How Books Helped Shaped My Life
书籍是如何帮我塑造人生的
Judith Viorst
朱迪思·维奥斯特
In books I've read since I was young I've searched for heroines who could serve as ideals, as models, as possibilities—some reflecting the secret self that dwelled inside me, others pointing to whole new ways that a woman (if only she dared!) might try to be. The person that I am today was shaped by Nancy Drew; by Jo March, Jane Eyre and Heathcliff's soul mate Cathy; and by other fictional females whose attractiveness or character or audacity for a time were the standards by which I measured myself.
从小我就在读过的书里寻找能代表理想、能作为榜样和有朝一日我可能成为的女主人公——她们有些是我内心深藏的隐秘自我的反映,另一些则为我指出崭新的方向,告诉我一个女人通过努力(只要她敢!)可能成为什么样的人。今天的我就是由南希·德鲁、乔·马奇、简·爱、希斯克利夫的灵魂伴侣凯茜,以及其他一些虚构的女性人物塑造而成的,她们的魅力、人格、勇气都曾是我审视自己的标准。
I return to some of these books to see if I still understand the powerful hold that these heroines once had on me. I still understand.
我重读这其中的一些书,想看看自己是否仍然理解这些女主人公当年对我的巨大影响。我发现我仍然理解。
Consider teen-aged Nancy Drew—beautiful, blond-haired, blue-eyed girl detective—who had the most terrific life that I as a ten-year-old could ever imagine. Motherless (in other words, quite free of maternal controls), she lived with her handsome indulgent lawyer father in a large brick house set back from the street with a winding tree-lined driveway on the outside and a faithful, nonintrusive housekeeper Hannah cooking yummy meals on the inside. She also had a boy friend, a convertible, nice clothes and two close girl friends—not as perfect as she, but then it seemed to me that no one could possibly be as perfect as Nancy Drew, who in dozens and dozens of books (The Hidden Staircase, The Whispering Statue, The Clue in the Diary, The Clue of the Tapping Heels) was resourceful and brave and intelligent as she went around solving mysteries left and right,
想想少年神探南希·德鲁——一位金发飘逸、眼睛碧蓝的漂亮女侦探——在一个十岁孩子的想象中,她的生活美妙无比。她没有母亲(换句话说,她非常自由,不需要受母亲的控制),与父亲生活在一起。她父亲是一位大律师,英俊潇洒、任性放纵。他们住在街边一所靠后的砖结构的大房子里,外边有一条树木成行的弯弯曲曲的车道。管家汉娜忠厚老实、温和可亲,烹饪的食物美味可口。她有一个男朋友、一辆敞篷轿车、漂亮衣服和两个女闺蜜——她们没有她那么完美。在我看来,没有人可能和南希一样完美。在很多书(像《隐藏的楼梯》《低语的雕像》《日记中的线索》《高跟鞋的线索》)中,她到处去解决谜团,表现得足智多谋、勇敢无畏、聪明智慧,