英譯現(xiàn)代散文●我寫小說的道路 ◎ 張恨水

How I Started My Career as a Novelist

◎　張恨水

◎　Zhang Henshui

我在十一二歲，看小說已經(jīng)成迷了，十四五歲我就拿起筆來，仿照七俠五義的套子，構(gòu)成一個十三歲的孩子，會玩大鐵錘。這小說叫什么名字，現(xiàn)在記不得了，可是這里面我還畫成了畫，畫一個小俠客，拿著兩柄大錘，舞成了旋風(fēng)舞。我為什么這樣愛作小說，還要畫俠客圖呢?因?yàn)槲业牡苊靡约靶【烁?，喜歡聽我說小俠客故事，有時我把圖攤開來，他們也哈哈大笑。至今我想起來，何以弄小說連圖都畫上了。說我求名嗎?除了家里三四個聽客，于外沒有人知道，當(dāng)然不是。說我求利嗎?大人真?zhèn)€知道了，那真會笑掉了大牙。當(dāng)然也不是。我就喜歡這樣玩意，喜歡，我就高興亂涂。什么我也不求。

I became engrossed in reading fiction when I was 12. At 15, I wrote a story patterned after Seven Swordsmen and Five Gallants. I did it like I was a small kid having the audacity to wield a heavy iron hammer. I have forgotten the title of the story, but, I remember, it was illustrated with my drawing of a hero dancing around like mad wielding a pair of giant maces. I enjoyed writing stories illustrated with my drawings of gallants because my younger brothers and sisters plus my young uncle all liked to listen to my storytelling. And they would be greatly amused when I sometimes showed them the illustrations. Did I seek fame? Of course not, for I had no other listeners except a handful of my own folks. Did I seek personal gain? No, not either, for that would have made a laughing stock of myself in the family. I did it for love. That's all there is to it.

我到十五六歲，小說讀的更多了。也讀過自西洋翻譯來的理論，但是那學(xué)問只有點(diǎn)把點(diǎn)，讀過了也就完了。不過這樣一來，我對小說，更抱著濃厚的興趣。商務(wù)印書館出版的“小說月報(bào)”，那時為國內(nèi)首屈一指的文藝雜志，我就每月得買一本。因此，我對小說，有了更進(jìn)一步的認(rèn)識，認(rèn)識到作小說的，可以作為一種職業(yè)。所以我愛讀的小說，也自劍俠一變?yōu)閻矍?。事?shí)上，這個日子的小說，也以愛情為最多?？墒菫槭裁醋餍≌f，我依舊模糊著。至于作小說為職業(yè)，我根本未曾想到。

At 16, I read more novels and meanwhile acquired a smattering of knowledge by reading the Chinese version of some Western books on literature. Thus I became even more interested in fiction. I would buy every issue of Fiction Monthly, the only literary magazine then published in China. I came to realize that story-writing could be one's profession. I shifted my favorite reading from kung fu stories to love stories. In fact, love was then a favorite theme with most novelists. But I still had only a vague idea as to why one should engage in story writing. And I never thought of myself becoming a novelist.

到了十九歲，我在蘇州“蒙藏墾殖專門學(xué)校”讀書，有工夫，還是看小說。我覺著光是看，還有些不夠，所以也作了兩篇，往“小說月報(bào)”社投稿。當(dāng)然，我那時還很年輕，讀書不但不多，而且很多應(yīng)當(dāng)讀的書，我只看到或者聽到它的名字而已，所以兩篇小說，投過了郵也就算了，并沒有想到還有什么下文?？墒沁^了幾日，“小說月報(bào)”居然回信來了，說我的小說還算不錯，望我努力。那小說雖然沒有發(fā)表，但給我的鼓勵真是不小。于是我就對小說更為細(xì)心研究，尤其是寫景一方面，小動作一方面，中國小說雖然也有，卻是并不多，我就在西洋小說中，加倍注意。

At 19, while studying at Mongolia-Tibet Reclamation School for Vocational Training, in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, I continued to read stories in spare time. But I thought mere reading was not enough, so I submitted two stories I had written to the magazine Fiction Monthly for publication. Of course, I was then very young and far from being well-read. And many books I should have read were known to me by name only. Therefore, I didn't expect too much of the two stories I had sent out and just forgot about them. Several days later, however, I received a reply from the said magazine saying that I had done quite well and they hoped I would do still better. Though they didn't use my contributions, the encouragement they gave me was tremendous. Thereupon, I went in for an even more careful study of fiction, especially as regards the depiction of scenery and petty moves, which also appeared in Chinese fiction, but with much lower frequency than in Western fiction. So I focused more on them in Western fiction.

可是學(xué)校被袁世凱封門了，我的家境，又十分不好，我就失了學(xué)。自此以后，我飄流在揚(yáng)子江一帶，尋找職業(yè)。直到二十四歲，才找到了我的飯碗，就是蕪湖《皖江報(bào)》。不過那飄流的幾年中，有些日子在鄉(xiāng)下家里，我還極力看中國舊書，也看看小說。這好像說我的讀書，有些進(jìn)步了吧?所以在《皖江報(bào)》就業(yè)以后，我在自己報(bào)上寫小說，也有工夫?yàn)閯e家寫小說。上?！睹駠請?bào)》，這就是別家的一家。若是說我寫小說何日開始，這就是第一課吧。

Later, I was obliged to discontinue my studies when the school was closed down by order of Yuan Shikai and my parents could not send me to another school due to financial difficulties. Then I began to wander about hunting for a job in places along the Yangtse River. And it was not until I was 24 that I finally found employment at The Wanjiang News in Wuhu, Anhui Province. Thanks to the improvement I seemed to have made in knowledge through burying myself in Chinese classics as well as fiction during the several years when I was in my country home and later when I was wandering about, I was able to write novels for my newspaper and also, in spare time, for other newspapers as well, including The Republic Daily. That's the beginning of my career as a novelist.

這年下半年，我到了北京，以后有十幾年沒有離開。同時，我一面當(dāng)新聞記者，一面寫小說。但是我雖依舊寫小說，卻慢慢地摸上一點(diǎn)路子。覺得寫小說，專門寫愛情，那也似乎太狹窄。我自己以為自這以后，我的小說，又有一點(diǎn)小變動，以社會各種變化情形為經(jīng)，以愛情為緯。我的小說自然也應(yīng)該有些變化，可是我仍舊不能完全拋棄愛情。大概有幾十年工夫，不，可以說一輩子吧，總是不能離開這經(jīng)緯線。如《太平花》、《夜深沉》、《水滸新傳》、《八十一夢》等等。

In the second half of the year, I went to Beijing, where I was to stay for more than ten years, both as a newspaperman and as a novelist. While I continued to write, I gradually realized that, as a novelist, I shouldn't narrow my works to the sole theme of love. So from then on, there was a small change in my writings. I wrote about social problems as well as love. Nevertheless, I have never been able to totally break away from the topic of love. It has been my favorite theme for decades or throughout my life, as witness my Taiping Flowers, Deep Night, New Shui Hu Zhuan, 81 Dreams, etc.

我是作章回小說的，對于普及，那是沒有問題的。但是我們要談普及，是在哪里下手呢?這是我們必須要研究的。要把人民日常生活，一種自然形態(tài)，在爛熟之下摘取。這里說著人民日常生活，好像很容易摘取似的。事實(shí)上不盡然，也許是很難的。我們要細(xì)心慢慢去找日常生活最普遍的一處，然后把它在適當(dāng)?shù)臅r候，使鮮花開出來。這不能性急，日常生活體會得越多，就會使鮮花開得越燦爛。

As a writer of novels in zhanghui style, I of course advocate popularization. But we have to know how to achieve it. The way is to observe people's daily life in its natural form until the time is ripe for us to pick it like an opening flower. It is not easy though. It may be very difficult. We have to look for the most common aspect of people's life and then let it blossom forth like fresh flowers in our works at an opportune time. We need to work with patience. The more we know about people's life, the more beautiful the flowers will be.

《我寫小說的道路》是章回小說大師張恨水(1895—1967)用簡約的文字回憶自己生平和創(chuàng)作經(jīng)歷的散文。他的小說雖離不開章回小說范疇，并大多以言情為主題，但走的卻是現(xiàn)實(shí)主義道路，同情弱小，反抗強(qiáng)暴，具有正義感和豐富熱情，通俗易懂，因此深受廣大讀者歡迎。他認(rèn)為小說家必須研究社會，了解周圍的人物環(huán)境，正如他在文章中所說，“日常生活體會得越多，就會使鮮花開得越燦爛”。