[終於知道史密斯是誰...]
第三章
第4段
Even the village children feel that in some dim way the smith is poetic, as the grocer and the cobbler are not poetic, when they feast on the dancing sparks and deafening blows in the cavern of that creative violence. The brute repose of Nature, the passionate cunning of man, the strongest of earthly metals, the wierdest of earthly elements, the unconquerable iron subdued by its only conqueror, the wheel and the ploughshare, the sword and the steam hammer, the arraying of armies and the whole legend of arms, all these things are written, briefly indeed, but quite legibly, on the visiting card of Mr. Smith. Yet our novelists call their hero "Aylmer Valence," which means nothing, or "Vernon Raymond," which means nothing, when it is in their power to give him this sacred name of Smith—this name made of iron and flame. It would be very natural if a certain hauteur, a certain carriage of the head, a certain curl of the lip, distinguished every one whose name is Smith. Perhaps it does; I trust so. Whoever else are parvenus, the Smiths are not parvenus. From the darkest dawn of history this clan has gone forth to battle; its trophies are on every hand; its name is everywhere; it is older than the nations, and its sign is the Hammer of Thor. But as I also remarked, it is not quite the usual case. It is common enough that common things should be poetical; it is not so common that common names should be poetical. In most cases it is the name that is the obstacle. A great many people talk as if this claim of ours, that all things are poetical, were a mere literary ingenuity, a play on words. Precisely the contrary is true. It is the idea that some things are not poetical which is literary, which is a mere product of words. The word "signal box" is unpoetical. But the thing signal box is not unpoetical; it is a place where men, in an agony of vigilance, light blood red and sea green fires to keep other men from death. That is the plain, genuine description of what it is; the prose only comes in with what it is called. The word "pillar box" is unpoetical. But the thing pillar box is not unpoetical; it is the place to which friends and lovers commit their messages, conscious that when they have done so they are sacred, and not to be touched, not only by others, but even (religious touch!) by themselves. That red turret is one of the last of the temples. Posting a letter and getting married are among the few things left that are entirely romantic; for to be entirely romantic a thing must be irrevocable. We think a pillar box prosaic, because there is no rhyme to it. We think a pillar box unpoetical, because we have never seen it in a poem. But the bold fact is entirely on the side of poetry. A signal box is only called a signal box; it is a house of life and death. A pillar box is only called a pillar box; it is a sanctuary of human words. If you think the name of "Smith" prosaic, it is not because you are practical and sensible; it is because you are too much affected with literary refinements. The name shouts poetry at you. If you think of it otherwise, it is because you are steeped and sodden with verbal reminiscences, because you remember everything in Punch or Comic Cuts about Mr. Smith being drunk or Mr. Smith being henpecked. All these things were given to you poetical. It is only by a long and elaborate process of literary effort that you have made them prosaic.
相較那毫無詩意的雜貨商與鞋匠，當飽享那創造性暴力洞穴中飛舞的火花與震耳欲聾的敲擊聲時，就連村落裡的小孩都能略微感受到鐵匠史密斯的詩意，大自然那不假修飾的殘酷回應，人類那竭盡熱血的巧計，大地最堅固頑強的金屬，大地最特異不凡的物質，那無法被戰勝的頑鐵被那征服者所馴服，成了車輪、犁頭、刀劍、汽鎚、一列列之軍武、武器界的傳奇，而這所有一切，都簡要但清楚地列於史密斯先生的名片上。但我們的小說家們，當他們能賦予書中英雄這用鐵與火燄鑄成的神聖名字——史密斯，他們卻將英雄命名為「艾默瓦倫斯」（Aylmer Valence），這名字毫無意義，或「弗農雷蒙」（Vernon Raymond），也是毫無意義（譯註：有趣的是，現實生活中，這兩個名字都可找到對照的人物，並且這兩個人物都是somebody，不是村落小童，而是有維基百科專頁的人物）。倘若某種趾高氣昂的態度、某個仰頭的方式，某個噘嘴的角度，讓大眾可辨別誰是史密斯，那也不難想像。搞不好事實就是如此，我也不疑有他。無論其他人如何，史密斯是無論如何也不會是暴發戶。史密斯這族類從歷史最黯淡的黎明開始，就一直是前線作戰的勇士，打勝無數戰爭，光榮的名聲遠播，他們的存在遠在萬國出現之前，雷神索爾之槌就是他們的記號。但正如我前面提到的，這不是通常發生的狀況。平常事充滿詩意是再平常不過的事，但平常的名稱充滿詩意卻不是那麼平常。大部分的狀況下，名字通常了無詩意。在許多人的言談間，好似「所有事物都充滿詩意」這句宣稱，只不過是文學上的創見，是文字上的遊戲。但事實剛好相反。認為某些事物不具詩意，這才是創意，才是文字堆砌出來的概念。信號站（signal box）這詞不具詩意，但信號站本身並非不具詩意，在信號站這地方，一群人在為了保持警醒而充滿身心的痛苦中，為了防止有人死亡，而點起鮮紅或青綠的信號。這是對信號站實際上是什麼的平實描述，而其名稱僅如淡而無味的散文。郵筒（pillar-box）這詞不具詩意，但郵筒本身並非不具詩意。那是朋友與愛侶投遞訊息，並深信當他們將訊息交付郵筒時，這信息變得神聖，不可由他人碰觸，甚至連自己碰觸也不行（這可是具有宗教神聖性的！）。那紅色小塔（譯註：英國郵筒是紅色的）是碩果僅存的神聖廟宇。寄信跟結婚是這時代少數仍完全浪漫的事情，一件事情若要完全浪漫，那就必須得無法變更、不可撤銷。我們以為郵筒平庸無奇，因為此名稱的聲韻絲毫也不優美。我們認為郵筒不具詩意，因我們從未在詩中見過它。但事實卻剛好證明它具有詩意。信號站只是名稱叫做信號站，事實上它是個攸關生死的所在。郵筒只是名稱為郵筒，事實上它是人們信息的傳遞聖所。若你認為「史密斯」這名字平淡庸俗，並不是因為你務實又明理，而是因為你過度受到文學的詞藻華麗之風影響。那名字敲鑼打鼓地對你宣告它充滿詩意，但你若仍無法接受，那是因為你已完全浸泡在言詞的懷古回憶裡，因為你腦中記著Punch（網路搜尋目前有人使用的中譯為：笨拙，為英國1841起發行的週刊）或Comic Cuts（漫畫剪接？為英國1890年起發行的漫畫雜誌）中所有關於史密斯先生是個酒鬼，或是史密斯先生怕老婆等等的瑣事。這一切其實都充滿詩意，只是在你那文學處理的漫長尋思過程中，你將這一切轉變成平凡無奇、了無詩意。
留言
張貼留言