卡夫卡与西藏——以赫定旅行记为中心的考察

Kafka and Tibet: A Survey through Sven Hedin’s Trans-Himalaya

卡夫卡在1920年6月初致密伦娜书信中曾提及自己正在读一本关于西藏的书,9月又说自己正在读一本中国鬼故事书。这两次提及可能指同一本书,即瑞典探险家、作家赫定的西藏探险录《翻越喜马拉雅》。赫定书中的寺庙与村庄、墙与塔、岩石与废墟和卡夫卡笔下的城堡秘响旁通;和《城堡》中的K一样,赫定既是一个心怀中古骑士梦的“英雄”,也是一个其真实意图令人困惑的“土地测量员”。赫定对石室苦修僧人的想象,为理解卡夫卡的“地洞式写作”提供了西藏背景。卡夫卡书信中的“中国鬼故事”包含了与赫定的隐秘交流,通过与学生的对话,卡夫卡笔下的老师回应了赫定关于苦修僧人生活方式的疑问,也试图向密伦娜表明自己是一个怎样的人。

In his letter to Milena in early June 1920, Kafka mentioned that he was reading a book about Tibet, and in September he said that he was reading a book of Chinese ghost stories. There are indications that these two mentions may refer to the same book, the Swedish explorer and writer Sven Hedin’s Trans-Himalaya. The temple and village, wall and tower, rocks and ruins in Hedin’s book left traces in Kafka’s The Castle;like K, Hedin is both a “hero” with the dream of a medieval knight in mind, and a “land surveyor” whose true intentions are confusing. Hedin’s imagination of an ascetic monk in the stone chamber provides a Tibetan background for understanding Kafka’s “burrow writing”;the Chinese ghost story in Kafka’s letter includes secret communication with Hedin, that is, through conversation with his student, the teacher in Kafka’s letter responded to Hedin’s question, and at the same time showed Milena what kind of person he was.