纽约时报 曾红极一时的詹姆斯·鲍德温(3)

 

    What once felt poetically¹ exaggerated, of course, can now feel prophetic.

    当然，那些人们曾认为被诗意夸大的东西，现在可以被视为预言。

    Baldwin was a disquieting² tremor³ that would agitate⁴ generations — a role he seemed acutely aware of, even at the lowest ebbs⁵ of the public's attention.

    鲍德温的存在就像令人不安的震动，会让几代人激动不已——他似乎敏锐地意识到了这一作用，即使是在公众注意力最低的时候。

    "I was right about what was happening in the country," he said in his final interview, with the poet Quincy Troupe⁶ in 1987.

    他在1987年接受诗人昆西·特鲁普的采访时（这是他最后一次接受采访）表示，“我对这个国家正在发生的事情的看法是正确的。

    "What was about to happen to all of us really, one way or the other."无论以何种方式，我们所有人即将遭遇的事情都会发生。”

    He could be merciless both on and off the page, having decided⁷, at some point, not to rely on the approval of any audience, white or Black.

    无论在台上还是台下，他都可以毫不留情，因为他在某个时刻决定不依赖任何观众的认可，无论是白人还是黑人。

    "Do you think there's still a chance for today's Black writer?"“你认为今天的黑人作家还有机会吗？”

    he is asked by a young boy, in the part of the "20/20" segment when he speaks with children at a police athletic⁸ league in Harlem.

    这是在《20/20》节目中，他在哈莱姆区一个警察体育联盟与孩子们交谈时，一个小男孩问他的问题。

    "There never was a chance for a Black writer," Baldwin replies, taking the boy's chin in his hand.

    鲍德温手捧着男孩的下巴回答说，“黑人作家从来没有机会。

    "A writer, Black or white, doesn't have much of a chance. Nobody wants a writer until he's dead."一名作家，无论是黑人还是白人，都没有太多机会。没有人需要作家，除非他已不在人世。”

    Watching James Baldwin in a 10-minute TV segment from the 1970s isn't necessarily revelatory;看到詹姆斯·鲍德温在20世纪70年代一个10分钟长的电视片段中亮相，并不一定具有启示意义；he is much as we know him today, the same exacting⁹ genius.

    如同我们今天对他的认知一样，他还是那个要求严格的天才。

    But it comes with the reminder¹⁰ that he was reaching for some truths that would outlast¹¹ the country's interest, or lack thereof.

    但这同时提醒人们，他当时在寻求一些真理，这些真理会比国家利益更持久（或缺失）。

    The 7-year-old child Baldwin is addressing, you might notice, is only a year or two older than George Floyd would have been.

    你可能注意到，和鲍德温讲话的这名7岁孩子，当时只比乔治·弗洛伊德大一两岁。

    For many in the America of 1979 — after Jim Crow, after the Voting Rights Act — Baldwin's insistence¹² that "nothing has changed" might have felt tired.

    对于1979年美国的许多人来说，在《吉姆·克劳法》和《选举权法案》出台之后，鲍德温仍坚称“什么都没有改变”可能会让他们感到厌倦。

    But as of last year, the nation seemed open, again, to the idea that history has not stopped compulsively repeating itself.

    但截至去年，美国似乎再次对“历史没有停止强制重演”的想法持开放态度。

    Baldwin, for all the pessimism¹³ he could convey about America, ultimately recognized the nation as part of a seismic¹⁴, global change.

    尽管鲍德温对美国的情况持悲观态度，但他最终还是承认美国是一场翻天覆地的全球变革的一部分。

    "When I was a kid," he said in a 1984 Paris Review interview,他在1984年接受《巴黎评论》的采访时表示，

    "the world was white, for all intents and purposes, and now it is struggling to remain white — a very different thing."“当我还是个孩子的时候，无论出于何种意图和目的，世界是白人的天下，但现在世界正在艰难维持这种白人天下的模式——这是完全不同的情况。”

    He had lived in Europe for years, but understood it to no longer be the frame of reference for civilization or literature.

    他曾在欧洲生活多年，但他明白欧洲不再是文明或文学的参照系。

    "It's a fascinating time to be living," he said. "There's a whole wide world which isn't now as it was when I was younger."他表示，“我们目前所生活的时代令人着迷。如今这个广阔的世界与我年轻时有着天壤之别。”

1 poetically   

adv.有诗意地，用韵文

参考例句：

• Life is poetically compared to the morning dew. 在诗歌中，人生被比喻为朝露。 来自辞典例句
• Poetically, Midsummer's Eve begins in flowers and ends in fire. 仲夏节是富有诗意的节日，它以鲜花领航，在篝火旁完美落幕。 来自互联网

2 disquieting   

adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The news from the African front was disquieting in the extreme. 非洲前线的消息极其令人不安。 来自英汉文学
• That locality was always vaguely disquieting, even in the broad glare of afternoon. 那一带地方一向隐隐约约使人感到心神不安甚至在下午耀眼的阳光里也一样。 来自辞典例句

3 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。

4 agitate   

vi.(for,against)煽动，鼓动；vt.搅动

参考例句：

• They sent agents to agitate the local people.他们派遣情报人员煽动当地的民众。
• All you need to do is gently agitate the water with a finger or paintbrush.你只需要用手指或刷子轻轻地搅动水。

5 ebbs   

退潮( ebb的名词复数 )； 落潮； 衰退

参考例句：

• When the tide ebbs it's a rock pool inhabited by crustaceans. 退潮时，它便成为甲壳动物居住的岩石区潮水潭。
• The new Russia steadily ebbs away drive out of Moscow. 驶离莫斯科愈来愈远以后，俄罗斯崭新的景象也逐渐消失。

6 troupe   

n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团

参考例句：

• The art troupe is always on the move in frontier guards.文工团常年在边防部队流动。
• The troupe produced a new play last night.剧团昨晚上演了一部新剧。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

9 exacting   

adj.苛求的，要求严格的

参考例句：

• He must remember the letters and symbols with exacting precision.他必须以严格的精度记住每个字母和符号。
• The public has been more exacting in its demands as time has passed.随着时间的推移，公众的要求更趋严格。

10 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

11 outlast   

v.较…耐久

参考例句：

• The great use of life is to spend it doing something that will outlast it.人生的充分利用就是为争取比人生更长久的东西而度过一生。
• These naturally dried flowers will outlast a bouquet of fresh blooms.这些自然风干的花会比一束鲜花更加持久。

12 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

13 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

14 seismic   

a.地震的，地震强度的

参考例句：

• Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves.地震产生两种地震波。
• The latest seismic activity was also felt in northern Kenya.肯尼亚北部也感觉到了最近的地震活动。