The Influence of Literature
文学的感染力
I will tell you what literature is! No—I only wish I could. But I can’t. No one can. Gleams can be thrown on the secret, inklings given, but no more. I will try to give you an inkling. And, to do so, I will take you back into your own history, or forward into it. That evening when you went for a walk with your faithful friend, the friend from whom you hid nothing—or almost nothing ...! You were, in truth, somewhat inclined to hide from him the particular matter which monopolized your mind that evening, but somehow you contrived to get on to it, drawn by an overpowering fascination. And as your faithful friend was sympathetic and discreet, and flattered you by a respectful curiosity, you proceeded further and further into the said matter, growing more and more confidential, until at last you cried out, in a terrific whisper: “My boy, she is simply miraculous!” At that moment you were in the domain of literature.
我要跟你讲讲文学是什么！不……我只是但愿能做到，可实际上我做不到。对于文学的奥秘，只能略加阐释，做点提示而已。我就试图给诸位做点提示吧。为此，我要引导你回顾一下你的历史，或者做一番遐想。比如说，哪天夜晚你和你的挚友一道散步，你对他可是无话不谈，或者说几乎无话不谈呀…！当时你心头萦绕着一桩不同寻常的事，真有点想对他保守秘密。可你又像中了邪似的，不知怎么就扯出来了。你的朋友挺会体贴人，也很谨慎，那副急于了解内情、洗耳恭听的样子，让你感到不胜高兴，于是你越说越来劲儿，越说越推心置腹，最后你激动地低声嚷道： “好家伙，她真是神奇呀！”这时候，你就进入了文学的领地。
Let me explain. Of course, in the ordinary acceptation of the word, she was not miraculous. Your faithful friend had never noticed that she was miraculous, nor had about forty thousand other fairly keen observers. She was just a girl. Troy (注：特洛伊城)had not been burnt for her. A girl cannot be called a miracle. If a girl is to be called a miracle, then you might call pretty nearly anything a miracle.... That is just it: you might. You can. You ought. Amid all the miracles of the universe you had just wakened up to one. You were full of your discovery. You were under a divine impulsion to impart that discovery. You had a strong sense of the marvelous beauty of something, and you had to share it. You were in a passion about something, and you had to vent yourself on somebody. You were drawn towards the whole of the rest of the human race. Mark the effect of your mood and utterance on your faithful friend. He knew that she was not a miracle. But you, by the force and sincerity of your own vision of her, and by the fervor of your desire to make him participate in your vision, did for quite a long time cause him to feel that he had been blind to the miracle of that girl.
请让我解释一下。当然，按照人们对这个字眼的通常理解来说，她并不神奇。她只不过是一位姑娘。如果一位姑娘可以称为神奇的话，那你几乎可以把所有的东西都称为神奇了…事情正是这样：你可以，你能够，你应该。在宇宙间的所有奇迹中，你仅仅醒悟到了其中的一个。你满脑子里都是这一新奇发现，于是便产生一种神圣的冲动，非把这个发现透露出来不可。你真想向全人类敞开心扉。请注意你的心情和言语在你的挚友身上产生了什么效果。他知道那姑娘并不神奇。可是你呀，凭着你对她那热烈真挚的印象，以及要让你的朋友产生同样看法的愿望，经过一段时间的努力，竟使他觉得自己一直没有发现那姑娘的神奇。
You were producing literature. You were alive. Your eyes were unlidded, your ears were unstopped, to some part of the beauty and the strangeness of the world; and a strong instinct within you forced you to tell someone. It was not enough for you that you saw and heard. Others had to see and hear. Others had to be wakened up. And they were! It is quite possible—I am not quite sure—that your faithful friend the very next day, or the next month, looked at some other girl, and suddenly saw that she, too, was miraculous! The influence of literature!
这时候你就在创造文学作品。你的感觉灵敏了，你的眼睛睁开来，耳朵开启了，注意到世界上某个美丽的、新奇的事物，内心有一种强烈的冲动，要找个人倾诉一番。对于你来说，自己要看到听到还不够，非让别人看到听到不可。你定要唤醒别人，而别人果真被唤醒了：很有可能——虽然我不敢百分之百地肯定——到了第二天，或是下个月，你的挚友瞧着另一位姑娘，突然发现她也很神奇！这就是文学的感染力！
