49. underwater adventure

　　finding nemo1 is about the traumatic2 separation of a child from his parent. the refreshing difference here is that nemo dramatizes the anxiety and adventures a parent undergoes searching for his wayward, precious kid. long before nemo comes along, marlin is a fussy3 little anxiety machine . when he learns he’s to be a father — of 400 baby clown fish — he fidgets:“what if they don’t like me?”but he’s right to be concerned for his brood in the fish-eat-fish world of austria’s great barrier reef. a shark devours marlin’s wife and 399 of her eggs. that leaves little nemo — the one survivor, handicapped with an underdeveloped fin — and marlin, burdened with an overdeveloped sense of dread. when nemo is old enough for fish school, dad’s pessimism is again validated: the lad defiantly swims into open water, where he is scooped up by an angler — a dentist, with an aquarium in his office and a nasty, piscicidal little niece he can’t wait to give this cute clown fish to. marlin, who must now conquer his own fear of the great wet world, has a companion in his search: dory, a blue tang with a sunny disposition and a short-term memory problem. in their hunt for nemo , they are aided and threatened by all manner of sea creatures: a menacing anglerfish, some not entirely trustworthy members of sharks anonymous, a school of shocking jellyfish and a family of surfer-dude sea turtles. in captivity, nemo finds his own friends: the starfish, and the tank commander gill, a tough who mutters4 ,“fish ain’t meant to be in a box. ”

　　nemo’s short fin — a deformity that does not slow him down one bit — became , says stanton,“ a metaphor for anything you worry is insufficient or hasn’t formed yet in your child. parents think their child’s handicap is a reflection of the parent. 5 they become obsessive and anxious over that, whether it is the child’s ability to read or the way they walk. this movie says there is no perfect kid ; there is no perfect father. ”and no guarantee that parents will ever have the answers. when marlin asks the sea turtle crush how a father knows when his kids are ready to swim out on their own, the wise old dude replies, “ well , you never really know . but when they know , you know — y’know ? ”finding nemo is about feeling one ’s way6 to knowing. it’s about letting go and getting back.

　　阅读自测

　　Ⅰ. write sentences with the following combinations o f words :

　　1. anxiety searching wayward 2. hunt aid threaten 3. feel one’s way

　　Ⅱ. question :

　　is finding nemo just a movie about the separation of a child from his father? if not, then what can you learn from it?

　　参考答案

　　Ⅰ. 1. the movie dramatized the anxiety a parent undergoes in searching his wayward kid.

　　2. in their hunt of nemo, they are aided and threatened by all manner of sea creatures.

　　3. the movie is about feeling one ’s way to knowing. Ⅱ. ( 略)

参考译文

　　海底总动员

　　《海底总动员》讲述了一个让人心痛难忘的父子分离的故事。与以往不同, 电影《海底 总动员》戏剧化了一位父亲在寻找自己那倔强而任性的爱子时的焦虑心情和冒险经历。早 在尼莫出生前, 马林就是一条动辄大惊小怪、焦虑不安的小丑鱼。当得知自己就要做父 亲——— 400 条小丑鱼的父亲时, 他担忧“ 如果他们不喜欢我怎么办? ” 在澳大利亚大堡礁这 个鱼吃鱼的海底世界, 他担心自己孩子的安全也是合情合理的。一条大鲨鱼吞掉了马林的 妻子和399 个鱼卵, 只留下小尼莫这个唯一的幸存者和怀有过度恐惧心理的马林。尼莫因 一条鱼鳍受伤而发育不全。当他到了上学的年龄时, 父亲的悲观思想再次显示出来。小家伙 赌气游进了无障碍水域, 在那里它被牙医捕获放到了办公室的鱼缸里。牙医迫不及待想 把这条可爱的小丑鱼送给他那邋遢并弑鱼成性的小侄女。

　　此刻, 马林必须战胜自己对这片辽阔海底世界的恐惧感。在寻找尼莫的过程中, 他结 识了个伙伴儿——— 多莉。多莉是一条性格开朗但有短暂健忘症的蓝色帝王鱼。此间, 他们 同甘共苦, 既经受了险恶的琵琶鱼, 莫名其妙的鲨鱼和一片有毒的海蜇的威胁, 也得到了冲 浪家似的海龟一家的帮助。在鱼缸里, 尼莫找到了自己的朋友: 海星和鱼缸里的头儿吉哥。 吉哥是个又硬又臭的角色, 老是嘟囔着“ 鱼是不应该呆在鱼缸里的。”

　　尼莫的短鳍这一缺陷丝毫没有减慢它游水的速度。斯坦顿说, 这个短鳍“ 象征了父母 所担心的孩子身上不够完善或是尚未充分发展的任何事情。父母把孩子的缺陷归咎于自 身, 因此他们对于孩子的学习能力甚至走路方式都变得过度担忧。这部电影告诉我们没有 完美的孩子, 也不存在无瑕的父亲。”没人会保证父母知道一切。当马林问海龟“ 龟龟”一 个父亲怎么知道他的孩子什么时候能够独立的时候, 这位睿智的老“ 冲浪手”回答:“ 你压 根儿就不知道, 但是当他们知道自己能行的时候, 你也就知道了——— 明白吗? ”《海底总动 员》体现了一个摸索进步的过程, 是一部有关放手与回归的电影。

　　阅读导评

　　亲情是人类永恒的话题, 然而, 影片带给我们的启示是更为重要的: 如何认识和理解生活。 温室里的花朵是永远经不起风吹雨打的, 只有经历过磨难与艰辛, 人才能够真正长大成熟。

　　阅读导释

　　1. 字面意思是“寻找尼莫”, 影片译为《海底总动员》。这是美国迪斯尼·皮克斯公司继《玩具 总动员》、《虫虫危机》、《玩具总动员Ⅱ》、《怪物电力公司》之后, 于2003 年7 月推出的又一 部新片。尼莫是该片的主角, 他是一条小丑鱼。尼莫出生前受到鲨鱼的袭击, 他的一条鳍 发育不良。一天, 尼莫被人类捕获。尼莫的父亲马林为了找到自己的孩子历尽千辛万苦。 在朋友的帮助下, 他最终找到了尼莫。安德鲁·斯坦顿是皮克斯公司的主要人员, 也是该 片的导演兼编剧, 1988 年曾担任《虫虫危机》的导演, 并参与其他三部电影的编剧工作。

　　2. trauma ( 创伤) 的形容词形式, 指“ 创伤性的”, 这里偏重指精神上的创伤。口语中, 这个 词作“使人不快的, 令人痛苦而难忘的”解, 如: he was reliving his own traumatic past. ( 他 在头脑中重温着自己那造成精神创伤的往事。)

　　3. 瞎忙的, 大惊小怪的, 抱怨的, 如: the teacher is always fussy over the slower children. ( 那位 教师总是为较迟钝的孩子而烦恼。) 短语as fussy as a hen with one chick 是指“ 在无谓的小 事上瞎操心的, 过分挑剔的, 大惊小怪的”。

　　4. 小声而含糊不清地说, 嘟哝, 常见的用法有: mutter to oneself ( 喃喃自语) ; mutter against / at ( 小声抱怨) , 如: do not mutter against her. ( 不要抱怨她。)

　　5. 这个句子中生词较多, 大家阅读时需要注意: fin 是指“ 鱼鳍”; deformity: 畸形形态, 畸形 物或缺陷; slow down: 耽误, 使延迟; metaphor: 比喻说法或象征; insufficient: 不充分, 不 足, 缺乏, 如: he had insufficient sleep. ( 他睡眠不足。) handicap: 障碍, 不利条件, 如: poor eyesight is a handicap to a student. ( 视力差对学生来说是一个障碍。)

　　6. feel one’s way 是固定搭配, 意思是“摸索着向前走, 谨慎行事”。