Solito: A Personal Story of Immigration《少小獨行》：一個人的移民路

加維諾·伊格萊西亞斯/文　何梓健/譯

Javier Zamoras Solito is an important book that refocuses the immigration debate by writing about—and from the perspective of—the most important aspect of it： the people who leave home behind and risk everything to look for a better life in the United States.

哈維爾·薩莫拉的《少小獨行》是一部重新審視移民問題的重要著作，因為它著墨于移民問題中最不可或缺的方面——那些背井離鄉、孤注一擲，遠赴美國追尋美好生活的人們——并從這個群體的視角切入展開。

As touching as it is sad， and as full of hope and kindness as it is harrowing， Solito is the kind of narrative that man-ages to bring a huge debate down to a very personal space， bridging the gap between the unique and the universal in ways that make both look like one and the same.

《少小獨行》的故事既感人又悲傷；既充滿希冀與善意，又充斥著酸楚與不安。這個故事將一場激烈辯論帶入十分私人的空間，從而彌合獨特性與普遍性之間的差異，讓二者宛如一體。

Solito is an incredibly detailed chronicle of Zamoras 3，000-mile journey from his small town in El Salvador—where he spent his childhood without his mom and dad， who had already made their way to the U.S.—through Guatemala and Mexico， and eventually across the U.S. border. It is a biography， but it also tells the story of his beloved aunt and his grandparents， who took care of him while his parents lived in the U.S. They also helped him set things up so he could reunite with his mother， who had left four years before—and who Zamora missed every day—and his father， a man he spoke to on the phone regularly and knew from pictures but who he could barely remember because he left when Zamora was a baby.

薩莫拉的父母早年赴美，留下他在故鄉薩爾瓦多獨自度過童年?！渡傩—毿小窐O其詳實地記錄了薩莫拉從故鄉小鎮啟程，穿越危地馬拉和墨西哥，最終進入美國的三千英里尋親之旅。這本書既是一部自傳，也講述了薩莫拉心愛的姨媽和外祖父母的故事。在薩莫拉父母遠居美國的日子里，他們對薩莫拉照顧有加。他們還為薩莫拉打點一切，好讓他與父母團聚。那是離家四年、令薩莫拉日思夜想的母親；那是他時常在電話中對談，卻只從照片中知曉模樣的父親——他還很小的時候父親便已離他而去，因此有關父親的記憶幾近模糊。

From money issues to dealing with the coyote1， and from eagerness to go on a “trip” to the thoughts of a child moving away from home， this chronicle is packed with the elements readers have come to expect from migration narratives. But Zamoras voice， sense of humor， and heart make this a standout story about survival and the pursuit of the American Dream.

這部實錄充滿讀者意料之中的典型移民敘事元素：從金錢困擾到對付蛇頭；從對“旅行”的渴望到離家兒童常有的種種念頭。然而，薩莫拉的心聲、幽默和真摯使這本書在眾多有關生存和逐夢美國的故事中脫穎而出。

Solito is special for many reasons， but the main one is Zamoras voice and the energy of his vivid retelling of his journey. The book starts in El Salvador in 1999， when Zamora is only 9 years old. He has had to wait because the coyote told his family that he refused to take kids younger than ten—and then he had to take care of a cavity2 before crossing. The wait only made him more eager to reunite with his parents， so when it finally happens， the energy and excitement are almost palpable3 in the story： “Two days！ I start screaming. Spinning. Jumping up and down. Repeating，” “Im going to see my parents！ Im going to see my parents！” “Tears running down my cheeks. I dont care that The Bakers children look at me. Im so happy！ Finally， the thing I want most is happening.”

《少小獨行》之所以獨具魅力，原因有很多，但主要有賴于薩莫拉表露的心聲和生動重述獨行旅程時的激情。這本書的開篇發生在1999年的薩爾瓦多，薩莫拉時年僅九歲。蛇頭跟他的家人說不會帶著沒到十歲的孩子同行，所以他只能等待，后來又因在越境前要治療一顆齲齒而耽誤行程。等待只會讓薩莫拉愈加強烈地渴望與父母團聚，所以終要見面時，那份激動和興奮幾乎躍然紙上：“還有兩天！我開始尖叫。轉圈。上躥下跳。我反復叫喊?！薄拔乙姷礁改咐?！我要見到父母啦！”“淚水流下我的臉頰。貝克家的幾個孩子都在看著我，我才不在乎呢。我太開心了！終于，我最期待的事情要來了?！?/p>

Zamora travelled alone but in the company of the coyote， Don Dago， and a small group of strangers who are also trying to make their way to the United States. He knows hell have to run and jump and cross rivers， but nothing could have prepared him for perilous journey he had embarked on， or the fact that the “trip” he expected to be two weeks long turned into two months of survival. While the events could have easily lead Zamora to write about the pains and dangers of undocumented migration or the way awful immigration policies have created a dangerous system， a lot of the focus is placed on the humanity and people he encountered on his journey.

薩莫拉獨自踏上旅途，路上與蛇頭唐達戈，還有一小群同樣試圖前往美國的陌生人結伴。他知道自己將不得不奔跑、跳躍、渡河，但他對自己要面對的滿途荊棘毫無準備，更沒料到他本以為的兩周“旅行”竟成了長達兩個月的求生之旅。重重遭遇本可讓薩莫拉輕易寫出非法移民的苦楚和險境，或寫出糟糕的移民政策如何釀出一個危險的體制，但他卻把大部分的焦點放在了人性和旅途中邂逅的人們身上。

Ive published three novels that feature a lot of Spanish and Spanglish， and Ive been feeling the pushback4 from monolingual readers for the past seven years. As a result， Ive developed an obsession with the use of Spanish and Spanglish in fiction and nonfiction narratives， especially because it enriches texts while simultaneously making them more authentic. Zamora treads the interstitial5 space between languages with grace， humor， and style. He wants to go to “La USA” because it is， his aunt and abuelita tell him， “safer， richer， and there are so many jobs.” It is also a place with cities like “Wa-ching-tón” and “Jius-tón.” Keeping some words， curse words， and diminutives6 in Spanish as well as using the language without otherizing it via the use of italics， Zamora manages to bring some of the flavor and rhythm of his native tongue to the page while simultan-eously allowing context to deliver all the information monolingual readers need to understand the story.

我已經出版了三部包含大量西班牙語和“西班牙式英語”的小說，而過去七年里我一直受到單語讀者的責難。正因如此，我反倒深深迷上了在虛構和非虛構敘事中運用西班牙語和西班牙式英語，尤其是因為此舉既豐富了辭藻，又增強了文本的真實性。薩莫拉以優雅、幽默和獨特的姿態游走于各語言之間，比如他想去La USA（美國），因為阿姨和abuelita（奶奶）說那里“更安全、更富裕、工作機會更多”。那里有Wa-ching-tón（華盛頓）和Jius-tón（休斯頓）等城市。薩莫拉在文中保留了部分西語詞匯、臟話和小詞，并且沒有用斜體來異化這部分語言，從而把他母語的一些特色和韻律呈現了出來，同時由上下文給單語讀者傳遞理解故事所需的一切信息。

Solito is a gripping memoir that doesnt shy away from the bad while shining a light on the good. It is also a moving narrative that belongs solely to Zamora but that also offers yet another look at what millions of others go through in pursuit of a better life. And that makes it required reading at a time when immigration is seen as a political talking point instead of as something that affects many lives in very profound ways.

《少小獨行》不回避消極坎坷，亦彰顯正面良善，可謂一部引人入勝的回憶錄。這是一場感人至深的敘述，雖然講的是獨屬于薩莫拉的故事，卻也折射出數百萬移民在追尋美好生活的途中際遇幾何。當今時代，移民問題被視為政治談資，而非深遠影響蕓蕓眾生的話題。在這樣的時代里，這本書便成為必讀之作。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）