即将消逝的艺术：拥有一支好钢笔

By Laura Freeman

“Im afraid you do not like your pen，” says Miss Bingley to Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice1. “Let me mend it for you. I mend pens remarkably well.” You know then—if you didnt suspect it already—that Mr. Darcy could never marry Miss Bingley. Is there anything so maddening as someone interfering with ones pen？

“Could I borrow your pen for a moment？” they ask as they jot down a shopping list or scribble a booking reference.2 “No！” you want to scream in possessive anguish3. “Its mine！” They are sure to split the nib， chew the end， absent-mindedly tug the clip that fixes it to the front of your diary.4 Thats if you do get it back. The chances are that theyll pocket it， unthinking， and thats another pen lost to a scrounger5. The late architect Zaha Hadid used to cut a pen-shaped groove out of the middle hundred or so pages of her sketchbooks and hide a pen in there like a skeleton key in a spy story.6 It was always on hand to her； hidden from pen-pinchers7.

A proper paper diary demands a proper pen. Not a doodle Biro.8 Not one of those mini pens you pick up at Argos9. But a good one： a Montblanc or Parker fountain pen； a Faber-Castell fine-liner， a Staedtler draughtsmans point.10 I favour aluminium barrel pens from the Japanese stationers Muji.11 They are ￡4.95 a go， a price that would buy 40 multi-pack Bics，12 but nothing else will do. If a stranger leans across on a train and asks： “Could I pinch that for a second？” and swipes my pen from the tray table to make a note in the margin， I watch with jealous agony until I have it back.13

曾經，手握一支灌满墨水的钢笔在信纸上沙沙作响，万千思绪便随墨水自笔尖化成厚重的文字，收信的人见字如面；如今，快节奏的生活与数码产品的兴起，使得钢笔书写日渐式微。然而仍有作者这样的人迷恋钢笔，迷恋钢笔书写留下的痕迹。因为恰恰是那难以磨灭的痕迹，体现了书写者的承诺和决心。

Reading the Harry Potter books as a child， I wasnt nearly so excited about shopping for wands in Diagon Alley as I was about quills.14 Eagle feather， peacock， phoenix15. Quills that corrected your spelling， QuickQuotes quills for journalists. A pen changes how you think. Without cut-and-paste and the “delete” button you are forced to be less slapdash， to choose your words.16 Think before you ink. Anthony Powell wrote in his memoirs that：17 “My first novel was set down with a pen， some of the proceeds of its sales devoted to buying a typewriter.” Did his mind work differently as he click-clacked18 across the keys？

Surely part of the reason we have all become so flaky， cancelling meetings， not showing up for restaurant reservations， asking： “Can we take a rain check？” is because so many of us tap dates and times into our iPhone calendars.19 Worse， the iCalendar “reads” our emails， sees “Lunch 1pm Wednesday” in an email and slots20 it into the schedule. People who keep proper diaries， writing their appointments in indelible21 ink， are far more likely to show up on the day. It shows commitment and resolution.

I feel panicked without one. What if the scheme for a novel， a future bestseller， occurs when I am out walking and I have no pen and nothing to write on？ The blank pages at the backs of diaries are just the place for half-formed plots and conversations overheard on the bus. Keep your diary close， and a pen in every pocket.

1. Pride and Prejudice： 《傲慢與偏见》，英国小说家简·奥斯汀创作的长篇小说，以爱情、婚姻与财富为主题，富有喜剧色彩，展现了英国乡镇中产阶级的生活。宾利小姐是达西先生好友的妹妹，她一心想嫁给达西先生。本文引用了宾利小姐向达西先生献殷勤的片段。

2. jot down： 草草记下，匆匆写下；scribble： 潦草书写。

3. anguish： 极度痛苦。

4. nib：（钢）笔尖；tug： 用力拖（拉）；clip： 夹子。

5. scrounger： 借而不还的人。

6. groove： 沟，槽；skeleton key： 万能钥匙。

7. pen-pincher： 擅自拿取别人钢笔的人，pinch的意思是擅自拿取。

8. doodle： 涂鸦；Biro： 比罗，圆珠笔的俗称，以其发明者匈牙利记者拉迪斯洛·比罗而得名。

9. Argos： 爱顾，英国领先的百货零售连锁商。

10. Montblanc： 万宝龙，德国的一家精品钢笔、手表与配件的制造商；Parker： 派克，总部位于英国的跨国公司，以销售精品钢笔而闻名；Faber-Castell： 辉柏嘉，欧洲最古老的品牌之一，德国著名制笔企业；fine-liner： 水性笔；Staedtler： 施德楼，德国文具公司，国际知名品牌；draughtsman： 绘图员。

11. aluminium： 铝；stationer： 文具商，文具店；Muji： 无印良品，日本著名日常用品零销商。

12. go： 一次提供量，此处指“单支笔”；Bic： 比克，法国著名文具品牌，以廉价而高质量的圆珠笔而闻名。

13. tray table： 托盘桌；margin： 边缘；agony： 极度痛苦。

14. Harry Potter： 《哈利·波特》，英国作家J. K. 罗琳创作的系列魔幻文学小说；wand： 魔杖；Diagon Alley： 对角巷，《哈利·波特》中英国魔法界最繁华的商业区；quill： 羽毛笔。

15. phoenix： 凤凰。

16. 没有剪切和粘贴及“删除”键，这就迫使你更为慎重地选择你的用词。slap-dash： 草率的。

17. Anthony Powell： 安东尼·鲍威尔（1905—2000），英国小说家，代表作为《与时代合拍的舞蹈》；memoir：回忆录。

18. click-clack： 发出咔哒咔哒的声音。

19. flaky： 古怪的，健忘的；take a rain check： 改期。

20. slot： 把……排入。

21. indelible： 留下难以去除的痕迹的。