第一章
那时,学者们已经诋毁了美丽的开篇,他们认为小说中的高雅艺术是平淡无奇的第一句话:“他21岁时,在一个炎热的下午乘火车到达孟买。”他身上只有几百卢比,戒指上没有“口袋里有50卢比”的戒指,尽管根据通货膨胀率调整后,戒指上的50卢比是一样的。无论如何,这孩子确信,当他成为一个著名的作家,恢复了文体的尊严,恢复了华丽的句子,恢复了结尾的曲折——尤其是结尾的曲折——并且鞭打了那些说“文体和实质”的人,好像文体和实质是两码事似的。他第一次接受采访时,他不会说他到孟买时身上带了多少钱。虽然他真的很穷,但他认为当他把衬衫塞进去时,你是看不出来的。
此外,他的母亲说他的鼻子和下巴很丰满。他从喀拉拉邦的Kottayam远道而来。他在厨房里拥抱了母亲和妹妹,她们哭了。当他们听到他酗酒的父亲在街上唱着一首自然之歌时,男孩提着他的蓝色手提箱从后门跑了出去,穿过了木薯农场。两天后,他到达孟买,站在达达尔火车站,想知道空间是如何缩小的,为什么会缩小。
在喀拉拉邦,一切都很遥远。曾聘请他为特约撰稿人的《明星杂志》集团为他提供了“官方住宿”。这使他觉得自己很重要,很受欢迎,他盼望着在大城市里找到自己的巢穴。他会让它变得颓废,他的生活将充斥着女孩的故事。当他走到普拉巴黛维一条窄巷的尽头时,一种熟悉的阴郁笼罩了他。前面的建筑是一个阴暗的黄色垂直贫民窟,有四层楼高。后来,他才知道那叫“嚎叫”,这一定是动物能发出的最丑陋的声音了。长长的、黑暗的、狭窄的走廊沿着敞开的门延伸。到处都有人站着,好像发生了什么坏事似的。他们在走廊上,在门口,在窗户后面。 He climbed up the broken stairway to the third floor, and as he walked down the corridor, he saw large families emerge from tiny rooms, as though by magic. He saw a young couple staring at each other as though they knew they were trapped. And there were many children here and there who did not know they were doomed already. And almost everyone was looking at him. He never imagined that Bombay would ever gape at him. He had thought the city was too great, too busy, too rich for that. There was a distinction between his poverty in Kerala and this.