Traveller_Levin's Blog

Teenage Wasteland

Anne Tyler (1941~)，出生於美國明尼蘇達州，畢業於杜克大學，繼續在哥倫比亞大學攻讀俄羅斯文學，取得碩士學位，之後遷居於Maryland州的Baltimore。其第9部小說Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant 及第10部小說The Accidental Tourist分別於1983年及1986年入圍普立茲小說獎，The Accidental Tourist備受佳評，於1988年拍成非常成功的電影。Anne Tyler的第11部小說Breathing Lessonst於1989年奪得普立茲小說獎，迄至2012年她已出版19部長篇小說。

Anne Tyler的小說大多以Baltimore為背景，以精細的對話描寫、生動之人物形象刻畫、婉約細膩的文筆以及娓娓動人的情節，反映美國現代家庭種種喜怒哀樂之生活面相，深深打動讀者的心靈。在美國她的作品被譽為女性小說的巔峰之作，也享有美國家庭小說鼻祖的稱號。。

He used to have very blond hair—almost white—cut shorter than other children’s so that on his crown a little cowlick1 always stood up to catch the light. But this was when he was small. As he grew older, his hair grew darker, and he wore it longer—past his collar even. It hung in lank, taffy-colored ropes around his face, which was still an endearing face, fine-featured, the eyes an unusual aqua blue. But his cheeks, of course, were no longer round, and a sharp new Adam’s apple jogged in his throat when he talked.

In October, they called from the private school he attended to request a conference with his parents. Daisy went alone; her husband was at work. Clutching her purse, she sat on the principal’s couch and learned that Donny was noisy, lazy and disruptive; always fooling around with his friends, and he wouldn’t respond in class.

In the past, before her children were born, Daisy had been a fourth-grade teacher. It shamed her now to sit before this principal as a parent, a delinquent parent, a parent who struck2 Mr. Lanham, no doubt, as unseeing or uncaring. “It isn’t that we’re not concerned,” she said. “Both of us are. And we’ve done what we could, whatever we could think of. We don’t let him watch TV on school nights. We don’t let him talk on the phone till he’s finished his homework. But he tells us he doesn’t have any homework or he did it all in study hall. How are we to know what to believe?”

1.    cowlick一綹梳不平的亂髮。

2.   strike somebody as (being) something：to seem to have a particular quality or feature讓某人覺得該對象似乎有某種獨特的性質或特色。

在小孩還沒出生之前，Daisy曾是位小學四年級的老師。她感到羞辱，現在坐在校長面前像個不盡責的家長，無疑地讓Mr. Lanham覺得是不看管、不關心小孩的家長。

From early October through November, at Mr. Lanham’s suggestion, Daisy checked Donny’s assignments every day. She sat next to him as he worked, trying to be encouraging, sagging inwardly as she saw the poor quality of everything he did—the sloppy mistakes in math, the illogical leaps in his English themes, the history questions left blank if they required any research.

Daisy was often late starting supper, and she couldn’t give as much attention to Donny’s younger sister. “You’ll never guess what happened at ……..” Amanda would begin, and Daisy would have to tell her, “Not now, honey.”

By the time her husband, Matt, came home, she’d be snappish3. She would recite the day’s hardships—the fuzzy instructions in English, the botched history map, the morass of unsolvable algebra equations. Matt would look surprised and confused, and Daisy would gradually wind down4. There was no way, really, to convey how exhausting all this was.

In December, the school called again. This time, they wanted Matt to come as well. She and Matt had to sit on Mr. Lanham’s couch like two bad children and listened to the news: Donny had improved slightly, raising a D in history to a C, and a C in algebra to a B-minus. What was worse, he had developed new problems. He had cut classes5 on at least three occasions. Smoked in the furnace room. Helped Sonny Barnett break into a freshman’s locker. And last week, during athletics, he and three friends had been seen off the school grounds; when they returned, the coach had smelled beer on their breath.

Daisy and Matt sat silent, shocked. Matt rubbed his forehead with his fingertips. Imagine, Daisy thought, how they must look to Mr. Lanham: an overweight housewife in a cotton dress and a too-tall, too-thin insurance agent in a baggy, frayed suit. Failures—both of them the kind of people who are always hurrying to catch up, missing the point of things that everyone else grasps at once. She wished she’d worn nylons instead of knee socks.

It was arranged that Donny would visit a psychologist for testing. Mr. Lanham knew just the person. He would set this boy straight, he said.

When they stood to leave, Daisy held her stomach in and gave Mr. Lanham a firm, responsible handshake.6

3.    snappish暴躁、愛生氣的。

4.   wind down：To diminish gradually in energy, intensity, or scope在精力、強度、範圍上漸漸減弱。丈夫回家後，Daisy對他喋喋不休訴說她輔導Donny功課有多挫折與生氣，但先生一臉驚訝與茫然，讓Daisy越說越沒勁。

5.    cut classes翹課。

6.   Daisy以著堅定、負責任的態度與Mr. Lanham握手。在文法上firm與responsible用來形容handshake，但在語意上，這兩個字是在形容Daisy藉著握手要表達的她的態度。

Donny said the psychologist was a jackass7 and the tests were really dumb; but he kept all three of his appointments, and when it was time for the follow-up conference with the psychologist and both parents, Donny combed his hair and seemed unusually sober and subdued. The psychologist said Donny had no serious emotional problems. He was merely going through a difficult period in his life. He required some academic help and a better sense of self-worth. For this reason, he was suggesting a man named Calvin Beadle, a tutor with considerable psychological training.

In the car going home, Donny said he’d be damned if he’d let them drag him to some stupid fairy8 tutor. His father told him to watch his language in front of his mother.

That night, Daisy lay awake pondering the term “self-worth.” She had always been free with her praise. She had always told Donny he had talent, was smart, was good with his hands. She had made a big to-do9 over every little gift he gave her. In fact, maybe she had gone too far, although, Lord knows, she had meant every word. Was that his trouble?

She remembered when Amanda was born. Donny had acted lost and bewildered. Daisy had been alert to that, of course, but still, a new baby keeps you so busy. Had she really done all she could have? She longed—she ached—for a time machine. Given one more chance, she’d do it perfectly—hug him more, praise him more, or perhaps praise him less. Oh, who can say…………

7.    jackass蠢貨。

8.   fairy在此當指舉止有點女性化的男人，但不盡然意謂其為同性戀者。a male who acts slightly feminine but not neccessary means that they are gay

9.    to-do大驚小怪。

The tutor told Donny to call him Cal. All his kids did, he said. Daisy thought for a second that he meant his own children, then realized her mistake. He seemed too young, anyhow, to be a family man. He wore a heavy brown handle-bar mustache. His hair was as long and stringy as Donny’s, and his jeans as faded. Wire-rimmed spectacles slid down his nose. He lounged in a canvas director’s chair with his fingers laced across his chest, and he casually, amiably questioned Donny, who sat upright and glaring in an armchair.

“So they’re getting on your back10 at school,” said Cal. “Making a big deal about anything you do wrong.”

“Right,” said Donny.

“Any idea why that would be?”

“Oh, well, you know, stuff like homework and all,” Donny said.

“You don’t do your homework?”

“Oh, well, I might do it sometimes but not just exactly like they want it.” Donny sat forward and said, “It’s like a prison here, you know? You’ve got to go to every class, you can never step off the school grounds.”

“You cut classes sometimes?”

“Sometimes,” Donny said, with a glance at his parents.

Cal didn’t seem perturbed. “Well,” he said, “I’ll tell you what. Let’s you and me try working together three nights a week. Think you could handle that? We’ll see if we can show that school of yours a thing or two. Give it a month; then if you don’t like it, we’ll stop. If I don’t like it, we’ll stop. I mean, sometimes people just don’t get along, right? What do you say to that?” 11

“Okay,” Donny said. He seemed pleased.

“Make it seven o’clock till eight, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,” Cal told Matt and Daisy. They nodded. Cal shambled to his feet, gave them a little salute, and showed them to the door.

10.on someone's back：硬要叫某人做他所不想做的事：不斷叨煩著某人去做某事。

11. Cal 向Donny提議家教課每週三晚，試一個月看看，Donny若不喜歡可以停止，Cal若不喜歡也可以停止，因為有時候人就是處不來。What do you say to that? 你認為如何？

This was where he lived as well as worked, evidently. The interview had taken place in the dining room, which had been transformed into a kind of office. Passing the living room, Daisy winced at the rock music she had been hearing, ever since she had entered the house. She looked in and saw a boy about Donny’s age lying on a sofa with a book. Another boy and a girl were playing Ping-Pong in front of the fireplace. “You have several here together?” Daisy asked Cal.

“Oh, sometimes they stay on after their sessions, just to rap. They’re a pretty sociable group, all in all. Plenty of goof-offs12like young Donny here.”

He cuffed Donny’s shoulder playfully. Donny flushed and grinned.

Climbing into the car, Daisy asked Donny, “Well, what did you think?”

But Donny had returned to his old evasive self. He jerked his chin toward the garage. “Look,” he said. “He’s got a basketball net.”

Now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, they had supper early—the instant Matt came home. Sometimes, they had to leave before they were really finished. Amanda would still be eating her desert. “Bye, honey. Sorry,” Daisy would tell her.

Cal’s first bill sent a flutter of panic through Daisy’s chest, but it was worth it, of course. Just look at Donny’s face when they picked him up: alight and full of interest. The principal telephoned Daisy to tell her how Donny had improved. “Of course, it hasn’t shown up in his grades yet, but several of the teachers have noticed how his attitude’s changed. Yes, sir, I think we’re onto something13here.”

At home, Donny didn’t act much different. He still seemed to have a low opinion of his parents. But Daisy supposed that was unavoidable—part of being fifteen. He said his parents were too “controlling”—a word that made Daisy give him a sudden look14. He said they acted like wardens. On weekends, they enforced a curfew. And any time he went to a party, they always telephoned first to see if adults would be supervising. “For God’s sake!” he said. “Don’t you trust me?”

“It isn’t a matter of trust, honey…..” But there was no explaining to him.

His tutor called one afternoon. “I get the sense,” he said, “that this kid’s feeling…….underestimated, you know? Like you folks expect the worst of him. I’m thinking we ought to give him more rope.15

12.goof-off逃避工作或責任的人。偷懶、耍滑頭、無所事事。

13. I think we’re onto something here 我認為我們在他這些改變中看到了希望。

onto something: having found something useful or promising; on the verge of discovering something 發現有用或很有希望的事；即將要發現某事。

14.a sudden look 詫異驚愕的眼神。

15. give somebody more rope：to give someone more freedom to do something in the way they want to do it給予某人更多自由去按照他的方式去做。

“But see, he’s still so suggestible,” Daisy said. “When his friends suggest some mischief—smoking or drinking or such—why, he just finds it hard not to go along with them.”

“Mrs. Coble,” the tutor said, “I think this kid is hurting. You know? Here’s a serious, sensitive kid, telling you he’d like to take on some grown-up challenges, and you’re giving him the message that he can’t be trusted. Don’t you understand how that hurts?”

“Oh,” said Daisy.

“It undermines his self-esteem—don’t you realize that?”

“Well, I guess you’re right,” said Daisy. She saw Donny suddenly from a whole new angle: his pathetically poor posture, that slouch so forlorn that his shoulders seemed about to meet his chin……. oh, wasn’t it awful being young? She’d had a miserable adolescence herself and had always sworn no child of hers would ever be that unhappy.

They let Donny stay out later, they didn’t call ahead to see if the parties were supervised, and they were careful not to grill16him about his evening. The tutor had set down so many rules! They were not allowed any questions at all about any aspect of school, nor were they to speak with his teachers. If a teacher had some complaint, she should phone Cal. Only one teacher disobeyed—the history teacher, Miss Evans. She called one morning in February. “I’m a little concerned about Donny, Mrs. Coble.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Miss Evans, but Donny’s tutor handles these things now………..”

“I always deal directly with the parents. You are the parents,” Miss Evans said, speaking very slowly and distinctly. “Now, here is the problem. Back when you were helping Donny with his homework, his grades rose from a D to a C, but now they’ve slipped back, and they’re closer to a F.”

“They are?”

“I think you should start overseeing his homework again.”

“But Donny’s tutor says……..”

“It’s nice that Donny has a tutor, but you should still be in charge of his homework. With you, he learned it. Then he passed his tests. With the tutor, well, it seems the tutor is more of a crutch17 ‘Donny,’ I say, ‘a quiz is coming up on Friday. Hadn’t you better be listening instead of talking?’ ‘That’s Okay, Miss Evans,’ he says. ‘I have a tutor now.’ Like a talisman! I really think you ought to take over, Mrs. Coble.”

“I see,” said Daisy. “Well, I’ll think about that. Thank you for calling.”

16.grill逼問、拷問。

17. crutch本指傷患用來輔助支撐的拐杖，引申為某種用來支持幫助某人的東西，尤其指某種實際上對某人並不是很好的東西。例句：As things got worse at work, he began to use alcohol as a crutch.

Hanging up, she felt a rush of anger at Donny. A talisman! For a talisman, she’d given up all luxuries, all that time with her daughter, her evenings at home!

She dialed Cal’s number. He sounded muzzy. “I’m sorry if I woke you,” she told him, “but Donny’s history teacher just called. She says he isn’t doing well.”

“She should have dealt with me.”

“She wants me to start supervising his homework again. His grades are slipping.”

“Yes,” said the tutor, “but you and I both know there’s more to it than mere grades, don’t we? I care about the whole child—his happiness, his self-esteem. The grades will come. Just give them time.”

When she hung up, it was Miss Evans she was angry at. What a narrow woman! 

It was Cal this, Cal that, Cal says this, Cal and I did that. Cal lent Donny an album by the Who18 He took Donny and two other pupils to a rock concert. In March, when Donny began to talk endlessly on the phone with a girl named Miriam, Cal even let Miriam come to one of the tutoring sessions. Daisy was touched that Cal would grow so involved in Donny’s life, but she was also a little hurt, because she had offered to have Miriam to dinner and Donny had refused. Now he asked them to drive her to Cal’s house without a qualm.19

This Miriam was an unappealing girl with blurry lipstick and masses of rough red hair. She wore a short, bulky jacket that would not have been out of place20on a motorcycle. During the trip to Cal’s she was silent, but coming back, she was more talkative. “What a neat guy, and what a house！All those kids hanging out, like a club. And the stereo playing rock…………gosh, he’s not like a grown-up at all！Married and divorced and everything21, but you’d think he was our own age.”

18.the Who：1964年成立的英國搖滾樂團，後來成為一直以來最受高評和最受歡迎的搖滾藝術家之一，其現場演出尤其被推崇備至，被形容為「可能是史上最佳的現場演出樂團」。主唱Roger Daltrey、吉他手Pete Townshend、貝司手John Entwistle及鼓手Keith Moon。

本篇故事所提到的Teenage Wasteland是Pete Townshend編寫的科幻小說搖滾歌劇Lifehouse中"Baba O'Riley"這首歌，因歌中重複著Teenage Wasteland這個詞，人們常誤認該首歌名為Teenage Wasteland。

19. qualm 不安、疑慮。without a qualm是說Daisy想邀請Mariam共進晚餐，但Donny拒絕，現在Donny又要求他們載Mariam到Cal家，Donny也不會覺得不好意思。

20.Mariam穿著一件笨重的短夾克，若騎機車，這件夾克不會顯得格格不入(out of place)。

21. and everything：(口語)以及一大堆其他相類似的事或物；諸如此類。

“Mr. Beadle was married？” Daisy asked.

“Yeah, to this really controlling lady. She didn’t understand him a bit.”

“No, I guess not,” Daisy said.

Spring came, and the students who hung around at Cal’s drifted out to the basketball net above the garage. Sometimes, when Daisy and Matt arrived to pick up Donny, they’d find him there with the others—spiky22 and excited, jittering on his toes beneath the backboard23. It was staying light much longer now, and the neighboring fence cast narrow bars across the bright grass. Loud music would be spilling from Cal’s windows. Once it was the Who, which Daisy recognized from the time that Donny had borrowed the album. “Teenage Wasteland,” she said aloud, identifying the song, and Matt gave a short, dry laugh. “It certainly is,” he said. He’d misunderstood; he thought she was commenting on the scene spread before them24. In fact, she might have been. The players looked like hoodlums, even her son. Why, one of Cal’s students had recently been knifed in a tavern. One had been shipped off to boarding school in midterm; two had been withdrawn by their parents. On the other hand, Donny had mentioned someone who’d been studying with Cal for five years. “Five years!” said Daisy. “Doesn’t anyone ever stop needing him?”

Donny looked at her. Lately, whatever she said about Cal was read as criticism25. “You’re just feeling competitive,” he said. “And controlling.”

She bit her lips and said no more.

22.spiky這裡指Donny的頭髮僵硬豎起，呼應篇首第一句。

23. Donny頭髮豎起、激動地在籃球框擋板(backboard)底下踩著腳趾地抖動或扭動(想必他在隨搖滾歌曲而起舞)。

24.Cal家裡放的那首歌正是Teenage Wasteland（青少年荒原），Daisy因為Donny跟Cal借了這個音樂專輯而認得這首歌，所以大聲說出這首歌名，Matt誤以為Daisy是在形容這些青少年在Cal庭院籃球場上的景象。

25. 只要Daisy提到Cal的任何事，Donny都將她解讀成在批評Cal。Donny說Daisy是在吃味（她覺得Cal在與她爭取Donny的心），說Daisy的控制欲作祟(她想控制Donny)。

In April, the principal called to tell her that Donny had been expelled. There had been a locker check, and in Donny’s locker they found five cans of beer and half a pack of cigarettes. With Donny’s previous record, this offense meant expulsion.26

Daisy gripped the receiver tightly and said, “Well, where is he now?”

“We’ve sent him home,” said Mr. Lanham. “He’s packed up all his belongings, and he’s coming home on foot.”

Daisy wondered what she would say to him. She felt him looming closer and closer, bringing this brand-new situation that no one had prepared her to handle. What other place would take him? Could they enter him in public school? What were the rules? She stood at the living room window, waiting for him to show up. Gradually, she realized that he was taking too long. She checked the clock. She stared up the street again. 

When an hour had passed, she phoned the school. Mr. Lanham’s secretary answered and told her in a grave, sympathetic voice that yes, Donny Coble had most definitely gone home. Daisy called her husband. He was out of the office. She went back to the window and thought awhile, and then she called Donny’s tutor.

“Donny’s been expelled from school,” she said, “and now I don’t know where he’s gone. I wonder if you’ve heard from him?”

There was a long silence. “Donny’s with me, Mrs. Coble,” he finally said.

“With you? How’d he get there?”

“He hailed a cab, and I paid the driver.”

“Could I speak to him, please?”

There was another silence. “Maybe it’d be better if we had a conference,” Cal said.

“I don’t want a conference. I’ve been standing at the window picturing27 him dead or kidnapped or something, and now you tell me you want a ………”

“Donny is very, very upset. Understandably so,” said Cal. “Believe me, Mrs. Coble, this is not what it seems. Have you asked Donny’s side of the story28?”

“Well, of course not, how could I? He went running off to you instead.”

“Because he didn’t feel he’d be listened to.”

“But I haven’t even …….”

“Why don’t you come out and talk? The three of us,” said Cal, “will try to get this thing in perspective29.” 

“Well, all right,” Daisy said. But she wasn’t as reluctant as she sounded. Already, she felt soothed by the calm way Cal was taking this.  

26.四月中，校長打電話通知Daisy，校方執行置物櫃檢查時發現Donny置物櫃裡有五罐啤酒和半包香菸，加上Donny之前的不良紀錄，學校將他開除。

27. Daisy一直站在窗邊佇望，想像Donny遭遇什麼不幸或被綁架或什麼的。

28.Donny’s side of the story，Donny對於這件事情的說法。

29. get/keep something in perspective= judge the importance of something correctly；judge something in a true or meaningful proportion or relationship正確地評估判斷某事的重要性；判斷或釐清某件事的實際情況或來龍去脈。

Cal answered the doorbell at once. He said, “Hi, there,” and led her into the dining room. Donny sat slumped in a chair, chewing the knuckle of one thumb. “Hello, Donny,” Daisy said. He flicked his eyes in her direction.

“Sit here, Mrs. Coble,” said Cal, placing her opposite Donny. He himself remained standing, restlessly pacing. “So,” he said.

Daisy stole a look at Donny30. His lips were swollen, as if he’d been crying.

“You know,” Cal told Daisy, “I kind of expected something like this. That’s a very punitive school you’ve got him in—you realize that. And any half-decent lawyer31 will tell you they’ve violated his civil rights. Locker checks! Where’s their search warrant?”

“But if the rule is—” Daisy said.

“Well, anyhow, let him tell you his side.”

She looked at Donny. He said, “It wasn’t not my fault, I promise32.”

“They said your locker was full of beer.”

“It was a put-up job33! See, there’s this guy that doesn’t like me. He put all these beers in my locker and started a rumor going, so Mr. Lanham ordered a locker check.”

30.steal a look at Donny偷偷地看著Donny。

31. any half-decent lawyer任何一個稍微像樣的律師。

32.I promise類似I swear，我向你保證這不是我的錯。

33. put-up密謀的, 捏造的

“What was the boy’s name?” Daisy asked.

“Huh?”

“Mrs. Coble, take my word34, the situation is not so unusual,” Cal said. “You can’t imagine how vindictive kids can be sometimes.”

“What was the boy’s name,” said Daisy, “so that I can ask Mr. Lanham if that’s who suggested he run a locker check.”

“You don’t believe me,” Donny said.

“And how’d this boy get your combination35 in the first place?”

“Frankly,” said Cal, “I wouldn’t be surprised to learn the school was in on it36. Any kid that marches to a different drummer37, why, they’d just loved an excuse to get rid of him. The school is where I lay the blame.”  

“Doesn’t Donny ever get blamed?”

“Now, Mrs. Coble, you heard what he—”

“Forget it,” Donny told Cal. “You can see she doesn’t trust me.”

Daisy drew in a breath to say that of course she trusted him—a reflex. But she knew that bold-faced, wide-eyed look of Donny’s. He had worn that look when he was small, denying some petty misdeed with the evidence plain as day all around him38. Still, it was hard for her to accuse him outright. She temporized39 and said, “The only thing I’m sure of is that they’ve kicked you out of school, and now I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

34.take my word=believe me相信我。

35. combination兩樣以上的東西放在一起叫combination，這裡指五罐啤酒和半包香菸。

36.the school was in on it指校方有牽涉參與這件陷害陰謀。

it指這件事，Donny認為有人在設計陷害他，Cal更引申地說校方可能也有牽涉參與這件事。in=involved in；on=take part in some activity。

37.march to a different drummer：to believe in a different set of principles；to behave in a different way or to believe in different things from the people around you；to be different from other people特立獨行。

38.Donny小的時候犯了些過錯，即使證據昭然若揭，他仍矢口否認，那時候就是這種表情。

39. temporize：to delay or avoid making a decision in order to gain time敷衍拖延；姑息妥協。

“We’ll fight it,” said Cal.

“We can’t. Even you must see we can’t.”

“I could apply to Brantly,” said Donny.

Cal stopped his pacing to beam down at him. “Brantly! Yes. They’re really onto where a kid is coming from40, at Brantly. Why, I could get you into Brantly. I work with a lot of their students.”

Daisy had never heard of Brantly, but already she didn’t like it. And she didn’t like Cal’s smile, which struck her now as feverish and avid—a smile of hunger.

On the fifteenth of April, they entered Donny in a public school, and they stopped his tutoring sessions. Donny fought both decisions bitterly. Cal, surprisingly enough, did not object. He admitted he’d made no headway41 with Donny and said it was because Donny was emotionally disturbed.

Donny went to his new school every morning, plodding off alone with his head down. He did his assignments, and he earned average grades, but he gathered no friends, joined no clubs. There was something exhausted and defeated about him.

The first week in June, during final exams, Donny vanished. He simply didn’t come home one afternoon, and no one at school remembered seeing him. The police were reassuring, and for the first few days, they worked hard. They combed42 Donny’s sad, messy room for clues; they visited Miriam and Cal. But then they started talking about the number of kids who ran away every year. Hundreds, just in this city. “He’ll show up, if he wants to,” they said. “If he doesn’t, he won’t.”

Evidently, Donny didn’t want to.

40.Brantly 是另外一所私立學校的校名。

onto：fully aware of; informed about非常清楚，知道。

where someone is coming from：在英語中若說你知道某人來自何處（where someone is coming from），意指你瞭解他們的想法與感受，尤其是因為你知道他們過去的事。

They’re really onto where a kid is coming from他們真正非常清楚瞭解小孩的想法和感受。

41. made no headway=make no progress沒有進步、進展。

42.comb仔細搜查。

It’s been three months now and still no word43. Matt and Daisy still look for him in every crowd of awkward, heartbreaking teenage boys. Every time the phone rings, they imagine it might be Donny. Both parents have aged. Donny’s sister seems to be staying away from home as much as possible.

At night, Daisy lies awake and goes over Donny’s life44. She is trying to figure out what went wrong, where they made their first mistake. Often, she finds herself blaming Cal, although she knows he didn’t begin it. Then at other times she excuses him, for without him, Donny might have left earlier. Who really knows? In the end, she can only sigh and search for a cooler spot in the pillow45. As she falls asleep, she occasionally glimpses something in the corner of her vision. It’s something fleet and round, a ball—a basketball. It flies up, it sinks through the hoop, descends, lands in a yard littered with last year’s leaves and striped with bars of sunlight as white as bones, bleached and parched and cleanly picked.46

43.no word=no news音訊渺茫。

44. goes over Donny’s life回想Donny過去的點點滴滴。

45.Daisy只能嘆息，找尋枕頭較涼爽的角落（因為枕頭已被她的熱淚濡濕）。

46.最後這一段有著全篇唯一比較難解的意象。

當Daisy昏沉入睡，偶而在視野的角落瞥見某個物品。那物品會飛，圓圓的，是一顆球—一顆籃球。那球往上飛，沉入籃圈，下墜，掉落院子中，那院子有著凌亂的去年枯葉，斑駁的幾道陽光，像骨頭一樣白的陽光，泛白、炎熱、乾淨地挑選過似的。

【淺嚐賞味】

「醲肥辛甘非真味，真味只是淡。」作者使用淺顯易懂的文字，描述常見的青少年問題與一般的家庭、學校生活，很平常的故事卻深深觸動讀者心弦。讀完全篇後，腦海猶不自覺地縈繞著這篇故事，擔心那失落的小孩，同情那悽傷的母親，兀自省思著相關的問題。Anne Tyler以平淡的文字處理日常的素材，猶若用小火燉熬出世間人情的雋永韻味。無怪乎其作品廣受英美讀者喜愛，歷久不彌。

故事的主題在於青少年問題與家庭教養之間的關係。這題目若由心理學、教育學、社會學等路徑來探究，一定會有更精闢的見解與更周延的論述。然而文學的功能並不在於論證析辨，而在於表達呈現。故此僅以文學的角度來欣賞這篇作品，對於其表達之意涵內容，若能再利用相關學科知識來探討，當然是更好的。

這篇故事以有限的全知觀點敘述，主要是透過故事人物Daisy的思想、感受和眼光來展開。因此讀者對於Daisy有更深入的瞭解，但也會受到這個人物的缺陷所侷限。若由其他人物的觀點來敘述，想必會是不一樣的故事。例如若採Donny的觀點，會不會跡似“麥田捕手”？雖然作品的好壞最後還是要看作者的功力，但要達到這篇作品的效果，Daisy的觀點是滿好的選擇。

父母為子女煩心的事何其多，尤其在青春叛逆期。父母對子女的愛是真摯的，本質上是沒錯，但常常可見為人父母者因為自己性格、思想上的缺失與不足，在教養或表達上產生問體。家裡小孩正常發展的人談起來輕鬆，家裡小孩行為出現偏差的人滿肚子的苦，說了又有誰能理解。即使那些健全發展的小孩，長大後埋怨父母管教方式的比比皆是，世世代代皆然，即使其父母自詡其教養多優秀。父母難為！

回歸本文，Daisy少年時期過得很悲慘，她發誓她的小孩不會那麼不快樂，這裡暗示她的成長背景。想讓小孩快樂成長，當然是非常好，但該怎麼做？若因此患得患失反而產生盲點。文中提到Donny小時候犯了些錯，即使鐵證如山，他仍矢口否認，而Daisy不忍加以糾正指責。Donny瞧不起父母，Daisy認為十幾歲的小孩難免會如此。就連Daisy講了句話，Donny駁斥說她是在吃味且一心只想控制，Daisy也只是咬著嘴唇沒說什麼。同樣地，當Donny被退學，Daisy問他原由，他推說是別人陷害他，Daisy明知他又在說謊，依然無言以對。怕小孩過得不快樂，縱容順從反而造成小孩性格與行為上的偏差。

當妹妹Amanda出生時，Donny出現迷失困惑的情形，Daisy雖然察覺，但是照顧初生嬰兒很忙，她又能夠怎樣？就好像她忙著照顧Donny，而忽略了妹妹。Amanda有話要跟Daisy說，Daisy推說現在沒空。最後，Amanda與父母的關係漸行疏遠，難保不是Donny的翻版，只不過她的行為沒那麼激烈。

她又能夠怎樣？當校長第一次找Daisy會談時，她辯說該做的他們都做了。第二天要上課，晚上他們就不准他看電視。沒做完功課，他們就不准他打電話與朋友聊天。Donny說他功課在學校做完了，他們又怎麼知道是真是假？這種逃避推諉的想法與行為，在Donny身上表現得更明顯。

故事裡提到關鍵字self-worth（自我價值感）以及self-esteem（自尊感）。可能因為成長背景的關係，在故事中Daisy呈現低落的自我價值感。在與校長兩次會談中，Daisy都將自己想像的很糟糕（a delinquent parent以及an overweight housewife in a cotton dress）。由於其低落的自我價值感，會談中她未能真正去瞭解與探究問題核心及解決方案，反而將心思放在外表事物，例如她想應該穿絲襪而非半統襪，會談結束離開時她縮小腹，握手表達她堅定、負責任的態度。注重表相的人通常在實質上是虛弱的。Daisy缺乏自信，態度搖擺，後來聽任所謂的專家(Cal)建議而捨棄家長責任的常識判斷。即使停掉家教，問題的本質還是存在。終以小孩離家出走、人間蒸發收場。

故事中出現的專家除了校長與老師外，就是心理學家和具有心理學養的家教老師Cal。心理學家對Donny的診斷還算公允，但他推薦Cal這件事，讓人對其專業與判斷存疑。Cal時常發表的一些有關青少年心理的言論，在理論上不能說他錯，但在實踐上就有很大問題（他帶小孩去聽搖滾演唱會，讓他們打乒乓球、籃球，課後留下鬼扯蛋等等，爭取小孩的認同與信任，卻未確實督導課業，要求紀律自制）。實際上，Cal跟這些問題少年沒什麼兩樣。他離婚，說他前妻控制欲太強，一點都不瞭解他。Donny被開除，Cal說是他們在陷害，校方也參與其中，還說校方檢查置物櫃侵犯隱私權。反正千錯萬錯都是別人的錯。作者在故事中似乎在刺諷專家理論，或者至少暗示專家言論姑妄言之姑聽之，要緊的是自己要當主宰。

父親的角色（Matt）在這篇故事中出現的很少，甚至顯得無足輕重，暗示他在小孩的成長與教養過程中缺席或不盡責。不幸的是，這種現象在社會中還滿普遍的。依據刻板的（stereotype）的思維，合理的解釋有二：（1）在經濟上，父親必須出外工作，養家活口，為生活忙碌。（2）在角色分工上，男主外女主內，小孩教養主要是母親的責任。好在這種刻板觀念現在正逐漸改變中。

在故事後段，Daisy曾問道：「難道Donny都沒有錯嗎？」很明顯的在故事當中，Donny當然有很多錯，但是反過來想，他為什麼會變成這樣了？他又遭遇什麼問題與困擾，必須選擇離家出走人間蒸發，逃避這個家、這個環境？

Traveler-Levin