隆暑方盛气，清风无处寻。在这样的盛暑天里，让我们一起读一读森林深处的轻松故事，看看四个动物好朋友如何同甘共苦、历经冒险。今天为大家继续推荐英国作家肯尼斯·格林厄姆的《柳林风声》。这样一部可爱的童话故事，曾经抚慰了作家患病的儿子，也为全世界的孩子们带来温暖和快乐。相信这本小书也一定会为这炎炎夏日带来一丝清凉。

译序（节选自《柳林风声》作家出版社，2022）

近年，一种颇为一致的意见认为，从19世纪中期到第一次世界大战前的数十年，是英国儿童文学百花争妍的黄金时代。它以《爱丽丝漫游奇境记》始，以《柳林风声》终。这个评估，很可以说明《柳林风声》在文学史上的地位。

故事虽不离奇但很有趣。在风光旖旎的泰晤士河畔，住着四个要好的朋友——憨厚的鼹鼠、机灵的河鼠、狂妄自大的蟾蜍、老成持重的獾。他们竟日游山逛水，尽享大自然的慷慨恩赐。财大气粗而又不知天高地厚的蟾蜍，迷上了开汽车，车祸不断，受到朋友们的责难和管束。一次，他偷了一辆汽车，被捕入狱，在狱卒女儿的帮助下，化装成洗衣妇逃出监狱，历经险情和磨难，在三位朋友的帮助下，夺回了被野林动物侵占的庄园，并从此改邪归正……

格雷厄姆把《柳林风声》作为对儿童的赠礼，不是偶然的，他对儿童教育和儿童文学有一贯的见地……他要使孩子意识到这种奇妙的可贵，激发他们的想象力，使他们与大自然认同，感受到自然和家庭的温暖。孩子的精神处于紧张和压力下时，需要保有一个心中的“秘密花园”。通过密切接触自然、有趣的历险和激动人心的书，孩子的想象力能获得营养，成年后用以抵御日常工作、生活的平淡刻板和物欲野心的侵袭，回到那个独自的精神世界去获得心灵的复苏……这是格雷厄姆对儿童文学独有的见地，也是他独有的贡献。

 

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以上插图选自《柳林风声》（上海译文出版社，2022）

 

 

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Sometimes, in the course of long summer evenings, the friends would take a stroll together in the Wild Wood, now successfully tamed so far as they were concerned; and it was pleasing to see how respectfully they were greeted by the inhabitants, and how the mother-weasels would bring their young ones to the mouths of their holes, and say, pointing, ‘Look, baby! There goes the great Mr Toad! And that’s the gallant Water Rat, a terrible fighter, walking along o’ him! And yonder comes the famous Mr Mole, of whom you so often have heard your father tell’ But when their infants were fractious and quite beyond control, they would quiet them by telling how, if they didn’t hush them and not fret them, the terrible grey Badger would up and get them. This was a base libel on Badger, who, though he cared little about Society, was rather fond of children; but it never failed to have its full effect.

本书创作于1932年，其作者为当时的法国乃至全世界开辟出了一个少有人关注的领域：儿童文学的创作与出版。这也让作家及出版人看到了为儿童写作的独特魅力，意识到为儿童创作一本小书的珍贵意义。书中，阿扎尔不仅从纵向（即时间）角度叙述了儿童文学的现实发展状况，还对儿童文学史的发展历程及一些经典读物和作家进行客观评析。而且他还凭借开阔的眼界和深厚的比较文学知识的底蕴，从横向（即空间）对不同地域的儿童文学进行比较，展现各国早期儿童文学特色。此外，关于何为优秀的儿童作品，他总结了一系列评判标准，为儿童文学的阅读与创作提供指导和借鉴意义。

In this book renowned fairy tale expert Jack Zipes presents a provocative new theory about why fairy tales were created and retold and why they became such an indelible and infinitely adaptable part of cultures around the world. Drawing on cognitive science evolutionary theory anthropology psychology literary theory and other fields Zipes presents a nuanced argument about how fairy tales originated in ancient oral cultures how they evolved through the rise of literary culture and print and how in our own time they continue to change through their adaptation in an ever growing variety of media. While we may never be able to fully explain fairy tales, this book provides a powerful theory of how and why they evolved and why we still use them to make meaning of our lives.

 

 

文案策划及录音：图书借阅部 李圣昭

编辑：宣传策划小组 侯硕