評(píng)論
打印
The story of what can happen to an American Negro writer in Europe simply illustrates, in some relief, what can happen to any American writer there.
一個(gè)美國(guó)黑人作家在歐洲所可能遇到的一切只是比較鮮明地顯示了任何一位美國(guó)作家在歐洲所可能遇到的情況。
It is not meant, of course, to imply that it happens to them all, for Europe can be very crippling too;
當(dāng)然這并不是說(shuō)所有的人都會(huì)遇上同樣的情況，因?yàn)闅W洲也很有可能阻礙人的發(fā)展。
and, anyway, a writer, when he has made his first breakthrough, has simply won a crucial skirmish in a dangerous, unending and unpredictable battle still,
不管怎么說(shuō)，當(dāng)一個(gè)作家完成自己的第一次突破時(shí)，他只不過(guò)是在一次險(xiǎn)象環(huán)生、曠日持久、勝負(fù)難料的戰(zhàn)役中打贏了一場(chǎng)有決定意義的小規(guī)模戰(zhàn)斗。
the breakthrough is important, and the point is that an American writer, in order to achieve it, very often has to leave this country.
雖則如此，第一次突破仍是很重要的，問(wèn)題是一個(gè)美國(guó)作家要實(shí)現(xiàn)這一次突破，往往就必得離開(kāi)自己的國(guó)家。
The American writer, in Europe, is released, first of all, from the necessity of apologizing for himself.
在歐洲，美國(guó)作家首先是不必為自己進(jìn)行辯護(hù)的。
It is not until he is released from the habit of flexing his muscles and proving that he is just a “regular guy” that he realizes how crippling this habit has been.
只有等到他擺脫了要靠屈伸肌肉亮出本領(lǐng)來(lái)證明自己是個(gè)"正常人"的習(xí)慣之后，他才會(huì)認(rèn)識(shí)到這一習(xí)慣是多么的有害。
It is not necessary for him, there, to pretend to be something he is not, for the artist does not encounter in Europe the same suspicion he encounters here.
在歐洲，他不必裝模作樣地掩飾自己的本來(lái)面目，因?yàn)樗囆g(shù)家在那里不會(huì)像在美國(guó)一樣遭到懷疑。
Whatever the Europeans may actually think of artists, they have killed enough of them off by now to know that they are as real-and as persistent-as rain, snow, taxes or businessmen.
不論歐洲人對(duì)待藝術(shù)家的實(shí)際態(tài)度如何，他們所毀掉的藝術(shù)家已經(jīng)夠多的了，而現(xiàn)在他們終于認(rèn)識(shí)到藝術(shù)家就像雨、雪、稅收和商人一樣是真實(shí)存在，并且永遠(yuǎn)會(huì)存在的。
