Will the real Fernando please stand up? - Ilan Stavans

翻译人员: Jing Quan 校对人员: suya f.

On November 30th, 1935, dozens of writers passed away.

1935 年 11 月 30 日， 数十位作家去世。

They came from different backgrounds, espoused divergent beliefs,

他们有不同的背景， 拥护不同的信念，

and wrote in a variety of styles.

并以各种风格写作。

Yet all of their work was stashed in a single trunk

然而，他们所有作品都藏在葡萄牙里斯本

in an apartment in Lisbon, Portugal.

一间公寓的单个后备箱里。

So, what mysterious string tied all these writers together?

那么，是什么神秘之绳将 所有这些作家联系在一起呢？

Well, the trunk belonged to one enigmatic author, Fernando Pessoa,

后备箱属于一位神秘的作家 费尔南多·佩索阿，

who was, in fact, all of them.

实际上他就是“所有作家”。

Some authors use pseudonyms and pen names

一些作者使用化名和笔名

to protect their identities or bolster their artistic personas.

来隐藏自己的身份或增强艺术个性。

But Pessoa used what he called “heteronyms” to write not as himself

但是佩索阿用他所谓的 “异名” 来写作，不是以他个人视角写作，

but as other people he invented,

而是以他发明的其他人的视角写作，

giving way to generative, artistic experimentation.

让位于创造性的艺术实验。

He fleshed out their imagined lives, devised their distinct quirks,

他充实了他们想象的生活， 设计了他们独特的怪癖，

and cultivated their unique literary voices.

培养了他们独特的文学表达方式。

Sometimes Pessoa's heteronyms interacted with each other,

有时佩索阿的异名相互交流，

even criticizing one another's work.

甚至批评彼此的作品。

Pessoa described himself as a “nomadic wanderer through [his own] consciousness,”

佩索阿形容自己是 “ [ 自我 ] 意识里的 “游牧流浪者”，

“a kind of medium,” “divided” among his heteronyms.

“一种媒介”，在他的异名中“分裂”。

“But,” he wrote, “I’m less real than the others,

“但是，” 他写道，“我没有 其他人那么真实，

less substantial, less personal, and easily influenced by them all.”

没那么坚定，没那么个性化， 很容易受到所有人的影响。”

Born in Lisbon in 1888, Pessoa began writing as different people

佩索阿于 1888 年出生于里斯本， 在大约六岁时

when he was around six years old,

开始以不同的身份写作，

authoring letters as an imaginary Frenchman, Chevalier de Pas.

以虚构的法国人舍瓦利尔德·帕斯 的身份撰写信件。

When Pessoa’s stepfather moved their family to South Africa,

当佩索阿的继父带领家人搬到南非时，

Pessoa picked up new languages.

佩索阿学会了新的语言。

He adopted several English-language heteronyms in high school

他在高中时采用了几种英语异名，

and published booklets of poems featured by the British press.

并出版了由英国媒体精选的诗歌小册子。

In 1905, Pessoa returned to Lisbon for good.

1905 年，佩索阿永久回到里斯本。

He gained a reputation for his formal dress, affinity for the occult,

他因其正式着装、对神秘学的热爱

and for being cordial and charming while always keeping people at arm’s length.

以及亲切而迷人的同时 始终与人保持距离而赢得了声誉。

Pessoa established art and literary journals and a publishing house.

佩索阿创办了艺术和文学期刊 以及一家出版社。

But while these public ventures failed to take off

但是，虽然这些公共企业未能腾飞，

and Pessoa amassed debt and relocated frequently,

并让佩索阿负债累累、屡屡搬迁，

his greatest experiments were unfolding in private.

但他最伟大的实验是在私下进行的。

Scrawling in various languages on envelopes, book jackets and loose papers,

佩索阿用各种语言在信封、 书套和松散的纸张上乱写，

Pessoa crafted a dreamy love letter as Maria José,

佩索阿以玛丽亚·何塞的身份 精心设计了一封情书

a teenager with a spinal disorder who was infatuated with a metalworker;

她患有脊柱疾病并迷恋一位金属工人。

he scribbled detective stories as Horace James Faber;

他以贺拉斯 ·詹姆斯·费伯 的身份写侦探故事；

and analyzed astrological charts as Raphael Baldaya.

并以拉斐尔·巴尔达亚的 身份分析占星图。

He used three heteronyms most frequently.

他最常使用三个异名。

Alberto Caeiro was a shepherd-poet who used simple diction

阿尔贝托·凯罗是一位牧羊人诗人， 他用简朴的话语

to describe the world as he saw it.

来描述他所看到的世界。

Ricardo Reis, a doctor, favored the epic style of Classical poets.

里卡多·雷斯是一名 偏爱古典诗人的史诗风格的医生。

And Álvaro de Campos, a bisexual naval engineer and nomad,

双性恋海军工程师和 游牧民族阿尔瓦罗·德·坎波斯

wrote poetry extolling the wonder and hardship of daily life.

会写诗歌赞美日常生活中的奇迹和艰辛。

Using de Campos, Pessoa said he could channel all the emotions

佩索阿说通过德坎波斯，他可以 传达自己否定的所有情绪。

he denied himself.

And at one point, de Campos claimed it was Pessoa who didn’t truly exist.

有一次，德坎波斯声称 真正不存在的是佩索阿。

During his lifetime,

在佩索阿的一生中，

Pessoa published poems, letters, essays, and literary criticism—

他发表了诗歌、信件、 散文和文学批评——

some as heteronyms, others under his own name.

有些是异名，也有用他本名写的。

He also produced a handful of books, just one in Portuguese—

他还创作了几本书， 只有一本是葡萄牙语的——

a poetry collection about Portugal’s mythic history called “Message.”

一本关于葡萄牙神话历史 的诗集，名为《信息》。

He gained local recognition,

他获得了当地的认可，

but the full scope of his creative endeavours only revealed itself

他的全部成果得以显现

when Pessoa died a year after the book’s release.

是直到书发行一年后佩索阿去世时。

From among almost 30,000 pages of unpublished work stashed in his trunk,

整理藏在他行李箱中的 近3万页未出版的作品，

critics eventually assembled “The Book of Disquiet” in 1982,

评论家最终在 1982 年 汇编了《不安之书》，

which Pessoa spent two decades developing.

它是佩索阿创作二十年的心血。

It declares itself, in typically cryptic fashion,

它以典型的神秘方式宣称自己

“the autobiography of someone who never existed.”

是 “一个从未存在过的人的自传”。

Pessoa wrote it as the fictional diary of his so-called semi-heteronym,

佩索阿把它写成了他所谓的半异名

Bernardo Soares,

伯纳多·苏亚雷斯的虚构日记，

whose personality he described as a “mere mutilation” of his own.

他形容他的性格是 他自我的 “纯粹的残害”。

Often frustrated by life’s demands,

本书的叙述者常对生活的要求感到沮丧，

the book’s narrator explores how delving inwards through literature

探讨了如何通过文学深入研究

helps him escape reality’s confines.

帮助他摆脱现实的局限。

He continuously challenges conceptions of the self as a singular, reliable unit—

他不断挑战自我作为一个单一、 可靠单位的观念，

instead grappling with identity as indefinite,

而不是努力将身份视为不可定义的，

each person a shifting sum of their parts.

每个人是各部分变化的总和。

“My soul is a hidden orchestra,” the first entry reads.

序言写道：“我的灵魂是 一支隐藏的管弦乐团。”

“I do not know what instruments, what violins and harps,

“我不知道是什么乐器、小提琴或竖琴、

drums and tambours sound and clash inside me.

鼓或手鼓，在我内心响起并交织在一起

I know myself only as a symphony.”

我只知道自己是一首交响曲。”