章鱼(The Octopus)_弗兰克·诺里斯_中英双语在线阅读

《章鱼》描写西部圣华基恩河流域农场主台力克联合其他农场主要求铁路公司履行诺言，恢复原订的土地价格，反对提高粮食运价，遭到拒绝。农场主上诉法院，也未取胜。他们想在“铁路专员委员会”中塞进自己的人，即台力克的儿子，但他被铁路公司收买，计划归于失败。后铁路公司动用武装没收沿线的土地，农场主自卫还击，被打得家破人亡，佃户的下场则更为悲惨。诺里斯认为小麦代表“善”，铁路代表“恶”，而“善”必将战胜“恶”，所以小说的结局是铁路公司经理贝尔曼“淹死”在小麦堆里。

《章鱼》描写西部圣华基恩河流域农场主台力克联合其他农场主要求铁路公司履行诺言，恢复原订的土地价格，反对提高粮食运价，遭到拒绝。农场主上诉法院，也未取胜。他们想在“铁路专员委员会”中塞进自己的人，即台力克的儿子，但他被铁路公司收买，计划归于失败。后铁路公司动用武装没收沿线的土地，农场主自卫还击，被打得家破人亡，佃户的下场则更为悲惨。

The Octopus: A Story of California is a 1901 novel by Frank Norris and the first part of a planned but uncompleted trilogy, The Epic of Wheat. It describes the raising of wheat in California, and conflicts between the wheat growers and a railway company. Norris was inspired by the role of theSouthern Pacific Railroad in events surrounding the Mussel Slough Tragedy. It depicts the tension between the corrupt railroad and the ranchers and the ranchers' League. The book emphasized the control of "forces" such as wheat and railroads over individuals. Some editions of the work give the subtitle as alternately, A California Story.

弗兰克·诺里斯(Frank Norris 1870-1902) 美国作家。生于芝加哥一个富裕商人家庭，少年时代在欧洲学习艺术。回国进入加利福尼亚大学，毕业后以记者为业。长期生活在美国西部，自称加利福尼亚州人。代表作有《“莱蒂夫人号”上的莫兰》、《麦克提格》等。

Benjamin Franklin Norris, Jr. (March 5, 1870–October 25, 1902) was an American journalist and sometime novelist during the Progressive Era, whose fiction was predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include McTeague (1899), The Octopus: A Story of California (1901), and The Pit (1903).