心与心的距离，是一段口哨声 推书War Horse 《战马》

这本书其实并没有读完，一放再放，但安安静静往下读的时候，思绪就被带入到了战火纷飞的年代。

本书的作者是迈克尔·莫尔普戈(Michael Morpurgo)，英国作家。书不厚，在读美国语文的间隙夹杂听完了这本书，陆续补读也接近了一小半。是一部实打实的儿童作品，书中并未出现过多残酷的描述，但战争的一角也多少掀开了一战中的大场景。"窥一斑而知全豹"放在这里恰如其分。

Desolation and destruction were everywhere. Not a building was left intact. Not a blade of grass grew in the torn and ravaged soil. 荒荒凉凉的残垣断壁，仅存下来的居民是四处逃窜的野猫。

When the troop returned and the squadron moved off again, there were always one or two horses without riders.战场上的下一瞬间就是战友的别离。

主人公并不是马的主人，少年Albert，而是这匹被父亲喝多了买回来中看不中用的爱尔兰马(应该是纯血马，书中未多提)。Albert为其取名为Joey 是因为与它的第一个伙伴一匹温顺的母马Zoey 押韵。I shall call you Joey, only because it rhymes with Zoey.全书通过一匹马的颠沛流离，从马的视觉观察人类世界，虽是客观的角度也有不少情绪搁置其中。目前印象最深的莫过于两位主人两个父亲的对比:

Albert的父亲为了不失去农场，让孩子有个安定生活，还是把已经学会耕地的Joey当成军马卖掉了。‘You’ll be all right, old son,’ he whispered to me. ‘You won’t understand and neither will Albert, but unless I sell you I can’t keep up with the mortgage and we’ll lose the farm. I’ve treated you bad – I’ve treated everyone bad. I know it and I’m sorry for it.’ And he walked away from me leading Zoey behind him. His head was lowered and he looked suddenly a shrunken man.这是一位老父亲在万般无奈下与Joey告别时的话语，让人心酸。脑海中一直想着母亲对小Albert说的一句话"He’s over fifty, you know – children don’t think of their fathers as being old or young."

而另一位少年Trooper Warren (trooper骑兵)在Captain Nicholls 战死沙场后接管Joey，他的命运却是另一种。Then the war had broken out. He did not want to join up, he said; but the squire of the village had spoken to his father and his father, who rented his house and his smithy from the squire, had no option but to send him off to war.不过印象中，电影似乎删除了这个部分。

书中也有吐槽的部分，算是对于整体肃穆气氛的一种调节。除此以外，后半部分包括与Emilie的相遇，与好伙伴Topthorn(另一匹马)的分离，战场扔硬币，与Albert的相认均是动人的画面。书的难度并不大，多是一些不常见的生词部分。不过读书过程中一度想起另一本书Black Beauty和《亮剑》中的骑兵连。艺术果然都多有相通。

因为刚读完Civil War这一段历史，看到大量的日记信件日志对于Fort Sumter, Gettysburg ,Bull Run等几处战役的描述，所以紧承着这本书并没有太多的违和感。

图书图片，来自网络，侵删

对比图书，就不得不感慨斯皮尔伯格老爷子改编的功底，电影硬生生将书拔高了海拔。不到两百页的图书有序而精彩填充了两个多小时的影片。祯祯赏心悦目，但战争的渲染还是过于纯真，或许也是为了心底的最后一层柔软。推荐此片。

电影《战马》剧照，网络图片侵删。

另外，相衍生的舞台剧就是极其惊艳了。道具相当出彩，节奏流畅。推荐一观(小破站)

战马舞台剧，图片来自网络，侵删

有声书来自大表哥Dan Stevens，全长三个小时左右，演绎也是灵魂再现。如果是Frank Muller的声线就更完美了。

总之，这匹战马无论是从书到影像或者是声音的记录均是难得的翘楚。刚开始读的时候会有陌生带来的隔离感，读进去却再也无法忘记这份情感。

  It was his owl whistle, the same low, stuttering whistle he had used to call me when we were walking out together back at home on the farm all those long years before. Suddenly there was no longer any pain in my leg, and I trotted easily over towards him and buried my nose in his shoulder.

我与你的相遇，是一段熟悉的口哨声。