誤讀

海明威諾貝爾獎致答辭，一九五四年十二月十日： (第54屆諾貝爾獎頒獎典禮，海明威人在古巴，因病不克出席。他寫了一篇致答辭，央請美國駐瑞典大使 John M. Cabot 代為宣讀。

「我不善辭令，缺乏演說的才能，只想感謝阿佛雷德‧諾貝爾評委會的委員們慷慨授予我這份獎金。沒有一個作家，當他知道在他以前不少偉大的作家並沒有獲得此項獎金時，能夠心安理得領獎而不受之有愧。

這裏無須一一列出這些作家的名字。在座的每個人都可以根據他的學識和良心提出自己的名單來。要求我國的大使在這兒宣讀一篇演說，把一個作家心中所感受到的一切都說儘是不可能的。 

一個人的作品中的一些東西可能不會馬上被人理解，在這點上，他有時是幸運的；但是它們終究會十分清晰起來，根據它們以及作家所具備的點石成金的本領的大小，他將青史留名或被人遺忘。

寫作，在最成功的時候，是一種孤寂的生涯。作家的組織固然可以排遣他們的孤獨，但是我懷疑它們未必能夠促進作家的創作。

一個在稠人廣中成長起來的作家，自然可以免除孤苦寂寥之慮，但他的作品往往流於平庸。而一個在岑寂中獨立工作的作家，假若他確實不同凡響，就比須天天面對永恒的東西，或者面對缺乏永恒的狀況。

對於一個真正的作家來說，每一本書都應該成為他繼續探索那些尚未到達的領域的一個新起點。他應該永遠嘗試去做那些從來沒人做過或者他人沒有做成的事。這樣他就有幸會獲得成功。如果已經寫好的作品，僅僅換一種方法又可以重新寫出來，那文學創作就顯得太輕而易舉了。

我們的前輩大師們留下了偉大的業績，正因為如此，一個普通作家常常被他們逼人的光輝驅趕到遠離他可能到達的地方，陷入孤立無助的境地。

作為一個作家，我講的已經太多了。作家應當把自己要說的話寫下來，而不是講出來。再一次謝謝大家。」

「Having no facility for speech-making and no command of oratory nor any domination of rhetoric, I wish to thank the administrators of the generosity of Alfred Nobel for this Prize. No writer who knows the great writers who did not receive the Prize can accept it other than with humility. There is no need to list these writers. Everyone here may make his own list according to his knowledge and his conscience. It would be impossible for me to ask the Ambassador of my country to read a speech in which a writer said all of the things which are in his heart. Things may not be immediately discernible in what a man writes, and in this sometimes he is fortunate; but eventually they are quite clear and by these and the degree of alchemy that he possesses he will endure or be forgotten. Writing at its best is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the writer's loneliness, but I doubt if they improve his writing. He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone, and if he is a good enough writer, he must face eternity or the lack of it each day. For a true writer, each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with good luck, he will succeed. How simple the writing of literature would be if it were only necessary to write in another way what has been well written. It is because we have had such great writers in the past that a writer is driven far out past where he can go, out to where no one can help him.I have spoken too long for a writer. A writer should write what he has to say and not speak it. Again I thank you.」