2014-12-28

【Aiden in English】

        Charles Dickens (Feb. 7, 1812-June 9, 1870) was probably the best author in England in the 19th century and wrote a lot of novels and hundreds of short stories. And this holiday season, the Macy’s in Philadelphia continued to make the setting of the story “A Christmas Carol” by Dickens.

        Dickens was renowned for his humor and how he based upon his stories of real life problems.  This style led him to fame and had a ton of criticism at the same time because he didn’t write with the formal and educated way that most authors used. As the years went on, the vivid stories became more and more popular around the world. Today, Dickens is a legend and famous enough to be the theme of the spectacular Macy’s Show. A little replica of the Victorian town in “A Christmas Carol” was created according to one of Dickens most successful books. I read a tiny bit of it myself, and the plot sounded rather interesting although I wasn’t the biggest fan of the old English vocabulary of words. 

        In Macy’s Dickens Village, I walked on a path through a small English town and signs were posted telling the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, the main Character of a bitter old miser. Scrooge hated Christmas for it was the same day his sole friend and partner Jacob Marley died. He was “the cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice...” as Dickens described. Scrooge met Marley’s ghost 7 years later and became nice and friendly after a little (long) chat. The town seemed just like what the story described, foggy with every house lit with candlelight and families eating and feasting on a cold, damp Christmas Eve. The cobble floor and the flickering streetlamps added even more to the effect that I was no longer in the 21st century but back to 1843. Then, I saw a well-known and climactic scene. Scrooge was begging at the ghost which had chains on his wrists. Right after came the time when the ghost took Scrooge to his grave. Scrooge cried and promised to be good again, and the happy ever ending came when Scrooge, the next day, bid everyone a merry Christmas. 

        Dickens is certainly the great writer to make such an impact 200 years later. He’s on the same floor as Mark Twain and Shakespeare, and maybe even more.

【紅霞譯文】

        查爾斯·狄更斯（1812．2．7─1870．6．9）大概是英國十九世紀最著名的作家，曾寫過許多長篇小說及短篇故事。今年節日期間，費城梅西百貨商場繼續將狄更斯的《聖誕頌歌》列為慶祝活動之一。

        狄更斯素以幽默著稱，擅長揭露現實生活中的社會黑暗，具有獨特的創作風格，因此而橫遭指責，因為他從不像當時多數作家那樣循規蹈矩，並擯棄傳統的學院派寫作方式。隨着時間推移，狄更斯筆下生動有趣的故事流傳久遠，深受世界各地廣大民眾的喜愛。如今狄更斯已被視為傳奇人物，名聲享譽英倫三島內外，這也是為什麼梅西百貨商場不遺餘力，特意把狄更斯其中一部著名作品改編成童話展覽，根據《聖誕頌歌》完整地策劃出一個維多利亞式的鄉村小鎮。我只讀了該部中篇小說一小部分，劇情挺有嚼頭，但本人並不熱衷書中老式英語的遣詞用句。

        在梅西狄更斯村莊，我漫步走在英格蘭式民間小鎮裡，一邊閱讀註解介紹，一邊追蹤主人公埃比尼澤·史高治刻薄吝嗇的情節進展。史高治討厭聖誕節，因為就在聖誕節前夜，其唯一的朋友及生意夥伴雅各·馬利不幸過世。正如狄更斯形容的那樣，史高治“面無表情，捏着鼻子，眼睛血紅，嘴皮薄得泛藍，老是壓低嗓門說話，顯得格外狡猾”。七年後，史高治遇到這位老友馬利的鬼魂，兩人聊天長談之後，史高治變得和藹友善多了。小鎮看上去很像書中所描述的，天氣朦朦朧朧，各家各戶點着蠟燭，在寒冷陰濕的聖誕前夜合歡共飲，鵝卵石路面配上忽明忽暗的街燈，讓我頓時感到自己不是身居廿一世紀，而是回到了一八四三年。接着，眼前出現著名的場景：史高治祈求鬼魂用鎖鏈銬住自己的手腕，隨後隨鬼魂走進墓地。他痛哭流涕，發誓要重新做人；第二天，史高治恭祝大家聖誕快樂。結局皆大歡喜。

        無疑，狄更斯堪稱偉大的作家，二百年來一直影響着文學發展。可以說，他與馬克·吐溫、莎士比亞等其他文壇巨匠齊名。