Why should you read Edgar Allan Poe? - Scott Peeples

翻译人员: Sally Yang 校对人员: Wanna Shi

A high forehead topped by disheveled black hair,

高高的额头和蓬乱的黑发，

a sickly pallor,

病态的肤色，

and a look of deep intelligence and deeper exhaustion

一双深邃的黑眼睛里

in his dark, sunken eyes.

流露出智慧，埋藏着疲惫。

Edgar Allan Poe’s image is not just instantly recognizable –

埃德加 · 爱伦 · 坡（Edgar Allan Poe） 的外貌形象不仅让人一眼认得出，

it’s perfectly suited to his reputation.

也完美贴合他的名声。

From the prisoner strapped under a descending pendulum blade,

不断下降的钟摆刃底下被捆绑住的囚犯，

to a raven who refuses to leave the narrator’s chamber,

和栖息在主人公房里不愿离去的乌鸦——

Poe’s macabre and innovative stories of gothic horror

坡的哥特式作品构思新颖，情节恐怖

have left a timeless mark on literature.

对文学的发展产生了深远的影响。

But just what is it that makes Edgar Allan Poe

但究竟是什么让埃德加 · 爱伦 · 坡

one of the greatest American authors?

成为了美国文学伟人之一呢？

After all, horror was a popular genre of the period,

毕竟当时恐怖题材很受欢迎，

with many practitioners.

有许多人都写过。

Yet Poe stood out thanks to his careful attention to form and style.

但坡之所以鹤立鸡群， 是因为他特别注重形式和风格

As a literary critic,

作为一名文学批评家，

he identified two cardinal rules for the short story form:

他提出了短篇小说体裁的两条基本规则：

it must be short enough to read in one sitting,

短到必须能让读者一口气读完，

and every word must contribute to its purpose.

且每一个字都需推动故事的发展。

By mastering these rules,

掌握了这两条规则后，

Poe commands the reader’s attention

坡便能牢牢抓住读者的注意力，

and rewards them with an intense and singular experience –

带给读者奇特的，强烈的情感体验——

what Poe called the unity of effect.

他称其为“统一效果论”。

Though often frightening, this effect goes far beyond fear.

虽然常常使人害怕，但这个效果 带来的不止是恐惧。

Poe’s stories use violence and horror to explore the paradoxes and mysteries

坡的故事通过暴力和惊悚探索

of love,

爱、

grief,

忧郁、

and guilt,

和罪恶中的矛盾和奥秘，

while resisting simple interpretations or clear moral messages.

同时避免粗浅的解读和明确的道德讯息。

And while they often hint at supernatural elements,

虽然作品中常出现超自然元素，

the true darkness they explore is the human mind

但故事真正想要探索的黑暗

and its propensity for self-destruction.

是人的心理和自毁倾向。

In “The Tell-Tale Heart,” a ghastly murder

在《泄密的心》中，一场可怕的谋杀

is juxtaposed with the killer’s tender empathy towards the victim –

和凶手对受害者那温柔的同情并存。

a connection that soon returns to haunt him.

这份同情很快便使他得到了报应。

The title character of "Ligeia" returns from the dead

《丽姬娅》中，丽姬娅

through the corpse of her husband’s second wife –

通过丈夫的第二任妻子 的尸体起死回生——

or at least the opium-addicted narrator thinks she does.

至少吸食鸦片成瘾的 主人公是这么认为的。

And when the protagonist of “William Wilson”

《威廉 · 威尔逊》中的主人公

violently confronts a man he believes has been following him,

疯狂地对他认为在纠缠他的男人下手时，

he might just be staring at his own image in a mirror.

他或许只是面对着镜中的自己。

Through his pioneering use of unreliable narrators,

通过第一人称的不可靠叙事这一创举，

Poe turns readers into active participants

坡促使读者积极主动地

who must decide when a storyteller might be misinterpreting

去分辨叙述者是不是曲解了现实，

or even lying about the events they’re relating.

或者甚至是在故意撒谎。

Although he’s best known for his short horror stories,

众所周知，坡的短篇恐怖小说最为出名，

Poe was actually one of the most versatile

实际上，他是十九世纪文风最为多变，

and experimental writers of the nineteenth century.

最有实验精神的作者之一。

He invented the detective story as we know it,

他是推理小说的鼻祖，

with “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,”

代表作有《莫格街谋杀案》、

followed by “The Mystery of Marie Roget”

《玛丽 · 罗杰疑案》

and “The Purloined Letter.”

和《被窃之信》。

All three feature the original armchair detective,

三篇小说里都出现了 史上首位安乐椅侦探人物：

C. Auguste Dupin,

奥古斯特 · 杜平。

who uses his genius and unusual powers of observation and deduction

他发挥自己敏锐的观察力和推理能力，

to solve crimes that baffle the police.

解决了一起起让警察瞠目结舌的案件。

Poe also wrote satires of social and literary trends,

坡也讽刺过当代的文学和社会思潮，

and hoaxes that in some cases anticipated science fiction.

还写过恶作剧， 其中有些成为了科幻小说的先驱。

Those included an account of a balloon voyage to the moon,

例如一次通往月球的热气球旅行，

and a report of a dying patient put into a hypnotic trance

和一位濒死的病人被催眠，

so he could speak from the other side.

死后也能继续和催眠师对话的故事。

Poe even wrote an adventure novel about a voyage to the South Pole

坡还写过南极旅行的冒险小说

and a treatise on astrophysics,

和关于天体物理学的论文。

all while he worked as an editor,

当时他是一名杂志编辑，

producing hundreds of pages of book reviews and literary theory.

写了几百页的书评和文学理论。

An appreciation of Poe’s career wouldn’t be complete without his poetry:

提到坡的文学生涯， 自然要提到他的诗歌：

haunting and hypnotic.

令人难以忘怀，如痴如醉。

His best-known poems are songs of grief, or in his words,

他最出名的诗歌都有着哀伤的基调， 或用他的话来说：

“mournful and never-ending remembrance.”

“悲凄与永不止息的追忆。”

“The Raven,” in which the speaker projects his grief onto a bird

《乌鸦》中，主人公将自己的悲伤投射在

who merely repeats a single sound,

一只只会重复一句话的乌鸦上。

made Poe famous.

该作使得坡声誉鹊起。

But despite his literary success,

但即使在文学上成绩斐然

Poe lived in poverty throughout his career,

坡仍然一生贫困潦倒，

and his personal life was often as dark as his writing.

他的个人经历和文风一样黑暗。

He was haunted by the loss of his mother and his wife,

他的母亲和妻子 都在 24 岁那年因肺结核而去世，

who both died of tuberculosis at the age of 24.

使他受到了沉重的打击。

Poe struggled with alcoholism

坡经常酗酒

and frequently antagonized other popular writers.

也常招致其他出名作家的反感

Much of his fame came from posthumous – and very loose – adaptations of his work.

他的名声大多来自于他死后 对他的作品的一些不严谨的改编。

And yet, if he could’ve known how much pleasure and inspiration

不过，如果他知道自己的作品

his writing would bring to generations of readers and writers alike,

将带给一代又一代的读者和作者 多少乐趣和灵感，

perhaps it may have brought a smile to that famously brooding visage.

或许他那有名的忧郁的面容上 也会出现一丝微笑。