小說原名《The Lost Phoebe》（1912），中文名《失去的菲比》。是德萊塞的短篇代表作之一。小說歌頌農家夫婦間純樸、真摯的愛情。作者把現實和夢境，回憶和想像，懷念和幻覺，心靈上的痛苦和行動上的痴狂有機地交織起來，把主人公對亡妻的感情表現得真切動人。
基本介紹
- 書名：失去的菲比
- 又名：The Lost Phoebe
- 作者：德萊塞
- 類別：短篇
- 裝幀：平裝
原文,譯文,
原文
The Lost Phoebe
By
Broadcast: Saturday, August 21, 2004
Old Henry Reifsneider and his wife Phoebe loved one another the way people do who have lived together a long, long time. They were simple farm people. Their world was their fruit trees, corn field and backyard with its pigs and chickens. The rest of the world was far away like stars in the sky.
Sometimes Henry worried about death. During his worries, he would raise his old voice and say "Phoebe, where is my corn pipe? You are always taking things that belong to me". "Now you hush, Henry," his wife would say, "If you keep talking like that, I will go away. And then what would you do? There is nobody to look after you. You can't find it on the table where you put it." Old Henry knew his wife would never leave him. The only leaving he feared was death. He often wondered how he could live without Phoebe. In the evening, when he went to the door to see that they were safely shut-in, it warmed his heart to know Phoebe was there with him. When Henry moved during the night, she always spoke to him "Now, Henry, be quiet. You are as jumpy as a chicken." "Well, I cannot sleep, Phoebe". "If you stop rolling around so much, you will sleep. Then I can get some rest too." Knowing she was there, beside him in the dark made Henry quiet again.
When she wanted him to get a pail of water, Henry liked to say "Do this…, do that…. always asking me to do something. Women are never satisfied". Phoebe would smile. She could see the inner happiness shining in his eyes. Henry talked sharply, but he never forgot to get water and wood for the fire. In this way, they lived happily in their simple world.
One day, in the early spring, Phoebe became sick and died. Old Henry watched them put her body in the earth. Neighbors asked Henry to come and live with them. But he would not live. He wanted to be near the place where his Phoebe lay in the earth. He tried to work around the farm, but it was difficult to return to an empty house at night. At night he read the newspaper, but most of the time, he just sat, looking at the floor, wondering where Phoebe was and how soon he would die.
For five months, he lived like this. Then there was a change. It happened one night after he had gone to bed. There was a bright moon in the sky, its silver light fell on the old chair and table in the bedroom. The moonlight on the chair and the half open door made a shadow, the shadow looked like Phoebe. She was sitting by the table, the way she had done so many times before.
"Phoebe," he called in a weak voice, "have you come back?" The shadow in the chair did not move. Henry got up and slowly walked toward it. When he came near the table, he saw that there was nothing on the chair but his old coat. Another night, he thought he saw her again. He felt a soft wind blow in the room. When the wind blew away, the shadow of Phoebe went away too. A third night, when he was sleeping, she came to the bed and put her hand on his head. "Oh, my Henry," she said gently, "I am sorry you are alone". He awoke and was sure he saw her leave the room. Phoebe had come back.
Night after night he waited. Then one morning he awoke with a surprising new thought. Perhaps she was not dead. Perhaps Phoebe had just gone away. They had argued about the corn pipe and she had left the house. Yes, that was it. She was always making jokes about leaving him. This time she had really gone.
That morning, he started to walk to the nearest neighbors. "Why, hello, Henry," said farmer Dodge, he was taking grain to market. "Where are you going this morning?" "Have you seen Phoebe?" asked Henry.
"Phoebe who? " Farmer Dodge knew Henry's Phoebe was dead.
"My Phoebe", Henry said "Whom do you think I mean?"
"You must be joking", said farmer Dodge. "You cannot be talking about your Phoebe. She is dead."
"Dead? not my Phoebe. She left me this morning while I was sleeping. We argued about my corn pipe last night, and that is why she left. But I can find her. She went over to Matilda Race's farm-yep that is where she is." Henry started to walk fast down the road.
"The poor old man is sick in his mind", Dodge said to himself. "He has been leaving alone too long". Henry met no one until he reached Matilda Race's farm. His Phoebe and Matilda Race had been good friends. Phoebe must be here. He opened the gate and walked to the house. Matilda opened the door. "Why, Henry Reifsneider, What a surprise!"
"Is Phoebe here?" Henry asked.
"Phoebe? Which Phoebe?"
"Why, my Phoebe of course." Henry smiled a little. "You do not have to keep it a secret. She is here, isn't she?" he looked inside the house.
"Well," Matilda Race said "You poor old man, come in and sit down. I like to get you some coffee and food. I will take you to Phoebe. I know where she is. While Matilda was working in the kitchen, she talked to Henry. But he was not listening. He was thinking about Phoebe. He decided she was not there. "I will go now", he said, getting up, "I think she went over to the Mary Farm". Then he was out on the road again.
It was like this for many weeks. Every night he returned to his house to see if Phoebe had come back, soon everyone in the area knew old Henry and answered his questions. "I have not seeing her", they would say, or "No, Henry, she has not been here today."
For several years Henry walked in the sun and rain, looking for Phoebe. His white hair grew longer and longer. His black hat was the brown color of the earth and his clothes were dusty and torn.
It was in the seventh year of looking when Henry came to Red Hill. It was late at night and he was tired and sleepy. Years of walking and very little food had made him thin. Each passing year seemed to bring him closer to Phoebe. Tonight he felt that Phoebe was nearer than she had ever been before. After a while, he fell asleep with his head resting on his knees. When he awoke, it was still dark. The moon shone brightly through the trees. Henry saw a light move across the road, it danced through the woods. Was it Phoebe? He jumped up, he was sure he could see her in that light. Yes, there she was, the young Phoebe he had known many years ago. Suddenly he remembered her young beauty, her warm friendly smile, the blue dress she had worn the day he first met her.
"Phoebe", he called "have you really come? Have you really answered me?" He began to feel young and strong again. He ran to follow the moving light. Then a soft wind blew through the leaves and she was gone. "Phoebe", he cried, "Do not leave me, please, please stay with me!" He went as fast as his old legs would go. When he came to the top of the hill, he looked down into the valley of shadows below. Tears of happiness came into his eyes when he saw Phoebe again. Yes, there she was, down in the valley, smiling up at him. She was in the same blue dress. She waved her hand and seemed to say "Come, come with me."
Henry felt the strong pull of a new world where he and Phoebe were always be-together, he gave a happy cry "Wait, Phoebe, wait. I am coming".
The next day, some farmer boys found Henry at the bottom of the hill. His body was broken. There was a soft happy smile on his face, the same smile he had known when Phoebe was alive.[End]
You have just heard the Lost Phoebe written by Theodore Dricer. It was published by World Publishing Company in 1947 in the book Best Short Stories of Theodore Dricer. Your story teller was Sharp O'Neal. This story is copyrighted. All rights reserved for VOA Special English. This is Shirelly Greefeik.
譯文
菲比生前
老亨利和他妻子菲比的愛就像其他別的生活在一起多年的夫婦一樣。他們是普通的農民，他們的果樹、田地和後院的豬、雞就是他們的世界，其餘的東西對他們來說就像天上的星星一樣遙不可及。
亨利有時會擔心死亡。這個時候，他就會提高蒼老的嗓子對妻子說：“菲比，我的菸斗在哪裡？你總是亂放我的東西！”
“你靜一靜吧，亨利。”他妻子說：“如果你總是那樣的話，我會離開你的，那看你怎么辦？到時沒有人照顧你。（菸斗）你自己放在桌子上你就找不到嗎？”
老亨利知道他的妻子是不會離開他的，除非他死，這也是他所害怕的。他常常在想，離開了菲比，他如何能生活下去。
晚上，當他看到門被安全地鎖上，而菲比和他在一起了，他心裡就感覺很溫暖。半夜，當亨利翻身的時候，菲比通常會對他說：“亨利，請安靜。你不要像只小雞一樣動來動去。”
“嗯，我睡不著啊，菲比。”
“如果你不翻來覆去的話，你就會睡得著，我也會得到休息.”知道在這黑夜裡，菲比就在自己身旁，亨利再次安靜下來。
當菲比叫他去提桶水時，亨利總是說“讓我做這讓我做那，女人真是麻煩啊！”菲比通常只是微笑不語。她能從他的雙眼裡看到他內心的幸福。雖然，亨利說話總是直來直去的，但他從來不忘記去提水，不忘記用木柴生火。就這樣，他們在他們的世界裡過得簡單而快樂的生活。
菲比死後
一個早春的一天，菲比因病而死，老亨利眼看著人們把她的屍體埋進土裡。鄰居們讓亨利過來跟他們一起住，但他不願意，他想住在離菲比埯葬的地方近一點的地方。他嘗試著幹些農活，但是當晚上回到家中，看著空空的房子他總是無法忍受。夜晚，他讀書、看報，但大多數時間，他只是呆呆地坐著，看著地板，想著菲比現在在哪裡以及多久他便會死。
他就這樣生活了5個月，然後生活有了些改變。它發生在他已睡覺了的一個夜晚。一輪明月懸掛在夜空，銀色的光線傾瀉在房間的舊椅子和桌子上，月光照著半掩的門上及椅子上，影出一個影子來。這個影子看起來很像菲比，她正坐在桌子旁邊，這個動作是她以前經常做的。
“菲比，”亨利輕輕叫道，“是不是你回來了?”
椅子上的這個影子沒有動，亨利爬起床來並慢慢地走近它。但當他走近桌子時，他除了看到他的一件舊大衣在椅子上外，什麼也沒有。第二天晚上，他覺得他又看見她了，他感到一股輕柔的風吹拂進房間裡。當風吹走了，菲比的影子也離開了。第三天晚上，當亨利睡著時，她來到他床前，把她的手放在他的額頭上，“我親愛的亨利，“他溫柔地說，”我很難過留下你獨自一人。“他醒過來並確信他看見菲比在房間裡，菲比回來了。
他一晚接一晚地等。然而一天早上他醒來時突然有了一個奇怪的新想法:也許菲比並沒有死，也許地只是離開而已。他們以前曾為了菸斗而爭吵，她便會離家出走。對！應該是這樣的了。她以前一直跟他開玩笑說離開他，這一次她是真的離開了。
於是這個早上，他便開始走去最近的鄰居處找尋。“喂，亨利，”農夫大治正要把穀物運到市場去，看見亨利便說道,“這么早你要去哪裡呢？”
“你有沒有看見菲比？”亨利問道。
“哪個菲比？”農夫大治知道亨利的菲比已經死了。
“我的菲比，”亨利說，”難道你以為我說誰了？”
“你開玩笑啊！”大治說，“你不能再說你的菲比了，她已經死了。”
“死了？那不是我的菲比。今天早上當我還在睡覺時她離開我了，她離開我的原因是由於我們昨天為了我的菸斗而吵架了。但我能找到她，她去了Matilda的農場吧,對！她應該在那兒。”亨利說著快步地沿著小路走下去。
“這可憐的老頭兒腦子一定有問題了，”大治自言自語道，“他單獨生活的時間太長了。”
當亨利到達Matilda農場，看到一個人了沒有。菲比和Matilda曾是好朋友。菲比肯定在這兒的。他打開大門並走進屋子裡，Matilda出來開門說“很驚訝你怎么會有這裡，亨利？”
“菲比在這兒嗎？”他問。
“菲比？哪個菲比呢？”
“當然是我的菲比了。”亨利輕輕地笑了一下，“你不要瞞我了，她在這兒的，對嗎？”他看著屋裡問。
“嗯，”Matilda說，“你這個老頭啊，進來坐吧！我給你沖點咖啡及食物，我會帶你到菲比處，我知道她在哪兒。”Matilda邊在廚房裡露幹活，邊對亨利說。但是他沒有聽到，他在想著他的菲比，他確認她不在那裡，“我要走了，”他說著抬起腳，“我想她去了瑪麗農場 ”。然後他出了門再次踏上尋找的征途。
像這樣過了幾周，每晚亨利回到家中就會看看菲比是否回來了，很快附近人人都認識了老亨利和懂得如何回答他的問題了。“我沒有看見她。”他們會說，或者說，“不，亨利！她今天不在這兒。”
這幾年來，無論是烈日還是下雨，亨利都堅持尋找菲比。他的白頭髮越來越長了，黑色的帽子變成泥土般的棕色，他的衣服變得破爛不堪。
亨利之死
當尋找去到第七個年頭時，亨利來到紅山。夜已深，他感到又累又困，數年的步行及缺少食物使他消瘦。每個逝去的年份好像將他與菲比的距離越拉越近。今晚他感到菲比比以往都離他更近。一陣後，他把頭埋在膝蓋上睡著了，當他醒來時，仍然是漆黑一片，月光透過樹葉灑下來。亨利看到路上有一道光線在移動，它通過樹林起舞。難道是菲比？他跳起來，他堅信在光線中能夠看到她。是的，就是她，是他多年前認識的那個年輕的菲比。突然他記起她的年輕美麗，她那柔和友善的微笑，以及他第一次見到她時她穿的那條藍色的裙子。
“菲比，”他大叫，“你真的來了？你是不是真的應我呀？”他開始再次感到年輕和強壯。他跟著移動的光線跑。然後一陣微風吹過樹葉，她就消失了。“菲比，” 他哭叫著，“請不要離開我，請留下來陪我！”他邁開年邁的雙腿，以最快的速度跑。當他跑到山頂，他看到山谷下的影子，當他再次見到菲比，他的眼裡含著幸福的淚光。對！她就在那裡，就在山谷下，正沖他微笑。她穿著那條藍色的裙子，（向他）招手好像在說：“來，過來和我在一起。”
亨利感到一個新世界強烈地吸引著他，在那裡他和菲比永遠在一起，他幸福地哭了，“等等，菲比！等等我，我就來了！”
第二天，一些農民的孩子在山腳下發現了亨利的屍體，他的身體已經摔爛。他的臉上帶著溫柔而幸福的微笑，這微笑和菲比在世時一模一樣。
