Name: 你為什麼要讀庫爾特-馮內古特？ (Why should you read Kurt Vonnegut?)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T08:15:47.000Z
Duration: 5 min 24 s

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Marssi Draw

轉承詞

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

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

因為他知道一個小時後 外星人會來綁架他。

causing him to experience events out of chronological order.

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

因為他「跳脫」了時間的束縛，

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

導致他經歷事件的順序 並不是依照時間來排列。

在馮內果的《第五號屠宰場》中，

他不斷在這些經驗當中來來回回： 兒時前往大峽谷的旅行、

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

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

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

他身為戰俘所要忍受的羞辱， 以及許多其他的。

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

《第五號屠宰場》的書名 以及它大部分的來源素材

where he took refuge in an  underground meat locker

來自馮內果在第二次 世界大戰時的親身經歷。

他曾身為戰俘，住在 德勒斯登的前屠宰場，

When he and the other prisoners finally emerged,

他躲在地下的肉類儲藏室中避難。

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

當他和其他囚犯終於走出來時，

by studying an unusual  aspect of anthropology:

他們發現德勒斯登 已經完全被摧毀了。

戰後，馮內果試圖 要將人類行為合理化，

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

所以他去研究了人類學中 一個不尋常的面向：

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

from the beginning to the end of a story.

他堅持認為故事的形狀 就和罐壺或矛頭的形狀一樣有趣。

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

But this shape can be the most interesting of all.

顯示出童話故事和神話的常見類型，

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

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

但這個形狀可說是最有趣的一個。

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

unable to predict how events  will impact us long term.

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

馮內果認為這種故事 是最忠於真實人生的，

在真實人生中，我們都是 一連串意外的受害者，

between good and bad fortune in his own work.

無法預測事件對我們的長期影響。

When Vonnegut ditched clear-cut fortunes,

他發現許多故事的弧形很整齊、 讓人滿意，和現實大相徑庭，

he also abandoned straightforward chronology.

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

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

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

他也就放棄了一直線的時間軸。

他的故事中，不是整齊地 從頭到尾進行下去，

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

「所有的時刻， 過去、現在、未來，

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

一直都存在著， 也會一直存在下去。」

特拉法馬鐸人是一種外星人， 在他的許多書中都出現過，

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

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

他們「能看見每一個星星以前 到過哪裡及將來要往哪裡去，

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

所以天空上滿是精細的發光麵條。」

但雖然他們能看見所有的時間，

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

他們不會嘗試去改變事件的過程。

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

雖然特拉法馬鐸人很安於 這種沒有動力的狀態，

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

馮內果的人類角色卻還在習慣它。

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

他們在浩翰的宇宙中 尋找人生的意義，

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

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

沒格調的喜劇及無意義的死亡」。

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

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

他們在地球上 對應人物的災難性未來，

they live their lives by  these tenets anyway,

雖然沒有簡單的答案， 他們最後還是做出結論，

and in so doing develop some genuine hope.

人生的目的是要「去愛那些 在身邊且能夠被愛的人」。

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

在《貓的搖籃》中， 馮內果的角色轉向

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

另一個意義的源頭：布克農教，

cosmically linked around a shared purpose.

它是一種宗教，以其支持者 都認可的無害謊言為基礎。

These are not to be confused  with Granfalloons,

雖然他們都知道布克農教的謊言，

groups of people who appoint significance to actually meaningless associations,

他們還是依照這些教條過日子，

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

並在這麼做的同時， 發展出真實的希望。

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

他們形成「情投意合者」團體，

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

成員是我們不小心遇到， 但自願待在一起的人——

在宇宙間圍著共同目的而連結著。

but Vonnegut interspersed  his grim assessments

和「假的情投意合者」 （Granfalloons）搞混了，

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

也就是極為看重 沒有實際意義關聯性的那些人，

two yeast sat “discussing the possible purposes of life

比如在哪裡長大的、 支持哪個政黨，甚至整個國家。

as they ate sugar and suffocated  in their own excrement.

雖然他對於人的境況 有著很陰暗的看法，

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

「我們來到這個世界上， 就是要協助彼此度過這些，

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

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

我們可能會精疲力竭、士氣低落，

Vonnegut also advanced the possibility,  however slim,

但馮內果用不少小小的希望 來點綴他的無情評估。

that we might end up  making something good.

他虛構的另一自我 「吉爾戈．圖勞特」寫了這個寓言：

兩個酵母菌坐著 「討論人生的可能目的，