Cain

　　知名葡萄牙小說家，同時也是諾貝爾文學獎得主喬賽.薩拉馬戈 (Jose Saramago)在震驚宗教界的作品《耶穌基督的福音》(The Gospel According to Jesus Christ)發表二十年後，再度發表震驚世俗的作品！這一次，作者藉著該隱的故事來諷刺舊約聖經。

　　當亞當與夏娃被逐出伊甸園後，夏娃決定回去請求看守的天使幫忙，將園裡欲丟棄的水果給她，天使欣然同意。雖然夏娃對亞當堅稱自己沒有給天使任何報酬，但他倆的第一個孩子該隱卻有著詭異的金髮與白皙的皮膚。

　　接著，書中以獨特的冷調幽默風格講述了該隱在聖經裡廣為人知的故事：他殺死兄弟亞伯，與上帝交易，並且陸續遇見亞伯拉罕、艾薩克等各路人馬等。

　　在生命的最後一年，薩拉馬戈的寫作重心放在道德議題，持續探討專制的神權以及其長期關注的宗教爭議上，讓整部小說讀來盡是對人性反思的慧詰。

(文/博客來編譯)

作者簡介

喬賽‧薩拉馬戈 Jose Saramago

　　1922 年生於葡萄牙，曾經操持多種不同行業已維生計，包括技工、技術設計人員與文學編輯，但是他從 1979 年起，即全力投入創作。他的作品包含了戲劇、詩作、短篇故事、非小說與虛構小說，他的小說已經被翻譯為二十餘種語言。1988 年出版的《巴達薩與布莉穆妲》（Baltasar and Blimunda）首度將他帶進英語出版世界的焦點，《費城詢問報》（Philodelphia Inquirer）讚美該部小說「一部虛構而極富原創性的歷史小說，足以比美賈西亞‧馬奎斯顛峰時期作品」。薩拉馬戈並以《詩人雷伊斯逝世的那一年》 （The year of the Death of Ricardo Reis）一書獲英國《獨立報》（Independent）「國外小說創作獎」；本書譯者喬凡尼‧龐提耶若（Giovanni Pontiero）亦因翻譯翻譯《耶穌基督的福音》（The Gospel According to Jesus Christ）一書獲頒 Teixeira-Gomes 葡萄牙語翻譯獎。喬賽‧薩拉馬戈在 1992 年獲選為當年的葡萄牙文作家，並於 1998 年獲得諾貝爾文學獎，為當今全球最知名的葡萄牙作家，現居加納利群島。

　　（作者系列書籍中文版由時報出版）

　　Two decades after Portuguese novelist and Nobel Laureate Jose Saramago shocked the religious world with his novel The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, he has done it again with Cain, a satire of the Old Testament. Written in the last years of Saramago's life, it tackles many of the moral and logical non sequiturs created by a wilful, authoritarian God, and forms part of Saramago's long argument with religion.

　　The stories in this book are witty and provocative. After Adam and Eve have been cast out of Eden, Eve decides to go back and ask the angel guarding the gate if he can give her some of the fruit that is going to waste inside. The angel agrees, and although Eve swears to Adam that she offered the angel nothing in return, their first child is suspiciously blond and fair-skinned. Cain, in his wandering, overhears a strange conversation between a man named Abraham and his son Isaac - and manages to prevent the father from murdering the son. The angel appointed by God to prevent the murder arrives late due to a wing malfunction. Cain brushes off his apology. 'What would have happened if I hadn't been here?' Cain asks, 'and what kind of god would ask a father to sacrifice his own son?'

　　Saramago died in June 2010, shortly after the controversial Portuguese publication of Cain but before he could participate in its publication in other countries. Harvill Secker's edition of this remarkable book will be part of a tribute to Saramago's life and work which includes the gradual reissue of his previous novels as Vintage Classics.