Why should you read Kurt Vonnegut? - Mia Nacamulli

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Marssi Draw

Billy Pilgrim can’t sleep

比利．皮格利姆無法入睡，

because he knows aliens will arrive to abduct him in one hour.

因為他知道一個小時後 外星人會來綁架他。

He knows the aliens are coming because he has become “unstuck” in time,

他知道外星人會來，

因為他「跳脫」了時間的束縛，

causing him to experience events out of chronological order.

導致他經歷事件的順序 並不是依照時間來排列。

Over the course of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-five,

在馮內果的《第五號屠宰場》中，

he hops back and forth between a childhood trip to the Grand Canyon,

他不斷在這些經驗當中來來回回： 兒時前往大峽谷的旅行、

his life as a middle-aged optometrist,

中年擔任驗光師的生活、

his captivity in an intergalactic zoo,

被囚禁在銀河動物園、

the humiliations he endured as a war prisoner, and more.

他身為戰俘所要忍受的羞辱， 以及許多其他的。

The title of Slaughterhouse-five and much of its source material

《第五號屠宰場》的書名 以及它大部分的來源素材

came from Vonnegut’s own experiences in World War II.

來自馮內果在第二次 世界大戰時的親身經歷。

As a prisoner of war, he lived in a former slaughterhouse in Dresden,

他曾身為戰俘，住在 德勒斯登的前屠宰場，

where he took refuge in an underground meat locker

當盟軍轟炸該城市時，

他躲在地下的肉類儲藏室中避難。

while Allied forces bombed the city.

When he and the other prisoners finally emerged,

當他和其他囚犯終於走出來時，

they found Dresden utterly demolished.

他們發現德勒斯登 已經完全被摧毀了。

After the war, Vonnegut tried to make sense of human behavior

戰後，馮內果試圖 要將人類行為合理化，

by studying an unusual aspect of anthropology:

所以他去研究了人類學中 一個不尋常的面向：

the shapes of stories,

故事的形狀，

which he insisted were just as interesting as the shapes of pots or spearheads.

他堅持認為故事的形狀 就和罐壺或矛頭的形狀一樣有趣。

To find the shape, he graphed the main character’s fortune

為了找到形狀，他會畫出主角

從故事開始到結束的命運。

from the beginning to the end of a story.

The zany curves he generated revealed common types of fairy tales and myths

他繪出的各種古怪曲線，

顯示出童話故事和神話的常見類型，

that echo through many cultures.

在許多文化間產生共鳴。

But this shape can be the most interesting of all.

但這個形狀可說是最有趣的一個。

In a story like this,

在這樣的故事中，無法區別出

it’s impossible to distinguish the character’s good fortune from the bad.

角色的福與禍。

Vonnegut thought this kind of story was the truest to real life,

馮內果認為這種故事 是最忠於真實人生的，

in which we are all the victims of a series of accidents,

在真實人生中，我們都是 一連串意外的受害者，

unable to predict how events will impact us long term.

無法預測事件對我們的長期影響。

He found the tidy, satisfying arcs of many stories at odds with this reality,

他發現許多故事的弧形很整齊、 讓人滿意，和現實大相徑庭，

and he set out to explore the ambiguity

所以他決定在他自己的作品中

between good and bad fortune in his own work.

探究福與禍之間的模糊地帶。

When Vonnegut ditched clear-cut fortunes,

當馮內果拋棄了明確的福，

he also abandoned straightforward chronology.

他也就放棄了一直線的時間軸。

Instead of proceeding tidily from beginning to end, in his stories

他的故事中，不是整齊地 從頭到尾進行下去，

“All moments, past, present and future always have existed, always will exist.”

「所有的時刻， 過去、現在、未來，

一直都存在著， 也會一直存在下去。」

Tralfamadorians, the aliens who crop up in many of his books,

特拉法馬鐸人是一種外星人， 在他的許多書中都出現過，

see all moments at once.

他們能一次看見所有的時刻。

They “can see where each star has been and where it is going,

他們「能看見每一個星星以前 到過哪裡及將來要往哪裡去，

so that the heavens are filled with rarefied, luminous spaghetti.”

所以天空上滿是精細的發光麵條。」

But although they can see all of time,

但雖然他們能看見所有的時間，

they don’t try to change the course of events.

他們不會嘗試去改變事件的過程。

While the Trafalmadorians may be at peace with their lack of agency,

雖然特拉法馬鐸人很安於 這種沒有動力的狀態，

Vonnegut’s human characters are still getting used to it.

馮內果的人類角色卻還在習慣它。

In The Sirens of Titan,

在《泰坦星的海妖》中，

when they seek the meaning of life in the vastness of the universe,

他們在浩翰的宇宙中 尋找人生的意義，

they find nothing but “empty heroics, low comedy, and pointless death.”

卻只找到「空虛的英雄行為、

沒格調的喜劇及無意義的死亡」。

Then, from their vantage point within a “chrono-synclastic infundibulum,”

接著，從他們在「同向彎曲的 漏斗狀時間地區」中的有利位置，

a man and his dog see devastating futures for their earthly counterparts,

一名男子和他的狗看見了

他們在地球上 對應人物的災難性未來，

but can’t change the course of events.

但卻無法改變事件的過程。

Though there aren’t easy answers available, they eventually conclude

雖然沒有簡單的答案， 他們最後還是做出結論，

that the purpose of life is “to love whoever is around to be loved.”

人生的目的是要「去愛那些 在身邊且能夠被愛的人」。

In Cat’s Cradle, Vonnegut’s characters turn to a different source of meaning:

在《貓的搖籃》中， 馮內果的角色轉向

另一個意義的源頭：布克農教，

Bokonism,

a religion based on harmless lies that all its adherents recognize as lies.

它是一種宗教，以其支持者 都認可的無害謊言為基礎。

Though they’re aware of Bokonism’s lies,

雖然他們都知道布克農教的謊言，

they live their lives by these tenets anyway,

他們還是依照這些教條過日子，

and in so doing develop some genuine hope.

並在這麼做的同時， 發展出真實的希望。

They join together in groups called Karasses, which consist of people we

他們形成「情投意合者」團體，

成員是我們不小心遇到， 但自願待在一起的人——

“find by accident but […] stick with by choice”—

cosmically linked around a shared purpose.

在宇宙間圍著共同目的而連結著。

These are not to be confused with Granfalloons,

別把他們

和「假的情投意合者」 （Granfalloons）搞混了，

groups of people who appoint significance to actually meaningless associations,

也就是極為看重 沒有實際意義關聯性的那些人，

like where you grew up, political parties, and even entire nations.

比如在哪裡長大的、 支持哪個政黨，甚至整個國家。

Though he held a bleak view of the human condition, Vonnegut believed strongly that

雖然他對於人的境況 有著很陰暗的看法，

但他非常相信

“we are all here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is."

「我們來到這個世界上， 就是要協助彼此度過這些，

不論是什麼。」

We might get pooped and demoralized,

我們可能會精疲力竭、士氣低落，

but Vonnegut interspersed his grim assessments

但馮內果用不少小小的希望 來點綴他的無情評估。

with more than a few morsels of hope.

His fictional alter ego, Kilgore Trout, supplied this parable:

他虛構的另一自我 「吉爾戈．圖勞特」寫了這個寓言：

two yeast sat “discussing the possible purposes of life

兩個酵母菌坐著 「討論人生的可能目的，

as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement.

同時，它們一邊吃糖， 一邊因自己排泄物而窒息。

Because of their limited intelligence,

因為它們的智慧有限，

they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne.”

它們從來沒有猜到 它們其實是在釀香檳酒。」

In spite of his insistence that we’re all here to fart around,

儘管他很堅持我們到世上 都是在閒盪胡來，

in spite of his deep concerns about the course of human existence,

儘管他深切關心人類存在的過程，

Vonnegut also advanced the possibility, however slim,

馮內果還是將一種可能性 向前推進了，不論它有多渺茫，

that we might end up making something good.

這種可能性就是，我們可能 最終會做出一些好東西來。

And if that isn’t nice, what is?

如果這不算美好， 還有什麼算得上美好？