Genius and the Craftsman 天才与工匠 每日英语 2008-03-19 13:57:24 阅读 1017 评论 0 字号：大中小 订阅 Many people admire writers for their exquisite stories, but few of them know with what painstaking efforts writers work to bring a story into the world. The following essay discusses the process of conceiving a story and developing it into a perfect work of art. 许多人羡慕作家们的精彩小说，但却很少有人知道作家们是如何辛勤笔耕才使一篇小说问世的。以下的短文将讨论小说的酝酿过程，以及作家是如何将这小说雕琢成一件精致完美的艺术品。 Once on the edge of a woods at twilight I came upon a small peach tree in flower. I stayed there watching until the light was gone. I saw nothing of the tree's origin, nothing of the might which had forced open a pit you could break your teeth on, and nothing of the principle which held it separate from the oaks and the grasses. All that appeared to me was a profound and eerie grace. 有一次，我在暮色中来到小树林边一棵鲜花盛开的小桃树前。我久久站在那里凝视着，直到最后一道光线消逝。我看不到那树原先的模样，看不见曾穿透果核，能崩碎你的牙齿的力量，也看不到那使它与橡树和绿草相区别的原则。显现在我面前的，是一种深邃而神秘的魅力。 So it is with the reader who comes upon an outstanding story: spellbound, he takes it to his heart, no question asked. 当读者读到一部杰出的小说时，他也会这样如痴如狂，欲将小说字字句句刻骨铭心，不提出任何问题。 But even the beginning writer knows there is more to a story's life than the body of words which carries it into the world, and that it does not begin with writing, but with conception in the dark of the mind. 但即使是个初学写作者也知道，除那将小说带到世上的文字之外，还有更多的构成小说生命的因素，小说的生命并不始于写作，而始于内心深处的构思。 It is not necessary to understand the creative function in order to ...
