那不勒斯四部曲1 文本已添加

MY BRILLIANTFRIEND 我的天才女友

THE LORD: Thereinthou’rt free, according to thy merits; 上帝：是的，你什么时候来都可以，The like of thee have never moved My hate. 我从来都没有仇恨过你的同类，Of all the bold, denying Spirits, 以及那些不顺从我的人，The waggish knave least trouble dothcreate. 讽刺——是我最不讨厌的行为，Man’s active nature, flagging, seeks toosoon the level; Unqualified repose he learns to crave;人类最容易气馁，他们很快就会进入永恒的睡眠。Whence, willingly, the comrade him I gave, Whoworks, excites, and must create, as Devil. 因此我很乐意给他们找个同伴，充当魔鬼的角色，刺激他们。J. W. GOETHE, Faust, 歌德《浮士德》

PROLOGUE EliminatingAll the Traces引子｜抹去所有痕迹｜

1. This morningRino telephoned. I thought he wanted money again and I was ready to say no. Butthat was not the reason for the phone call: his mother was gone. 今天早上里诺来电话了。我以为他又要向我要钱，我准备好了拒绝他，但他打电话却是另外一个原因：他母亲失踪了。“Since when?” “什么时候的事？” “Since two weeks ago.” “两周前。” “And you’re calling me now?” “那你现在才给我打电话？”My tone must have seemed hostile, eventhough I wasn’t angry or offended; there was just a touch of sarcasm. He triedto respond but he did so in an awkward, muddled way, half in dialect, half inItalian. He said he was sure that his mother was wandering around Naples asusual. 尽管我没有生气，也没有愤怒或者被冒犯的感觉，只是有一丝讽刺，但我的语气还是让他感觉到了敌意。他试图反驳，用夹杂着那不勒斯方言的意大利语解释，但显得很拙劣、尴尬。他说，他很确信他母亲这次还是像往常一样，在那不勒斯城里晃荡。 “Even at night?” “晚上也不回去吗？” “You know how she is.” “你是了解她的。” “I do, but does two weeks of absenceseem normal?” “我知道，可是两个星期不回家，你觉得这正常么？” “Yes. You haven’t seen her for awhile, Elena, she’s gotten worse: she’s never sleepy, she comes in, goes out,does what she likes.” “是不正常。埃莱娜，你有些日子没见到她了，她的情况更糟了：她从来不睡觉，从家里出去，想干什么干什么，想什么时候回来就什么时候回来。”Anyway, in the end he had started to getworried. He had asked everyone, made the rounds of the hospitals: he had evengone to the police. Nothing, his mother wasn’t anywhere. What a good son: alarge man, forty years old, who hadn’t worked in his life, just a small-timecrook and spendthrift. I could imagine how carefully he had done his searching.Not at all. He had no brain, and in his heart he had only himself. 无论如何，他开始担心了。他问了所有人，去所有医院问了一圈，最后甚至去了警察局，没有任何消息，还是没找到他母亲。多好的儿子！一个壮实的四十多岁的男人，一直没有正经工作，每天不过是坑蒙拐骗、虚度光阴罢了。我都能想得出，他找他母亲是多么用心。扯淡！他根本没脑子，他心里只有自己。 “She’s not with you?” he askedsuddenly. “她没在你那里吧？”他突然问我。His mother? Here in Turin? He knew the situationperfectly well, he was speaking only to speak. Yes, he liked to travel, he hadcome to my house at least a dozen times, without being invited. His mother,whom I would have welcomed with pleasure, had never left Naples in her life. Ianswered: 他母亲在都灵？他对情况了如指掌，只是说说而已。的确，他自己喜欢旅行，我没有邀请他，他到我家里来过十几次了。他母亲才是我热情欢迎的人，但她一辈子没有离开过那不勒斯。我答道： “No, she’s not with me.” “不，她不在我这里。” “You’re sure?” “你确定？” “Rino, please, I told you she’s nothere.” “里诺，别这样。我告诉你了，她不在这里。” “Then where has she gone?” “那她去哪里了？”He began to cry and I let him act out hisdesperation, sobs that began fake and became real. When he stopped I said: 他哭了起来，我耐着性子，让他把绝望和痛苦都展示出来。他开始假装啜泣，后来是真哭了。等他哭完，我对他说： “Please, for once behave as shewould like: don’t look for her.” “拜托了。这次你要按她希望的那样：不要再找她了。” “What do you mean?” “你是什么意思？” “Just what I said. It’s pointless.Learn to stand on your own two feet and don’t call me again, either.” “就是刚才我对你说的，找她也没用，你要学会自己生活，还有，别再给我打电话了。”I hung up. 我挂了电话。

-2-Rino’s motheris named Raffaella Cerullo, but everyone has always called her Lina. Not me,I’ve never used either her first name or her last. To me, for more than sixtyyears, she’s been Lila. If I were to call her Lina or Raffaella, suddenly, likethat, she would think our friendship was over. 里诺的母亲名叫拉法埃拉·赛鲁罗，大家都叫她莉娜，除了我。这两个名字我从来都没叫过，六十多年来，我一直叫她莉拉。我要是突然叫她莉娜，或是拉法埃拉，她会觉得我们之间的友谊走到了尽头。It’s been at least three decades since shetold me that she wanted to disappear without leaving a trace, and I’m the onlyone who knows what she means. She never had in mind any sort of flight, achange of identity, the dream of making a new life somewhere else. And shenever thought of suicide, repulsed by the idea that Rino would have anything todo with her body, and be forced to attend to the details. She meant somethingdifferent: she wanted to vanish; she wanted every one of her cells todisappear, nothing of her ever to be found. And since I know her well, or atleast I think I know her, I take it for granted that she has found a way todisappear, to leave not so much as a hair anywhere in this world. 三十多年前，她就告诉我她想消失，不留任何痕迹。只有我知道她想表达什么。她从来都没想过逃离；从来没想过改变身份，在别处重新开始生活；她从来没想过自杀，因为一想到里诺不得不处理她的尸体，她就打消了这个念头。她的目标不是这些，而是别的：她想从人间蒸发；她想让自己的每一个细胞都消失，让关于自己的一切都无迹可寻。因为我十分了解她，至少我认为我了解她，我觉得她一定找到了办法——不留一丝毛发、从这个世界消失的办法。