走進(jìn)劍橋大學(xué) 第15期:《小熊維尼》與米爾恩
Winnie the Pooh and Milne
《小熊維尼》與米爾恩
Alan Alexander Milne was born on the 18th of January 1882 in Hampstead, London. He studied at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a degree in mathematics in 1903. Milne’s first literary efforts were published in the humorous magazine Punch, where, in 1906 Milne started to work as Assistant Editor, In 1913 Milne married Daphne, the God-daughter of Punch editor.
1882年1月18日，艾倫亞歷山大米爾恩出生于倫敦漢普斯特德。他就讀于威 斯敏斯特學(xué)校和劍橋大學(xué)三一學(xué)院，1903年，他從劍橋大學(xué)數(shù)學(xué)專業(yè)畢業(yè)，并獲得學(xué)士學(xué)位。米爾恩的第一部文學(xué)作品發(fā)表在幽默雜志《笨拙》上，而從1906年開始， 米爾恩就作為一名助理編輯開始工作。1913年，米爾恩和《笨拙》雜志一位編輯的教女達(dá)芙妮結(jié)婚。
With the outbreak of the First World War, Milne joined the army as a signaling officer in February 1915, despite being a pacifist. He was sent to France but he left the front lines later suffering from fever. After his recovery he was placed in charge of a signaling company at Fort Southwick until his discharge from the army in February 1919. After leaving the army, Milne resigned his post at Punch and concentrated on writing plays. In 1923 his first children poem Vespers was published in Vanity Fair. The poem featured his son Christopher,
盡管米爾恩是反戰(zhàn)主義者，隨著第一次世界大戰(zhàn)的爆發(fā)，他還是在1915年2月參軍了，并成為一名信號(hào)官。他被派到法國，但不久就因高燒不退被迫離開前線。米爾恩康復(fù)以后開始負(fù)責(zé)管理索思威克要塞的一家信號(hào)公司，直到1919年2月退伍。退伍后米爾恩辭去了他在《笨拙》雜志社的工作，專心致力于話劇寫作。1923年他的第一首兒童詩《晚禱》發(fā)表在著名雜志《名利場》上，這首詩以他的兒子克里斯多夫?yàn)樵汀?/div>
In 1924，after the success of Vespers Milne published a book of children’s poems entitled When We Were Very Young, with drawings by Punch illustrator, Ernest Shepard. This book included a poem about a Teddy Bear. This was Pooh’s first unofficial appearance in Milne’s writing. When We Were Very Young was proved to be an instant success and sold over 50,000 copies within eight weeks.
繼《晚禱》的成功發(fā)表后，1924年，米爾恩又發(fā)表了一本兒童詩集《當(dāng)我們還很小的時(shí)候》，詩集里配有《笨拙》插圖畫家歐內(nèi)斯特謝潑德畫的插圖。這本詩集里收藏了一首關(guān)于玩具熊的詩。這是維尼熊在米爾恩寫作生涯中的首次非正式現(xiàn)身?！懂?dāng) 我們還很小的時(shí)候》一經(jīng)出版便大受歡迎，8周內(nèi)賣出了5萬本。
It was not until 1925 that Pooh officially came into being. Milne’s contribution for the Christmas Eve issue was a bedtime story that he had made up for his son about adventures he had with his Teddy Bear who was later known as Winnie the Pooh.
直到1925年，玩具熊維尼才正式進(jìn)入人們的視野。米爾恩為圣誕前夕發(fā)行物所做的貢獻(xiàn)就是創(chuàng)作了一個(gè)睡前故事，這個(gè)故事是為他兒子準(zhǔn)備的，講的是他兒子和玩具熊的冒險(xiǎn)故事，這只玩具熊后來被稱為“小熊維尼”。
This bedtime story formed the first chapter of Milne’s next book entitled Winnie-the-Pooh. This book was followed by The House at Pooh Comer in 1928. In an attempt to shield his son from the publicity generated by the success of the Pooh stories, Milne announced that The House at Pooh Corner would be his last Christopher Robin book.
這個(gè)睡前故事構(gòu)成了米爾恩的下一本書《小熊維尼》的第一章。在1928年，米爾恩又發(fā)表了《菩角小屋》。“小熊維尼”系列故事書的成功使得公眾開始密切關(guān)注他的兒子，為了保護(hù)兒子，米爾恩宣布《菩角小屋》將是以他兒子克里斯多夫羅賓為原型的最后一本書。
He also never read the stories and poems to his son Christopher, preferring rather to amuse him with the works of P.G. Wodehouse, one of Milne’s favourite authors. Although Milne went on to write plays and novels, these Pooh stories remain his best known works.
米爾恩再也沒有給克里斯多夫讀故事書和詩歌，而是選擇用他最喜歡的作家 ! P.G.沃德豪斯的作品供兒子閱讀。雖然米爾恩繼續(xù)創(chuàng)作話劇和小說，“小熊維尼”系列仍是他最出名的作品。
