英语专业生_英语泛读教程__课文翻译.docx

Unit 1Genius And the Craftsman 天才与工匠Robert Frost罗伯特·弗罗斯特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 trees 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 storys 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 produce original work. Centuries of art, philosophy and science have emerged from the minds of people who may not even have suspected the inner process. It seems to me, however, that at least a degree of understanding of the creative event increases our wisdom in dealing with the emerging story by making us aware of two things.要创作出有独创性的作品，并不要求懂得创造的功能。多少世纪以来的艺术、哲学及科学创造都出自人们的头脑，而创造者也许从未想到去关注创造的内在过程。然而，在我看来，对创造工作一定程度的了解，至少会使我们通过知道两个事实，增长我们处理正在出现的故事的智慧。First, genius is not the exclusive property of the master craftsman; it is the creative function of the human mind. There is no master