在轮下 (1906)

《在轮下》（德语：Unterm Rad）是德国作家赫尔曼·黑塞于1906年所写的一部长篇小说。小说描写了主人公吉本拉德·汉斯自幼聪明好学、天赋过人，终于考入神学院后，更加发奋学习，但因勤奋过度，积劳成疾。神学院里的另一个具有诗人气质的男孩赫尔曼生性倔强，为学校所不容。汉斯认为赫尔曼才是自己的知己，两人逐渐成为了朋友。但学校认为汉斯的成绩下降是赫尔曼所为，这使汉斯更加难过，他最终因神经衰弱而退学。回到家乡后，只好当钳工为生，但被同乡的人所嘲笑。在一次远足中，汉斯不堪巨大的精神压力而跳河自杀。小说揭露了德国旧教育制度的弊端，是一部带有悲观主义色彩的小说。

中文译本

《在轮下》张佑中译。上海译文出版社。2007年。

《在轮下》吴亦凡译。上海三联书店。2013年。

《轮下》潘子立译。人民文学出版社。1983年。

Beneath the Wheel (Unterm Rad) is a 1906 novel written by Hermann Hesse. The novel is a severe criticism of academic education that ignores students' personal development; in that respect, it is typical of Hesse's work. A Peter Owen Publishers translation was published in 1957 as The Prodigy. Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 1968 published as Beneath the Wheel an English translation by Michael Roloff.

There are autobiographical elements in the story (Hesse attended and was expelled from the seminary described in the novel).

Plot summary

Beneath the Wheel is the story of Hans Giebenrath, a talented boy sent to a seminary in Maulbronn. His education is focused solely on increasing his knowledge, neglecting personal development. His close friendship with Hermann Heilner, a more liberal fellow student, is a source of comfort for Hans. Heilner is expelled from the seminary, and Giebenrath is sent home after his academic performance declines as symptoms of mental illness develop.

Back home, he finds coping with his situation difficult, having lost most of his childhood to scholastic study, and having never formed lasting personal relationships with anyone in his village. He is apprenticed to a mechanic, and seems to find satisfaction in the work: it is visceral and concrete, as opposed to the intellectual abstraction of scholarly pursuit. Despite some personal fulfillment in this existence, Hans never fully adjusts to his new situation, and on a pub crawl in a neighboring village he and some colleagues get drunk. Hans leaves the group to walk home early, and is later found drowned in a river.