受英國出版人Jamie Byng誠邀,本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇搭檔英劇《神探夏洛克》中的女演員露易絲·布瑞莉,領(lǐng)銜參與“Letters Live”書信朗誦活動(dòng)?!吨掠H愛的貝茜》是一本書信集,是二戰(zhàn)期間男女主人公克里斯與貝茜跨越大洋間的通信記錄。隨著“卷?!蔽┟钗┬さ乩首x,一段段發(fā)生于二戰(zhàn)時(shí)期的濃情畫面躍然眼前。
▲1945年,克里斯·巴克在利比亞
1943年12月,曾在倫敦北部擔(dān)任郵局職員的克里斯·巴克被安排到北非的利比亞海岸擔(dān)任信號(hào)員,為度過戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間黑暗漫長(zhǎng)的日子,他決定給老朋友們寫信,其中一位便是老同事貝茜·摩爾。貝茜熱情溫暖的回信照亮了克里斯平靜的生活,幾次信件往來迅速點(diǎn)燃了彼此的熱情,兩人深陷愛河無法自拔。一年后,兩人開始談婚論嫁,盡管書信往來期間彼此連面都沒見過。
▲貝茜·摩爾
兩人來往的信件中,有500多封被保存了下來。為節(jié)約行李空間和掩蓋兩人的親密關(guān)系,不少貝茜的信件被克里斯燒毀。通過留存下來的這些信件,讀者不難感受到通信雙方的渴望、恐懼、欲望、悔恨和坦誠,也愈發(fā)能理解寫信這一古老的交流方式具有改變普通人生活的力量。
▲克里斯和貝茜在戰(zhàn)后結(jié)婚,并育有兩個(gè)兒子。二人健康長(zhǎng)壽,幸福快樂地生活在一起
▲本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇朗讀版本(中文字幕),小編也找來了英文版附在下面,練聽力的時(shí)候到啦
January 29,1945
My Dearest One,
I have just heard the news that all the Army men taken POW are to return to their homes.Becauseof the shipping situation we may not commence to go before the end of February,but can probably count on being in England sometime in March. It may be sooner. It has made me very warm inside. It isterrific, wonderful, shattering.
I don’t know what tosay, and I cannot think. The delay is nothing, the decision is everything. I must spend the first days at home, I must consider giving a party somewhere.Above all, I must be with you. I must warm you, surround you, love you and bekind to you.
I would prefer not to get married, but want you to agree on the point. In the battle, I was afraid.For you. For my Mother. For myself. Wait we must, my love and my darling. Let us meet, let us be, let us know, but do not let us, now, make any mistakes.
How good for us to see each other before I am completely bald! I have some fine little wisps of hairon the top of my head.
It is not much good metrying to write about recent experiences now that I know that I shall be ableto tell you everything myself within such a short time. What I have my eye onnow is the first letter from you saying that you know I am alright, and the next, saying you know I am coming to you. Plan a week somewhere (not Boscombeor Bournemouth) and think of being together. The glory of you.
I hope that you will not start buying any clothes (if you have the coupons left), because you think you‘must look nice’ for me. Just carry on as near as possible to normal. I shall tell my family I hope to spend a week away with you somewhere during my leave.My counsel to you is to tell as few people as possible. Try to avoid preeningyourself and saying much. This is my advice, not anything but that. I hope youunderstand.
I do not ever want it tobe anything but our affair. Do not permit any intrusion. I do not know how longleave I shall get. I could get as little as fourteen days, and I may get as much as a month. I am wondering how I shall tell you I am in England. Probablyit is still quicker to send a telegram than a letter, and I hope to send you one announcing that I am on the same island. I will send another when I am actually soon to get on the London bound train, and you can ring LEE GREEN 0509 when you think I have arrived there. It is a strange thing, but I cannot seem to‘get going'and write very freely. All I am thinking about is ‘I am going home. I am going to see her.’ It is a fact, a real thing, an impending event,like Shrove Tuesday, Xmas Day, or the Lord Mayor’s Banquet.
You have to be abroad,you have to be hermetically sealed off from your intimates, from your home, to realize what a gift this going- home is. The few letters of yours that I had on me, I burnt the day previous to our surrender, so no- one but myself has readyour words. It is a pity that the winter weather will not be kind to us out ofdoors. But it will be nice sitting next to you in the pictures, no matter what may be on the screen. It will be grand to know that we have each other’s support and sympathy. Won’t it be wonderful to be together, really together, in the flesh, not just to know that a letter is all we can send.
Ilove you.
Chris
▲露易絲·布瑞莉朗讀版本(中文字幕),英文原文也在下面哦
February 6,1945
Darling, darling, darling.This is what I have been waiting for, your freedom left me dumb and choked up,but now, oh now, I feel released. Oh Christopher, my dear, dear man, it is so,so wonderful. You are coming home. Golly, I shall have to be careful, all this excitement is almost too much for my body. You must be careful too, darling,all this on top of what you have been through, it is difficult to keep it down,but, you can’t help the excited twinges in your midriff, can you, do keep well,angel, I shall have to say that to myself as well.
Marriage my sweet, yes I agree, what you wish, I wish. Whilst you are afraid, you will not be happy, we must get rid of these fears between us. Also confidentially, I too am a little scared - everything in letters appears larger than life size, like my photograph, it didn’t show the white hairs beneath the dark, the decaying teeth, the darkening skin, I think of my nasty characteristics, my ordinariness. Yes, I too feel a little afraid. Still I can’t be bothered withthat now, for we are going to meet, does anything else matter Chris?
Oh dear dear me, plan aweek somewhere, bonk, up comes my heart, a week somewhere, by the sea, with you. Where shall we go, of course I’d choose north Devon, sea, country and air,but March raises the question of weather, might we go to a largish town, I prefer villages normally, but with you I guess I’ll do what you want, also I feel that you’ll need looking after, don’t think you should walk around in therain, not for a while, anyway, guess I don’t care where, as long as it’s the sea, and you, you, you. Inward clangings and bouncings and I wonder how soon. You know I say to myself, ‘Bessie my girl, you’re not so hot’, but I think you may have a similar feeling. I say, how is your digestion, mine’s awful, I shall be reduced to taking Rennies or something, a wind remover. My tea at his moment is stuck somewhere in the middle of my chest.
I can’t help wishing that you won’t get these letters, that you’ll be on your way, that the time to wait is that shot, because my impatience is getting pretty bad, being able to write like we have has been a wonderful thing, but it has always remained only the beginning, the contact for our future and a beginning must change to something else, and now it is changing.
What do you think of the war news? Don’t like getting too optimistic, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to come home to stay?
I love you.
Bessie
▲二戰(zhàn)期間,克里斯·巴克給他的愛人貝茜寫的信
Letters Live活動(dòng)由英國坎農(nóng)格特出版社(Canongate)發(fā)起,最初是在倫敦的一間臨時(shí)房屋里開始的,而后影響力迅速擴(kuò)大,吸引了許多人士參與。名人受邀在現(xiàn)場(chǎng)觀眾面前閱讀那些“理應(yīng)受到更廣泛關(guān)注”的書信,曾經(jīng)朗讀過的書信包括英國女作家弗吉尼亞·伍爾夫的遺書、印度領(lǐng)袖甘地寫給希特勒呼吁和平的信、伊麗莎白二世寫給艾森豪威爾總統(tǒng)的司康餅配方、泰坦尼克號(hào)沉沒前發(fā)出的電報(bào),以及古巴領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人菲德爾·卡斯特羅寫給“我的好朋友羅斯?!钡男?。他們分享信中的苦痛、歡樂、智慧與幽默,將信件的力量通過活動(dòng)、網(wǎng)絡(luò)平臺(tái)傳遞到全世界人的心里。■
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