US author Colson Whitehead’s new novel, The Underground Railroad, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize on April 9. And it’s not hard to see why. But while it doesn’t require any great historical knowledge to be enjoyed, there are a couple of things the reader should bear in mind.

美国作家科尔森·怀特黑德的最新小说《地下铁道》于4月9日获得了普利策奖。而获奖原因也显而易见。读懂这本小说虽无需丰富的历史知识，但有几点读者们应当铭记。

The book’s title, The Underground Railroad, is also the name for the people – some black, some white – who ran the network of secret routes and safe houses, through which slaves in America were helped to freedom.

这本书的书名，《地下铁道》同时也是一些人的名字 —— 有的是黑人，有的是白人 —— 他们为帮助美国奴隶获得自由，守护着秘密的线路和安全的居所。

The initial¹ setting of the story is a slave plantation² (种植园) in Georgia, in the south of the US. It is a horrific place, and every slave there wants to escape. Only a few of those who try succeed.

故事一开始发生在美国南部佐治亚州的一个奴隶种植园里。那是个所有奴隶都想逃离的恐怖之地。但只有一小部分人能成功逃脱。

One such is Cora, taken by slavers from West Africa. To get to her freedom in Indiana, Cora has to escape from a long list of dangerous people. Her escape gets the attention of notorious³ slave catcher Ridgeway, who not only wants to recover (追回) her but destroy the underground railroad at the same time.

被奴隶贩子从西非带来美国的科拉便是其中之一。为了能在印第安纳州获得自由，她必须得从一长串危险人物的手下逃脱。她的逃跑引起了臭名昭著的猎奴者里奇韦的注意。他不光想追回科拉，同时还想摧毁地下铁道。

The basic structure of The Underground Railroad comes from the classic “slave narrative⁴ (叙事体)” – accounts written by former slaves of their struggle to free themselves.

地下铁道》一书的基本框架来源于经典的“奴隶叙事体” —— 昔日的奴隶们为解放自我，将自己的痛苦挣扎记录了下来。

But although the terrible lives of the slaves are described very believably, The Underground Railroad is not a realist novel that sticks to the facts. The story makes great use of Whitehead’s imagination. While the “Underground Railroad” is a metaphor⁵ (隐喻), Whitehead makes it an actual railway. The train travels through wormhole-style black tunnels (隧道) – like something out of science fiction – taking Cora to different realities within the US.

虽然奴隶们的悲惨生活（在书中）被描绘得栩栩如生，但《地下铁道》这本书却并非是严格遵循事实的现实主义小说。怀特黑德在其中运用了大量的想象。尽管“地下铁道”一词是个隐喻，但怀特黑德却将其写成了一条真正的铁路。火车通过一节节虫洞般的漆黑隧道 —— 就像科幻小说里描写的那样 —— 将科拉带往美国境内完全不同的现实环境。

The reader does not expect this, because stories about slaves very rarely depart from the truth. But however inventive he allows himself to be, The Underground Railroad remains⁶ a story of slavery and an attempt to understand this awful thing whose impact is still felt in the US today.

读者并没预料到这一点，因为奴隶故事很少脱离现实。但无论怀特黑德有多么地别出心裁，《地下铁道》这本书还是一个关于奴隶制的故事，试图让人们了解这个至今仍在影响美国的可怕制度。