是恩古吉·瓦·提安哥[1]胡安·戈伊蒂索洛[2]还是阿多尼斯[3]在过去的几周里，失眠的作家们深更半夜地向他们熟睡的另一半嘀咕这个名单的某种版本，琢磨着又一个诺贝尔奖要去不该去的地方，也就是说花落别家而不是被自己收入囊中。（即使得了奖，竞争的火焰也不能平息。虽然索尔·贝娄于1976年获得了诺贝尔文学奖，但据说之后的每个10月他都愁眉苦脸的，因为一个人只能拿一次奖。）并不是只有那些成功获得提名的明日之星们才会嘀咕，几乎每位健在的作家，有个文字处理器就认为自己有机会得奖。（埃德蒙.威尔逊[4]说，詹姆斯.瑟伯[5]希望诺贝尔奖能颁给幽默作家，哪怕只有一次；不难预见，他始终无缘领奖台。）

今年的诺贝尔奖于上周四揭晓，获奖者是秘鲁小说家、学者马里奥·巴尔加斯·略萨，他虽然不是北美作家（又不是），但在北美也算耳熟能详。之后，所有人都向他致意，甚至那些吵吵嚷嚷的左翼评论家们也不得不承认这是实至名归的。略萨著作等身，广受好评。（如《城市与狗》、《酒吧长谈》和已经搬上荧幕的《胡里亚姨妈与作家》和《小山羊的节日》）他还是个有社会责任感的人。（曾竞选秘鲁总统，不过失败而归）略萨的私生活更是多姿多彩，他曾经与另一位诺贝尔奖得住大打出手，此人就是跟他一样有着令人印象深刻的三节名字的加布里埃尔.加西亚.马尔克斯，双方交恶的起因据说与略萨夫人有关。这样一来，这次的奖不仅成为略萨事业上的光环，也为贾维尔-巴尔登[6]或安东尼奥·班德拉斯[7]下一部电影提供了很好的蓝本。（“比起拉丁美洲魔幻现实主义文学，他们唯一更看重的就是——女人的名誉。”）

今年的诺奖说明一个问题，那就是诺奖像人一样，是有自己的DNA的。如果诺贝尔文学奖不是以阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔命名，而是以他的好友，大英雄、大作家维克多.雨果命名，应该会更加发人深省。诺贝尔和雨果在巴黎有过交情，并且二人都与当时经营沙龙的朱丽叶.亚当.蓝波结下了友谊。（雨果曾说从诺贝尔的漫游经历来看，他是欧洲最富有的流浪汉。）雨果并不像福楼拜和詹姆斯那样，兼作家与艺术家于一身，但在那个时代，他就是文学的良心——他干预时政，力促改革。如果是作为“维克多.雨果奖”的得主，所有的奖都拿得合情合理。不论是辛波斯卡那样矜持的抒情诗人还是奈保尔那样忧郁的旅行家，亦或是容易受排挤的作家，如赛珍珠和辛克莱·刘易斯，他们都对社会有着清晰的认识，有参与世界大事的意愿，有描写现实和进行创作的冲动，然而那些没得奖的作家，大多是只注重遣词造句而不关心人间疾苦的人。略萨最新的一本书《城市与狗》正是对雨果的《悲惨世界》的研究，这也许并非巧合。

上周的奖还说明，不管诺贝尔奖的价值遭到怎样的质疑，它在我们心中依然是至高无上的。无论落选者多少次用同病相怜的人自我安慰——连马塞尔·普鲁斯特[8]，WH奥登[9]，纳博科夫[10]都没得到奖，我宁愿跻身他们的行列也不愿与埃里克.阿克塞尔.卡尔费尔德[11]和亨里克.彭托皮丹[12]为伍，但是只要瑞典文学院肯抛出橄榄枝，我们还是会欣然接受。你或许以为有些获奖者并非一流，会降低诺奖的档次，就好比总是把奥斯卡奖颁给《普通人》、《烈火战车》之流的影片，奥斯卡的含金量不是会打点折扣吗？然而事实恰恰相反：越把著名的奖颁给不被看好的候选人，就越抬高了它的价值。

这似乎应验了一个关于价值的魔鬼理论：人们总认为奖项是熠熠生辉，完美无缺的。如果不该得奖的人得了奖，败坏的只是他们自己的名声。只有我们得奖的时候，世界才恢复了正常的秩序。我们把错误归咎于作家，而不是奖项本身。为什么会这样呢？一个残酷的理论就是：文学奖的目的不是嘉奖那些当之无愧的人，而是在圈内引发讨论和争议。把奖颁给什么布罗德斯基[13]，什么米沃什[14]，什么沃尔科特[15]，其出人意料，就像一个新来者破天荒地在曼哈顿找到一间精装公寓，唯有这样，游戏才能继续。

人们之所以如此珍视文学奖，真正的原因在于，颁奖与写诗的目的密不可分。飞鸟为压过其他鸟而鸣，诗人为胜过其他人而歌。最古老的七弦琴不经意地一拨，文学的意义向来就在于比赛，在于得到认可。抒情诗之父品达，就把取胜看作第一要务，从那之后，我们就秉承了橄榄球比赛中在得分区跳舞庆祝的精神。贺拉斯什么都讽刺，就是不讽刺自己对于名誉的贪婪。弥尔顿悼念利西达斯，不是称赞他的成就超越了任何奖项，而是惋惜他英年早逝没来得及拿奖。再精明睿智的人也会在斯德哥尔摩现身，发表一番获奖感言。写诗的一大动机，是报复弃你而去的恋人，但相比之下，名声，荣誉，桂冠，这些更能引发做诗的激情。（即便是身后之名，也可以看作是我们睡着时得的奖，而且我们不用再为究竟谁得奖而伤脑筋，留给别人去嘀咕吧。）

在过去的十年中，文学界的一条金科玉律终于被打破了，而且声音有些刺耳。那就是萨缪尔.约翰逊博士所说的：“人们写作就是为了钱，除非他是傻瓜。”而现在，互联网上充斥着那些仅仅为了出名而写作的人，他们可不都是傻瓜。但相反的一条规律：人们写作就是为了得奖，却经久不衰。写作是为了什么？为了有朝一日得到斯堪的纳维亚人颁给你的奖？你连他们是谁都不知道，而且他们的品味总是倏忽不定。但这显然就是答案，起码作家们的夫人是这样想的，而且，在无眠的九月，她们会有切身的体会。

第一届方重翻译奖

汉译英一等奖译文

Does life afford us more pleasure than pain, or the reverse is true? Nobody has ever attempted an evaluation as such. Since "misery starts at literacy", I suppose "life isn't a bed of roses" may be a relatively accurate and vivid portrait of the life of those who are not so muddleheaded. Indeed, happiness is a long shot, whereas unhappiness is always a fixed target throughout our life time.

Let's take something extraordinarily ordinary for instance!

It won't be too joyful when you open your eyes in the morning only to find the weather is awful. In actual fact, unless it is raining daggers, a bad weather, which is not infrequent, does not matter a farthing. Yet the weather invariably affects the mood in one way or another, be it sunny or gloomy. Hardly can anybody feel at ease in the doldrums where the sky is never clear but overspread with leaden-grey clouds.

Then you finish your monotonous breakfast frowning. Such a humdrum may seem impeccable in the sense of filling the belly, yet human beings are distinct from fodder-feeding livestock after all. Humans are dainty eaters who tell their likes and dislikes from appetite, mood, taste or even texture. Admittedly, "food handed out in contempt" is hard to swallow. Likewise, "eating according to the size of the bowl" can barely arouse one's appetite. As a consequence, no one can wear a smile at the thought of working himself into the ground all day long only to live from hand to mouth.

The road of life is often more bumpy than smooth. It is just how it is; it is nearly the fate of the vast majority.

Now it's time to get dressed, which is even more troublesome. You keep changing clothes, mainly to please the eyes of the public rather than to please your own body. You fail to keep abreast of the latest fashion that hits the street; the astonishingly mutable messes up your mind and afflicts your soul. You end up dressing in an extremely discreet manner only for the sake of others, since staying ahead in the fashion world incurs gossip whereas failing to grasp the fashion trends invites ridicule. How tedious and tough it is to strike a perfect balance in life!

Getting dressed is enough to make you feel constrained, nerve-racking and unable to be your own master, let alone the infinite distractions out there awaiting you. Alright, now it's time to work.  Whether taking a bus or riding a bike, once outdoors, the push and squeeze will invariably ruin your day. Theoretically, the world is big enough to accommodate you. Nevertheless, it seems that no one is willing to leave you a tiny bit of land, nor does the result feeling of being redundant gives off a glow of happiness on your face.

Does there exist anything more simple, ordinary and inescapable than clothing, food, shelter and transport?

By the same token, there must be numerous bumps and hollows awaiting you to stumble over, bruised and battered, on your way to this society. As negative thoughts accumulate, such an over-examined life may well wear you out.

What should you do then?

If you don't wish to break down or end your life; if you are unwilling to be a gladiator to fight for your fate; if you will not be resigned to indulging yourself in melancholy like a silkworm confined to its cocoon, the best option is to spare no effort in search of happiness and build your own ideal world.

Do not be too hard on yourself.

Keep it in mind, your happiness and your world are your own property!