Always on the side of the egg - 村上春樹

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我並不是一個村上春樹迷, 我知道他是一個作品很有名的日本作家. 其實自己也只有在N年前看過一本他寫的書. 好像是叫做人造衛星情人還是什麼的. 故事滿好看的但是也沒有好看到會讓我有想看他寫的其他書的衝動.

所以我當然不知道他今年獲得了耶路撒冷文學獎.

讓人尷尬的是領獎地是剛剛出兵加薩, 帶來連天戰火的以色列. 這也可以說是一個在最壞的時間, 最差的地點所給出的最令人尷尬的獎項. 其實也有很多人認為村上應該抵制這個獎項, 否則會被認為認同以色列的軍事行動.

但是, 看到他不顧眾人的反對前往戰火紛飛的以色列受賞,演講. 他用了一個出色的演講扭轉了尷尬的情況, 感動了所有聽到這個演講的人. 他做了一個不卑不亢, 有尊嚴的演說, 用最積極的方法告訴了大家一個很簡單的訊息: Always on the side of the egg. 永遠站在弱者的一邊.

看完了他的演講我領悟到了其實他會決定到耶路撒冷領獎演說並不是為了他自己, 而是為了當時正在戰火摧殘下無辜的平民們.

以下是他的演講稿以及我的粗糙翻譯.



Always on the side of the egg
永遠和雞蛋站在同一邊

Haruki Murakami
村上春樹

I have come to Jerusalem today as a novelist, which is to say as a professional spinner of lies.
我今天是以一個小說家的身分來到耶路撒冷, 也就是說我的身分是一名職業謊言編造者.

Of course, novelists are not the only ones who tell lies. Politicians do it, too, as we all know. Diplomats and military men tell their own kinds of lies on occasion, as do used car salesmen, butchers and builders. The lies of novelists differ from others, however, in that no one criticizes the novelist as immoral for telling them. Indeed, the bigger and better his lies and the more ingeniously he creates them, the more he is likely to be praised by the public and the critics. Why should that be?
當然, 會說謊的不只是小說家. 我們都知道, 政客也會. 外交官以及軍人有時也會說謊, 就如同二手車推銷員, 屠夫和建築工人. 但是, 小說家的謊言與其他人士不同的地方在於: 沒有人會以道德標準去苛責小說家的謊言. 事實上, 小說家的謊言編的越大越好越妙他越能得到公眾與評論家的認可. 這是為什麼呢?

My answer would be this: Namely, that by telling skillful lies - which is to say, by making up fictions that appear to be true - the novelist can bring a truth out to a new location and shine a new light on it. In most cases, it is virtually impossible to grasp a truth in its original form and depict it accurately. This is why we try to grab its tail by luring the truth from its hiding place, transferring it to a fictional location, and replacing it with a fictional form. In order to accomplish this, however, we first have to clarify where the truth lies within us. This is an important qualification for making up good lies.
我的答案是這樣的: 藉由高超的謊言, 也就是說創造出看起來彷彿是真實的情節, 小說家可以把真理帶到新的疆界, 讓人看見他. 很多時候我們幾乎不可能捕捉住真理並且精準的描述他. 所以我們需要將真理從他的藏匿出引誘出來, 轉化到想像的場景, 轉化成想像的形體. 為了達成這個目的, 我們必須清楚的了解到真理在自己體內的什麼地方. 也就只有這樣我們才能編出好的謊言.

Today, however, I have no intention of lying. I will try to be as honest as I can. There are a few days in the year when I do not engage in telling lies, and today happens to be one of them.
但是今天我並不準備要說謊. 我會盡可能的誠實. 一年之中只有幾天我不會說謊. 今天剛好是其中的一天.

So let me tell you the truth. A fair number of people advised me not to come here to accept the Jerusalem Prize. Some even warned me they would instigate a boycott of my books if I came.
老實說, 很多人建議我今天不應該來這裡接受耶路撒冷文學獎. 甚至還有人警告我說如果我來了他們會杯葛我的作品.

The reason for this, of course, was the fierce battle that was raging in Gaza. The UN reported that more than a thousand people had lost their lives in the blockaded Gaza City, many of them unarmed citizens - children and old people.
原因是加薩正在發生激烈的戰鬥, 根據聯合國的報導, 已經有超過一千人在被封鎖的加薩城中喪生, 其中很多是手無寸鐵的平民, 包括了兒童與老人.

Any number of times after receiving notice of the award, I asked myself whether traveling to Israel at a time like this and accepting a literary prize was the proper thing to do, whether this would create the impression that I supported one side in the conflict, that I endorsed the policies of a nation that chose to unleash its overwhelming military power. This is an impression, of course, that I would not wish to give. I do not approve of any war, and I do not support any nation. Neither, of course, do I wish to see my books subjected to a boycott.
在接到獲獎通知後我不斷的問自己在此時前往以色列接受這個文學獎是不是一個正確的行為. 這會不會讓別人認為我支持這個戰爭中的某一方, 或者認為我支持一個選擇發動壓倒性武力的國家政策? 當然, 我也不希望的的作品遭到杯葛.

Finally, however, after careful consideration, I made up my mind to come here. One reason for my decision was that all too many people advised me not to do it. Perhaps, like many other novelists, I tend to do the exact opposite of what I am told. If people are telling me - and especially if they are warning me - "don't go there," "don't do that," I tend to want to "go there" and "do that." It's in my nature, you might say, as a novelist. Novelists are a special breed. They cannot genuinely trust anything they have not seen with their own eyes or touched with their own hands.
最後, 經過了審慎的考慮, 我決定來此. 原因之一是太多人反對我前來參與. 或許我就像許多小說家一樣天生有著反骨. 如果人們叫我 "別去那" "別這麼做", 我通常會想要 "去那" 以及 "這麼做". 這是我身為小說家的天性. 小說家是很特別的一群人, 他們一定要親眼所見, 親手觸摸才會相信.

And that is why I am here. I chose to come here rather than stay away. I chose to see for myself rather than not to see. I chose to speak to you rather than to say nothing.
這也是為什麼我決定來此. 我選擇了參與而不是逃避. 我選擇了親眼所見而不是矇蔽雙眼. 我選擇了開口說話而不是沉默不語.

This is not to say that I am here to deliver a political message. To make judgments about right and wrong is one of the novelist's most important duties, of course.
這並不代表我今天要發表任何政治宣言. 判斷對錯當然是小說家最重要的責任之一.

It is left to each writer, however, to decide upon the form in which he or she will convey those judgments to others. I myself prefer to transform them into stories - stories that tend toward the surreal. Which is why I do not intend to stand before you today delivering a direct political message.
要如何將他的判斷傳遞給他人則是每個小說家的選擇. 我自己傾向利用故事, 超現實的故事. 因此我今天將不會在此傳遞任何直接的政治訊息.

Please do, however, allow me to deliver one very personal message. It is something that I always keep in mind while I am writing fiction. I have never gone so far as to write it on a piece of paper and paste it to the wall: Rather, it is carved into the wall of my mind, and it goes something like this:
不過, 請各位容許我發表一個非常個人的訊息. 這是我在撰寫小說的時候總是銘記在心的. 我從來沒有把他寫出來, 貼在牆上; 我是把他刻在了我的內心, 這個訊息是這樣的:

"Between a high, solid wall and an egg that breaks against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg."
"在高聳堅實的牆壁和與之相撞的雞蛋之間, 我永遠會選擇站在雞蛋那一邊."

Yes, no matter how right the wall may be and how wrong the egg, I will stand with the egg. Someone else will have to decide what is right and what is wrong; perhaps time or history will decide. If there were a novelist who, for whatever reason, wrote works standing with the wall, of what value would such works be?
是的, 不管高牆多麼正當, 雞蛋是多麼的錯誤, 我總是會和雞蛋站在同一邊. 就讓其他人來決定對錯. 或許時間歷史會作出判斷. 但若一個小說家選擇寫出站在高牆那一方的作品, 不論他有任何理由, 他的作品價值何在??

What is the meaning of this metaphor? In some cases, it is all too simple and clear. Bombers and tanks and rockets and white phosphorus shells are that high, solid wall. The eggs are the unarmed civilians who are crushed and burned and shot by them. This is one meaning of the metaphor.
這個隱喻是什麼意思呢? 在大多數的情況下, 這是顯而易見的. 轟炸機, 坦克, 火箭, 以及白磷彈就是那堵高牆. 被壓碎, 燒傷, 射殺的手無寸鐵的平民就是雞蛋. 這是這個比喻的其中一層含義.

This is not all, though. It carries a deeper meaning. Think of it this way. Each of us is, more or less, an egg. Each of us is a unique, irreplaceable soul enclosed in a fragile shell. This is true of me, and it is true of each of you. And each of us, to a greater or lesser degree, is confronting a high, solid wall. The wall has a name: It is The System. The System is supposed to protect us, but sometimes it takes on a life of its own, and then it begins to kill us and cause us to kill others - coldly, efficiently, systematically.
但是，並不僅僅是這些。它還有更深一層的含義，我們來這樣考慮一下，我們中的每一個人或多或少都是一個雞蛋。我們中的每一個人都是存在於一個脆弱外殼中唯一的、不可替代的靈魂。我也一樣，對你們中的每一個人也一樣。並且，我們中的每一個人在某種程度上也面臨著一堵高大堅實的牆。這個牆有一個名字：那就是“體制”。這個體制本來是要保護我們的，但是有時候它會呈現出它自己的一面，然後就開始殘殺我們，並使我們去殘殺他人——冷酷、有效、有系統地殘殺。

I have only one reason to write novels, and that is to bring the dignity of the individual soul to the surface and shine a light upon it. The purpose of a story is to sound an alarm, to keep a light trained on The System in order to prevent it from tangling our souls in its web and demeaning them. I fully believe it is the novelist's job to keep trying to clarify the uniqueness of each individual soul by writing stories - stories of life and death, stories of love, stories that make people cry and quake with fear and shake with laughter. This is why we go on, day after day, concocting fictions with utter seriousness.
我寫小說之有一個原因，那就是要給予每一個靈魂以尊嚴，並且讓他們接受陽光的沐浴。故事的目的是一種警報, 提醒我們將一道光束找在體制上, 阻止它將我們的靈魂纏結在它的圈套中，防止踐踏我們的靈魂。我忠實地相信，小說家的職責就是通過創作故事——關於生死、關於愛情、讓人哭泣和顫慄以及讓人大笑不已的故事，讓人們意識到每一個靈魂的唯一性。這就是我不停創作的原因，日復一日，以十分嚴肅的態度創作小說。

My father died last year at the age of 90. He was a retired teacher and a part-time Buddhist priest. When he was in graduate school, he was drafted into the army and sent to fight in China. As a child born after the war, I used to see him every morning before breakfast offering up long, deeply-felt prayers at the Buddhist altar in our house. One time I asked him why he did this, and he told me he was praying for the people who had died in the war.
我的父親是在去年去世的，享年九十歲。他是一名退休教師，是一名兼職佛教高僧。他從京都的研究生院畢業後，應徵入伍，被派到中國打仗。作為一個戰後出生的孩子，每天早晨在早飯前，我總是看到他的在我家的小佛教祭壇前非常虔誠地長時間地祈禱。有一次我就問父親為什麽要這樣做，他就告訴我說，他是在為戰爭中死去的人們祈禱。

He was praying for all the people who died, he said, both ally and enemy alike. Staring at his back as he knelt at the altar, I seemed to feel the shadow of death hovering around him.
他為所有死去的人祈禱，無論是同盟還是敵人。當我看着他跪在祭壇前的背影時，我似乎感受到了縈繞在他周圍的死亡的陰影。

My father died, and with him he took his memories, memories that I can never know. But the presence of death that lurked about him remains in my own memory. It is one of the few things I carry on from him, and one of the most important.
我的父親去世了，帶著他的記憶，我永遠都不可能知道的記憶。但是環繞在他周圍的那些死亡卻留在了我自己的記憶中。這是我從他那裡學習到東西之一，也是最重要的東西之一。

I have only one thing I hope to convey to you today. We are all human beings, individuals transcending nationality and race and religion, fragile eggs faced with a solid wall called The System. To all appearances, we have no hope of winning. The wall is too high, too strong - and too cold. If we have any hope of victory at all, it will have to come from our believing in the utter uniqueness and irreplaceability of our own and others' souls and from the warmth we gain by joining souls together.
今天我之希望向你們傳達一個信息。我們都是人類，是超越國籍、種族和宗教的個體的人，我們都是脆弱的雞蛋，要面臨被稱作“體制”的堅實的牆。從外表來看，我們根本就沒有贏的希望。這堵牆太高太堅實——並且太冷酷了。如果我們有一點戰勝它的希望，那就是來源於我們對我們自己以及他人靈魂唯一性和不可替代性的信念，來源於我們對将將魂聯合起來可獲得溫暖的信念。

Take a moment to think about this. Each of us possesses a tangible, living soul. The System has no such thing. We must not allow The System to exploit us. We must not allow The System to take on a life of its own. The System did not make us: We made The System.
花一點時間來考慮這些，我們每一個人都擁有有形的生動的靈魂，而體制沒有。我們不能讓體制來剝削我們。我們不能讓體制現出它自己的一面。不是體制創造了我們，而是我們建立了體制。

That is all I have to say to you.
這就是我想要對你們說的.

I am grateful to have been awarded the Jerusalem Prize. I am grateful that my books are being read by people in many parts of the world. And I am glad to have had the opportunity to speak to you here today.
我很感謝能夠獲得耶路撒冷文學獎. 我很感謝世界各地有這麼多的讀者. 我很感謝今天可以有這個機會在此向各位發表演說.

This is one of the most powerful speech I have ever read. It also changed the way I see Murakami Haruki!!