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试析舍伍德·安德森小说《鸡蛋》中的美国梦3篇
试析舍伍德·安德森小说《鸡蛋》中的美国梦篇1
德莱塞笔下的美国梦
张仁杰
摘要：美国作家西奥多.德莱塞通过一系列作品向读者展示了一个充满赤裸裸金钱关系的美国社会。本文通过简要介绍作者生平，以及对《美国悲剧》这部小说中主人公和悲剧过程的分析，说明在美国这个金钱至上的社会里，一方面，人在本能和社会环境的驱使下不可避免要向上爬，追求物质上的满足，去实现心中的美国梦，但是结局都是悲剧式的，从而揭示了美国梦的虚无。另一方面，德莱塞也通过小说故事为生活在社会最底层的广大贫苦人民提供了奋斗的模式，激励他们通过自己的努力去改善物质生活，带有一定的积极性。
关键词：西奥多.德莱塞；
美国梦；
《嘉莉妹妹》；
《美国悲剧》
The American Dream in Dreiser’s Novels
[Abstract]: Theodore Dreiser, an American writer, shows the readers an actual American society which is maintained by money in his novels. In this article, the author gives a brief introduction to Dreiser’s life, and also analyzes the main character and the tragic life in An American Tragedy, one of the greatest novels of Dreiser’s. The article explains that in this money-oriented America, man wants to better himself instinctively or driven by the environment and to realize the American Dream, yet the results are all tragic. From the analysis the author expresses the futility of the American Dream—the main theme of Dreiser’s novels. On the other hand, Dreiser also offers a mode about struggle through his stories for the poor. He wants to inspirit the poor people to struggle for better material lives, which shows the activeness of Dreiser’s novels.
[Key words]: Theodore Dreiser; the American Dream; An American Tragedy
1. Introduction
1.1.The high prestige of Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser, an American writer, is an outstanding representative of naturalism. He is recognized as a profound and prescient critic of debased American values and as a powerful novelist. Indeed his influence on the fiction of the first quarter of the century is perhaps greater than any other writers. He was the first writer who criticized the futility of the American Dream in his novels so drastically. After him there were some other famous writers who also depict the futility of the American Dream, among whom were Faulkner, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Bellow etc. while evaluating the status of a writer, we should not pay only attention to the achievements the writer got during his lifetime, or just evaluate him from the literary form of expression, but should make it sure that literature is to express humanity, life and society. To emphasize the form of expression is to make the content better. Although he had never won the Nobel Prize, Dreiser had greater influence than any other writers. “He had an enormous influence on American literature during the first quarter of the century – and for a time he was American literature, the only writer worth talking about in the same breath with the European masters. Out of his passions, contradictions, and sufferings, he wrenched the art that was his salvation from the hungers and depressions that racked him. It was no wonder that he elevated the creative principle to godhead and encouraged by word and example truthful expression in others.” Dreiser has a deeper understanding than other writers in exploring the novels’ thought and content. He was the first warrior to taste the tomato in his times and also he cleared the way for the successors.
1.2.The evolving process of the American Dream
The history of the American Dream began with the “May flower” in 1620. The puritans from England, who wanted to escape from the political, economic and religious persecution of the Old World, dreamed of building up a New World. That’s the beginning of the American Dream. America, a place where everyone had a fair change at making it big; America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, set your sail and travel to the New World of wonder and where your wildest dreams come true. In the United States’ Declaration of Independence the founding father stated: “eld certain truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” This sentiment was considered the foundation of the American Dream. Everybody tried to struggle for freedom and welfare. After the independence of the U.S, there was a great man – Benjamin Franklin, one of the drafters of the Declaration of Independence, became both a spokesman and a model for the national character of later generations of Americans. He was the representative of the American Dream for his autobiography. Benjamin Franklin is often referred to as the First American and he is given this title with good reason and it proves him more as an American hero, especially a hero for American youngsters.
In the monopoly period, modern values have transformed the American Dream’s pure ideals into a scheme for materialistic power and further, the world of high society lacks sense of morals and consequence. The disparity between rich and poor being serious, hedonism and money worship being overflowed, people would stop at nothing to get what they wanted. Benjamin Franklin’s way to wealth had been out of date. The American Dream has become the pursuit of material prosperity that people work more hours to get bigger cars, fancier homes the fruits of prosperity for their families-but less time to enjoy their prosperity. In Dreiser’s times, the content of the American Dream was to pursue for more money and higher rank in society and it brought great hazards to the American society.
1.3.Theodore Dreiser’s life experience and its influence to his novels
Theodore Dreiser, the twelfth of 13 children, was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1871. His father, a devout German immigrant, lost everything when his large wool mill burned down. By this time, his parents were poor, nomadic preachers. Their nomadic lifestyle meant that Dreiser did not have any companions outside his family. While traveling, his mother taught him to avoid degrading and destructive experiences. Certain that his parents were failures because of their strong morals and their constant preaching, he rebelled. Dreiser had no friends, money, social status, or sex life, which he craved. For most Americans, these were collectively "The American Dream." For Dreiser and his most famous characters, Carrie Meeber and Clyde Griffiths, living the American Dream -- the evasive pinnacle of success -- became an obsession.
That obsession led 13-year old Dreiser to Indiana University, which he flunked out of. Instead of preaching, he instantly abandoned his unsuccessful family for the promise of riches and women in industrial Chicago. After living in abject poverty for years, he worked as a journalist for both Chicago Globe and St. Louis"s Globe-Democrat, which gave him a glimpse of high society. His journalist life provided him endless source of writing. It was at this time that Dreiser got contact with the higher society with the rich and the power. There, he married Sara White. Within months, the two separated permanently, and Dreiser became a nomad. While wandering, he studied the writings of Balzac, Darwin, Freud, Hawthorne, Huxley, Poe, and Spenser, from which he created two philosophical theories: social Darwinism governs society, and man"s greatest appetite is sexual. Dreiser followed his philosophy; he typically had several affairs at once. Such kind of opinion can obviously be drawn in Dreiser’s novels.
In New York, Dreiser started Sister Carrie, a brilliant naturalistic piece. The book was sold only 500 copies; it was so "scandalous" that its owned publishers censored its printing in 1900. Dreiser was nearly suicidal for this failure. In Sister Carrie Dreiser reported a real money-related America to the audience. Nobody dared to report the true social problems in their own works at that time for they were afraid that their works wouldn’t be accepted by most readers. Sinclair Lewis, the first American Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1930, praised Dreiser during his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, “Dreiser, more than any other man, is marching alone. Usually unappreciated, often hated, has cleared the trail from Victorian and Howellsian timidity and gentility in American fiction to honesty and boldness and passion of life. Without his pioneering, I doubt if any of us could, unless we liked to be sent to jail, seek to express life and beauty and terror.” Most works before 1900 were served for beautifying Capitalism and religion, which were two main topics for literature at that time.
After publishing Sister Carrie, Dreiser resigned from New York"s music journal, Every Week. He then worked for an eclectic group of magazines, including three women"s magazines, until 1910, when his in-office love affair went public. During the next six years, he gained recognition for his writing and published Jennie Gerhardt and the "Trilogy of Desire”, stories based on transportation mogul Charles T. Jerkes"s life. The series won him numerous acclaims.
After eight abysmal novels, Dreiser published his best selling novel An American Tragedy. The novel, later adapted to Broadway and the screen, netted him hundreds of thousands of dollars. Soon, he turned to the glittering promises of communism to escape his feelings of inadequacy. When his wife died, he married his cousin, Helen Richardson, his "companion" of five years. He died in Hollywood, California on December 28, 1945.
2. Analysis on Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy
In this article, I choose An American Tragedy， Dreiser’s best selling novel, because it is well known to most readers for ita representative character: Clyde Griffiths.
2.2.Analysis on An American Tragedy
Dreiser"s most famous character is Clyde Griffiths. Clyde, the main character in An American Tragedy, is an attractive, morally weak, stupid 20-year old in the 1920s. His parents, a source of constant humiliation, are destitute preachers who force him to sing gospel hymns. Clyde knows that he has poor clothes, little education, and a blacklisted family, and is determined not to live his life in squalor, as his parents have. To do this, he must reject their beliefs and morals, which are certain to make him a failure. He begins his downward spiral while working in a malt shop. When girls are not attracted to him, Clyde, longing for companionship, decides he must buy better clothes. To buy better clothes, he finds work at the prestigious Greene-Davidson Hotel. Exposed to wealth and high society, he becomes corrupted.
Clyde"s hopes are shattered after a run-in with the law. He flees to Kansas and works odd jobs until he is hired into the regarded Union League Club. At the Union League, he meets his rich uncle, who gives him a job in his collar factory. Clyde moves to Lycurgus and, because of his last name, good looks, and charm, he soon enters the upper echelons of Lycurgus society. Less than two years later, he is abandoned by that society. He dies in the electric chair with little respect and no possessions.
Until his last months, Clyde has no morals. He wastes 20 years chasing windmills. Then, in jail, with less than one year to live, he is forced to give up his chase. When the caring, friendly Reverend McMillan befriends Clyde, both of them discover God. Confession, Clyde feels, will save his soul. (Ironically, it takes his life.) He instantly has morals; when he reads the Bible and prays, he accepts and copes with his failure and guilt.
Truly unconscious, Clyde does not contemplate his crime or his guilt for more than a year. With the help of a benevolent pastor, he finds God. Clyde accepts his guilt and fate, and is reconciled. Finally, he thinks about someone other than himself. He prays that other people will understand his follies and save themselves, and for a time he believes they will. But he is too late: his "friends" are ruined, and he is going to die. Less than one week later, he is electrocuted, ending his moral conflict. His moral conflict continues: he is reincarnated into Russell, and the novel abruptly restarts. Clyde"s reincarnation proves Dresser"s contention that all humans are seeking the same empty promises.
Long before Clyde was a character, he was Dreiser"s vehicle to enter the mind of the killer, whom he was unable to but wanted to understand. Every section of the novel details Clyde"s meaningless life and shows his progressive moral downfall. In the beginning, Clyde did not have money, sex, or a social life. Throughout his life, he struggled to obtain these things, this purchasable happiness and false sincerity that money could buy or rent. On the road to murder, he begged for a job at the Greene-Davidson Hotel; he used his salary to solicit prostitutes, clothe himself fashionably, and date Hortense. Two years before his death, Clyde still did not realize that his life was useless and horrible, a sham.
Each of Clyde"s traits (lust, envy, melancholy) is a feature of his uncontrollably weak, vicious morality. He never breaks out of the vicious cycle of pain and pleasure (with more pain than pleasure). When he works at the Greene-Davidson Hotel, he is unfortunate enough to catch a glimpse of "high society." Transfixed, he creates a religion, and women, money, and clothes, are his gods. While wandering, he happens to meet his rich uncle. This uncle gives him a job with daunting social, financial, and sexual possibilities. Clyde seduces Roberta (a kind, pretty, poor girl), obsesses about Sondra (a beautiful rich girl who expresses her deepest thoughts in baby talk), and then kills Roberta (who threatens to take away his position in society). Clyde shows no remorse -- for months, he does not think he murdered Roberta.
Clyde has no thoughts: everything he does is instinctive. Society taught him that material success and material possessions were everything and he, because of his weak morals, instantly agreed. Whenever Clyde was entranced by a girl, he courted her without thinking whether relations would damage his reputation. He never considered how much his whims would hurt his girl. In Kansas City, when he and his friends crushed a little girl while joy riding in a stolen car, they did not care about the child’s condition; their only instinct is to run from the police. More disturbingly, Clyde did not even think he had committed a crime when he killed Roberta -- he killed her because that is the easiest way out of his dilemma, the easiest way to in society"s good grace. When she drowned, he fled from his obligations instinctively, then "[transformed] his mental and moral cowardice into ... ‘accidental murder’.” That, to him, was instinct. Clyde was more an embodiment of the naturalist movement than a real person.
An American Tragedy is the definitive guidebook to the futility of pursuing The American Dream. In its 874 pages of small print, not one character lives the dream that they all sought. Uncle Griffiths really is not a tycoon; only Clyde"s biased narration leads us to this inaccurate conclusion. Sondra is not the most intelligent girl in the world; she speaks baby talk when deep in thought. She is not particularly beautiful; Clyde is attracted to any good-looking woman. She is not super-elite, either; she may have a butler and a lakeside mansion, but Clyde"s and Dreiser"s tendencies to exaggerate -- Clyde for vanity, Dreiser to reinforce his naturalist theme -- have blown her out of proportion.
3.Conclusion
3.1.An American Tragedy’s lightening for the futility of the American Dream
From this great novel can we clearly conclude Dreiser’s naturalism for Clyde Griffiths is representative of the American Dream gone astray. From an early age, Clyde is a social and economic outcast. He wanted to better himself. His life has been changed because he has made a few bad decisions. Dreiser wants to show the readers that people make the wrong decisions all the time, without realizing the consequences until it is too late. The entire book, the readers are led to believe that Clyde will manipulate his way to the top. Then, all of a sudden, it is too late, and his life is shattered. Immorality has overcome Clyde Griffiths. In a typical novel, there would have to be a dramatic change for a little choir boy to become a murderer. Not this novel. For Clyde, each section of life further weakens his morals. The poster child for the futility of the American Dream is Clyde Griffiths. During his short life, he wants only wealth, social status, and sex (together, the American Dream). He wins his way into Chicago and Lycurgus" high societies, is ruined by wealth, and is abandoned. In each city, he has several romantic interludes, which give him a sense of mission and fulfillment for a moment. But, after each affair, he sinks deeper into despair, which corrodes his abrasive morals. Soon, there is nothing Clyde will not do for money, social status, and sex -- he will even kill for it. Each character"s emphasis on material success is the cause of tragedy.
A novel"s mode is its style (E.g. satirical, romantic, psychological, naturalistic, science fiction, mystery, adventure). While An American Tragedy contain many psychological insights, their dominant modes are naturalistic. A naturalistic novel is "realistic fiction taken one step further, in which the author pessimistically portrays squalor, violence, sordidness, and characters who have little control over their own destinies”. Naturalist writers Crane, Morris, London, and Dreiser all even believed that man is "a helpless pawn of his heredity and his environment, a creature caught in a web of causation and chance”. These two great novels light that the futility of the American Dream. The American Dream is corrupted. This is the main theme of the novels.
3.2.Encouragement for the poor to struggle for wealth and rank in society
The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position. Despite the futility of the American Dream, Dreiser’s novels also hint that wealth and fame can be gained through hard working like Clyde Griffiths. Although Clyde himself is a tragedy, he had realized his own wish excessively. He has escaped his poor family and entered the super society which belongs to the rich. So, the novel also lighted the youngsters to work hard in spite of their birth or position.
Bibliography:
[1]胡戈.德莱塞笔下的美国梦与美国悲剧[J].广西民族学院学报（哲学社会科学版）,1997,4:125-127.
[2]龙文佩,庄海骅.德莱塞评论集[A].欧文豪.西奥多.德莱塞的高度[C].上海:上海译文出版社,1998,100-116.
[3]秦丽萍.德莱塞及其小说创作[J].山东社会科学,1996,5:66-70.
[4]沈伟.简评德莱塞的美国悲剧[J].丹东师专学报,1999,21:48-49.
[5]Theodore Dreiser. An American Tragedy[M].New York:The New American Library,Inc.,1964.
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试析舍伍德·安德森小说《鸡蛋》中的美国梦篇2
种玉米
舍伍德·安德森
哈琛森是一个身材瘦小、关节扭曲的老人，他那个离镇上大约三英里远的农场很小，但却是我们整个镇公认的照料和耕种得最好的地方。那栋小小的木房子总是油漆整齐，他的田地总是看起来干净整齐。
哈琛森的父亲曾经拥有这个农场，他是个内战士兵，回到家的时候已经受了重伤。哈琛森是父亲唯一的儿子，他留在家里照料这个地方，一直到他父亲去世。哈琛森接近50岁的时候，娶了一个40岁的小学教师，结婚以后，两人紧紧守着这块地。
他们的那个儿子——威尔，个子很小，但是极其健壮。他到我们镇上的中学来上学，还在我们镇的棒球队里当投球手。他总是快快活活、反应机敏，我们所有的人都很喜欢他。他从还是个小男孩时就开始画小漫画，那是种天赋。他画鱼画猪画牛，那些动物看起来就像是你认识的人。
威尔从我们镇上的中学毕业以后去了芝加哥，在那儿成为一名艺术学院的学生。另一个我们镇里的年轻人也在芝加哥。事实上他比威尔早去了两年。他的名字叫哈尔，是芝加哥大学的学生。毕业以后，他回到家乡，做了我们中学的校长，成了我的好朋友。
在芝加哥，哈尔和威尔成为了好朋友。我从哈尔那里听说，威尔就像小时候在家乡一样，他在芝加哥也马上受到了人们的喜爱。他长得好看，所以艺术学院的女孩们喜欢他，而他又有种直率，这使他也受到了年轻小伙子的欢迎。
哈尔告诉我威尔几乎每天晚上都出去参加聚会，很快他就开始卖出一部分他那些有趣的漫画。这些画被用在广告里，而他赚了不少钱，他甚至开始寄一些钱回家了。
哈尔回到镇上以后，他经常去看望威尔的爸爸和妈妈，他们的谈话内容总是威尔。
你知道，这个时候老哈琛森已经快70岁了，他妻子比他小10岁。哈尔说无论何时只要他到他们的农场去，他们就会停下活计，来和他坐在一起，他们一看到他在路上，就会跑过来。他们又收到一封威尔的信。他每星期都给他们写信。
那瘦小的老母亲跟在那父亲后面跑过来。哈琛森总是喊着：“我们又收到一封信，哈尔先生。”然后他妻子就会气喘吁吁地说着同样的话：“哈尔先生，我们又收到一封信。”
他们会立刻把那封信拿出来，让哈尔大声朗读。哈尔说那些信总是很有趣。威尔在信里点缀着小素描画。有他见到或与他相处的人们的漫画，有芝加哥密歇根大道上的车流，有一个站在大街的十字路口的警察，还有匆匆忙忙走进办公楼里的年轻速记员们。这两位老人都没去过那个城市，他们又好奇又急切。希望哈尔为他们解释那些画，他们想知道哈尔能记得的关于威尔在那大城市里的生活的每个点滴。
“你们可以亲自去看一看的。”哈尔说。
“我们怎么能去呢？”哈琛森说，“我们不能去。”
他从童年时期就待在那个小农场上，他父亲是个病人，所以他得照料一切，这些是非常激动人心的。你得不停地和杂草作斗争，还得照顾农场里的动物。哈琛森说：“谁来给我们的奶牛挤牛奶呢？”一想到除了他自己或是他妻子以外的任何人要摸到他的奶牛，他就觉得受到了伤害。只要他还活着，他就不想让任何其他人耕他的地，种他的玉米，照管谷仓里或周围的东西。
那是一个春天的夜里，深夜以后，哈尔来到我家，告诉我那个意外的消息，威尔死了，在事故中丧生，他当时和其他几个年轻人参加了一个聚会，他们可能喝了些酒，他们的车毁了……
那时是早春，我现在还记得我们安静地走过那段路时的每个时刻，那些刚刚从树上长出来的小叶子，那些我们跨过的小溪流，月光似乎赋予了那溪水生命。我听到一只狗的吠声从远方的什么地方传来，我听到一栋远处的房子里孩子的哭声。
我们走到了那栋农舍的前门。哈尔一路上都在试图想出一些话，能比较温和地把这个消息告诉这对老夫妇，但是真到了这个时候，他就做不到了，他直接对哈琛森全盘说出了整件事情。
就是那样了。哈琛森一句话也没说。门开着，他站在月光下，穿着一件可笑的长长的白色睡袍，哈尔告诉了他，那扇门就“砰”的一声关上了。
我们安静地站着，不知道该做什么，就那样可能过了十分钟，也可能过了半小时，我们站在那儿倾听凝望，很长时间以后，哈尔突然碰了碰我的胳膊：“看！”两个穿着白衣服的身影从房子向谷仓走去，马上又出来了。他们走进了地里，哈尔和我悄悄穿过场院走到谷仓，站在谷仓的阴影里——一个能看到发生的事情却不会被看见的地方。
那是件难以置信的事情。那老人从谷仓里拿了一台手持玉米种植机，而他妻子则拿了一袋玉米种子，在那里，在月光下，那天夜里，在知道了那个消息之后，他们在种玉米。他们都穿着睡袍。他们穿过田地播下一行行种子，来到和我们相距很近的地方，整个过程都是在寂静中进行的。
那是我一生中第一次理解了什么，我不知道我现在是否能写下那天夜里我所理解的，我是指某些人和土地之间的联系的一些事情。我所知道的是，哈尔和我站在那里看了尽可能长的时间，然后悄悄离开，回到了镇里。哈尔告诉我，第二天早晨当他去看他们并且安排他们死去的儿子运回家乡的相关事情时，他们都出奇地平静，而且哈尔觉得他们都相当自控。哈尔说他觉得他们明白了什么。“他们有他们的农场，而且他们还有威尔的信可以读。”哈尔说。
(选自《美国语文》，有删改)
依据小说的相关内容，概括威尔的形象特点。
【答案】农场主的儿子，不幸早逝的优秀青年；
相貌英俊、身体健壮；
有绘画天赋和才华；
热爱并善于观察生活；
乐观直率，有良好的人际关系；
热爱体贴父母。
【解析】
【详解】
试题分析：本题考查考生“欣赏作品人物的形象”的能力。解答这类题时，考生一般要在理解的基础上分析人物形象，概括其特点。要找足、找全有关该人物形象的所有文字。这些文字有主要，有次要；
有正面，有侧面；
有集中，有分散。只有把这些文字、材料都找足找全，才能保证分析概括人物形象的全面性。分析人物形象特点要指出其身份，概括其性格特点。威尔在小说中始终没有正面出场，考生要纵观全文，从他和不同人物的关系中概括。比如第二段介绍“哈琛森的父亲曾经拥有这个农场……哈琛森接近50岁的时候，娶了一个40岁的小学教师，结婚以后，两人紧紧守着这块地”可知威尔的身份是农场主的儿子。从“个子很小，但是极其健壮……总是快快活活、反应机敏，我们所有的人都很喜欢他。他从还是个小男孩时就开始画小漫画，那是种天赋”“他长得好看，所以艺术学院的女孩们喜欢他，而他又有种直率，这使他也受到了年轻小伙子的欢迎”可以概括威尔的特点是相貌英俊、身体健壮；
有绘画天赋和才华；
热爱并善于观察生活；
乐观直率，有良好的人际关系。从威尔对待父母的态度可知他热爱体贴父母。从“那是一个春天的夜里，深夜以后，哈尔来到我家，告诉我那个意外的消息，威尔死了，在事故中丧生”可知威尔不幸早逝。
【点睛】
人物形象特点概括要注意：
1.要找足、找全有关该人物形象的所有文字。这些文字有主要，有次要；
有正面，有侧面；
有集中，有分散。只有把这些文字、材料都找足找全，才能保证分析概括人物形象的全面性。
2.特别要注意从情节发展中把握人物形象。因为不少考生只是简单地罗列、判断，没有从整个情节中看待人物。
3.充分认识小说中的人物是立体的，不是平面的，其思想心理、行为表现总是复杂、多变的，要有多角度多层次地分析、概括的意识。这里，特别注意把握人物的多重角度。扮演的角色不同，表现出的思想性格也就不同。
4.注意区分题干用语：形象特点与性格特点。性格特点包括人物的心理情感、待人接物、品行操守、生活态度及价值观甚至深层次的思维观点等较稳定的特征，而“形象特点”主要以“性格特点”为中心，可以把人物的肖像、身份、地位、职业等考虑进去。
试析舍伍德·安德森小说《鸡蛋》中的美国梦篇3
手
舍伍德 安德森
一栋小木屋，座落在离俄亥俄州温士堡小城不远的、一个幽谷的边缘附近。一个胖胖的小老头儿，在这木屋的半朽走廊上，神经质地往来蹀躞。越过一长块种了苜蓿却只生出浓密的黄色芥草来的田地，他可以看见公路，看见路上行着一辆满载从田野里回来的采浆果者的运货马车。采浆果的少男和少女，骚骚然大笑大叫。一个穿蓝衬衫的少男从车上跳下来，要把其中一个少女拉下车来，少女锐声叫喊抗议。少男的脚在路上踢起一团烟尘，烟尘飘浮过落日的脸。越过那一长块田地，传来一串轻微的女孩子气的声音。“喂，飞翼比德尔鲍姆呀，梳梳你的头发吧，头发要落到你的眼睛里去了。”这声音命令着这个秃顶的人，他的神经质的小手摸索着光秃秃的雪白前额，仿佛正理着一绺乱发似的。
飞翼比德尔鲍姆永远诚惶诚恐，被种种狐疑所困扰；
他在城里住了二十年了，却认为自己无论如何不是这小城生活的一部分。在温士堡所有的人中间，只有一个人跟他是接近的。他对乔治·威拉德（他是威拉德新旅社的业主汤姆·威拉德的儿子）产生了类似友谊的感情。乔治·威拉德是《温士堡鹰报》的记者，有时他在晚上沿着公路散步，走到飞翼比德尔鲍姆的家里来。现在，老人在走廊往来蹀躞，双手神经质地挪动，他正盼望着乔治·威拉德会来和他一同消磨黄昏。载着采浆果者的运货马车过去之后，他在高高的芥草中间穿过田畴，攀上铁路的栅栏，沿着通向城市的公路急切地凝望。他这样站了一会儿，搓着双手，朝大路上望来望去；
接着，他为恐惧所压倒，又跑回家去，在自己的门廊上徘徊了。
二十年来，飞翼比德尔鲍姆一直是小城里的一个谜。面前有个乔治·威拉德，比德尔威姆的懦弱便减少几分，而他那朦胧的个性，原来沉没在狐疑的海中的，也冒出来见识世界了。有年轻的记者在他身边，他敢于在大天白日走上大街，或是在他自己家的歪歪斜斜的门廊里大步徜徉，激动地说着话儿。原来低沉而颤抖的声音，变得尖锐而响亮了；
弯曲的身体也挺直了。象是在渔夫身边回到小河里去的一尾鱼，身体一扭一摆，缄默者飞翼比德尔鲍姆开始说话了，竭力把沉默的漫长岁月里在他心中累积起来的思想化为言语。
飞翼比德尔鲍姆说话时大做手势。他那纤细的善于表现的手指，始终活跃而又始终竭力藏在衣袋里或是背后的手指，伸出来了，成为他表情达意的机器上的活塞杆。
飞翼比德尔鲍姆的故事是手的故事。双手无休止的动作，象是被囚的鸟的双翼的飞动，使他得了这个诨名。那是城里一个无名诗人想出来的。这双手吓坏了它们的主人。他要把这双手隐藏起来，同时他又惊奇地望着旁人的手，在田里挨着他干活的人们或是在乡村大路上赶着瞌睡的牲口的人们的、安静而毫无表情的手。
同乔治·威拉德谈话的时候，飞翼比德尔鲍姆捏紧了拳头，打在桌子上或是打在他家的墙上。这动作使他更加舒畅。两人在田野里散步时，要是他想谈天的话，他就设法找一段树桩或是栅栏顶上的一条木版，两手忙着砰砰地猛击，说话便重新从容自在了。
飞翼比德尔鲍姆这双手的故事，本身就值得写一本书。同情地写来，便可触及无名小人物的许多奇异美丽的品性。这是诗人的指责。在温士堡，这双手之引起注意，只是由于它们的动作。凭着这双手，飞翼比德尔鲍姆在一天中采的草莓，高达一百四十夸脱。这双手成为他的显著的特色和他的声名的源泉。这双手也使一个原来已经畸形和不可捉摸的个性更加畸形。温士堡之以飞翼比德尔鲍姆的双手自豪，其精神实质正如以银行家怀特的新石屋自豪，以韦斯理·莫耶的在克理夫兰秋季赛马中创二分十五秒记录的栗色雄马托尼·蒂普自豪，完全一模一样。
至于乔治·威拉德，他好几次想问起这双手的事。有时，一种几乎压倒之势的好奇心怂恿着他。他觉得这双手的奇怪的活动的老是要藏起来的倾向，必定自有道理，只是出于对飞翼比德尔鲍姆逐渐增进的尊敬，使他没把时常萦回心头的问题脱口说出来罢了。
有一次他快要问出口了。某一个夏天的下午，他们两人正在田野里散步，在一条青草埂上歇息坐下。整个下午，飞翼比德尔鲍姆谈天说地，象一个神灵感悟的人。他站在一道栅栏的旁边，象一只巨大的啄木鸟般打击着栅栏顶上的木版，他对乔治·威拉德大叫，责备他那过分受周围人物左右的倾向。“你在毁灭自己，”他说道。“你有孤独和做梦的倾向，而你又怕梦境。你想和这小城的人一样。你听他们说话，还设法模仿他们。”
在青草埂上，飞翼比德尔鲍姆竭力再强调这一点。他的语调变成柔和而追怀式的，他心满意足地叹了一口气，开始散漫的长谈，象一个幻游梦境的人在说话。
飞翼比德尔鲍姆就这梦境为乔治·威拉德描出一幅图画。画中的人物再一次生活在一种牧歌式的黄金时代里。越过一片苍翠空旷的乡村，来了手足洁净的年轻男子，有的步行，有的骑马。青年男子成群地聚集在一个老人足旁，老人坐在小小花园里一棵树下对他们说话。
飞翼比德尔鲍姆变得浑身都是灵感。他暂时忘掉了双手。慢慢地这双手溜了出来，放在乔治·威拉德的肩上。某种新鲜而勇敢的东西，渗透进那说话的声音。“你必须忘掉你所学到的一切，”老人说，“你必须开始做梦，从此你切而听信旁人夸夸其谈。”
飞翼比德尔鲍姆的说话顿了一下，他长久而诚恳地凝视乔治·威拉德。他的眼睛炯炯发光。他又伸出手来抚摩那少年，而一瞥惊惧之色随即扫过了他的脸。
飞翼比德尔鲍姆浑身一震，跳起身来，双手直插在裤袋深处。泪水涌到他的眼睛里。“我一定得回家了，我不跟你多谈了，”他神经质地说道。
也不回头瞧瞧，老人匆匆赶下山坡，横过草原，丢下乔治·威拉德惶惑而惊讶地在青草埂上。这少年恐惧得战栗起来，站起身，沿着通达城市的大路走去。“我决不问他那双手的事了，”他想，记起他在老人眼中看到的恐惧，颇有感触。“一定有什么委屈的事，可是我不想搞清真相了。他怕我，怕每一个人，是同他那双手有些关系。”
乔治·威拉德说对了。让我们对这个手的故事略作探究。我们讲到这双手，或许会鼓舞诗人道出有关陶冶感化的隐秘奇迹，而那双手只是为了陶冶感化而飘动着的信号旗而已。
在年轻的时候，飞翼比德尔鲍姆曾在宾夕法尼亚的一个小城里当学校教师。那时他不叫飞翼比德尔鲍姆，却以音调较差的阿道夫·迈耶斯为姓名。作为教师阿道夫·迈耶斯，他受到学校里孩子们极大的爱戴。
阿道夫·迈耶斯是年轻人的天造地设的教师。他是那些稀有的，不为世人所了解的人们中的一个，那些人用过分温和的力量来管教孩子们，温和得竟象是一种可爱的弱点。他们对于自己管教所及的孩子们的感情，跟温文尔雅的妇人对于男子的爱情毫无两样。
然而那不过是粗略的说明。这种地方需要诗人来解释。阿道夫·迈耶斯同他的学校里的孩子们，曾在黄昏里散步，或是坐在学校的台阶上直谈到薄暮，神往于一种梦幻之境。他的手伸来伸去，抚摩着孩子们的肩膀，把玩着头发蓬乱的脑袋。他讲话的时候，声音变得柔和而富于音乐性。声调中也渗透着一种爱抚之情。在某种程度上，这语调和这手，这抚摩肩膀和摩弄头发，对于这教师之把梦送进孩子们的心灵，也尽了几分力量。他借助于手指的爱抚，表达了他自己的内心。有的人，其内在的、创造生命的力量，是散漫而不集中的；
他便是这样的人中的一个。在他双手的爱抚下，孩子们心灵里的怀疑和眩惑消失了，他们也开始做梦了。
跟着便发生了悲剧。学校里的一个鲁钝愚昧的孩子变得迷恋上了这年轻的教师。夜间他在床上幻想不可言说的事情，早晨他把他的梦境当作实事讲出来。奇怪的可怕的控诉，从他的没遮拦的嘴里落出来。全宾夕法尼亚轴为之不寒而栗。隐藏在人们心中的、对于阿道夫·迈耶斯的朦胧怀疑，竟激变成了信以为真。
悲剧急转直下。颤栗着的孩子们被从床上拉起来，受到盘问：“他用手臂抱我，”一个说。“他的手指老是摸弄我的头发，”另一个道。
一天下午，在小城里开酒吧间的亨利•布拉德福，来到学校门口。他把阿道夫·迈耶斯叫到了校园里，便开始用拳头打他。他坚硬的指关节打在那吃惊的教师脸上时，他的愤怒变得越来越可怕。孩子们吓得直叫，像被惊扰的昆虫一样奔来奔去。“你竟染指我的孩子，我要教训教训你，你这畜生，”酒吧间老板怒吼道，他打得厌倦了，便开始把教师在院子里踢来踢去。
阿道夫·迈耶斯在夜间被逐出宾夕法尼亚。有十二、三个人，手中拿了灯，走到他独住的屋子门前，命令他穿了衣服走出来。天正下着雨，其中一人手里拿着一根绳子。他们原来想吊死这教师的，但他身体上的某些东西，那么小，那么苍白，那么可怜，触动了他们的心，他们便放他逃走了。当他逃到黑暗之中时，他们又懊恼自己的心肠太软了，便跑上去追他，骂他，向那一面叫喊一面越来越快地奔向黑暗中去的身形，掷木棒和大烂泥块。
阿道夫·迈耶斯孤独地在温士堡住了二十年。他只有四十岁，看上去倒像六十五岁了。比德尔鲍姆这名字是他匆忙地经过俄亥俄州东部一个小城时，在货运站内的一只货物箱上看到的。他在温士堡有一个姑妈，是个养鸡的黑牙齿老妇人，他和她一起生活到她逝世为止。在宾夕法尼亚受过挫折之后，他病了一年，恢复健康后便在田里卖苦力作零工，他怯生生地走动着，并且竭力藏起他的手来。虽然他不明白究竟是怎么一回事，但他总觉得他的手是有过失的。孩子们的父亲一再提到手的事。酒吧间老板曾经在校园里暴跳如雷地怒喝道：“不许你伸出手来碰别人！”
飞翼比德尔鲍姆在他那靠近幽谷的房子走廊上继续往来蹀躞，直到太阳消失，田野外的大路泯灭在灰色的阴影里。他走进屋内，切几片面包，涂上蜂蜜。晚间快车载着全天收获的浆果隆隆驶去，夏夜重新归于寂静时，他又到走廊上去散步。黑暗中他见不到双手，而双手也静止不动了。虽然他仍旧渴望着少年的出现（那少年是他表达他热爱人类的媒介物），那渴望却又变成了他的孤独和他的期待的一部分了。飞翼比德尔鲍姆点亮一盏灯，洗涤他简单的一餐所弄脏的几只盆子；
他在通向走廊的纱门边搭好一张帆布床，准备解衣就寝。一些零星的白面包屑，落在桌旁洗刷干净的地板上；
他把灯移到一张矮凳上，开始拾起面包屑，以不可思仪的速度一粒粒地送到嘴里。在桌子底下、灯光的浓密黑影里，这跪着的人，看上去象是在教堂中做礼拜的神父。神经质的富于表情的手指，在亮光中或隐或现，很可能被误认为信徒的手指在迅速地十个复十个地拨数着他的念珠。
推荐访问:安德森 美国 伍德 试析舍伍德·安德森小说《鸡蛋》中的美国梦 安德森鸡蛋赏析