貝蒂·史密斯(Betty Smith，1896~1972)，德國(guó)移民的女兒，成長(zhǎng)于紐約布魯克林。她早年靠自學(xué)成才，后進(jìn)入大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)新聞、戲劇、寫作和文學(xué)。她一生共創(chuàng)作了超過(guò)70部戲劇和4部小說(shuō)，《布魯克林有棵樹》(A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)以及《快樂的早晨》(Joy in the Morning)是她最為出色的兩部作品，都帶有自傳性質(zhì)。其中，《布魯克林有棵樹》是一本關(guān)于生存、夢(mèng)想與尊嚴(yán)的小說(shuō)，講述了美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)大蕭條時(shí)期一個(gè)貧困女孩的生活、夢(mèng)想和奮斗。這部至今還暢銷的青少年成長(zhǎng)勵(lì)志經(jīng)典作品不僅是亞馬遜書店的“20世紀(jì)最佳青少年讀物”，更被紐約公共圖書館評(píng)為“世紀(jì)之書”。由該小說(shuō)改編的電影《天堂樹》曾獲奧斯卡獎(jiǎng)，同名音樂劇也已演出近300場(chǎng)?！都~約時(shí)報(bào)》評(píng)論稱：如果錯(cuò)過(guò)了《布魯克林有棵樹》，你將失去一次重要的人生體驗(yàn)。

精彩片段

Since her father's death， Francie had stopped writing about birds and trees and My Impressions. Because she missed him so， she had taken to writing little stories about him. She tried to show that， in spite of his shortcomings， he had been a good father and a kindly man. She had written three such stories， which were marked \"C\" instead of the usual \"A\". The fourth came back with a line telling her to remain after school.

All the children had gone home. Miss Garnder and Francie were alone in the room with the big dictionary in it. Francie's last four compositions lay on Miss Garnder's desk. \"What's happened to your writing， Francie?\" asked Miss Garnder.

\"I don't know.\"

\"You were one of my best pupils. You wrote so prettily. I enjoyed your compositions. But these last ones ...\" she flicked1) at them contemptuously2).

\"I looked up the spelling and took pains3) with my penmanship4) and ...\"

\"I'm referring to your subject matter.\"

\"You said we could choose our own subjects.\"

\"But poverty， starvation and drunkenness are ugly subjects to choose. We all admit these things exist. But one doesn't write about them.\"

\"What does one write about?\" Unconsciously， Francie picked up the teacher's phraseology5).

\"One delves6) into the imagination and finds beauty there. The writer， like the artist， must strive for beauty always.\"

\"What is beauty?\" asked the child.

\"I can think of no better definition than Keats': 'Beauty is truth， truth beauty.'\"

Francie took her courage into her two hands7) and said， \"Those stories are the truth.\"

\"Nonsense!\" exploded Miss Garnder. Then， softening her tone， she continued: \"By truth， we mean things like the stars always being there and the sun always rising and the true nobility of man and mother-love and love for one's country，\" she ended anti-climatically8).

\"I see，\" said Francie.

As Miss Garnder continued talking， Francie answered her bitterly in her mind.

\"Drunkenness is neither truth nor beauty. It's a vice9). Drunkards belong in jail， not in stories. And poverty. There is no excuse for that. There's work enough for all who want it. People are poor because they're too lazy to work. There's nothing beautiful about laziness. (Imagine mama lazy!)

\"Hunger is not beautiful. It is also unnecessary. We have well-organized charities. No one need go hungry.\"

\"Now I'm not a snob10)，\" stated Miss Garnder. \"I do not come from a wealthy family. My father was a minister with a very small salary.\" (But it was a salary， Miss Garnder.)

\"And the only help my mother had was a succession of untrained maids， mostly girls from the country.\" (I see. You were poor， Miss Garnder， poor with a maid.)

\"Many times we were without a maid and my mother had to do all the housework herself.\" (And my mother， Miss Garnder， has to do all her own housework， and yes， ten times more cleaning than that.)

\"I wanted to go to the state university but we couldn't afford it. My father had to send me to a small denominational11) college.\" (But admit you had no trouble going to college.)

\"And believe me， you're poor when you go to such a college. I know what hunger is， too. Time and time again my father's salary was held up12) and there was no money for food. Once we had to live on tea and toast for three days.\" (So you know what it is to be hungry， too.)

\"But I'd be a dull person if I wrote about nothing but being poor and hungry， wouldn't I?\" Francie didn't answer. \"Wouldn't I?\" repeated Miss Garnder emphatically.

\"Yes ma'am.\"

She stood up. \"I've taken all this time with you because I honestly believe that you have promise. Now that we've talked things out， I'm sure you'll stop writing those sordid13) little stories.\"

Sordid. Francie turned the word over. It was not in her vocabulary.

\"What does that mean—sordid?\"

\"What did I tell you when you don't know a word，\" sing-songed Miss Garnder drolly14).

\"Oh! I forgot.\" Francie went to the big dictionary and looked up the word. Sordid: Filthy. Filthy? She thought of her father wearing a fresh dicky15) and collar every day of his life and shining his worn shoes as often as twice a day. Dirty. Papa had his own mug at the barber shop. Base16). Francie passed that up not knowing exactly what it meant. Gross17). Never! Papa was a dancer. He was slender and quick. His body wasn't gross. Also mean and low. She remembered a hundred and one little tendernesses and acts of thoughtfulness on the part of her father. She remembered how everyone had loved him so. Her face got hot. She couldn't see the next words because the page turned red under her eyes. She turned on Miss Garnder， her face twisted with fury.

...

Walking home from school， Francie tried to figure the whole thing out. She knew Miss Garnder wasn't mean. She had spoken for Francie's good. Only it didn't seem good to Francie. She began to understand that her life might seem revolting18) to some educated people. She wondered， when she got educated， whether she'd be ashamed of her background. Would she be ashamed of her people; ashamed of handsome papa who had been so lighthearted， kind and understanding; ashamed of brave and truthful mama who was so proud of her own mother， even though Grandma couldn't read or write; ashamed of Neeley19) who was such a good honest boy? No! No! If being educated would make her ashamed of what she was， then she wanted none of it. \"But I'll show that Miss Garnder，\" she vowed. \"I'll show her I've got an imagination. I certainly will show her.\"

自從父親去世后，弗蘭西就不再寫那些鳥啊、樹啊，還有題為《我的印象》的作文了。因?yàn)樘肽罡赣H，她開始寫一些關(guān)于父親的小故事。她盡力想要表明，盡管父親有這樣那樣的缺點(diǎn)，但他卻一直是個(gè)好父親，也是一個(gè)好人。她寫了三篇這樣的故事，結(jié)果卻都只得了“C”，而不是像以前一樣都是“A”。第四篇發(fā)下來(lái)的時(shí)候，上面寫了一行字，叫她放學(xué)后留下來(lái)。

所有的孩子早已都回家了，教室里只剩下佳恩達(dá)小姐和弗蘭西，還有那本厚厚的字典。弗蘭西最近交的四篇作文在佳恩達(dá)小姐的桌子上放著。“你的作文最近是怎么了，弗蘭西？”佳恩達(dá)小姐問。

“我不知道?！?/p>

“你曾是我最好的學(xué)生之一。你以前寫得非常好，我非常喜歡你的作文，但最近這幾篇……”她有些不屑地拍了拍桌上的那幾篇作文。

“我拼寫都查過(guò)字典了，也盡力把字寫好了，還有……”

“我說(shuō)的是你作文的題材。”

“您說(shuō)過(guò)我們可以自選題材的。”

“但貧窮、饑餓、酗酒這些題材都太丑陋了，最好別選。我們都承認(rèn)這些丑陋的事情的確存在，但沒有人會(huì)寫這些?！?/p>

“那人們都寫什么？”下意識(shí)地，弗蘭西接著老師的話問道。

“人們可以發(fā)揮自己的想象力，在那里找到美的東西。作家和藝術(shù)家一樣，都必須終身追求美。”

“什么是美？”這個(gè)孩子問。

“濟(jì)慈說(shuō)過(guò)：‘美就是真，真就是美?！艺J(rèn)為沒有比這更到位的定義了?！?/p>

弗蘭西鼓起勇氣說(shuō)：“我寫的那些故事都是真啊?！?/p>

“一派胡言！”佳恩達(dá)小姐脫口而出。然后，她緩和了一下語(yǔ)氣，接著說(shuō)：“我們所說(shuō)的‘真’是指天上總有星星、太陽(yáng)每天升起、人身上真正的崇高品格、母愛以及愛國(guó)之情這樣的東西。”她的回答有些虎頭蛇尾。

“我懂了?！备ヌm西說(shuō)。

佳恩達(dá)小姐繼續(xù)喋喋不休地說(shuō)著，而弗蘭西則暗自在心里針鋒相對(duì)地反駁著她的話。

“酗酒這個(gè)話題既不是‘真’也不是‘美’，它是一種惡習(xí)。酒鬼應(yīng)該待在牢里，而不是故事里。再來(lái)說(shuō)貧窮。貧窮怪不了別人。工作機(jī)會(huì)很多，想工作的人都能如愿。人們貧窮是因?yàn)樗麄兲珣辛?，不愿意工作。懶惰和‘美’完全沾不上邊?！?想想我媽，她那樣也能叫懶嗎？)

“饑餓這個(gè)題材也不美，而且也沒有必要寫。我們有運(yùn)作有序的慈善組織，沒有人需要挨餓?！?/p>

“不過(guò)聲明一下，我不是一個(gè)勢(shì)利小人，” 佳恩達(dá)小姐說(shuō)，“我也不是來(lái)自有錢人家。我爸爸是個(gè)牧師，工資很低。”(但好歹也是一份工資啊，佳恩達(dá)小姐。)

“唯一能給我媽幫忙的是家里的小保姆，還總是不停地在換，大部分都是農(nóng)村來(lái)的小姑娘，沒受過(guò)訓(xùn)練?！?我明白了。你家窮，佳恩達(dá)小姐，窮到家里有保姆。)

“有很多時(shí)候，家里連保姆也沒有，我媽媽就得一個(gè)人把所有的家務(wù)活都干了。”(而我媽媽呢，佳恩達(dá)小姐，她不光要一個(gè)人把家務(wù)活全干完，而且還要干比家務(wù)活多十倍的清潔工作。)

“我本來(lái)想上州立大學(xué)，但我們家交不起學(xué)費(fèi)，我爸爸只好把我送到了一個(gè)小的教會(huì)學(xué)校上學(xué)。”(但你得承認(rèn)，最起碼你順順利利上了大學(xué)。)

“相信我，如果你上的是這樣一個(gè)大學(xué)，你就是一個(gè)窮人。我也知道饑餓的滋味。有好多次，因?yàn)榘职值墓べY遲遲發(fā)不下來(lái)，家里沒錢買吃的。有一次，我們不得不接連三天吃茶水加烤面包?！?噢，你也知道挨餓的滋味?。?

“但是，如果我整天就寫些生活貧困、食不果腹之類的事情，那我就是一個(gè)枯燥的人，是吧？”弗蘭西沒有回答?！笆遣皇?？”佳恩達(dá)小姐加強(qiáng)語(yǔ)氣又重復(fù)了一遍。

“是的，老師?！?/p>

她站起身來(lái)?！拔一诉@么多時(shí)間和你聊，是因?yàn)槲艺娴南嘈拍愫苡星巴尽，F(xiàn)在既然我們已經(jīng)把話都說(shuō)明白了，我相信你不會(huì)再去寫那些污穢的小故事了?！?/p>

污穢(sordid)。弗蘭西反復(fù)琢磨這個(gè)詞。她以前沒見過(guò)。

“污穢，這個(gè)詞是什么意思？”

“我以前告訴過(guò)你，當(dāng)你遇到不認(rèn)識(shí)的單詞時(shí)應(yīng)該怎么做來(lái)著？”佳恩達(dá)小姐像唱歌似的說(shuō)道，聲音很滑稽。

“噢！我給忘了?！备ヌm西走到那本大字典前，翻開字典查“污穢”這個(gè)詞。污穢：邋遢的(filthy)。邋遢？弗蘭西想到父親每天都會(huì)換上干凈的假襯衫和衣領(lǐng)，他的舊鞋子每天擦兩次，總是锃亮锃亮的。骯臟的(dirty)。爸爸在理發(fā)店里都有自己的杯子。卑賤的(base)。弗蘭西不明白這個(gè)詞的準(zhǔn)確意思，就跳過(guò)這項(xiàng)接著往下看。粗俗的(gross)。絕不可能！爸爸是個(gè)舞蹈演員，他身形修長(zhǎng)、動(dòng)作敏捷。他的身體才不粗俗呢。還有“卑鄙的(mean)，下流的(low)”的意思。她還記得父親的種種疼愛以及那些體貼的舉動(dòng)。她記得每個(gè)人都是那么愛她的父親。她的臉開始發(fā)熱。她無(wú)法看清后面的那些字，因?yàn)檎麖埣堅(jiān)谒劾锒家炎兂闪思t色。她轉(zhuǎn)向佳恩達(dá)小姐，面部因?yàn)閼嵟兊门で?/p>

……

步行回家的路上，弗蘭西一直想把整件事理清楚。她知道佳恩達(dá)小姐沒有惡意。她說(shuō)這些都是為了弗蘭西好。只是這么做似乎對(duì)弗蘭西并不好。她開始明白，她的生活可能令一些受過(guò)教育的人反感。她不知道當(dāng)自己接受教育后，是不是也會(huì)為自己的背景感到恥辱。她會(huì)不會(huì)以她的同胞為恥？會(huì)不會(huì)以自己英俊、善良、無(wú)憂無(wú)慮、善解人意的爸爸為恥？會(huì)不會(huì)以自己勇敢、真誠(chéng)的媽媽為恥(媽媽可是深深地以她自己的母親為榮的，即使外婆既不會(huì)讀書也不會(huì)寫字)？會(huì)不會(huì)以尼雷——那個(gè)非常誠(chéng)實(shí)善良的男孩為恥？不！不會(huì)的！如果接受教育會(huì)讓她瞧不起自己的一切，那么那樣的教育她寧愿不要?！暗視?huì)證明給佳恩達(dá)小姐看的，”她心里暗暗發(fā)誓，“我會(huì)讓她看到我有想象力，我一定會(huì)讓她看到。”

1.flick [fl#618;k] vi. 輕打，輕拍

2.contemptuously

[k#601;n#712;tempt#643;u#601;sli] adv. 輕蔑地，鄙視地

3.take pains: 努力，盡力，煞費(fèi)苦心，下苦功

4.penmanship

[#712;penm#601;n#643;#618;p] n. 書寫；書法

5.phraseology

[#716;fre#618;zi#712;#594;l#601;d#658;i] n. 說(shuō)法，措辭，用語(yǔ)

6.delve [delv] vi. 探索，鉆研

7.take one's courage into both hands: 鼓起勇氣；敢作敢為

8.anti-climatically

[#716;aelig;ntikla#618;#712;maelig;kt#618;kli] adv. (在重要性、品質(zhì)、興趣等方面)驟降的，由精彩出色降至平庸的；虎頭蛇尾的

9.vice [va#618;s] n. 道德敗壞(行為)，墮落(行為)；惡習(xí)

10.snob [sn#594;b] n. 勢(shì)利的人；諂上欺下的人

11.denominational

[d#618;#716;n#594;m#618;#712;ne#618;#643;#601;nl] adj. 教派的；宗派的

12.hold up: 延遲，停止

13.sordid [#712;s#596;#720;d#618;d] adj. 骯臟的，污穢的

14.drolly [dr#601;#650;li] adv. 滑稽地；古怪有趣地

15.dicky [#712;d#618;ki] n. (只有前胸的)假襯衫

16.base [be#618;s] adj. 卑下的，卑賤的

17.gross [ɡr#601;#650;s] adj. <罕> 粗野的；臃腫的

18.revolting [r#618;#712;v#601;#650;lt#618;#331;] adj. 令人作嘔的，使人反感的

19.Neeley: 尼雷，弗蘭西的弟弟

賞析

布魯克林有種樹，人們稱之為“天堂樹”。不管它的種子落到什么地方，都會(huì)長(zhǎng)出一棵樹來(lái)，向著天空，努力生長(zhǎng)，即使是水泥地也阻擋不了它向上的勢(shì)頭。這種樹總是生長(zhǎng)在布魯克林的居民區(qū)里，郁郁蔥蔥。小說(shuō)主人公弗蘭西居住的院子里就有這樣一棵樹。

弗蘭西倉(cāng)促降生，而她過(guò)于年輕的父母顯然都還沒有準(zhǔn)備好。父親約翰尼英俊、浪漫卻意志羸弱，無(wú)法承受家庭的重?fù)?dān)，常常酗酒來(lái)逃避現(xiàn)實(shí)。第二年，弟弟尼雷降生，把母親凱蒂的愛奪走了一大半。弗蘭西從小就不得不面對(duì)生活的艱辛，體味成長(zhǎng)過(guò)程中的無(wú)奈百味，孤獨(dú)地開始了自己的奮斗生涯。童年，她與弟弟一起撿垃圾幫媽媽分擔(dān)生計(jì)，被同齡的小女孩排斥在外，卻獨(dú)自執(zhí)著而貪婪地嗅著圖書館每一本書的芬芳；8歲時(shí)，她與小自己一歲的弟弟一起入學(xué)，在當(dāng)時(shí)以粗暴為指導(dǎo)方針的學(xué)校里飽受老師與同學(xué)的欺侮，但她想方設(shè)法轉(zhuǎn)到了自己向往的學(xué)校，每天快樂地走過(guò)漫長(zhǎng)的路途去上學(xué)；13歲時(shí)，唯一真正欣賞并深愛她的父親猝然離世，留下遺腹子勞瑞，把整個(gè)家庭拋入哀傷的沼澤；14歲時(shí)，媽媽把上高中的機(jī)會(huì)給了弟弟，熱愛讀書的弗蘭西不得不冒充17歲的孩子外出打工，為媽媽分擔(dān)生活壓力；15歲時(shí)，這個(gè)少女的美好初戀變成一場(chǎng)騙局，痛哭過(guò)后，她把脆弱掩藏于心底；在16歲花季來(lái)臨之時(shí)，弗蘭西靠自學(xué)獲得了密歇根大學(xué)的錄取通知書。小說(shuō)最后，院子里那棵被砍伐和焚燒的天堂樹奇跡般地活了下來(lái)，長(zhǎng)出新枝，而弗蘭西這棵代表布魯克林精神的小樹也在苦難的磨煉下成長(zhǎng)起來(lái)，向著另一片更廣闊的天空生長(zhǎng)。

弗蘭西之所以能夠沖破命運(yùn)的束縛，與其家族譜系的特點(diǎn)無(wú)不有著千絲萬(wàn)縷的聯(lián)系。弗蘭西家族的女人身上集中體現(xiàn)了處于社會(huì)底層的人民那“勞動(dòng)創(chuàng)造財(cái)富”和“知識(shí)改變命運(yùn)”的樸實(shí)信念。弗蘭西的外婆瑪麗不識(shí)字，卻有著豐富的人生智慧。正是瑪麗在凱蒂分娩之際教會(huì)了她如何改變命運(yùn)：每天給孩子們讀一頁(yè)《圣經(jīng)》和莎士比亞的作品，講那些凡間沒有卻進(jìn)駐心靈的小仙女、小精靈們的故事，讓他們擁有忠貞的信仰和美麗的幻想；與孩子們每天積攢5分錢，攢到50元的時(shí)候買一塊地，從而真正成為自己命運(yùn)的主人。秉持著這樣的生活準(zhǔn)則，凱蒂用自己的堅(jiān)忍與勤勞獨(dú)自撐起整個(gè)家庭。在凱蒂的教育下，弗蘭西和尼雷深深不恥于嗟來(lái)之食，堅(jiān)信生活要靠自己的雙手來(lái)創(chuàng)造。在魚龍混雜的布魯克林，弗蘭西沒有因貧困而變得粗鄙，沒有因饑餓而變得貪婪，也沒有因別人的輕視而變得卑微。透過(guò)那個(gè)撿垃圾的快樂女孩以及她在樓梯上靜靜讀書的恬淡身影，我們看到的是一個(gè)堅(jiān)強(qiáng)而高貴的靈魂。

然而，如果人生中只有克勤克儉的奮斗，生活就會(huì)變成一段奴役心靈的無(wú)期徒刑。好在弗蘭西的父親約翰尼身上保留了浪漫的基因，為他們貧窮的物質(zhì)生活注入了想象和歡樂。約翰尼雖然常常酗酒、性格懦弱，但仍不乏溫和、快樂以及沒有隨歲月與困窘而流失的俊俏和體面。他隨時(shí)隨地的歌唱與舞蹈是弗蘭西姐弟最早的美的啟蒙；他不惜編造謊話幫弗蘭西轉(zhuǎn)學(xué)，為她打開了一片新的天地；他對(duì)孩子們的丁點(diǎn)努力總是報(bào)以最熱忱的贊美；他帶孩子們?nèi)タ创蠛?，期待他們?nèi)缤?shī)歌里所寫，對(duì)大海充滿熱愛和向往；他去世前預(yù)先準(zhǔn)備了弗蘭西畢業(yè)典禮上的玫瑰花，讓她在人生的重要時(shí)刻沒有缺失父愛的陪伴……或許在基本的物質(zhì)保障上，約翰尼不是稱職的爸爸，但他與生俱來(lái)的浪漫和慷慨施與的鼓勵(lì)卻塑造了弗蘭西自信、獨(dú)立、樂觀以及熱愛幻想的天性。正是約翰尼對(duì)孩子體察細(xì)微的愛與柔情才使得弗蘭西盡管飽嘗命運(yùn)的不公平，卻仍然堅(jiān)守夢(mèng)想，執(zhí)著于生活中的美和善。

從節(jié)選的片段中可以看出，在貧窮、饑餓、父親酗酒的環(huán)境下長(zhǎng)大的弗蘭西明顯比家境優(yōu)越、受過(guò)高等教育的佳恩達(dá)老師更懂得美的真諦。在那些所謂丑陋的環(huán)境中，弗蘭西仍然保有善良、勇敢、堅(jiān)強(qiáng)、勤奮以及所有對(duì)美的想象。弗蘭西熱愛生活，所以生活的苦楚磨不滅她活著的信念；弗蘭西相信自己，所以命運(yùn)的煎熬擋不住她奮斗的腳步；弗蘭西懂得美的真諦，所以她在后來(lái)自身處境得以改善后仍能不忘自己的出身，善意地對(duì)待那些仍在苦苦掙扎尋找出路的人們。

或許因?yàn)槭亲詡黧w小說(shuō)，作者寫盡了生活的瑣碎，細(xì)膩地描寫了弗蘭西的成長(zhǎng)感受，那些細(xì)細(xì)碎碎的悲歡中流淌著的溫暖，足以捂熱我們?nèi)諠u冷漠的心。正是因?yàn)檫@樣的精細(xì)，我們才能看到，原來(lái)困窘的生活也能過(guò)得精彩，原來(lái)生活中苦難常在，快樂與充實(shí)也常在。而要實(shí)現(xiàn)這樣的快樂與充實(shí)，你需要有一顆熱愛生活和努力奮斗的心。正如作者所說(shuō)：“活著，奮斗著，愛著我們的生活，愛著生活饋贈(zèng)的一切悲歡，那就是一種實(shí)現(xiàn)。生活的充實(shí)常在，人人皆可獲得?！?/p>