大半年了,没有好好读过一本书。《瓦尔登湖》读了几章,没有读下去就还给了图书馆,想着自己买一本,Barnes Noble书店没有现货,就作罢了。在某人文学作品"无用论"的枕边风下,不断从图书馆借来最新的杂志,每日如蚂蚁啃骨头似地啃着,一本本杂志啃下来,似乎知道地球各大陆大小国家正在发生什么,似乎与时共进了,似乎了解最新的科技动态了,似乎不再孤陋寡闻了,可有一天突然就对桌边的杂志几分厌倦,遂捡起了从图书馆借了一两个月都还没有开读的英文翻译书--Winter Pasture.
一两个月前借杂志时,发现图书馆进门的书架上醒目地摆着一本新书。之所以破例把它一同借回家,主要有两个原因,一是新(我可能是这本书的第一个读者),二是发现此书的作者是中文拼音Li Juan。那时根本不知道Li Juan是谁。这或许就是我和此书的缘分吧。。。
这是一本描写牧民生活的书,是国内至今为止第一部叙述哈萨克牧民生活的纪实文学作品。作者李娟在2010年的冬天跟随哈萨克族Cuma一家人去了位于乌伦古河以南的南疆,放牧生活了三四个月,然后把她的所见所闻所感所想,事无巨细地用文字记录下来。 归纳总结一下,作者在书中主要写了三大方面:
(一) 冬牧场的大环境
作者李娟所踏上的是一个约三万亩的牧场,黄沙白雪,一望无际,空旷寂寥。说起牧场,人们会以为"那里‘奶水像河一样流淌,云雀在绵羊身上筑巢孵’——充分又丰饶。而现实中更多的却是荒凉和贫瘠,寂寞和无助"。那里的人口密度是每1.5平方公里住一个人。以这样的人口密度是不太有可能有什么像样的基础设施,所以黄沙遍野的牧场几乎没有什么像样的路,交通极其不方便,能进出的只有两种车,摩托车和吉普,因此牧民平常的生活供给很困难。 他们日常的用电靠太阳能,一旦遇上阴天、下雪天, 电的供应也很成问题。 水更是另一个大问题, 唯一的水源是积雪。牧民每天要出门去拾集雪块,遇到附近没有积雪,还要走很多路去采雪块,再用袋子背回来, 一趟一趟。 这样辛苦背来的水除了每天的喝水,做饭,小心翼翼地用, 自然不舍得用来洗头洗澡洗衣服,所以要忍受几个月不洗头不洗澡不能洗衣服的日子。牧场的气温可以低至零下43F,有个别牛羊的乳腺也因此冻坏了。下雪时,雪花不是飘下来,鸽子蛋大小的雪像子弹一样从空中射下来,风霜打在人身上、脸上如"连被抽了十几巴掌"那般疼。2009年的冬天,牧场遭遇了前所未有的暴风雪,一半多以上的牛羊群活活冻死。然而这并未阻止Cuma一家2010年冬季再次带领牛羊骆驼马匹迁徙前往。
二). 牧民一家人的生活
作者跟随的那户人家,男主人Cuma近五十岁,他带着妻子和19岁的二女儿Kama一起去冬牧场放牧。Kama四五年前为帮助父母放牧,不得已高中辍学。 Kama有个姐姐在伊犁上美术学校,还有一个十五岁的弟弟在县城的学校寄宿上学。
在冬牧场,一家人住的是用牛羊粪便晒干后垒的地窝子,烧的也是晒干的羊粪。像旷野中打地洞过冬的动物一样,Cuma家的"地窝子"(burrow)掘地6尺。他们垒上晒干的羊粪做墙壁,架几根木头在顶部,再铺上草,盖上塑料纸,洞口再加个木板门。四五个人就窝在这一百多尺狭窄漏风的空间里吃住起居,躲避风寒。地窝子的屋顶上住着一只狗,只要狗在屋顶跑动几下,上面的尘土沙子就刷刷地往下掉,掉到床上,掉到正在吃饭的碗里。
牧民们一日基本上只吃一餐,其他两餐就是简单的茶(大多数时候是奶茶)+ nan (印度饼?)。每隔三四天有肉吃,在冬牧场里他们杀过一匹马,宰过羊,肉的供应想来还比较充沛,但是蔬菜水果却十分稀缺,两颗大白菜要吃上两个月。
牧民的生活是苦的,尤其是要出去放牧的Cuma, 起早贪黑,披星戴月,为让羊多吃几口草,常常放牧到天黑。常年坚辛的劳作、冬天的寒冷,夫妻俩都落下很多病,风湿性之类的毛病常常让他们疼痛难忍。为止痛,阿司匹林和止痛药当零食一样吃,每次两颗,一天吃四五次,有时候半夜痛的无法入睡,再爬起来加量。一日Cuma夜里又起来一次吃了四颗止痛片,结果第二日醒来鼻血止不住地流。女儿Kama也因劳作和长期缺乏维他命,年纪轻轻手指就已经弯曲变形。
牧民的精神世界又是孤独的。人走在旷野,寂静无声,“感到什么也无法填满眼前的空旷与阔大时,就只好唱起歌来,只好用歌声去放大自己的气息,用歌声去占据广阔的安静”。这种几乎与世隔绝,单调,一成不变的生活,这种不见人不见炊烟的大漠原野,带给人的不是云卷云舒,风吹草低见牛羊的美,"既非凄凉也非激越",而是一种"说不出的怅然",一种无法排遣的孤苦。
在那里,手机基本没有信号,如果有也是很弱的信号,有时只能打出去无法接收到。地窝子里唯一的一台电视修好后成了他们夜晚主要的消遣娱乐,然而受信号和供电的限制,一天只有晚饭后有一段短暂的时光可以看,画面还非常不清楚。
(三) 冬牧场的牲口
此行去冬牧场,同时出发时的有三户两家,总共大概有30头骆驼,500匹羊,100多头牛和马。其中一户人家最后去了别处放牧。另外两家在作者待的牧场比邻而居。
就这样浩浩荡荡的队伍跋涉三天,顶着严寒霜冻,迁徙到一块可以继续牧养之地。而这只是四季里的一个季节。实际上,牧民一年四季都在忙碌,"春天接羔,夏天催膘,秋天配种,冬天孕育,羊的一生就是牧民的一年"。
游记中最触动我的有下面几幕:
----牧民们亲手宰杀了他们看着长大、千辛万苦带到牧场、悉心照料、朝夕相处的羊和马。。。但是或许这也无可非议的,牧民也要吃要活下去。
----牧民为了自己可以喝到牛奶,为了每日的茶水里可以有香奶可以添加,每日清晨天还朦朦亮,就硬生生将母牛和小牛分道扬镳,母牛向左走,小牛向右去。一天24小时,母牛和小牛只有暮归时才有十分钟的相聚。日久天长,母牛的记忆深处依然记得自己的宝宝,可当它深情呼唤着插肩而过的小牛时,小牛竟然无动于衷--小牛已经不认识不记得妈妈了。
-----一头母牛冬天产下小牛,欣喜地舔着刚刚出生的小牛犊。 牧民为了保证小牛犊能在寒风凛冽的冬天存活下来,便把小牛犊抱进了地窝子里。伤心的母牛抗议叫唤了两天两夜,不吃不喝不睡。第三天自己实在太饿了,匆匆出去吃了点草,回来继续在地窝子门口叫唤抗议。当几天后就可以奔跑的小牛被放置牧场,母牛又是四处追着贪玩的小牛,想让它多吃几口奶,这样的舔犊之情让人动容。(想起自己当年喂不肯好好吃饭的女儿,也是追着喂:))
我想作者之所以选择跟从牧民去体验这么艰苦的生活是因为得知国家颁布了要从牧民手中收回牧场,重新安置牧民的政策,也就是说,这是牧民最后一年游牧的机会,"从此牧民不再是这片大地的主人"。书中写到,国家将以一亩七块人民币的价格补贴给牧民,补贴持续七年。以Cuma一家为例,三万亩的牧场,Cuma一家大概持有三分之一,也就是说,Cuma一家能得到一年七万块人民币的补贴(2010年前后的人民币value)。国家或许是从保护生态环境,从改善牧民生活着眼。但是,没有了牛羊的土地"将失去它们最重要的养料-- 大量牲畜粪便。而没有了牲畜的反复踩踏,秋天的草籽也失去了使之深入土壤的力量。它们轻飘飘地浮在干的沙地上,扎不下根去,渐渐烂朽,然后在春天的大风中被吹散。脆弱的生态系统越发脆弱。荒野彻底停留在广阔无助的岑寂之中。。。。" 如果真是这样,难道不是更悲哀吗?
书中还提到政府对少数民族的政策上的照顾。牧民的孩子上学是学杂费全免,包吃包住,除了一年45块人民币的校服钱要自己出。因此,什么无中生有的新疆genocide,我更是不信了。
我一生走过的地方不多,或许今生都不会有机会踏上大西北那片神奇的土地。感谢李娟的这部作品,它就像一首遥远的牧歌,从南疆传来,带着旷野的风,带着异域的风情,让我聆听,让我走近,让我沉浸其中。
后记: 为了写这篇文章,特意去搜了搜作者李娟和豆瓣网上的一些中文摘录。非常感慨,这样的文章和文字居然出自一个高中都没有读完的70后之手(李娟79年生,写这部时大概32岁)。这部游记还荣获了"人民文学奖"。感谢这时代,给每一个人提供了平台(level the ground), 不论出身,不论师出有门无门,每个人都可以施展各自的才华。我想,是丰富的生活经历赋予李娟以灵感,是新疆这块沃土孕育了神奇。
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
书中的英文摘抄:
In reality, year after year, everyone must submit to nature’s will, oscillating endlessly between south and north. In spring, the herders follow the melting of the snow northward, and come autumn, they are driven slowly back to the south. They are forever departing, forever saying goodbye. In spring, lambs are delivered; in summer, they are fattened; in autumn, they breed; in winter they are pregnant again.
In this homeland stretching over six hundred miles, in every secret winkle on the earth’s surface, every nook and cranny in which shelter can sought… youth, wealth, love, and hope., everything is swallowed up.
In the end, this wilderness will be left behind. The herders will no longer be its keeper. The cattle and sheep will no longer tread its every surface. The grass seeds that drift onto the earth in autumn will no longer feel the force of stomping hoovers that bury them deep into the soil. The masses of manure the fertilized their growth will no longer fall on them. This land will remain forever open, majestically alone in its vastness. The wilderness will be left behind.
Chemical fertilizers will engorge luxuriant grasses with fats and juices.
Engorge: cause to swell with blood, water, or another fluid.
"the river was engorged by a day-long deluge"
Besides, a sheep’s fate so seamlessly dovetails with the rest of nature—how they resemble plants! They sprout in spring, grow lush in summer, set seed in autumn, and harbor that seed in autumn, and harbor that seed all winter long, pregnant, waiting… While chasing the flock through the wildlands, I often thought about how most of them were with child, how most were calm, content mothers. Suddenly I felt the winter’s significance running deep and far.
In a singsong voice
A paragon of decorum
Spinning around all day like a top
Chatterbox
Gurgle with laughter
Birds appeared ephemerally through spatters of claw marks. Though they belonged to the sky, I rarely spotted them overhead.
As mice leave prints on the ground, the birds leave squawks in the air. In the wilderness, when there is a sudden cacophony of birdcall, a person feels transported to a forest at dawn. But when you look around, there are no birds in sight. The only birds you see from time to time are the massive falcons that quietly land on top of the sand dunes.
Any of the other multitude of flora that sprinkled the wilderness.
Those hushed hearts in the most distant crevices on earth.
Not tinkering with nonsense
Center of gravity
Shirk on his chore
Rummage through the chest
It was the desert after all, but no matter how deprived or constrained you might be, you should not shortchange the dead. He wore the stars and the moon, walked in the wind and the rain, shuttled across this earthly loom from north to south and back. Then, one day, he died. He never had to move again, never had to migrate with the herd gain.
At some point, the western sky had cleared up into a stirring blue and white.
I noticed that on dark, moonless nights, the sky exploded with stars. But as long as there was a moon—even if it was only a sliver of a crescent moon, the Milky Way faded into darkness.
In a moment like that, a camera would have been a barbaric intrusion! My eyes captured the scene with more details and vibrancy than any less possibly could—the last of the nomads, the most quiet and remote way of life!
“Knowing” and “not knowing” grew out of one another. The world was opening from both sides. When I thought the world was a tiny seed, the world turned out to be an apple; When I thought the world was an apple, it turned out to be apple tree; when I thought the world was an apple tree, I looked up and saw the world around me—there was an apple orchard stretching forever in all directions….
Even if I did catch a glimpse of the fate of the nomads and the desert, and learned to understand the basics, I still struggled to articulate it with my unwieldy and anxious tongue. The more I try to make sense of the big picture, the more I’m tripped up by the details. What’s worse, the more I want to point out the most barbaric moments, the more I want to turn around and forgive human nature, especially forgive myself… I really am no use.
The desert was yellow, the snow white, the sky blue, the whole world was pale except for that single dark patch that animals and humans had called home, like a paperweight that pressed firmly down on the rolling land. On that black dot, the distance between sky and earth was farthest.
中文抄摘于豆瓣网,因为没有读过中文版的,摘抄有点多:
国内的堂弟正巧这个夏天去敦煌,拍了一些照片在朋友圈,借几张过来看看蒙古包和大漠黄沙。
那一日公司门口拍的云
問好!
"我经历过高原的极寒,所以文字散发着温暖,我饱尝过心灵的孤苦,所以目光浸透了悲怜":)) 想想就觉得新疆这个地方很神奇,刀郎,王琪和李娟都是高中都没有读完的人,都生活在新疆,都成名了。从读英文翻译版,觉得李娟的后半部(很靠近尾声)写得蛮松散,但是或许人们就是喜欢这种白描似写法。文学作品还是要以"新颖"取胜,至少题材要新。
是要少上网,少看手机,也为了眼睛"永远年轻":)) 这首歌要送给大漠呢,祝大漠好人好梦! 谢谢大漠喜欢,周末了,好好休息,周末快乐!
暖冬饱览群书,令人敬佩!现在这世道,我都很难静下心来看书了;)
Migration will bring forth problems that one may never face before. People may feel lost in the process. In the example you listed above, it looks like too much individualism left them directionless:))
Thanks again, my friend. Nice chatting with you.
In return, you can say 圣人之道,为而不争 ;-)
> This essay collections were actually translated by two translators
Translation must be hard. I always felt amazed by the few guys who convert Murakami's work.
Back to Cuma. His story reminded me of a guy from Russia. He said that back in the days of the Soviet Union, many choices were made for the elites (e.g., jobs, houses, or maybe even spouses to some degree). After they migrated to the West, where individualism is the culture, they couldn't make their own choices, couldn't do as well anymore, and sank into depression.
If you are interested, you can compare Chinese version with English one here for a few paragraphs. The other day, I said jokingly to him that I wish that in ten years someone may come to me, asking me to translate Chinese works (I know I am not ready now, but you ARE). He scoffed at the idea, saying that it is not "forward-looking" (缺乏前瞻性:))To him, I am not competitive against the new generation.
This essay collections were actually translated by two translators, one Englishman and one Chinese (how could they align stylishly?). Maybe in ten years, we can work together:)) Just kidding. In ten years, I will be definitely retired, but you might be still young:)). But who knows that with the financial freedom, you may retire earlier than I do:))
Just a joke. Thanks again for your visit. Have a great weekend!
Cuma. He must have been following his ancestral way of life. It was hard living
but it had kept the tribe so far. The world's changing and he had felt it in
many ways and the awareness made him feel trapped. He was too old to break the
mold thrust on him since the day he was born. He had even lost the will to fight
a way out. But the feeling of desolation and helplessness was just as real as
the anxiety from the changes without.
暖冬谬赞了。我有一本李娟的书,《我的阿勒泰》,特别喜欢她的文字和文风。我估计咱俩的或许是同一本书。里面还有很多插图。你读的比我细致多了,我一般午后,随意读一段,好像还没有读完:)
秋水很感性,写得留言很打动人心,谢谢秋水啊,我们都要快快乐乐生活!
小小说的是,读这本书我很进入,一个多星期就读完了。想想牧民的苦,我们的这些人真是没什么可抱怨的,不知道他们现在的近况如何,有没有改善? 想想中国虽然这些年富裕了,富人很多,但是穷人更多,西北那一带穷得可怜的。国内的生态也是个问题。谢谢小小的共鸣,夸赞和鼓励,就不多写了。祝小小八月安康!
看到你还经常去图书馆借书,感到很惭愧,我有两、三年没有去图书馆了。
谢谢徒儿用心“烹调”的精神美餐!
我庆幸自己命中不是牧人,不然的话,如何面对宰杀的牲口的场面?心碎。。
暖冬应该读原著,翻译总不一样。
老实坦白,这篇我没有细读,要做家事去。留着下次拜读。哈哈,
有人把李娟的散文和和散文家沈从文比,他们都来自边疆,都生活在底层,都缺乏现代文人标配的学历,而我觉得他们最相似的共同点是作品特别的生活,接地气。她说:“到目前为止,我的写作只与我个人生活有关”。李娟的作品大多纪实,一手资料,直面社会、民生等问题,也是个牧民生活和书中事件的参与者,和《《无依之地》了一样。文字也是真实,细腻,生动,好像还喜欢用排比句。
片片很震撼,小小说得好,“暖冬为我们打开了一个不曾有过的新视野,国内发展不平衡,希望这样真实的故事能引起高层的重视,加大投入开发与建设!” 谢谢暖冬带着我们大家一起读好书,写好评!发现英文翻译得也挺好的,但感觉读中文更接地气。:0
暖冬的文笔细腻优美,真情感人,带我聆听南疆传来的遥远牧歌~~~
整齐蒙古包,大漠黄沙上的那一轮明月,苍凉中又有了些温情,感动!再看到暖冬公司门口的那片片流云,大漠孤烟到云淡风清的感觉,很感恩!谢谢暖冬精彩分享,预祝周末愉快!:)
感谢你为我们打开了一个不曾有过的新视野,大草原的实际生活并不像歌曲里唱的那么美好,我们大学群一同学,一直向往着去美丽的大草原,去过以后再也不发声了,说那里是难以想象的贫穷和艰苦。
谢谢分享你堂弟拍的pp,苍凉的大漠黄沙,幸有蒙古包的点缀才感到有些人气。
暖冬书评写的好,故事打动人心,国内发展不平衡,希望这样真实的故事能引起高层的重视,加大投入开发与建设!
回复:菲儿和麦子: 对不起,不小心按了关闭评论的键,谢谢你们的惦记和临帖!
麦姐 2021-08-05 05:43:39
回复 悄悄话 回复 '菲儿天地' 的评论 : +1,谢谢暖冬精彩书评,没看过李娟的书,先从你这儿学习下。
菲儿天地 2021-08-05 05:00:46
回复 悄悄话 赞暖冬的李娟书评,怎么不开门?:)