Hesingssongaftersong。Hesayshe’safun…lovingperson；Ibelievehim。Whenhefinishedupasvillagehead；hewentbacktobeingoneofthemountainpeople；anoldmountainmanwholikesgoodfun；unfortunatelyheispasttheageforromance。
Healsoknowsincantations；thekindhuntersusewhentheygointothemountains。Theyarecalledmountainblack…magicorhexesandhehasnoqualmsaboutusingthem。Hereallybelievestheycandrivewildanimalsintopitsorgetthemtostepintosnares。Theyaren’tusedonlyonanimals；they’realsousedagainstotherhumansbeingsforrevenge。Avictimofmountainblack…magicwon’tbeabletofindhiswayoutofthemountains。Theyarelikethe〃demonwalls〃Iheardaboutasachild：whensomeonehasbeentravellingforsometimeatnightinthemountains；awall；aclifforadeepriverappearsrightinfrontofhim；sothathecan’tgoanyfurther。Ifthespellisn’tbrokentheperson’sfeetdon’tmoveforwardandevenifhekeepswalking；hestaysexactlywherehestartedoff。Onlyatdaybreakdoeshediscoverthathehasbeengoingaroundincircles。That’snotsobad；theworstiswhenapersonisledintoablind…alley：thatmeansdeath。
Heintonesstringsofincantations。It’snotslowandrelaxedlikewhenheissinging；butjustnan…nan…na…natoaquickbeat。Ican’tunderstanditatallbutIcanfeelthemysticalpullofthewords；ademonicawesomeatmosphereinstantlypermeatestheroom；theinsideofwhichisblackfromsmoke。Theglowoftheflameslickingtheironpotofmuttonstewmakehiseyesglint。Thisisallstarklyreal。
WhileyousearchfortheroutetoLingshan；IwanderalongtheYangtzeRiverlookingforthissortofreality。Ihadjustgohroughacrisisandthen；ontopofthat；adoctorwronglydiagnosedmewithlungcancer。DeathwasplayingajokeonmebutnowthatI’veescapedthedemonwall；Iamsecretlyrejoicing。Lifeformeonceagainhasawonderfulfreshness。Ishouldhaveleftthosecontaminatedsurroundingslongagoandreturnedtonaturetolookforthisauthenticlife。
InthosecontaminatedsurroundingsIwastaughtthatlifewasthesourceofliterature；thatliteraturehadtobefaithfultolife；faithfultoreallife。MymistakewasthatIhadalienatedmyselffromlifeandendedupturningmybackonreallife。However；reallifeisnotthesameasmanifestationsoflife。Reallife；orinotherwordsthebasicsubstanceoflife；shouldbetheformerandnotthelatter。IhadgoneagainstreallifebecauseIwassimplystringingtogetherlife’smanifestations；soofcourseIwasn’tabletoaccuratelyportraylifeandintheendonlysucceededindistortingreality。
Idon’tknowwhetherI’mnowontherighttrackbutinanycaseI’veextricatedmyselffromthebustlingliteraryworldandalsoescapedfrommysmoke…filledroom。Thebookspiledeverywhereinthatroomwereoppressiveandstifling。Theyexpoundedallsortsoftruths；historicaltruthstotruthsonhowtobehuman。Icouldn’tseethepointofsomanytruthsbutstillgotenmeshedintheofthosetruthsandwasstrugglinghopelessly；likeaninsectcaughtinaspider’sweb。Fortunately；thedoctorwhogavethewrongdiagnosissavedmylife。HewasquitefrankandgotmetoparethetwochestX…raystakenontwoseparateoccasions：ablurryshadowontheleftlobeofthelunghadspreadalongthesecondribtothewallofthewindpipe。Itwouldn’thelpeventohavethewholeoftheleftloberemoved。Theoutewasobvious。Myfatherhaddiedoflungcancer。Hediedwithinthreemonthsofitbeingdiscoveredanditwasthisdoctorwhohadcorrectlydiagnosedit。Ihadfaithinhismedicalexpertiseandhehadfaithinscience。ThechestX…raystakenattwodifferenthospitalswereidentical；therewasnopossibilityofatechnicalmistake。HealsowroteanauthorizationforasectionalX…ray；theappointmentwasinhalfamonth’stime。Thiswasnothingtogetworriedabout；itwasjusttodetermiheextentofthetumour。Myfatherhadthisdonebeforehedied。TheoutewouldbethesamewhetherornotIhadtheX…ray；itwasnothingspecial。ThatIinfactwouldslipthroughthefingersofDeathcanonlybeputdowntogoodluck。IbelieveinsciencebutIalsobelieveinfate。
Ioncesawafour…inchlengthofwoodwhichhadbeencollectedintheQiangregionbyananthropologistduringthe1930s。Itwasacarvedstatueofapersondoingahandstand。Theheadhadinkmarkingsfortheeyes；noseandmouth；andtheword〃longevity〃waswrittenonthebody。Itwascalled〃WuchangUpsideDown〃andtherewassomethingoddlymischievousaboutit。Iasktheretiredvillageheadwhethersuchtalismansarestillaround。Hetellsmethesearecalled〃oldroot〃。Thiswoodenidolhastoacpanythenewbornfrombirthtodeath。Atdeathitacpaniesthecorpsefromthehouseandaftertheburialitisplacedinthewildernesstoallowthespirittoreturntonature。IaskhimifhecangetmeonesothatIcancarryitonme。Helaughsandsaysthesearewhathunterstuckintotheirshirtstowardoffevilspirits；theywouldn’tbeofanyusetosomeonelikeme。
〃Isthereanoldhunterwhoknowsaboutthissortofmagicandcantakemehuntingwithhim？〃Iask。
〃GrandpaStonewouldbethebest；〃hesaysafterthinkingaboutit。
〃HowcanIfindhim？〃Iaskrightaway。
〃He’sinGrandpaStone’sHut。〃
〃Where’sthisGrandpaStone’sHut。〃
〃GoanothertwentyliontoSilverMineGullythenfollowthecreekrightuptotheend。Thereyou’llfindastonehut。〃
〃IsthatthenameoftheplaceordoyoumeanthehutofGrandpaStone？〃
Hesaysit’sthenameoftheplace；thatthere’sinfactastonehut；andthatGrandpaStonelivesthere。
〃Canyoutakemetohim？〃Igoontoask。
〃He’sdead。Helaydownonhisbedanddiedinhissleep。Hewastooold；helivedtowelloverniy；someevensaywelloverahundred。Inanycase；nobody’ssureabouthisage。〃
〃Areanyofhisdescendantsstillalive？〃Ican’thelpasking。
〃Inmygrandfather’sgenerationandforaslongasIcanremember；hewasalwaysonhisown。〃
〃Withoutawife？〃
〃HelivedonhisowninSilverMineGully。Helivedhighupthegully；inthesolitaryhut；alone。Oh；andthatrifleofhisisstillhangingonthewallofthehut。〃
Iaskhimwhathe’stryingtotellme。
HesaysGrandpaStonewasafantastichunter；ahunterwhowasanexpertinthemagicalarts。Therearenohunterslikethatnowadays。Everyoneknowsthathisrifleishanginginthehut；thatitnevermissesthetarget；butnobodydarestogoandtakeit。
〃Why？〃I’mevenmorepuzzled。
〃TherouteintoSilverMineGullyiscut。〃
〃There’snowaythrough？〃
〃Notanymore。Earlieronpeopleusedtominesilverthere；afirmfromChengduhiredateamofworkersandtheybeganmining。Lateron；aftertheminewaslooted；everyonejustleft。Theplankroadstheylaideitherbrokeuporrotted。〃
〃Whendidallthishappen。〃
〃Whenmygrandfatherwasstillalive；morethanfiftyyearsago。〃
Thatwouldbeaboutright；afterallhe’salreadyretiredandhasbeehistory；realhistory。
〃Sosincethennobody’severgohere？〃Ibeeevenmoreintrigued。
〃Hardtosay；anywayit’shardtogetthere。〃
〃Andthehuthasrotted？〃
〃Stonecollapses；howcanitrot？〃
〃Iwastalkingabouttheridgepole。〃
〃Oh；quiteright。〃
Hedoesn’twanttotakemethere；nordoeshewanttofindahunterforme；sohe’sleadingmeonlikethis；Ithink。
〃Thenhowdoyouknowtherifle’sstillhangingonthewall？〃Iask；regardless。
〃That’swhateveryonesays；someonemust’veseenit。TheyallsaythatGrandpaStoneisincredible；hiscorpsehasn’trottedandwildanimalsdon’tdaretogonear。Hejustliesthereallstiffandemaciated；andhisrifleishangingthereonthewall。〃
〃Impossible。Withthehighhumidityuphereinthemountain；thecorpsewouldhaverottedandtheriflewouldhaveturnedintoapileofrust；〃Iargue。
〃Idon’tknow。Anyway；peoplehavebeensayingthisforyears。〃Herefusestogiveinandstickstohisstory。ThelightofthefiredancesinhiseyesandIseemtodetectacunningnessinthem。
〃Andyou’veneverseenhim？〃Iwon’tlethimoff。
〃Peoplewhohaveseenhimsaythatheseemstobeasleep；thathe’semaciated；andthattherifleishangingthereonthewallabovehishead；〃hegoesonunruffled。〃Heknewblack…magic。It’snotjustthatpeopledon’tdaregotheretostealhisrifle；evenanimalsdon’tdaretogonear。〃
Thehunterisalreadymyth。Totalkaboutamixtureofhistoryandlegendishowfolkstoriesareborn。Realityexistsonlythroughexperience；anditmustbepersonalexperience。However；oncerelated；evenpersonalexperiencebeesanarrative。Realitycan’tbeverifiedanddoesn’tneedtobe；thatcanbeleftfortherealityoflifeexpertstodebate。Whatisimportantislife。RealityissimplythatIamsittingbythefireinthisroomwhichisblackwithgrimeandsmokeandthatIseethelightofthefiredancinginhiseyes。Realityismyself；realityisonlytheperceptionofthisinstantanditcan’tberelatedtoanotherperson。Allthatneedstobesaidisthatoutside；amistisenclosingthegreen…bluemountaininahazeandyourheartisreverberatingwiththerushingwaterofaswift…flowingstream。
读王蒙的《杂色》
作者：高行健
当代文学是很少被认为有杰作的，因为是当代人写的，写的又是当代活人的事，远不如古人写的死去了的生活那样幸运。崇尚已经作古了的人是文学史的事情，于是被注释、被评点、被分析得头头是道。而一经入史便成为大家，于是又被引证、被考据，成为准则，当作经典，连现今的言行也从中找寻出处和根据。作家一旦死去，作品方变得神圣起来。当代作家生前则难得有这分荣幸，即使受到推崇，也总留有余地，免得骄傲。至于批评，则又当别论。然而，当代作品如果能有杰作，我想王蒙的《杂色》可以属于这杰作之林，虽然这么说无疑是有争议的。
主人公曹千里，一位热情、有抱负却因此倒了霉的老小伙子，在我们都熟悉的那个时代，被发配到了边疆，即使是“自愿的”，也还是被发配，骑上了一匹毛色混杂的老马，小说《杂色》的题目就这么来的。他们到牧场上去，曹千里同他的老马，又可以说老马同曹千里，因为这老马同曹千里互为写照，难舍难分。他们从牧区公社革命委员会的马厩里出来，水过河，经过了光秃秃的戈壁滩，进了个小村子，有房舍、人家和公鸡打架，还有鼻子上笑起来布着细小纹路的维吾尔族可爱的女售货员。又碰上了一条恶狗和一条并未看见的蛇。又穿过了有声有色的小溪谷，然后到了牧场。先是阳光灿烂，接着天边出现了乌云，跟着下雹子，随后便倾盆大雨，先是发冷，后是挨饿。好容易熬到了一个孤零零的毡房，有一位哈萨克族老妈妈招待他喝了酸马奶。又要呕吐，还是克制住了。随后马奶在胃里发酵，晕乎乎地上了头。曹千里总算又爬到了这匹老马的背上，歪歪斜斜，好在又上路了，倒也平安无事。
没有强盗，也没有间谍，也没有艳遇和爱情的悲剧抑或喜剧，抑或悲喜交加剧，除了那个收鸡蛋换糖果的维吾尔族女售货员那么一瞬间鼻子上出现细小纹路的微笑，明朗、�
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