Category: 文学

去年上半年的阅读作业，关于很喜欢的一本非虚构故事。没有改语病，一下子瞧不出来，细究起来要调整的又太多，就这样吧……

1/2

A lot of animal stories share something in common – writers make great efforts to personify the animals in an artistic way, attaching human values and emotions to the characters. It would no doubt add to the enjoyment of reading fiction; for non-fiction, however, writers need to think twice before doing so because readers might raise questions regarding the truthfulness of the story.

Fortunately, French is such an excellent writer that he gave a vivid description of a series of animal characters without over-interpretation. Most of the time he appeared as an observer and listener, being meticulous at interpreting what he saw and heard.

I appreciate the way French presented the major dilemma in this story, which is whether animals should stay in the zoo. He didn’t simply put the zoo staff on the opposite side to the animal rights groups; instead, he showed us how they “confronted this paradox every day.” The internal struggle is based on both their belief that the freedom in the wild is a myth, “a human invention,” and their feeling of “a guilty conscience” – “holding living creatures captive.”

No one would neglect Herman’s story. He is a paradox. He is the alpha male and a marginalized figure at the same time. He is a chimp by nature and a semi-human by nurture. He reminded me of people with self-identification problems, living in a community that couldn’t provide a sense of belonging. French used Herman as a typical example to show how the surroundings affect a creature’s life.

The settings kept changing, Swaziland, Boeing 747, Lowry Park, Schultz’s house, etc., and the storyline jumped back and forth. The elephant story was put aside from time to time so we could meet various interesting animals and learn the history of Lowry Park. I’m expecting to read more about how the elephants were doing in the second half of the book, wondering if Enshalla successfully got pregnant, and worrying about the further reaction of animal rights organizations.

At the beginning of Chapter 5, French played a trick. He wrote about the king and the queen of Lowry Park without identifying their names or species. I couldn’t help but started to guess whom he was talking about.  It turned out to be Herman and Enshalla, whom I’d already read about in the previous chapters. French first let us know their status quo and came back later to reveal how they grew up to be who they are. It feels just like the process of getting to know someone, starting with the first impression, then enriched with childhood experience and life stories.

I really enjoyed reading about the relationship between the animals and the zoo staff. The relationship appears in a mixture of tutorship, friendship, and kinship, sometimes even attraction. The keepers described Enshalla as “a mean little cuss” and Candy the tamarin “a little bitchy” with no malice. The notion of “a closet bunnyhugger” is so hilarious and it reminds me of that kind of people who never say the word “love” but their tenderness has given them away.

French didn’t shy away from writing about the realistic situation both the animals and people were faced with. For example, Enshalla and Eric’s mating drew so much attention partly because Lowry Park needed tiger cubs so badly to boost the box office. French would like readers to understand that the relationship between human beings and animals is driven by love, but not love alone.

2/2

I didn’t expect that the second half was going to be so dramatic – full of deaths, escapes, and downfalls.

French wrote about many deaths in his book, and to me, Herman’s was the most shocking one. He was betrayed, although I am not even sure whether the idea of betrayal exists in the world of chimps. I couldn’t hold my tears while reading the most heartbreaking scene when old Ed Schultz went to see Herman for the last time. Ed, ninety-one years old, told Herman that “the two of them would soon be united on the other side.” I like the way that French kept the scene short and not sensational. He just told us what Ed did and said as opposed to describing in detail how sorrowful he looked like.

French sounded sarcastic sometimes when he showed us that human beings, especially the upper-class members, behave just like animals. The Karamu gala looked like a circus show from French’s depiction – “the spotlight turned to the ruling species,” “the human exhibit, in full display.” Gorgeous women presented themselves as female beasts in a mating dance. Successful men showed off their power like alphas, claiming their ownership of women.

He didn’t miss a chance to mock the celebrities. Conan the talk show host chatted with a blonde woman in the middle of his “preshow fugue state,” which was a display of “the prerogative of the alpha,” according to French. Human behaviors are purposeful in a way while intuitive in another. Every action elaborately designed is just another display of man’s primitive desire. It feels absurd if we look at the human society through that lens. But in a sense it’s true. Like French said, “These were primates, after all.”

French showed his empathy when writing about animals that behaved like human beings. In contrast, he was being harsh and sarcastic when he believed some people behaved just like animals.

Human hubris didn’t work out fine in the second half of the book. Lex underestimated the patas monkeys’ ability to swim, and then overestimated human’s ability to capture the smart creatures. He had the ambitions to arrange and rearrange the natural world, which French called the “illusion of wildness.”

Compared with Lex as “Noah incarnate,” Kevin the keeper was more sober and humble when he had to decide which species to save, asking himself if it was right to “play God.” The Reillys were even more aware of the inability of human beings when faced with the power of nature, saying “nature plays no favorites.” So were the keepers who failed to save the argus pheasant chick from death, which was just “another turn of nature’s wheel.”

Lex’ duality was as impressive as Herman’s. “He was both creator and destroyer;” his attitude towards animals was “a mixture of both childlike wonder and ravenous lust.” I don’t think French blamed Lex for all what happened to Lowry Zoo. The title of chapter 17 is “Cull”, suggesting that Lex was also a victim living in a hostile environment.

I feel that French more or less agreed with the opinion that there’s no freedom, no balance, or even no laws in the world of animals. It’s more chaotic and subtle than we could imagine. The more we learned about nature, the more humble and self-aware we should be.

（未授权翻译，荣耀归于特师。）

说起现代性，你有什么感觉，

speaking of modernism, what do you feel about it,

下午两点半，水磨石地板，米黄色涂料，

2 pm, terrazzo flooring, beige coating,

铸铁窗框的漆被阳光晒的爆了皮，一种淡淡的挥发性气味，水泥窗台上一层薄薄的尘土，

sunburnt paint is peeling from the cast iron window frame , a hint of volatile odor, a sheer layer of dust on concrete window sill,

从阳台上望出去，远处是浅色号的各式家属楼，办公大楼，山，汽车很少，

looking out from the balcony, in the distance are various light-colored residential buildings, office buildings, hills, not many cars,

家属院种着紫罗兰，狗尾巴草，一点红，八瓣菊，

residential area is planted with violets, foxtails, red tasselflowers, garden cosmos,

一种长的像蜜蜂但实际上是苍蝇的昆虫在花瓣上空盘旋，

an insect of some sort – looks like a bee but actually a fly – hovering above the flowers,

你坐在刘女士家卧室床边，上半身扭向房门，双手水平搭在大腿面上，

you are sitting beside the bed in Ms. Liu’s bedroom, upper body twisted towards the door, both hands on your laps, horizontally,

白色板式家具，双人席梦思床垫，蕾丝灯罩，电视机用钩针的布盖着，塑料半球形吊灯，

white particle board furniture, double Simmons mattress, lace lampshade, TV set covered with crochet cloth, plastic hemisphere droplight,

地上是仿木花纹的地板革，桌上有深红色成套的晾水壶与晾水杯，

on the ground is wood-look vinyl flooring, on the table is a whole set of crimson water kettle and cups

你打开阳台门，对流的空气有麦秆晒过后的味道，

you open the balcony door, aroma of sun-dried hey floating in the air,

早上九点半，你推开局办公楼大门，弹簧反馈有力，大堂的镜子一尘不染，

9 am, you push open the gate to the department office building, spring bounces back sturdily, mirror in the hall remains spotless clean,

王主任右手食指与中指第一个指节夹着香烟，反复与你确认会上的一些细节，

Director Wang is holding a cigarette in his right hand, between the first knuckles of index and middle fingers, repeatedly confirming with you about details of the meeting,

这个镜头模糊了，线性向外发散，延伸，仿佛宇宙中发射光芒的一个点，

this scene blurred, diffusing and extending linearly, like a point shedding rays in the cosmos,

点的中央是办公室有暖气的窗台上几盆绿植，君子兰，虎皮令箭，绣球，

the center of the point is the green plants in pots, sitting on the heated window sill in the office, clivias, snake plants, French hydrangeas,

这个模糊的图像构成了20世纪城市的生活核心，所有的线索具有指向性，关联，在建筑玻璃表面反射，

this blurred image formed the core of the 20th century city life, all the leads have a certain kind of directivity, connection, reflecting on the glass surfaces of buildings,

人们预感到，下午可能会过一次性生活，

people have this anticipation, they’re probably gonna get laid in the afternoon,

而2017年，这种发射（注：反射？）消失了，一切吵杂，含混，快速而又湮没，

whereas in the year 2017, this reflection has disappeared, everything is boisterous, ambiguous, quickly emerging and annihilating,

你孤独的背着无线电发射电台在人群中，向上的信号宛如溺毙前最后一下伸出水面的手，

you are shouldering a radio transmitter amongst the crowd, lonely, the upward signal is just like a hand raising out of water for the last time before drowning,

现代性消失了，说起纽约，你想起什么，

modernism has disappeared, talking about New York, what’s in your mind,

曼哈顿，高楼林立，黄色出租车，黑人，昏暗的咖啡馆，蜜糖，肥胖的墨西哥女性服务员，

Manhattan, high-rises, yellow cabs, black dudes, dim-lit cafes, honey, obese Mexican waitresses,

直升飞机，穿西装的骑公路赛车的人，地铁，霓虹灯，特大垃圾箱，冒着气的地下井，被枪杀的蝙蝠侠父母，

helicopters, road bikers in suit, subway, neon lights, huge trash cans, steaming sewer lids, Batman’s parents – shot and killed,

说起东京，你想起什么，拉面，东京塔，横滨高档大楼，一坨黄金色屎的雕塑，love，

talking about Tokyo, what’s in your mind, ramen, Tokyo Tower, upscale buildings in Yokohama, sculpture like a pile of golden shit, love,

有一种感觉，现代消失了，很混沌，事物的表面不再清晰，

got this feeling, modernism has disappeared, very chaotic, surfaces of things are not longer clear,

2017年被各种信息雾霾包裹着高速发射粒子，里面有2000万头驴在叫

the year of 2017, covered by all kinds of information smog, is shooting high-speed particles, with 20 million donkeys howling inside.