第　三　章 复辟时期与十八世纪上半

1660年，英国革命政权崩溃，国王查理二世由法回国复位，但是政权掌握在贵族和资产阶级联合组成的新的国会手中，经过1688年的“光荣革命”，这一新的政治格局稳定下来。文艺上也出现了一个以新古典主义为标志的新的局面。

以散文而论，经过了文艺复兴时期一百多年的多方运用，说理文与抒情文两大类都得到很大发展，到了十七世纪中叶，在风格上逐渐趋向平易。

把平易确立为主导风格，是经过几代作家努力的结果。这当中有各种人物，政见与思想倾向并不一致。

德莱顿和班扬

首先要提到德莱顿。约翰·德莱顿（John Dryden, 1631—1700）是1660年后英国文坛上的红人，他迎合新复位的国王查理二世的朝廷，倡导法国式的新古典主义，在“英雄诗剧”、政治讽刺诗、文论、古典作品的翻译等各方面都有建树。他的散文则写得平易、亲切、口语化，可以著名文论《论戏剧诗》中论莎士比亚的一段为例：

He was the man who of all modern, and perhaps ancient poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul. All the images of Nature were still present to him, and he drew them, not laboriously, but luckily; when he describes anything, you more than see it, you feel it too. Those who accuse him to have wanted learning, give him the greater commendation: he was naturally learned; he needed not the spectacles of books to read Nature; he looked inwards, and found her there. I cannot say he is everywhere alike; were he so, I should do him injury to compare him with the greatest of mankind. He is many times flat, insipid; his comic wit degenerating into clenches, his serious swelling into bombast. But he is always great, when some great occasion is presented to him; no man can say he ever had a fit subject for his wit, and did not then raise himself as high above the rest of poets.

—Of Dramatic Poesy (1668)

他在所有近代——也许还有古代——的诗人当中，有最宽广最灵敏的才智，他的心灵洞悉宇宙万象，能够轻巧地，而不是费力地，描绘它们。每当他写一物，你不仅能够眼见，而且能够感到。有人嫌他缺乏学问，实际上这是给了他更大的赞美，因为他天生就有学问，不需拿书本当眼镜去研究自然，只须内观己心，自然就在那里。我不能说他处处都好；要是那样，最伟大的作家也不足与他相比了。他常平淡乏味，有时机智成了诨谑，有时严肃变为浮夸。但是只要时机不凡，则他也能身手不凡，从无题材合适而他不能写得大大超过其他诗人的情况。

在这里，德莱顿不是以一个理论家，而是以一个同行作家的身份在说话，而且说的是真实感受。这正是英国式文论的精神。以后约翰逊博士等人，也是能做到不因自己的理论倾向而埋没属于不同倾向的作品的优点，也是着重具体分析，不怕谈切身感受。德莱顿的这篇文论还是用会话体写的，穿插有风景描写，显得活泼，带抒情色彩。

德莱顿属于在朝派。在野派中也有重要的散文作家，例如班扬。约翰·班扬（John Bunyan, 1628—88）本是小炉匠，当过兵，为革命时期的国会打过仗，复辟后成为不服国教者，在民间私自讲道，为政府监禁多年。在狱中他写了《天路历程》（The Pilgrim's Progress, 1675）一书，用寓言的形式叙述虔诚的基督徒在一个罪恶的世界里的经历。以下是他们走进“名利场”后的遭遇：

... they contrived here to set up a fair; a fair wherein should be sold all sorts of vanity, and that it should last all the year long. Therefore at this fair are all such merchandise sold, as houses, lands, trades, places, honours, preferments, titles, countries, kingdoms, lusts, pleasures, and delights of all sorts, as whores, bawds, wives, husbands, children, masters, servants, lives, blood, bodies, souls, silver, gold, pearls, precious stones, and what not.

And, moreover, at this fair there is at all times to be seen juggling, cheats, games, plays, fools, apes, knaves, and rogues, and that of all sorts.

Here are to be seen too, and that for nothing, thefts, murders, adulteries, false-swearers, and that of a bloodred colour.

……这些人在此设立了一个市场。这是一个出卖各种名利的市场，全年开放，出售各种货物，例如房，地，行业，地位，荣誉，官职，称号，领土，王国；满足各种淫欲、欢乐、趣味，备有妓女，老鸨，妻子，丈夫，儿童，主人，仆人，生命，血，身体，灵魂，金，银，珍珠，宝石等等。

而且此处终年可见变戏法的，骗子，搞游戏的，演戏的，傻瓜，学舌者，坏蛋，流氓，各色各类。

这里还不用花钱就可看到偷窃，杀人，通奸，作伪证等等，全涂上了血红的颜色。

而等基督徒们来到场里，除了他们的衣服、语言引起当地人的嘲笑之外，还面临这样一个场面：

One chanced mockingly, beholding the carriage of the men, to say unto them, What Will ye buy? But they, looking gravely upon him, said, We buy the Truth. At that, there was an occasion taken to despise the men the more; some mocking, some taunting, some speaking reproachfully, and some calling upon others to smite them. At last things came to a hubbub, and great stir in the fair, insomuch that allorder was confounded. Now was word presently brought to the great one of the fair, who quickly came down, and deputed some of his most trusty friends to take these men into examination, about whom the fair was almost overturned. So the men were brought to examination; and they that sat upon them, asked them whence they came, whither they went, and what they did there in such an unusual garb? The men told them, that they were pilgrims and strangers in the world, and that they were going to their own country, which was the heavenly Jerusalem; and that they had given none occasion to the men of the town, nor yet to the merchandisers, thus to abuse them, and to let them in their journey. Except it was, for that, when one asked them what they would buy, they said, they would buy the Truth. But they that were appointed to examine them, did not believe them to be any other than Bedlams and mad, or else such as came to put all things into a confusion in the fair. Therefore they took them, and beat them, and besmeared them with dirt, and then put them into the cage, that they might be made a spectacle to all the men of the fair.

有一人看见这几个教徒的举止，就挖苦地问他们：“你们买什么？”他们庄重地看着他，答道：“我们买真理。”这话一说，引起人们对他们更大的鄙视，有的嘲笑，有的谩骂，有的责备，有的叫人来打他们。最后人声嘈杂，市场沸腾，乱了起来。事情传到市场主管那里，他走了过来，差他的几个最亲信的朋友把这几个闹翻市场的人带去审问。审问者问他们来自何地，前往何地，为什么穿那样奇怪的装束，想在市场里干什么？他们答道：他们是过路的教徒，世界上的陌生人，前往他们自己的国土，即天国耶路撒冷；他们没有招惹当地居民，更不必说卖货商人，不知为什么要这样骂他们，不让他们继续走路。他们只做了一件事情，就是当有人问他们想买什么的时候，他们说想买真理。但是审问者认为这几个人都是疯子，狂人，或是故意来捣乱市场的家伙。于是把他们抓住，打了一顿，满身涂泥，关在铁笼里，放在市场里示众。

通过以上的引文，我们可以略见《天路历程》这本群众喜爱的名著的一些特点：在精神上崇扬追求真理的虔诚信徒，而谴责压迫者、欺骗者、享乐者；在语言上用纯朴的民间口语，又有浓厚的《圣经》风格；在技巧上采取寓言形式，然而叙事写物十分真实，实际上是一种新的文学样式的先驱，即写实小说。

值得中国读者注意的，是英国不服国教者在思想上和文学上的重要地位。他们以工匠和小市民为主体，继掘地派、平均派的余烈，酝酿着“饥饿请愿”、“毯子进军”等等的未来斗争，其思想感情构成英国民族性格中的一个历时长远、影响深刻的成分。从文学上说，十八世纪写实小说的兴起是一件大事，而它的创始人，一个是这里所谈的班扬，一个是即将出现的笛福，都是不服国教者。

报刊文学的兴起

班扬的散文是新散文的一种。散文另一方面的发展见于报刊文章，它们也力求平易，但又要在平易中见文雅。

近代报刊的出现说明一种新的传播工具已经进入社会生活。用语言或文字传播新闻当然是古已有之，但要等到十八世纪之初，才有定期出版、专人编辑、面向一般读者的刊物。这些刊物不仅传播时事和社会新闻，而且发表议论。这后者是一个新因素，由于有这个因素，刊物就不只是宫廷公报或街头传单的重演，而变成现代的舆论工具，能够对社会施加强大影响。当时英国已经出现的托雷与辉格两大政党之争，促成了利用了报刊的发展，而广大中产阶级读者群的存在又使得报刊能有市场，于是从世纪之初，各种名目的报刊相继出现，而当时文坛上的头面人物无不与这家或那家报刊发生关系，或主笔政，或撰文稿：艾狄生、斯梯尔、笛福、斯威夫特、菲尔丁、约翰逊、哥尔德斯密等都是。

这当中，主持《旁观者》报（The Spectator, 1711—12）的艾狄生（Joseph Addison, 1672—1719）在确定报刊文学的作用、格调和写法上起了特殊作用。《旁观者》报也有一些报道，但更多的是议论。议论的范围广泛，除时事外，还涉及社会风尚、个人修养、科学发明、文艺鉴赏等等，其目的在于提高社会的文明程度。刊物本身的格调是高的，在写法上也下工夫，用艾狄生自己的话说，就是要“使教育有趣，消遣有用”，“用才智活跃道德，用道德陶冶才智”。他还有一句名言，说明自己办刊物的用意：

It was said of Socrates, that he brought Philosophy down from Heaven, to inhabit among Men; and I shall be ambitious to have it said of me, that I have brought Philosophy out of Closets and Libraries, Schools and Colleges, to dwell in Clubs and Assemblies, at Tea-Tables and in Coffee-Houses.

有人说苏格拉底把哲学从天上拉到了地上与人共居，我的野心是希望有人说我把哲学引出私室、书房、学校、大学，让它进了俱乐部和会议厅，停留在午茶桌上和咖啡店里。

（《旁观者》报，1711年3月12日）

那么，艾狄生又是怎样实践他的主张的呢？或者说，他到底写了什么样的报刊文章呢？我们举一个实例：

The last Progress that I made with this Intention, was about three Months ago, when we had a Current Report of the King of France's Death. As I foresaw this would produce a new Face of things in Europe, and many curious Speculations in our British Coffee-hous-es, I was very desirous to learn the Thoughts of our most eminent Politicians on that Occasion.

That I might begin as near the Fountain-head as possible, I first of all called in at St. James's, where I found the whole outward Room in a Buzz of Politics. The Speculations were but very indifferent towards the Door, but grew finer as you advanced to the upper end of the Room, and were so very much improved by a Knot of Theorists, who sate in the inner Room, within the Steams of the Coffee-Pot, that I there heard the whole Spanish Monarchy disposed of, and all the Line of Bourbon provided for in less than a Quarter of an Hour.

I afterwards called in at Giles's where I saw a Board of French Gentlemen sitting upon the Life and Death of their Grand Monarque. Those among them who had espoused the Wigg Interest, very positively affirmed, that he departed this Life about a Week since, and therefore proceeded without any further Delay to the Release of their Friends on the Gallies, and to their own Re-establishment; but finding they could not agree among themselves, I proceeded on my intended Progress.

Upon my Arrival at Jenny Man's. I saw an alerte young Fellow that cocked his Hat upon a Friend of his who entered just at the same time with my self, and accosted him after the following manner. Well Jack, the old Prig is dead at last. Sharp's the Word. Now or never Boy. Up to the Walls of Paris directly. With several other deep Reflections of the same Nature.

I met with very little variation in the Politics between Charing-Cross and Covent-Garden. And upon my going into Will's I found their Discourse was gone off from the Death of the French King to that of Monsieur Boileau, Racine, Corneille, and several other Poets, whom they regretted on this Occasion, as Persons who would have obliged the World with very noble Elegies on the Death of so great a Prince, and so eminent a Patron of Learning.

我上次的巡游在大约三个月前，当时我们听到一条消息，说是法国国王去世了。我料想此事将使欧洲换上新貌，会引起我们英国咖啡店里各种奇妙议论，也就很想了解一下我们的一些显要的政治人物对它有什么想法。

为了尽量从源头开始，我首先走进圣詹姆士咖啡店，发现整个前厅人声嘈杂，都在谈论政治。坐在门口的人还只是泛泛而谈，越往里走越谈得好，等到走到里厅，更是精彩，那里有一群理论家坐在咖啡壶喷出的香气之中高谈阔论，不到一刻钟，就把整个西班牙皇室打发掉了，又把全部波旁王朝都安置好了。

接着我去到茄尔斯咖啡店，那里法国绅士们在开会讨论他们君王的生死问题。他们当中拥护革新派的人肯定地说，国王已在一周前离开人世，并立即进而谈到他们那些受苦的朋友们将被释放，他们自己也会恢复原来地位。但我发现他们意见并不一致，就照原定计划继续我的行程。

等我走进詹妮·曼咖啡店，我看见一个很神气的年轻人歪戴帽子，向一个同我一起进店的朋友说了这样一番话：杰克，老顽固终于死了，得快干了！机不可失，伙计！直上巴黎！以及诸如此类的深刻意见。

在恰林克劳斯和考文特花园之间，人们的政见没有多少差别。等我走进维尔咖啡店，我听到的议论已经从法国国王之死转到几位诗人了，就是波瓦罗先生、拉辛先生、高乃依先生和另外几位，人们遗憾他们早死了，认为否则他们会写出极好的挽诗来哀悼这位伟大的君王和提倡学术的恩主。

这位记者就这样从官府地区走到商人地区，一家一家咖啡店地巡游一番，听到了各种议论：律师们在谈该由何人去继承法国王位，鱼市商人们在谈法国国王之死会怎样有助于多打鲭鱼，两位不同信仰的老百姓争论着到底死去的法国国王像奥古斯特斯还是像尼罗，直到他走进最后的一家咖啡店，在那里：

The first Object I met in the Coffee-room was a Person who expressed a great Grief for the Death of the French King; but upon his explaining himself, I found his Sorrow did not arise from the Loss of the Monarch, but for his having sold out of the Bank about three Days before he heard the News of it: Upon which a Haberdasher, who was the Oracle of the Coffee-house, and had his Circle of Admirers about him, called several to witness that he had declared his Opinion above a Week before, that the French King was certainly dead; to which he added, that considering the late Advices we had received from France, it was impossible that it could be otherwise. As he was laying these together, and dictating to his Hearers with great Authority, there came in a Gentleman from Garraway's, who told us that there were several Letters from France just come in, with Advice that the King was in good Health, and was gone out a Hunting the very Morning the Post came away: Upon which the Haberdasher stole off his Hat that hung upon a Wooden Pegg by him, and retired to his Shop with great Confusion. This Intelligence put a Stop to my Travels, which I had prosecuted with much Satisfaction; not being a little pleased to hear so many different Opinions upon so great an Event, and to observe how naturally upon such a Piece of News every one is apt to consider it with a regard to his particular Interest and Advantage.

The Spectator (12 June 1712)

我遇见的第一个人对法国国王之死表示极大的悲痛，但等他说下去，我发现他悲痛的其实不是法国国王，而是他在听见消息之前三天已经把他的钱从银行取走了。这话一说，在场一位纺织品商人——他是这家咖啡店里的预言家，常有一群欣赏者围着他转——叫了几个人来证明他早在一周前就已说过法国国王确实死了，并且补充说：根据他最近从法国得到的消息，事情不可能不是这样。正当他把这些消息一一报道，并向他的听众作权威性的发言的时候，来了一位绅士，他说方才在盖雷维咖啡店看到刚从法国来的几封信，说国王身体很好，在邮件送出的当天早晨还出去打了猎。一听此话，那位纺织品商人偷偷把挂在身旁衣架上的帽子拿了下来，很窘地回到他的铺子里去了。这一消息使我结束了我一直进展得顺利的旅行，心里感到满意，由于听到了关于这件大事的许多不同意见，观察到对于同一新闻人们各因本身的兴趣和利益而自然而然地各有看法。

（《旁观者》报，1712年6月12日）

这文章用了悠闲的絮谈笔法，带着温和的嘲讽，把伦敦若干家咖啡店里的各种人物和议论写了出来，而且文章有头有尾，最后还来了一个意外之笔，是经过精心组织的。换言之，这篇报道是颇有艺术的。艾狄生的风格，后来的约翰逊博士曾评为“亲切而不鄙俚，典雅而不炫耀，值得讲究英文风格之士日夜读之”。

《旁观者》报出版不久，就造成巨大影响，销路达三千份。按照艾狄生自己的估计，一份约有二十人看，因此读者总数达到每期六万人。这在十八世纪初年是一个惊人的数字，可见新起的中产阶级读者群已是如何巨大，同时也说明《旁观者》报受到了多大的欢迎。

就是时至今日，艾狄生所创导的报刊编法和文风也在英语国家的某些老资格的刊物中依稀可见。虽然经历了作者、读者、思想潮流、社会趣味、印刷技术、广告影响等等的巨大变化，伦敦、爱丁堡、都柏林、纽约、波士顿等等地方仍然在出版着一些周刊、月刊，它们愿意匀出篇幅，发表几篇个人观感式的随笔小品，刊载若干书评、剧评、乐评、艺评、影评，关心所谓“生活质量”的提高，仍然注意文风，力求文章写得自然、亲切，而又有文采。这些情况说明报刊文学中有一个独特的英国传统，至今还有生命力。

笛福的现代性

报刊文学中最活跃的人物却不是艾狄生，也不是与他合作办报的斯梯尔，而是笛福。

丹尼尔·笛福（Daniel Defoe, 1660—1731）活动频繁，做过小商人，编辑，记者，政治评论家，为政府干过秘密差使，又因写文得罪政府而坐过牢，最后则成为英国第一个名符其实的现实主义小说家。他曾长期从事报刊工作，写了长短各类文章五百多篇，不少至今还值一读。这些文章的特点是：

1．为不服从国教的商人、小市民说话。他们富于民主精神，讲求实际，注意工商业的发展。笛福以身为他们中的一员自傲，多次写文歌颂中产阶级的伟大，提出“自由与财产！”的口号。

2．观察敏锐，注意细节，能把所见所闻准确、生动地记录下来。同时有丰富的想象力，能根据传闻和前人记载构想某些未曾亲历的事件，如在《大疫年日记》（1722）中所写的1664—1665年的伦敦瘟疫，就曾使不少读者信以为作者目睹的。

3．会说故事，能够绘影绘声，娓娓动听。

4．文字平易，句子短，口语化，速度快。特别善于模拟小市民、店员、家庭妇女、工匠、仆人、路途上的旅客等等的口吻、腔调，许多段落读之如读二十世纪小说。

总起来说，笛福同我们的距离是惊人地近；无论在思想、感情、价值标准、文章风格等方面，他都表现出惊人的现代性。

以上的这些特点，也就使笛福胜任于另一个重大的文学任务，即在英国的文学地图上牢牢树立起现实主义小说的地位。当他在生命的晚年来写长篇故事的时候，他也是做得同样出色，结果写出了《鲁宾逊漂流记》、《摩尔·弗兰德斯》、《罗克珊娜》等一系列不朽作品。

鲁宾逊的世界意义

这当中《鲁宾逊漂流记》（Robinson Crusoe, 1719）就是至今吸引全世界读者的小说。书的主要情节是有事实根据的：1704—1709年间，一个名叫赛尔扣克的英国水手，曾长期孤居于一个远洋荒岛。这样的事有一时的新闻价值，但不易写好，因为荒岛生活一开始也许显得新鲜，时间长了就容易因为缺少变化而成为单调沉闷。

笛福的本领却在于：他把这个故事不仅写得极为生动有趣，而且赋予它以对几乎所有的人——一般读者，普通市民，严肃的思想家如卢梭，文学家如柯尔律治，甚至创立革命性新学说的政治经济学家如马克思——都有启发的重大社会意义。

这意义的中心点——也就是本书最有趣又最使人深思的一点——就是人如何处理好同大自然的关系，使自己不仅能维持生命，而且日子越过越好。靠敏锐的头脑和能干的双手，靠劳动，鲁宾逊做到了这一点。

船只的沉没和同伴的死亡意味着过去所熟悉、所依赖的世界终结了，荒岛上的栖息意味着一切得从头开始。鲁宾逊所面对的是人生最基本、最实际的难题，即衣、食、住、行。在这个异常艰苦的新环境里，懒汉、懦夫、宿命论者只配被消灭，而能靠双手劳动的坚强的人则能重建自己的家园。

我们看鲁宾逊在初期的沮丧之后如何投入维持生命的斗争。他趁落潮选择了最近的距离游到沉船上，查看了船里还剩下什么未给海水浸湿的东西，然后用船上的木料做了一个筏子，装上了急需的面包、大米、奶酪、酒、衣服、火枪、弹药等等，分成几次运到岛上，每次都十分艰苦，好几次木筏险些儿翻了，然而靠了意志、镇静和能力，每次都渡过难关，连人带东西都安然抵达。

另一次游泳，另一只更好的筏子，另一个更大的收获……一共十二次，连木匠的工具、钉子和磨刀石都运到了岸上。

生活重新开始了，并且逐步在改善，首先是吃饱肚子，其次挖好洞穴，使它能挡风雨，防袭击；同时动手做桌子、凳子，让自己舒服起来，甚至在几次试验失败之后，终于用陶土烧出了能煮肉汤的沙锅！这后者引起了鲁宾逊这样的感慨：

No joy at a thing of so mean a nature was even equal to mine, when I found I had made an earthen pot that would bear the fire; and I had hardly patience to stay till they were cold, before I set one upon the fire again, with some water in it, to boil me some meat, which it did admirably well; and with a piece of kid I made some very good broth, though I wanted oatmeal and several other ingredients requisite to make it so good as I would have had it been.

没有任何人能由于这样一件普通东西感到比我更大的快乐了！我终于做成了一个能耐火的锅！没等它冷下来，我就又把这锅放在火上，倒了一点水在里面，放上一块小山羊肉煮着。这锅极为好使，一会儿就煮出了绝好的肉汤，只不过缺了麦片和其它作料，否则味道可以更美！

这里有一个自己能动手改善生活的人的骄傲、安慰；任何别人处于同样境地会有同样心情，但是只有笛福能写得这样实际、具体、细节分明，而最后关于作料的一笔不仅增加了真实感，还道出笛福是如何地富于人生经验，又如何地日子好了还想更好。

这也就透露出了笛福的社会地位：商人。在这海外贸易越来越频繁、英国的工商业越来越发达的历史时刻，只有商人才不怕艰险困苦，远涉重洋，取得远处的资源，并在所到之处开辟市场；只有商人才能如此勤奋，足智多谋，在最不利的环境里站稳脚跟。

不仅站稳，而且乘机扩充。鲁宾逊后来搭救了一个另一个岛上的黑人，把他训练成服侍自己的奴隶。荒岛上的情况开始复杂起来，有了人际关系，有了社会，一个小小的殖民地出现了。

鲁宾逊并不把“礼拜五”（这是他给予这个黑人的名字，他掌握着对后者人身的各种权利，包括命名）当作平等的同伴，而是使唤他，训练他，使他成为有用的劳力——正同当时以及后世的商人、资本家们在世界各处扩充殖民帝国，对“土著”一律慑之以武力，驯之以“西方文明”。

鲁宾逊并不是一个深刻的人物。他的精神生活似乎限于表层，并不接触真正的灵魂。他敬上帝，但这是一个不服从国教的商人的上帝，照管他个人的良心，并且会帮他致富。自强不息是他真正的信条；当他已把岛上的洞穴建成一个“英国人的堡垒”式的家，每天下午喝起英国人的茶的时候，他是颇感自满的。他的真正的愉快是清点他的财产：书中多处写到他点数藏在箱子里的钱币，即使在无人的岛上，他也一边感叹金钱毫无用处，一边仍然数得起劲，而且毫不马虎，一先令一便士都要数个清楚。

能把这一切如实写下，使我们读得有趣，这便是笛福的艺术的力量所在。这部小说的结构是松散的，最后奇峰突起，增加了鲁宾逊回国途中在欧洲大陆的荒野中遇见狼群的惊险情节，也与中心故事无关。这也说明近代小说脱胎于中世纪口述故事，仍不免有将若干情节串联起来，可以随意临时增删的毛病。但是此书以主人公的遇险和被救为始终，毕竟有了一个中心，而笛福的拿手本领，如会说故事，能够生动地描绘细节，文字又清楚、流畅、口语化，则都得到了充分的施展。

近代英国小说找到了笛福这样一个商人而不是文人作为创始者，而笛福又以《鲁宾逊漂流记》这样一部实实在在却又大有新意的作品吸引了世界各地广大读者，这也许不是历史的偶然，其结果则是：一种描绘近代社会中某类关键人物的文学形式破土而出，显示了它的生气和魅力。这是一个饶有意义的开始，一系列新事物将接踵而至。

摩尔：现实主义的力量

如果说鲁宾逊有广泛的世界意义，那么笛福另一部小说的女主角摩尔的遭遇更能使我们看清十八世纪初年的英国社会。

《摩尔·弗兰德斯》（Moll Flanders, 1722）的故事同样吸引人，但是背景更为深厚，书里有一整个伦敦下层社会，带着它的诸色人等的憧憧黑影，它的街道、市场、商店、家宅，它的叫卖声和在笛福笔下永远充满生气的人物对话。

这里同样有细节的真实。除了笛福，谁能写出摩尔在靠行窃谋生的时候所用的各种方法，使得书的这一部分可以称为“偷窃大全”呢？

然而书的意义却在于它写出了一个穷苦女人在那样的英国社会里必然要遭到的命运。摩尔的母亲就是在刚生下她之后，因偷窃罪而被遣送到美洲弗吉尼亚去的。摩尔自己几经挣扎，也免不了同样因偷窃罪而被遣送到弗吉尼亚。摩尔善良、真诚，对生活充满了幻想，但很小就做了女仆，受到少爷们的诱惑而失身，然后被踢出大门，于是浪迹江湖，碰上或好或坏的男人，最后沦为小偷。在当时的英国社会，有千千万万的贫穷弱女子有同样凄惨的身世。

笛福是不怕端出这故事的教训的。书中一个人物做了他的代言人：

"I wonder at you," says the sister. "Betty wants but one thing, but she had as good want everything, for the market is against our sex just now; and if a young woman have beauty, birth, breeding, wit, sense, manners, modesty, and all these to the extreme, yet if she have not money, she's nobody, she had as good want them all, for nothing but money now recommends a woman; the men play the game all into their own hands."

“你这话怎么说的，”姐姐说。“这妞儿缺少一样，就等于什么都缺了！因为眼前市场对我们女人不利。如果一个年轻女人有美貌，家世，教养，才智，见地，风度，妇德，每样都好到极点，可是就缺钱，那她就算不上一个人物，不如什么也没有。现在只有钱才能推荐一个女人，男人会搞这套玩意儿，占尽一切便宜。”

然而这小说却不只是流水账似的叙述加上说教，而有着强烈的吸引力。首先，由于笛福会说故事，使我们读着读着，不由自主地卷入书中主要人物的命运。其次，他的细节描写不是一般的真实，而是真实之中还有深度。我们看摩尔怎样第二次行窃：

I went out now by Day-light, and wanderd about I knew not whither, and in search of I knew not what, when the Devil put a Snare in my way of a dreadful Nature indeed, and such a one as I have never had before or since; going thro' Aldersgate-street, there was a pretty little Child had been at a Dancing-School, and was a going home all alone, and my Prompter, like a true De-vil, set me upon this innocent Creature; I talk'd to it, and it prattl'd to me again, and I took it by the Hand and led it a long till I came to a pav'd Alley that goes into Bartho-lomew-Close, and I led it in there; the Child said that was not its way home; I said, yes, my Dear, it is, I'll show you the way home; the Child had a little Necklace on of Gold Beads, and I had my Eye upon that, and in the dark of the Alley I stoop'd, pretending to mend the Child's Clog that was loose, and took off her Necklace, and the Child never felt it, and so led the Child on again: Here, I say, the Devil put me upon killing the Child in the dark Alley, that it might not Cry, but the very thought frighted me so that I was ready to drop down, but I turn'd the Child about and had it go back again, for that was not its way home; the Child said so she would, and I went thro' into Bartholomew-Close, and then turn'd round to another Passage that goes into Long-lane, so away into Charterhouse-Yard, and out into St. John's street; then crossing into Smithfield, went down Chicklane, and into Field-lane, to Holbourn-bridge, when mixing with the Crowd of People usually passing there, it was not possible to have been found out; and thus I made my second Sally into the World.

现在我白天就出去，无目的地游来荡去，找寻着什么我也不知，这时魔鬼把一个圈套安在我的路上，其性质十分可怕，我过去和后来都从未再碰过。我走过奥台斯门街的时候，看见一个漂亮的小女孩从舞蹈学校出来，独自一人回家。我心里的魔鬼挑起了我的坏心，叫我对这天真的孩子下手。我就同她说话，她喁喁地回答我，我握住她的手，领着她走进一条石子铺的小巷，从那里又进到巴索罗缪场地。孩子说那不是她回家的路，我说是的，亲爱的，我会把你带到家的。孩子戴着一条金项链，我早已看中了，在小巷黑暗的地方我弯下身来，装着是替她系好松了的木鞋，随手把项链摘了下来，孩子一点儿也没觉察。我领着她再往前走。这时我心里的恶鬼要我在黑巷里把孩子掐死，那里不怕她叫喊——可是这一念头太可怕了，叫我腿都发软了，我让孩子转过身来，说是路走错了，她该走原路回去，孩子也说她自己会走了。于是我穿过巴索罗缪场地，从另一个通道进入朗巷，再走到渣特霍斯方场，进入圣约翰街，接着越过司密斯园，直下乞克巷，进入菲尔德巷，到达荷尔本桥，在那里混入人群，再也不怕给人认出了。就这样，我对大世界作了第二次的进击。

这里面有许多意想不到的笔触，摩尔弯身为女孩系带就是其一，使得情节更加生动，而居然想要在黑巷杀死女孩，又使故事增加了可怕的阴影，摩尔的起念、转念也使读者更加了解她的为人。就连最后一连串的街名也是有其作用的：表明行踪的迂回曲折，表明经历的困难不少，最后又表明这一切确确实实发生在伦敦的闹市地区，任何久居伦敦的人一看就感到亲切的。

这一切，说明笛福的现实主义非同小可，它是有深度，也有艺术的。

这一切，也说明英国散文有了一个新的用武之地。现实主义小说需要一种新的务实而又有伸缩性的散文，笛福所提供的正是这样的散文。

叙事散文的进一步发展

笛福之后，写实小说继续发展，叙事散文也起了多方面的变化。

后起的小说家，有各种人物，散文风格也各有不同。

这当中，理查荪（Samuel Richardson, 1689—1761）用一系列书信讲一个连续的故事，从而树立了英国的“书信体小说”，其名著为《克莱丽莎》（Clarissa, 1747—48）。同他齐名的是费尔丁（Henry Fielding, 1707—54），其名著为《汤姆·琼斯》（Tom Jones, 1749）。这两人是竞争对手，理查荪长于心理分析，使所写人物性格深化；费尔丁则善写广阔的生活画景，巧于运用讽刺。另一位小说家斯莫力特（Tobias Smollett, 1721—71）以写海员生活见长，喜欢描绘打斗和血淋淋的伤病情景。还有一位斯登恩（Laurence Sterne, 1713—68）则写了一部奇特的长篇小说《屈里斯坦·先迪》（Tristram Shandy, 1760—67），其中时空颠倒，情节松散，运用了“意识流”技巧，在印刷字体、标点、空页的使用上也别出心裁，后世的现代派小说的某些特点已经在此出现，可谓英国最早的实验性写作的大手笔。

这些人的散文各有千秋，我们只举两例。

其一是费尔丁所作《约瑟夫·安特鲁斯》（Joseph Andrews, 1742）中的一个片段，讲的是青年仆人约瑟夫在大路上遭到抢劫，被剥光衣服，又遭一阵毒打，呻吟于道旁沟中。不久来了一辆驿车，车夫和大多数乘客本不愿停车救他，只在一位律师指出如果不管，他们会有谋杀嫌疑之后，才不得不让这个可怜人搭车。可是约瑟夫却说自己赤身裸体，车上又有女客，不肯上车。写到这里，费尔丁来了这样一段文章：

Though there were several great coats about the coach, it was not easy to get over this difficulty which Joseph had started. The two gentlemen complained they were cold, and could not spare a rag; the man of wit saying, with a laugh, that charity began at home, and the coachman, who had two great coats spread under him, refused to lend either, lest they should be made bloody; the lady's footman desired to be excused for the same reason, which the lady herself, notwithstanding her abhorrence of a naked man, approved: and it is more than probable, poor Joseph, who obstinately adhered to his modest resolution, must have perished, unless the postilion, (a lad who hath been since transported for robbing a hen-roost) had voluntarily stripped off a great coat, his only garment, at the same time swearing a great oath, (for which he was rebuked by the passengers)" That he would rather ride in his shirt all his life, than suffer a fellow-creature to lie in so miserable a condition."

虽然车上有几件大衣，但很难解决约瑟夫提出的难题。那两位绅士抱怨天冷，说是没法脱下任何衣服。那个爱说俏皮话的人笑着说了一句：仁爱先施于己。车夫虽然身下垫了两件大衣，却一件也不肯拿出来，因为怕沾上血迹，那位太太的仆人也用同样的理由拒绝了，虽然太太本人极端憎恶裸体，却认为仆人这样做是对的。但是可怜的约瑟夫却坚持非有衣服遮体不可，这样他很可能就要死于伤冻了，要不是车夫的助手（这孩子后来因偷鸡罪被判流放）自愿脱下了他的大衣（也是他仅有的一件外衣），口中骂了一声，说“他宁愿一生只穿衬衣乘车，也决不让一个同他一样的人处于那种凄惨景况。”这一骂引得旅客纷纷对他训斥。

这就不只是客观叙事，而是用了讽刺笔法，其锋芒对准上层人士，揭出他们的自私和残忍，只有一个下层青年——即那个车夫助手——才有同情心，把仅有的一件外衣脱下给了约瑟夫。他一说就干，同其他人提出各种借口形成对照，而他得自绅士太太们的只是训斥，以后也未逃脱因小过失而被判重刑的命运。费尔丁的文章夹叙夹议，句子中间有不少插进的成分，不只写当时每人姿态，还提供背景和前景，所含的信息量就比笛福等人的句子要大多了。

第二例来自斯登恩的《屈里斯坦·先迪》。如上所述，这部小说结构松散，但有几个令人难忘的人物，特别是托比大叔。他打过仗，受过伤，但是心地非常善良，下面是他捉住了一只苍蝇之后的举动：

"I'll not hurt thee," says my uncle Toby, rising from his chair, and going across the room, with the fly in his hand,— "I'll not hurt a hair of thy head: —Go," says he, lifting up the sash, and opening his hand as he spoke, to let it escape; — "go, poor devil, get thee gone, why should I hurt thee?—This world surely is wide enough to hold both thee and me."

“我不会伤害你，”托比大叔说，一边从椅子上站了起来，手里拿着这只苍蝇，穿过房间走到窗口——“我不伤你一根毫毛。走吧！——”他掀起窗框，张开手掌，让苍蝇飞走。——“走吧，小可怜，好好走，我干吗要伤害你呢？——这世界广阔得很，容得下我，也容得下你。”

（卷二，第12章）

这里有对小动物的爱护，而最后一语更透露出托比大叔广阔的同情心。这后者是一个新因素。斯登恩写此书时已是十八世纪六十年代（1759—67），这时感伤主义已经形成一种情感气候，而感伤主义的中心正是这悲天悯人的同情心。

书以写先迪生平为名，实际上只在开卷之初提到先迪生命的开始，后来就穿插了许多闲话，谈别的事情，而且作者还为自己的写法辩护，说：

Digressions, incontestably, are the sunshine; —they are the life, the soul of reading; —take them out of this book for instance,—you might as well take the book along with them.

闲话——无可争辩地——是书中的阳光，是书的生命、灵魂；如果你把这本书里的闲话都拿走，那就不如把整本书也拿走好了。

（卷一，第22章）

而卷首提到先迪的母亲是如何怀孕的一节，也是奇文：

"Pray, my dear," quoth my mother, "have you not forgotten to wind up the clock?" — "Good G—! "cried my father, making an exclamation, but taking care to moderate his voice at the same time,— "Did ever woman, since the creation of the world, interrupt a man with such a silly question?"

“对了，亲爱的，”我母亲说，“你没忘了上钟吧？”——“上帝呀！”我父亲叫道，但把声音压得很低，“自从创造世界以来，有哪个女人拿这样的一个可笑问题来打断过男人的？”

（卷一，第1章）

先迪当时还未诞生，却在报告父母的床上谈话了，这写法本身就是奇特的。故意写得奇特，而且以奇特自傲——这是斯登恩在向别的小说家挑战了，他已不满足于笛福等人的平铺直叙，而要探索新的写小说的路子，其实验规模之大，涉及方面之广是惊人的，无怪乎后世的现代主义作家，从乔伊斯到弗琴尼亚·吴尔夫，甚至今天的所谓后现代主义作家如福尔斯和卡尔维诺，都认他为精神上的祖先。

他的散文也写得活泼，句子短，常有旁白、暗示，也不怕把隐秘的心情公之于众，有时还流着眼泪叫喊几声——这后者在他的另一部作品《感伤的旅行》（A Sentimental Journey, 1768）中更明显。虽然他也有时给人以做作、过分的印象，总的说来他的文章写得“清澈如水，平易如谈话，使人感到舒服”。^〔1〕

关键人物斯威夫特

谈到斯登恩和他的感伤主义，我们已到十八世纪后半叶。现在我们要回头去追叙一位英国散文史上的关键人物，即江纳善·斯威夫特（Jonathan Swift, 1667—1745）。

他生在复辟时期之初，死在十八世纪四十年代之中，其一生包括了我们所讨论的整个时期，而他不仅对于本时期的主要文学品种都作出了卓越贡献，而且他的散文风格被后世树为楷模，继往开来，确是一个起枢纽作用的大家。

他写了各种辩论文章、期刊杂文、布道文、小品文、公开信、寓言故事、诗，而且无论写什么，都写得有文采。他对于语言文字问题十分注意，多次写文指摘僻词、大字、俚语、行话、时髦词、生造的“硬词”种种。也是他提出了一个文章风格的有名定义：“把恰当的词放在恰当的位置，这就是风格的真正定义。”（《致一位新任神职的青年先生的信》）

然而仅仅把他看成一个文章家，却又是小看他了。就拿他这风格定义来说，他没有谈什么文章的美，而强调恰当的词——恰当于所要表达的内容，并要把它们放在恰当的位置，即该突出的应该突出。这就超出了普通对于修辞的考虑，而着重语言的准确表意了。那么，他要表达和突出的又是什么呢？他先后为辉格、托雷两党写过政论，也参加过关于宗教的争论，本人的思想也有过变化，因而所写内容广泛，但是有一个主题却是贯彻始终的，那就是反暴政，爱自由。他曾写诗总结自己一生，有句云：

Fair LIBERTY was all his cry;

For her he stood prepar'd to die.

—On the Death of Dr. Swift

他全部要求只是自由公正，

为争取它，宁可献出生命。

——《咏斯威夫特教长之死》吕千飞译文

特别在他晚年回到出生之地爱尔兰之后，他更是同受压迫的当地人民站在一起，用犀利的文笔写出了《布商的信》和《一个小小的建议》等文，深刻地揭露英国统治者对爱尔兰贫苦人民的剥削和残酷，号召他们起来抗争。我们今天还在读这些文章，把它们当作文学名篇，这说明斯威夫特散文艺术的高超，竟能经受住时间潮水的冲蚀，但是在当时这些却不是为艺术而写，而是作为政治斗争的武器，写法的高超只是增加了它们的颠覆性和破坏力，这才是“把恰当的词放在恰当的位置”的最高的实现。

在斯威夫特的武器库里，讽刺是最厉害的一种，但又往往包藏在文雅的外衣之下。《一个小小的建议》（A Modest Proposal, 1729）通篇是一大讽刺，然而出之以文雅的措词，而且是郑重其事地作为“一个公正、不费钱而又简易可行的办法”提出来的，自称目的在于解决爱尔兰穷人儿女过多而又无力养育的迫切问题。什么办法呢？请看：

I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.

I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration, that, of the hundred and twenty thousand children already computed, twenty thousand may be reserved for breed, whereof only one fourth part to be males, which is more than we allow to sheep, black cattle, or swine; and my reason is that these children are seldom the fruits of marriage, a circumstance not much regarded by our savages; therefore one male will be sufficient to serve four females. That the remaining hundred thousand may at a year old be offered in sale to the persons of quality and fortune through the Kingdom, always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in the last month, so as to render them plump and fat for a good table. A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter.

I have reckoned, upon a medium, that a child just born will weigh twelve pounds, and in a solar year if tolerably nursed increaseth to twenty-eight pounds.

I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.

…

But as to myself, having been wearied out for many years with offering vain, idle, visionary thoughts, and at length utterly despairing of success, I fortunately fell upon this proposal; which, as it is wholly new, so it hath something solid and real, of no expense and little trouble, full in our own power, and whereby we can incur no danger in disobliging England. For this kind of commodity will not bear exportation, the flesh being of too tender a consistence to admit a long continuance in salt, although perhaps I could name a country which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it.