荐书｜比《哈利·波特》和《魔戒》加起来还好看！（内附节选）
在中国，提起魔幻，《哈利·波特》和《魔戒》可以说代表了大部分人心中的印象。
恐怕，这一格局就要被颠覆。
因为与这两部作品并称为“世界三大魔幻巨著”的最后一部，憋了足足35年的劲，终于杀入中国。
比《哈利·波特》和《魔戒》加起来还好看的，可能只有它——
《碟形世界》（Discworld）
这话，还真不是吹。
要知道，1983年《碟形世界》第一册发售起，就马拉松式刷纪录。
如果较真，它会有很多个“吉尼斯”——
它是书店被盗率最高的书、囊括奇幻与儿童文学奖项最多的书、继莎士比亚和王尔德之后被引用金句最多的书……
2005年，英国图书零售额约15亿英镑，光这一个系列就占到了3.4%，一年零售5亿人民币！
截止目前，已被翻译成37种语言，卖出超过8500万册。
这么说吧，《碟形世界》之于奇幻小说的地位，大概类似《飘》之于爱情小说，《三国演义》之于古典文学——
不仅一生必读，读完还得买来收藏。
▲书店的一整面墙都是《碟形世界》
果然，中国一上市，直接飙到豆瓣9.1分——
❀ Carnegie Medal Winner（卡内基儿童文学奖）
❀ New YorkPublic Library Books for the Teen Age（纽约公共图书馆最佳青少年图书）
❀ VOYA Best Science Fiction,Fantasy, and Horror（VOYA最佳科幻、奇幻、惊悚类小说）
❀ ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults（美国图书馆协会最佳青少年小说）
❀ Book Sense Pick（独立书商协会选书）
你可能不了解这个名字，但多半听过一个故事：
宇宙的深处漂浮着一只巨龟，背上立着四头巨象，巨象们肩扛起了一个由瀑布环绕的世界。
这个故意模仿古人宇宙观的，正是“碟形世界”。
这个奇幻世界的影响力究竟有多大？
反正，撑起一场全球级流行文化的标配，它都齐了。
改编过系列电影、舞台剧、电子游戏——
现实中有它的克隆世界——
▲位于Wincanton的碟形世界商场，克隆了《碟形世界》里的虚拟城市莫泊克
甚至还有自己的节日，碟形世界大会（Discworld Convention）——
天才般的故事结构，赋予了《碟形世界》令数以亿计的读者为之疯狂的魔力。
这一系列的每一册都以独立故事的阅读体验来精确设计，主角从巫师、警卫，到死神、小偷，应有尽有。避免拖沓冗长，又最终统一于同一世界观。
中小系列的构造，使得从没有读过的人，依然可以享受到同样酣畅淋漓的阅读体验。
你从任何一个入口进入，都可以领略到这个完整深邃的迷人世界。
▲ 《碟形世界》共41本，在统一和谐世界观下，每本可以作为独立故事阅读。
创造出碟形世界的作者，究竟什么来头？
▼
特里·普拉切特
Terry Pratchett （1948—2015 ）
大师级奇幻作家、儿童文学作家，1948年出生于英国白金汉郡。被称为“我们时代的托尔金”。
他牛叉的头衔和光环，简直数也数不清。
他是英国整个90年代最畅销的作家，一度被称为英国书店业救世主，被盛赞“提高了英国的国民阅读率”。
BBC全民票选“最受欢迎图书”入选5本，秒掉J.K.罗琳和托尔金，和狄更斯并列成为历史冠军。
作家们梦寐以求的大师奖，老爷子拿到麻木——
世界奇幻终身成就奖
英国年度最佳奇幻科幻作者
英国作家协会终身成就奖
SFX年度最佳奇幻作者奖
美国图书馆协会（ALA）玛格丽特·A.爱德华终身成就奖
……
领奖领得不耐烦了，以至于入围雨果奖时，竟然拒绝了！成为历史上第三位拒绝雨果奖的作家。
才华更是惊动了女王！因文学成就两次获大英帝国爵士称号。
上一个凭借文学贡献封爵的，还是推理女王阿加莎。
不幸的是，2008年，普拉切特被诊断出阿尔兹海默症。
只能靠口述写作，对一个作家来说相当于丢了半条命。
于是他开始思考自主结束生命，采访了许多选择过或正准备安乐死的人们。
做成纪录片《特里·普拉切特：选择死亡》（Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die）后，轰动全球，豆瓣评分高达9.0。
即便如此，热情和愤怒驱使着他患病后还创作了七部小说。
他终此一生，将对社会与人类的种种观察，全部倾注到《碟形世界》，表现出一个强大的母题
——内心强大。
有一只原本普通的流浪猫叫莫里斯（Maurice），每天忙着躲开皮货匠和试图给猫穿衣服的小姑娘。
但当他有了“自我”的概念，学会说话后，一切都变得复杂起来。
莫里斯思考喵生后得出结论，他喜欢的是钱和投食的老奶奶，而不是他的老鼠同伴们追求的理想国。
直到他面对一个前所未见的可怕怪物，他咬牙坚持，不再变回原来那个靠动物本能生存的猫，想都没有想就用自己的生命换朋友的命。
内容简介
The Amazing Maurice runs the perfect Pied Piper scam. This streetwise alley cat knows the value of cold, hard cash and can talk his way into and out of anything. But when Maurice and his cohorts decide to con the town of Bad Blinitz, it will take more than fast talking to survive the danger that awaits.
神奇的莫里斯是“魔笛手”完美骗局的策划实施者。这只有着街头智慧的猫很清楚这些又硬又冰冷的钱的价值，他可以凭借一张嘴摆平一切。但是，当莫里斯和他的同伴们决定到小镇“糟糕的布林兹”行骗，他们将面临生死险境，那可不是花言巧语就能解决的事了。
▲ 莫里斯与他的老鼠朋友们
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (Excerpt)
碟形世界：猫和少年魔笛手（节选）
By Terry Pratchett
译/周莉
They said he was amazing. The Amazing Maurice, they said. He’d never meant to be amazing. It had just happened.
人们说他很神奇。“神奇的莫里斯”，他们都这么说。可他从没打算变得神奇，然而事情就那么发生了。
He’d realized something was odd that day, just after lunch, when he’d looked into a reflection in a puddle and thought that’s me. He’d never been aware of himself before. Of course, it was hard to remember how he’d thought before he became amazing. It seemed to him that his mind had been just a kind of soup.
他就觉得那天有点儿奇怪。就在午饭后，当他看着小泥坑里的倒影时，他的脑中闪过“那是我”。以前他从没有过自我的意识。当然，他很难记起神奇的变化发生前他脑中的想法，对他来说那会儿的头脑就像浑汤。
And then there had been the rats, who lived under the rubbish heap in one corner of his terri-tory. He’d realized there was something educated about the rats when he jumped on one and it’d said, ‘Can we talk about this?’, and part of his amazing new brain had told him you couldn’t eat someone who could talk. At least, not until you’d heard what they’d got to say.
后来就是那些老鼠。他们住在他领地一角的垃圾堆下。他意识到那些老鼠有一定的智慧，因为当他扑向其中的一只时，那只老鼠说：“我们能谈谈吗？”他那神奇的新大脑中有一部分告诉他：不能吃“能开口说话的东西”。至少，得听完他们要说什么。
The rat had been Peaches. She wasn’t like other rats. Nor were Dangerous Beans, Donut Enter, Darktan, Hamnpork, Big Savings, Toxie and all the rest of them. But, then, Maurice wasn’t like other cats any more.
那只老鼠就是桃子。她跟别的老鼠不一样。毒豆子、甜甜圈、黑皮、火腿、省大钱、剧毒，还有那一群中的所有其他老鼠都和别的老鼠不一样。不过，他莫里斯也再不像其他的猫了。
Other cats were, suddenly, stupid. Maurice started to hang around with the rats, instead. They were someone to talk to. He got on fine so long as he remembered not to eat anyone they knew.
其他的猫突然变得又蠢又笨。莫里斯转而开始跟老鼠混在一起，他们是可以交谈的对象。他和他们相处得很好，只要他留神不吃认识的老鼠就是了。
The rats spent a lot of time worrying about why they were suddenly so clever. Maurice considered that this was a waste of time. Stuff happened. But the rats went on and on about whether it was something on the rubbish heap that they’d eaten, and even Maurice could see that wouldn’t explain how he’d got changed, because he’d never eaten rubbish. And he certainly wouldn’t eat any rubbish off that heap, seeing as where it came from . . .
老鼠们总是花很多时间为他们为什么会突然变得如此聪明而忧心。莫里斯觉得那是浪费时间，事情发生了就是发生了。然而老鼠们无休无止地讨论那是不是因为他们吃的垃圾里有什么东西。连莫里斯也看得出来那无法解释他的变化，因为他从来没有吃过垃圾。他肯定不会吃那堆垃圾里的东西，瞧那些垃圾是从哪儿出来的……
He considered that the rats were, quite frankly, dumb. Clever, OK, but dumb. Maurice had lived on the streets for four years and barely had any ears left and scars all over his nose, and he was smart. He swaggered so much when he walked that if he didn’t slow down he flipped himself over. When he fluffed out his tail people had to step around it. He reckoned you had to be smart to live for four years on these streets, especially with all the dog gangs and freelance furriers. One wrong move and you were lunch and a pair of gloves. Yes, you had to be smart.
他觉得那些老鼠，坦白点儿说，很迂。他们聪明是聪明，但是很迂。莫里斯在街上讨了四年生活，耳朵已经所剩无几，鼻子上也满是伤痕，他可是很精明的。他走起路来大摇大摆，要是不走慢一点儿，就会把自己晃倒。他趾高气扬地翘起尾巴，别人就得绕道走。要在那些街道上生活四年一定得精明，尤其当街上还有那么多的恶狗帮和皮货商，走错一步你就成了午饭和手套啦。没错，一定得精明。
You also had to be rich. This took some explaining to the rats, but Maurice had roamed the city and learned how things worked and money, he said, was the key to everything.
还得有钱。跟老鼠们解释这一点费了一些口舌，但是莫里斯在城里游荡的时候，了解到了行事的规则：钱，他说，是一切的关键。
And then one day he’d seen the stupid-looking kid playing the flute with his cap in front of him for pennies, and he’d had an idea. An amazing idea. It just turned up, bang, all at once. Rats, flute, stupid-looking kid . . .
然后有一天，他看见了那个一脸傻相的男孩。男孩在吹笛子，面前放着帽子收取零钱，他突然有了一个主意，一个出色的主意，就那么砰的一声突然冒了出来：老鼠、笛子、看上去傻乎乎的男孩……
And he’d said, ‘Hey, stupid-looking kid! How would you like to make your fortu—nah, kid, I’m down here . . .’
于是他说：“嘿，一脸傻相的兄弟！想不想发财——别，兄弟，我在下面……”
碟形世界的魔法只是一把工具，你需要利用它，去撬动认识自我和世界的门。
莫里斯就像那些平日里看来吊儿郎当，但关键时刻就变身成英雄的家伙，小心守护着朋友的梦想。
现实中有太多你无法打败的、不可战胜的外界力量，它们就像这本书中的强大魔法一样，玩儿似的让你的生活天翻地覆。
太多人因此放弃了理想，而这本书告诉人们，只要你相信自己，即使所谓的魔法很强大，你依然可以战胜它。
正如封面上的那句话——
魔法很强大，但你自己更强大。
如果你有孩子，推荐他读读《碟形世界》，
他会在故事中，收获一颗不断思考的头脑。
如果你没有孩子，推荐你读读《碟形世界》，
你会在阅读中，找到一颗勇敢面对人生的心。
The Barnes & Noble Review
By Beth Amos
With the debut of his first young-adult novel, science fiction writer Terry Pratchett invites readers ages 12 and up to visit Discworld (碟形世界) — an imaginary land well known to Pratchett's adult following. At the heart of this tale is a slightly twisted take on the old Pied Piper (魔笛手) theme, a talking, thinking cat named Maurice, and a supporting cast of equally talented rats who bear such comical names as Big Savings, Nourishing, and Dangerous Beans.
Maurice and the rats have teamed up with a young lad named Keith to implement a clever moneymaking (赚钱的) scheme. Upon entering a town, the rats make a general nuisance of themselves (令人讨厌) — stealing food and widdling ([口]撒尿) on things — until the townsfolk become desperate to get rid of them. Then Maurice and Keith appear on the scene and offer to save the day by ridding the town of its infestation (侵扰) for a small fee. It seems like a surefire (可靠的；必定成功的) plan until the group arrives in the town of Bad Blintz (糟糕的布林兹) and gets hooked up with Malicia, a young girl with a vivid imagination and a knack (本事) for finding trouble. When it's discovered that Bad Blintz already has a rat problem — one that a couple of shifty-eyed (卑鄙的) rat catchers claim to have under control — things turn deadly. For lurking beneath the town's streets is an obstacle course of mangling rattraps and noxious poisons. And beyond that is a monster so powerful and ugly, even Malicia couldn't imagine it.
As Maurice and the rats battle for their very survival, a number of provocative themes surface: life after death, good versus evil, and the sacrifice of the few for the many. But be forewarned — those in search of lighter fare (较轻口味) in these troubled times may not find what they are looking for in Pratchett's vision. Despite plenty of razor-sharp (敏捷的；犀利的) wit and lighthearted moments, this tale has an underbelly (阴暗面) as dark as the tunnels beneath Bad Blintz. Though The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (《碟形世界：猫和少年魔笛手》) is deeply witty and engaging, some readers may find parts of the story — descriptions of how some of the rats die and how others eat their dead — rather intense.
This is an outstanding work of literary excellence — a brilliant twist on the tale of the Pied Piper that is funny and irrevere, but also dark and subversive.
—Karen Usher
这是一本杰出的文学作品——是对魔笛手故事的天才改编，非常幽默，打破常规，同时又直面黑暗和颠覆。
——凯伦·亚瑟（卡内基大奖评审主席）
Pratchett’s work draws teens into a world where humor, perseverance, and hope are the order of the day.
—Robin Brenner
普拉切特的作品把青少年带入了一个充满幽默、毅力和希望的世界。
——罗宾·布伦纳（玛格丽特·爱德华奖评委会主席）
Pratchett rethinks a classic story and comes up with a winner. A not–to–be–missed delight.
—School Library Journal
普拉切特解构经典故事，成为一个赢家。不容错过的悦读体验。
——《学校图书馆杂志》
Excruciatingly funny, ferociously intelligent. —Kirkus Reviews
惊人的幽默，超凡的智慧。
——《柯克斯书评》
Manages to be hilarious, moving, scary, impishly vulgar and wickedly wise, sometimes all at once.
—Locus Magazine
这部作品囊括了幽默、感人、惊险的元素，顽皮又平易近人，狡黠又充满智慧。读者有时会同时体验到这一切。
——《轨迹》杂志
Terry was one of our greatest fantasists, and beyond a doubt the funniest.
—George R. R. Martin
特里是最伟大的奇幻作家之一，而且毫无疑问是最幽默的。
——乔治·R. R. 马丁