人生是彩色的面紗——The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (Part One)

這是我第一次看毛姆(W. Somerset Maugham)的書。我對這位近代著名英國作家認識不深，只知他在第一次世界大戰當過間諜，更是1930年代收入最高的作家之一。The Painted Veil並不是他最有名的作品，只有200多頁，算是他的作品中較短的一本。此書在2006年被改篇成電影 ，2007年春天在香港上映，戲名是「愛在遙遠的附近」。我是看了電影才看書的。電影很多地方都跟小說有出入，而個人覺得小說比電影更發人深省，而且文字淺白，值得一看。

書名以彩紗比喻生活，彩紗上面所繪着的圖案雖然美麗，但並不是所有都真實，只有打開這層面紗，才能領悟生命的本質和意義。作者意即希望人們不要將虛假的誤以為真實，可謂意味深長。

小說背景是在1920年代。主人翁Kitty Fane漂亮但膚淺，年屆二十有五仍未能比妹妹先嫁出。她為免在家受母親白眼，貿然接受了一位細菌學家Walter Fane的求婚。婚後Walter因工作關係，兩夫婦便移居香港。Kitty發現自己跟聰明能幹，沉默寡言的Walter性格不合，竟跟風度翩翩的總督助理Charlie Townsend 通姦。後來Walter發現此事，便威脅Kitty跟從他到瘟疫蔓延的中國做研究工作，從此便改變了他們的一生。

故事一開始是Kitty在家中跟Charlie偷情時，感到有人想打開房門，Kitty認定是Walter，頓感手足無措，Charlie則強作鎮定。

“Silence. She leaned against him, her knees shaking, and he was afraid she would faint. Frowning, his jaw set, he carried her to the bed and sat her down upon it. She was as white as the sheet and notwithstanding (= despite)his tan his cheeks were pale too. He stood by her side looking with fascinated gaze at the china knob. They did not speak. Then he saw that she was crying.

“For God’s sake (看在上帝的份上，表示加強請求的語氣或厭煩，只用作口語) don't’ do that,” he whispered irritably (adv.急躁地). “If we’re in for it we’re in for it. (這句可理解為：如果我們注定要倒霉的話，那也沒有辦法。)We shall just have to brazen it out.”

這裡的brazen it out 是習語(idiom)，意思是硬著頭皮撐過去。Now that they have known the truth, we have no choice but to brazen it out. 現在他們已經知道真相，我們只好硬著頭皮撐過去吧。另外，brazen用作形容詞是解不知羞恥，例如不知羞恥的蕩婦便是a brazen hussy.

故事發展下去，那個人當然就是就是Walter了。以下是Walter在發現事件後對Kitty的痛心之言，用了排比句 (parallel sentences) 和重複手法(repetition)，而且在有些句字中用兩個或以上的形容詞，寫得很有力。

“I have no illusions about you,” he said. “I knew you were silly and frivolous （輕薄的） and empty-headed （愚蠢的）. But I loved you. I knew that your aims and ideals were vulgar （adj.粗俗的） and commonplace （平凡的）. But I loved you. I knew that you were second-rate （次等的）. But I loved you. It’s comic （可笑的） when I think how hard I tried to be amused by things that amused you and how anxious I was to hide from you that I wasn’t ignorant and vulgar and scandal-mongering （愛搬弄事非的）and stupid. I knew how frightened you were of intelligence and I did everything I could to make you think me as big a fool as the rest of men you knew.” (Chapter 23)

補充一點，個人認為形容詞雖越多越有力，但是要避免用差不多意思的形容詞，以免給人重複長氣的感覺。例如上文中的 frivolous and empty-headed意思相近，最好不要一起用。

話說回來，Kitty一心認為Charlie會為自己跟妻子離婚，但當她知道Charlie只是逢場作戲時，整個心都碎了。以下這段對話是Kitty痛罵Charlie的，跟上面那一段的結構差不多。

“He knew that you were vain(自負的), cowardly(膽小的) and self-seeking(追逐私利的). He wanted me to see it with my own eyes. He knew that you‘d run like a hare (n. 野兔) at the approach of danger. He knew how grossly deceived I was in thinking that you were in love with me, because he knew that you were incapable of loving anyone but yourself. He knew you’d sacrifice me without a pang (n.痛苦)to save your own skin.” (Chapter 26)

Grossly的用法

Grossly有非常的意思，等於extremely，是形容負面的東西。例如在Chapter 13 Walter 曾形容他的細菌學家(bacteriologist)的工作“ It’s very dull and technical. And it is grossly underpaid.” Grossly underpaid即使只薪金極其微薄。這裡的underpaid 是一個現在式分詞 (present participle)，換言之也可以當是adjective。現在很多人只懂說 “My job has very low salary.”顯然就不夠地道了。

(下回續)