作者与读者

文、译/林巍

作者与读者是天然的一对。作者自然希望有读者，否则似乎没了写作意义，即便伤心欲绝的司马迁写完《史记》后“藏之名山”，也希望“俟后世圣人君子”来读。当然，也有不为他人而只为自己心灵写作2“只为自己心灵写作”未必是to write only for their own soul，而express themselves含义很多，类似的，如：The value of this exercise is that it challenges the students to express themselves freely.（这项练习的价值在于它能促使学生自由地表达自己的思想。）的，那么读者便是自己——作者与读者合二而一了。

[2]特别是人文类的作品，作者根据自己的经验与理解写作，呈现给读者的无疑是经过加工的“现实”，当然又越“真”越好。其中，作者的诚实不应轻易受到怀疑，因为作者是在自己的四维时空3“四维时空”，在数学上有各种多维空间，但目前为止，人类认识的物理世界只是四维，即三维空间加一维时间；现代微观物理学提到的高维空间是另一层意思，只有数学意义。一般译成fourdimensional space-time，此处稍作变通。里书写现实，自然含有其“合理想象”——甚至是无限的。唯其如此，才体现出作者的创意。

[3]一旦成书，作者便把这一时空交给了读者。二者的时空不可能完全吻合，原因是读者在第五维时空4鉴于空间是一个集合，最基本的元素是点（零维空间），点的集合便是线面体（一维、二维、三维空间），即在一个“无”到“有”的发展中，而时间是个矢量，是空间运动的顺序性和持续性，即空间也就是时间的片断。所谓“五维时空”是指在基本点上，又衍生出空间集合长宽高三值、时间矢量和速度矢量，这里借以比喻读者的想象力是在作者维度上任意方向的延伸。上发挥着想象力——调动起自己的经验与理解进行另一种创作5此句的词序作了较大调整，若完全按原文，试比较：The two kinds of space-time may not be completely consistent,because readers fire their imagination in the fifth-dimension—mobilize their experience and understanding to engage in another kind of creation.。有作者对读者说，“我提供文字，你们制作画面”，形成了“共同创作”，但效果却是扩散性的。正如鲁迅所说，由于人们的经历、观念、学养及兴趣不同，在阅读《红楼梦》时，自然会从中读出不同的内容：“经学家看见6原文连用了五个“看”，在译文里则不妨根据英文特点加以变换，如realize、see、sense、witness、discover等，以丰富其表现力。《易》，道学家看见淫，才子看见缠绵，革命家看见排满，流言家看见宫闱秘事……”在西方也说，有一千个读者便有一千个哈姆雷特。

[4]同时，作者与读者的关系又非直线、单向的，而是动态、多维的。读者不同于观众（特别是电视、电影等观众），因为他们有更多的余地去想象7前面的“想象”用了stretching of the imagination，此处用了fire their imaginations；此外还可用use/fuel/ignite/stimulate/stir imaginations等。、还原、扩展“真相”，因而更利于其知识和智力的滋养8“滋养”一般译成nourish、cultivate、nurture等，但这里结合“（智力的）滋养”，不妨译为develop further intellectually，以更合原义。；而作者从读者的反馈中也会有新的发现，收到“结局大于期 望 ”9“结局大于期望”似可译成the outcome is greater than the desired effect，但此处可更为简约。的 效果，有助于原著的再版和新著的创作。

[5]阅读的魅力在于把人带入一个未曾经历或未曾深入理解的境况，好奇、挑战、获益，丰富和开阔了有限的生活时空，也相对10“相对”，可有多种对应词，如relatively、comparatively等，但亦可用其他方式，如in a way，类似的：In a way, the smallness of the room added to its luxury.（相对来讲, 房间窄小反倒显得更加华丽。）延长了人生，因而真正尝到阅读甜头的人是会上瘾、乐此不疲的。

[6]其实，阅读的最高境界11“最高境界”，可有tidemark、the highest kind、high ground、the best of optimism等，这里用了zenith, 其意为“the most successful point in the development of something /the time when something is most successful or powerful”，如：His career is now at its zenith.（他的事业现在正处于巅峰时期。），不是读到了别人的世界，而是读出了自己的内心世界——在更深、更广的领域发现、丰富了“自我”，更加充实，更爱生活，更有创造力。

[7]作为“合作人”，作者应当首先是个好的读者——不会阅读12这里的“会阅读”，一般可用“(someone)can read/capable of reading…”等，reading skills为名词词组，与前面的competent writer对应。何以写作？而好的读者不妨拿起笔来，体会遣词造句的经历，从而在阅读中获得更丰厚的感悟。□

The author and the reader are a natural pair.It is only meaningful for an author to write if there are readers.Even Sima Qian(145–90 BC), the well-known heart-broken historian of theRecords of the Grand Historian, who decided to“conceal his writings in a sacred mountain”, was still hopeful that a“certain kind of sage or gentleman”would appreciate them.There are certainly some writers who wish to express themselves only to themselves—in that case, the author and the reader are united as one.

[2]Works in the humanities, in particular, are presented to the reader by the author based on“processed reality”(it ought to be as“real”as possible)according to his or her personal experiences and understanding.The author’s sincerity should not be questioned lightly for what he or she writes is actually nothing more than their“reasonable”(sometimes inf inite)stretching of the imagination—their creativity within their four-dimensional plane of space and time.

[3]Once the book is released, the author hands control to the reader, who start their own process of imagination—their creativity based on their own experiences and understanding, producing a“fifth dimension”, which may not overlap totally with the author’s.As one author says,“I make the words, you make the pictures”;in a way, they are“co-creators”, proliferating results.In readingA Dream of Red Mansions, as Lu Xun(1881–1936),the famous Chinese writer, pointed out,people naturally have different views and opinions due to their different experiences, ideas, learning and interest:“The Orthodox realizeChangein it; moralists see pornography; scholars sense romance;revolutionaries witness anti-Manchurian actions; gossips discover royal court secrets and scandals…”In the West, there is also a saying that“There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s eyes.”

[4]In fact, the relations between the author and the reader are not unidimensional and one-way, but dynamic and multidimensional.Unlike, say, TV or film audiences, readers are left adequate leeway to fire their imaginations in terms of retracing(even expanding)the“truth”, and consequently they obtain more knowledge and develop further intellectually.By receiving feedback from readers, on the other hand, authors discover more“unexpected effects”, which in turn benef i ts the revision or new books of their creative writing.

[5]The charm of reading lies in venturing into uncharted or unknown waters,where wonders, challenges as well as benef i ts only bewitch the journey, enrich and enlarge the horizon of life and, in some way, prolong life, for those who have tasted the sweetness of reading will be addicted to and never bored with it.

[6]The zenith of reading, in fact, is to explore no world of others except your own—discovering more of the self in a more in-depth and substantial way, feeling fulfilled by more love and creativity in your daily life.

[7]As a“co-creator”, then, the author should first be a good reader, for how can an author be a competent writer without reading skills? Likewise, a good reader should also pick up the pen to experience the pain and joy of writing, in order to enjoy reading more abundantly.■