陳榕

Excerpts1）

Whatsoever thy2） hand findeth to do， do it with thy might....

Hard work？ No， it wasnt really so hard. He wasnt used to walking and stair-climbing， but the physical difficulty of his new job was not what George Grebe felt most. He was delivering relief checks3） in the Negro district， and although he was a native Chicagoan this was not a part of the city he knew much about—it needed a depression4） to introduce him to it. No， it wasnt literally hard work， not as reckoned in foot-pounds5）， but yet he was beginning to feel the strain of it， to grow aware of its peculiar difficulty. He could find the streets and numbers， but the clients were not where they were supposed to be， and he felt like a hunter inexperienced in the camouflage6） of his game. It was an unfavorable day， too—fall， and cold， dark weather， windy. But， anyway， instead of shells7） in his deep trench coat8） pocket he had the cardboard of checks. And he didnt look much like a hunter， either； his was a city figure entirely. He was slender without being tall， stiff in the back， his legs looking shabby in a pair of old tweed9） pants gone through and fringy10） at the cuffs11）. With this stiffness， he kept his head forward， so that his face was red from the sharpness of the weather； and it was an indoors sort of face with gray eyes that persisted in some kind of thought and yet seemed to avoid definiteness of conclusion. He was not so mild as he looked， nor so youthful； and nevertheless there was no effort on his part to seem what he was not. He was an educated man； he was a bachelor； he was in some ways simple； without lushing12）， he liked a drink； his luck had not been good. Nothing was deliberately hidden.

He felt that his luck was better than usual today. When he had reported for work that morning he had expected to be shut up in the relief office at a clerks job， for he had been hired downtown as a clerk， and he was glad to have， instead， the freedom of the streets and welcomed， at least at first， the vigor of the cold and even the blowing of the hard wind. But on the other hand he was not getting on with the distribution of the checks. It was true that it was a city job； nobody expected you to push too hard at a city job. His supervisor， that young Mr. Raynor， had practically told him that. Still， he wanted to do well at it. For one thing， when he knew how quickly he could deliver a batch of checks， he would know also how much time he could expect to clip13） for himself. And then， too， the clients would be waiting for their money. That was not the most important consideration， though it certainly mattered to him. No， but he wanted to do well， simply for doing-wells sake， to acquit14） himself decently of a job because he so rarely had a job to do that required just this sort of energy. Of this peculiar energy he now had a superabundance； once it had started to flow， it flowed all too heavily. And， for the time being anyway， he was balked15）. He could not find Mr. Green.

So he stood in his big-skirted trench coat with a large envelope in his hand and papers showing from his pocket， wondering why people should be so hard to locate who were too feeble or sick to come to the station to collect their own checks. But Raynor had told him that tracking them down was not easy at first and had offered him some advice on how to proceed. “If you can see the postman， hes your first man to ask， and your best bet. If you cant connect with him， try the stores and tradespeople around. Then the janitor and the neighbors. But youll find the closer you come to your man the less people will tell you. They dont want to tell you anything.”

“Because Im a stranger.”

“Because youre white. We ought to have a Negro doing this， but we dont at the moment， and of course youve got to eat， too， and this is public employment. Jobs have to be made. Oh， that holds for me too. Mind you， Im not letting myself out. Ive got three years of seniority on you， thats all. And a law degree. Otherwise， you might be back of the desk and I might be going out into the field this cold day. The same dough16） pays us both and for the same， exact， identical reason. Whats my law degree got to do with it？ But you have to pass out these checks， Mr. Grebe， and itll help if youre stubborn， so I hope you are.”

“Yes， Im fairly stubborn.”

Raynor sketched hard with an eraser in the old dirt of his desk， left-handed， and said， “Sure， what else can you answer to such a question. Anyhow， the trouble youre going to have is that they dont like to give information about anybody. They think youre a plain-clothes dick17） or an installment collector， or summons-server or something like that. Till youve been seen around the neighborhood for a few months and people know youre only from the relief.”

在文學故事的經(jīng)典情節(jié)里，有一類與追尋有關：在神話故事里，它是英雄尋寶；在浪漫傳奇中，它是騎士追尋圣杯；在童話里，它是王子尋找被巫婆囚禁在高塔的姑娘。追尋的故事之所以好看，是因為它有懸念，能不能追得上，能不能尋得到，難免令讀者牽腸掛肚。此外，在追尋的路上，會遇到千奇百怪的人，看到各式各樣的風景，經(jīng)歷機關重重的冒險。《尋找格林先生》也是一則邀約讀者見證的追尋故事。這一次，主人公格里比只身上路，不為尋寶，只為找人，他的目標是要找到一位名叫格林的先生。而追尋的地點既不在海上，也不在荒野，而是在都市叢林。能不能最終找到這位格林先生？這個懸念伴隨著讀者一直行進到了小說的最后一行。

格里比之所以尋找格林先生，是因為這是他的工作。格里比是政府里的一名職員，職責主要是負責發(fā)放救濟金支票。其中有一張支票，格里比只知道接收者是一位叫做圖利弗·格林的先生，而他的地址只有一個簡單的門牌號，沒有給出具體在哪一幢樓、哪個房間。從某種角度來說，小說中格里比扮演的是傳統(tǒng)追尋主題中的英雄角色——他要深入貧民窟，為那些因疾病或殘疾無法親自到救濟站領取救濟金的人送上支票，助他們渡過難關。然而，這位救世者自己卻不是超人。和他需要幫助的窮人一樣，他也是深受大蕭條時代沖擊的受害者。格里比的專業(yè)是古典語言學，他通曉拉丁文，曾是圣奧拉夫學院的講師，后來在芝加哥大學當研究員。然而，時逢大蕭條，身居象牙塔的他也不能幸免，丟了工作。知識再淵博，學問再高深，也不能變成養(yǎng)家糊口的面包。格里比賣過罐頭、鞋子、窗簾，走了熟人的門路，頗費周折，才成為市政單位的一名小職員。作為低級職員的格里比沒有資格坐辦公室，他需要出外勤，四處去發(fā)放救濟金支票。這使他有機會步入芝加哥城的貧民窟，親眼目睹了在象牙塔里難以想象的衰敗、貧困與苦難。將心比心，受過苦的格里比知道人生是何等艱難，貧困是何等折磨人。為此，他兢兢業(yè)業(yè)地履行著自己的職責，將救濟金送達需要它的人。同樣的原因，也使得他為這張無人認領的支票而煩惱，在迷宮一樣的貧民窟里努力尋找著支票的主人格林先生。

格里比的態(tài)度和小說中他的上司雷納先生形成了對比。雷納的職務比格里比高，年紀卻比格里比輕。雷納也是知識分子出身，所學專業(yè)是法律，同樣通曉拉丁文。和格里比一樣，因為時代的蕭條，雷納放棄了專業(yè)，成為市政部門里的一名職員。然而，和格里比不同的是，雷納圓滑世故。在他看來，工作就是工作，不負責承擔額外的精神意義，也不需要太執(zhí)著。在他的價值體系里，只有錢是真實的?！半m然什么東西看上去都不是真實的，不論什么東西都代表另一件別的東西，這件東西代表另一件東西，那件東西又代表另一件——不論最后的真實是什么，25元一星期和37元一星期是不能比的?！边@樣的價值觀出現(xiàn)在經(jīng)濟蕭條的時代并不稀奇，畢竟生存是第一要義。

生存是第一要義，但生存不是唯一要義。為了生存，人們有時不得不像格里比一樣，選擇為生計忙碌。然而，人生不僅僅是為了生存，人們也需要像格里比一樣，在謀生計的同時發(fā)掘這份工作的意義。對于格里比來說，找到格林先生，既可以為對方帶來及時的幫助，也可以證明自己的工作并不是徒勞的。小說反復提到，格里比是個頑固的人，是個執(zhí)拗的人，是個不肯輕易放棄的人。在人口密集的大都會尋找某個素昧平生的人，它的難度絲毫不亞于在浩瀚的海洋尋找神秘的大魚，在沒有路標的沙漠尋找不知藏身何處的綠洲。按照格里比本人的說法，“他覺得自己好像是個對于狩獵對象的偽裝缺乏經(jīng)驗的獵人”。然而，他冒著冷風，在破敗的社區(qū)中尋覓，根據(jù)人們提供的每一條可能的線索，爬上不同的大樓，敲開一扇又一扇房門，不放棄任何遇到格林先生的可能。

小說的結尾，格里比來到了一幢平房前，發(fā)現(xiàn)那里的郵箱上寫著格林先生的名字。當他敲門，出來應門的是一位喝得醉醺醺的女人。她接過單據(jù)，替格林簽了字。小說中格里比并沒有親眼見到格林先生，也無從知曉這名女子是否會真的將支票轉交給格林先生。為此，作為讀者，我們其實并不能判斷格里比的追尋之旅究竟是獲得了成功，還是以失敗告終，因為自始至終格林先生都沒有露過面。但是支票畢竟是送了出去，送到了某位格林先生的家中。格里比知道自己盡了力，可以坦然面對自己的內心了。

在《尋找格林先生》中，貝婁引用了《圣經(jīng)》“傳道書”第九章第十節(jié)中的話：“凡你手所當做的事，要盡力去做。”其實，這段文字的全文是“凡你手所當做的事，要盡力去做。因為在你所必去的陰間，沒有工作，沒有謀算，沒有知識，也沒有智慧”?！皞鞯罆钡倪@一節(jié)傳達出生存的虛空感：每個人都逃脫不了終將死亡的宿命，而死亡會將人類一切的努力化為烏有。貝婁在引用時，卻只保留了這一節(jié)有關行動的前半句，而將有關虛空的后半句刪除。這樣的改動使這一節(jié)文字傳達出了積極的含義：既然死亡是終結，空虛是宿命，莫如不想將來，只念現(xiàn)在，凡你所當做的事，要盡力去做。正如格里比尋找格林先生，無論結果如何，首先需要竭盡全力地尋，需要鍥而不舍地找，將未來的虛空留給虛空。而活著，就是要專注在這一刻，做好所當做的事。

1. 英文節(jié)選摘自小說的開頭部分，主要描寫了主人公喬治·格里比（George Grebe）為了給一位叫圖利弗·格林（Tulliver Green）的先生發(fā)救濟金支票，去黑人社區(qū)努力找尋他的住處的片段。

2. thy [?a?] pron. 〈古〉你的

3. relief check：救濟金支票

4. depression [d??pre?（?）n] n. [經(jīng)]蕭條，不景氣；蕭條期

5. foot-pound：[物]英尺-磅（功的單位）

6. camouflage [?k?m??flɑ??] n. 偽裝，掩飾

7. shell [?el] n. 子彈

8. trench coat：軍用雨衣；有腰帶的雙排扣男式雨衣

9. tweed [twi?d] n. 花呢；花呢服裝

10. fringy [fr?nd??] adj. 有緣飾的；穗狀的

11. cuff [k?f] n. 袖口

12. lush [l??] vi. 過量飲酒

13. clip [kl?p] vt. 縮短；削減

14. acquit [??kw?t] vt. 脫卸義務和責任

15. balk [b??k] vt. 阻止

16. dough [d??] n. 〈古〉錢

17. dick [d?k] n. 偵探