作者：安娜
来源：“iLotusbyen”微信公众号
2024年11月22日 16:30 江苏
Yu Hua's novel To Live has been translated into several languages, including English, Italian, French, German, Japanese, and others. The novel has also been adapted into a television series and a theatrical production.
Each of us confronts the ontological questions of life every day—some more deeply, some more superficially, and some attempt to ignore them. But at some point in our lives, we all inevitably ask ourselves about the meaning of life, the value of life, the inevitability of death, happiness, and suffering. These are questions that concern us all, yet they do not always have clear answers. InTo Live, Yu Hua addresses these universal concerns, which are shared by all nations, whether we are Armenian, Chinese, Georgian, or Italian.
余华的小说《活着》已被翻译成多种语言，包括英语、意大利语、法语、德语、日语等。该小说还被改编成电视剧和舞台剧。
我们每个人每天都在面对生命的本体性问题，有些人更深刻地思考，有些人则较为表面，有些人则试图忽视这些问题。但在我们生命的某一时刻，我们都会不可避免地问自己关于生命的意义、生命的价值、死亡的不可避免、幸福与痛苦等问题。这些问题始终困扰着我们，但并不总是能找到答案。在《活着》一书中，余华探讨了这些普遍关切的问题，这些问题是所有民族共有的，无论我们是亚美尼亚人、中国人、格鲁吉亚人还是意大利人。
What is the value of life? Why is human life so fragile? Is a life full of pain and deprivation worth living? These are the ontological questions that confront the reader from the outset of the novel. Those familiar with the story of Job in the Bible will immediately notice a similarity between these two narratives. As you read Yu Hua's book, you inevitably begin to draw parallels between the protagonist, Fugui, and Job, searching for both differences and similarities. Job is filled with faith and a quest for the meaning of life, while Fugui, beaten by the blows of fate without uttering a single complaint, continues his life of deprivation. Unlike Job, Fugui does not have faith in God but believes in fate, in the natural laws, and in the portion that heaven has assigned to him. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord, says Job (Bible, Job 1:21), while Fugui interprets the meaning of living or not living in this way: Your parents gave you your life. If you don't want to live, you should ask them first, thereby definitively rejecting any thoughts of sui cide.
生命的价值是什么？为什么人类的生命如此脆弱？一个充满痛苦和贫困的生活值得过吗？这些是读者在阅读小说时首先会遇到的本体性问题。熟悉《圣经》中的约伯故事的读者会立刻发现这两个故事之间的相似性。在阅读余华的书时，读者不禁开始将书中的主人公福贵与约伯进行对比，寻找两者的异同。约伯充满信仰和对生命意义的探索，而福贵则在命运的打击面前默默承受，继续过着充满贫困的生活。但与约伯不同，福贵并不信仰上帝，而是相信命运、自然法则和天命所赋予他的份额。约伯说：“耶和华赐的，耶和华收回的。愿耶和华的名是应当称颂的。”（《圣经·约伯记》1:21），而福贵则用以下方式解释是否活着的意义：“父母给了你生命。如果你不想活了，应该先问问他们，”从而彻底排除了任何自 杀的念头。
Nothing is exaggerated in the book: one can clearly see the traces of all the historical events that took place in China during the author's lifetime—civil war, land reforms, the Great Chinese Famine, and the Chinese Cultural Revolution. What is remarkable, however, is that despite the backdrop of these tragic events that pervade the story, the reader does not feel oppressed or bitter, because the author's literary style is light. He does not rely on exaggerated language or excessive drama. His goal is not to evoke pity for the hero but to show the reader that life is not merely a series of happy moments. Rather, life is a process, and while you may not always control its direction, how you perceive and accept it is entirely up to you. Like Fugui, the protagonist, who does not give up but continues to live the life that fate has given him, accumulating a certain philosophy along the way. It is better to live an ordinary life. If you continue to strive for this and that, you will pay with your life, concludes Fugui. He comes to appreciate life not for its games, women, pleasures, and luxuries, but for its simplicity, with its good and bad sides. After surviving the endless cycle of misfortune, Fugui's perseverance and self-confidence following each tragedy reflect valuable attitudes toward ordinary life, which the author seeks to share with his readers.
书中的一切都没有夸张：可以清晰地看到作者一生中所经历的中国历史事件的痕迹——内战、土地改革、大饥荒以及文化 大革命。值得注意的是，尽管书中的大部分叙事背景是这些令人痛心的历史事件，但读者并不会感到压抑和苦涩，因为作者的文风轻盈，他没有使用夸张的词语和表达方式，也没有过度渲染戏剧性。他的目的是不是激起对主人公的怜悯，而是想向读者展示，生活不仅仅是一连串幸福的事件，而是一个过程，虽然我们不总能掌握它的方向，但如何看待和接受它是由你自己决定的。就像书中的主人公福贵一样，他没有放弃，而是继续过着命运赋予他的生活，同时也积累了一定的人生哲学。福贵总结道：“活得平凡一点好。如果你一直追求这个那个，最终会用命去偿还。”他开始珍惜的不是充满游戏、女人、享乐和奢华的生活，而是那种简单的生活，没有奢华，既有好的一面，也有坏的一面。在经历了不断的灾难后，福贵在悲剧中的坚持与自信体现了对普通生活的珍贵态度，作者希望与读者分享这种态度的意义。