《茫茫藻海》：桑菲尔德庄园里的幽灵.docVIP

《茫茫藻海》：桑菲尔德庄园里的幽灵 　　琼?里斯（Jean Rhys， 1890～1979）出生于英属西印度群岛的多米尼加，父亲是来自威尔士的医生，母亲是当地的克里奥人。她在当地接受教育，16岁时离开故乡来到英国求学，19岁就读于皇家戏剧艺术学院，因地方口音重而被劝退学，当演员的梦想就此破碎。之后她打过各种零工，1924年遇到了文学上的伯乐――英国作家福特?麦多克斯?福特（Ford Madox Ford），在他的鼓励下从事小说写作。她的作品以无根的现代人尤其是夹在加勒比海文化和英国文化之间的移民为主人公，描绘了他们的漂泊经历和彷徨内心，代表作有《黑暗中的航程》（Voyage in the Dark）、《早安，午夜》（Good Morning， Midnight）和《茫茫藻海》（Wide Sargasso Sea）。其中，《茫茫藻海》被称为是《简?爱》的前篇。 　　It was getting hot and I was tired when I reached the path to Christophine’s two-roomed house， the roof shingled2）， not thatched3）. She was sitting on a box under her mango tree， smoking a white clay pipe and she called out， “It’s you， Antoinette？ Why you come up here so early？” 　　“I just wanted to see you，” I said. 　　She helped me loosen Preston4）’s girth5） and led him to a stream near by. He drank as if he were very thirsty， then shook himself and snorted. Water flew out of his nostrils. We left him cropping grass and went back to the mango tree. She sat on her box and pushed another towards me， but I knelt close to her touching a thin silver bangle that she always wore. 　　“You smell the same，” I said. 　　“You come all this long way to tell me that？” she said. Her clothes smelled of clean cotton， starched6） and ironed. I had seen her so often standing knee deep in the river at Coulibri， her long skirt hitched up， washing her dresses and her white shifts7）， then beating them against the stones. Sometimes there would be other women all bringing their washing down on the stones again and again， a gay busy noise. At last they would spread the wet clothes in the sun， wipe their foreheads， start laughing and talking. She smelled too， of their smell， so warm and comforting to me （but he8） does not like it）. The sky was dark blue through the dark green mango leaves， and I thought， “This is my place and this is where I belong and this is where I wish to stay.” Then I thought， “What a beautiful tree， but it is too high up here for mangoes and it may never bear fruit，” and I thought of