Conrad: Heart of Darkness《黑暗之心》
康拉德（Joseph Conrad, 1857-1924），原藉波蘭，十七歳開始當船員；1886 年歸化英藉；1895 年開始以英文發表小說。《黑暗之心》於 1902 年問世，首開二十世紀英國小說的先河。此書於探討人性黑暗面的成就，是學者們所公認的。幾年前有一部電影叫《現代啓示錄》，即根據 Conrad 這部小說編寫成的；雖然電影中的背景是越戰而不是非洲，但是故事的精神旨趣則完全與《黑暗之心》無異。
The cruising yawl, The Nellie, is anchored at the Thames estuary.1 On its deck, Marlow sits cross-legged ("in the pose of a meditating Buddha") relating to a group of seamen his experiences of a recent trip to the Congo.2
Marlow had been offered the command3 of a river steamer for a Belgian trading company with interests4 in the Congo. He came to Brussels, the capital city of Belgium, to learn more about the job and found that few of the officials of the company expected him to return alive. Immediately he heard of the man named Kurtz who was educating the African natives and sending back shiploads of ivory.5 From the beginning, the mysterious figure6 of Kurtz fascinated7 Marlow. In spite of the rumors that he heard about this man, he became more and more curious.8
Arriving on the African coast,9 Marlow traveled from the outer station to the central inland10 station where he expected to meet with the company's district manager.11 On his way up the Congo,12 Marlow encountered nothing but barbaric wilderness.13 He also noticed the invasion of western technological civilization into the primitive land of Africa.14 Natives were exploited:15 they worked in the hot sun until they collapsed16 and died. Marlow arrived at the central station to find that the river steamer had sunk a few days earlier. He met the district manager, who reported that he had not heard from Kurtz for quite some time.
Handicapped by a lack of rivets,17 Marlow spent months supervising repairs to the antiquated river steamer.18 One day, he overheard19 a conversation which revealed that the district manager was Kurtz's implacable20 enemy. The district manager hoped viciously that the climate would do away with Kurtz who was gravely ill.21
When the steamer was finally repaired, Marlow--joined22 by the district manager--sailed to visit Kurtz at the inner station far up the river. Just as they arrived within a few miles of Kurtz's station, they were attacked by the natives. In the midst of turmoil,23 Marlow's helmsman24 was killed by a long spear.25 Thrown off his balance,26 Marlow blew the steamboat whistle27 and the sound frightened the natives away. When they docked,28 they met a Russian traveler who confirmed29 that Kurtz was dying.
As the district manager visited Kurtz, Marlow remained to talk with the Russian. The Russian told him that Kurtz had become corrupted30 by the very natives whom he had hoped to enlighten.31 Kurtz attended the natives' "unspeakable rites"32 and killed frequently in order to get ivory. He decorated the gargoyle33 of his hut with human skulls.34 In fact, it was Kurtz himself that had ordered the natives to attack the steamer. He was worried that the white men had come to take him away. He would rather die among his fellow savages in the wilderness.35
During his journey, Kurtz had been a kind of idol in Marlow's mind's eye.36 Now meeting Kurtz in person,37 Marlow found that his idol had fallen.38 However, talking to the dying man on his deathbed,39 Marlow realized that Kurtz was fully aware of40 his own fall. He gave Marlow a packet41 of letters and other things for his fiancée42 in Belgium. The district manager and Marlow laid Kurtz on a stretcher43 and took him to the steamer. He died while the steamer was temporarily stopped for more repairs.44 He uttered his last words which summed up his adventure and subsequent fall: "The horror! The horror!"45
A year later, Marlow returned to Brussels to see Kurtz's fiancée. She still thought of him as the splendid46 and powerful man. When she asked Marlow what Kurtz's last words had been, Marlow lied and told her that Kurtz had asked for her at the end.
As Marlow's trip is a symbolic journey into the blackness central to the heart of man, Kurtz provides the best example.47 The one who proclaims to bring light into the darkness is swallowed up by the darkness.48 Through this, Conrad manages to delineate49 the evil at the center of human experience, and in the novel he has made this point clear.50
注釋
1 全句意思是: 巡邏艇 Nellie 號停泊在泰晤士河的出海口。船名之前須加定冠詞。又：通從說 We anchored at Hong Kong（我們把船停泊在香港）；Our ship was anchored at Hong Kong（用被動式）。
2 Marlow（以一個沉思入定的佛陀的姿勢）盤膝而坐，正在向一群海員述說他最近去過剛果河一趟的經驗。The Congo：剛果河，河名前加定冠詞。剛果比利時屬地叫 the Belgian Congo。
3 命名，指揮權。
4 interests 作複數，不是指興趣，而是指利益、利害關係。下一句中的 capital city 即「首都」。
5 一船一船的象牙。一艘船載滿的負荷量叫 a shipload。
6 神秘的人物。Figure 一字作「人物」解時，用法很多，如 He is one of the chief figures in the celebration：他是參加祝賀活動中的主要人物之一。
7 令人著迷。
8 儘管聽到許多關於 Kurtz 的謠言，Marlow 却愈覺得好奇。
9 抵達非洲海岸，介系詞用 on。
10 內陸(的)。
11 駐該地區的經理。meet with 與 meet 略有不同，前者是事先預知或安排的會見，而後者固然可作「會見」，多半指不期而遇。
12 up the Congo： 沿剛果河往上游航行。
13 放眼所見僅僅是一片蠻荒。encounter：遭遇。
14 西方科技文明侵入非洲這原始的大地。
15 exploit：剝削。
16 collapse：崩潰。此處作 「病垮了」。
17 因缺乏鉚釘（rivets）而受阻；handicapped 是「遭到阻碍」。
18 Marlow 耗費了幾個月來監督這艘老舊的汽船的整修。
19 無意間偷聽到。
20 implacable enemy：仇恨很深的敵人。
21 經理惡毒地希望，氣候會除掉病得很嚴重的 Kurtz。短期的天氣用 weather；一個地區長期的天氣狀況用 climate。
22 joined=in the company of：由……作陪。
23 在混亂當中。
24 舵手。
25 長矛。
26 （由於突如其來的打擊）失去平衡，不知所措。
27 拉響輪船的汽笛。
28 靠碼頭。
29 證實。
30 遭受壞影響而變得腐敗，道德敗壞。
31 enlighten：啓蒙。
32 不可告人的儀式。
33 gargoyle：屋簷下接雨水的霤嘴。
34 人頭骷髏。
35 他寧願和他的野人同伴死在荒野。
36 Kurtz 是 Marlow 心目中的一種偶像。
37 親自會見。
38 墮落。
39 臨終時臥睡的床。
40 Kurtz 充分的自覺（意識）到自己的角落。aware 接介系詞 of。
41 小包，亦作 parcel。郵政包裹 parcel 與 packet 意義同，故 packet-boat 即郵船。
42 fiancée：未婚妻。去掉最後一個e字母即未婚夫。
43 擔架。
44 船暫時停下來做更多的修復。
45 Kurtz 臨終的遺言概括（sum up）了他一生的冒險及隨後而來的（subsequent）墮落：「恐怖啊 ! 恐怖啊 !」
46 splendid 作偉大、壯烈、燦爛等解。
47 Marlow 這趟旅途象徵性（symbolic）地航進人性中心的黑暗面，而 Kurtz 提供了一個最好的例證。
48 號稱要將光明帶入黑暗中的人反而被黑暗吞噬了。proclaim：宣告。
49 delineate 描繪。evil：邪惡。
50 make clear：闡明。動詞用 make。
by Dr. Yuan-huang Tsai