Genius Sacrificed for Failure

犧牲英才得庸才

Wliilam N. Brown

威廉·N.布朗

During my youth in America’s Appalachian mountains, I learned that farmers preferred sons over daughters，largely because boys were better at heavy farm labor (though what boys anywhere could best the tireless Hui’an girls in the fields of Fujian!)

我在美國的阿巴拉契亞山區(qū)度過青少年時(shí)代時(shí)，發(fā)現(xiàn)那里的農(nóng)民重男輕女，多半因?yàn)槟凶痈軇偃沃伢w力農(nóng)活。當(dāng)然，如果要同福建省惠安縣農(nóng)田里的婦女相比，她們那份不歇不竭的能耐是任何地方的男子都自嘆弗如的！

With only 3% of Americans in agriculture today，brain has supplanted brawn, yet cultural preferences, like bad habits，are easier to make than break. But history warns repeatedly of the tragic cost of dismissing too casually the gifts of the so-called weaker sex.

今天在美國，腦力已經(jīng)取代了體力，只有3%的美國人在從事農(nóng)業(yè)。但文化上的習(xí)俗正如陋規(guī)，形成容易沖破難。面對(duì)所謂“陰柔”性別，歷史再三告誡我們，若對(duì)她們的稟賦過于輕率地否定，其代價(jià)將會(huì)何等慘重！

About 150 years ago，a village church vicar in Yorkshire, England，had three lovely，intelligent daughters but his hopes hinged entirely on the sole male heir, Branwell, a youth with remarkable talent in both art and literature.

約150年前在英國的約克郡有一個(gè)鄉(xiāng)村教區(qū)的牧師，他有三個(gè)聰慧可愛的女兒，但是他的希望卻獨(dú)獨(dú)釘在唯一的繼承者兒子布朗維爾身上。這個(gè)年輕人在藝術(shù)和文學(xué)上都有出眾的天賦。

Branweir s father and sister hoarded their pennies to pack him off to London' s Royal Academy of Arts, but if art was his calling, he dialed a wrong number. Within weeks he hightailed it home, a penniless failure.

父親和姐妹都省吃儉用，幫兄弟打點(diǎn)完備，送他上了倫敦皇家藝術(shù)學(xué)院。可是盡管他要以藝術(shù)為業(yè)，但撥錯(cuò)了號(hào)。不到幾個(gè)禮拜，就不名一文，棄甲歸家。

Hopes still high, the family landed Branwell a job as a private tutor, hoping this would free him to develop his literary skills and achieve the success and fame that he deserved. Failure again.

然而家人并不就此罷休，他們又想方設(shè)法幫布朗維爾撈到一份私人教師的活兒，希望這份差事能夠使他自由發(fā)展文學(xué)才能，走上應(yīng)得的功成名就的大道：這次又失敗了。

For years the selfless sisters squelched their own goals， farming themselves out as teachers and governesses in support of their increasingly indebted brother, convinced the world must eventually recognize his genius. As failures multiplied, Branwell turned to alcohol，then opium，and eventually died as he had lived: a failure. So died hope in the one male8 _ but what of the three anonymous sisters?

幾年來，無私的姐妹們壓抑著她們自己的目標(biāo)和志向，受雇于人做管家或家庭教師以支持她們那日益?zhèn)_(tái)高筑的兄弟，她們深信世界總有一天會(huì)認(rèn)識(shí)到他的天才。隨著接踵而至的失敗，布蘭維爾開始酗酒，后來又吸上鴉片，最后死時(shí)與生前一樣，一無所成，于是寄托在這唯一男性身上的指望也隨之死去。但是，那三位默默無聞的姐妹們又如何了呢？

During Branwell ’ s last years，the girls published a book of poetry at their own expense (under a pseudonym，for fear of reviewer’ s bias against females). Even Branwell might have snickered: they sold only 2 copies.

在布蘭維爾生前最后幾年，姑娘們自己出資出版了一本詩集（用的是假名，以防編輯們對(duì)女性的成見）。只賣出兩本，就連布蘭維爾也哂笑她們。

Undaunted, they continued in their spare time, late at night by candlelight, to pour out their pent-up emotion，writing of 9 what they knew best, of women in conflict with their natural desires and social condition — in reality, less fiction than autobiography! And 19th century literature was transformed by Anne ’ s Agnes Grey, Emily， s Wuthering Heights, and Charlotte ’ s Jane Eyre.

然而她們并不氣餒。姐妹們繼續(xù)利用她們的空余時(shí)間，夜深人靜時(shí)秉燭而書，傾吐她們幽禁的情懷，抒寫她們最熟悉的一切。她們描寫了那種女性自發(fā)的意愿與社會(huì)環(huán)境之間的沖突。實(shí)際上她們所寫的與其說是小說不如說是自傳！于是，19世紀(jì)文學(xué)就因安妮的《安格尼斯·格雷》、艾米麗的《呼嘯山莊》和夏洛特的《簡(jiǎn)·愛》而改觀了。

But years of sacrifice for Banwell had taken their toll. Emily took ill at her brother’s funeral and died within 3 months, aged 29; Anne died 5 months later, aged 30; Charlotte lived only to age 39. If only they had been nurtured instead of sacrificed.

然而，三姐妹為了布蘭維爾的多年?duì)奚冻隽顺林氐拇鷥r(jià)。艾米麗在她兄弟葬禮的那一天便得了病，三個(gè)月后便離世了，年方29歲；五個(gè)月后安妮也以30芳齡長(zhǎng)逝；夏洛特則只活到39歲。假若她們能早日得到培養(yǎng)而不做犧牲，那該多好啊！

No one remembers Branwell ’ s name， much less his art or literature，but Bronte sister' s tragically shot lives teach us even more of life than of literature. Their sacrificed genius cries out to us that in modem society we must value children not by their physical strength or sexual gender, as we would any mere beast of burden, but by their integrity, strength, commitment, courage—spiritual qualities abundant in both boys and girls. China，a nation blessed by more boys and girls than any nation，ignores at her own peril 10 the lesson of the Bronte tragedy.

無人再記得布蘭維爾的名字，更不用說他的藝術(shù)或文學(xué)了。然而，從勃朗特三姐妹悲劇性的夭折中，我們學(xué)到的不僅是文學(xué)，更重要的是生命之諦，她們犧牲了的天分向我們大聲疾呼：現(xiàn)在社會(huì)再不能以體力或性別，把子女當(dāng)牛馬來評(píng)估了。它必須就忠誠、能力、責(zé)任心、勇敢等等男女孩子都富有的精神品質(zhì)來對(duì)他們?cè)u(píng)價(jià)。中國，這個(gè)有幸擁有世界上最多的男孩女孩的國家應(yīng)從勃朗特悲劇中獲得認(rèn)識(shí)，勿蹈覆轍。

Patrick Bronte fathered Branwell，but more importantly, he fathered Anne, Emily and Charlotte. Were he alive today he would surely urge us to put away our passe 11 prejudices and avoid his own tragic and irrevocable error of putting all of his eggs in one male basket!

帕特里克·勃朗特養(yǎng)育了布蘭維爾，但更重要的，他是安妮、艾米麗和夏洛特的父親。倘若此人今日仍活著的話，他一定會(huì)迫切敦促我們放下我們的古舊偏見，避免他自己的悲劇和抱憾終身的過失—將一切都押在一個(gè)男性后裔身上。

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