E. B. White: Most Companionable of Writers
E.B.懷特：最好的良師益友

From bbc.co.uk 譯/陳繼龍

On 11 July, 1899, a baby boy entered the world full of promise and hope. Then his parents named him Elwyn Brooks White. Under this name, he became the world-famous author of Charlotte's Web, co-author of The Elements of Style and "number-one wheel horse" for The New Yorker. E. B. White is adulated as one of the most skillful masters of the English language of the 20th Century, and possibly several other centuries as well.

Elwyn

Elwyn was the youngest of Samuel Tilly White and Jessie Hart White's brood of six in Mt Vernon, New York, a suburb of Manhattan. Elwyn was an anxious little boy who did not like school, but loved boats and writing, and did enjoy playing with musical instruments and the barnyard animals kept behind his huge home.

Elwyn's teenage years can be summarized in a similar way to his childhood ones: he tried hard, did his best and worried that it wasn't good enough. He left for Cornell University in 1917. Cornell was a good place for a young writing man. Elwyn quickly rose through the ranks of The Cornell Daily Sun to become Editor-in-Chief. The best thing that happened to him was the acquisition of a nickname. The college's first president had been Andrew White, and all those surnamed "White" in Cornell forever after were nicknamed "Andy". Andy happily used his new name for the rest of his life.

Andy

Following graduation, Andy bounced unhappily between newspaper and writing jobs. He was shy, lacked confidence and applied high standards to himself.

In Seattle, Andy became a journalist for The Seattle Times, but was unsuited for the job because his writing took a humorous slant on news events while tragedies upset him so much he couldn't write about them at all. The editor finally gave him a daily column to himself, and Andy filled it with humorous paragraphs in the style of many literary columns of the 1920s:

We Answer Hard Questions:

Sir: What does it take to become a successful businessman?

Answer: A successful business.

EBW

On 19 February, 1925, Andy purchased the first issue of a new magazine called The New Yorker. It promised to be funny, satirical and literary. Andy immediately started sending pieces in. Among his first published contributions, there was a casual essay describing his reaction when a waitress spilled a glass of buttermilk on him that changed his life. Andy described how, with composure and dignity, he comforted the waitress, paid for the soup and even left her a tip. The readers loved it. Andy discovered that "the world would pay a man for setting down a simple, legible account of his own misfortunes". For most of the rest of his career, Andy published steady accounts of his own misfortunes, to popular acclaim.

In the summer of 1925, the magazine's editor, Harold Ross, hired a young married lady named Katherine Sergeant Angell. Katherine was intelligent, confident and a born leader. When she urged him to hire the writer who signed his pieces "EBW", Ross didn't hesitate.

EBW did hesitate. He refused to join full-time because he lacked faith in his ability to make a living as a writer. Years into his career he was liable to disappear to Maine for vacation without any warning.

Voice of The New Yorker

"Newsbreaks" were column-fillers consisting of news items from other papers. Andy's job was to add a pithy punch line to the newsbreak, something his subtle sense of humor was aptly suited for.

Ross soon learned that "there was practically no purpose to which words could be put that White was unable to master", and soon Andy was writing Notes and Comments, Talk of the Town, casual essays, light verse, reviews, advertisements and cartoon captions.

Andy heeded two important pieces of advice in his writing: Omit needless words and Just say the words. He aimed for unaffected simplicity and straightforwardness, always sympathising with the reader. His prose is clear, honest and beautiful. He wrote playfully, he wrote satirically, he wrote seriously and sometimes forcefully, but he rarely wrote fiction, and never tried to arouse in his reader terror, hate, passion or yearning. Still, there is no denying his mastery over metaphor, word choice and sentence structure.

Making the Most Beautiful Decision of His Life

Andy couldn't recall when he became infatuated with Katherine, but said he’d been half in love with her for a long time. He wooed her silently but not wordlessly with poems. But Katherine still hoped to salvage her marriage which was in a shambles. Accordingly, she and Andy eventually agreed to limit their interaction strictly to business.

By late 1928, Andy had mastered all the writing required of him for The New Yorker and felt like he was stagnating. He turned Talk of the Town over to a colleague and joined a friend at a Canadian summer camp while Katherine was acquiring a divorce in Reno, Nevada. When he returned in late September, he and Katherine tentatively picked up their relationship, and the two were soon talking marriage. Andy was naturally hesitant. Katherine was a divorced mother of two and seven years older than he was. But finally Andy made a decision.

Andy later called it "the most beautiful decision of his life" and remained a doting husband until the day he died. Katherine returned the sentiment and supported Andy through his emotional ups and downs.

Making Strides

The New Yorker struggled through World War II, but in late 1943 Ross recalled the Whites to New York out of desperation for writers. In return, Ross agreed to allow Andy to write more sober and opinionated Notes and Comments pieces. This he did, and Notes and Comments became a voice of reason through some of America's more tumultuous days.

For quite a while Andy had been thinking about writing a children's book. Back in New York, he settled down to compile one. In 1945, Stuart Little was published to lousy reviews. It became a bestseller.

For quite a while, Andy was almost happy. Usually, he was highly critical of his work, terrified of being stuck in a rut and depressed about his accomplishments. Now he had proof that he’d done something worthwhile.

《夏洛的網》英文版封面

As a final bolster to his self-esteem, Charlotte's Web hit the bookstores in October, 1952 and was an instant runaway bestseller. It remains one of the best-selling children's books of all time.

The result was more fame than the quiet, shy Andy knew what to do with. At first, he accepted a few awards and honorary degrees, but he soon learned to turn them all down. The only medal he actually felt proud to receive was the Presidential Medal of Freedom, though he later wrote that he wasn't sure what to do with it; a drawer seemed unnecessarily obscure, while casually tossed on the hall table seemed ostentatious.

Aging Gently

In 1957, the Whites retreated back to Maine, where Andy revised The Elements of Style, published The Points of My Compass, a collection of previously printed essays; wrote The Trumpet of the Swan, another children's book; and allowed Charlotte's Web to be made into a film.

Andy aged gently. For him, a happy moment was perching on the back porch stairs babysitting some goslings. He enjoyed telling funny stories about the antics of Jones, his "sad neurotic dog—just like his master" to his family over a martini. He answered bags of fan mail from children around the world and edited newsbreaks for The New Yorker.

Katherine died in 1977. A crushed and phobic Andy composed her funeral service, but didn't attend it. He continued to live on his farm and write until arthritis and cataracts made that impossible.

One day Andy came in from the barn, worried about a knock he’d received to his head. Within weeks, he developed a form of dementia and was bedridden. His son Joel visited him daily.

[Joel] would read aloud to his father and discovered that he enjoyed listening to his own writings, though he wasn't always clear about who the author was. Sometimes he’d raise a hand and impatiently wave a passage away: not good enough. Other evenings he’d listen until the end ... and then ask again whO'd written these words. "You did, Dad," Joe said. There was a pause and Andy said, "Well, not bad."

—Roger Angell in Let Me Finish

On 1 October, 1985, E.B. White died. Today, E.B. White is remembered best for Charlotte's Web and The Elements of Style, but his efforts are scattered across libraries throughout the English-speaking world and his legacy lives on in the front of The New Yorker.

1899年7月11日，一個大有前途和希望的小男孩來到了這個世界。他的父母給他取名為埃爾溫·布魯克斯·懷特。用這個名字，他成了舉世聞名的作家，寫下了《夏洛的網》，與人合著了《風格的要素》，并成為《紐約客》頭號敬業的撰稿人。對E·B·懷特，人們不吝溢美之詞，稱贊他為20世紀甚至可能是數百年來最精通英語的語言大師之一。

埃爾溫

塞繆爾·蒂莉·懷特和杰茜·哈特·懷特居住在紐約曼哈頓近郊的弗農山，埃爾溫是他們六個孩子中最小的一個。埃爾溫的孩提時代是在焦慮不安中度過的，他不喜歡學校，卻偏愛劃船和寫作，喜歡擺弄樂器，喜歡和他家大宅后院飼養的那些動物一起嬉戲。

青少年時期的埃爾溫和孩提時代沒什么兩樣：他很努力，凡事都全力以赴，卻總擔心不夠完美。1917年，他離開家進了康奈爾大學。對于一個愛寫作的年輕人而言，康奈爾大學是一個好去處。在《康奈爾太陽日報》，埃爾溫很快得以晉升，成為主編。他遇到的最美妙的事就是獲得了一個昵稱。康奈爾大學的第一任校長是安德魯·懷特，之后，這所大學所有姓“懷特”的人都被冠上了一個昵稱——“安迪”。在接下來的人生中，安迪一直愉快地沿用這個新名字。

安迪

畢業后，安迪一邊在報業中謀職，一邊從事寫作，兩下奔波，并不快樂。他靦腆，缺乏自信，但對自己的要求卻很高。

安迪

在西雅圖，安迪成了《西雅圖時報》的一名記者，但他并不適合這項工作，因為他在采寫新聞事件時愛用詼諧的語言，而面對那些悲劇，他總是感到非常不安，結果連一個字也寫不出來。最后，編輯專門為他開設了一個每日專欄，安迪采用20世紀20年代眾多文學專欄的風格，在這個專欄中寫滿了幽默的文字：

我們解答疑難問題：

某男士：怎樣才能成為一名成功的生意人？

回答：把生意做成功。

EBW

1925年2月19日，安迪買到了一本新生雜志的創刊號，這本雜志叫《紐約客》。該雜志聲稱其兼具娛樂性、諷刺性和文學性，安迪旋即開始給它投稿。在他最初發表的幾篇稿件中，有一篇改變了他一生的隨筆，描寫的是一位女侍者將一杯脫脂乳灑在他身上后他的反應。安迪描寫了當時他如何鎮靜自若而且不失莊重地安慰那位女侍者，付了湯錢，甚至還給了她小費。讀者們很喜歡這篇文章。安迪發現，“這個世界不會虧待一個用淺顯易懂的方式記述自己倒霉事兒的人”。在他之后職業生涯的大多數時間里，安迪定期發表關于他倒霉事兒的記載，贏得了廣泛贊譽。

1925年夏，該雜志的編輯哈羅德·羅斯聘用了一位名叫凱瑟琳·薩金特·安杰爾的年輕已婚女子。凱瑟琳聰明，自信，是一個天生的領導者。她竭力勸說羅斯將這個在投稿中署名“EBW”的作者招至麾下，羅斯毫不猶豫地答應了。

EBW卻拿不定主意了。他不愿做全職，因為他對于自己靠寫作來謀生的能力缺乏信心。在他多年的職業生涯中，他時不時地都會消失，毫無預警地跑到緬因州去度假。

《紐約客》之聲

“新聞熱點”是屬于專欄補白性質的板塊，里面都是摘自其他報紙的新聞。安迪的工作就是給熱點新聞加上一段簡潔有力的點睛妙語，而他敏銳的幽默感用于此可謂恰到好處。

羅斯很快就認識到，“幾乎沒有懷特玩不轉的字句”（譯注：意指他是寫作全才，什么樣的文章都能游刃有余。）。不久之后，懷特開始寫“且注且評”、“城中話題”、隨筆、輕松詩（譯注：如幽默詩、打油詩、滑稽詩）、評論、廣告詞以及漫畫配圖文字。

安迪在寫作時注意提醒自己要做到兩點，那就是：絕無廢言，惜墨如金。他行文講求真摯自然，簡潔樸實，直截了當，而且心中總是體諒讀者的感受。他的散文清靈、真誠而優美。他的文筆時而調侃，時而挖苦，時而嚴肅莊重，時而鏗鏘有力，只是他很少寫小說，也從未想過在他的讀者中激起恐怖、仇恨、憤怒或者憐憫的感覺。盡管如此，他對隱喻和遣詞造句的精妙把握卻是不爭的事實。

畢生最美的決定

安迪回憶不起自己是什么時候迷戀上凱瑟琳的，但他說在很長的一段時間里，他都對她抱有近乎愛意的感情。他的愛意表達是無聲的，卻不是無言的，他給她寫情詩。但凱瑟琳仍舊希望挽救自己已經支離破碎的婚姻。于是，她和安迪最終達成一致：雙方的來往絕對僅限于公務。

到1928年年底，對《紐約客》要求他撰寫的所有文章，安迪都已經能游刃有余。他感到自己陷入了一種停滯不前的狀態。于是，他將“城中話題”交給了同事，和一位朋友一起參加了一個加拿大夏令營。與此同時，凱瑟琳正在內華達州里諾市辦理離婚。9月底返回后，安迪和凱瑟琳嘗試著重新開始交往，很快，兩人就到了談婚論嫁的程度。安迪有些猶豫，這也很自然，畢竟凱瑟琳比他年長7歲，是一個離了婚的母親，還帶著兩個孩子。不過最終，安迪還是做出了決定。

后來，安迪稱這個決定是“他一生中最美的決定”，并且直到他去世的那一天，他都是一個對妻子寵愛有加的丈夫。凱瑟琳也以情相報，在他情緒起伏不定的日子里，一直都支持著他。

漸入佳境

二戰時期，《紐約客》陷入了困境，不過1943年年底，出于對作家的絕望，羅斯將懷特一家召回到了紐約。作為回報，羅斯允許安迪撰寫更多嚴謹審慎且能抒發他一己之見的“且注且評”文章。如此一來，在美國那些較為喧囂浮躁的年代里，“且注且評”讓人們聽到了理性的聲音。

長久以來，安迪一直在考慮寫一本兒童書籍。回到紐約后，他便開始埋頭撰寫。1945年，《精靈鼠小弟》出版，反響如潮，成了暢銷書。

在很長一段時間里，安迪幾乎成了一個快樂的人。通常情況下，他對自己的作品要求極為苛刻，唯恐墨守成規，并且對自己的才能感到沮喪。而現在，他終于證明自己做了一些有價值的事情。

1952年10月，《夏洛的網》開始在各個書店銷售，并且不費吹灰之力便迅速成為暢銷書，這終于使他的自尊心得以增強。這本書至今仍然是最暢銷的兒童書籍之一。

安迪的名聲因此越來越大，文靜、靦腆的他不知該如何應對。起初，他接受了幾個獎項和榮譽學位，但他很快就學會了統統拒絕。唯一令他感到可以自豪地接受的獎章是“總統自由勛章”，不過后來他也曾寫到，自己還是不確定該怎么對待這枚勛章。放在抽屜里似乎顯得不太起眼，也沒必要這么做，而隨意地將其置于大廳的桌子上，則似乎又顯得招搖了。

漸漸老去

1957年，懷特一家人回到了緬因州，在那兒，安迪修訂了《風格的要素》，出版了先前刊印作品的選集《我的羅盤指針》；寫下了另一部兒童書籍《吹小號的天鵝》，并授權將《夏洛的網》拍成了電影。

《風格的要素》英文版封面

《吹小號的天鵝》英文版封面

安迪漸漸老了。對于他來說，坐在后院門廊的臺階上看管幼鵝的時光是幸福的。他喜歡一邊喝著馬提尼酒，一邊將瓊斯的滑稽動作當作有趣的故事講給家人聽。瓊斯就是他那只“哀傷的、有點神經質的狗—恰似他的主人”。他為世界各地兒童粉絲寄給他的大量信件寫回信，還為《紐約客》編輯新聞熱點。

1977年，凱瑟琳去世了。安迪傷心欲絕，感到害怕，他妥善安排了殯葬事宜，卻沒有出席她的葬禮。他仍舊住在他的農場里，并且筆耕不輟，直到關節炎和白內障讓他再也無法寫作為止。

有一天，安迪從谷倉那兒回到家，心里擔心著剛才頭上被撞的一擊。幾個星期以后，他就患上了一種癡呆癥，從此臥床不起。他的兒子喬爾每天都去看望他。

（喬爾）會大聲地為父親讀書，發現他愛聽自己寫的作品，雖然他并不總是清楚作者是誰。有時候，他會舉起一只手，不耐煩地要求跳過某個段落—覺得不夠好。而有些晚上，他會從頭聽到尾……，然后再次詢問這是誰寫的。“是您，爸爸，”喬爾說。停頓了一會兒，安迪說：“嗯，還不錯。”

——羅杰·安杰爾《容我了卻心愿》

1985年10月1日，E·B·懷特與世長辭。今天，E·B·懷特留給人們最深的記憶是《夏洛的網》和《風格的要素》，但事實上，他的成就已遍布全世界英語國家的圖書館，而他遺留下來的文風仍然在《紐約客》雜志最重要的位置延續著。