魔鬼夜访钱锺书先生

The Devil pays a nighttime visit to Mr. Qian Zhongshu

魔鬼夜访钱锺书先生

by Jeremy Goldkorn on November 25, 2011

Jeremy Goldkorn撰稿于2011年11月25日

Scholar Christopher G. Rea is the editor of a new book of translations of Humans, Beasts, and Ghosts: Stories and Essays by Qian Zhongshu.

   Christopher G. Rea 学者是钱锺书先生小说与散文《人·兽·鬼 》新译本的编辑 .            

In an article on The China  Beat, Rea says Qian “might be called the best Chinese writer you’ve never heard of”.

在中国节拍的文章里，Rea评价钱先生称：他可能是你从未听说过的中国最好的作家了。

The book includes translations by Rea, as well as Dennis T. Hu, Nathan K. Mao, Yiran Mao, and Philip F. Williams and an introduction to Qian and his work.

该书包括由Rea，Dennis T. Hu，Nathan K. Mao，Yiran Mao,和Philip F. Williams 合作翻译正文，钱锺书先生的个人介绍和著作简介三部分。

In the China Beat post linked above, Rea provides a short biography of Qian:

上述链接在中国节拍一文中，Rea教授提供了钱锺书先生的个人自传。

One hundred years ago today, Qian was born into a scholarly family in Wuxi, Jiangsu province. Tutored in the classics from a young age, he went on to become modern China’s “foremost man of letters,” in Ronald Egan’s words, accumulating encyclopedic knowledge of Chinese and Western literatures, and putting it to use in his scholarship and creative writing.

一百年前的今天，钱锺书生于江苏省无锡市的一个书香门第。由于从他小研读中国古典文学，在Ronald Egan教授的书中，他被称为是集中西方文学的渊博知识于一身并把它运用到他的学术和创作中的，现代中国最有影响力的文学家。

A graduate of Tsinghua University, Qian studied European literature at Oxford and the Sorbonne before returning with his family to China in 1938 after the outbreak of war with Japan.

钱锺书毕业于清华大学，先后在英国牛津大学和法国巴黎大学研究学习欧洲文学，于1938年抗日战争爆发后举家回国。

While teaching at various universities in southwestern China and Shanghai during the war, Qian composed a collection of essays, Written in the Margins of Life (1941); a collection of short stories, Human, Beast, and Ghost (1946); and a novel, Fortress Besieged (serialized, 1946-1947), as well as occasional poems and reviews, and a major work of poetry criticism. In 1949 he was recruited to teach at his alma mater in Beijing, and he remained in China after the communist takeover, having turned down several job offers from abroad. In 1953, he transferred to a literary research institute based at Beijing University, which in 1977 became part of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

在战争期间，钱锺书先生辗转于中国西南部和上海的大学教书，同时于1941年撰写散文集《写在人生边上》，1946年短篇小说集《人兽鬼》，（1946-1947年）长篇小说《围城》，偶尔会写一些诗歌，评论。主要工作是写诗歌评论。1949年受聘于北京回母校执教。在新中国成立后，他曾多次拒绝国外工作邀请一直定居在中国。在1953年，他转到北京大学的文学研究所工作，该院于1977年转为中国社会科学院的分院。

Qian Zhongshu’s fate in New China was, to a certain degree, similar to that of many Chinese intellectuals. He stopped creative writing, and his research was repeatedly interrupted by political campaigns. Unusually, due to his linguistic prowess, he was assigned to an elite group tasked with translating Mao’s poetry into English. He and his wife, the scholar-writer Yang Jiang, nevertheless suffered ideological criticism and, during the Cultural Revolution, were sent to rural Henan province for “re-education” and “reform” through agricultural labor. During the cultural thaw after Mao’s death, both resumed publishing and had their long-forgotten works “rediscovered” by the Chinese public.

新中国的钱锺书的命运多多少少和许多中国知识分子一样。由于文化大革命的影响，他几度被迫停止创作。因为卓越的语言天分，他被安排在了一个精英项目组去翻译毛泽东诗集，然而，他和她的妻子杨绛（学者兼作家），都遭受了批斗，他们在文化大革命期间被发配到河南农村进行再教育和劳动改造，在毛泽东逝世文化大革命结束之后，他们两人的著作恢复出版，中国大众重新发现了他被人遗忘的著作。

This biography obscures the talent and self-possession that makes Qian’s literary and scholarly output during periods of war and political turmoil so remarkable. Widely read in modern and classical Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Greek, and Latin, Qian pioneered a new model of comparative literature that drew out resonances in cross-cultural patterns of figurative language.

这部个人传记忽略了钱锺书在战争年代和政治动乱时期，在文学和学术创作方面做出卓越成就的天赋和修养，钱锺书博览现代和古典中文，英文，法文，德文，意大利文，希腊文和拉丁文的书籍，开创了在跨文化形象语言模式产生共鸣的这一比较文学的新形式。

Below is a chapter from Humans, Beasts, and Ghosts, reproduced with permission from the publisher:

下面是由钱锺书先生授权本人翻译《人兽鬼》的一个章节。

The Devil Pays a Nighttime Visit to Mr. Qian Zhongshu

《魔鬼夜防钱锺书先生》 1

“You and I should have met long ago,” he said, taking the chair closest to the brazier.

“你我应该在很久以前就遇见的，”他拿了离火盆最近的椅子坐下说。

“I’m the Devil. You’ve been tempted and tested by me before.”

我是魔鬼，你曾经被我引诱过，试探。

“But you’re a conscientious fellow!” A sympathetic smile crossed his face as he spoke. “Even though you’ve fallen into my traps before, you haven’t recognized me. When you’ve succumbed to my temptations, you’ve only seen me as a lovable woman, a faithful friend, or a pursuable ideal. You’ve never been able to tell that it’s me. Only those who have been able to resist my temptations, such as Jesus Christ, have recognized me for who I am. But we were destined to meet today. A family was holding a commemorative vegetarian banquet involving sacrifices to spirits and ghosts, and they invited me to sit in the place of honor. I was tied up with that engagement for most of the evening and had a few too many drinks, so my vision got blurry, and while making my way back to my dark dwelling I entered your room by mistake. Electric lights in the interior provinces are a travesty — your house is as dark as Hell! But it’s colder here than where I live. There, sulfuric fires burn from morning to night, which of course would be unthinkable for you here — I hear the price of coal has gone up again.”

“ 不过，你是一个实心眼的好人！”他说话时一丝同情的微笑从脸上一闪而过，“尽管以前上过我的当，但你已经认不出我了，当你受到我的引诱时，你已经把我当成一个漂亮的女人，一个忠诚的朋友，甚至是可追求的理想。你已不能认出我来，只有那些能抵制住我诱惑的人，像耶稣基督，已经认出我是谁了。但是我们命中注定今天要相遇，有一户人家正在举行有关精神和鬼魂的纪念素食宴，他们邀请我坐在这个荣耀的地方，我几乎每天晚上都来，还要喝上几杯，所以我的眼睛都花了，在回到我那阴暗的住所的路上时，我误闯入了你的房间，内地的电灯实在是太糟了,你的房间像地狱一般黑暗，而且比我住的地方还要阴冷，我住的地方，硫磺火从早到晚点着，这一点你是想不通的--听说煤炭价格又涨了。”

Recovering from my surprise, it occurred to me that I should fulfill my duty as host. I addressed my guest, “It’s an honor to receive your midnight visit. You darken my humble dwelling!2 I only regret that I’m the only one here to receive you, and I apologize for not having prepared a better welcome! Are you cold? Excuse me a moment while I wake the servant to prepare tea and add coal to the fire.”

当我从惊诧之中愣过神来时，我突然才想到要去尽地主之谊主。我对客人说：“你的深夜来访我感到荣幸之至，使我的草屋蓬荜生黑啊，我只是后悔接待你的人只有我一人，我向你道歉准备实在是不周全啊，老人家，你冷吗？我失陪一会儿，我去叫醒佣人来沏壶茶，炉子加点柴。”

“No need for that,” he said, staying me with the utmost politeness. “I can only sit for a minute, and then I’ll be on my way. Besides, let me tell you . . .” His expression became serious, yet intimate and sincere, like a patient reporting to his doctor that he is impotent, “. . . fire can’t warm me up anyway. When I was young I wreaked havoc in Heaven by trying to usurp God’s position. I didn’t succeed, however, and ended up being cast down to suffer in the frozen depths of Hell [1] — much like how in your mortal realm the Russian tyrant exiled members of the Revolutionary Party to the Siberian tundra. The cold air has driven all the warmth in my body into my heart, making me cold-blooded amid the heat. I once sat on a heated brick bed for three days and nights, but my bottom remained as cold as a pitch-black winter night . . .”

他极其客气地说：“不必了，我只坐一会儿，马上我就上路了。另外，我要告诉你。。。”他的表情变得严肃起来，但不失真诚和和善，就像一个已经患病正在向医生汇报病情病人那样，“炉火不再能温暖我的身体，当我年轻的时候，我大肆破坏天堂，试图篡夺上帝的位置，然而没有得逞，并最终被打入寒冰地狱去受苦刑，就像沙俄暴君把革命党人流放到西伯利亚雪地一样，那里的凉气早已把我全身的热量逼入心里，让我变成了热中冷血的角色，就算我坐在火炕上三天三夜，我的屁股底下依然会像漆黑的冬夜那样寒冷。”

Surprised, I interrupted him, asking, “Didn’t Barbey d’Aurevilly also once say—”

我好奇地打断他说道：“难道Barbey d’Aurevilly没有说过......”

“Yes,” he replied with a chuckle. “In the fifth story in Les Diaboliques he mentions my unwarmable bottom. This is why one abhors celebrity! As soon as you become famous you have no more secrets to speak of. All your private affairs get publicized by interviewers and reporters, and just like that you’re deprived of your material for an autobiography or a confessional[2] Should I decide to write an account of myself in the future, I’ll have to make up some new facts.”

他微微一笑答道：“是的，他在《魔女记》第五篇里确实提到过我那无法温暖的屁股。这就是人们问什么怕出名的原因！一旦你出名了，你就不再有秘密可言，所以的私事都被记者们公布于众，这么一来，你自传或忏悔录的资料就被硬生生地夺去了。如果要在将来写一个自传的话，我非得另外捏造一些新奇的事实不可。”

“Wouldn’t that run counter to the purpose of an autobiography?” I asked.

“那不就会与写自传的初衷相悖了吗？”我问道。

He laughed again. “I never imagined that your knowledge and insight would be as pedestrian as a newspaper editorial. This is the age of the new biographical literature. Writing biographies of others is also a type of self-expression, so there’s no reason not to insert your own views or write about others as a way of showing yourself off. Conversely, autobiographers invariably don’t have much of a ‘self ’ to write about, so they gratify themselves by rendering a likeness that their own wife and child wouldn’t recognize.4 Or they ramble on about irrelevant matters, noting the friends they’ve made and recounting anecdotes about other people. So if you want to learn about a person, you should read biographies he’s written of others, and if you want to learn about other people, you should read his autobiography. Autobiography is biography.”

他又笑了笑说：“我从没有想象到你的知识和见识会像报纸编辑一样匮乏，现在是新传记文学时代了，为别人写传记也是一种自我表达形式，不妨加入自己的想法，或借别人为题来发挥自己，相反，自传作者老是没有很多的‘自我’可传，那么他们只有通过描述连他们老婆孩子都认不出来的形象来满足自己，或闲扯一些毫不相关的事情，说说自己结交的朋友，转述别人的轶事。所以，如果你想了解一个人，你应该读读他为写别人的的传记，如果你想了解其它的人，你应该读读他们的自传，自传既是个人简介。”

I couldn’t help being impressed by this, and I inquired politely, “Would you permit me to quote that line of yours in the future?”

我不由自主地佩服，因而恭恭敬敬地请求道：“您老人家能允许我将来引用你的这段话吗？”

“Why not?” he replied. “Just be sure to use the formula ‘as my friend so-and-so says.’ ”

他答道：“那有什么不可以？只要客气的说‘我的朋友某某说’就行了。”

I was delighted, and replied modestly. “You think too well of me! Am I worthy to be your friend?”

我高兴且谦虚地问道：“您太看得起我了，我配做你的朋友吗？”

His response dashed my hopes. “It’s not that I think well of you and am calling you my friend; it’s that you are attending to me and claiming that I’m your friend. When you quote the ancients in your writing, you should avoid using quotation marks to show that the words have been used before, but when you quote a contemporary, you always have to say ‘my friend’ — this is the only way to solicit friends.”

他的回答让我扫兴：“不是我夸你，叫你我的朋友；而是你给我面子把我当朋友。当你写文章时，引用到古文，不要使用引号来呈现那些话以前被用过了，当你引用同时代的句子时，你总得说'我的朋友'---这是交朋友的好办法。

Despite his frank talk, I plied him with a few more courtesies. “Many thanks for your excellent advice! I never expected you would also be such a writing expert too. You already surprised and impressed me just now with your mention of Les Diaboliques.”

尽管他这样直率，我还是以礼相待地说道：“非常感谢你的精彩建议，没有料到您对文学写作也是这样的内行，刚才谈到《魔女记》已使我佩服和惊奇了。”

His reply was almost sympathetic. “No wonder other people say you can’t escape your class consciousness. You think I’m unworthy to read books, don’t you? I may be from the lowest stratum of society — Hell — but my aspirations have always aimed upward. I’ve done a fair amount of reading in my day, especially of popular magazines and brochures, and the like. That’s why Goethe praised my spirit of progress and my ability to roll along with what the newspapers call the ‘great wheel of the age.’[3] I knew you were a man who enjoys literature, so I mentioned a few famous literary works to demonstrate that I have similar interests and expertise. Conversely, had you been a prolific writer who opposed book reading, naturally I’d change my tune and tell you that I, too, considered it unnecessary to read books . . . yours excepted. Reading your books, after all, makes me feel that life is too short — how could I have the energy to read ancient tomes? I discuss inventions with scientists, archaeology with historians, and international affairs with politicians. At art exhibitions I talk about connoisseurship and at banquets I talk about the culinary arts. But that’s not all. Sometimes I instead talk politics with scientists and art with archaeologists; after all, they don’t understand a word I say and I’m happy to let them pass off my phrases as their own. When you play the zither to an ox, you don’t need to pick a good tune! At tea parties I usually discuss cooking on the chance that the hostess will pick up on my comments and — who knows—perhaps invite me to taste her own cooking a few days later. Having muddled by like this for tens of thousands of years I’ve gained something of a reputation in this world. Dante praised me as a refined thinker and Goethe spoke of me as worldly and knowledgeable[4]. One should be proud to have attained my status! But not me.

他鼓励我道：“怪不得别人说你跳不出阶级意识。你认为我不配读书，是吧？我来自社会底层--地狱--但是我总是把目标定的很高，我每天读很多书，特别是流行杂志和小册子等类似的东西，这就是为什么歌德赞美进步的特质和与时俱进的能力。我知道你很喜欢文学，所以我提到几句美文用以说明我们志趣相投，相反地，如果你是一个反对阅读注重产量的作家，那么自然我会改变我的品位，说我也认为没有必要读那么多书，而你例外，毕竟读书让你感到生命太短--我哪有那么多精力去读那些古书啊！我与科学家讨论发明，与历史学家讨论考古，与政客讨论国际时事。在艺术博览会谈论鉴赏力，在宴会上谈论厨艺，但这只是一部分，有时候我与科学家谈政治，与考古学家谈艺术；毕竟，他们听不懂我的话，我很高兴让他们淡忘我的话，当你对牛弹琴时，就不必要选好曲子了，在品茶时我们谈论厨艺，亦许女主人听我讲得有味，过几天约我吃她自己做的菜，也未可知。这样混了几万年，在人间世也稍微有点名气。但丁赞我善于思辨，歌德说我见多识广 。你到了我的地位，又该骄傲了！”

On the contrary, I’ve grown more and more humble, often reproaching myself that, ‘I’m nothing but an underworld ghost!’[5] Like people who belittle themselves as ‘country folk,’ I worry that empty words are not enough to express my modesty, so I use my body as a symbol. A rich man’s gigantic sack of a belly signifies that he has ‘plenty in the bag,’ while a thinker’s bowed head and back arched into the shape of a question mark signifies his tendency to ask questions about everything. That’s why . . .”

恰恰相反，我已经变得越来越谦逊了，经常鞭策自己:’自己只不过是个阴间鬼罢了，就像有人自嘲自己乡巴佬一样，我怕空话不足以表达我的谦逊，所以我用自己的身体作为标志来表达。地主用他的大肚子以示肚中有物，而思想者弯背低头成个问号的形状，用以说明他对万物生疑问。这是为什么。。。。

As he spoke, he extended his right hoof for me to see the extremely high heel on his leather shoe, “. . . the shape of my legs is so incredibly inconvenient [6] — it symbolizes my modesty and ‘inferiority.’ I invented foot binding and high heels because I sometimes need to conceal my deformities, especially when I transform into a woman.”

他说话时，伸出右脚让我看，他那高跟皮鞋的根特别高，我的腿特别的不便，象征了我的谦逊和卑微，于是我发明了裹脚和高跟鞋，因为我想要掩盖我的缺陷，特别是当我变成女人的时候。

I couldn’t help asking, “Some people who have gazed upon your elegant countenance have said that the towering horns on your head look a bit like — ”

我不禁要问：“见过你的风采那些人说，你头上的角看起来有点像。。。”

“That’s right,” he cut in, “sometimes I take on the appearance of a bull[7]. This of course is also symbolic. Since bulls are often used for sacrifices, I manifest a spirit of ‘Who will go to Hell if not me?’ Furthermore, mortals love to ‘blow their own bullhorn,’ but a bull certainly can’t blow itself — at least its biological structure won’t permit it to do so. So, my bull shape is indeed a symbol of modesty. When it comes to false courtesy, I can’t compete with you scholars and men of letters. The cocky ones, instead of refusing your flattery, will accept it as if you owed them a debt, regretting only that you didn’t pay them back with interest. False modesty takes other forms too. Some will respond to your praise with protestations that they are embarrassed and unworthy, like a bribe-taking superior who, finding the bribe too small, returns it intact so that his subordinates will double it and send it again. Lender and superior alike maintain that praiseworthy people still exist in this world—at the very least they themselves. But my modesty could not be more sincere. In my view, if I have nothing to be proud of, how could other people be proud of me? Having always been cursed by others, I completely lack such vanity.

对啊，他打断我说道：“有时，我用扮成公牛，当然，这也是一个象征，因为牛总是被比作有献身精神，我是在凸显‘我不下地狱谁下地狱’的精神，而且，世人喜欢吹牛，但是牛无法自己吹自己啊，--至少，它的生理结构决定它无法那样做，因此，我牛的形象只是谦逊的表现，我不会像你们文人学士那样会假客气了，有种人洋洋自得，你吹捧他他欣然笑纳，就好像你欠了他们一笔债，只恨你不能连本带利把债还清，有些人装谦虚，他满口说惭愧不敢当，就像一个受贿的领导认为礼金太小而原数退还，那么他的部下会加倍礼金再次奉上。不管债主也好，上司也好，都相信世界上还有值得表扬的好人—至少自己就是。但我的谦虚是彻底的，如果我感到自己没什么值得骄傲的话，何况其他人呢？我经常因为被别人诅咒，我已经没有这种虚荣心了。”

However, although I’m not a writer, many literary works have come about because of me. On that score, I’m more like . . .” He spoke without a trace of embarrassment — the nerve! The only color on his black face was reflected from the burning red coals in the brazier. “. . . a beautiful woman who doesn’t actually write poems herself but inspires countless love-struck poets to use their broken hearts—no! — their broken throats to sing her praises. Byron and Shelley, for instance, both wrote poems inspired by me[8]. The packs of lies one often finds in newspapers and magazines also owe to my influence.”

然而，虽然我不是作家，许多文学作品因我而产生，在那点上，我更像。。。他毫不尴尬地说道，真亏他：在他黑暗的脸上唯一的颜色在火盆中红红的炭火闪烁，我颇像一个漂亮的女人，从未写过诗但激发了无数痴情的诗人的灵感，用他们破碎的心，不，用他们的喉咙唱出他们的赞美。就像拜伦和雪莉，他们被我鼓舞写诗，人们常常在报纸和杂志上看到的那些谎言也是因为受了我的影响。

“I’m impressed you have the energy,” I remarked. “Newspapers around the globe are talking about nothing but war. At a time like this, shouldn’t you be busy putting your destructive arts to work on massacres and invasions? How did you find the time in your busy schedule to come chat with me?”

我评论道：“真的佩服你的活力，全世界的报纸都在谈论战争。此时此刻，难道你不该施展你的破坏艺术，忙着屠杀和侵略，你怎么有时间和我聊天呢？”

“You mean to send me on my way, don’t you?” he asked. “Well, I should be leaving. I forget that nighttime is when you mortals rest. We’ve chatted our fill today, but I still want to set you straight on a few things. You do me wrong by saying I’m involved in war. I have a peaceful disposition and absolutely oppose the use of military force. In my view, everything can be resolved with treaties. Just look, for instance, how civilized Dr. Faustus and I were when he swore a blood oath sealing the contract to sell me his soul![9] I used to be inclined to violence, but after my coup failed and I was expelled from Heaven I took my underlings’ advice and accepted that a battle of wits is better than a battle of strength[10]. Since then, I’ve substituted temptation for fighting. As you know, I’m in the soul business. God selects a portion of mankind’s souls and the rest fall to me. Who could have guessed that during these past few decades business would be so light I’d be supping on underworld wind? In the past, human souls could be divided into the good and the bad. God would keep the good souls, and I would buy and sell the bad ones. The mid-nineteenth century, however, suddenly saw a great transformation. Apart from a small minority, almost no humans had souls, and those who did were all good people who fell under God’s domain. Soldiers have souls, for example, but their souls ascend directly to Heaven, so nothing is left for me. Modern psychologists promote ‘soulless psychology,’ a field that would never have emerged in ancient times, when everyone had souls. Now, even if there are a few souls left over from the ones God has selected, they’re usually smelly and filthy. If they don’t reek of laboratory medicine they’re either covered in a layer of dust from old books or stink of money. I’m of a fastidious temperament, and I refuse to pick up leftovers from the rubbish heap. Bad people exist in the modern era too, of course, but they’re so bad they have no personality or character; they’re as inert as inorganic matter and as efficient as machines. Even poets disappoint me. They go on and on about baring their souls, but once they’ve finished baring them nothing is left over for me. You think I’m busy, but I’m so idle I’m going stir-crazy. I, too, am one of the unemployed — a sacrificial object of modern material and mechanized civilization. Plus, I’m burdened with heavy family responsibilities: I have seven million offspring to support[11]. I do still have social engagements, of course—someone of my level of prestige always does. Tonight I came from a dinner. In times like these I don’t have to worry for lack of dinner invitations; I just find it depressing that people don’t let one use one’s talents to earn a meal.”

他说：“你是要打发我走，对吗？好吧，我这就走，我忘了你们凡人半夜都是要休息的，我们今天聊得很投机，可是，我还要叮嘱你几件事，你说我喜欢战争，那就错了，我性格温和，绝对不赞成使用武力或暴力，我想一切都能协商解决，比如，看一下Faustus博士和我是怎样的文明，当他在卖他的灵魂的契约上用鲜血发誓时候。我过去倾向于使用暴力，但在我失败后，被从天堂打入地狱，听取的建议，觉得斗智比斗勇要好，从那以后，我改头换面，我主要负责地狱的生意，上帝选一部分人的灵魂，剩下的归我。谁能想到最近这几十年生意是那么惨淡，我只能喝风了，古代，人们的灵魂可以有好坏之分，上帝收留好的灵魂，我来卖那些坏的灵魂，在十九世纪中叶，突然发生了重大变化，除了几个少数人，几乎没有人有灵魂了，那些有灵魂做好事的人的灵魂都到上帝那去了，”列如，战士们有灵魂，但是他们的灵魂升到天堂了，所以就没有给我剩下什么了，现代心理学家推崇‘无灵魂心理学’，在古代就没有这种说法，那是人们都有灵魂，现在即使有一些上帝挑剩的灵魂，他们通常是又臭又脏的了，如果他们不是散发出实验室的药味，就是旧书覆盖着或散发出钱的铜臭，我是对人非常挑剔的，我可不想从垃圾堆捡这些破烂，现代人也有坏人，当然，他们是如此的糟糕以至于没有什么性格特点；他们对无机物反应迟钝，精通机器操作，甚至现代诗人让我也很失望，他们一直暴露自己的灵魂，可是他们的灵魂完全暴露之后，就没有什么可以留给我了，你想我很忙的，但有时也会无所事事，甚至快被逼疯了，我也是一个没有固定职业的，现代物质生活和机械化文明的牺牲品。还有，我肩负沉重的家庭责任：我有七百万子子孙孙要养活，我还是会有应酬，当然，像我这样有声望的人，不会没有应酬的，今晚我来之前刚吃过晚饭，像我这样的人不必为晚餐发愁；我想人们不愿用自己的才能去换饭吃，实在是郁闷。 1

He said no more. His loneliness filled the air, reducing the warmth of the brazier. I was about to ask him about my own soul when he abruptly stood up and announced he was off. Wishing me a good night, he said that we might have a chance to meet again. I opened the door and saw him out. The boundless darkness of the night awaited him in silence. He stepped outside and melted into it, like a raindrop returning to the sea.

他不再说了，房间里满是凄凉，也降低了炉火的温暖，当他突然站了起来要走的时候，我想问他我的灵魂的事情，他说我们我们后会有期，并祝我晚安。我开了门看着他出去，那无尽的黑夜正在静静地等着他，他走进黑暗的夜里，然后像雨水融入大海那样消失在夜空。

You can buy Humans, Beasts and Ghosts from Columbia University Press or Amazon.

你可以从哥伦比亚大学或亚马逊网买到《人兽鬼》这本书

Wikipedia has an entry devoted to Qian, including some good links

维基百科列有钱钟书的词条包括一些优秀的网上链接。

Recommend on Facebook Buzz it up Share on Linkedin Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post Tell a friend[1] Book 1 of John Milton’s Paradise Lost describes how the Devil was demoted for having rebelled and created a disturbance in Heaven. Canto 34 in Dante’s Inferno says that the Devil suffers in ice. ?

参考文献如下：[1]密尔顿《失乐园》第一卷就写魔鬼因造反，大闹天堂被贬。但丁《地狱篇》第二十四 句写魔鬼在冰里受苦

[2] Gar?on and Vinchon’s Le diable, for example, collects a number of popular tales about the Devil. ?

[2]像卡尔松与文匈合作的《魔鬼》（Garcon&Vinchon:LeDiable）就搜集许多民间关于魔鬼的传说

[3] In the “Witch’s Kitchen” section in part 1 of Goethe’s Faust, the witch blames the Devil for changing his form and the Devil replies that since world civilization constantly renews itself, he changes to keep up with it. ?

[3]歌德《浮士德》第一部巫灶节，女巫怪魔鬼形容改变，魔鬼答谓世界文明日新，故亦与之俱进

[4]

In canto 27 in The Inferno the Devil calls himself a logician. In the “Study” section in part 1 of Faust, the Devil says that although he is not omniscient, he is quite experienced and knowledgeable. ?

[4]《地狱篇》第二十七句魔鬼自言为论理学家。《浮士德》第一部《书斋节》魔鬼自言虽无所不知，而见闻亦极广博

[5] Both Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Devil’s Thoughts” and Robert Southey’s “The Devil’s Walk” describe the Devil using politeness and modesty to cover up his pride. ?

[5]柯律治《魔鬼有所思》、骚赛《魔鬼闲行》二诗皆言魔鬼以谦恭饰骄傲。

[6] On the Devil’s lame foot, see Alain-René Lesage’s Le diable boiteux and Daniel Defoe’s The Political History of the Devil, part 2, chap. 4. ?

[6]魔鬼跛足，看勒萨日（Lesage） 《魔鬼领导观光记》（LeDiableBoiteux）可知。又笛福（Defoe）《魔鬼政治史》 （PoliticalHistoryoftheDevil）第二部第四章可知

[7] Regarding the Devil’s frequent manifestation in the form of a bull, Psalms 106 in the Old Testament says that the heretics made a bull statue, which they worshipped. In later eras it was said that the Devil appeared in the form of a goat, which Defoe describes in detail. ?

[7]魔鬼常现牛形，《旧约全书?诗篇》第十六篇即谓祀鬼者造牛像而敬之。后世则谓魔鬼现山羊形，笛福详说之

[8] The preface to Southey’s long poem “The Vision of Judgement” says that Byron and Shelley were both demonic poets. ?

[8]骚赛《末日审判》（VisionofJudgmen）长诗自序说拜伦、雪莱皆魔鬼派诗人

[9] Christopher Marlowe’s The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus records that Faustus pricked his arm and wrote the entire contract in blood. ?

[9] 马洛（Marlowe） 《浮士德》（Faustus）记浮士德刺臂出血，并载契约全文

[10] See Paradise Lost, book 2. ?

[10]见《失乐园》第二卷。

[11] Johann Weyer’s De praestigiis daemonum records that the number of little devils totals 7,405,926. ?

[11]魏阿《魔鬼威灵记》（JohannWeier:DePraestigiisDaemonium）记载小鬼数共达7,405,926.