我前面提到我去過(guò)歐洲,那不是我第一次去歐洲,許多年以前,我在歐洲跟厄內(nèi)斯特·海明威在一起。
Hemingway had just written his first novel, andGertrude Stein and I read it, and we said that is was a good novel, but not a great one, andthat it needed some work, but it could be a fine book.
海明威剛寫完他的第一部長(zhǎng)篇小說(shuō),葛楚德·斯坦因【1】和我讀了一下,我們說(shuō)那是一部好小說(shuō),但還稱不上偉大,需要有所改進(jìn),但仍不失為一本好書。
And we laughed over it. Hemingway punched me in the mouth.
為此我們笑了起來(lái),海明威照著我嘴巴就是一拳。
That winter Picasso lived on the Rue d'Barque, and he had just painted a picture of a nakeddental hygienist in the middle of the Gobi Desert.
那年冬天,畢加索住在巴克街,他剛畫完一幅畫——戈壁沙漠中的裸體牙齒衛(wèi)生師。
Gertrude Stein said it was a good picture, but not a great one, and I said it could be a finepicture.
葛楚德·斯坦因說(shuō)那是一幅好畫,但還稱不上偉大,我說(shuō)那仍不失為一幅好畫。
We laughed over it and Hemingway punched me in the mouth.
為此我們笑了起來(lái),海明威照著我嘴巴就是一拳。
I remember Francis Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald came home from their wild New Year's Eveparty. It was April.
弗朗西斯·斯科特和澤爾達(dá)·菲茨杰拉德【2】從他們瘋狂的新年除夕晚會(huì)回家,那是在四月份。
Scott had just written Great Expectations, and Gertrude Stein and I read it, and we said it wasa good book, but there was no need to have written it, 'cause Charles Dickens had alreadywritten it.
斯科特剛寫完《遠(yuǎn)大前程》【3】,葛楚德·斯坦因和我讀了一下,我們說(shuō)那是一本好書,但是沒(méi)必要寫它,因?yàn)椴闋査?middot;狄更斯已經(jīng)寫過(guò)了。
We laughed over it, and Hemingway punched me in the mouth.
為此我們笑了起來(lái),海明威照著我嘴巴就是一拳。
That winter we went to Spain to see Manolete fight, and he was looked to be eighteen, andGertrude Stein said no, he was nineteen, but that he only looked eighteen, and I saidsometimes a boy of eighteen will look nineteen, whereas other times a nineteen year old caneasily look eighteen.
有年冬天我們?nèi)ノ靼嘌揽瘩R諾來(lái)特【4】斗牛,他看上去像是18歲,葛楚德·斯坦因說(shuō)不,他是19歲,他只是看起來(lái)像18歲。我說(shuō)有時(shí)一個(gè)18歲的男孩看起來(lái)像是19歲,而有時(shí)一個(gè)19歲的男孩很容易被看成是18歲。
That's the way it is with a true Spaniard. We laughed over that and Gertrude Stein punched mein the mouth.
真正的西班牙人就是這個(gè)樣子。為此我們笑了起來(lái),葛楚德·斯坦因照著我嘴巴就是一拳。
Good night.
晚安。
【1】葛楚德·斯坦因,美國(guó)女作家和評(píng)論家,現(xiàn)代文學(xué)和藝術(shù)的催生者,“迷惘的一代”是她對(duì)二十年代流亡在歐洲的一批美國(guó)藝術(shù)家的稱謂。
【2】弗朗西斯·斯科特·凱伊·菲茨杰拉德,美國(guó)小說(shuō)家,“爵士時(shí)代”的代表。澤爾達(dá)·塞爾·菲茨杰拉德,小說(shuō)家,因與斯科特不穩(wěn)定的婚姻而導(dǎo)致精神失常。
【3】《遠(yuǎn)大前程》為查爾斯·狄更斯所作,斯科特·菲茨杰拉德寫的是《偉大的蓋茨比》。
【4】西班牙著名斗牛士,以動(dòng)作簡(jiǎn)潔迅速著稱,于1947年死于斗牛。