“The curious incident of the dog in the night-time” là một truyện đọc mang đậm tính nhân văn của tác giả người Anh – Mark Haddon.

Truyện xoay quanh nhân vật chính là cậu bé 15 tuổi Christopher Boone rất thông minh nhưng mang căn bệnh khuyết tật về cảm xúc, như lời giới thiệu về nội dung sách –  “Fifteen – year – old Christopher has a photographic memory. He understands maths. He understands science. What he can’t understand are other human beings.”

Truyện được viết theo một thể loại tương tự như nhật kí, là những tình tiết được tường thuật, kể lại bằng chính những dòng suy nghĩ của cậu bé Christopher. Bắt đầu từ những dòng đầu tiên của truyện, người đọc sẽ không thể dứt ra sự háo hức muốn tìm hiểu những sự kiện, những diễn biến tiếp theo sẽ xảy đến với một cậu bé đặc biệt như Christopher.

Cậu bé không thể nào hiểu được cảm xúc của những người khác, chỉ có thể căn cứ theo những sự biểu lộ trên mặt của họ – ở mức đơn giản – và đối chiếu với điều mình đã học để biết điều đó thể hiện cái gì.

“8 years ago, when i first met Siobhan, she showed me this picture [L], and i knew that it meant “sad”, which is what i felt when i found the dead dog.

Then she showed me this picture [:D], and i knew that it meant “happy”, like when i’m reading about the Apollo space missions, or when i am still awake at 3 or 4 in the morning and i can walk up and down the street and pretend that i am the only person in the whole world.

Then she drew some other pictures [^_”], [>.<], [“.”], [@.@], but i was unable to say what these meant.

I got Siobhan to draw lots of these faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant. I kept the piece of paper in my pocket and took it out when i didn’t understand what someone was saying. But it was very difficult to decide which of the diagrams was most like the face they were making because people’s faces move very quickly”.

Mạch truyện là câu chuyện Christopher phát hiện ra con chó nhà hàng xóm – chú chó Wellington nằm chết trên bãi cỏ lúc nửa đêm vì bị một chiếc chĩa làm vườn đâm xuyên qua. Christopher cho rằng đây là một “vụ án’’ và có ai đó đã cố tình giết con chó. Cậu quyết định sẽ tìm hiểu và điều tra xem ai là “kẻ sát nhân’’, đồng thơi viết một câu chuyện trinh thám về nó như truyện về Sherlock Homes cậu thường đọc. Trong điệp vụ bí mật tìm ra kẻ đã giết chú chó Wellington, Christopher phát hiện ra nhiều sự thật cậu chưa từng được biết và tự mình giải quyết những rắc rối theo cách riêng của chính mình.

Nhân vật Christopher được tác giả Mark Haddon xây dựng với những nét rất riêng, không thể lẫn lộn với bất kì một nhân vật truyện nào khác.

Có những chi tiết rất đáng yêu về cậu bé thiểu năng cảm xúc khiến người đọc phải bật cười, dù cười với một sự cảm thông rất sâu sắc.

1.      Thám tử Christopher đi truy tìm hung thủ giết chú chó Wellington bằng những cuộc nói chuyện với hàng xóm.

“Mr Thompson said: “Can i help you?

I said: “Do you know who killed Wellington?”

I did not look at his face. I do not like looking at people’s faces, especially if they are strangers. He did not say anything for a few seconds.

Then he said: “Who are you?”

I said: “ I’m Christopher Boone from number 36 and i know you. You’re Mr Thompson.”

He said: “I’m Mr Thompson’s brother’’.

I said, ‘’Do you know who killed Wellington?’’

He said, ‘’Who the fuck is Wellington?’’

I said: ‘’Mrs Shears’s dog. Mrs Shears is from number 41.’’

He said, ‘’Someone killed her dog?’’

I said, ‘’With a fork’’.

He said, ‘’Jesus Christ’’.

I said, ‘’A garden fork’’, in case he thought i meant a fork you eat your food with. Then i said, ‘’Do you know who killed him?’’

He said, ‘’ I haven’t a bloody clue’’.

I said, ‘’ Did you see anything suspicious on Thursday evening?’’

He said, “Look, son, do you really think you should be going around asking questions like this?’’

And i said, ‘’Yes, because i want to find out who killed Wellington, and i am writing a book about it.’’

And he said, ‘’Well, i was in Colchester on Thursday, so you’re asking the wrong bloke.’’

I said, “Thank you.’’, and i walked away.””

 

2.      Xuyên suốt “The curious incident of the dog in the night-time’’, người đọc sẽ lưu ý đến cách đánh dấu chương theo thứ tự khác lạ: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19…..167, 173, 179, 181, 191, 193… Ấy là do Christopher thích tác phẩm truyện của mình viết về cuộc truy tìm hung thủ giết Wellington sẽ được đánh dấu chương bằng những con số nguyên tố.

“Chapters in books are usually given the cardinal numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and so on. But i have decided to give my chapters prime numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13 and so on because i like prime numbers.

This is how you work out what prime numbers are.

First, you write down all the positive whole numbers in the world.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20,….

Then you take away all the numbers that are multiples of 2. Then you take away all the numbers that are multiples of 3. Then you take away all the numbers that are multiples of 4 and 5 and 6 and 7 and so on. The numbers that are left are the prime numbers.

The rule of working out prime numbers is really simple, but no one has ever worked out a simple formula for telling you whether a very big number is a prime number or what the next one will be. If a number is really, really big, it can take a computer years to work out whether it is a prime number.’’

 

3.      Một trong những điều gợi nhớ người đọc nhất về Christopher, một khi đã khép cuốn truyện lại và hồi tưởng về cậu bé, là cách thể hiện tình cảm độc đáo mang thương hiệu Christopher. Christopher không hiểu được, và sẽ không bao giờ thích những hành động thương yêu của con người, thậm chí là cha và mẹ cậu đối xử với mình, trừ những hành động quy ước riêng. Người đọc sẽ không thể quên rằng nếu muốn nói yêu quý Christopher, hãy xòe bàn tay năm ngón ra và áp vào lòng bàn tay của cậu bé, để các đầu ngón tay chạm vào nhau nhẹ nhàng, như Christopher vẫn làm với cha cậu.

 

“I stepped outside. Father was standing in the corridor. He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other. We do this because sometimes Father wants to give me a hug, but i do not like hugging people, so we do this instead, and it means that he loves me.”

 

4.      Điều thú vị về Christopher khiến nhân vật cậu bé thiểu năng cảm xúc trở nên đặc biệt là bởi cậu sở hữu một bộ não thông minh và những quy tắc đạo đức đúng mực bên cạnh một tâm hồn không tình cảm. Mọi sự việc trong cuộc sống diễn ra dưới đôi mắt bàng quang của Christopher, nhưng dưới một bản năng luôn tôn trọng điều “đúng’’và hợp lý.

Christopher không nói dối vì nói dối là ngược với sự thật và trái với các quy tắc khoa học.

 

“I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because i was a good person. But it is not because i am a good person. It is because i can’t tell lie.

A lie is when you say something happened which didn’t happen. But there is only ever one thing which happened at a particular time and a particular place. And there are an infinite number of things which didn’t happen at that time and that place. And if i think about something which didn’t happen i start thinking about all the other things which didn’t happen.’’

 

Christopher cũng không bao giờ nghĩ mình là người thông minh vì đối với cậu thông minh không phải là biết nhiều điều mà phải là sáng tạo được cái mới.

 

“Mr Jeavons said that i was a very clever boy.

I said that i wasn’t clever. I was just noticing how things were, and that wasn’t clever. That was just being observant. Being clever was when you looked at how things were and used the evidence to work out something new. Like the universe expanding, or who committed a murder. Or if you see someone’s name and you give each letter a value from 1 to 26 (a=1, b=2 etc.) and you add the numbers up in your head and you find that it makes a prime number, like Jesus Christ (151), or Scooby Doo (113), or Sherlock Homes (163) or Doctor Watson (167).’’

Và Christopher luôn dùng những lý luận khoa học để giải thích cho mọi sự việc hiện hữu xung quanh mình, như những lí luận cho việc điều tra nghi phạm đã giết chú chó của bà hàng xóm Shears.

 

‘’ And as i was crossing the street i had a stroke of inspiration about who might have killed Wellington. I was imagining a Chain of Reasoning inside my head which was like this:

1, Why would you kill a dog?

a)      Because you hated the dog.

b)     Because you were mad.

c)      Because you wanted to make Mrs Shears upset.

2, I didn’t know anyone who hated Wellington, so if it was a) It was probably a stranger.

3, I didn’t know any mad people, so if it was b) it was also probably a stranger.

4, Most murders are committed by someone who is known to the victim. In fact, you are most likely to be murdered by a member of your own family on Christmas Day. This is a fact. Wellington was therefore most likely to have been killed by someone known to him.

5, If it was c) I only knew one person who didn’t like Mrs Shears, and that was Mr Shears who knew Wellington very well indeed.’’

Và đó chỉ là những chi tiết phản ánh một phần cậu bé Christopher ở phương diện bên trong. Toàn bộ câu chuyện không hẳn tập trung khai thác nội tâm một cậu bé thông minh bị thiểu năng về cảm xúc, nó còn khai thác những khía cạnh nhân đạo khác của con người ở một xã hội hiện đại không hoàn hảo, và đáng thương.

Truyện có rất ít nhân vật vì bối cảnh đơn giản xoay quanh những cảnh đời thường, cuộc sống cô độc của người cha một mình nuôi dưỡng cậu bé không bình thường, những mối bất hòa trong quan hệ lằng nhằng của cha mẹ và hàng xóm của Christopher, và chuyến phiêu lưu một mình của cậu bé 15 tuổi mắc căn bệnh tinh thần từ thị trấn Swindon đến thành phố Luân Đôn.

Truyện rất nhẹ nhàng và thú vị nhưng cũng có những chỗ rất cảm động khiến người đọc không kìm được nước mắt. Một trong những chi tiết như thế nằm ở bức thư của mẹ mà cậu bé tưởng rằng đã mất khi đang tìm các ‘’dữ liệu cho vụ án Wellington’’.

 

‘’Dear Christopher,

 I said that i wanted to explain to you why i went away when i had the time to do it properly. Now i have lots of time. So i’m sitting on the sofa here with this letter and the radio on and i’m going to try and explain.

I was not a very good mother, Christopher. Maybe if things had been differant, maybe if you’d been differant, i might have been better at it. But that’s just the way things turned out.

I’m not like your father. Your father is much more pacient person. He just gets on with things and if things upset him he doesn’t let it show. But that’s not the way i am and there’s nothing i can do to change that.

Do you remember once when we were shopping in town together? And we went into Bentalls and it was really crowded and we had to get a Christmas present for Grandma? And you were frightened because of all the people in the shop. It was the middle of Christmas shopping when everyone was in town. And i was talking to Mr Land who works on the kitchen floor and went to school with me. And you crouched down on the floor and put your hands over your ears and you were in the way of everyone. So i got cross, because i don’t like shopping at Christmas, either, and i told you to behave and i tried to pick you up and move you. But you shouted and you knocked those mixers off the shelf and there was a big crash. And everyone turned round to see what was going on. And Mr Land was really nice about it but there were boxes and bits of broken bowl on the floor and everyone was starring and i saw that you had wet yourself and i was so cross and i wanted to take you out of the shop but you wouldn’t let me touch you and and you just lay on the floor and screamed and banged your hands and feet and on the floor and the maniger came and asked what the problem was and i was at the end of my tether and i had to pay for two broken mixers and we just had to wait until you stoped screaming. And then i had to walk you all the way home which took hours because i knew you wouldn’t go on the bus again.

And i remember that night i just cried and cried and cried and your father was really nice about it at first and he made you supper and put you to bed and he said these things happen and it would be OK. But i said i couldn’t take it anymore and eventually he got really cross and he told me i was being stupid and said i should pull myself together and i hit him, which was wrong, but i was upset.

We had a lot of argumants like that. Because i often thought i couldn’t take it anymore. And your father is really pacient but i’m not, i get cross, even though i didn’t mean too.

And by the end we sopped talking to each other very much because we knew it would always end up in an argumant and it would go nowhere. And i felt realy lonley.

……..

And then you and me had that argumant. Do you remember? It was about your supper one evening. I’d cooked you something and you wouldn’t eat it. And you hadn’t eaten for days and days and you were looking so thin. And you started to shout and i got cross and i threw the food across the room. Which i know i shouldn’t have done. And you grabbed the chopping board and you threw it and it hit my foot and broke my toes.

Then, of course, we had to go to the hospital and i had that plaster put on my foot. And afterwards, at home, your father and i had a huge argumant. He blamed me for getting cross with you. And he said i should just give you what you wanted, even if it was justa plate of lettuce or a strawberry milkshake. And i said i was just trying to get you to eat something healthy. And he said you couldn’t help it either and i just lost my rag. And he said that if he could keep his temper then i should bloody well keep my temper. And it went on and on like this.

And i couldn’t walk properly for a month, do you remember, and your father had to look after you. And i remember looking at the two of you and seeing you together and thinking how you were really differant with him. Much calmer. And you didn’t shout at one another. And it made me so sad because it was like you really didn’t really need me at all. And somehow that was even worse than you and me arguing all the time because it was like i was invisible.

And i think that was when i realised you and your father were properly better off if i wasn’t living in the house. Then he would only have one person to look after instead of two.

………………………..”

Khép lại câu chuyện về một cậu bé bị thiểu năng cảm xúc, những hình ảnh còn đọng lại trong lòng người đọc là niềm tin về một cuộc sống đơn giản và rất đỗi chân phương. Và niềm tin của Christopher là một ngọn đuốc thắp sáng những cuộc sống bị mài mòn, tăm tối vẫn quanh quẩn xung quanh ta, giữa dòng đời bất tận.

 

‘’And then, when i’ve done that, i am going to university in another town. And it doesn’t have to be in London because i don’t like London and there are universities in lots of places and not all of them are in big cities. And i can live in a flat with a garden and a proper toilet. And i can take Sandy and my books and my computer.

And then i will get a First Class Honours Degree and i will become a scientist.

And i know i can do this because i went to London on my own, and because i solved the mystery of Who Killed Wellington? And i found my mother and was brave and i wrote a book and that means i can do anything.”

(Ngọc Vũ)