鑽石舞台

中英文字幕

A World War II veteran processes the devastation he’s witnessed from the confines of an intergalactic zoo.

一位參加過第二次世界大戰的老兵，正講述着他在星系動物園內目睹的破壞。

As an estranged parent and child meet at a fraught family reunion, a little girl mumbles, 「How do you do?」 from behind a dirty curtain.

彼此感到疏遠的父親和孩子，在憂心忡忡的家庭聚會相遇。一個小女孩從骯髒的窗簾後面喃喃地說：「你好嗎？」

After the death of his best friend, a lonely king travels to the end of the world in search for answers and... walks into a bar.

在他最好的朋友去世後，一位孤獨的國王前往世界盡頭尋找答案，隨後……他走進了酒吧。

It may seem counterintuitive, but comedy is often key to a serious story. As a writer, you need your audience to experience a range of emotions, no matter what your genre. Whether you want to evoke fear, grief, or excitement, when people are exposed to one emotion for too long, they become desensitized to it.

這可能看起來有悖常理，但喜劇效果往往是每個嚴肅故事的關鍵。做為一個作家，你需要讓讀者感受到一系列的情感。無論你採用什麼手法，無論你是想喚起恐懼、悲傷還是興奮。當人們沉浸在一個情感太久，他們會變得麻木。

Comic relief is a tried-and-true way of creating the varied emotional texture a compelling story needs. So how can you create this effect in your own stories? Whether you use characters, situations, language, or any combination of the three, timing and contrast are crucial. Take the 「Epic of Gilgamesh.」 This ancient Mesopotamian tale is possibly the oldest known work of literature, and yet the story remains compelling today. As King Gilgamesh approaches the end of the world, he walks into a bar. We think we’re reaching the climax of his story— only to have our expectations subverted. That brief respite allows the tension to build even higher to a later, true climax. It both relieves and creates tension. This lesson also applies to modern stories: by briefly lightening the mood, you can build tension in your stories exactly when it’s needed.

一個精彩動人的故事往往需要恰如其分的喜劇效果。所以，你怎樣在自己的故事中創造這樣的效果呢？無論你是想通過人物、情節、語言，還是將三者結合，恰當的時機和反差都很關鍵。以《吉爾伽美什史詩》為例，這個古老的美索不達米亞故事或許是迄今最古老的文學作品。然而，這個故事在當今仍然很吸引人。就在吉爾加梅什國王就快抵達世界盡頭時，他走進了一家酒館。我們以為他的故事已經到了高潮——結果並非我們所期望的。這短暫的停頓反而推動了隨後、真正的故事高潮。它同時起到了舒緩情緒，又能製造緊張感的作用。這一經驗也適用於現代故事：通過短暫地放鬆心情，在你的故事中恰如其分地製造緊張感。

The moment at the bar doesn’t just amplify the audience’s emotional response— it also complicates it. The wise bartender questions the purpose of Gilgamesh’s quest— setting the stage for the final, more nuanced resolution.

在酒吧的那一刻不僅放大了觀眾的情緒反應，它也使它複雜化了。充滿智慧的酒保質疑了吉爾伽美什的探索——推動舞台走向結尾、更微妙的衝突。

You can use comic relief not only to create contrast with graver moments, but to comment on them. Sidekicks are one of the most common and direct ways to do this: they can supply sneakily perceptive commentary on the main action, often while simultaneously serving as blundering, hapless punchlines.

你可以採用喜劇性穿插的手法來創造與重要時刻的反差，還可以藉此來加以評說。搭檔是最常見和直接的方式之一：他們可以偷偷地對主角動作做出尖銳的評論，同時常常充當浮躁、不幸的笑料。

Kurt Vonnegut’s 「Slaughterhouse-Five」 takes a different approach: the story continuously alternates between horrific war scenes and wacky science fiction moments. These scenes provide comic relief, but also open a dialogue about what’s usually unspeakable, highlighting the arbitrary nature of human suffering in a way that makes it more impactful.

庫爾特·馮內古特的《屠宰場五人組》採取了不同的方法：這個故事發生在可怕的戰爭場景，和古怪的科幻小說之間不斷交替。這些場景提供了喜劇性穿插，但是同時也打開了 平時難以說出口的對話。突出人類苦難的任意性質，通過一種方式使它變得更有力。

Arundhati Roy’s 「The God of Small Things」 takes yet another approach to comic relief. The narrative style draws upon the perspective of children to infuse a tragic story with poignant humor. When the adults funnel decades of tensions over race, class, and family dynamics into their expectations for their children’s behavior, you can’t help but chuckle with recognition when, at the moment she’s expected to put on a perfect performance of politeness, 7-year-old Rahel 「[ravels] herself like a sausage into the dirty airport curtain and [won’t] unravel.」 At the same time, you know her failure to behave will only add to the tension. Afterward, she thinks, 「the play had gone bad. Like Pickle in a monsoon.」 This punchline underscores the reality of the situation: the reunion is so forced and formal, Rahel feels like her family are actors in a play, and she feels powerless in the storm of what’s happening.

阿蘭達蒂·羅伊的《微物之神》，帶來了另一種方式接近歡樂的解脫。敘事風格的畫採用孩子的視角，給悲劇故事注入辛辣的幽默，當成年人把在種族、階級和家庭動態方面積累了幾十年的緊張關係，灌輸到他們對孩子行為的期望中，你不能忍住輕笑。當你在意識到她期望把完美的禮貌表現放上去，而7歲的瑞秋像一根香腸一樣鑽到機場髒兮兮的窗簾後面，卻不知道如何解開。與此同時，你也知道她的不作為只會增加緊張的氣氛。後來，她認為，這齣戲演砸了。就像雨季里的酸黃瓜。這句笑點強調了現實情況：這次聚會很勉強，也很正式，瑞秋覺得她的家人就像戲劇里的演員，而她就像在風暴中感到無能為力。

To make the most of comic relief, think not only about what moment in your story would most benefit from a splash of contrasting emotion, but also: what message you』d like to convey that you can’t say directly? Which of your readers』 assumptions would you like to call into question?

為了最大限度地發揮喜劇效果，不僅要考慮你的故事中哪一個時刻最能從強烈的對比情緒中獲益，還要考慮：你想傳達哪些不能直說的信息？你想質疑讀者的哪些假設？