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作者：Katherine Mansfield（凯瑟琳·曼斯菲尔德）
首次出版：1922 年 3 月 18 日
首次收录于：《The Nation and Athenaeum》《国家与雅典娜》
出版背景：英国，以报刊刊载形式推出
收录说明：后收录于遗作短篇集
《The Doves’ Nest and Other Stories》《鸽巢及其他故事》（1923）
创作背景：
这是曼斯菲尔德晚期经典心理短篇。
作者深受一战丧弟之痛，自身肺病缠身，
小说借办公室里老板捉弄苍蝇的小事，
写战争创伤、生命渺小、悲伤麻木与遗忘的主题。
英文原文
Old Woodifield,
who had been allowed out of his house for the day,
sat in the boss’s comfortable, luxurious office.
He had suffered a stroke,
and his speech was slow,
his eyes dim and wandering.
The boss was stout,
prosperous,
still strong,
though his son had been killed in the war six years ago.
They chatted of trivial things,
of weather,
of old acquaintances.
Then Woodifield said,
in his shaky voice,
that his daughters had travelled to Belgium,
to see the graves of the boys fallen in the war.
“The place is beautiful,
so neat,
flowers on every grave,”
he murmured.
And he mentioned,
casually,
that the boss’s boy lay there too,
close beside his own son.
When Woodifield left,
the boss locked the door.
He had always told himself he would break down,
and weep for his son,
if anyone spoke of the grave.
He called up the image of the boy,
bright,
handsome,
full of promise,
the heir he had counted on.
But the tears would not come.
A strange, hollow weariness settled over him.
As he stared down at his desk,
a fly fell into the wide inkpot.
It struggled,
its legs thrashing,
slipping on the wet glass sides.
The boss picked it out with his pen,
shook it onto a sheet of blotting paper.
For a moment it lay motionless,
drenched and dark.
Then its front legs stirred,
gripped the paper,
and it began the huge labour of cleaning its wings.
Legs moved over and under the wings,
again and again,
wiping away the thick ink.
It paused,
tried to spread one wing,
then the other.
At last it succeeded,
and set about washing its face,
like a tiny cat.
The danger was past;
it had survived.
The boss watched it,
and a strange, playful cruelty rose in him.
He dipped his pen once more,
and let a heavy drop of ink fall upon the fly.
The little creature froze,
stunned.
But after a while,
it began once again to scrape and clean itself.
Again the boss dropped ink.
Again the fly struggled back to life.
Each time,
its movements grew feebler,
more timid.
“This will be the last,”
the boss whispered to himself,
and let the final blot fall.
This time,
the fly did not stir.
Its back legs clung to its body,
the front legs vanished.
“Come on,”
the boss said,
“Look sharp!”
He poked it gently with his pen.
Nothing moved.
The fly was dead.
He lifted the tiny corpse with a paper-knife,
and tossed it into the waste basket.
And then,
a crushing, nameless wretchedness swept over him,
so heavy that he was afraid.
He leaned back,
trying to recall what he had been thinking of,
what grief had been in his heart just before the fly caught his eye.
But he could not remember.
He had forgotten.
译文
老伍德菲尔德，
这天获准出门，
坐在老板舒适奢华的办公室里。
他中风过，
说话迟缓，
眼神浑浊涣散。
老板身材壮实，
事业兴旺，
身子依旧硬朗，
只是他的儿子，六年前已经战死沙场。
两人闲聊琐事，
聊天气，
聊旧相识。
伍德菲尔德声音颤抖，
说女儿们去了比利时，
去看望阵亡青年的墓地。
“那里很美，
收拾得干干净净，
每座坟上都有鲜花，”
他低声说道。
他随口提起，
老板的儿子也葬在那里，
和他自己的儿子挨在一起。
伍德菲尔德走后，
老板锁上房门。
他一直以为，
只要有人提起坟墓，
自己一定会崩溃痛哭，
为儿子落泪。
他回想儿子的模样，
阳光，俊朗，
前程大好，
是他寄予厚望的继承人。
可眼泪迟迟落不下来。
一种空洞倦怠的感觉笼罩了他。
他低头看向桌面，
一只苍蝇掉进宽大的墨水瓶。
它拼命挣扎，
腿脚乱蹬，
在湿滑的瓶壁上不断滑落。
老板用笔尖把它挑出来，
抖落在吸墨纸上。
它一动不动躺了片刻，
浑身浸透墨汁，黑乎乎的。
随后前腿轻轻颤动，
抓住纸面，
费力清理翅膀上的墨渍。
细腿反复擦拭翅膀，
擦完一面，再擦另一面。
它歇了歇，
试着展开一边翅膀，
再展开另一边。
终于成功了，
它像小猫一般，
开始擦洗自己的头部。
危险过去了，
它活了下来。
老板看着它，
心底生出一丝古怪、戏谑的残忍。
他再次蘸上墨水，
一滴浓重的墨汁落在苍蝇身上。
小小的生灵僵住了，
被砸得发懵。
过了一会儿，
它又开始挣扎自救。
老板再次滴下墨汁。
苍蝇再次奋力求生。
每一次，
它的动作都越发虚弱，
越发迟缓。
“这是最后一次了，”
老板低声自语，
落下最后一滴墨。
这一次，
苍蝇再也不动了。
后腿蜷缩贴紧身体，
前腿不再动弹。
“加油啊，”
老板说，
“振作起来！”
他用笔尖轻轻碰了碰它。
没有任何动静。
苍蝇死了。
他用裁纸刀挑起小小的尸体，
丢进废纸篓。
就在这一刻，
一股难以名状的沉重悲苦席卷了他，
沉重得让他心生惶恐。
他向后靠在椅背上，
努力回想方才所想，
回想苍蝇吸引他目光之前，
心中那份悲伤是什么。
可他想不起来了。
他已经忘了。
🔍长难句赏析与拆解
原句一
Old Woodifield,
who had been allowed out of his house for the day,
sat in the boss’s comfortable, luxurious office.
句式解读
本句主干为主谓结构，
who引导非限制性定语从句，
补充介绍伍德菲尔德的情况，
交代人物背景，句子节奏舒缓。
句子主干
Old Woodifield sat in the boss’s comfortable, luxurious office.
原句二
Then its front legs stirred,
gripped the paper,
and it began the huge labour of cleaning its wings.
句式解读
前面stirred、gripped为并列谓语，
and引出新分句；
of cleaning its wings介词短语后置修饰labour，
细致刻画苍蝇自救的动作。
句子主干
Its front legs stirred, gripped the paper, and it began the huge labour.
原句三
And then, a crushing, nameless wretchedness swept over him,
so heavy that he was afraid.
句式解读
so…that…引导结果状语从句，
crushing、nameless两个形容词前置修饰wretchedness，
放大人物内心压抑的悲痛，是全文点睛句。
句子主干
A crushing, nameless wretchedness swept over him.
📖全篇句式特点
文本长短句交错。
多用定语从句、状语从句、并列短句。
长句铺垫环境、人物心理；
短句定格瞬间动作，克制内敛。
没有激烈直白的控诉，依靠细节推动心理变化。
叙事节奏从平淡闲谈，转到内心悲伤，
再到捉弄苍蝇，最后落到遗忘，层层内敛递进。
适合学习心理描写、象征叙事写法。
核心词汇
1. dim
/dɪm/
昏暗的，模糊的
形容词（adj.）
2. trivial
/ˈtrɪviəl/
琐碎的，无关紧要的
形容词（adj.）
3. shaky
/ˈʃeɪki/
颤抖的，不稳的
形容词（adj.）
4. heir
/eə(r)/
继承人
名词（n.）
5. thrash
/θræʃ/
剧烈扭动，挣扎
动词（v.）
6. blotting paper
/ˈblɒtɪŋ ˈpeɪpə(r)/
吸墨纸
名词短语
7. feeble
/ˈfiːbl/
虚弱无力的
形容词（adj.）
8. corpse
/kɔːps/
尸体
名词（n.）
9. crushing
/ˈkrʌʃɪŋ/
沉重的，令人崩溃的
形容词（adj.）
10. wretchedness
/ˈretʃɪdnəs/
痛苦，悲苦
名词（n.）
📜文学赏析
《苍蝇》是曼斯菲尔德心理象征短篇的代表作。
选文以一只苍蝇作为核心象征，
苍蝇代表所有渺小、被动的生命。
老板本身也是一战的受害者，承受丧子之痛，
但他无处安放的悲伤，转化成对弱小生命的操控与折磨。
作者没有激烈控诉战争，
只用办公室一件微不足道的小事，
写出伤痛钝化之后人潜藏的残忍。
故事的高潮不是苍蝇的死亡，
而是老板杀死苍蝇之后，
转瞬遗忘了自己刚刚的悲伤。
平静克制的文字之下，藏着时代的精神创伤。
💡主旨品读
选文借老板与苍蝇的小故事，
探讨悲伤、遗忘和生命脆弱。
伤痛会随时间慢慢褪色，
哀悼会消散，人会慢慢遗忘苦难。
人在巨大的死亡伤痛面前，
既值得同情，也可能滋生残忍。
所有渺小生命的挣扎，在命运面前都十分脆弱。
遗忘本身，也是一种悲剧。
这篇作品以小见大，
用细微的心理瞬间，叩问战争带给人的长久伤害。
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