評論
打印
Helmholtz shook his head. "Not quite.
赫姆霍爾茲搖搖頭。“不完全是。
I'm thinking of a queer feeling I sometimes get, a feeling that I've got something important to say and the power to say it –only I don't know what it is, and I can't make any use of the power.
我想的是我有時候產生的一種奇怪感覺，一種我有重要的話要說，也有力量說的感覺——可是我卻不知道那是什么感覺，那力量也使不出來。
If there was some different way of writing … Or else something else to write about …" He was silent; then, "You see," he went on at last, "I'm pretty good at inventing phrases –you know, the sort of words that suddenly make you jump, almost as though you'd sat on a pin, they seem so new and exciting even though they're about something hypnop.dically obvious.
如果能夠用什么不同的話把它描述出來的話……或是用別的什么辦法寫出來的話……”說到這里他忽然打住了。“你看，”他終于又說，“我還是擅長說話的——我說的話能夠刺激得你猛然蹦了起來，幾乎像坐到了針尖上。我的話似乎那么新，那么尖，雖然都是些睡眠教育里的明顯道理。
But that doesn't seem enough. It's not enough for the phrases to be good; what you make with them ought to be good too."
可那似乎還不夠。光是詞句好還是不夠的；還得意思好才行。”
"But your things are good, Helmholtz."
“可是你說的東西都是好的，赫姆霍爾茲。”
"Oh, as far as they go." Helmholtz shrugged his shoulders. "But they go such a little way.
“哦，行得通的時候倒還好，”赫姆霍爾茲聳了聳肩，“可是我的話不大行得通。
They aren't important enough, somehow. I feel I could do something much more important.
在一定程度上我的話并不重要。我覺得我可以做的事要重要得多。
Yes, and more intense, more violent. But what?
是的，是些我更為迫切地、強烈地想做的事。可那是什么事？
What is there more important to say?
我是說：什么東西更重要？
And how can one be violent about the sort of things one's expected to write about?
別人要求你寫的東西怎么可能讓你迫切得起來？
Words can be like X-rays, if you use them properly–they'll go through anything.
話語能像X光，使用得當能穿透一切。
You read and you're pierced. That's one of the things I try to teach my students–how to write piercingly.
你一讀就被穿透了。那是我努力教給學生的東西之——怎樣寫作才能夠入木三分。
But what on earth's the good of being pierced by an article about a Community Sing, or the latest improvement in scent organs?
是叫一篇論《本分歌》或是寫香味樂器最新的改進的文章穿透又有什么意思！
Besides, can you make words really piercing–you know, like the very hardest X-rays–when you're writing about that sort of thing?
可而且，寫那些玩意，你的話真能夠入木三分嗎？
Can you say something about nothing?
能夠真像最強烈的X射線嗎？
That's what it finally boils down to. I try and I try …"
沒有意義的東西你能寫出意義來嗎？我的意思歸根到底就是這樣。我曾經一再努力，……”
"Hush!" said Bernard suddenly, and lifted a warning finger; they listened.
“小聲點！”伯納突然伸出一個指頭警告；兩人聽了聽。
"I believe there's somebody at the door," he whispered.
“我相信門口有人。”他低聲說。
Helmholtz got up, tiptoed across the room, and with a sharp quick movement flung the door wide open.
赫姆霍爾茲站了起來，踢起腳尖穿過房間，猛然甩開了大門。
There was, of course, nobody there.
當然沒有人。
"I'm sorry," said Bernard, feelling and looking uncomfortably foolish."I suppose I've got things on my nerves a bit. When people are suspicious with you, you start being suspicious with them."
“對不起，”伯納說，感到難堪，不自然，滿臉尷尬，“我大概是精神負擔過重。別人懷疑你，你也就會懷疑別人的。”
He passed his hand across his eyes, he sighed, his voice became plaintive.
他用手擦了擦眼睛，嘆了一口氣，聲音很傷感，他在為自己辯解。
He was justifying himself. "If you knew what I'd had to put up with recently," he said almost tearfully–and the uprush of his self-pity was like a fountain suddenly released. "If you only knew!"
“你要是知道我最近受到的壓力就好了。”他幾乎要流淚了，一種自傳之情有如泉水一樣洶涌而出。“你要是知道就好了！”
Helmholtz Watson listened with a certain sense of discomfort.
赫姆霍爾茲·華生帶著某種不安聽著。
"Poor little Bernard!" he said to himself. But at the same time he felt rather ashamed for his friend.
“可憐的小伯納！”他心想。同時也在為他的朋友感到慚愧。
He wished Bernard would show a little more pride.
他希望伯納能表現出更多的自尊。
