不過不得不承認,Predicable Books 壹方面有可以預測的情節線來提升故事的“易懂性”,但壹方面也必須有不可預測的內容來保持故事的魅力。不然,如果真的是都預測到了,那還有啥吸引力啊?讀這個故事,我們會不由自主地壹次又壹次猜測,猜啥呢?請看——
Joseph had a little overcoat.It was old and worn.
開篇就直切主題:Joseph 有壹件小外套,但是舊了,穿壞了。這個畫面值得仔細看,還要和封面連起來看。因為封面上的外套還挺好的,這壹頁上就已經是下擺壹縷壹縷扯破了,還打了好多五顏六色的補丁。
So he made a jacket out of it and went to the fair.
Joseph 把外套改成夾克衫了!這壹頁上也可以欣賞下集市上其他人的衣裳,花花綠綠挺好看的。
Joseph had a little jacket.It got old and worn.
唉,壹轉眼,夾克衫也舊了,穿壞了。看看壞在哪裏?妳猜這次會把它改成啥呢?
So he made a vest out of it and danced at his nephew'swedding.
哦,改成馬甲了!因為之前夾克衫的袖子都破了呀,沒辦法。不得不說 Joseph 還真是巧手啊,這小馬甲還挺帥氣的,穿著它跳舞很不錯!
接下去,就是Joseph 不停地改衣服、不停地穿舊了。讀者可以壹路跟著壹直猜,下壹次會改成啥呢?^_^
話說這得多少年過去了?穿舊壹件衣服可不容易啊。但是到最後Joseph 好像也沒變老啊?
Joseph?had?a?little?button.One?day?he?lost?it.
Now?he?had?nothing.
妳想到了嗎?最初的長外套,最後竟然變成壹顆紐扣。
然後紐扣還丟啦!現在什麽都沒有啦!
相伴這麽多年,真是令人悵然若失啊!
So?Joseph?made?a?book?about?it.Which?shows... you?can?always?make?something?out?of?nothing.
但是沒關系,Joseph 可以用壹支筆把這壹切都記錄下來,寫成壹本書呀!
這真是個令人安慰、回味的結局!本來是“nothing”的結局,卻能又變出“something”來,絕處逢生,從無到有,從實到虛……用咱們語文老師的話來說,就是典型的“立意升華”啊!
這繪本的最後,印有這故事的源頭:猶太民歌《I Had A Little Overcoat》:
歌裏好玩的是最後壹句:What could I do with nothing? I just didn’t know. La la la la la la la la la la la, so I thought what could I do and sang myself a song and I sing this song to you.
就是說,在歌裏,最後無中生有出來的那個“something”就不是壹本書啦,而是壹首歌啦!體裁和內容真是好呼應啊。
另外,相信很多人看了這個故事,都會想起另外壹本繪本《爺爺壹定有辦法(Something From Nothing)》吧。
When Joseph was a baby, his grandfather made him a wonderful blanket...
...to keep him warm and cozy and to chase away bad dreams. But as Joseph grew older, the wonderful blanket grew older too.
看英文書名就知道了,這個也是改編自上述那首猶太民歌的。不過,改動得比較多:引入了家庭人物,畫面上分明暗兩條線(地下室的老鼠壹家壹直與時俱進地使用著爺爺剩下的布料),從而最後的紐扣也有了下落(落到老鼠家裏了),細節更豐富了。
不過,《Joseph Had A Little Overcoat》用最簡單的句子講完了這個點點推進而又最終“起死回生”的故事,別有壹番趣味。