散文佳作108篇 第68期:Fame 聲譽

聲譽

Fame is very much like an animal chasing its own tail who, when he captures it, does not knowwhat else to do but to continue chasing it. Fame and the exhilarating popularity thataccompanies it, force the famous person to participate in his or her own destruction. Ironicisn't it?

聲譽很像一只追逐自己尾巴的動物，抓住后除了繼續(xù)追逐不舍之外，再也沒有其他方法了。聲譽與隨之而來的令人興奮的贊揚迫著這位出了名的人走上自己的末路。這難道不令人啼笑皆非嗎?

Those who gain fame most often gain it as a result of possessing a single talent or skill:singing, dancing, painting, or writing, etc. The successful performer develops a style that ismarketed aggressively and gains some popularity, and it is this popularity that usuallyconvinces the performer to continue performing in the same style, since that is what the publicseems to want and to enjoy. But in time, the performer becomes bored singing the same songsin the same way year after year, or the painter becomes bored painting similar scenes orportraits, or the actor is tired of playing the same character repeatedly. The demand of thepublic holds the artist hostage to his or her own success, fame. If the artist attempts to changehis or her style of writing or dancing or singing, etc., the audience may turn away and look toconfer fleeting fickle fame on another and then, in time, on another, and so on and so on.

在已經(jīng)出了名的人們中間，絕大多數(shù)是因有一技之長，如唱歌、舞蹈、繪畫、寫作等等，而獲此聲譽的。這位成功的表演者展示出一種在市場上可以爭雄制勝的風(fēng)格，因而獲得聲譽。而且也就是這種聲譽常使表演者確信必須把這種風(fēng)格堅持下去，因為看來這正是大眾所需要和喜愛的?？墒请S著時間之轉(zhuǎn)移，歌手年復(fù)一年地依老調(diào)唱老歌，畫師畫同樣的風(fēng)景人物，演員反復(fù)重演同一角色，都會感到厭煩。為了維持自己的成功和聲譽，群眾的要求竟把這位藝術(shù)家如人質(zhì)般束縛住了。如果這位藝術(shù)家企圖改變筆調(diào)、舞步、唱腔的話，聽眾觀眾就會舍他而去，把那飄忽不定的稱譽轉(zhuǎn)移給別人。隨后有轉(zhuǎn)移給另一人，這樣不停地轉(zhuǎn)來轉(zhuǎn)去。

Who cannot recognize a Tennessee Williams play or a novel by John Updike or ErnestHemingway or a poem by Robert Frost or W. H. Auden or T. S. Eliot? The same is true ofpainters like Monet, Renoir, Dali or Picasso and it is true of movie makers like Hitchcock, Fellini,Spielberg, Chen Kai-ge or Zhang Yimou. Their distinctive styles marked a significant change inthe traditional forms and granted them fame and forturn, but they were not free to developother styles or forms because their audience demanded of each of them what they originallypresented. Hemingway cannot even now be confused with Henry James or anyone else, norcan Forst be confused with Yeats, etc. The unique forms each of them created, created them.No artist or performer can entirely escape the lure of fame and its promise of endlessadmiration and respect, but there is a heavy price one must pay for it.

有哪個人會認識不出一本田納西·威廉斯的劇本、一本約翰·厄普代克或歐內(nèi)斯特·海明威的小說，或羅伯特·弗羅斯特，或W.H奧登或T.S艾略特所寫的一首詩歌呢?畫家中，如莫奈、雷諾阿、達利或畢加索的畫，導(dǎo)演制片如希區(qū)科克、費利尼、斯皮爾伯格、陳凱歌、張藝謀等等的作品，不也正是這樣嗎?他們的獨特風(fēng)格，迥異于一般傳統(tǒng)，給他們帶來美譽及財富。但他們不能自由地另創(chuàng)風(fēng)格或形式。這是因為群眾向他們每個人所要求的正是他們原來所提供的一切。直到現(xiàn)在，海明威決不能與亨利·詹姆斯或其他任何人相混淆，弗羅斯特也決不能與葉芝相混淆，如此等等。他們每個人都創(chuàng)造了獨特風(fēng)格。也創(chuàng)遣了他們自己。沒有一位藝術(shù)家或表演家能完全逃避榮譽的引誘，榮譽給他們帶來無窮的贊揚和崇敬，但他們要付出的代價也是靠常昂貴的。

Fame brings celebrity and high regard from adoring and loyal fans in each field of endeavor andit is heady stuff. A performer can easily come to believe that he or she is as good as his or herpress. But most people, most artists do not gain fame and fortune. What about thoseperformers who fail, or anyone who fails? Curiously enough, failure often serves as its ownreward for many people! It brings sympathy from others who are delighted not to be you, andit allows family and friends to lower their expectation of you so that you need not competewith those who have more talent and who secceed. And they find excuses and explanations foryour inability to succeed and become famous: you are too sensitive, you are not interested inmoney, you are not interested in the power that fame brings and you are not interested in theloss of privacy it demands, etc. ---all excuses, but comforting to those who fail and those whopretend not to notice the failure.

在每個領(lǐng)域里，出了名就會使一些虔敬的入迷者表示贊揚和尊崇，但這也是一種容易使人陶醉的東西。一位表演家糧容易相信自己的成就當(dāng)真和報章輿論所說的一樣?？墒谴蠖鄶?shù)人，大多數(shù)藝人并沒有得到聲名財富。那些失敗的表現(xiàn)者又如何呢?其他任何一個失敗者又如何呢?真奇怪，對很多人來說，失敗也常常會起一種報償?shù)淖饔?有些人慶幸自己不像你那樣地失敗，就會對你表示同情，你的親朋們也會降低對你的期望，使你不必去同那些才智勝于你而獲得成功的人們較量。他們會找借口解說你不成功不出名的原因，說什么：你太敏感了呀;你對金錢沒有興趣呀;你對聲名所能帶來的權(quán)力不感興趣呀;因為聲譽要使你喪失隱私權(quán)，因而你不感興趣呀，等等--這一些無非都是借口而已，但對失敗者或假裝不關(guān)心自己失敗的人來說，都多少帶來一點安慰。

History has amply proven that some failure for some people at certain times in their lives doesindeed motivate them to strive even harder to succeed and to continue believing inthemselves. Thomas Wolfe, the American novelist, had his first novel Look Homeward, Angerrejected 39 times before it was finally published and launched his career and created his fame.Beethoven overcame his tyrannical father and grudging acceptance as a musician to becomethe greatest, most famous musician in the world, and Pestalozzi, the famous Italian educator inthe 19th century, failed at every job he ever had until he came upon the idea of teachingchildren and developing the fundamental theories to produce a new form of education.Thomas Edison was thrown out of school in fourth grade, at about age 10, because he seemedto the teacher to be quite dull and unruly. Many other cases may be found of people who failedand used the failure to motivate them to achieve, to succeed, and to become famous. But,unfortunately, for most people failure is the end of their struggle, not the beginning. There arefew, if any, famous failures.

歷史已充分證明有些人在生命中某些時刻遭遇的失敗確實促使他們更努力奮斗，繼續(xù)深信自己，以求得成功。美國小說家托馬斯·沃爾夫的第一部小說《天使，望故鄉(xiāng)》出版之前，被退稿39次，終于開始了他的寫作事業(yè)并贏得了聲譽。貝多芬不屈服于他的專橫的父親，還忍氣當(dāng)過樂師，但終于克服一切，成為全世界最偉大最著名的音樂家。19世紀意大利著名教育家貝斯達洛齊從事各業(yè)一無成就，但最后專心于兒童教育，研討了新教育法的基本原理，形成一種新的教育理論。托馬斯·愛迪生十歲左右，從四年級里被趕出校外，因為教師覺得他又笨又倔強。這種以失敗為動力，奮發(fā)有為，成名成家的人還有多例可舉。但不幸的是，對多數(shù)人來說，失敗是奮斗的結(jié)束，而不是開始。成名的失敗事例即使有，也是少數(shù)。

Well then, why does anyone want fame? Do you? Do you want to be known to many peopleand admired by them? Do you want the money that usually comes with fame? Do you want themedia to notice everything you do or say both in public and in private? Do you want themhounding you, questioning you and trying to undo you? In American politics it is very obviousthat to be famous is to be the target of everyone who disagrees with you as well as of themedia. Fame turns all the lights on and while it gives power and prestige, it takes the you outof you: you must be what the public thinks you are, not what you really are or could be. Thepolitician, like the performer, must please his or her audiences and that often means sayingthings he does not mean or does not believe in fully. No wonder so few people trust politicians.But we have not answered the question at the beginning of this paragraph: why does anyonewant fame? Several reasons come to mind: to demonstrate excellence in some field; to gainthe admiration and love of many others; to be the one everyone talks about; to show familyand friends you are more than they thought you were. Probably you can list some otherreasons, but I think are reasonably common.

那么，一個人為什么要追求聲譽呢?你追求聲譽嗎?你希望許多人都知道你贊賞你嗎?你要那個往往隨聲譽而來的金錢嗎?你要傳播媒介注意你在公開或私下的一言一行嗎?你要他們像獵狗似的追逐著你，向你提問，想辦法拆你的臺腳嗎?在美國政界中非常明顯，你要出名就得成為反對你的每個人的目標，也是傳播媒介的目標。聲譽把一切燈光打亮，一邊給你權(quán)力和威望，另一邊也把“你”趕出你的自身之外：你必須成為大眾意想之中的你，而不是那個真實的你或者可能實現(xiàn)的你。像表演家一樣，政治家必須討好他的聽眾，這就往往意味著要講一點自己并不完全相信或同意的話。所以相信政治家的人是如此之少，這就不足為奇了。但是我們還沒有回答本節(jié)開始所提的問題：為什么人人都追求聲譽呢?我們想到的是下列幾點理由：為了顯示出在某方面的超越成就;贏得許多人的景仰愛慕;做一個人人都在提到的人;在親朋前顯示你超乎于他們對你的想象之上。也許你還可加些其他理由，但我覺得上述各點當(dāng)然是普遍的。

Is it possible to be famous and to remain true to yourself, the real you? Perhaps, but one ishard pressed to come up with the names of those who have done their thing their way andsecceeded in the fame game. Many political dissidents around the world, in particular, DawnAung Suu Kyi of Burma, is a rare exception to the rule that says maintaining unpopular viewsor unpopular attitudes or approaches in any field will destroy you. The famous Irish writerOscar Wilde, a very successful writer of stories, poems and plays, was known for his mostunusual clothing and eccentric behavior, social and sexual. This behavior brought him to theattention of the mother of a young man Oscar was intimate with and she accused him. He wasfurious about this and sued the young man's mother which led to a trial and imprisonment fortwo years. He remained true to himself and paid a heavy price for it by being ostracized anddefamed.

是否有可能既出名又保持著真實的你呢?也許可能。但我苦恩冥索實在想不出那些既能以己意行事而又能在聲譽角逐中獲勝的人的姓名來。世界上有許多持不同政見的人們，特別像緬甸的昂山蘇姬，是稀有的超越常規(guī)的例外情況。因為一般常規(guī)是在任何場合里，如果你采取反群眾的觀點、態(tài)度及方法，必將使你自己毀滅。著名的愛爾蘭作家奧斯卡。王爾德以小說、詩歌及劇本極為著稱，同時，也因他的奇裝異服和怪異的社交和性行為出了名。這種行為受到他的一位青年密友的母親的注意。她指責(zé)了王爾德。王爾德為此大發(fā)雷霆，向這位青年的母親提出控訴。之后，法庭判他兩年徒刑。王爾德為了忠實于自己，付出了受社會排斥及喪失名譽的沉重代價。

Time magazine of June 17, 1996 devoted a good deal of its issue to discussing people (25 inAmerica) who are the most influential in the country in their opinion. They added a short essayon who are the most powerful people in America and no one on the first list appeared on thesecond list, and strangely enough, none of the poeple on either list was described as famous,although I think several surely are. Can we really distinguish influential people and powerfulpeople from those who are famous? Maybe, but their list of influential prople includes JerrySeinfeld the comedian and TV star, Courtney Love the singer and drug addict whose fame hascome largely through her husband Kurt Cobain, the guitarist who committed suicide, and thelist inbludes Oparh Winfrey the talk show host and Calvin Klein the clothing designer. All ofthese people are famous , but I believe, not very influential in the sense that they change theway most of us think or act. In Time magazine's list we find a Supreme Court justice, SandraDay O'Connorm, who is no more influential or powerful than any of other justices. PresidentClinton is not considered influential (?) but is considred powerful! You decide if you thinkfamous and influential and powerful are closely related, or different.

1996年6月17日那期的《時代》周刊以很多篇幅討論他們心目中各國最有影響的人物(美國有25人)。他們又為美國最有權(quán)勢的人加一篇短文。在第一個名單中(指最有影響的--譯者注)沒有一個人在第二個名單中(指最有權(quán)勢的--譯者注)出現(xiàn)。奇怪的是，在兩個名單中，沒有一個是被稱為有聲譽的，盡管我覺得其中有些人確有聲譽。我們真的能把有影響的人、有權(quán)力的人同有聲譽的人加以區(qū)分嗎?也許可以。但他們的有影響人物名單中包括喜劇演員和電視明星杰里。圣菲爾德;歌手和吸毒者哥特尼·洛夫，此人的名望主要來自她的丈夫，那個自殺的吉他手庫爾特·柯本。這名單里還包括脫口秀主持人奧柏拉。溫弗里和服裝設(shè)計師卡爾文·克萊恩。這些都是名人，但我想不是很有影響的，因為他們不是能夠改變我們大多數(shù)人的思想或行為的人。在《時代》雜志表里我們也發(fā)現(xiàn)最高法院法官桑德拉·岱·奧康納，她也并不比其他八位法官中的任何一位更有影響或更有權(quán)力?？肆诸D總統(tǒng)不算有影響(?)，只被認為是有權(quán)力而已!如你以為有聲譽、有影響和有權(quán)力三者是緊密相聯(lián)或可以劃分的話，那么，隨你決定吧。

I believe that fame and celebrity, influence and power, success and failure, reality and illusionare all somehow neatly woven into a seamless fabric we laughingly call reality. I say to thosewho desperately seek fame and fortune, celebrity: good luck. But what will you do when youhave caught your tail, your success, your fame? Keep chasing it ? If you do catch it, hang onfor dear life because falling is not as painful as landing. See you soon famous and almostfamous, wayfarers on this unbright, nonlinear planet!

我相信聲譽和贊揚、影響和權(quán)力、成功和失敗、現(xiàn)實和幻想都好像是精密編織在一匹光潔無縫的織品之中，即我們笑稱之現(xiàn)實的東西。對那些拼命追求聲譽、財富和贊賞的人們，我說：祝您好運。但當(dāng)你已抓住了尾巴、成功、聲譽之后，你將做什么呢?一直追逐下去嗎?如你確實抓住了它的話，那就舍命也不要松手，因為下墜總比墜地要少痛苦一點。走在這蒼茫而不可理喻的星球上的蕓蕓過客們，我盼你們不久就功成名就，或近乎功成名就吧!