讲一个长故事,和普通对话是不同的技能。你需要同时处理好几个时间层次,不让听者跟丢,还要把故事讲到点子上。
先搭好框架
讲故事流利的人,会先给听者定好方位,然后才进入事件本身。
This was back when I was still working in Munich, so about five years ago.
好用的开场句式有:This was when...、A while back...、I don't know if I've told you this, but...
用过去完成时讲"更早发生的事"
主线用一般过去时;所有更早发生的事,用过去完成时。
- By the time I arrived, they had already left.
- I realised I had forgotten my passport.
没有这个时态,事件顺序就会乱掉:I realised I forgot my passport 无法表明哪件事发生在前。
用过去进行时铺垫背景
- I was walking to the office when my phone rang.
背景动作用进行时;打断它的事件用一般时。这一对时态搭配,是口头叙述里最主要的工作方式。
用不止一个"then"来连接事件
弱的叙述是一串and then... and then...。流利的叙述会用更丰富的方式衔接:
- At first, ... but after a while, ...
- Meanwhile, ...
- Just as I was leaving, ...
- It turned out that ...
- Eventually, ...
- The next thing I knew, ...
如何在故事里引述别人的话
间接引语准确,但缺乏生气。在口头叙述里,通常会直接切换成直接引语,英语里有一整套专门用于口语的引导语:
- So she says, "You can't park there."(用现在时——见下文)
- And I'm like, "Since when?"(非常常用,口语化)
- He goes, "It's been a bus lane for months."(口语化,带叙述色彩)
- She was going on about the parking again.(带态度的转述)
Said 和 told 留给书面语用;其余这些留给口语用,不要在同一段叙述里混用不同语域。
叙述中用现在时
母语者经常会在故事讲到一半时切换到现在时,以增加画面感:
So I walk in, and there he is, sitting at my desk.
这是一种有意为之的文体手法,不是语法错误——但在一段叙述里要用得前后一致,不要不经意地滑进去又滑出来。
在自己的故事里加入反应
区分流利的讲述者和仅仅语法正确的讲述者的,是评价性的插话——提示听者该如何看待每件事。
- …which was odd, because the office was supposed to be empty.
- Believe it or not, nobody had noticed.
- To be fair, I hadn't exactly explained myself.
- Bear in mind I'd never done this before.
没有这些插话,故事就只是一堆事实的罗列。有了它们,故事就有了视角。
如何吸引听众的注意力
- You'll never guess what happened next.
- And this is the strange part — ...
- Long story short, ...(想要跳过细节直接讲重点时)
听者被期待要有所回应,给这种回应留出空间,也是这项技能的一部分:Really? · What did you do? · You're joking. 讲到转折点之后,最好停顿一下,而不是一口气讲完。
如何从题外话拉回主线
长故事很容易跑题。英语里有现成的说法可以把话题拉回来:
- Anyway, where was I?
- Sorry, I'm going off on a tangent.
- Anyway — so we're standing outside at midnight…
这里真正的主力词是 anyway:一个词就能结束题外话,重新打开主线。
如何收尾
故事需要一个信号,告诉听者它已经讲完了。
- Anyway, that's why I never fly with them now.
- In the end, it worked out fine.
- And that was that.
没有结束的信号,听者就不知道该不该做出反应了。
时态撑起了整个结构——过去完成时用来交代前情,过去进行时用来铺陈场景,一般过去时用来叙述事件,现在时用来呈现最生动的瞬间。听者正是靠着这些切换,才能不知不觉地跟上一个复杂的故事;而一旦缺了这些切换,就会迷失方向。
同样的结构,缩小版
A: Did I tell you about the flat viewing? This was just after we'd moved back.
B: No — go on.
A: So we're standing outside at eight in the morning, and the agent goes, "Sorry, it went yesterday." Which was odd, because he'd emailed me the night before.
B: You're joking.
A: Anyway, that's why we ended up in Leyton. In the end it worked out fine.
框架、用过去完成时交代的前情、用现在时呈现的场景、口语化的引语、评价性插话、给听者反应留出的空间,以及结束的信号——短短五句话里包含了整套结构。
自测
下面的测验考查时态的呼应,以及叙述结构的标记词。