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我为什么写作Lesson12:Why IWrite从很小的时候,大概
五、六岁,我知道长大以后将成为一个作家From avery earlyage,perhaps theage offive orsix,I knewthat whenI grewup Ishouldbe awriter.从15到24岁的这段时间里,我试图打消这个念头,可总觉得这样做是在戕害我的天性,认为我迟早会坐下来伏案著书Betweenthe agesof aboutseventeenand twenty-four I tried toadandon thisidea,butI didso with the consciousnessthat I was outragingmy truenature andthat soonerorlater Ishould haveto settledown andwrite books.三个孩子中,我是老二老大和老三与我相隔五岁8岁以前,我很少见到我爸爸由于这个以及其他一些缘故,我的性格有些孤僻我的举止言谈逐渐变得很不讨人喜欢,这使我在上学期间几乎没有什么朋友I was the middlechild ofthree,but therewas agap offive yearson eitherside,and Ibarelysaw myfather beforeI waseight-For this and otherreasons I was somewhatlonely,and Isoon developeddisagreeable mannerismswhich mademe unpopularthroughoutmy schooldays.我像一般孤僻的孩子一样,喜欢凭空编造各种故事,和想像的人谈话我觉得,从一开始,我的文学志向就与一种孤独寂寞、被人冷落的感觉联系在一起我知道我有驾驭语言的才能和直面令人不快的现实的能力这一切似乎造就了一个私人的天地,在此天地中我能挽回我在日常生活中的不得意然而,写作必须同时又是一种美感经验否则,我就无法完成著书的工作,甚至连一篇长篇的报刊文章都写不成But Icouldnot dothe workofwriting abook,or evenalong magazinearticle,if itwerenot alsoan aestheticexperience.任何一位有心细读我的作品的读者都会发现,即使作品是直截了当的宣传鼓励,也包含着许多职业政客视为节外生枝的点缀Anyone whocares toexamine my work willsee thateven whenit isdownrightpropaganda itcontains muchthat afull-time politicianwould considerirrelevant.我不能,也不愿意完全放弃我在童年时养成的世界观I amnot able,and I do notwant,completely toabandon the world-view that Iacquired in childhood.只要我还活着,我仍会继续讲究文笔风格,热爱大地的山川胜景,对琐细的物品和无用的传闻感到欣悦So longas Iremain aliveand wellI shallcontinue tofeel stronglyabout prosestyle,tolove thesurface of the earth,and totake apleasure in solid objectsand scrapsofuseless information.要抑制我这方面的本能是无济于事的我的任务是把个人根深蒂固的好恶与时代强加于我们大家的政治活动协调起来It isno usetrying tosuppress thatside of myself.The jobis toreconcile myingrainedlikes anddislikes withthe essentiallypublic,non-individual activitiesthat this ageforces onall ofus.这并不容易这会产生构思及语言的问题而真实性也以新的方式出现了疑问It is not easy.It raisesproblemsof constructionandof language,and itraises in anewway theproblem oftruthfulness...这个问题以各种各样的形态出现In oneform oranother thisproblem comesup again.语言则是个更微妙的问题,得花费很大的工夫讨论The problemof languageis subtlerand wouldtake toolong todiscuss.这里我只能说,近几年来,我竭力减少生动形象的描写,尽量写得更谨严简练I willonly saythat oflate yearsI havetried to write lesspicturesquely andmoreexactly.我发现一位作家一旦使某种文笔风格臻于完善,他也就已经超越了这种风格In anycase Ifind thatby thetime youhave perfectedany styleof writing,you havealwaysoutgrown it.《动物庄园》一书便是我在有意识有计划地把政治目的和艺术追求结合为一体的尝试Animal Farmwas the first bookin which Itried,with fullconsciousness of what I wasdoing,to fusepolitical purposeand artisticpurpose intoone whole.我已经7年没写小说了,但我希望不久能写一部I havenot writtena novelfor sevenyears,but Ihope to write anotherfairly soon.这部小说注定会成败笔,每次完成的作品都觉得处处是败笔,但我清楚地知道我要写什么样的书It isbound to be afailure,every book isafailure,but Ido knowwith someclarity whatkind of bookI want to write.写作是一场可怕的劳心伤神的斗争,犹如一场恶病长时间发作...Writing a bookisa horrible,exhausting struggle,like along boutof somepainfulillness.要不是被一种既不可抗拒又不可理喻的鬼怪驱使,没人愿意从事写作One wouldnever undertakesuch athing ifone werenot drivenon bysome demonwhomone canneither resistnor understand.这种魔怪不外乎是婴儿嚎啕以引起人注意的本能For allone knowsthat demonis simplythe sameinstinct thatmakes ababy squallforattention.但话又说回来,作家若不能努力隐去自己的个性,他便写不出什么值得一读的东西And yetit isalso truethat onecan writenothing readableunless oneconstantlystruggles toefface onesown personality.好文章是一块透亮的窗玻璃Good proseis likea windowpane.我不能肯定地说我的哪一种动机最强,但我知道哪一个目标我必须遵循I cannot say withcertainty whichofmymotives arethe strongest,but Iknow whichof them deserveto befollowed.回顾我的创作,我发现,什么时候缺乏政治目的,什么时候我就会写出亳无生气的书,就会坠入华而不实的篇章,写出毫无意义的句子,卖弄矫饰的形容词和堆砌一大堆空话废话And lookingback through mywork,I seethat itis invariablywhere Ilacked apoliticalpurpose thatI wrotelifeless booksand wasbetrayed intopurple passages,sentenceswithout meaning,decorative adjectivesand humbuggenerallyI had the lonelychilds habitof makingup storiesand holdingconversations withimaginarypersons,and I think fromthe verystart myliterary ambitionswere mixedupwiththefeeling ofbeing isolatedand undervalued.我知道我有驾驭语言的才能和直面令人不快的现实的能力这一切似乎造就了一个私人的天地,在此天地中我能挽回我在日常生活中的不得意Iknew thatIhad afacility withwords and a poweroffacing unpleasantfacts,and Ifeltthat thiscreated asortof privateworld in which I could getmy ownback formy failure还是一个小孩子的时候,我就总爱把自己想像成惊险传奇中的主人公,例如罗宾汉但不久,我的故事不再是粗糙简单的自我欣赏了它开始趋向描写我的行动和我所见所闻的人和事..As avery smallchild Iused toimagine thatIwas,say,Robin Hood,and picturemyselfasthehero ofthrilling adventures,but quitesoon mystory ceasedto benarcissisticin acrude wayand becamemore andmore amere descriptionofwhatIwas doingand thethings Isaw.一连几分钟,我脑子里常会有类似这样的描述“他推开门,走进屋,一缕黄昏的阳光,透过薄纱窗帘,斜照在桌上桌上有一个火柴盒,半开着,在墨水瓶旁边,他右手插在兜里,朝窗户走去街心处一只龟甲猫正在追逐着一片败叶”等等,等等For minutesat atime thiskind ofthing wouldbe runningthroughmyhead:Hepushed thedoor openand enteredthe room.A yellowbeam ofsunlight,filteringthrough themuslin curtains,slanted onto thetable,where amatchbox,half open,laybeside theinkpot.With hisright hand in hispocket hemoved acrossto thewindow.Down in the streeta tortoiseshellcat waschasing adead leaf/etc.,etc.我在差不多25岁真正从事文学创作之前,一直保持着这种描述习惯虽然我必须搜寻,而且也的确在寻觅恰如其分的字眼可这种描述似乎是不由自主的,是迫于一种外界的压力This habitcontinued tillIwas about twenty-five,right throughmy non-literary years.Although I had tosearch,and didsearch,for theright words,I seemedto bemakingthis descriptiveeffort almostagainst mywill,under akindofcompulsion fromoutside.我在不同时期崇仰风格各异的作家我想,从这些“故事”一定能看出这些作家的文笔风格的痕迹但是我记得,这些描述又总是一样地细致入微,纤亳毕现The storymust,I suppose,have reflectedthe stylesofthevarious writersI admiredatdifferent ages,but sofar as I rememberit alwayshadthesame meticulousdescriptivequality.16岁那年,我突然发现词语本身即词的音响和词的连缀就能给人以愉悦《失乐园》中有这样一段诗行他负载着困难和辛劳挺进着负着困难辛劳的他——When Iwasaboutsixteen Isuddenly discoveredthe joyof merewords,i,e.thesounds andassociations ofwords.The linesfrom ParadiseLost一So heewith difficultyand labourhardMoved on:with difficultyand labourhee,“现在看来这并没有什么了不得,可当时却使我心灵震颤而用hee的拼写代替he,更增加了愉悦which do not nowseem to me sovery wonderful,sent shiversdown mybackbone;andthe spellinghee forhe wasan addedpleasure.至于写景物的必要,我那时已深有领悟如果说当时我有志著书的话,我会写什么样的书是显而易见的As for the needto describethings,I knewall aboutit already.So itis clearwhat kindof books I wanted to write,insofar asIcouldbe saidto wantto writebooks atthattime.我想写大部头的自然主义小说,以悲剧结局,充满细致的描写和惊人的比喻,而且不乏文才斐然的段落,字词的使用部分要求其音响效果I wanted towriteenormous naturalisticnovels withunhappy endings,full ofdetaileddescriptions andarresting similes,and alsofull ofpurple passagesin whichwordswere usedpartly for the sakeof theirsound.事实上,我的第一部小说,《缅甸岁月》就属于这一类书,那是我早已构思但30岁时才写成的作品And infact myfirst completednovel,Burmese Days,whichIwrote whenIwasthirtybut projectedmuch earlier,is ratherthat kindofbook.我介绍这些背景情况是因为我认为要判定一个作家的写作动机,就得对其早年的经历有所了解I giveall thisbackground informationbecause Idonotthink onecan assessa writersmotiveswithout knowingsomething ofhis earlydevelopment.作家的题材总是由他所处的时代决定的,至少在我们这个动荡不安的时代是如此但他在提笔著文之前,总会养成i种在后来的创作中永远不能彻底磨灭的情感倾向His subjectmatter willbe determinedby theage helives in—at leastthis istrue intumultuous,revolutionary ageslike our own—but beforehe everbegins towrite hewillhave acquiredan emotionalattitude fromwhich he will nevercompletely escape.亳无疑问,作家有责任控制自己的禀性,使之不至于沉溺于那种幼稚的阶段,或陷于违反常理的心境中但如果他从早年的熏染和志趣中脱胎换骨,他就会虐杀自己的写作热情It ishis job,no doubt,to disciplinehis temperamentand avoidgetting stuckat someimmaturestage,or insome perversemood:but ifhe escapesfromhis earlyinfluencesaltogether,hewillhave killedhis impulsetowrite.除去以写作为谋生之计不谈,我认为写作有四种动机,至少小说和散文写作是如此Putting asidethe needto earna living,Ithinkthere arefour greatmotives forwriting,at anyrate forwriting prose.这四种动机或多或少地存在于每个作家身上,在某一个作家身上,它们会因时代的不同和生活环境的不同而变化它们是They existin differentdegrees inevery writer;andin any onewriter theproportionswill varyfrom time to time,according tothe atmosphereinwhichhe isliving.Theyare:
一、纯粹的自我主义想显示自己的聪明;想成为人们的议论中心;想身后留名;想报复那些小时候压制、指责过自己的成年人等等不承认这是动机,是•种强烈的动机,完全是自欺欺人1Sheer egoism.Desire toseem clever,to betalked about,to beremembered afterdeath,to getyour ownback ongrown-ups whosnubbed youinchildhood,etc.,etc.Itis humbugto pretendthatthisisnota motive,andastrong one...
二、对美的狂热能感觉身外世界的美,或者词语及其妙语连珠的美对一个读音作用于另一个读音的音响效果,对充实缜密的行文或一篇小说的结构,感到乐趣无穷,赏心悦目有心与人们分享一种认为有价值、不应忽略的经历2Aesthetic enthusiasm.Perception ofbeauty in the externalworld,or,on theotherhand,in wordsand theirright arrangement.Pleasure inthe impactof onesound onanother;inthefirmness ofgood proseortherhythm ofa goodstory.Desire tosharean experiencewhich onefeels isvaluable andought nottobemissed...
三、历史感有志按事物的原貌来观察理解事物有心寻找确凿的事实,收集储存以飨后人3Historical impulse.Desire tosee things,as theyare,to findout truefacts andstorethem upfortheuse ofposterity.
四、政治上的目的这里指的是最广泛意义的政治有志推动世界向某个方向前进;改造人们的观念,劝勉人们追求某种理想社会就像美感因素一样,没有一本书能真正消除政治倾向那种认为艺术与政治不相干的论点本身就是一种政治态度4Political purpose—using theword politicalinthewidest possiblesense.Desireto pushtheworldinacertain direction,to aterother peoplesidea ofthe kindofsociety thatthey shouldstrive after.Once again,no bookis genuinelyfree frompolitical bias.The opinionthat artshould havenothing todo withpolitics isitself apoliticalattitude.可以看出,这些不同的动机会互相抵触,会因人因时发生变化It canbe seenhow thesevarious impulsesmust waragainst oneanother,and howtheymust fluctuatefrom personto personand fromtimetotime.由于我的天性——“天性”这里指刚成年时的状态,在我身上前三种动机远远超过第四种By nature—taking yournature tobe thestate youhave attainedwhen youare firstadult——I ama personin whomthe firstthree motiveswould outweighthe fourth.在和平年代,我或许会写些词藻华美或专写事物写景的书,几乎意识不到我政治上的取舍In apeaceful age!might havewritten ornateor merelydescriptive books,and mighthaveremained almostunaware ofmy politicalloyalties.可结果我却不得不成了一个写小册子的作家As itis I have beenforced intobecoming asort ofpamphleteer.最初,我在一个很不合适的职业中度过了5年,那是在缅甸的印度帝国警察署随后,我经历了贫困,体会到穷困窘迫是何滋味这使我对权势的本能的嫉妒变得更强烈,我开始意识到劳动阶级的存在,缅甸的职业使我对帝国主义的本质有所了解,但这一切并不足以赋予我明确的政治倾向First Ispent fiveyears inan unsuitableprofession theIndian ImperialPolice,inBurma,and thenI underwentpoverty and the senseof failure.This increasedmynatural hatredof authorityand mademe forthefirst timefully awareoftheexistenceof theworking classes,andthejob inBurma hadgiven mesomeunderstanding ofthe natureof imperialism;but theseexperiences werenot enoughtogive mean accuratepolitical orientation.接着希特勒出现了,西班牙战争爆发了,各种事件频频发生Then cameHitler;the SpanishCivil War;etc.至U1935年底,我仍没有能决定何去何从西班牙内战以及1936至1937年之间的其他事件扭转了这种状况,从此我认准了我的立场Bythe endof1935Ihadstill failedto reacha firmdecision.The Spanishwar andotherevents in1936-1937turned thescale andthereafter Iknow whereI stood.1936年以来,我的严肃作品中的每一行都是为间接或直接地反对极权主义,拥护我所理解的民主社会主义而写的Every lineof seriouswork thatIhavewritten since1936has beenwritten,directly orindirectly,against totalitarianismand fordemocratic socialism,asIunderstand it.认为在我们这样的年代,作家可以回避这种题材,在我看来是无稽之谈It seemstomenonsense,inaperiod likeourown,to thinkthat onecan avoidwritingof suchsubjects.每个人都以这样那样的方式写这个题材Everyone writesof themin oneguise oranother.这其实就是站在哪一边,取什么态度的问题It issimply aquestion ofwhich sideone takesand whatapproach onefollows.一个人越是意识到自己的政治态度,他越是有可能按政治行事而又不牺牲自己在美感和心智方面的追求And the more oneis consciousof onespoliticalbias,themorechance onehas ofactingpolitically withoutsacrificing onesaesthetic andintellectual integrity.在过去的十年中,我最大的愿望是把政治色彩的写作变成艺术创造What Ihave mostwantedtodo throughoutthe pastten yearsis tomake politicalwritinginto anart.我的出发点总是一种党派意识,一种对非正义的敏感My startingpoint isalways afeeling ofpartisanship,a senseof injustice.我坐下来写书时,不会自语道“现在我要创造一个艺术作品了”When Isit downtowriteabookIdonotsayto myself,I amgoing toproduce aworkof art.写作是为了揭发某种谎言,为了让人们重视某些事实我的初衷总是向读者披露心声,赢得听众I writeit becausethere issome liethatIwanttoexpose,some factto whichIwanttodraw attention,and myinitial concernis toget ahearing.。