查爾斯·狄更斯(Charles Dickens， 1812～1870)是19世紀(jì)英國(guó)批判現(xiàn)實(shí)主義小說(shuō)家。他出生于英國(guó)一個(gè)小職員家庭，12歲時(shí)因家庭背負(fù)債務(wù)被迫在鞋油作坊做工，24歲出版第一部作品《博茲札記》(Sketches by Boz)和第一部長(zhǎng)篇小說(shuō)《匹克威克外傳》(The Pickwick Papers)，均受到廣泛好評(píng)。在其后三十余年的創(chuàng)作生涯中，狄更斯撰寫了多部長(zhǎng)篇小說(shuō)，代表作有《霧都孤兒》(Oliver Twist)、《大衛(wèi)·科波菲爾》(David Copperfield)、《荒涼山莊》(Bleak House)、《艱難時(shí)世》(Hard Times)、《小杜麗》(Little Dorrit)、《雙城記》(A Tale of Two Cities)、《遠(yuǎn)大前程》(Great Expectations)等。狄更斯的每一部作品出版時(shí)都在英國(guó)及海外讀者中引起轟動(dòng)效應(yīng)，他因此被稱為“最受大眾歡迎的英國(guó)小說(shuō)家”?！哆h(yuǎn)大前程》是狄更斯晚年完成的一部小說(shuō)。透過(guò)小說(shuō)中主人公跌宕起伏的命運(yùn)，狄更斯表達(dá)了自己對(duì)生命和人性的看法。該小說(shuō)百年來(lái)被多次改編成電影、電視劇及舞臺(tái)劇。

Excerpts1)

As I had grown accustomed to my expectations， I had insensibly begun to notice their effect upon myself and those around me. Their influence on my own character I disguised from my recognition as much as possible， but I knew very well that it was not all good. I lived in a state of chronic uneasiness respecting my behavior to Joe2). My conscience was not by any means comfortable about Biddy3). When I woke up in the night， like Camilla4)， I used to think， with a weariness on my spirits， that I should have been happier and better if I had never seen Miss Havisham5)’s face， and had risen to manhood content to be partners with Joe in the honest old forge6). Many a time of an evening， when I sat alone looking at the fire， I thought， after all there was no fire like the forge fire and the kitchen fire at home.

Yet Estella7) was so inseparable from all my restlessness and disquiet of mind， that I really fell into confusion as to the limits of my own part in its production. That is to say， supposing I had had no expectations， and yet had had Estella to think of， I could not make out to my satisfaction that I should have done much better. Now， concerning the influence of my position on others， I was in no such difficulty， and so I perceived—though dimly enough perhaps—that it was not beneficial to anybody， and， above all， that it was not beneficial to Herbert8). My lavish habits led his easy nature into expenses that he could not afford， corrupted the simplicity of his life， and disturbed his peace with anxieties and regrets. I was not at all remorseful9) for having unwittingly set those other branches of the Pocket family10) to the poor arts they practised; because such littlenesses were their natural bent， and would have been evoked by anybody else， if I had left them slumbering11). But Herbert’s was a very different case， and it often caused me a twinge12) to think that I had done him evil service in crowding his sparely furnished chambers with incongruous13) upholstery14) work， and placing the Canary-breasted Avenger15) at his disposal.

So now， as an infallible way of making little ease great ease， I began to contract a quantity of debt. I could hardly begin but Herbert must begin too， so he soon followed. At Startop16)’s suggestion， we put ourselves down for election into a club called The Finches of the Grove: the object of which institution I have never divined， if it were not that the members should dine expensively once a fortnight， to quarrel among themselves as much as possible after dinner， and to cause six waiters to get drunk on the stairs. I know that these gratifying social ends were so invariably accomplished， that Herbert and I understood nothing else to be referred to in the first standing toast of the society: which ran “Gentlemen， may the present promotion of good feeling ever reign predominant among the Finches of the Grove.”

The Finches spent their money foolishly (the Hotel we dined at was in Covent Garden)， and the first Finch I saw when I had the honor of joining the Grove was Bentley Drummle17)， at that time floundering about town in a cab of his own， and doing a great deal of damage to the posts at the street corners. Occasionally， he shot himself out of his equipage18) headforemost over the apron; and I saw him on one occasion deliver himself at the door of the Grove in this unintentional way—like coals. But here I anticipate a little， for I was not a Finch， and could not be， according to the sacred laws of the society， until I came of age.

In my confidence in my own resources， I would willingly have taken Herbert’s expenses on myself; but Herbert was proud， and I could make no such proposal to him. So he got into difficulties in every direction， and continued to look about him. When we gradually fell into keeping late hours and late company， I noticed that he looked about him with a desponding eye at breakfast-time; that he began to look about him more hopefully about mid-day; that he drooped when he came into dinner; that he seemed to descry19) Capital in the distance， rather clearly， after dinner; that he all but realized Capital towards midnight; and that at about two o’clock in the morning， he became so deeply despondent again as to talk of buying a rifle and going to America， with a general purpose of compelling buffaloes to make his fortune.

I was usually at Hammersmith20) about half the week， and when I was at Hammersmith I haunted Richmond21)， whereof separately by and by. Herbert would often come to Hammersmith when I was there， and I think at those seasons his father would occasionally have some passing perception that the opening he was looking for had not appeared yet. But in the general tumbling up of the family， his tumbling out in life somewhere was a thing to transact itself somehow. In the meantime Mr. Pocket22) grew grayer， and tried oftener to lift himself out of his perplexities by the hair. While Mrs. Pocket23) tripped up the family with her footstool， read her book of dignities， lost her pocket-handkerchief， told us about her grandpapa， and taught the young idea how to shoot， by shooting it into bed whenever it attracted her notice.

As I am now generalizing a period of my life with the object of clearing my way before me， I can scarcely do so better than by at once completing the description of our usual manners and customs at Barnard’s Inn24).

We spent as much money as we could， and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us. We were always more or less miserable， and most of our acquaintance were in the same condition. There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly enjoying ourselves， and a skeleton truth that we never did. To the best of my belief， our case was in the last aspect a rather common one.

1.節(jié)選部分選自小說(shuō)第34章，是主人公皮普的一段自述，回憶了自己進(jìn)城來(lái)的生活狀況。

2.Joe：?jiǎn)?，小說(shuō)中皮普的姐夫，是一名鐵匠。

3.Biddy：畢蒂，一位善良、聰明的女孩，是小說(shuō)中皮普的朋友。

4.Camilla：卡米拉，一位饒舌的老女人，是小說(shuō)中郝薇香小姐的親戚，只在乎郝薇香的財(cái)產(chǎn)。

5.Miss Havisham：郝薇香小姐，小說(shuō)中一個(gè)性格十分乖戾的女人，年輕時(shí)曾受過(guò)感情創(chuàng)傷。

6.forge [f??(r)d?] n. 鐵匠鋪

7.Estella：艾絲黛拉，小說(shuō)中郝薇香小姐的養(yǎng)女，是皮普一直喜歡的女子。

8.Herbert：赫伯特，小說(shuō)中郝薇香小姐財(cái)產(chǎn)的未來(lái)繼承人，是皮普在城里的室友。

9.remorseful [r??m??(r)sf(?)l] adj. 懊悔的；(充滿)悔恨的；自責(zé)的

10.Pocket family：樸凱特家，即赫伯特一家，是小說(shuō)中郝薇香小姐的親戚。

11.slumber [?sl?mb?(r)] vi. 睡眠；蟄伏

12.twinge [tw?nd?] n. 痛苦；難過(guò)；內(nèi)疚

13.incongruous [?n?k??ɡru?s] adj. 不協(xié)調(diào)的；不一致的；不和諧的

14.upholstery [?p?h??lst(?)ri] n. 家具裝飾材料；帷簾織物

15.Canary-breasted Avenger：指赫伯特的仆人

16.Startop：史塔舵，小說(shuō)中皮普在城里的同學(xué)，對(duì)皮普很友好。

17.Bentley Drummle：本特利·蛛穆?tīng)枺≌f(shuō)中一個(gè)粗俗、無(wú)知的年輕人，家中富有，后來(lái)迎娶了艾絲黛拉，最后死于意外。

18.equipage [??kw?p?d?] n. 馬車(尤指帶有穿制服的隨從、車夫的豪華馬車)

19.descry [d??skra?] vt. 察看，發(fā)現(xiàn)，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)看到

20.Hammersmith：哈默史密斯，英國(guó)地名，小說(shuō)中樸凱特家所居住的地方

21.Richmond：里士滿，英國(guó)地名，小說(shuō)中艾絲黛拉后來(lái)進(jìn)城寄居的地方

22.Mr. Pocket：樸凱特先生，小說(shuō)中赫伯特的父親，郝薇香小姐的表兄。他和其他的親戚不一樣，并不覬覦郝薇香小姐的財(cái)產(chǎn)。

23.Mrs. Pocket：樸凱特太太，小說(shuō)中赫伯特的母親

24.Barnard’s Inn：巴那爾德旅館，小說(shuō)中皮普在城里的住處

作品賞析

在英文中，“expectation”和“hope”一樣，都表示“希望”，但是“expectation”更包含著一種預(yù)期。我們?cè)谔魍松?，不僅在希冀，同時(shí)也相信它的未來(lái)一定會(huì)延伸至某個(gè)方向。狄更斯的小說(shuō)《遠(yuǎn)大前程》正是一則關(guān)于人生的自我預(yù)期和未來(lái)命運(yùn)走向的故事。一天，在姐夫喬的鐵匠鋪當(dāng)學(xué)徒的青年皮普突然被告知，有匿名恩主贈(zèng)予了他一大筆財(cái)產(chǎn)，即日起他就可以啟程前往倫敦，學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)“上等人”的生活。至于恩主是誰(shuí)，在皮普看來(lái)，必然是他認(rèn)識(shí)的唯一一位有錢人——郝薇香小姐。年近五旬的郝薇香年輕時(shí)曾經(jīng)歷感情創(chuàng)傷，婚禮當(dāng)天新郎卷走財(cái)產(chǎn)失蹤。她為此仇恨世界，性格變得十分乖戾，過(guò)起了隱居生活，并收養(yǎng)了一個(gè)名叫艾絲黛拉的女孩，而皮普幼年時(shí)曾作為艾絲黛拉的玩伴被帶入郝薇香的別墅，自此與郝薇香和艾絲黛拉相識(shí)。

得到遠(yuǎn)大“錢”程的皮普開(kāi)始幻想郝薇香為自己安排的錦繡前程：接手郝薇香的陰森大宅，“重新把陽(yáng)光引進(jìn)黑暗的房間……像傳奇的年輕騎士一樣，做出光輝的事業(yè)，然后和公主(艾絲黛拉)成婚”。然而，皮普的故事并沒(méi)有朝著他所希冀的方向發(fā)展：來(lái)到倫敦的皮普很快就因?yàn)樘摌s揮霍而負(fù)債累累；艾絲黛拉并沒(méi)有愛(ài)上皮普，而是嫁給了一個(gè)著名的惡少；更有諷刺意味的是，皮普的恩主根本不是郝薇香，而是他七歲時(shí)偶遇的逃犯馬格韋契。后來(lái)，偷偷回國(guó)的馬格韋契在試圖再次出逃的途中因重傷身亡，財(cái)產(chǎn)被全部充公。所以，皮普的“遠(yuǎn)大前程”最終被證明是黃粱夢(mèng)一場(chǎng)。

《遠(yuǎn)大前程》自1860年底開(kāi)始連載，1861年結(jié)集出版，連載期間雜志的周銷量突破了十萬(wàn)冊(cè)，被評(píng)論家公認(rèn)為狄更斯后期作品重返巔峰的代表作。當(dāng)時(shí)的狄更斯已經(jīng)48歲，此時(shí)的他在語(yǔ)言運(yùn)用上爐火純青，敘述手法上精益求精，結(jié)構(gòu)安排和懸念設(shè)置上駕輕就熟，但是其作品的主題卻越來(lái)越黑暗：《荒涼山莊》和《艱難時(shí)世》的名字聽(tīng)起來(lái)就不是輕快的作品，《小杜麗》中的世界像是一座陰森森的大監(jiān)獄，《雙城記》則是血淋淋的革命和斷頭臺(tái)。到了《遠(yuǎn)大前程》，蕭伯納曾評(píng)論說(shuō)，這是一部從頭到尾充滿悲傷的故事。的確，狄更斯的早期作品幽默而樂(lè)觀，《遠(yuǎn)大前程》則寫盡了人世間的浮華泡影、愛(ài)情的創(chuàng)痛以及理想在現(xiàn)實(shí)中的挫敗。然而，當(dāng)我們縱觀皮普的人生經(jīng)歷，會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)雖然他沒(méi)能一步步登上“人生輝煌的頂點(diǎn)”，卻自始至終保持著助人的天性，在灰暗的生活里撒播下一粒粒善良的種子。這些種子在周圍人們荒蕪的心靈中生根發(fā)芽，長(zhǎng)出的綠蔭也給予了他佑護(hù)，使他的靈魂找到了歸宿。

皮普第一顆善良的種子種在了逃犯馬格韋契身上。小說(shuō)一開(kāi)始，腳戴鐐銬的馬格韋契在沼澤地巧遇皮普。馬格韋契恫嚇皮普，要他為自己帶銼刀和食物。皮普不僅為饑寒交迫的馬格韋契帶來(lái)了銼刀和面包，還帶來(lái)了豬肉餡餅和白蘭地。成年后，皮普再次與馬格韋契相遇。這一次，皮普為馬格韋契找到了他之前以為早已夭折的女兒，原來(lái)就是艾絲黛拉。臨終前，重傷不治的馬格韋契躺在病床上，皮普握著他的手，告訴他，他的女兒尚在人世，已經(jīng)長(zhǎng)成了美麗的女子，生活安康。如果說(shuō)七歲的皮普憑著童真的同情心凈化了馬格韋契的心，那么成年后的皮普則是憑著溫柔的善意又一次超度了這個(gè)曾經(jīng)罪惡的靈魂。在《遠(yuǎn)大前程》中，馬格韋契改變了皮普的人生軌跡。沒(méi)有他的資助，皮普無(wú)法接受教育，也無(wú)法成為倫敦這座大都市的一員。但是，因果之初，是皮普用善良修正了馬格韋契對(duì)世界的絕望，使他重又相信人性，決心回報(bào)皮普，讓皮普知道“那條曾經(jīng)在糞堆上蕩來(lái)蕩去的狗也有今日，他曾經(jīng)蒙你搭救，如今他昂起了頭，還培養(yǎng)了一個(gè)上等人”。

皮普善良的種子也種在了艾絲黛拉和郝薇香身上。艾絲黛拉讓從小就喜歡她的皮普嘗盡了心碎的滋味，但皮普卻寬容她的冷漠，理解她的高傲無(wú)情源于郝薇香對(duì)她心靈的扭曲，始終溫柔地愛(ài)著她。郝薇香冷漠自私，仇恨整個(gè)世界，最終卻被皮普對(duì)艾絲黛拉的一片深情所感動(dòng)，理解了愛(ài)的本質(zhì)，幡然悔悟。臨終前，解開(kāi)心魔的郝薇香同意資助皮普的好友赫伯特。而這一因果，也使小說(shuō)結(jié)尾身無(wú)分文、走投無(wú)路的皮普得以獲得好友的庇護(hù)，重新找到了生活的希望。

“種善因，結(jié)善果?！比绻骄科て丈砩系纳屏紡暮味鴣?lái)，對(duì)比高高在上、人情淡薄的達(dá)官顯貴，這善的源頭要追向一群生活在社會(huì)中下層的普通人：憨厚淳樸的鐵匠喬養(yǎng)育了皮普；知恩圖報(bào)的馬格韋契資助了皮普；單純善良的畢蒂給皮普帶來(lái)了友誼和慰藉。正是這些普通人向皮普證明了存在的意義不在于“遠(yuǎn)大前程”，而在于平淡樸素的真誠(chéng)。

《遠(yuǎn)大前程》中，皮普并沒(méi)有像他幻想的那樣，踏上財(cái)富與名望鋪就的金光大道，而是成了一個(gè)普通人。然而，憑借自己播撒下的善良種子，他改變了身邊的人，也為自己找到了一條看似平淡艱辛卻更加接近本真的路。《遠(yuǎn)大前程》代表了狄更斯在人生后期對(duì)生命價(jià)值最深刻的審視。從這個(gè)意義上來(lái)說(shuō)，皮普也是狄更斯種下的一顆善良的種子。在物欲膨脹、人性異化的今天，重新閱讀《遠(yuǎn)大前程》，與一百五十多年前的狄更斯對(duì)談，我們將會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)“遠(yuǎn)大前程”的召喚固然令人熱血沸騰，但它很可能只是海市蜃樓的幻景。人生的真諦是腳踏實(shí)地地生活，相信善，傳播善，在照亮這個(gè)世界的同時(shí)，把自己照亮。