内容简介

Once upon a time, in a gloomy castle on a lonely hill, where there were thirteen clocks that wouldn’t go, there lived a cold, aggressive Duke, and his niece, the Princess Saralinda. She was warm in every wind and weather, but he was always cold. His hands were as cold as his smile, and almost as cold as his heart. He wore gloves when he was asleep, and he wore gloves when he was awake, which made it difficult for him to pick up pins or coins or the kernels of nuts, or to tear the wings from nightingales.

So begins James Thurber’s sublimely revamped fairy tale,The 13 Clocks , in which a wicked Duke who imagineshe has killed time, and the Duke’s beautiful niece, for whom time seems to have runout, both meet their match, courtesy of an enterprising and very handsome prince in disguise. Readers young and old will take pleasure in this tale of love forestalled but ultimately fulfilled, admiring itsupstanding hero (”He yearned to find in a far land the princess of his dreams, singing as he went, and possibly slaying a dragon here and there”) and unapologetic villain (”We all have flaws,” the Duke said. “Mine is being wicked”), while wondering atthe enigmatic Golux, the mysterious stranger whose unpredictable interventions speed the story to its necessarily happy end.

作者简介

詹姆斯•瑟伯(James Thurber, 1894—1961)，美国著名幽默作家、寓言作家、插画家。1926年开始为《纽约客》杂志撰稿，1927年进入《纽约客》编辑部，成为其中最年轻有为的编辑、自由撰稿记者。瑟伯和E.B.怀特一起确立了《纽约客》诙谐、辛辣的文风，即所谓“《纽约客》文风”。晚年执教于耶鲁大学。瑟伯一生创作了大量的散文、随笔、寓言、故事、回忆录，他还为自己的作品绘制插图，给《纽约客》画封面。

精彩摘录

　　乔恩王子说：“曾经的你，不是现在的你；现在的你，将是永远的你。我把这份战利品放到爱的手中。”　　公主双手接过银杯。　　乔恩说：“你拥有了我的心。”

——引自第184页

　　我能做成不少办不成的事。我能找到我看不见的东西，能看见我找不到的东西；前者是时间，后者是我的目光的一个落点。我能感觉到我摸不到的东西，能摸到我感觉不到的东西；我摸不到的是悲伤，我感觉不到的是你的心肠。

——引自第45页