晨读英语美文：The Props to Help Man Endure(2)
威廉福克纳（1897—1962），美国作家，先后创作了十几篇长篇小说和几十篇短篇小说，描述了以美国南方200年来南北战争为中心事件的社会变迁，各种家族的兴衰，各种人物的沉浮。他的小说常描写美国的黑暗面，1949年获得诺贝尔文学奖。本篇是他在接受该奖时所发表的演讲。这是一篇脍炙人口的演讲词。然而，由于福克纳本人对语言运用的独特性和精深性，所以对初学者来说，这篇美文也许颇有些难度。
Until he does so, he labors under a curse. He writes not of love but of lust, of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, of victories without hope and, worst of all, without pity or compassion. His griefs grieve on no universal bones, leaving no scars. He writes not of the heart but of the glands.
Until he relearns these things, he will write as though he stood among and watched the end of man. I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy enough to say that man is immortal simply because he will endure: that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.
The poet’s, the writer’s, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.
把情欲而不是把爱情当作写作题材，把失败当作写作题材，描写的是没有任何人损失任何价值东西的微不足到的失败，把胜利当作题材时，描写的是没有任何希望的胜利，而最糟糕的是没有怜悯和同情。悲伤不是刻骨铭心的，而是清淡描写。写的不是心灵而是分泌腺体的器官。
在人们从新了解这些之前，他们的写作态度就像无可奈何看着世界的末日到来。我拒绝接受世界末日的观点。不是简单地说人类能够持续就说人类是永恒的；当命运的最后钟声敲响，当傍晚的最后一抹红色从平静无浪的礁石退去，甚至不在有其他声音，人类的无尽的不倦声音还在争鸣，我不认输。我认为人类不仅会延续还会胜利。他是永生的，不是因为只有他在万物生灵中拥有不倦的声音，而在于他有灵魂，能够同情、牺牲和忍受的灵魂。
诗人和作家的职责就是歌颂这些。通过提升人类的心灵，提醒他们牢记勇敢、荣誉、希望、尊严和同情这些昔日的光荣，来帮助人类生存下去，这是作家的荣幸。诗人的声音不仅是人类的简单记录，而且还是能够帮助人类持续和获胜的支柱之一。
NSDA“SDcamps”全国英语演讲与辩论大赛（大学组）/SDcamps全国中小学生英语演讲与辩论大会（中小学及幼儿组）/美式辩论赛（以下简称大赛/大会）现诚招全国省市合作伙伴或城市合伙人，共同进行推广NSDA赛事品牌、举办赛事及培训活动、开展素质教育、美式营地项目等多方面合作。
我们希望认同NSDA理念，有赛事组织经验，或有教育资源，特别是有理想有热情的机构或个人一起携手，共同推广NSDA品牌、赛事及素质教育。以机构的形式，或以城市合伙人的方式均可。具体的赛事组织、盈利模式，欢迎电话或微信咨询。
微信：0012133598196
