西马文选 2016-2018 Selected Writings from Xima 2016–2018 第 02 篇 Section 02
读后感与观后感 Book & Theater Reviews
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4、《悲惨世界》观后感 Reflections on the Musical Les Misérables
“卑鄙是卑鄙者的通行证，高尚是高尚者的墓志铭。”北岛的这两句的确是见了真章的。看《悲惨世界》，这部根据雨果同名巨作改编而成的音乐剧是那样气势磅礴。能这样淋漓尽致地反映一个剧烈变革中的国家社会政治生活广阔画面的音乐剧着实不多，更为难得的是音乐剧与巨作一样，不遗余力地将现实主义与浪漫主义调和在了一起，让观众感受到了前所未有的震撼。即便是通过雨果的几句序言，也能感受到他强大的人格力量：只要这个世界上还有愚昧和贫穷，这本书就应该有所价值。
“Baseness is the passport of the base; nobility is the epitaph of the noble.” Bei Dao’s famous lines ring truer than ever. Watching Les Misérables, this musical adapted from Victor Hugo’s magnum opus is breathtakingly magnificent. Rarely does a musical paint with such mastery the vast canvas of a nation’s social and political turmoil; rarer still, it harmonizes realism and romanticism as seamlessly as the novel, leaving audiences stunned by an unprecedented emotional resonance. Even through Hugo’s brief preface, one senses his towering moral stature: so long as ignorance and poverty endure upon earth, books of this nature cannot be useless.
主人翁冉·阿让在苦难浩荡的人生即将完结之时，唯一的心愿是希望自己有一块空白着的墓碑。 这个同样有着伟大人格并历尽沧桑的男人，何以至此？用他的话来理解，千帆过尽后，他仍然只是一个普通人。然而，我相信所有良知未泯的人们都能看到他空白着的墓碑上深深铭刻着的精神烙印，铿锵而无形。
As his tempestuous life drew to a close, protagonist Jean Valjean’s solitary wish was an unmarked, blank headstone. How did this man of towering character, weathered by suffering, arrive at this? In his own eyes, after weathering all tempests, he was merely an ordinary mortal. Yet I believe every soul possessing a conscience can discern the profound spiritual imprint engraved upon that blank tombstone—sonorous and invisible.
1. 序曲—大时代主题与冉阿让人生悲剧主题的交织 1. Overture: Intertwining of the Epochal Theme and Valjean’s Tragic Destiny
譬如序曲，就呈现了双主题，一个主题音符沉重缓慢的下滑，有大时代的命运感，另一个主题音符沉重上下跳动间很有悲剧的戏剧感，铺陈冉阿让的一生。
Take the Overture: it introduces a dual leitmotif. One theme features heavy, slowly descending notes, conveying the fateful weight of the epoch; the other leaps heavily up and down with intense dramatic tragedy, outlining Jean Valjean’s tumultuous life.
这两个主题，在后来的戏剧过程中，不时出现。譬如大时代主题，就不时在一八三二人民革命巷战剧情发展中，作一个乐段的开场白或基调，至于冉阿让主题，不仅出现在冉阿让的独白心声中，也成为贫困小人物出现时的基调。
These two motifs recur throughout the drama. The epochal theme resurfaces during the 1832 street barricades, serving as prelude or undertone; Valjean’s motif not only accompanies his soliloquies, but becomes the harmonic foundation whenever impoverished folk appear.
这种音乐结构，立刻可以看出冉阿让在歌剧中成为弱势贫困小人物的代言人，而时代主题与冉阿让主题交织，让音乐自行解释出：一个时代性的扭转，是在小人物痛苦的哀嚎中产生出来的。
Through this musical architecture, Valjean emerges as the spokesman for the downtrodden; the interweaving of epoch and individual proclaims through melody that historic turning points are forged from the agonizing cries of the humble.
因此，序曲的音乐结构，是非常符合原著精神的。
Hence, the musical structure of the Overture remains profoundly faithful to the spirit of the original novel.
2. 沙威与冉阿让主题的对立 2. The Duality of Javert and Jean Valjean’s Motifs
沙威的音乐主题处理的非常“像沙威”，节奏持续进行带有紧张感，每次沙威音乐一出现，就让人觉得危机浮现有事要发生。而最终沙威自杀前，这种充满危机感的节奏，成为沙威自己一生命运的注脚——自我价值幻灭的危机。
Javert’s motif is scored with uncanny precision: an unrelenting, tense rhythm that signals imminent peril whenever it sounds. Prior to Javert’s suicide, this ominous cadence becomes the footnote of his destiny—the crisis of disillusioned self-worth.
让人深刻回味的，是序曲中的冉阿让主题，至少两次跟沙威主题等量齐观的互相对立，一次是在芳汀死后冉阿让与沙威的对峙中，还有一次是沙威自杀前。沙威主题节奏有持续进行的紧张感，与冉阿让主题沉重的悲剧感交织，意图很明显的要让冉阿让的人生悲剧，跟沙威的人生悲剧有绝对密切、却互相对立的关系。
Profoundly memorable is how Valjean’s motif confronts Javert’s theme on equal footing at least twice: first during the confrontation after Fantine’s death, and again prior to Javert’s suicide. Javert’s unrelenting drive juxtaposed with Valjean’s tragic gravity highlights how their personal tragedies are bound in diametrical opposition.
3. 芳汀的主题—悲悯苦难 3. Fantine’s Motif: Compassion for Suffering
另一个音乐结构严谨的例子，就是芳汀的主题。
Another exemplar of rigorous musical structure is Fantine’s motif.
芳汀有两次独白，一次是“芳汀的梦”，梦见自己不再在贫困中搏斗，梦见不再被遗弃，人与人之间的爱永不凋残。“芳汀之梦”歌曲出现之后，芳汀便被迫卖发卖齿沦为娼妓。芳汀的另一次独白，是双主题，一个主题是表现垂死之际，另一个主题是芳汀托孤给冉阿让。
Fantine sings two soliloquies: first in “I Dreamed a Dream,” dreaming of an escape from poverty, abandonment, and withered affection—only to be forced to sell her hair, teeth, and body. Her second soliloquy weaves dual motifs: one evoking the threshold of death, the other entrusting her child to Valjean.
芳汀主题概括而言，就是被爱遗弃、渴望爱、为爱牺牲、将爱交托。芳汀主题不仅成为芳汀角色自身的诠释，随着歌剧进行，我们会发现，芳汀的主题几乎和冉阿让的生涯并随。
In brief, Fantine’s theme is being abandoned by love, longing for love, sacrificing for love, and entrusting love to another. It not only interprets Fantine herself: as the opera progresses, we find that her theme runs almost alongside Valjean’s life.
譬如当冉阿让从监狱逃出，内心充满抱怨苦毒时，背景音乐是芳汀主题；卞福汝主教将冉阿让从警察手中救出、用烛台把冉阿让从黑暗势力中挽回进入光明时，也出现芳汀主题。这时的冉阿让，其实并不认识芳汀，但透过芳汀主题的背景音乐，预示未来冉阿让将走出怨毒的黑暗，抱持爱与悲悯，并与芳汀的苦难紧密相连。随着剧情发展，芳汀主题还隐隐浮动在冉阿让与沙威的对峙中，直到冉阿让死前，芳汀主题仍出现。
For example, when Valjean escapes from prison with his heart full of resentment and bitterness, Fantine’s theme plays in the background. It also appears when Bishop Bienvenu rescues Valjean from the police and uses the candlesticks to reclaim him from the forces of darkness and bring him into the light. At this point, Valjean does not actually know Fantine, but her theme foreshadows his emergence from bitter darkness into love and compassion, and his close connection with Fantine’s suffering. As the plot develops, her theme also faintly runs beneath Valjean’s confrontations with Javert; it continues to appear even before Valjean’s death.
于是，芳汀的音乐主题在多次成为冉阿让的背景音乐、或片段主题音乐下，成为冉阿让“悲悯的人道之爱”的象征。这样的音乐结构，还是非常忠于原著精神。
Thus, as recurrent underscore for Valjean, Fantine’s motif becomes the emblem of his humanitarian compassion—a musical architecture utterly loyal to the novel’s soul.
4. 小人物的心声 4. Voices of the Common People
歌剧中也有一些小人物的心声，包括工厂工人、野孩子、旅馆老板等等，都处理得很成功地带有“市井小民风味”，能让底下观众听一遍立即朗朗上口，很快地融入台上小人物的歌声里。而为市井小民舍命的大学生们的几首重要曲子，却又很有大学生风味，慷慨激昂的热情宣泄无遗；作曲者用音乐塑造不同阶层的人物，处理得很成功。
The musical also captures the voices of ordinary folk—factory workers, urchins, innkeepers—imbued with street-level flavor that invites audiences to hum along immediately. Conversely, the students who lay down their lives for the populace sing passionate, fiery anthems; the composer brilliantly sketches distinct social strata through melodic idioms.
值得一提的是其中一首在这个歌剧中成为经典的曲子“ One Day More”，是唱于最激烈的一八三二巷战开始前夕。这首曲子以多重主题构成，包容许多小人物的小小愿望，包括“ A Heart Full of Love ”、“芳汀之梦”“旅馆老板之歌”“Master of the House ”，所有主题交错在“ OneDay More ”主轴中，使即将出现重大伤亡的一八三二巷战前夕，充满中下阶层盼望未来的心声。
One song worth mentioning is “One Day More,” which became a classic in this opera and is sung on the eve of the fiercest street fighting of 1832. Composed of multiple themes, it encompasses the small wishes of many ordinary people, including “A Heart Full of Love,” “Fantine’s Dream,” “The Innkeeper’s Song,” and “Master of the House.” All these themes interweave around “One Day More,” filling the eve of the 1832 street fighting, which will bring heavy casualties, with the voices of the middle and lower classes hoping for the future.
但这段充满小人物卑微盼望的心声，却很深刻地埋入沙威的危机主题，因为沙威的命运将因这巷战彻底改变！
Yet beneath these humble longings lies Javert’s crisis motif, for the barricade will alter his destiny forever!
5. 德那第夫妇与女儿 Eponine 5. The Thénardiers and Their Daughter Éponine
唯一跟原著不合，显然是要让歌剧观赏者轻松一下的，就是对德那第夫妇的诠释。这对苦待珂赛特抛弃自己孩子，又骗吃骗喝最后还跑到美洲去贩卖黑奴的邪恶夫妇，被刻画成轻松逗笑的丑角，邪恶的印象就被淡化了！
The sole departure from the novel—evidently designed to offer comic relief—is the portrayal of the Thénardiers. This vile couple who mistreated Cosette, abandoned their own children, swindled everyone, and eventually traded slaves in the Americas, is depicted as buffoons, softening their malice into comedy!
此外，暗恋马吕斯，最终为马吕斯牺牲自己的女孩 Eponine （德那第夫妇的女儿），在牺牲前夕自己暗诉恋慕之情的音乐主题，与芳汀主题相同。这使“悲惨世界”歌剧中，Eponine 戏份变重（甚至比珂赛特还有特色），也暗藏 Eponine 在歌剧中被诠释成近似芳汀，历经被爱遗弃、渴望爱、为爱牺牲、将爱交托的苦难。Eponine 帮马吕斯挨子弹，死在马吕斯怀中的曲子“A Little Fall of Rain”凄美无比，好听极了！
In addition, Éponine, the Thénardiers’ daughter, secretly loves Marius and ultimately sacrifices herself for him. On the eve of her death, the musical theme through which she privately expresses her love is the same as Fantine’s. This gives Éponine a larger role in the opera Les Misérables—even more distinctive than Cosette’s—and also suggests that she is interpreted as a figure similar to Fantine, suffering through abandonment by love, longing for love, sacrificing for love, and entrusting love to another. The song “A Little Fall of Rain,” in which Éponine takes a bullet for Marius and dies in his arms, is incomparably poignant and beautiful to hear!
若要再细部分析下去，这出歌剧还有很多意味深长的音乐语言，不过，我们对乐曲分析先停在这里，来看看几首重要的曲子的歌词！严谨的乐曲结构铺陈大时代与小人物，透过多重主题映衬，把人道主义精神吟唱出来。而歌词，则是非常深刻的讲出基督教精神。因此，当歌词加上音乐主题的诠释，就发挥出“正是基督教精神，使人道主义丰富呈现”的寓意。
If we continued analyzing the details, there would be much more meaningful musical language to discuss. But let us stop our musical analysis here and look at the lyrics of several important songs. The rigorous musical structure unfolds the great historical era and the lives of ordinary people, singing the spirit of humanitarianism through the interplay of multiple themes. The lyrics, meanwhile, give a profound expression to the spirit of Christianity. Combined with the musical themes, they convey the meaning that “it is precisely the spirit of Christianity that allows humanitarianism to find such rich expression.”
这几首歌曲，其中一首是冉阿让被卞福汝搭救后，惊异之下决定悔罪成为光明之子的心声；另一首是“ Who am I？”这首曲子描述冉阿让知道有人被冤屈成冉阿让，将被判终生苦役时，冉阿让的挣扎，以及最终决定放弃市长职位，挺身承认自己才是逃犯冉阿让的心路历程。这两段歌词，彻底把基督教信仰的精神表现出来。
One of these songs expresses Valjean’s thoughts after Bienvenu saves him: in his astonishment, he decides to repent and become a child of light. Another is “Who Am I?”, which describes Valjean’s struggle on learning that someone has been wrongly identified as him and is about to be sentenced to a lifetime of hard labor. It follows his eventual decision to give up his position as mayor and step forward to admit that he is the fugitive Jean Valjean. These two sets of lyrics fully express the spirit of Christian faith.
还有两首歌词是出自沙威的独白。他的自以为义，与最后自我价值感幻灭、信念幻灭的冲突挣扎，在歌词中呈现的非常深刻。
Two other sets of lyrics come from Javert’s soliloquies. They express with great depth his self-righteousness and his final conflict and struggle as his sense of self-worth and his beliefs collapse.
5、汪涵《有味》读后感 Reflections on Wang Han’s Savor
很久都没有酣畅淋漓的一口气读完一本书，汪涵的《有味》做到了。原来如此一位风雅幽默的男主持，也可以有如此细腻生动的笔触，诗情画意的情怀。在他的记忆中，每一个极小的事物，都变成了有生命的符号，被剖析的体无完肤。读他的文字，你一定要用想象力，来配合他描述的场景才入味。
It had been long since I devoured a book in one breath; Wang Han’s Savor achieved that. Who knew such a witty television host could possess such delicate prose and poetic sensibility? In his memory, the most minute object transforms into a living emblem, dissected to its core. Reading his prose, one must employ imagination to taste the full savor of his scenes.
看过很多主持人的书，大多数是讲述自己的人生境遇，要么是从底层逐渐打拼的励志故事，譬如孟非的《随遇而安》；要么是用现有的人生观来看待生活与事业，鼓励自己鼓励大家，譬如郭德纲的《过得刚好》；要么是用自己的职业习惯，站在独特的视角来揭露社会，譬如柴静的《看见》，诸如此类。汪涵的这本书，却远离了你的期待，你本以为会是他如何成名的奋斗史，或者至少有他成名后的影子。但是从头翻到尾，200多页展现的，都是最纯真的记忆，和最朴实的年华。
I have read books by many hosts. Most describe their own circumstances in life: inspirational stories of gradually working their way up from the bottom, such as Meng Fei’s Taking Things as They Come; reflections on life and career from the perspective of their present outlook, encouraging themselves and others, such as Guo Degang’s Living Just Right; or examinations of society from a distinctive perspective shaped by professional habits, such as Chai Jing’s Seeing, and so on. Wang Han’s book, however, departs from what you expect. You might assume it would recount his struggle to become famous, or at least show something of his life after fame. Yet from beginning to end, its more than 200 pages present only the purest memories and the plainest years.
我和他不属于一个年代，没有很多共同的记忆，很多他介绍的东西我甚至没见过，但是他的文字就是让你产生了共鸣。它将一个男人最深沉的情感显露无遗，却张弛有度，不会让你瞬间情感泛滥，觉得烦腻；也不会让你觉得枯燥乏味，适时的把抽象的语言，安置在具体的事物上，让你突然一阵感动。
He and I do not belong to the same generation and have few memories in common. I have not even seen many of the things he introduces, yet his writing still resonates with me. It reveals a man’s deepest feelings without reserve, but with a measured ebb and flow: it neither overwhelms you with emotion and becomes tiresome nor leaves you bored. At the right moments, it anchors abstract language in concrete things, suddenly moving you.
从文字的拿捏上，可以看出这是一个做事情很有把握，很有尺度的人。汪涵36岁，不精通电脑，在你看来算是一个与现在社会格格不入的异类，这个时代居然还有名人不玩微博？不跟粉丝互动？不努力地保持高高在上，无法匹及的形象？但他就是做到了，他的高，高在修身养性上，玩物，但不丧志。
His handling of words suggests someone who is confident and measured in what he does. Wang Han is 36 and not proficient with computers; to you, he may seem an oddity out of step with modern society. Can there still be a celebrity in this age who does not use Weibo, interact with fans, or work to maintain an image of being lofty and beyond reach? Yet he has managed it. What sets him above others is his cultivation of character and temperament: he enjoys objects without letting them undermine his aspirations.
在我还在中学时，火爆在我们青少年中的是《快乐大本营》，我却很喜欢他的《越策越开心》，到最后是《天天向上》。湖南台很多主持人的幽默与欢乐体现在闹腾上，恶搞或是自我矮化，博取观众一笑；汪涵的幽默却总是内敛，不阿谀奉承嘉宾，也不自我贬低，一手执话筒，一手执折扇，尽显的是翩翩风度。
When I was still in secondary school, Happy Camp was hugely popular among teenagers, but I particularly liked his Yue Ce Yue Kai Xin, and later Day Day Up. Many Hunan TV hosts express humor and joy through noisy antics, pranks, or self-deprecation to get a laugh from the audience. Wang Han’s humor, however, is always restrained: he neither flatters guests nor belittles himself. With a microphone in one hand and a folding fan in the other, he displays an elegant bearing.
脱离汪涵本人，《有味》这本书的文学性和可读性都是上乘，荐之~
Apart from Wang Han himself, Savor is excellent in both literary quality and readability. Recommended~
他会在一个名叫靖港的古镇逗留居住，和各种艺人交流，仿佛他本就属于那里。古镇，古风，古景，百年前是否他就曾在这里驻足过，今生注定要寻回记忆。
He would stay and live in an old town called Jinggang, talking with all kinds of artisans, as though he had always belonged there. An old town, old customs, old scenery: had he lingered here a hundred years earlier, destined in this life to recover those memories?
感谢汪涵的童年曾在烟雨江南度过，那个几百年朦胧又迷人的地方，那些回忆他至今回味无穷。无论是学做豆干，糍粑，木匠，制琴，连一块墨都会让他迷醉。盘扇，核桃，他手里不缺东西，他身上不缺东西，他作诗，书法，与大师为友，他说他最想回到魏晋，那个放荡形骸的岁月，是的，那是每个文人都想回去的年代吧。不拘一格，洒脱不羁。他说他24岁有自己的栏目，他说自己会红12年，然后隐居4年，然后40岁复出。他清醒的知道，激流隐退，然后复出。
Blessed that his childhood unfolded in misty Jiangnan—a realm enchanting across centuries that he savors to this day. Learning to make dried tofu, ciba rice cakes, carpentry, guqin crafting; even a stick of ink enchants him. Fans, walnuts—he lacks for nothing in hand or spirit; composing poetry, practicing calligraphy, befriending masters, he yearns to return to the Wei-Jin dynasties, that untrammeled era every literatus longs to inhabit. Unfettered and free. He hosted his own show at twenty-four, predicted twelve years of stardom followed by four years of hermitage, then returning at forty—sober in retreat and return.
在这个时代，花时间去和民俗艺人打交道，而且是很长的一段时间，最后还把他编辑成册。
In this age, he spends time—a great deal of time—engaging with folk artisans, and ultimately compiles it into a book.
浮生六记不过如此而已，身边小事，用心感悟，用心记录，让人感动不已。古镇靖港，有味，汪涵，亦有心。
Six Records of a Floating Life was no more than this: contemplating and recording daily trifles with devotion. The ancient town of Jinggang possesses savor; Wang Han possesses heart.
我是一个严重以结果为导向的人，在说话做事，总显得急躁不堪，所以不要说花很长的时间去读一本书，就是去看一部时间稍长的电影也会觉得心绪不宁，可有一本书我足足看了三遍，那就是汪涵的《有味》。
I am strongly results-oriented and always seem terribly impatient in what I say and do. Never mind spending a long time reading a book: even watching a slightly longer film makes me restless. Yet there is one book I have read fully three times—Wang Han’s Savor.
《有味》的封面是一张汪涵在作坊里的小照片，身穿淡蓝色的衬衫，嘴里叼着烟斗，出神的望着一块块做好的靖港豆干。书上印着两行小字是一首波兰诗人米沃什的小诗《礼物》“这世上没有一样东西我想占有，我知道没有一个人值得我羡慕。”
Its cover features a photo of Wang Han in a workshop: clad in a pale blue shirt, pipe in mouth, gazing meditatively at freshly crafted Jinggang tofu. Two printed lines quote Polish poet Czesław Miłosz’s poem Gift: “There was no thing upon earth I wanted to possess; I knew of no one worth my envying.”
在书中写了十个物件，香干、糍粑、木盆、油布伞等都是再普通不过的民间玩意，可在阅读过程中却可以看见这些精巧和平凡的物件逐一呈现在眼前，从而向读者铺开一幅幅画卷，将读者带入一个平凡却“有味”的生活之中。
The book describes ten objects. Spiced dried tofu, ciba rice cakes, wooden basins, oilcloth umbrellas, and the others are all perfectly ordinary folk items. Yet as we read, these delicate, everyday objects appear before our eyes one by one, unfolding a succession of pictures and drawing us into an ordinary but “flavorful” life.
《有味》的可读之处，正是将平凡的东西描写出了生活的乐趣，格物致知，轻描淡写，将那种难以用言语表达的情感，那种容易被忽视的生活态度说的再通俗、简洁不过了。
Its brilliance lies in discovering delight within the mundane: investigating things to attain knowledge, distilling ineffable sentiments and overlooked postures of life into lucid prose.
书中展现的是众人期盼的生活态度，一边身处繁华，灯红酒绿；一边吟风弄月，把玩有趣的事物，静守本心；拿得起，亦能放得下。
It exemplifies an enviable attitude: striding through worldly glamour on one hand, while chanting verse, appreciating crafts, and guarding the inner self on the other—capable of seizing and letting go.
有人说读汪涵的书像是看一本绘画本，平淡的文字总能勾起许多儿时的回忆，每一个物件的描写都是用最朴实的语言，结合自身的经历注入真实的情感，把我们带入那个“有味”的境界。
Some people say that reading Wang Han’s books is like looking through a picture book. His plain words always evoke many childhood memories. Each object is described in the simplest language, with genuine emotion drawn from his own experience, bringing us into that “flavorful” world.
《有味》其实是表现出一种担忧，担忧很多传统手工艺都在慢慢地消失，担忧这些带着中华儿女传统智慧结晶物品会荡然无存。
Savor also voices a quiet apprehension: dreading that traditional crafts are vanishing, and that these crystals of ancestral wisdom may dissolve into oblivion.
如果说你喜欢汪涵，你一定要这本《有味》细细读来，这个男人的深度远远不是肤浅的文字可以称道，他的人生让人敬畏，他的态度让你觉得生活中点点滴滴的平凡小事，亦是非常“有味”。
If you admire Wang Han, read Savor attentively: this man’s depth transcends superficial labels; his life commands reverence, and his posture reveals that ordinary trifles are richly savory.
6、《家》读后感 Reflections on Ba Jin’s The Family
《家》巴金先生的代表作之一，《激流三部曲》的第一部，生动地展示了青年一代的觉醒和封建势力的没落，是文学史上的里程碑。
The Family, one of Ba Jin’s masterpieces and the first installment of the Torrents Trilogy, vividly depicts the awakening of youth and the decline of feudal forces—a milestone in modern Chinese literature.
《家》这部小说是巴金为他的哥哥写的，并且以他哥哥及他的事为原型，巴金的哥哥就是觉新的原型，懦弱和无奈，但他哥哥三十几岁就服毒死了。巴金的哥哥也曾爱过一个少女但父亲用抓阄的方法决定去和另一个女人结婚。他爱他的妻子，但终因别人的鬼话不得不把待产的孕妇送到城外荒凉的地方，忍受着这一切不义的行为。他知道他已走到深渊边，但就是不愿意去走另一条新的路，只顾着向深渊走去，这和觉新是一模一样的。而觉新是这部小说里塑造得最成功的一个人物。
Ba Jin wrote The Family for his elder brother, taking his brother and their experiences as models. His brother was the model for Juexin—timid and helpless—but died by taking poison in his thirties. Ba Jin’s brother had also loved a young woman, but his father decided by drawing lots that he should marry someone else. He loved his wife, yet because of others’ superstitious talk, he had no choice but to send her, pregnant and about to give birth, to a desolate place outside the city, enduring all these injustices. He knew that he had reached the edge of an abyss, but refused to take another, new path and only kept walking toward it. In this he was exactly like Juexin, the most successfully created character in the novel.
由于他处在长房长孙的位置，因此，为维护这个四世同堂大家庭的“和睦相处”，他凡事都采取“不抵抗主义”。他与他的梅表妹有一段美好的恋情，但是在这个封建大家庭里，婚姻大事是不由得他们作主的。他的父亲为他做了亲，他没有反抗，有的只是默默地接受父亲为他安排的一切。虽然他的内心十分痛苦，但他不敢说一个“不”字。而后他与妻子瑞珏成了亲。祖父死后，陈姨太以“血光之灾”为由，不许瑞珏在家生孩子，叫觉新送她到城外去。这事对觉新来说犹如晴天霹雳，但他还是接受了，结果封建迷信吞噬了她的生命。
As the eldest grandson of the senior branch, he adopted “non-resistance” in everything to preserve the “harmonious coexistence” of this large family of four generations under one roof. He had a beautiful romance with his cousin Mei, but in this feudal household, marriage was not theirs to decide. His father arranged a match for him, and he did not resist: he only silently accepted everything his father had arranged. Although deeply distressed, he dared not say “no.” He then married Ruijue. After his grandfather died, Concubine Chen invoked a “bloody calamity” as the reason Ruijue could not give birth at home and told Juexin to send her outside the city. This struck Juexin like a bolt from the blue, but he accepted it nonetheless, and feudal superstition swallowed up her life.
而在这之前，他的梅表妹也因为他，郁郁寡欢而死。
And prior to this, Cousin Mei had already perished in melancholy because of him.
虽然他哥哥是这样的不愿意死，因为他写了三次遗书，又撕了三次，但终于写了第四次，字里行间控诉着“我不想死”，但终究还是走进了深渊。与觉新一样，觉新对于这一切悲剧的发生无力反抗，甘愿继续痛苦地过着“旧式”的生活，最后在压迫下痛苦的死去。
Although Ba Jin’s brother was so unwilling to die that he wrote a suicide note three times and tore it up three times, he finally wrote a fourth, its every line protesting, “I do not want to die,” yet ultimately walked into the abyss. It was the same with Juexin: powerless to resist all these tragedies, he was willing to continue his painful “old-style” life and finally died in suffering under oppression.
而小说中的另一个典型角色觉慧，觉新的弟弟，却有着与他哥哥完全不同的性格。小说典型地塑造了觉慧这个大胆幼稚的叛逆者的人物形象。他积极参加了学生联合会组织的反帝反封建活动，猛烈抨击封建家庭。在婚姻问题上，他敢于冲破封建等级观念，毅然和丫头鸣凤相爱。对于长辈们装神弄鬼等迷信行为，他也敢于大胆反抗。最后，他义无反顾地走出了家庭。
Another representative character in the novel, Juehui, Juexin’s younger brother, has a completely different personality. The novel portrays him as a bold but immature rebel. He actively participates in anti-imperialist and anti-feudal activities organized by the student federation and fiercely attacks the feudal family. In matters of marriage, he dares to break through feudal hierarchies and resolutely falls in love with the maid Mingfeng. He also boldly resists his elders’ superstitious practices of invoking spirits and ghosts. In the end, he leaves the family without hesitation.
觉慧代表的一代觉醒了的青年，同这个罪恶家族进行的斗争。这些青年受“五四”反封建巨浪的影响，一方面在社会上积极参加宣传革命思想的学生运动，一方面在家庭内部和封建势力、封建礼教展开勇猛的战斗，最后，真正敲响了这个封建大家庭的丧钟。
The awakened generation of young people represented by Juehui struggles against this evil family. Influenced by the great anti-feudal wave of the May Fourth Movement, these young people actively participate in student movements spreading revolutionary ideas in society, while fighting courageously within the family against feudal forces and codes of conduct. In the end, they truly sound the death knell for this large feudal household.
此外《家》还重点描写了几个有着不幸遭遇的女子形象——梅、鸣凤和瑞珏。这三个女子虽然性格不同——梅悒郁，瑞珏贤慧，鸣凤善良却柔中有刚；她们的社会地位也不同，但她们的悲剧结局却是相同的。作品通过对这几位女子悲剧遭际的描写，进一步控诉了封建礼教以及封建道德对弱小、无辜、善良的人们的迫害，强化了全书主旨。
The Family also focuses on several women who suffer misfortune: Mei, Mingfeng, and Ruijue. Their personalities differ—Mei is melancholy, Ruijue virtuous, and Mingfeng kind, with strength beneath her gentleness—and their social positions differ too, but their tragic endings are the same. By describing these women’s tragedies, the novel further condemns the persecution of the weak, innocent, and kind by feudal codes of conduct and morality, reinforcing its central theme.
其实，巴金写觉新、觉民、觉慧是想体现三种不同的性格，他写梅、琴、瑞珏、鸣凤，也是想体现那个年代，不同的女人、不同的思想，但都是同样的约束和封建。鸣凤倒没什么原型，只是灵感来自于巴金家后来一个叫翠环的丫头，寄饭在他们家，当有一个远房亲戚要娶她去做小老婆，被她严词拒绝，后来她快乐的嫁给一个农夫，虽然很贫穷，但只有无价的快乐和幸福。
In fact, Ba Jin wrote Juexin, Juemin, and Juehui to represent three different personalities. In Mei, Qin, Ruijue, and Mingfeng, he also sought to portray different women and different ideas in that era, all subject to the same constraints and feudal order. Mingfeng had no particular real-life model; the inspiration came from a maid named Cuihuan who later stayed and ate at Ba Jin’s family home. When a distant relative wanted to take her as his concubine, she firmly refused. Later, she happily married a farmer. Although very poor, she had priceless joy and happiness.
鸣凤是从这迸发出的灵感从而塑造了这人物，由于封建礼节约束，湖水成了她的最终归宿，这是一个悲剧，也是美好的结局，没有屈服，而是自已选择归宿这就是很勇敢的，在那个年代来说。而最后出嫁的婉儿，也是这场悲剧是一个替代品。
Mingfeng was created from this flash of inspiration. Bound by feudal conventions, she found her final resting place in the lake. This is a tragedy, but also a beautiful ending: she did not submit, but chose her own destination, which was very brave for that era. Wan’er, who married in the end, was also a substitute in this tragedy.
可以说这整本书说的都是一个家庭悲剧，一个被封建礼教约束的悲剧。
The entire novel chronicles a domestic tragedy forged by feudal ritual shackles.
合上《家》的最后一页，思忖良久，感慨颇多，最终写下这篇文章，借以抒情。 闭上眼睛，首先想到的是要为自己做主的觉慧，他苏醒在五四思潮的冲击下，成长在一个封建思想的家族中。他饱有自己的思想，不盲从，敢反抗。他明白，什么是对，什么是错，什么是理想，什么是追求。他知道，只有自己才是自己的救世主，只有自己才是自己行为的支配人。《独立宣言》中曾这样阐述，人人生而平等，造物者赋予他们若干不可剥夺的权利，其中包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。
After closing the final page of The Family, I pondered for a long time, filled with many feelings, and finally wrote this essay to express them. Closing my eyes, I first thought of Juehui, who wanted to decide his own life. He awakened under the impact of May Fourth ideas while growing up in a family steeped in feudal thought. He had ideas of his own, did not follow blindly, and dared to resist. He understood what was right and wrong, what ideals were, and what to pursue. He knew that only he could be his own savior and only he could govern his own actions. The Declaration of Independence states that all people are born equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
而觉慧“自己把幸福拿过来”正是对自己权力的追求啊！
And Juehui’s proclamation to “seize happiness for oneself” is the very assertion of his rights!
法律只有在不断的修订后才能得到完善，社会只有在不断的改革之后才能得到发展。只有出现像觉慧这样叛逆者的形象，对于社会的弊端加以发现而去反抗，社会才能得以进步。不去迎合，不去逃避，不怨，不屈，而是自己去面对，去反抗，去呐喊的觉慧令我印象深刻。
Laws can become more complete only through continual revision, and society can develop only through continual reform. Only when rebels like Juehui emerge to identify and resist society’s failings can society progress. Juehui leaves a deep impression on me because he neither accommodates nor evades, neither complains nor yields, but faces things himself, resists, and cries out.
其中，最令我感动的是他和鸣凤的爱情。即使鸣凤知道，婢女是不能和少爷相爱的，即使鸣凤知道，他们的爱是没有结果的，就算她知道，觉慧的爱摇摆不定，随时可能离开的，但她依然深深地爱着觉慧。其实她一直明白，做下人的便要好好侍奉主子，自己一辈子的命运也是掌握在主子手里的。（“虽然这其间流了不少的眼泪，吃了不少的打骂，但毕竟是很平常的”）下人的惯有思想操控着她，使她并不抱有反抗的念头。不，也许是在她的潜意识里还没有“反抗”这个定义，但当她和觉慧相爱时，这种情绪就产生了。
What moves me most is his love with Mingfeng. Even though Mingfeng knows that a maid cannot be in love with a young master, that their love will come to nothing, and that Juehui’s love is uncertain and he might leave at any time, she still loves him deeply. In fact, she has always understood that a servant must serve her master well and that her lifelong fate is also in her master’s hands. (“Although there had been many tears, beatings, and scoldings along the way, it was, after all, quite ordinary.”) The habitual thinking of a servant governs her, so she has no thought of resistance. No—perhaps even in her subconscious she does not yet have the concept of “resistance,” but when she and Juehui fall in love, that feeling comes into being.
“我只求你不要送我出去。我愿意一辈子在公馆里头服侍你，做你的丫头，时时刻刻在你的身边”。鸣凤对觉慧如此深不可测的爱，给了她难以估计的勇气和力量。
“I only beg you not to send me away. I will serve you in the mansion all my life, remaining your bondmaid forever at your side.” Her unfathomable love bestowed immeasurable bravery.
于是就在那一天，鸣凤带着觉慧轻轻的一吻和“再过两天”的承诺，在湖中寻找到了自己的归宿。（望着在黑暗中发光的湖水，往事一幕幕在鸣凤脑海中浮现……她揩了揩脸上的泪水，凄楚地叫了两声“三少爷！觉慧！”，便纵身往湖里一跳……不久，湖水又恢复平静…… ）这就是鸣凤反抗的爆发——第一次，也是最后一次。她没有屈服，却把生命献给了真挚的爱情。这条路的选择，也许她永远也不明白究竟因为什么！但是，也许她明白，她是为了追求幸福，自由等不可转让的权利而死，她是为了反抗封建家长制而死！
And so, on that day, carrying Juehui’s gentle kiss and his promise of “in another two days,” Mingfeng found her final resting place in the lake. (Looking at the water shining in the darkness, scene after scene from the past appeared in her mind… She wiped the tears from her face, cried out mournfully twice, “Third Young Master! Juehui!”, and leaped into the lake… Before long, the water grew calm again…) This was the eruption of Mingfeng’s resistance—her first and her last. She did not submit, but gave her life to sincere love. Perhaps she would never understand exactly why she had chosen this path! But perhaps she understood: she died in pursuit of inalienable rights such as happiness and freedom; she died resisting the feudal patriarchal system!
再者带给我深刻印象的恐怕就是觉新了，《家》的艺术成就，在很大程度上得益于高觉新形象的塑造，觉新是这部小说中最见艺术功力的人物形象。在他的身上，既存在着作者对他的批判，也充溢着作者对他的同情。他是处于时代转折点的封建家庭和礼教的牺牲品，是一个没有着“青春”的“青年”。一方面，他在理论上接受“五四”的新思潮、新观念；另一方面，处在“长房长孙”的他深受旧道德与伦理的毒害。他的内心充满着不安与矛盾，有着“哈姆雷特”式的矛盾。
The other character who perhaps leaves a deep impression on me is Juexin. Much of the artistic achievement of The Family comes from its portrayal of Gao Juexin, the character who most clearly demonstrates the novel’s artistic skill. He embodies both the author’s criticism and the author’s sympathy. A victim of the feudal family and its codes of conduct at a turning point in history, he is a “young man” without “youth.” On the one hand, he accepts the new ideas and concepts of May Fourth in theory; on the other, as the “eldest grandson of the senior branch,” he is deeply poisoned by old morality and ethics. His heart is full of unease and conflict, of “Hamlet-like” contradictions.
还记得觉新与觉慧的对话“你对爷爷说了些什么话？你为什么不先告诉我，就跑去对他说？你真笨！”觉新抱怨觉慧道。
Remember Juexin’s rebuke: “What did you say to Grandfather? Why didn’t you tell me first before confronting him? You fool!”
“笨？我正要叫爷爷知道！我要叫他知道我们是‘人’，我们并不是任人割宰的猪羊。”
“A fool? I wanted Grandfather to know! I wanted him to know we are human beings, not sheep and pigs to be slaughtered at will!”
觉新明白这些话是对他发的，他听起来有些刺耳，刺心，但是他也只好忍受。他说不出他的苦衷。他知道他纵然诚恳地向觉慧解释，觉慧也不会相信他。
Juexin understood that these words were directed at him. They grated on his ears and hurt his heart, but he could only endure them. He could not explain his predicament. He knew that even if he sincerely explained it to Juehui, Juehui would not believe him.
觉新是真诚地爱着兄妹们，但是，他所固有的，受旧思想，旧文化所毒害的觉新难免会和受新思潮支配的觉慧有所冲突。就在这一刻，他们的矛盾爆发了。由内心中的矛盾演变为了激烈的争吵，不是觉新不忍让弟弟，也不是觉慧不理解哥哥。而是新旧潮流的对撞，思想上的水火不容。一边要门当户对，一边却讲婚姻自由；一边人生而平等，一边却父母为上；一边是中国的5000年封建遗风，另一边是西方的资本主义思潮。真可谓是冰炭不相容啊！
Juexin sincerely loves his brothers and sisters, but his ingrained ways, poisoned by old ideas and culture, inevitably bring him into conflict with Juehui, who is guided by new currents of thought. At this moment, their conflict erupts, turning from an inner contradiction into a heated argument. It is not that Juexin refuses to yield to his younger brother, nor that Juehui does not understand his elder brother. Rather, it is a collision between old and new currents, ideas as incompatible as fire and water. One side demands marriages between families of matching status; the other advocates freedom of marriage. One holds that people are born equal; the other puts parents above all. One represents China’s 5,000-year legacy of feudal customs; the other, Western capitalist thought. They truly are as incompatible as ice and burning coals!
《家》，不仅有家里的感情社会纠葛。《家》，不仅有人物的不同境遇。《家》还有着社会政体之间，东西文化的发展与对撞。人与人之间关系的深层次的讨论。
The Family contains more than emotional and social entanglements within a household. It contains more than the different circumstances of its characters. It also explores the development and collision of social and political systems and of Eastern and Western cultures, and discusses the deeper dimensions of relationships between people.
读罢《家》，内心感慨颇多。思绪沉重，难以提笔，由以此文，抒发自己最真诚的情感，向巴金致敬。
Finishing The Family, thoughts weighed heavy upon me; through this essay I voice my sincere sentiments, paying homage to Ba Jin.