这篇文不大好找，因为Love in Black and White本身也是一本小说，但并不单是廊桥遗梦。若对此文感兴趣直接找“The Bridges of Madison County”即可。《廊桥遗梦》本身也有这两个名字，后一个名字更常见一些。

豹豹个人是不大喜欢读序或后记，杂七杂八不过是作者说些零七落八的补充。这一篇单独列在散文中，反而让我一口气读完了。读完后甚至陷入短暂的思考。人对感情，婚姻，责任，自我，维系究竟是如何定义的？生命中到底有没有另一个灵魂在等待以及被等待？责任与自我如果要牺牲一方又是否值得？年轻时候的爱情让你奋不顾身的投入，步入中年是否才发现已经消磨成了你曾最厌恶的样子？一句我爱你是否在说给对方听的同时也在催眠自己？突然莫名打个寒战。

这篇文交代了作者写作的起因，前后的准备以及对于故事中的人物的思索。对于廊桥遗梦，除了小时候模糊的电视记忆，以及一首很老的歌曲，它的名字和《蝴蝶梦》同一时期在脑海中留下过印象，没有了。后来陆续看到此片的好评和争议，略有些吃惊。看到作者写的话更觉得对于故事(尤其是真实故事改编)，有的时候，我们真的需要先放下偏见的倾向和先入为主的主导，把自己带入，你才能细细体味另一种人生。才会体谅他们的挣扎与艰难。当然这也考验影片或作者说故事的能力。

这篇序我还是略有感动的，甚至有点想去翻翻这部片子。一不小心写多了，再写下去就成读后感了……

That they are prepared to make such an effort intrigues me, in spite of my skepticism about such offers. So I agree to meet with them in Des Moines the following week. At a Holiday Inn near the airport, the introductions are made, awkwardness gradually declines, and the two of them sit across from me, evening coming down outside, light snow falling.

这是故事女主人公的两个孩子。给作者讲的这个故事来源，但前提是如果不写成小说，事实就不允许公布于众以免生活受扰。

intrigue 引起好奇、兴趣等。

in spite of:despite 尽管

At a Holiday Inn假日旅馆，介词at

decline↓(坡度下降箭头无法显示)

So I listen. I listen hard, and I ask hard questions. And they talk. On and on they talk. Carolyn cries openly at times, Michael struggles not to. They show me documents and magazine clippings and a set of journals written by their mother, Francesca.

这一段描写很生动感人。

Room service comes and goes. Extra coffee is ordered. As they talk, I begin to see the images. First you must have the images, then come the words. And I begin to hear the words, begin to see them on pages of writing.

room service :旅馆里食品/饮料送入客房的服务。上一篇中出现的beverage就是指饮料(不含酒精)

这一段真实再现了写作中的过程，画面呈现--如同24格电影，搭建起静态动态的场景，再流露笔端。

Yet in a world where personal commitment in all of its forms seems to be shattering and love has become a matter of convenience, they both felt this remarkable tale was worth the telling. I believed then, and I believe even more strongly now, they were correct in their assessment.

当今这个世界家庭责任日渐淡薄，爱情也不过是廉价的舶来品。这个不同寻常的故事或许会有它的价值。

豹豹后来又找了找相关资料，真实故事还是很打动人心的，并不仅仅是电影中呈现的那样。

In spite of the investigative effort, gaps remain. I have added a little of my own imagination in those instances, but only when I could make reasoned judgments flowing from the intimate familiarity with Francesca Johnson and Robert Kincaid I gained through my research. I am confident that I have come very close to what actually happened.

尽管有大量精心的搜集，但依旧有空隙需要填补。这就需要合理的推断假设放入进去，而前提必须是熟悉了大量调查的合理推理。

现在的大部分小说之所以不能直指人心，其实就在于真实感和逻辑性。

Driving toward Madison County at the end of my travels, I felt I had, in many ways, become Robert Kincaid.

重走了罗伯特(电影/小说中的男主人公--摄影师)的路，我觉得在很多方面我越来越贴近他了。

Kincaid金凯德这个姓其实就是天使雕像中两个孩子的姓。

Still, attempting to capture the essence of Kincaid was the most challenging part of my research and writing. He is an elusive figure. At times he seems rather ordinary. At other times ethereal, perhaps even spectral.

即使做了这么多准备工作，抓住男主人公的本质依旧是最难的部分，因为他的不可捉摸，留下的可考太少。

He once talked about the "merciless wail" of time in his head, and Francesca Johnson characterized him as living "in strange, haunted places, far back along the stems of Darwin's logic."(达尔文的进化论)

罗伯特曾说他是“无情的悲号”。好像电影中有这个桥段，因为搜到了台词，因为还没看所以不赘言。

解析中这样说的:"merciless wail" 是罗伯特给女主人Francesca信中的话

But, I am, after all, a man. And all the philosophic rationalizations I can conjure up do not keep me from wanting you, every day, every moment, the merciless wail of time, of time I can never spend with you, deep within my head.

I love you, profoundly and completely. And I always will.

The last cowboy,

Robert

为了不打扰Francesca的正常生活，这封信是在Robert临终前才随包裹寄出的。

wail:long,loud,high-pitched cries which express sorrow or pain.

写出了Robert对Francesca的极度思念之情。

Preparing and writing this book has altered my world view, transformed the way I think, and, most of all, reduced my level of cynicism about what is possible in the arena of human relationships.

cynicism哲学中的“犬儒主义”，也是豹豹一直比较困惑的一个理论。有时候觉得不同的人提到同一个理论观点完全是相悖的。

总之可以认为是对这个世界持怀疑主义而玩世不恭，愤世嫉俗。个人见解，不打包票。

准备这本书使得作者改变了自己的一些认知和思考问题的态度。人与人的关系往往会延展到比我们意识到的要远地方。

That will not be easy. In an increasingly callous world, we all exist with our own carapaces of scabbed-over sensibilities. Where great passion leaves off and mawkishness begins, I'm not sure. But our tendency to scoff at the possibility of the former and to label genuine and profound feelings as maudlin makes it difficult to enter the realm of gentleness required to understand the story of Francesca Johnson and Robert Kincaid. I know I had to overcome that tendency initially before I could begin writing.

这也是全文中最让我思索的地方。对于一个故事我们在还没有深入的时候，就惯例或者麻木的自我保护状态去拒绝，拒绝我们所认为所谓的“深情”(但往往它们是真实的)--把它们先入为主划为矫揉造作或者脆弱的伤感，我们就很难放开自己的心去理解这份情意亦或是主人公的经历。不管是作者还是评论人，在正视一部作品前多少还是要克制这种刻板的倾向。

callous: 无情的

carapace:壳

mawkish:太易伤感的，造作多情的

maudlin:与mawkish同义，但用于形容人，而不是物

很好的一篇文。