YV--不中用的說書人

星期五的小說課教到了以撒辛格的〈傻子金寶〉。課程設定是「人物」，所以要講「圓形人物和扁型人物」。YV自認為Isaac Singer 的作品最好解釋，所以講完他為兒童寫的海烏姆村傻子失勒蜜系列故事之後就進到他的〈傻子金寶〉。

年輕時看待這故事是淡淡哀愁，總覺得人善被人欺，莫名其妙幫一個兇巴巴的女人養一堆孩子，連遲來的正義都枉然。年紀稍長，覺得千金散盡的金寶在浪遊的旅途終於得到慰藉，那些追著他講故事的小孩讓他的有限自尊得到補償。這幾年，不斷為以撒辛格「東方思想」喝采。前天，在下課前兩分鐘忽然說出一句連我自己都嚇一跳的話：「假如你覺得金寶只是供養一個姊姊，這整個故事就變得很有道理，他愛這些孩子，就像一個舅舅一樣！」

接下來，神奇的事情自動發生……

YV帶唸最後三段，唸到下課，一直是哽咽不止的…

…
Going from place to place, eating at strange tables, it often
happens that I spin yarns improbable things that could never have
happened about devils, magicians, windmills, and the like. The
children run after me, calling, ”Grandfather, tell us a story.”
Sometimes they ask for particular stories, and I try to please them.
A fat young boy once said to me, ”Grandfather, it’s the same story
you told us before.” The little rogue, he was right.

So it is with dreams too. It is many years since I left
Frampol, but as soon as I shut my eyes I am there again. And whom do
you think I see? Elka. She is standing by the washtub, as at our
first encounter, but her face is shining and her eyes are as radiant
as the eyes of a saint, and she speaks outlandish words to me,
strange things. When I wake I have forgotten it all. But while the
dream lasts I am comforted. She answers all my queries, and what
comes out is that all is right. I weep and implore, ”Let me be with
you.” And she consoles me and tells me to be patient. The time is
nearer than it is far. Sometimes she strokes and kisses me and weeps
upon my face. When I awaken I feel her lips and taste the salt of
her tears.

No doubt the world is entirely an imaginary world, but it
is only once re- moved from the true world. At the door of the hovel
where I lie, there stands the plank on which the dead are taken
away. The gravedigger Jew has his spade ready. The grave waits and
the worms are hungry; the shrouds are prepared I carry them in my
beggar’s sack. Another shnorrer is waiting to inherit my bed of
straw. When the time comes I will go joyfully. Whatever may be
there, it will be real, without complication, without ridicule,
without deception. God be praised: there even Gimpel cannot be
deceived.