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　　*第二十篇Tales of the Terrible Past

　　It is not the job of fiction writers to analyze and interpret history. Yet by writing about the past in a vivid and compelling manner, storytellers can bring earlier eras to life and force readers to consider them seriously. Among those taking on the task of recounting history are some black writers who attempt to examine slavery from different points of view.

　　Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison deals specifically with the legacy of slavery in her book Beloved. The main character in this novel, a former slave called Sethe, lives in Ohio in the years following the Civil War, but she cannot free herself from her horrific memories. Through a series of flashbacks and bitter reminiscences, the reader learns how and why Sethe escaped from the plantation she had lived on; the fate of her husband, who also tried to escape; and finally, what happened to the child called Beloved. Morrison's scenes of torture and murder are vivid and strongly convey the desperation of the slaves and the cruelty of their owners．

　　Charles Johnson's Middle Passage approaches slavery from a different, yet no less violent, vantage point. His main character, Rutherford Calhoun, is a ne'er-do-well free black American who stows away on a slave ship bound for Africa to collect its “cargo”. Put to work after he is discovered, Calhoun witnesses firsthand the appalling conditions in which the captured Africans are transported. When they finally rebel and take over the ship, he finds himself in the middle —and is forced to come to terms with who he is and what his values are.

　　Neither Beloved nor Middle Passage is an easy read, but both exemplify African American writers' attempts to bring significant historical situations alive for a modem audience.

　　練習：

　　1. This passage is mostly about________.

　　A) the causes of slavery in America

　　B) black writers in the late 20th century

　　C) why Morrison and Johnson wrote the books they did

　　D) two novels that deal with slavery

　　2. Beloved is set________.

　　A) on a slave ship

　　B) on a plantation before the Civil War

　　C) in Ohio after the Civil War

　　D) in an African town

　　3. The writer seems to feel that________.

　　A) everyone should read Morrison's and Johnson's novels

　　B) the books are worthwhile but challenging

　　C) black writers should ignore racial issues

　　D) we will repeat the past if we don't learn about it

　　4. The writer emphasizes that the two books are similar in their________.

　　A) use of flashbacks

　　B) treatment of women

　　C) criticism of whites

　　D) portrayal of violence

　　5. The word appalling means________.

　　A) terrible

　　B ) surprising

　　C) guilty

　　D) unrealistic

　　【答案】

　　1. D 2. C 3. B 4. D 5. A

　　【譯文】

　　第二十篇講述可怕的過去

　　分析和詮釋歷史并不是小說家的工作。然而通過用一種生動有趣的方式來描寫過去，小說家可以重現早期時代，并引起讀者的重視。在敘述歷史的作家中，有一些黑人作家試圖從不同的角度審視奴隸制。

　　諾貝爾獎獲得者托妮·莫里森在她的作品《寵兒》中專門闡述了奴隸制問題。小說的主人公叫塞絲，她以前是個奴隸，內戰之后住在俄亥俄，但是她無法讓自己從可怕的記憶中解脫出來。通過一系列的倒序和痛苦的回憶，讀者了解到賽絲為什么以及怎樣逃出她賴以生存的種植園，她那同樣試圖逃出來的丈夫的命運，以及最后發生在叫做寵兒的孩子身上的事情。莫里森對奴隸受折磨和遭謀殺的場景描寫得很生動，充分地表達出奴隸們的絕望以及奴隸主的殘酷。

　　查爾斯·約翰遜的小說《中途》從另一個不同的角度來描寫奴隸制，但同樣充滿著暴力。他的主人公叫做盧瑟福·卡爾霍恩，是一個游手好閑、身份自由的美國黑人。他偷偷登上了一艘開往非洲販賣奴隸的船只。被發現后，他開始為之工作，并親眼目睹了非洲人被抓起來，然后被運送到美國這種可怕的狀況。當非洲人最終抵抗并占有了船只后，他發現了自己的中間性--并且被迫與他自己的身份和價值觀念妥協。

　　不論是《寵兒》還是《中途》讀起來都不輕松，但是它們都是非裔美國作家努力為現代觀眾重現重要歷史的典范之作。

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