海明威小儿子分享学写作的经历：爸爸教我写作
小编 04-03 次遇见
13 Writing Lessons
I was eighteen, and papa was paying for my food, lodging, and schooling. There were still times when we could talk. I was in my last year of prep school , thinking about college, and about what would come next.
那时我18岁，爸爸负担着我的食宿和学业。有的时候我们还能谈一谈。当时是我在预备学校的最后一个学年，正在考虑上大学的问题，以及接下来会发生什么。
It doesn't really matter what you do as long as you do something that really interests you, Gig, "he said. "Something that you think is worthwhile and productive. And a lot of things are worthwhile, even though some narrow-minded man will say otherwise. And don't worry about money-if you're a failure at bird watching, I'll support you! Have you thought much about what you'd really like to do?"
“吉格，你干什么都可以，只要你对自己干的事情真正有兴趣。”爸爸说，“只要你觉得这件事情值得去做，能够做出成绩来。许多事值得去做，甭管那些思路狭隘的人怎么说。钱的问题你不用担心——哪怕你去观察鸟类且毫无收获，我也会支持你的！你想没想过自己真正喜欢做的事是什么？”
Actually, I had thought a lot. I'd had good grades in prep school, could get into almost any college I wanted to, and had the brains for law or medicine. But I hated most lawyers, thought they were sharpies and crooks , while medicine seemed too dull, too staid. What I really wanted to be was a Hemingway hero.
实际上，我想了很多。我在预备学校成绩很好，几乎能进任何我想进的学校，而且我脑子好，学法律、学医都可以。但是我讨厌大多数律师，觉得他们内心诡诈；而学医看起来太沉闷、太呆板。我真正想当的是海明威式的英雄。
But what the hell was a Hemingway hero? I could analyze all his novels, but by far the simplest explanation was that a Hemingway hero was Hemingway himself, or the better parts of him. Still, to support yourself while doing all the exciting things that allowed you to exhibit grace under pressure , you had to be able to write about them. The passport to this glamorous life was talent, which was God given, and a knowledge of the mechanics of writing, which could be taught. I decided to become a writer. I make light of it now but I was dead serious then.
但是，究竟什么是海明威式的英雄呢？我可以分析他所有的小说，但显然最简单的解释是海明威式的英雄就是海明威自己，或者说海明威较好的方面。即使你干了许多激动人心的事来表现“压力下的风度”，你也得有本事把它们写出来。过这种迷人生活的前提是：一，有才能；二，懂得写作技巧。才能是天生的，而写作技巧可以学。我当时下决心要当作家。现在看来很随意，不过当时我极其认真。
Papa, what books influenced you most when you were a boy? I asked him one vacation in Havana.
有一次在哈瓦那度假，我问爸爸：“爸爸，你小的时候，什么书对你影响最大？”
Papa seemed delighted by my question. He gave me a list of books to read, and my apprenticeship began.
爸爸听了我的问题好像挺高兴。他给我列了一份读书单，于是我的学艺时期开始了。
That summer in Havana I read papa's favorites, from Huckleberry Finn to Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: like him, I sometimes had two or three books going at the same time. Then papa steered me to the short story masters, Maupassant and Chekhov . "Don't try to analyze-just relax and enjoy them."
那年夏天在哈瓦那，我读了爸爸最喜欢读的书，从《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》到《青年艺术家的画像》：我像他一样，有时候同时读两三本书。后来爸爸教我读短篇大师莫泊桑和契诃夫的杰作：“不要试图去分析——只要悠闲地读，享受就好。”
Now, papa said one morning. "Try writing a short story yourself.And don't expect it to be any good."