評論
打印
電影中的Todd就是這樣的一個學生。表面上他對家長和老師言聽計從，但其實卻漫不經心，內心里他渴望激情和舒展的生活。幸運的是，他遇到了能夠發現他內心壓抑的能量的朋友和老師。
在百般糾結后，Todd沒有完成Keating老師留的作業，怎么也寫不出一首滿意的詩。
于是，在課堂上，上演了我們即將聽到的一段：
Mr. Keating: Now, who's next? Mr. Anderson, I see you sitting there in agony. Come on, Todd, step up. Let's put you out of your misery.
Todd: I-I didn't do it. I didn't write a poem.
Mr. Keating: Mr. Anderson thinks everything inside of him is worthless and embarrassing. Isn't that right, Todd? Isn't that your worst fear?
Well, I think you're wrong. I think you have something inside of you...that is worth a great deal.
"I sound...my barbaric...yawp...over the rooftops...of the world." W.W.Uncle Walt, again.
Now, for those of you who don't know, a yawp is a loud cry or yell.
Now, Todd, I would like you to give us a demonstration of a barbaric yawp.
Come on, you can't yawp sitting down. Let's go. Come on, up. Got to get in yawping stance.
Todd: A-A yawp?
Mr. Keating: Not just a yawp. A barbaric yawp. Todd: Right. Yawp.
Mr. Keating: Come on. Louder. Todd: Yawp.
Mr. Keating: That's a mouse. Come on, louder! Todd: Yawp.
Mr. Keating: Oh, good God, boy, yell like a man! Todd: Yawp!
Mr. Keating: There it is. You see, you have a barbarian in you after all. You don't get away that easy. There's a picture of Uncle Walt up there. What does he remind you of? Don't think, answer. Go on.
Todd: A m-m-m-madman.
Mr. Keating: What kind of madman? Don't think about it, just answer.
Todd: A cr-crazy madman.
Mr. Keating: No, you can do better than that. Free up your mind. Use your imagination. Say the first thing that pops into your head, even if it's total gibberish.
Todd: A-A-A sweaty-toothed madman.
Mr. Keating: Good God, boy, there's a poet in you after all! There. Close your eyes. Close your eyes. Close them. Now, describe what you see.
Todd: Uh, I-I close my eyes...
Mr. Keating: Yes?
Todd: uh, and his image floats beside me. A sweaty-toothed madman. A sweaty-toothed madman with a stare that pounds my brain.
Mr. Keating: Oh, that's excellent! Now, give him action, make him do something.
Todd: H-His hands reach out and choke me.
Mr. Keating: That's it. Wonderful. Wonderful.
Todd: And all the time he's mumbling.
Mr. Keating: What's he mumbling?
Todd: Mumbling truth.
Mr. Keating: Yes.
Todd: Truth is like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold.
Mr. Keating: Forget them. Forget them. Stay with the blanket. Tell me about that blanket.
Todd: Y-Y-You push it, stretch it, it'll never be enough.
You kick at it, beat it, it'll never cover any of us.
From the moment we enter crying to the moment we leave dying,
it'll just cover your face as you wail and cry and scream.
Mr. Keating: Don't you forget this.
很長的一段。對于這一段，有人質疑這樣做是不是真的能逼出一首好詩來。假如，被逼迫的對象本人就是一灘死灰，那估計是怎么蒙眼睛都不管用的。但是Todd內心是渴望爆發的。在Keating老師的第一節課上，在聽到seize the day, make your life extraordinary “抓住今天，讓生命不同凡響”這句話時，Todd的眼中已經看的到閃爍的光芒。
不過，他還是沒能寫出像樣的詩句來。老師形容他坐在那里的狀態是in agony，處于極度的痛苦，掙扎中。于是激將他說，Todd認為自己的內在是worthless and embarrassing，毫無價值和令人難堪的。還逼著Todd喊Yawp“喊叫”這個詞，并且要in yawping stance，stance，站姿，也就是還要擺好叫喊的姿勢去喊出這個詞。
接下來，Keating老師逼著Todd對掛在黑板上方惠特曼的畫像進行描述，要求他free up your mind，free up讓……自由，這里指充分發揮想象力，不加限制，甚至可以隨便說出the first thing that pops into your head，pop，突然出現，也就是首先跳進腦海里的第一個詞兒，哪怕它只是gibberish，胡言亂語。
隨后，Keating老師甚至捂上Todd的眼睛，步步緊逼，以激發他的能量。于是有了后面的詩句。
A sweaty-toothed madman with a stare that pounds my brain. Sweaty-toothed 意思是teeth glistening with moisture 牙齒閃著潮濕的光。這樣一個瘋子還用pounds my brain能夠“猛擊我心靈”的眼光盯著我。
His hands reach out and choke me. 他的手伸出來掐住我。Choke 有“窒息；阻塞”的意思。我們常常說的喝水嗆到了，也用choke這個單詞表示。
And all the time he's mumbling. 這個瘋子還一直在mumbling，自言自語。Mumble指“咕噥著說話”。Todd說這個瘋子嘟囔的是truth, “真理”。其實，在Todd的心中對“真理”是有自己的理解的，我們可以從隨后的詩句中聽到他的解讀。
Truth is like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold. 真理像使你腳發冷的氈子。
You push it, stretch it, it'll never be enough. 你拉它，拽它，它卻永遠不夠長。
You kick at it, beat it, it'll never cover any of us. 你踢它，打它，卻永遠無法覆蓋住任何人。
From the moment we enter crying to the moment we leave dying, 由我們哭著進入此生，到我們垂死離開此世，
it'll just cover your face as you wail and cry and scream. 它都只能蓋著你的臉，任你悲嘆，哭泣與尖叫。
這樣的詩句也一定程度上反映出了理想于現實之間的碰撞。后面一部分詩中，from the moment we enter crying to the moment we leave dying一句，crying和dying都是現在分詞作狀語，表示enter和leave的伴隨狀態。哭著enter, 垂死leave。
Todd的表現讓所有人吃驚，包括他自己。這正是Keating老師想要的。他走上前，告訴Todd說： Don't you forget this. 我們知道否定的一般疑問句有很強烈的感情色彩，不是真的在問，而是贊同句子中的觀點。例如這句，翻譯成“千萬不要忘了這次經歷”就更確切一些。
不得不承認，在現實和理想的對抗中，大部分時候理想會成為祭品。特別是在成人世界。但不管怎樣，如同電影中Keating老師所說的那樣，醫學、法律、金融等等是生活支柱；但同時不要忘了詩歌，激情和對愛的信仰才是生活的精髓所在。好了，如果說Keating老師用自己的激情感染了學生，那么下期我們要介紹的這位老師，卻是在如同春日午后般的平和中打開了一閃封閉已久的心門。我們下期再見。
