Crome Yellow, Aldous Huxley, 1921.

Huxley最出名的小說, 大概是Brave New World(美麗新世界). Crome Yellow是Huxley不到三十歲寫的第一本小說.

故事是主角二十三歲的初出道詩人Denis Stone從倫敦到朋友Henry Wimbush在郊區Crome莊園度假幾天內所發生的事.其他主要角色有Henry的太太Priscilla, 姪女Anne, 友人Mr. Barbecue-Smith, Mr. Scogan, Gombauld, Ivor, Mary, Jenny. 雖然角色只有這幾個, 時間只含蓋幾天而已, 從頭到尾諷刺嘲弄(irony, sarcasm)不斷.

在到Crome到火車上, Denis心想兩小時的車程真是浪費光陰.兩小時可以寫首好詩, 讀本啟發好書, Oh, he had had hundreds of hours, and what had he done with them? Wasted them, spilt the precious minutes as though his reservoir were inexhaustible. 終於到了Camlet站, Denis急急忙忙告訴站務人員, 他拖運的是綠腳踏車, 站務人員只按步就班. "All in good time, sir," said the guard soothingly. 第一章的最後兩句:The front door stood hospitably open. He left his bicycle leaning against the wall and walked in. He would take them by surprise. 趕快接著看第二章, 第二章的前兩句結果是:He took nobody by surprise; there was nobody to take.

Mr. Barbecue-Smith告訴Denis的高效率寫作生產法, 更是一絕. 牧師Bodihan講道時對一次世界大戰(1914-1918)的解釋我差一點完全不知所云. 1883年主人的祖父George Wimbush的romantic advanture讓人覺得, 有些戰術tactics百年來不衰.Gombauld和Anne對彼此之間的舉止,兩性相反的解讀. Jenny的角色直到畫本出現才比較清楚. 主人Henry一直到舉辦熱鬧節慶時, 才說出內心對人際關係的真心話.

其實這些ironic點, 都是可以停下來思考正反兩方的利敝, 或者一笑,趕快接著讀下去. 對了,書名Crome Yellow, Crome沒問題是地名, 那Yellow是什麼呢?