名人认知系列 文人骚客9：Maupassant: The Secret of Writing 莫泊桑：写作的秘籍

Maupassant: The Secret of Writing

莫泊桑：写作的秘籍

He always longed to make literature his career. Many critics have called him the Allan Poe of France. Many cite him as one of the progenitors¹ of the modern short story. Much of his work is celebrated² for its ability to create time, place, and character in succinct³ but rich detail. While he is best remembered for his interesting short fiction and clever novels, Maupassant also wrote a large number of poems as well as extensive travelogues⁴. His travels throughout the continent affected⁵ both his fiction and nonfiction writing, making him as a true Renaissance⁶ man.

莫泊桑一直希望能从事文学创作，许多作家称他为 法国的艾伦·坡，他也被认为是现代短篇小说的先驱。 他以简明、丰富的细节创建时间、地点和人物，许多作 品因此闻名于世。它主要因有趣、巧妙的小说为人们铭 记，但他也写过大量的诗作和游记。他踏遍欧洲大陆, 对小说和散文的创作产生了深远的影响。这标志着他是 一位真正的文艺复兴式的人物。

Maupassant’s stories range from the short tale of few pages, one or two, to a full-length novel. They expose the realities in minute detail the pretenses⁷ and vulgarity of the period’s middle class and traditional low-down of the peasants.

莫泊桑的故事篇幅长短不等，从一两页的短篇小说 到长篇小说都有涉猎。在其作品中，他细致入微地揭露 现实，揭露中产阶级的虚伪和粗俗，展现传统农民的生活真相。

His style is characterized by being simple and direct, sometimes comic and ironical⁸. His work reflects his interest in the emotional problems of all classes and his passion for women. He excelled at revealing the hidden sides of people.

莫泊桑作品的特点是简洁凝练，有时带有喜剧色彩 和讽刺意味。从作品中可以看出，他对各阶层的情感问 题很感兴趣，以及他对女性的仰慕，他擅长揭示人物的 内心世界。

His first success, and one of his best short stories, Boule de suif (“Ball of Fat，”）express the hypocrisy⁹ and ingratitude¹⁰ of the bourgeois¹¹ in the face of a heroic gesture by a woman of the streets. It was published when he was 30. Over the next ten years, Maupassant produced many brilliant works. He published around 300 short stories, novels, travel books and poems.

羊脂球》是莫泊桑第一部成功之作，歌颂了一位 妓女的英雄壮举，对资产阶级的虚伪和忘恩负义进行了 批判，这部小说在他30岁时发表。接下来的10年中, 莫泊桑创作了许多杰作。共出版了大约300篇短篇小说、游记和诗作。

However his huge success had much to do with his mentor¹², Gustavo Flaubert. Flaubert counseled his disciple¹³ in his philosophy of writing. He advised his student to write of the things that he knew about and he was to disregard any ideas of making money from his art.

然而，莫泊桑的巨大成功和他的文学导师福楼拜是 分不开的。福楼拜悉心指导莫泊桑的写作方法，建议他 写熟悉的事物，并告诫他写作是一种艺术，而不是谋生 的手段。

On language precision and conciseness¹⁴ Flaubert remarked, “No matter what it is we’re going to depict¹⁵， only one noun will do with its illustration, only one verb with the movement, and only one adjective tells it apart from others. We must keep honing and refining until we find that noun, verb or adjective. We cannot stop at being close. Neither should we refrain from difficulties and make do with similar second best words.” This is the renowned¹⁶ “one-word theory” in the world literature.

在语言的准确和精练上，福楼拜教导莫泊桑说：“我 们无论描写什么事物，要说明它，只需一个名词；要赋 予它运动，只需一个动词；要区别它的性质，只需一个 形容词。我们必须不断地推敲，直到找到这个词为止。 不能满足于差不多，不能逃避困难而用类似的词语敷衍 了事。”这就是世界文学史上所谓“一语说”的来源。

Maupassant’s great achievement in his writing career proves that the secret of writing lies in lasting¹⁷ resilience, perceptive¹⁸ observation, careful refinement¹⁹ and the exactness of language.

曰后莫泊桑在创作上取得的巨大成就证明：坚持不 懈、体察入微、精心提炼和准确使用语言确实是写作的 诀窍。

1 progenitors   

n.祖先( progenitor的名词复数 )；先驱；前辈；原本

参考例句：

• The researchers also showed that the progenitors mature into neurons in Petri dishes. 研究人员还表示，在佩特里培养皿中的脑细胞前体可以发育成神经元。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 大脑与疾病
• Though I am poor and wretched now, my progenitors were famously wealthy. 别看我现在穷困潦倒，我家上世可是有名的富翁。 来自互联网

2 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 succinct   

adj.简明的，简洁的

参考例句：

• The last paragraph is a succinct summary.最后这段话概括性很强。
• A succinct style lends vigour to writing.措辞简练使文笔有力。

4 travelogues   

n.旅行纪录片( travelogue的名词复数 )；旅行广播节目；游记；关于旅游的讲座

参考例句：

• Cartoons, newsreels and travelogues are short subjects. 动画片、新闻短片和旅行记录片都是短电影片。 来自互联网
• Dickens made a lifetime to build 14 novels, many, short stories and essays, travelogues, drama, variety. 狄更斯一生共创作了14部长篇小说，许多中、短篇小说和杂文、游记、戏剧、小品。 来自互联网

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

7 pretenses   

n.借口（pretense的复数形式）

参考例句：

• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism. 他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He obtained money from her under false pretenses. 他巧立名目从她那儿骗钱。 来自辞典例句

8 ironical   

adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironical end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• From his general demeanour I didn't get the impression that he was being ironical.从他整体的行为来看，我不觉得他是在讲反话。

9 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

10 ingratitude   

n.忘恩负义

参考例句：

• Tim's parents were rather hurt by his ingratitude.蒂姆的父母对他的忘恩负义很痛心。
• His friends were shocked by his ingratitude to his parents.他对父母不孝，令他的朋友们大为吃惊。

11 bourgeois   

adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子

参考例句：

• He's accusing them of having a bourgeois and limited vision.他指责他们像中产阶级一样目光狭隘。
• The French Revolution was inspired by the bourgeois.法国革命受到中产阶级的鼓励。

12 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

13 disciple   

n.信徒，门徒，追随者

参考例句：

• Your disciple failed to welcome you.你的徒弟没能迎接你。
• He was an ardent disciple of Gandhi.他是甘地的忠实信徒。

14 conciseness   

n.简洁，简短

参考例句：

• Conciseness is served when the sentence is so corrected. 句子这样一改就简洁了。
• The topics of Diction section include Conciseness, Repetition Simple Words, and etc. 字法单元的主题包括简洁、重复、简单的字等等。

15 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

16 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

17 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

18 perceptive   

adj.知觉的，有洞察力的，感知的

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• He is very perceptive and nothing can be hidden from him.他耳聪目明，什么事都很难瞒住他。

19 refinement   

n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼

参考例句：

• Sally is a woman of great refinement and beauty. 莎莉是个温文尔雅又很漂亮的女士。
• Good manners and correct speech are marks of refinement.彬彬有礼和谈吐得体是文雅的标志。