流光半夏，美好日长。在夏日的光景中静心读书，也是一种幸福。当我翻开书页，读到牛虻在慷慨就义前留下的遗书时，不禁潸然泪下。遥想在战火纷飞的年代，还有千千万万个像牛虻一样英勇无畏的革命者，他们以深沉的爱国主义情怀，飞蛾扑火般的执著精神和气冲霄汉的英雄气魄，为信仰向死而生。本期为大家推荐的书目是爱尔兰作家埃·莉·伏尼契的作品《牛虻》。在这个火红的七月，让我们一起在书中追寻革命先烈的足迹。

作品简介

《牛虻》一书描写了意大利革命党人牛虻的一生。主人公单纯幼稚的爱国青年亚瑟因向神父忏悔爱情时泄露了革命党人的秘密，铸成终身大错，假死远赴他乡。十三年后，历经苦难的他重回故土，已成为一个坚定的革命者，他以“牛虻”的笔名积极投身民族解放运动的斗争中，最后为之献出了生命。

 

作者简介

埃·莉·伏尼契（Ethel Lilian Voynich，1864-1960），爱尔兰女作家，本姓布尔，是著名的英国数学家乔治·布尔的第五个女儿。幼年丧父，随母亲迁居伦敦。1885年毕业于柏林音乐学院，1892年与波兰流亡者米哈伊·伏尼契结婚。1897年出版长篇小说《牛虻》，成功地塑造了革命者“牛虻”的英雄形象。这部小说在中国影响巨大，与《简·爱》《红与黑》并列为三大热销外国文学名著。

苏联电影《牛虻》剧照（图片源自网络，如有侵权，请联系删除）

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《牛虻》（节选）中文朗读

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《牛虻》（节选）英文朗读

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星期三早晨，太阳刚刚出山时，他们就把牛虻押到了院子里。他的腿显然比平时瘸得更加厉害……但是，平时那种因疲惫而流露的驯服表情已荡然无存。往日的空虚寂静使他饱受压抑，神情如幽灵似的恐怖，此刻这种神情已不复存在；黑夜使他在阴影的世界中产生的幻觉和梦境，也随着黑夜一同消失了。一旦阳光普照，一旦敌人出现在眼前，他就有了战斗精神，也就无所畏惧了。

六名士兵接受了执行枪决的命令，他们身携卡宾枪，排着队，沿着长满常春藤的墙壁站开……他们奉命执行枪决牛虻的任务，似乎感到一种无法想象的恐怖。牛虻那种犀利的雄辩、经久不衰的嘲笑、襟怀坦荡而又感人肺腑的勇气，一如牛虻其人，给他们麻木而又可悲的生活中透进了缕缕阳光。他现在偏偏要被处以死刑，而且要他们亲手执行这个死刑任务。他们以为，这无异于要熄灭天上皎洁的明星。

等待他的坟墓就在院子里那棵巨大的无花果树下，昨天夜里已经挖掘好了。掘墓的人并不情愿干，他们的铁锹上沾着他们的眼泪。牛虻从那儿经过时，低头看看黑糊糊的洞穴，看看周围渐渐枯萎的野草，他微微笑着，深深吸了一口气，品味着刚刨的新土散发出来的香气。

 

At sunrise on Wednesday morning they brought him out into the courtyard. His lameness was more than usually apparent... but all the weary submission had gone out of his face. The spectral terrors that had crushed him down in the empty silence, the visions and dreams of the world of shadows, were gone with the night which gave them birth; and once the sun was shining and his enemies were present to rouse the fighting spirit in him, he was not afraid.

The six carabineers who had been told off for the execution were drawn up in line against the ivied wall... It seemed to them a horror beyond imagination that they should be called out to kill the Gadfly. He and his stinging repartees, his perpetual laughter, his bright, infectious courage, had come into their dull and dreary lives like a wandering sunbeam; and that he should die, and at their hands was to them as the darkening of the clear lamps of heaven.

Under the great fig-tree in the courtyard, his grave was waiting for him. It had been dug in the night by unwilling hands; and tears had fallen on the spade. As he passed he looked down, smiling, at the black pit and the withering grass beside it; and drew a long breath, to smell the scent of the freshly turned earth.

——英文原文节选自The Gadfly（London : Mandarin, 1991.），索书号：I561.45/V975

 

☆词汇

apparent  adj. 明显的，显而易见的；表面的，貌似的

terror  n. 恐怖；可怕的人

crush  n. 压碎，压坏

           vt. 压碎；压坏；压服，压垮

vision  n. 视觉，视力；眼光，洞察力

rouse  vt. 惊起；唤起，唤醒

dull  adj. 单调的，枯燥无味的；迟钝的，愚笨的；不锋利的

          vt. 使迟钝

smell  n. 气味；嗅觉  

v. 嗅，闻到；散发（……的）气味       

（单词注释来自有道词典）

 

文案策划：图书借阅部 李圣昭 王熙