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Mark Twain 幽默背后的马克．吐温

 

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This author’s work still influences writers while charming readers 100 years later  马克．吐温这位作家的作品在一百年之后，仍然持续启发后进，吸引读者青睐

 

Long before he became a best-selling novelist, Wally Lamb visited Mark Twain’s 25-room Gothic Revival mansion.

沃利．兰姆早在成为畅销小说家之前，就参观过拥有二十五间房的马克．吐温哥德复兴式故居。

 

Lamb, now 59, was a high school sophomore on a field trip from a nearby town. He recalls some of his classmates “were engaged by Twain’s home and some were not. I suspect I was the only one who felt the author’s presence that day, particularly up in the third-floor billiards room, where he wrote.”

现年五十九岁的兰姆当时是高二生，正在附近城镇参加校外教学。他还记得，一些同学「对吐温的故居感兴趣，有些则否。但我怀疑我可能是那天唯一体验到吐温的存在感的人，尤其是在三楼他写作的撞球室里。」

 

A century after his death at 74 in 1910, Twain continues to attract the kind of attention most living writers can only dream about.

吐温在一九一０年逝世，享年七十四，一百年之后，他仍持续吸引众人的瞩目，而那是大多数在世作家只能痴心梦想的。

 

The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, crowns him “America’s favorite writer.” Museum director Jeffrey Nicholas says that’s based on “all the interest we see,” including 60,000 visitors a year and the fact that his books, not just The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer but lesser-known works such as What is Man?, remain in print.

康乃迪克州哈特福市的马克．吐温故居及博物馆封其为「美国最受喜爱的作家」。博物馆馆长杰弗里．尼可兹表示，这是基于「我们所见大众对他的爱好」，包括了一年六万人次的参观人潮，以及他的书迄今依然印行的事实，不只是《哈克历险记》及《汤姆历险记》，还包括了《人算什么？》（暂译）等名气较低的作品。

 

Lasting influence  影响历久不衰

 

“It’s a pretty house,” Nicolas says of the restored, three-story brick structure with ornate woodwork and Tiffany stenciling and glasswork. “But it’s the iconic writer who draws people.”

「这是一栋优美的屋子，」尼可兹如此描述这栋经过修复的三层楼砖造建筑，里头有着精雕细琢的木工及蒂芙尼的刻版印花和玻璃制品，「但吸引人潮的是这位代表性作家本身。」

 

His own story is as memorable as those he imagined. Born poor in Missouri in 1835, Samuel Clemens worked as a printer, steamboat captain and prospector before reinventing himself as Mark Twain, lecturer, international travel writer, essayist, novelist, humorist and political commentator.

吐温的人生故事就和他想象出来的故事情节一样地令人难忘。萨缪尔．克莱门斯于一八三五年出生于密苏里州，家世清寒，曾做过印刷工人、轮船船长及探矿者，后来才以马克．吐温的新形象问世，同时身兼讲演者、国际旅游作家、散文作家、小说家、幽默作家及政论家等多重身分。

 

By current standards, he’s no longer a best seller. Lamb, author of two Oprah Book Club picks (She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True), says, “If Twain were a contestanton the literary equivalent of American Idol, I can’t guarantee that he wouldn’t be voted off by the public before the big finale.” But “he remains America’s most influential writer.”

就目前的标准来看，吐温已经不能算是畅销书作者。有两部著作（《女孩别哭》及《我知道这是真的》[暂译]）荣登「欧普拉读书俱乐部」推荐图书的兰姆表示：「假如吐温是《美国偶像》文学版的参赛者，我就不能保证他在最后决赛前不会被大众投票淘汰，」不过，「他仍旧是美国最具影响力的作家。」

 

 

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charm [tʃɑrm] v. 对……施魔法

Gothic [ˋgɑθɪk] adj.【建】哥德式的

revival [rɪˋvaɪv!] n. 苏醒；复活；再生

sophomore [ˋsɑfmor] n.【美】〔大学或高中的〕二年级学生 a student studying in the second year of a course at a U.S. college or high school

engage [ɪnˋgedʒ] v. 吸引；占用（时间，精力等）having ones attention or mind or energy engaged

billiards [ˋbɪljɚdz] n. 撞球，弹子戏  a game played by two people on a table covered in green cloth in which a long pole is used to hit balls against each other and into pockets around the table

crown [kraʊn] v. 为……加冠；为……加冕

stenciling [ˋstɛns!ɪŋ] n. 镂花涂装

glasswork [ˋglæs͵wɝk] n. 玻璃制品

prospector [ˋprɑspɛktɚ] n. 勘探者，探矿者  someone who searches for gold, oil or other valuable substances on or under the surface of the Earth

lecturer [ˋlɛktʃərɚ] n. 讲演者

essayist [ˋɛseɪst] n. 散文家，随笔作家，评论家

commentator [ˋkɑmən͵tetɚ] n.（电台、电视台等的）时事评论者

pick [pɪk] n. 挑选; 选择

vote off 淘汰出局 to remove someone from a position on something such as a committee by voting

finale [fɪˋnɑlɪ] n.〔演出的〕终场﹐最后一幕

 

 

 

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Huck Finn’s young narrator, “outside of the mainstream, whose dialect tells you where he’s from, and who’s trying to find his way in a world full of liars and hypocrites,” is a prototype for J.D. Salinger’s The catcher in the Rye and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Lamb says. “Twain certainly has influenced my work. Dolores Price in She’s Come Undone is a descendant of Huck.”

兰姆表示，「身处主流之外，所说的方言透露了生长的故乡，并且努力在充斥着骗子及伪君子的世界中找到自己的一条路」的哈克．费恩少年叙述者是沙林杰的『麦田捕手』及哈波．李的『梅冈城故事』的原型。「吐温当然影响了我的著作。『女孩别哭』里的桃乐丝．普莱斯就是取法哈克的。」

 

Twain still is widely read, not just in the United States, but globally, says Shelley Fisher Fishkin, a Stanford professor and author or editor of 33 books of Twain.

吐温的作品依然广被阅读，不只是在美国，而是全球皆然，史丹佛大学教授雪莉．费许．费雪金如此表示。费雪金共着有及编有三十三部关于吐温的书籍。

 

“Hundreds of editions of his writings are in print, and new ones are appearing all the time – indeed, new editions of his works are coming out this year in French, German, Japanese and Portuguese.”

「他作品的版本有好几百种如今仍持续印行，而且在今年将会以法文、德文、日文及葡萄牙文出版。」

 

He’s “America’s most iconic writer,” says Jerome Loving, a Texas A&M professor and author of Mark Twain: The Adventures of Samuel L. Clemens, the latest of more than 20 major biographies.

他是「美国最具代表性的作家，」德州农工大学教授杰佛姆．洛文如此表示。洛文着有『马克吐温：克莱门斯的冒险之旅』，有关吐温的重要传记共有二十多部，而该书则是最新出版的一本。

 

Twain liked illustrations in his books, but Loving says, “the most memorable icon was the man himself, coifed as he was with that shaggy hair.”

吐温喜欢在自己作品中加上插画，然而洛文表示：「最值得纪念的标志其实是作者本人，他总是喜欢把一头篷乱的头发刻意梳理成某种造型。」

 

“He applied humor to serious subjects such as slavery, revealing not only its hypocrisy but the absurdity of churchgoing folks to rationalize it.”

「他把幽默应用在奴役等严肃的主题上，不只揭发了奴役制度的虚伪，还暴露出定期上教堂、表面敬虔的人士把奴役合理化的荒诞。」

 

Twain’s home  吐温故居

 

Twain moved to Hartford in 1871 to be near his publisher, and lived here for most of the next 25 years, during which he wrote Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.

吐温为了离出版商更近而在一八七一年搬到哈特福市，在接下来的二十五年里大多住在该市。这段期间内他陆续撰写了《哈克历险记》、《汤姆历险记》及《古国幻游记》（译注：或译阿瑟王廷之康乃迪克佬）等书。

 

Using money his wife inherited, he built a mansion across the lawn from the more modest home of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It too is a museum.

他用妻子继承的财产建造了一座宅第，而草坪的另一端就是《汤姆叔叔的小屋》（译注：或译黑奴吁天录）作者海莉耶．碧绮儿．史托较为朴拙的住家（如今也成了博物馆。）

 

 

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narrator [næˋretɚ] n. 叙述者，讲述者

hypocrite [ˋhɪpəkrɪt] n. 伪善者，伪君子   someone who says they have particular moral beliefs but behaves in a way shows these are not sincere

descendant [dɪˋsɛndənt] n. 从某一来源派生（或传下）的东西

biography [baɪˋɑgrəfɪ] n. 传记; 个人简介

illustration [ɪ͵lʌsˋtreʃən] n.〔书籍﹑文章中的〕插图; 图解

shaggy [ˋʃægɪ] adj. 头发蓬乱的

absurdity [əbˋsɝdətɪ] n. 荒谬；荒诞; 荒谬的言行；怪诞的事物

churchgoing [ˋtʃɝtʃ͵goɪŋ] adj. 经常上教堂的

 

 

 

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Twain’s home reflects “the multifaceted” complexity of the man and writer, Fishkin says, noting how he had his dining room fireplace built with a divided flue and a window that let him, as she puts it, “bask in the warmth of a raging fire while watching snowflakes fall above it.” That’s image resonates for her: “Underneath the cool, comic surface of work he wrote while he lived there are some pretty searing and fiery criticisms of his society.”

吐温故居反映出「吐温本人及作家身分等多面向的复杂性」，费雪金如此表示，她并指出吐温请人建造餐厅壁炉时，特地把排烟管分开安装，并在壁炉上方开了一扇窗，好让他「在熊熊烈火旁取暖的同时，还能看着雪花纷纷落在壁炉上方，」。这幅景象引发费雪金的共鸣：「他住在那里时所写下的作品表面上看似『冷』静、幽默，但骨子里则不乏对所处社会严厉激烈的『火』热批评。」

 

It was the family’s home until 1896. Twain, his wife and two of his three daughters were in Europe when his eldest daughter, Susy, contracted meningitis and died at home. She was 24. Twain never lived in the house again.

在一八九六年以前，吐温一家人都住在这栋宅第里。后来吐温带着妻子及三名女儿中的两名造访欧洲，留在家里的长女苏西却因感染了脑膜炎而病逝，年方二十四。吐温从此再也不住在那栋屋子里。

 

Restoring history  修复历史

 

After he sold it in 1903, it became a school, then apartments. It was almost torn down – a local newspaper editor dismissedTwain as a malcontent who merely made fun of everyone – before a group of women saved it in the 1920s. To meet expenses, they leased the first floor to the public library. Restoration began in 1955.

吐温在一九０三年把这栋宅第卖掉之后，它成了一间学校，后来又变成公寓住所。这栋房子也曾差点被拆毁，因为一名地方报社编辑不屑地把吐温当成只会取笑别人的满腹牢骚者，所幸后来一群妇女在一九二０年代拯救了这栋房子。她们为了支付开销，而把一楼租给公共图书馆。修复工程则于一九五五年展开。

 

In 2003, the addition of a $19 million visitors’ center led to a financial crisis for the museum. “Looking back,” says Nicolas, the director, “it was a bit too big and costly.”

二００三年，额外增建造价一千九百万美元的游客中心使博物馆陷入财务危机。「如今回顾起来，」馆长尼可兹表示，「中心的确是太大了点，而费用也太高了些。」

 

Writers, among others, have helped put the museum’s budget back in the black, a reminder of Twain’s misadventures as a businessman.

包括作家等各界人士都伸出援手，使博物馆转亏为盈，这也让人联想到吐温做生意的惨败经验。

 

On exhibit in the museum is a Paige typesetting machine that Twain invested in heavily. It had 18,000 movable parts; many didn’t work. In 1901, after emerging from bankruptcy, Twain advised, “To succeed in business, avoid my example.”

博物馆中的一件展品是吐温巨额投资的佩奇排字机。该款机器足足有一万八千个活动零件，但其中许多根本就无法使用。一九０一年，吐温在摆脱破产的困境之后，如此奉劝大家：「生意要做得成功，就要避免重蹈我的覆辙。」

 

−by Bob Minzesheimer

 

 

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flue [flu] n. 烟道；暖气管

bask [bæsk] v.（在某种环境或气氛中）感到适意[（+in）]

snowflake [ˋsno͵flek] n. 雪花，雪片

meningitis [͵mɛnɪnˋdʒaɪtɪs] n.【医】脑膜炎 a serious infectious disease that causes the tissues around the brain and spinal cord to swell

in the black 有盈余  not in debt; in a financially profitable condition

misadventure [ˋmɪsədˋvɛntʃɚ] n. 运气不佳的遭遇

typesetting [ˋtaɪp͵sɛtɪŋ] adj. & n. 排字（的）；排版（的） arrangement of type letters in order to print something

 

 

 

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Vocabulary Focus

restored [rɪˋstɔrd] adj. 修复的；复修的 returned to an earlier good condition or position

ornate [ɔrˋnet] adj. 装饰华丽的；过分修饰的 having a lot of complicated decoration

equivalent [ɪˋkwɪvələnt] n. 相等物；等价物 something which has the same amount, value, purpose, qualities, etc. as something else

dialect [ˋdaɪəlɛkt] n. 方言，土话 a form of a language that people speak in a particular part of a country, containing some different words and grammar, etc.

coifed [kɔɪft] adj.【书】做过头发的；（头发）整理过的 describes hair that is carefully arranged in a particular style

inherit [ɪnˋhɛrɪt] v. 继承（传统，遗产等）to receive money, a house, etc. from someone after they have died

multifaceted [mʌltɪˈfæsɪtɪd] adj. 多面的; 多方面的，多才多艺的 having many parts, sides or aspects

resonate [ˋrɛzə͵net] v. 产生共鸣 to continue to have a powerful effect or value

searing [ˋsɪrɪŋ] adj. （用作定语）烧灼的；灼痛的；剧烈的；尖刻的 very powerful and emotional, or criticizing someone or something very strongly

malcontent [ˋmælkən͵tɛnt] n. 不满现状的人 a person who is not satisfied with the way things are, and who complains a lot and is unreasonable and difficult to deal with

 

 

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