦吧？”
“做什么梦？”
“我昨天好像是个男人。”
我认为她说得对，但是这不能改变现状。我伸手把她抱在怀里，她羞得满脸通红，但是表现得还算老实。后来她起了床，站在床前说：“这么变来变去可受不了，现在我真不知该站在男人的立场上还是该站在女人的立场上了。”
这话说得不错。男人和女人之间天然不和，她们偶尔愿意和男人在一起，而后就开始折腾起来，向男人发泄仇恨。到现在为止，我们夫妻和睦，可我始终防着她一手。
注：原稿无题，标题系编者所
《猫城记》是老舍的喜剧作品中比较有特色的一篇作品。它不同于老舍的其他幽默作品，它的特色是引人发笑，但是给人沉重，简而概之，即“悲郁的幽默”。它以散乱的笔法，向我们阐述了一个将要灭亡的国家及其生活在其中的国民们；以低沉的表达方式组织了全篇的文字，形成了一个灰色的文本；以“毁灭的手指”为灵魂统领全文。