1Q84——在充满疑问的世界里寻找希望

村上春树（Haruki Murakami）于1949年出生在日本京都市,26岁毕业于早稻田大学文学部.1979年,他发表了第一部小说《且听风吟》（Hear the Wind Sing）,获得了当年日本的群像新人文学奖.1987年,他发表了小说《挪威的森林》（Norwegian Wood）,该小说使他成为日本最畅销的当代小说家.目前村上春树已经出版了十多部长篇小说,他的作品几乎囊括了日本所有的重要文学奖项,并被译成多国文字.《1Q84》（1Q84）是村上春树蛰伏七年的震撼力作,也是他迄今为止最长的一部作品.故事以双线进行,并以村上春树比较少用的第三人称来讲述故事,带给读者不一样的感受.

Excerpts1）

When the train left Tokyo Station, Tengo2） took out the paperback that he had brought along. It was an anthology3） of short stories on the theme of trel and it included a tale called “Town of Cats,” a fantastical piece by a German writer with whom Tengo was not familiar. According to the book’s foreword, the story had been written in the period between the two World Wars.

In the story, a young man is trelling alone with no particular destination in mind. He rides the train and gets off at any stop that arouses his interest. He takes a room, sees the sights, and stays for as long as he likes. When he has had enough, he boards another train. He spends every vacation this way.

One day, he sees a lovely river from the train window. Gentle green hills line the meandering4） stream, and below them lies a pretty little town with an old stone bridge. The train stops at the town’s station, and the young man steps down with his bag. No one else gets off, and, as soon as he alights, the train departs.

No workers man5） the station, which must see very little activity. The young man crosses the bridge and walks into the town. All the shops are shuttered, the town hall deserted. No one occupies the desk at the town’s only hotel. The place seems totally uninhabited. Perhaps all the people are off napping somewhere. But it is only ten-thirty in the morning, far too early for that. Perhaps something has caused all the people to abandon the town. In any case, the next train will not e until the following morning, so he has no choice but to spend the night here. He wanders around the town to kill time.

In fact, this is a town of cats. When the sun starts to go down, many cats e trooping across the bridge—cats of all different kinds and colors. They are much larger than ordinary cats, but they are still cats. The young man is shocked by this sight. He rushes into the bell tower in the center of town and climbs to the top to hide. The cats go about their business, raising the shop shutters or seating themselves at their desks to start their day’s work. Soon, more cats e, crossing the bridge into town like the others. They enter the shops to buy things or go to the town hall to handle administrative matters or eat a meal at the hotel restaurant or drink beer at the tern and sing lively cat songs. Because cats can see in the dark, they need almost no lights, but that particular night the glow of the full moon floods the town, enabling the young man to see every detail from his perch6） in the bell tower. When dawn approaches, the cats finish their work, close up the shops, and swarm back across the bridge. By the time the sun es up, the cats are gone, and the town is deserted again. The young man climbs down, picks one of the hotel beds for himself, and goes to sleep. When he gets hungry, he eats some bread and fish that he been left in the hotel kitchen. When darkness approaches, he hides in the bell tower again and observes the cats’ activities until dawn. Trains stop at the station before noon and in the late afternoon. No passengers alight, and no one boards, either. Still, the trains stop at the station for exactly one minute, then pull out again. He could take one of these trains and lee the creepy cat town behind. But he doesn’t. Being young, he has a lively curiosity and is ready for adventure. He wants to see more of this strange spectacle. If possible, he wants to find out when and how this place became a town of cats.

On his third night, a hubbub7） breaks out in the square below the bell tower. “Hey, do you ell something human?” one of the cats says. “Now that you mention it, I thought there was a funny ell the past few days,” another chimes in8）, twitching9） his nose. “Me, too,” yet another cat says. “That’s weird. There shouldn’t be any humans here,” someone adds. “No, of course not. There’s no way a human could get into this town of cats.” “But that ell is definitely here.”

The cats form groups and begin to search the town like bands of vigilantes10）. It takes them very little time to discover that the bell tower is the source of the ell. The young man hears their soft paws padding up the stairs. “That’s it； they’ve got me!” he thinks. His ell seems to he roused the cats to anger. Humans are not supposed to set foot in this town. The cats he big, sharp claws and white fangs11）. He has no idea what terrible fate awaits him if he is discovered, but he is sure that they will not let him lee the town alive.

Three cats climb to the top of the bell tower and sniff the air. “Strange,” one cat says, twitching his whiskers12）, “I ell a human, but there’s no one here.”

“It is strange,” a second cat says. “But there really isn’t anyone here. Let’s go and look somewhere else.”

“The cats cock their heads, puzzled, then retreat down the stairs. The young man hears their footsteps fading into the dark of night. He breathes a sigh of relief, but he doesn’t understand what just happened. There was no way they could he missed him. But for some reason they didn’t see him. In any case, he decides that when morning es he will go to the station and take the train out of this town. His luck can’t last forever. The next morning, however, the train does not stop at the station. He watches it pass by without slowing down. The afternoon train does the same. He can see the engineer seated at the controls. But the train shows no sign of stopping. It is as though no one can see the young man waiting for a train—or even see the station itself. Once the afternoon train disappears down the track, the place grows quieter than ever. The sun begins to sink. It is time for the cats to e. The young man knows that he is irretrievably lost. This is no town of cats, he finally realizes. It is the place where he is meant to be lost. It is another world, which has been prepared especially for him. And never again, for all eternity, will the train stop at this station to take him back to the world he came from.

Tengo read the story twice. The phrase “the place where he is meant to be lost” attracted his attention. He closed the book and let his eyes wander across the drab industrial scene passing by the train window. Soon afterward, he drifted off to sleep—not a long nap but a deep one. He woke covered in sweat. The train was moving along the southern coastline of the Boso Peninsula in midsummer.

1. 本文节选部分主要描写了男主人公天吾去海边疗养院看望父亲的路途中读到的一则关于“猫城”的故事.

2. Tengo：天吾,小说中的男主人公,30岁,是一位补习班的数学老师,同时也是一名作家.

3. anthology [nθldi] n. （诗、文、曲、画等的）选集

4. meandering [mindr] adj. （河流等）蜿蜒的

5. man [mn] vt. 操纵,在等就位

6. perch [p（r）t] n. （尤指在高处的）休息处；安全位置

7. hubbub [hbb] n. 喧嚷,吵闹声

8. chime in：插话

9. twitch [twt] vt. 抽动；颤搐

10. vigilante [vdlnti] n. 治安委员会成员；自发组织的治安维持者

11. fang [f] n. （动物的）尖牙

12. whisker [wsk（r）] n. 胡须,腮须

作文欣赏

“1Q84”是什么意思?“Q”是英文“问号”（Question Mark）的意思,代表疑问和迷惑,而在日语中,“Q”和“9”的发音又颇为相似,所以简而言之,“1Q84”就是“带问号的1984年”.为1984年打上这个大大问号的是一个名叫青豆的年轻女性.在1984年的某一天,青豆在高速公路上遭遇堵车,只好从公路旁边的紧急避难梯爬了下去,希望绕道而行,却没想到自此“像铁轨被切换了道岔一样”,闯入了一个天上有两个月亮的陌生世界.为了与“真实”的1984年加以区分,青豆将自己闯入的这个陌生年份称为“1Q84”年.

青豆有两个身份：表面上,她是一名健身教练,助人强身健体；实际上,她是一个职业杀手,专门杀那些对妻子实施家庭暴力的男人.对青豆而言,无论是强健个人肌体,还是剔除社会渣滓,都是维持自己与这个世界抗争姿态的重要环节.青豆的父母是一个叫做“证人会”的极端宗教团体的信徒,他们在青豆小的时候就强迫她接受宗教的种种严酷规条.中学时代,青豆离家出走,以断绝与家人的联系为代价,换取了选择自己人生信仰的自由.远离家人的她渐渐融入社会,并结识了好友大冢环.然而好友却在婚后不堪家庭暴力之苦,选择了.痛苦万分的青豆为给好友报仇而偷偷杀死了她的丈夫.好友的去世在某种程度上成为青豆走上杀手之路的开端.她辞去了原来的工作,在健身俱乐部找到了一份工作.在这里,她结识了一位有雄厚资金与丰富人脉关系的老夫人.这位老夫人私底下悄悄从事着反家庭暴力的活动,青豆表面上是老夫人的私人教练,私下里开始帮老夫人“办事”,成了一名专门清除对女性施暴者的杀手.对于青豆来说,杀手并非一种职业,而是一种人生选择,用“以暴制暴”的斗争姿态坚守自己选择的战斗和战场.闯入1Q84年的青豆,接受了一项刺杀邪教领袖深田保的重大任务.与邪教社团对阵的青豆在这场以个人之力挑战邪恶的斗争中究竟有没有可能获胜?这成了全书最大的悬念之一. 青豆并不是唯一进入1Q84年时空的人.同样被卷入1Q84年这个平行宇宙的还有青豆青少年时代的暗恋对象天吾.如果说青豆是人生可能性的捍卫者,那么天吾就是人生可能性的探索者.与青豆一样,天吾也有着双重职业：表面上,他是补习学校的教师,过着与世无争的日子；私下里,他是文学如何写人,如何写的对象正是邪教领袖的女儿深绘里——天吾也由此卷入了一场文学骗局.对天吾来说,文学创作也是一种人生选择,在创作中体会人生的各种可能性和生存的真意.天吾幼年离奇丧母,他在相貌、性情等诸多方面都与父亲大不相同.在身世之谜的包裹中长大的天吾逐渐成为一个社会边缘人,他选择的生活方式是“不被人际关系的复杂性束缚,尽量避免规则的制约,不欠债也不赊账,独自一人自由而安静地生活”.就像青豆选择了战斗一样,天吾的人生选择也使自己的未来吉凶难测.离群索居的天吾是会像英文节选中“猫城”这个小故事里面暗示的一样,在孤独的旅途中迷失了自我,还是会像黑夜中的旅人一样,在月光的指引下看清前路?在1Q84这一神秘的时空里,天吾在寻作真谛的同时,也在寻找着自己的人生方向.

从表面上看,1Q84年和1984年并没有任何两样.两者唯一的区别在于,到了夜晚,1Q84年的天上会高悬着两个月亮.1Q84时空里的两个月亮隐喻着价值的含混和人生的双重可能：在这里,没有明确的善恶之分；在这里,人们生活在极端的孤独中,却似乎又能够看到相伴相守的希望.1Q84年是由疑问和选择组成的世界,它迫使深陷其中的青豆和天吾重新审视人生的意义、善恶的本质、人与社会的关系.同时,由于困守幻城,他们更深刻地体会到孤独的滋味,在内心浮动起更真切的对爱的渴望.青豆和天吾相识于人生中最灰暗的少年时代,彼此曾经给予过对方默默的精神支持,两人也成了念念不忘的灵魂伴侣.青豆最终杀死了邪教领袖,之后被老夫人秘密保护起来；而天吾的住所恰巧就在青豆藏身之处附近.经过一番周折,两人最后终于相逢.虽然时隔多年,但两人并未有任何陌生之感,仿佛是从未分别的多年好友.在1984年这个普通世界里很难相遇的两个人,进入1Q84年后竟然穿越了命运的重重阻碍,将接近于零的相爱几率逆转成百分百的幸福牵手.也许爱情并不是万能的救赎灵药,但是对希望的寻找和肯定却是.有时候,我们所需要的只是看到幸福和发展的可能性,就像旅行者眺望着远方的地平线一样.

2009年,获得耶路撒冷文学奖的村上春树在演讲中说道：“检测如这里有坚固的高墙和撞墙破碎的鸡蛋,我总是站在鸡蛋一边.”从这个意义上来讲,乔治·奥威尔的《1984》与村上春树的《1Q84》之间的共同点在于,它们都讲述了一个有关砸向坚固高墙的鸡蛋的故事.在《1984》中,男主人公温斯顿·史密斯和情人朱丽叶联手挑战权威“老大哥”.在《1Q84》中,天吾和青豆联手对抗邪教.而两者的不同点在于,在《1984》的世界里,在“老大哥”无时无处不在的注视下,希望像烟头般被掐灭；而在《1Q84》的宇宙里,月光笼罩着世界,暗夜里始终有光亮.一个年轻人对这个世界抱有的希望是明朗乐观的,但这乐观中有盲目,有未经世事检验的单薄.但如果年轻人在历经了人世种种磨练之后,依然相信希望,相信值得为信仰而战斗,相信选择可以给人以方向,那么这种相信本身就是一种力量.