诱惑与毁灭:H.G.威尔斯《时间机器》对东方植物的矛盾想象

Enchantment and Destruction:H.G.Well’s Paradoxical Imagining of Oriental Plants in The Time Machine

威尔斯在其科幻小说《时间机器》中多次提及杜鹃、樟树、兰花等异域植物。从植物学研究出发,可发现此三者都来自东方,且皆为富有生命力、攻击力的被子植物。东方物种对西方的吸引,也映射出东方对西方的反噬。此三者故此成为威尔斯笔下具诱惑性、危机性的东方想象之缩影;小说中的世界末日使地球所有物种走向毁灭,包括该类具有“进化超能力”的异域植物,暗指世界各国“一损俱损”之理,这在强调全人类同呼吸共命运的当代具有启示意义。

In The Time Machine,Wells frequently mentions exotic plants,including rhododendron,camphor,orchid and so forth.These three plants from the East are angiosperms which are full of vitality and aggressiveness.The attractiveness of these oriental plants to the West can imply that the East is in some way exerting influence upon the West.Thus,the plants in a sense represent the enchanting but dangerous Orient.However,in Wells’s novel all species come to an end on doomsday,including those exotic plants with“great evolutionary ability”,indicating that all countries in the world are highly integrated with each other,with mutual stakes,thus highlighting the importance of community among human beings.