2024年5月10日发(作者：腾讯邮箱企业邮箱)

Genius and the Craftsman 天才与工匠 每日英语 2008-03-19

13:57:24 阅读216 评论0 字号：大中小 订阅 .

Many people admire writers for their exquisite stories, but few of them know with

what painstaking efforts writers work to bring a story into the world. The following

essay discusses the process of conceiving a story and developing it into a perfect

work of art.

许多人羡慕作家们的精彩小说，但却很少有人知道作家们是如何辛勤笔耕才使一篇小说问世

的。以下的短文将讨论小说的酝酿过程，以及作家是如何将这小说雕琢成一件精致完美的艺

术品。

Once on the edge of a woods at twilight I came upon a small peach tree in flower.

I stayed there watching until the light was gone. I saw nothing of the tree's

origin, nothing of the might which had forced open a pit you could break your teeth

on, and nothing of the principle which held it separate from the oaks and the grasses.

All that appeared to me was a profound and eerie grace.

有一次，我在暮色中来到小树林边一棵鲜花盛开的小桃树前。我久久站在那里凝视着，直到

最后一道光线消逝。我看不到那树原先的模样，看不见曾穿透果核，能崩碎你的牙齿的力量，

也看不到那使它与橡树和绿草相区别的原则。显现在我面前的，是一种深邃而神秘的魅力。

So it is with the reader who comes upon an outstanding story: spellbound, he takes

it to his heart, no question asked.

当读者读到一部杰出的小说时，他也会这样如痴如狂，欲将小说字字句句刻骨铭心，不提出

任何问题。

But even the beginning writer knows there is more to a story's life than the body

of words which carries it into the world, and that it does not begin with writing,

but with conception in the dark of the mind.

但即使是个初学写作者也知道，除那将小说带到世上的文字之外，还有更多的构成小说生命

的因素，小说的生命并不始于写作，而始于内心深处的构思。

It is not necessary to understand the creative function in order to produce original

work. Centuries of art, philosophy and science have emerged from the minds of people

who may not even have suspected the inner process. It seems to me, however, that at

least a degree of understanding of the creative event increases our wisdom in dealing

with the emerging story by making us aware of two things.

要创作出有独创性的作品，并不要求懂得创造的功能。多少世纪以来的艺术、哲学及科学创

造都出自人们的头脑，而创造者也许从未想到去关注创造的内在过程。然而，在我看来，对

创造工作一定程度的了解 ，至少会使我们通过知道两个事实，增长我们处理正在出现的故事

的智慧。

First, genius is not the exclusive property of the master craftsman; it is the creative

function of the human mind. There is no mast

ery without it, and there is no person without it, however

undeveloped it may be. Mastery is genius afoot. It is genius cultivated, developed,

and exercised. Your genius works at the level of origins; its business is to create;

it is the creator of your story.

首先，天赋不是掌握了技艺的艺术家独有的特性，而是人脑的创造性功能。不仅所有对技艺

的掌握都含有天赋，而且每个人都具有天赋，无论他的天赋发展是何等不充分。对技艺的掌

握是天赋的显现，是 经过培养的，发展了的和受过训练的天赋。你的天赋在最原始的层面上

起作用。它的任务就是创造。它是你的故事的创造者。

Second, the body of words that carries your story into the world is the work of the

craftsman's labor, which is as conscious, as canny, and as practical as that of

the bricklayer. While genius is a natural part of our mental equipment, like

perception, memory, and imagination, craftsmanship is not. It must be learned. It

is learned by practice, and by practice it is mastered. If the stories that rise within

us are to emerge and flourish, each must be provided with a strong, handsome body

of words, and only sound craftsmanship can provide this.

第二，将你的小说带进世界的文字是艺术家的工作，它就和一个泥瓦匠的工作一样 ，有意识、

谨慎而实实在在。天赋正如理解力、记忆力和想象力一样是我们的精神禀赋中的天然部分，

而技艺却不是。它必须通过实践才能学到，并要通过实践才能掌握。如果要使在我们内心深

处浮现的故事跃然纸上，光彩照人，那么，每个故事都须有感染力极强的优雅文笔。只有健

全的技艺才能使我们做到这一点。

How is a story conceived? It is said that we write from the first twenty years of

our lives, perhaps from the first five; it may depend on the individual, as so much

does in writing. In any case, the lucid impressions of childhood and early youth,

more or less unconditioned, unexplained, unchecked, lie in the memory, live and

timeless. Enigma, wonder, fear, rapture, grandeur, and trivia in every degree and

combination, these early impressions throb and wait for what? Completion of some kind?

For recognition of their own peculiar truth? It would seem their wounds want lancing;

their secret knowledge wants telling; the discoveries would be shared, and woes