Айзек Азимов. Как им было весело

Айзек Азимов. Как им было весело

Isaac Asimov. The Fun They Had

     Margie even wrote about it that night in her diary. On the page headed May 17, 2155, she wrote, “Today Tommy found a real book!”

     It was a very old book. Margie's grandfather once said that when he was a little boy his grandfather told him that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper. 
         They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to-on a screen, you know. And then, when they turned back to the page before, it had the same words on it that it had when they read it the first time.

     “Gee,” said Tommy, “what a waste. When you're through with the book, you just throw it away, I guess. Our television screen must have had a million books on it and it's good for plenty more. I wouldn't throw it away.”

     “Same with mine,” said Margie. She was eleven and hadn't seen as many telebooks as Tommy had. He was thirteen.

     She said, “Where did you find it?”

     “In my house.” He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. “In the attic.”

     “What's it about?”

     “School.”

     Margie was scornful. “School? What's there to write about 
  school? I hate school.”

     Margie always hated school, but now she hated it-more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.

     He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at her and gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart. Margie had hoped he wouldn't know how to put it together again, but he knew how all right and, after an hour or so, there it was again, large and black and ugly with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. That wasn't so bad. The part she hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She always had to write them out in a punch code they made her learn when she was six years old, and the mechanical teacher calculated the mark in no time.

     The inspector had smiled after he was finished and patted her head. He said to her mother, “It's not the little girl's fault, Mrs. Jones. I think the geography sector was geared a little too quick. Those things happen sometimes. I've slowed it up to an average ten-year level. Actually, the over-all pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory.” And he patted Margie's head again.

     Margie was disappointed. She had been hoping they would take the teacher away altogether. They had once taken Tommy's teacher away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.

     So she said to Tommy, “Why would anyone write about school?

     Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes. “Because it's not our kind of school, stupid. This is the old kind of school that they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago.” He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, “Centuries ago.”

     Margie was hurt. “Well, I don't know what kind of school they had all that time ago.” She read the book over his shoulder for a while, then said, “Anyway, they had a teacher.”

     “Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn't a regular teacher. It was a man.”

     “A man? How could a man be a teacher?”

     Well, he just told the boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions.”

     “A man isn't smart enough.”

     “Sure he is. My father knows as much as my teacher.”

     “He can't. A man can't know as much as a teacher.”

     “He knows almost as much I betcha.” 
  Margie wasn't prepared to dispute that. She said, “I wouldn't want a strange man in my house to teach me.”

     Tommy screamed with laughter, “You don't know much, Margie. The teachers didn't live in the house. They had a special building and all the kids went there.”

     “And all the kids learned the same thing?”

     “Sure, if they were the same age.”

     “But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently.”

     “Just the same, they didn't do it that way then. If you don't like it, you don't have to read the book.”

     “I didn't say I didn't like it,” Margie said quickly. She wanted to read about those funny schools.

     They weren't even half finished when Margie's mother called, “Margie! School!”

     Margie looked up. “Not yet, mamma.”

     “Now,” said Mrs. Jones. “And it's probably time for Tommy, too.” 
  Margie said to Tommy, “Can I read the book some more with you after school?” 
  “Maybe,” he said, nonchalantly.

     He walked away whistling, the dusty old book tucked beneath his arm.

     Margie went into the schoolroom. It was right next to her bedroom, and the mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her. It was always on at the same time every day except Saturday and Sunday, because her mother said little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours.

     The screen was lit up, and it said:

     “Today's arithmetic lesson is on the addition of proper fractions. Please insert yesterday's homework in the proper slot.”

     Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about the old 
  schools they had when her grandfather's grandfather was a little boy. All the kids from the whole neighborhood came, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the schoolroom, going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things so they could help one another on the homework and talk about it.

     And the teachers were people...

     The mechanical teacher was flashing on the screen:

     “When we add the fractions 1/2 and 1/4...” 
  Margie was thinking about how the kids must have loved it in the old days. She was thinking about the fun they had. 

     Для анализа был взят рассказ американского писателя Айзека Азимова «Как им было весело» (Isaac Asimov «The fun they had»). Он относится к художественному стилю, жанром является фантастический рассказ. Так как этот текст - рассказ, то он является первичным.

       Текст, если рассматривать его в системе обобщенных функциональных категорий, квалифицируется как высшая коммуникативная единица. Это целостная единица, состоящая из коммуникативно-функциональных элементов, организованных в систему для осуществления коммуникативного намерения автора текста соответственно речевой ситуации.

     Семантика текста обусловлена  коммуникативной задачей передачи информации (текст - информационное целое); структура текста определяется особенностями внутренней организации единиц текста и закономерностями взаимосвязи этих единиц в рамках цельного сообщения (текста) (текст - структурное целое).

     Единицами текста на семантико-структурном уровне являются: высказывание. Высказывание является реализованным предложением, как и в данном тексте. Например,

     He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires.

     Высказывания составляют межфразовые единства. Например,

     He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at her and gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart.

     Межфразовые единства в свою очередь объединяются в более крупные фрагменты-блоки, обеспечивающие тексту целостность, благодаря реализации дистантных и контактных смысловых и грамматических связей. Например:

     He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at her and gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart. Margie had hoped he wouldn't know how to put it together again, but he knew how all right and, after an hour or so, there it was again, large and black and ugly with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. That wasn't so bad. The part she hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She always had to write them out in a punch code they made her learn when she was six years old, and the mechanical teacher calculated the mark in no time.

     На композиционном уровне выделяются единицы иного плана - абзацы, параграфы, главы, разделы, подглавки.

     Анализируемый текст делится только на абзацы.

     С семантической, грамматической и композиционной структурой текста тесно связаны его стилевые и стилистические характеристики. Каждый текст обнаруживает определенную более или менее выраженную функционально-стилевую ориентацию и обладает стилистическими качествами, диктуемыми данной ориентацией и, к тому же, индивидуальностью автора.

     Стилистические качества текста подчинены общей стилевой доминанте, проявляющейся на протяжении всего текстового пространства. Построение текста выражается темой, выражаемой информацией, условиями общения, задачей конкретного сообщения и избранным стилем изложения.

     В основе рассказа ОДНА И ТА ЖЕ школьная система, только в будущем Азимова система доведена до своего логического завершения, в ней полностью ликвидирован фактор человеческого общения, и разница ТОЛЬКО в этом. Существующую школьную систему -- скучную и оторванную от реальной жизни -- ребенок может только ненавидеть. Например, мы можем это увидеть на следующих примерах:

     1)“Today Tommy found a real book!” 
  It was a very old book. Margie's grandfather once said that when he was a little boy his grandfather told him that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper…

     2)“What's it about?”

     “School.”

     Margie was scornful. “School? What's there to write about 
  school? I hate school.”

     Margie always hated school, but now she hated it-more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.

     He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at her and gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart. Margie had hoped he wouldn't know how to put it together again, but he knew how all right and, after an hour or so, there it was again, large and black and ugly with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. That wasn't so bad. The part she hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She always had to write them out in a punch code they made her learn when she was six years old, and the mechanical teacher calculated the mark in no time.

     И в то же время Азимов выделил другое -- люди лучше обучаются, взаимодействуя друг с другом, помогая друг другу. Школьная же система делает упор на «самостоятельном» выполнении заданий, т.е. на ОДИНОЧЕСТВЕ во время обучения, и еще упор делается на «тишине в классе» вместо активного обсуждения учебного материала. Другой вопрос, что дети естественным образом стремятся к обсуждению и совместному решению заданий, этого не отнять, и система может только подавлять и калечить эти побуждения, но не устранить.

     Стиль изложения анализируемого рассказа реализуется посредством различных стилистических приемов, таких как:

-эпитеты, например, crinkly pages, awfully funny, red face, ugly;

-сравнения, например, it`s not our kind of school; My father knows as much as my teacher; A man can`t know as much as a tacher;

     В данном рассказе сложные предложения используются при повествовании. Например,

Margie had hoped he wouldn't know how to put it together again, but he knew how all right and, after an hour or so, there it was again, large and black and ugly with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked.

     При описании действий и эмоций героев используется простые предложения. Например,

     1)Margie was scornful.

     2)And he patted Margie`s head.

     3)Margie went into the classroom.

     4)Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes.

     В основном в тексте используются и простые и сложные предложения.

     Но следует отметить, что в тексте присутствуют диалоги, которые занимают половину рассказа, а также используется косвенная речь.

     Диалогический текст обычно бывает представлен как сочетание реплик, принадлежащих разным лицам. Собственно диалог является основной формой речи в драматических произведениях, однако в принципе и монологический текст (от автора) может включать в себя диалогические фрагменты. Диалогические вкрапления в виде речи персонажей часто сопровождают тексты художественной прозы. Это прямое использование диалога. 

     Вот пример сочетания монологической и диалогической формы речи, который используется в данном рассказе:

     They weren't even half finished when Margie's mother called, “Margie! School!”

     Margie looked up. “Not yet, mamma.”

     “Now,” said Mrs. Jones. “And it's probably time for Tommy, too.” 
  Margie said to Tommy, “Can I read the book some more with you after school?” 
  “Maybe,” he said, nonchalantly.

     Также можно проследить, что реплики порой оформляются с помощью абзацев, но ремарки сохраняются как в драме. Например:

     1)The inspector had smiled after he was finished and patted her head. He said to her mother, “It's not the little girl's fault, Mrs. Jones. I think the geography sector was geared a little too quick. Those things happen sometimes. I've slowed it up to an average ten-year level. Actually, the over-all pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory.” And he patted Margie's head again.

     2)Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes. “Because it's not our kind of school, stupid. This is the old kind of school that they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago.” He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, “Centuries ago.”

     Margie was hurt. “Well, I don't know what kind of school they had all that time ago.” She read the book over his shoulder for a while, then said, “Anyway, they had a teacher.”

     Обычный диалог со стандартной формой представления прямой речи (с абзацным выделением каждой реплики) мы наблюдаем в следующих примерах:

     1) “Same with mine,” said Margie. She was eleven and hadn't seen as many telebooks as Tommy had. He was thirteen.

     She said, “Where did you find it?”

     “In my house.” He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. “In the attic.”