◎俞智敏
It seems almost Kafkaesque： Ten safety deposit boxes of never-published writings by Franz Kafka, their exact contents unknown, are trapped in courts and bureaucracy, much like one of the nightmarish visions created by the author himself.
這幾乎就是卡夫卡式的小說情節：十個裝有作家卡夫卡從未出版作品、但實際內容無人知曉的保管箱，被困在法庭與官僚制度裡動彈不得，就像卡夫卡本人所創造出的夢魘式景象一樣。
The papers, retrieved from bank vaults where they have sat untouched and unread for decades, could shed new light on one of literature’s darkest figures.
這些在銀行保險庫裡塵封數十年無人碰觸、也從未被人讀過的文稿現在被重新拿出來，很可能對最陰暗的文學人物之一提供一些新線索。
In the past week, the pages have been pulled from safety deposit boxes in Tel Aviv and Zurich, Switzerland, on the order of an Israeli court over the objections of two elderly women who claim to have inherited them from their mother.
在以色列一間法院命令下，這些文稿上週被人從特拉維夫及瑞士的蘇黎世銀行保管箱中取出，不顧兩名老婦人的反對，她們聲稱文稿是自母親手中繼承而來。
But the newly emerged writings won’t see the light of day until the Israeli court unravels the tangled question of the collection’s rightful owner.
但除非以色列法院解開文稿所有人誰屬的複雜問題，否則這批新出土的文稿恐將無緣得見天日。
The case boils down to the interpretation of the will of Max Brod, Kafka’s longtime friend and publisher. Kafka bequeathed his writings to Brod shortly before his own death from tuberculosis in 1924, instructing his friend to burn everything unread.
此案最終歸結到卡夫卡好友兼作品出版人、麥克斯．布洛德的遺囑詮釋問題。卡夫卡在1924年死於肺結核前不久，把這批稿件遺留給布洛德，並要求好友不要閱讀內容、直接把稿件燒毀。
Brod ignored Kafka’s wishes and published most of what was in his possession, including the novels "The Trial," "The Castle" and "Amerika." But Brod didn’t publish everything.
布洛德未理會卡夫卡的遺願，把手邊大部份文稿拿來出版，包括「審判」、「城堡」與「亞美利加」等小說。但布洛德並未出版全部文稿。
新聞辭典
Kafkaesque： 形容詞，指類似小說家卡夫卡作品風格的，如the Kafkaesque terror of the endless interrogations.（如卡夫卡作品中所描述那般恐怖的無止境審問），也可引申為指無意義的、令人迷惑的、恐怖怪誕的，如Kafkaesque bureaucracies（卡夫卡式的官僚制度）。
see the light of day：片語，指某事物開始為人所知、問世。
boil down to sth：原指熬濃、煮乾，引申為指壓縮、簡化或歸結，如The problem boils down to one thing - lack of money.（這個問題可以歸結到一件事，那就是缺錢。）
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