一个老兵的故事
An Old Soldier's Story
杰克•伦敦的短篇小说《一个老兵的故事》,高潮迭起,带给读者紧张刺激之感,作者辛辣的讽刺了宪兵司令的丑恶嘴脸,让读者忍俊不禁。
小说叙述了一名士兵与宪兵司令斗智斗勇的冒险经历。主人公在开篇抛出悬念——战争前线并不是唯一可以冒险的地方。“他”意外超过规定休假期,被黑心的宪兵司令当作逃兵。为捍卫荣誉,“他”历尽艰险终于成功躲过追捕。
他们的职责是抓捕逃兵,抓一个逃兵挣25美元,所以你可以看到,他们从不让一个机会溜走。假如他们只是抓真正的逃兵,人们也不会这么讨厌他们,但他们总是找那些善良诚实的士兵的麻烦,这些士兵的过错仅仅是有点儿疏忽,在家里呆得太久了。我们镇的宪兵司令很精明,像狮子一样勇敢,又很卑鄙,就像你在一整天的旅途中可能遇到的人一样。
Their duty was to arrest deserters, and since their pay was $25 for every deserter captured, you can see they never let a chance slip.If they had only arrested real deserters, the people would not have dislike them so, but they were always bringing trouble upon good, honest soldiers whose only fault lay in being a little careless and staying too long at home.The provost marshal in our county was shrewd, brave as a lion, and as mean a man as one could meet in a whole day’s travel.
读罢他的作品,随之而来的是惊心动魄的思索,作者笔锋粗放,读了他的作品,我们能够感受热爱生命的真谛!他能让文字燃烧生命烈火。他就是杰克·伦敦。在坚毅中保持宽容,在宽容中保持坚毅是他特有的人生哲学观念,在小说中得到了充分的体现。
我所看到的,是征服的迷人力量,是血色冒险及黄金潮的迷人力量。……生命既勇敢又狂野,而我正经历着我阅读了无数遍的冒险生活。——杰克·伦敦
评论家们认为,这位擅长“描写人类原始本能”的年轻小说家可以跟爱伦·坡、吉卜林以及麦尔维尔相提并论。
伦敦评论专家瑞斯曼认为伦敦是“美国文学代表人物之一”。
一九零一年七月出版的《民族》评论道:“坡以来本国出现的最有力的短篇小说家,一个西方出现的新吉卜林。……第一等讲故事的人……天生的小说家……富有现实性,锐利的观察……利落,干净,生气勃勃。”
Western writer and historian Dale L. Walker writes:
London's true métier was the short story ... London's true genius lay in the short form, 7,500 words and under, where the flood of images in his teeming brain and the innate power of his narrative gift were at once constrained and freed. His stories that run longer than the magic 7,500 generally—but certainly not always—could have benefited from self-editing.
- 一个老兵的故事
- An Old Soldier's Story
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