【原】可以不要灵魂，但不能没有心

—— 读王尔德《渔夫和他的灵魂》

 

       童年时看海的女儿，那种刀锋上舞蹈的痛苦和化成泡沫的她的无尽的悲哀总挥之不去，随日子沉潜后便成了一条地下的暗河，在看不见的地方悄然流淌。如今回头再看这个故事，注意力已经和孩提时大不相同。海的女儿生活的世界美得无以伦比，可小美人鱼却无比向往那个属于“人”的世间。为了能浮出水面，她日盼夜望，十五年后终于等到那一天，看到一个完全不同于海底的绚丽世界——洒满阳光的大地万物，缀满宝石的璀璨星空，成片的飞鸟给蓝天覆上一层洁白的面纱……外祖母告诉她，人升入美好辉煌的天堂的神奇体验，有如美人鱼浮出水面头次看到人间一般。但美人鱼是看不到天堂的，因为她们不像人类那样拥有灵魂。人死后魂可以升入天堂，但美人鱼死后就如同海草那样永远化为泡沫。

 

       小美人鱼为此变得悲伤——“为什么我们没有不朽的灵魂呢？我宁愿牺牲自己那几百年的寿命，哪怕只能换取一天能作为一个人类那样生活，并换来看到天堂的希望。”

('Why have not we an immortal soul?' asked the little mermaid mournfully; 'I would give gladly all the hundreds of years that I have to live, to be a human being only for one day, and to have the hope of knowing the happiness of that glorious world above the stars.' )

 

       王尔德的童话里同样也写到了美人鱼和人的灵魂，但故事到了他的笔下却起了颠覆性的戏剧变化。渔夫爱上了那代表了美，代表了神奇绚丽的异端世界的美人鱼，可是她没有灵魂，死后就会化为尘土，既不会上天堂也不会下地狱。如果渔夫想和人鱼生活在一起，就必须放弃自己的灵魂。而渔夫为此竟毫不犹豫：

'Of what use is my soul to me? I cannot see it. I may not touch it. I do not know it.'

'For her body I would give my soul, and for her love I would surrender heaven.'

 

       读者看到这里可能大都会不自禁的摇头，瞧，这人要抛弃他的灵魂了，多可怕！牧师听到他这个要求自然痛心疾首——灵魂是无价的，是上帝赋予一个人最高贵的组成，而海族是野蛮的兽，他们并不懂得善和恶。跟随他们你也会像他们一样迷失！

 

        但渔夫回答说：

'Father, the Fauns live in the forest and are glad, and on the rocks sit the Mermen with their harps of red gold. Let me be as they are, I beseech thee, for their days are as the days of flowers. And as for my soul, what doth my soul profit me, if it stand between me and the thing that I love?'

       他这样认为：不论是森林族，还是海族，你说他们是兽也好，不分善恶也好，但他们生活得如此快乐，日子像鲜花一样美好。我就是向往那样美的事物，如果我的灵魂阻碍我得到它们，那我要灵魂来干什么？

 

       更可怕的是他同样也想到向女巫求助，可连女巫听到这个要求也颤栗得脸色发白。她住在荒凉的地方，拥有高超的巫术，举手投足间就可以杀人和带给人无尽的诱惑。在渔夫的坚持下她答应了，并提出交换的条件，这时，周围的环境安静得甚至让人透不过气来：

'Then she peered all round, and listened. A blue bird rose screaming from its nest and circled over the dunes, and three spotted birds rustled through the coarse grey grass and whistled to each other. There was no other sound save the sound of a wave fretting the smooth pebbles below.

 

      令人疑惑的是，她提出的交换的条件仅仅只是在安息日的月圆之夜，和渔夫跳一场舞，在她的主人面前。

 

She moved out into the sunlight, and through her red hair rippled the wind.

 

      这是一个年轻的女巫，甚至还长得不错。知道渔夫要来之前她笑了，披开自己的红色长发，手持一枝毒花在门口迎接他。而等渔夫走后她又懊恼的对着镜子，“我和美人鱼一样漂亮，他本该是我的。”

 

      《海的女儿》里面细致的描绘了女巫世界的丑陋和邪恶，与美人鱼的世界形成了剧烈的反差。而王尔德对他笔下的女巫和她的主人(虽然没有明确说明是谁，但可以猜得出来那个He应该就是魔鬼撒旦。)却不带任何先入为主的感情或道德判断——他们邪气十足，却又处处透露出某种神秘而诡异的美，完全无法分辨他们的善恶和渔夫未卜的前途。

 

       最后渔夫从女巫那获得可以切割灵魂的匕首，甚至没有付出多大的代价。在渔夫即将舍弃灵魂的一刻，终于看到对渔夫的唯一的一次外形描写：

Bronze-limbed and well-knit, like a statue wrought by a Grecian, he stood on the sand with his back to the moon, and out of the foam came white arms that beckoned to him, and out of the waves rose dim forms that did him homage. Before him lay his shadow, which was the body of his soul, and behind him hung the moon in the honey- coloured air.

 

       他确实强壮而富美感，难怪美人鱼爱他，连女巫都会看上他。可是丢弃灵魂是怎样可怕的代价呢？这个场面的烘托却让读者看不到任何的答案。

 

        而这时，故事的另一个主角——渔夫的灵魂才正式登场。恳求渔夫失败后，他又希望能渔

 'With what should I love my love if I gave thee my heart?'

 

      他为了爱，为了追求美，可以连灵魂都不要，但是他却不能没有心。因为如果没有心，就无法去爱。

 

      灵魂哭泣着离开了，并恳求每年能见渔夫一次，'It may be that thou wilt have need of me.'

 

       看到这里我们才发现，原来故事的精彩才刚刚开始。离开渔夫的灵魂开始了神秘的旅途，随着他的脚印仿佛走进了一千零一夜的世界。第一年他往东走，经历各种奇遇后来到一座伊斯兰的神庙里，经过一番智斗和力斗后，牧师告诉他，

'There is no god but this mirror that thou seest, for this is the Mirror of Wisdom. And it reflecteth all things that are in heaven and on earth, save only the face of him who looketh into it. This it reflecteth not, so that he who looketh into it may be wise. Many other mirrors are there, but they are mirrors of Opinion. This only is the Mirror of Wisdom. And they who possess this mirror know everything, nor is there anything hidden from them. And they who possess it not have not Wisdom. Therefore is it the god, and we worship it.'

 

        这个关于智慧镜子的寓意很有意思。我的理解是，如果说各种文艺作品像一面镜子，平庸的镜子只能让观者从镜子里面看到自己和自己周围的一隅，而还有很多“镜子”只不过是作者用来来表达自己的观点的工具。但真正能让人获得智慧的镜子是能尽可能客观的展现这个世界的一切，不偏不倚，不片面。仅仅只是希望从别人的作品来获取观点是没有智慧的，智慧只能从自己对这个世界开阔又细腻的审视中产生。

 

       所以王尔德很有礼貌，读他的童话我从不觉得他想向读者灌输什么，只是艺术的展现而已。

 

      当然，如果有这样一面镜子，能完完整整的呈现这个复杂又丰富的世界，那便是拥有上帝般的目光和智慧了。而上帝的目光中，恰恰是不需要有自己的。

 

      但是渔夫拒绝了灵魂的邀请，比起拥有上帝般的智慧，他坚持选择爱，对美的爱：

'Love is better than Wisdom,' he cried, 'and the little Mermaid loves me.'

'Nay, but there is nothing better than Wisdom,' said the Soul.

'Love is better,' answered the young Fisherman

 

       第二年灵魂往南走，继续另一段奇异的旅途。不得不说这两个故事里的故事非常迷人，魅力绝不亚于一千零一夜的著名故事，像棵巨大的树，离开主干的旁枝错节也能开出神奇的花儿来。

        这次是可以赢得比所有的国王还要富有的财富，但渔夫依旧拒绝了：

'Love is better than Riches,' he cried, 'and the little Mermaid loves me.'

'Nay, but there is nothing better than Riches,' said the Soul.

'Love is better,' answered the young Fisherman

 

       第三年，我正猜灵魂是不是该往西走，继续一段新的神奇旅程，结果灵魂的故事很简洁朴素，他说他看到了跳舞女人美丽的脚踝，渔夫听到却动心了——美人鱼没有脚，不能跳舞。上帝般的智慧没能诱惑他，富可敌国的财富同样没使他动摇，但面对美的诱惑，他低头了。“只是一天而已，我很快就会回到我的爱人身边的。”假使他能遇到比美人鱼的世界还要美的诱惑，他还会坚持他的爱吗？没有人知道，因为接下来发生的事情完全两样。

 

       灵魂欺骗了他。

 

       他不断哄骗渔夫，并撺掇他欺凌弱小，偷窃，甚至为了抢劫准备杀死帮助自己的好心人。恩人愤怒地质问他：

'Dost thou return evil for good, and pay with the shedding of blood for the kindness that I have shown thee?'

 

        渔夫仓皇的逃离了那个开着火红石榴花的花园，面对升起的黎明之星，他对自己的罪行顿足捶胸，并质疑自己的灵魂，为什么要让我做这些邪恶的事情？灵魂回答说，因为我没有心。

'When thou didst send me forth into the world thou gavest me no heart, so I learned to do all these things and love them.'

 

         出卖自己的灵魂是多么可怕的事情。而王尔德在这里却像在说，

What is more terrible than a human without a soul, is a soul without a heart.

       （比起没有灵魂，更可怕的，是没有心）

 

       海里的生灵，森林里的族群，他们是那么的优雅，美好，虽然没有人的灵魂，但他们有心。为了美我可以连灵魂都不要，但我不能没有心。

 

         没有心的灵魂继续撺掇渔夫：

'there is no pain that thou shalt not give away, nor any pleasure that thou shalt not receive.'

 

        渔夫断然拒绝：

'Nay, but thou art evil, and hast made me forget my love, and hast tempted me with temptations, and hast set my feet in the ways of sin.'

 

         但渔夫这时候才发现，他再无法把灵魂切割开，因为巫女的巫术只能生效一次。他再也回不去了。纵使这样，他依然选择回去。他回到遇见美人鱼的港湾，呼唤她，向她忏悔自己的一切罪行。

 

        灵魂想尽了一切办法诱惑他，引起欲望的，邪恶的，可怕的：

'For what is this trouble of thine about the things of sin? Is that which is pleasant to eat not made for the eater? Is there poison in that which is sweet to drink? '

 

        渔夫不为所动，不再理睬灵魂天花乱坠般的任何诱惑。他回到海湾边，日夜呼唤他心爱的人鱼。经历过邪恶和堕落的巨大反差后，他终于真正体会到曾经的美好是多么的可贵，这时候的他才实现对爱完整的忠诚，而不仅仅是因为美。

 

        一年后灵魂又试图又善来诱惑他放弃，世界上有那数不清的不幸需要去救助，你为何就呆在这里作徒劳的等待？

'Wherefore shouldst thou tarry here calling to thy love, seeing she comes not to thy call? And what is love, that thou shouldst set this high store upon it?'

 

         渔夫依然不为所动：

But the young Fisherman answered it nought, so great was the power of his love. And every morning he called to the Mermaid, and every noon he called to her again, and at night-time he spake her name. Yet never did she rise out of the sea to meet him, nor in any place of the sea could he find her, though he sought for her in the rivers of the sea, and in the valleys that are under the waves, in the sea that the night makes purple, and in the sea that the dawn leaves grey.

 

         我喜欢这段素描，那样的美，而又凄凉。

 

        故事终于来到最有张力最悲剧性的一刻，无尽绝望的守望后，渔夫终于等到了他的爱人——的遗体。

 

He flung himself down beside it on the sand, weeping as one trembling with joy.

And to the dead thing he made confession. Into the shells of its ears he poured the harsh wine of his tale.

Bitter, bitter was his joy, and full of strange gladness was his pain.

 

        这种令人疯狂的痛苦终于使得他无尽的绝望得到救赎：

'Love is better than wisdom, and more precious than riches, and fairer than the feet of the daughters of men. The fires cannot destroy it, nor can the waters quench it. I called on thee at dawn, and thou didst not come to my call. The moon heard thy name, yet hadst thou no heed of me. For evilly had I left thee, and to my own hurt had I wandered away. Yet ever did thy love abide with me, and ever was it strong, nor did aught prevail against it, though I have looked upon evil and looked upon good. And now that thou art dead, surely I will die with thee also.'

 

       我时常想，如果要用一个画面来描绘这个故事，我会选择渔夫在海滩上怀抱着人鱼的遗体，汹涌的海浪席卷过来，即将吞没他的一刻。那时他的心已经碎了，灵魂终于重新和他合为一体。

 

        故事的结局也安排得同样完美。在渔夫和人鱼坟墓上开出从未有过的奇异的花终于让牧师感到敬畏，他改变了观点，没有灵魂的生灵同样也应该获得上帝的祝福，the God whose name is Love.

 

        只是奇葩只开一遍，美好的事物再不会重来。