我前段时间写了一篇《中文也可以美得不寒而栗》贴出之后,听取“哇”声一片(新词汇叫“吐槽“)!部分读者认为:光是辞藻堆积没有思想内涵的文字不美。有的读者则坚称:朴实的语言才能表达真挚的感情。
不知道是不是我们经历过了太多政治运动的洗礼,养成了动不动就要内涵,要深度,要感情的惯性?
辞藻,作为语言的单位,是表达思想必不可少的元素。辞藻如果堆积得巧妙,即使没有思想内涵,文字依然可以很美:
For on no country have the charms of Nature been more prodigally lavished. Her mighty lakes, like oceans liquid silver; her mountains, with their bright aerial tints; her valleys, teeming with wild fertility; her tremendous cataracts , thundering in their solitudes; her boundless plains, waving with spontaneous verdure; her broad deep rivers, rolling in solemn silence to the ocean; her trackless forests, where vegetation puts forth all its magnificence; her skies, kindling with the magic of summer clouds and glorious sunshine.
这种景物描写,精致,简练,有一种音韵的律动。虽然我读不到任何思想的深度或内涵,我还是被它文字之美迷倒了。古代的唐诗宋词元曲能够成为千古万口传,不正是它们在辞藻上那种“食不厌精,脍不厌细”的追求吗?
作为老师,我希望我的学生个个都是辞藻堆积的高手,而不是写作空洞无物的词穷者。我不认为太过朴实的语言能够表达多深奥的思想。
何况,我们生活在一个什么都讲求快捷简便的时代,语言也不例外。我们的辞藻堆积不是太多了,而是太少了。刻意的辞藻堆积,可以营造出一种别致的修辞效果:
It is so painfully, embarrassingly, proudly, honestly, purely real.
(连续五个副词修饰一个形容词,如五雷灌顶,咄咄逼人。)
A year after my first son was born, I felt compelled to throw the requisite, big hoo-ha, Mardi Gras-ish, quinceanera-for-tots-type, baby bar mitzvah-style, professionally-catered one-year-old birthday party.
(七个形容词修饰一个名词,无论是广度还是深度都无远弗届。)
Whoever said “Half the fun is getting there” never had to take two car seats, a stroller, a box of Huggies, six puzzles, a Game Boy, crayons, coloring books, saltines, juice boxes, two tired toddlers, and a partridge in pear tree on an international flight in coach.
(一口气连用11个宾语,让读者读得气喘呼呼,逼真地感受到笔者那种拖儿带女坐经济舱去旅行的艰辛。)
再细想一层,脑中能够有丰富的辞藻库存随意把玩堆积的人,思想是不至于浅薄到哪里去的。 俗话说,“熟读唐诗三百首,不会作诗也会吟。”
所以,我还是要拼命鼓吹:
誓将辞藻堆积进行到底!