萨尔曼·拉什迪：我认为这是核心 SALMAN RUSHDIE: I think this is at the heart
在整个文学中 of the whole of literature, which
有一件事是伟大的，那就是人性。 is the one thing that is the great constant is human nature.
在任何年龄，任何国家， In whatever age, in whatever country,
人类是一样的。小镜头大世界资源论坛 www.xjtdsj.com 感谢关注 human beings are the same.
我们有同样的渴望。 We have the same longings.
我们有同样的缺点。 We have the same flaws.
我们有同样的野心。 We have the same ambitions.
我认为 And I think one of the reasons why
我们可以愉快地阅读写了几百篇的文学作品 we can read with pleasure literature written hundreds
或者是在一个国家写的 of years ago or written in a country
我们不知道是因为人性在那里。 that we have no idea about is because human nature is there.
如果这个故事对人类来说是真实的， If the story feels truthful about human beings,
然后它告诉我们。 then it speaks to us.
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如果你要造一辆大车， If you're going to build a big car,
你知道，你应该装个大引擎。 you should put a big engine in it, you know.
你知道，大引擎是汽车的乐趣所在。 And the big engine is what makes the car a pleasure, you know.
引擎不足的大汽车 A big car with an inadequate engine
是一种失望。 is a kind of disappointment.
所以——所以我的引擎一直都是故事。 So-- so the engine for me has always been story.
所以我一直试着-- And so I've always tried to put that--
你知道的，那种很好的因素， that kind of vroom-vroom factor, you know,
是什么推动了这本书的中心 what drives the book at the center of it
不管它在做什么。 whatever else it may or may not be doing.
没有冲突，就很难拥有-- Without conflict, it's hard to have--
很难有戏剧。 it's hard to have drama.
我是说，其中一件事-- I mean, one of the things--
文学名句——论法国作家 famous lines by-- about literature the French writer
亨利德蒙瑟兰特谈到幸福 Henry de Montherlant said about happiness
几乎不可能写出来。 that it's almost impossible to write about.
他说——他说，幸福写 He said-- he said, happiness writes
用白墨水写在白纸上。 in white ink on a white page.
你知道，它不会出现。 You know, it doesn't show up.
如果人们快乐，就没有故事，你知道的。 If people are happy, there's no story, you know.
他——有人告诉我们，这些人很高兴。 He-- these people are happy, we are told.
结局，你知道，因为还有什么好说的？ The end, you know, because what else is there to say?
我认为最难的事情就是写幸福。 The hardest thing I think of all is to write about happiness.
为了开始写一个项目， In order to get started writing on a project,
我认为有六个基本问题 there are I consider six essential questions
你需要回答的问题。 that you need to answer.
第一个问题是，你在讲谁的故事？ The first question is, whose story are you telling?
你需要弄清楚这一点，因为小说是 You need to be clear about that because a novel is
一件很长的工作。 a long piece of work.
会有角色进进出出，等等。 There'll be characters coming in and out, et cetera.
你真的需要知道什么是通过线。 You really need to know what is through line.
可能是两个人。 It could be two people.
不一定是一个人。 It doesn't have to be one person.
但你必须非常清楚这一点。 But you need to be quite clear about that.
最明显的问题是，故事是什么？ And then the most obvious question is, what's the story?
再回答一次，不同的作家 And again, that-- different writers answer that question
不同的是，你知道。 differently, you know.
有些作家需要有一个非常，非常清晰的意识 Some writers need to have a very, very clear sense
从头到尾的故事情节 of the storyline from beginning to end
在他们开始工作之前。 before they can start work.
其他作家则不同。 Other writers are different.
他们将对这个故事有一个大致的了解。 They will have a general sense of the story.
他们会知道这个角色需要离开这里 They'll know that the character needs to go from here
最后到了那里。 and end up there.
当我开始写作时，我真的需要 When I started writing, I really needed
要知道很多关于这个角色，故事是什么。 to know a lot about the character, what the story is.
我需要把它画出来。 I needed to have that sketched out.
我需要有笔记，架构，计划等等。 I needed to have notes and architecture, plans, and so on.
现在我发现-- And-- and now I find--
我的意思是，我对这些事情还是有点了解的。 I mean, I still have some sense of all those things.
但更多的是我每天都在尝试去发现这个故事。 But it's much more that I every day try and discover the story.
如果你把它和音乐相比，就好像有区别一样 If you compare it to music, it's like the difference
在创作交响乐和演奏爵士乐之间。 between composing a symphony and playing jazz.
有了交响乐，一切都用完整的符号记录下来， With a symphony, everything is written down in full notation,
你知道的。 you know.
就在那里。 And there it is.
音乐家们只需要解释一下。 The musicians have to just interpret that.
当然，对于爵士乐，有一种普遍的感觉 With jazz, of course, there's a general sense
的形状。 of-- of the shape.
但是有很大的即兴发挥的空间 But there's an enormous amount of room for improvisation
在中间玩。 and play in the middle of that.
第三个问题是，你为什么要讲这个故事？ And the third question is, why are you telling the story?
你可以亲自回答因为 You can answer that personally because it's
与你生活中-- to do with something in your life that--
这促使你讲故事。 that motivates you to tell the story.
你可以从政治上回答， You can answer it politically, you know,
有个话题，你知道， that there's some subject, you know,
你想要进入自己的生活。 external to your own life that you want to get into.
所以有很多方法可以回答。 So there's many ways to answer it.
但你应该知道你为什么要讲这个故事。 But you should know why you're telling the story.
不然的话——不然的话，何必费心说呢？ Otherwise-- otherwise, why bother to tell it?
还有时间和地点的问题。 Then there's questions of time and place.
有一个时间问题和一个地点问题。 There's-- there's a when question and a where question.
显然，最自然的事情 Obviously, the most natural thing
对一个刚开始写书的人来说 in a way for somebody starting out to write a book
就是把时间安排在 is to set it in the time with which they're
最熟悉的，也就是说现在，你知道。 most familiar, which is to say the present, you know.
虽然，很多书，特别是第一部小说， Although, a lot of books, particularly first novels,
包括——包括我的，发生在童年， including-- including mine, take place in childhood,
但你得弄清楚时间。 but you need to be clear about the time.
因为如果这段时间对读者来说是生动的， Because if that time is to be vivid to the reader,
然后你需要在页面上创建时间， then you need to be able to create that time on the page,
你知道，那-- you know, that--
我是说，40年前的俚语， I mean, the slang of 40 years ago,
30年前不是今天的俚语。 30 years ago is not the slang of today.
人们在电视上看到的广告， The things people see, you know, the commercials on television,
街上的广告牌，每天的样子 the billboards in the street, the daily look
城市的声音，你知道，不一样。 and sound of the city, you know, it's not the same.
然后就是地点的问题。 And then where is just the question of place.
这取决于它是哪一种书-- And depending on what kind of book it is, you know, that--
如果是科幻小说，那地方 if it's a science fiction story, that place
可能在宇宙的任何地方。 could be anywhere in the universe.
但对我来说，地点的概念一直 But that idea of location for me has always
作为一个作家，这是绝对重要的。 been absolutely crucial as a writer.
但我发现我不能让轮子正常转动 But I find that I can't get the wheels turning properly
直到我知道车轮下面是什么，你知道的。 until I know what the ground is under the wheels, you know.
所以——所以我必须很早就做出地点的决定。 So-- so I have to make the place decision very early.
第六个问题是-- And the sixth question is actually--
这是最难的问题。 it's the hardest question.
第六个问题是，你打算怎么讲这个故事？ Sixth question is, how are you going to tell the story?
这是一个形式和语言的问题。 And this is a matter of form and language.
我是说，你能想到几乎没有故事的书。 I mean, you can think of books where there's almost no story.
还有一些非常伟大的小说。 And there are some very great novels.
你会想起詹姆斯·乔伊斯的《尤利西斯》 You think of James Joyce's "Ulysses."
只不过是一个男人在都柏林跑了一天 All that happens is a man walks around Dublin for a day running
当他妻子被杀的时候 into people here and there while his wife is being
在家里对他不忠。 unfaithful to him back home.
没有什么大事。 There's no great event.
就是这样。 It's just that.
但是因为语言太特别了， But because the language is so extraordinary,
它的讲述是如此的特殊， the telling of it is so exceptional,
我们认为它是有史以来最伟大的小说之一。 we think of it as one of the greatest novels ever written.
那么问题是-- So the how question--
如果你把“怎么做”的问题弄错了， you can mess up a good idea by getting the how question wrong,
你知道的。 you know.
在我出版之前的早期职业生涯中 And in my early career before I published
任何值得一读的东西，真的，我犯了那些错误，你知道的。 anything worth reading really, I made those mistakes, you know.
我有一些想法，回想起来， I had ideas, which, in retrospect, looking back,
如果我写的不同， if I had written them differently,
如果我写得更直截了当， if I had written them more straightforwardly,
他们会更好，因为我 they would have been better because I
你知道的，我试着玩弄它。 tried to fool around and be fancy with it, you know.
我搞砸了。 I messed it up.
但是这六个问题，这六个问题-- But those six questions, the six questions are--
如果你有答案，你知道，你是谁的故事 if you have answers to that, you know, whose story you're
讲，什么故事，你为什么要讲， telling, what's the story, why are you telling it,
什么时候开始，在哪里开始， when is it set, where does it take place,
你打算怎么说呢， and how are you going to tell it,
如果你知道如何回答这些问题， if you know how to answer those questions,
你知道怎么写。 you know how to write it.
你可以开始了。 And you can start.
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你可以给自己写一些关于这本书的信，就好像你在写一样-- You could write yourself letters about the book as if you were--
好像你在和朋友说话，你知道的。 as if you were talking to a friend, you know.
你朋友对你说， And your friend is saying to you,
你在写什么？ what are you writing about?
你想——你想写什么？ What you want to-- what do you want to write about?
你知道，因为如果我们真的在和别人说话， You know, because if we're actually talking to people,
我们想让他们听我们说的话， and we want them to-- to listen to what we are telling them,
你知道，我们必须尽可能的有趣。 you know, we have to try and be as interesting as we can.
否则，他们会说， Otherwise, they're going to say, OK, well,
我受够了。 I've had enough of that.
所以这是一个有趣的观察方式 So that's an interesting way of seeing
如果你把这个故事做成某种形式的话。 if you've got the story into some kind of shape.
想象一下你告诉别人 Just imagine you telling it to, somebody
你自己口头告诉别人的。 yourself telling it to somebody orally.
在你心中选择一个朋友，你知道的。 Choose a friend in your mind, you know.
和他们谈谈。 And talk to them about it.
你可以写在纸上，你知道的。 And you could do that on paper, you know.
然后看看你是怎么想的。 And then see what you think of it.
看看你是否认为你有一些别人会喜欢的东西 See if you think you've got something that people will
有兴趣倾听。 be interested to listen to.