2024-12-26

谭爱美（Amy Tan)是华裔女作家中不一定是最成功的，但肯定是最高产的，之所以这样说，就是因为我书架上就至少有她四本大部头小说，其中的一部，就是正骨匠的女儿（The Bonesetter's Daughter）。

烫金的封面，精美的包装，畅销书的作家，自然非一般的自传体作家可比。在这一本小说中，谭爱美讲了她的姑妈和乡民们发现甲骨文和龙骨的故事，并说龙骨可以包治百病:

• 我有一根兽骨，可能是龟甲，她告诉我。她从袖子里把它捞出来。它看起来像一个带着麻点的干萝卜。我父亲差点把它磨碎当药。然后他看到上面写着字。她把骨头翻过来，我看到奇怪的字符在上下跑动。直到最近，由于有划痕，这类骨头还没有那么值钱。挖骨头的人过去常常用锉刀将它们磨平，然后再将它们卖给药店。现在学者们称这些为甲骨文，售价翻倍。（I have a bone, probably from a turtle, she told me. She fished it from a tuck in her sleeve. It looked like a dried turnip with pockmarks. My father almost ground this up for medicine. Then he saw there was writing on it. She turned the bone over, and I saw strange characters running up and down. Until recently, these kinds of bones weren't so valuable, because of the scratches. Bone diggers used to smooth them with a file before selling them to medicine shops. Now the scholars call these oracle bones, and they sell for twice as much.）

  
  

• 在山口村，穷汉们一有机会就会收集龙骨。女人们也如此，但如果是她们发现了骨头，她们就不得不说是男人们发现的，否则骨头就没有那么值钱了。后来，古董贩子到村里去收购龙骨，然后运到北京，高价卖给药店，药店又以更高的价格卖给病人。众所周知，这些骨头可以治愈任何疾病，从消耗性疾病到愚蠢。很多医生都这么做。宝姨的父亲也是如此。他用骨头来治愈骨头。（In the Mouth of the Mountain, every poor man collected dragon bones when he had a chance. So did the women, but if they found one, they had to say a man found it instead, because otherwise the bone was not worth as much. Later, middlemen went around the village buying the dragon bones, and then they took them to Peking and sold them to medicine shops for high prices, and the shops sold them to sick people for higher prices yet. The bones were well known for curing anything, from wasting diseases to stupidity. Plenty of doctors sold them. And so did Precious Auntie's father. He used bones to heal bones.）

能把一次重大的科学发现和历史事件写进小说，不留痕迹，不能不说谭爱美，还是颇有功力的。