连童话里也是满满的美少年之心

封面是“济慈与夜莺”，内容集合了The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888) 以及 A House of Pomegranates (1891)两本童话集。书从内容美到封面，所有一切都笼着一层美丽的纱，故事里更是满满的美少年之心。两部童话集收录在一起，风格却相去甚远。石榴屋里的故事明显要晦涩得多，尤其是The Fishman and His Soul及The Star-Child，在结尾的时候更弥漫着强烈的虚无主义。故事中那些被精心糅杂的美好、残酷、宗教道德、哲理最后全汇入虚无主义大河，让人不辨方向。而快乐王子集则显得单纯多了，悲伤就悲伤，美好就美好，结尾就结尾。同样的地方是，这两本集子里都有许多宗教元素，这也是我特别喜欢的部分。这些元素放在里面特别美，也特别适合，更升华了这些故事。其中最棒的三个故事是：The Happy Prince，The Young King，The Fishman and The Soul.

一名美少年的觉悟
作者用美少年之心写那些美少年主角们，人美心好爱情至上，是他们共同特征。美少年有多美，大概是这样”he was white and delicate as swan ivory, and his curls were like the rings of the daffodil. His lips, also, were like the petals of a red flower, and his eyes were like violets by a river of pure water, and his body like the narcissus of a field where the mower comes not. (p187) ” 美少年的心有多好，大概是这样“You tell me of marvelous things, but more marvelous than anything is suffering of men and women. There is no Mystery so great as Misery….I covered with fine gold, you must take it off, leaf by leaf, and give it to my poor; the living always think that gold can make them happy.(p19)”当然也有人美心坏的美少年。因为心太坏变成了癞蛤蟆。但美少年岂能如此收场？变丑的美少年后来幡然悔悟、良心发现，于是又恢复了原来的美貌。其实童话里也有丑少年，比如The Birthday of the Infanta里的侏儒。侏儒丑，心是好的。可是侏儒的心最后却碎了，碎在镜子前。镜子里他生平第一次看到的自己的容貌(没错是被自己丑到心碎而卒)。所以在王尔德童话里美貌与心灵的关系甚是有趣。美少年愿意为爱出卖灵魂“Father，the Fauns live in the forest and are glad, and on the rocks sit the Mermen with their harps of red gold. Let me be as they are, I beseech thee, for their days are as the days of flowers. And as for my soul, what doth my soul profit me, if it stand between me and the thing that love?(p135)” 美少年也爱世间所有美丽的事物，美丽的人、美丽的花、美丽的衣服、美丽的宫殿、美丽的奇珍异宝，所有自然间和人造的美丽事物，美少年都心向往之。”And it seems that from the very first moment of his recognition he had shown signs of that strange passion for beauty that was destined to have so great an influence over his life.(p79)”

关于心与灵魂：这一次心是真的碎了
“And his Soul besought him to depart, but he would not, so great was his love. And the sea came nearer, and sought to cover him with its waves, and when he knew that the end was at hand he kissed with mad lips the cold lips of the Mermaid, and the heart that was whithin him brake. And as through the fullness of his love his heart did break, the Soul found an entrance and entered in, and was one with him even as before. And the sea covered the young Fisherman with its waves(p177)”
当心碎的时候，灵魂才能找到缺口重新回到身体，这是The Fishman and The Soul里的一段。这是一个关于渔夫爱上了美人鱼，但必须舍弃灵魂才能和人鱼在一起的故事。最后渔夫为了人鱼心碎而死，灵魂回到了死去的渔夫的心里。到死也追随，渔夫对人鱼是真爱，渔夫的灵魂对渔夫更是真爱。（应该算得上是自恋恋吧…）
最初，渔夫为了舍弃灵魂去找神父，神父说人不可以没有灵魂。后来，渔夫找巫师才摆脱了灵魂。没有了灵魂的渔夫，并没有像神父说得那么可怕。渔夫还有一颗心，他的心被爱占满了。也因为被占满了，就再也没有灵魂的空间。回不去的灵魂在世间漂泊了三年，第一年他得到了智慧，问渔夫愿不愿意让他回去，渔夫说他不能没有爱。第二年，灵魂得到了财富，问渔夫愿不愿意让他回去，渔夫说他不能没有爱。直到第三年，灵魂用美丽女子的舞蹈诱惑渔夫，渔夫才接受了灵魂，还在灵魂的唆使下犯了几桩罪。渔夫无法承受罪恶感，而灵魂却不以为意。他说他离开了他太久，所以变坏了。当渔夫再次摆脱坏灵魂的时候，已经太晚了，人鱼死了。于是就有了引文的一幕。
心与灵魂同时作为一组抽象概念，在童话中具象化了，并指向了不同涵义。在王尔德的童话里，心碎（heartbroken）不再是一个表达感情程度的词，而是一个具象化的事件。心是真的会碎的，当心碎的时候，人就死了：渔夫如此、侏儒如此，快乐王子更是如此（快乐王子是一尊无生命的雕像，但他却还是有一颗心。而他的心虽然只是一颗“平淡无奇”铅做的心，却胜所有西谚里所谓的golden heart）。心代表着天然存在，代表着本真的美好和善良，是纯净的、不会被污染的。灵魂则代表着人类创造的东西，随宗教而产生，借神父之口而宣告存在，他是更加理性的（故事中灵魂找到了智慧和财富），是会被罪恶沾染的。最重要的一点：人不会因为失去灵魂而死去，却会因为失去了心而死。