The Hemingway You Didnot Know
歐內斯特.海明威：老爹的傳奇人生

By Chris 譯/辛獻云

Fifty years after his death, Ernest Hemingway remains a commanding presence in the literary world. His works annually sell well into the seven figures, and several of his astounding 27 books and 50+ short stories are considered to be masterpieces of American literature. Even the finest works of fiction pale in comparison, however, to Papa Hemingway's real life. His exploits are legendary: winner of both the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes, world class sports fisherman, big game hunter, boxer, war correspondent … the list goes on. Leaving the criticism of his literature for the pros, let's instead take a look at the amazing life of the man himself. His life was filled with the grand adventures that fill the dreams of many young boys and grown men alike.

Hemingway the Sportsman

As an accomplished outdoorsman, Hemingway was equally at home both stalking a lion through Africa's long grass and cruising the Gulf Stream in search of marlin. Hemingway had learned how to handle a gun at a young age and was an accomplished hunter. His interest in the sport varied between pheasant and duck shooting out West to big game safaris in East Africa. Hemingway's love for safari was very clear in his uncontainable excitement in planning his second major hunt in 1954: "Going back to Africa after all this time, there's the excitement of a first adventure. I love Africa and I feel it's another home, and any time a man can feel that, not counting where he's born, it is where he's meant to go."

海明威在狩獵

During this second safari Hemingway became quite the professional hunter. The local game warden even left him temporarily in charge of the district he was quartered in. Hemingway loved the post and spent most of his days sorting out problem lions and elephants at the request of the local farmers.

Yet while Hemingway loved hunting, it was when he had a rod in his hand that he was truly successful. It was from the deck of the Pilar that Hemingway famously landed the largest marlin caught to date in 1935, weighing an astonishing 1,175 lbs. Truly, his greatest exploit by his own reckoning may very well not have been his literary achievements, but his success with rod and reel.

Hemingway the Boxer

Hemingway had practiced the sweet science since childhood and at one point was a successful amateur boxer. Following one of his victories in a fishing tournament in Bimini, the locals who had participated became angered at his ability to better them in the fish waters they had fished their entire lives. Seeing an opportunity to combine his passions, he offered the locals a chance to win back their lost money. The terms were simple: go toe to toe with old Papa in the ring for three rounds and win, and the money would be theirs. The first challenger, a man who locals claimed could "carry a piano on his head", made it only a minute and a half before the 35 year old Hemingway put him on the deck. The next three challengers suffered a similar fate, and Ernest went home with his prize money.

Hemingway's love for boxing was unmatched by his other passions, and he even had a boxing ring built in the backyard of his Key West home. He often dedicated his time not spent writing in Key West to boxing.

Hemingway's love of the sport carried over into the literary world as well. Several of his works reflect his love for the sport, including short stories Fifty Grand and The Battler, and the novel The Sun Also Rises.

Hemingway the War Hero

As a young man, Hemingway served with the Red Cross on the Italian Front in World War I. Originally, he had sought to enlist in the Army, but poor eyesight barred his admittance, leading him to take a position with the Red Cross as an ambulance driver instead. Not long after arriving at the Italian Front Hemingway was seriously wounded. While delivering chocolates and cigarettes to soldiers on the line, he was hit by trench mortar fire, leaving over two hundred shrapnel fragments in his leg and nearly destroying his knee. Despite this gruesome injury, Hemingway managed to drag another injured soldier to safety, having stuffed the cigarettes he was carrying into his own wounds to temporarily stop the bleeding. Hemingway was to receive the Silver Medal of Military Valor from the Italian government for his courageous actions that day.

海明威受傷復原中

Much later in life, Hemingway left again for Europe to see the action of World War II as a war correspondent. No stranger to action, Hemingway joined the Royal Air Force on bombing raids and followed infantry divisions around Europe wherever the fighting was heaviest. He witnessed the D-Day invasion from a landing craft just offshore and recorded many of the horrors of the war. Hemingway went on to take a much more active role in the combat he was there to document, often assuming the role of soldier himself in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions’ guidelines for war correspondents. In the chaos of war, Hemingway allegedly went on to form his own unit, which inexplicably had twice the firepower and alcohol rations of all other units, no doubt Papa's doing. An investigation into his actions during the war by the Army later charged him with several violations of his non-combatant status, including actions such as stripping off his non-combatant insignia and posing as a colonel in order to lead a French resistance group into battle.

Several high ranking friends testified on his behalf, and at the end of the investigation he was not only cleared of all charges, but was awarded the Bronze Star for Bravery as a war correspondent. Colonel Lanham, a close friend, noted: "He is without question one of the most courageous men I have ever known. Fear was a stranger to him."

Hemingway the Survivor

Perhaps most unbelievable of all Hemingway's exploits was the sheer number of potentially fatal diseases and accidents he survived. Aside from the remnants of fragment in his leg left over from the World War I mortar hit, he also bore a bullet wound in his leg. This was the result of a self inflicted gunshot, an accident that occurred while trying to finish off a still thrashing shark he had dragged aboard while shark hunting. Hemingway's more severe injuries and ailments came later in life. In his later years he survived pneumonia, skin cancer, hepatitis, diabetes, high blood pressure, and several major injuries.

During his last safari in East Africa, he survived two plane crashes. News of the first crash, deep in the jungles of Uganda, set off reports of his death back home, spawning numerous obituaries which Hemingway would later read daily over his morning coffee with amusement. The second crash, following just several days after the first, was much more severe, and Hemingway was severely injured as a result. He suffered from a laundry list of injuries, including first degree burns, internal bleeding, ruptured kidney, ruptured spleen, ruptured liver, etc. Quite the ordeal, yet Hemingway managed a smile for the reporters waiting at his evacuation point, saying to them "my luck". Not a month later Hemingway was back in action, this time receiving second degree burns on his left hand and face while fighting a wildfire.

He survived all this and lived to tell the tale.

Hemingway the Legend

Hemingway's life experiences provided the source material for his literary works, and much of his life can be seen reflected in his fiction. The male protagonists in so many of his stories share both his machismo and his hidden pains, yet always exhibited grace under pressure. As he himself said: "In going where you have to go, and doing what you have to do, and seeing what you have to see, you dull and blunt the instrument you write with. But I would rather have it bent and dulled and know I had to put it on the grindstone again and hammer it into shape and put a whetstone to it, and know that I had something to write about, than to have it bright and shining and nothing to say."

Critics during and after his lifetime tried to paint Hemingway as overly macho, claiming that his public persona was merely an act. Through reading his works and the biographies written about him by close friends, it becomes clear that Ernest Hemingway was not acting. He was, in fact, one of the most genuine men who ever lived. He lived life as he wished, never missing opportunities and never forsaking his passions. Perhaps he is best summed up by actress Marlene Dietrich, a close friend: "I suppose the most remarkable thing about Ernest is that he has found time to do the things most men only dream about. He has had the courage, the initiative, the time, the enjoyment to travel, to digest it all, to write, to create it, in a sense. There is in him a sort of quiet rotation of seasons, with each of them passing overland and then going underground and re-emerging in a kind of rhythm, refreshed and full of renewed vigor."

在去世50年之后，歐內斯特·海明威在文學世界中依然保持著重要的地位（編注：英文原文刊發于2009年8月）。他的著作每年的銷售量都在七位數以上。他一生著有27部著作和50余篇短篇小說，部部作品無不令人稱奇，其中有些著作和篇目被視為美國文學的典范之作。然而，若和老爹海明威的現實生活相比，哪怕是他最優秀的小說也會相形失色。海明威的一生有著傳奇般的成就：普利策文學獎和諾貝爾文學獎的雙料得主、世界一流的垂釣運動愛好者、大型獵物狩獵者、拳擊手、戰地記者……他的頭銜不勝枚舉。關于他作品的文學批評就留給專業人士去做吧，現在我們來探究一下他本人充滿傳奇色彩的人生。他的一生充滿驚險與刺激，是許多男人——無論是少年還是成年人——夢寐以求的人生。

漁獵高手海明威

海明威擅長戶外運動。無論是在非洲的深草叢中圍捕獅子，還是游弋在墨西哥暖流上搜捕槍魚，他都應對自如、游刃有余。海明威年紀輕輕就學會了用槍，是個技能嫻熟的獵人。他的狩獵興趣相當廣泛，近到去美國西部獵取野雞和野鴨，遠到去東非進行大型狩獵旅行。1954年，在計劃進行第二次大規模狩獵活動時，他掩飾不住興奮的心情，寫道：“回到闊別已久的非洲，激動的心情不亞于第一次來這里冒險時的感受。我愛非洲，我覺得這里就是我的另一個家。一個男人，無論生于何地，一旦有這種感覺，那就說明這是他注定要去的地方。”海明威對狩獵旅行的熱愛在這樣的興奮表述中坦露無遺。

在第二次狩獵旅行中，海明威成了一名相當專業的獵手。當地的狩獵法執法官甚至將海明威所居住的獵區臨時交給他來管理。海明威非常喜歡這個工作，在當地農民的請求下，他把大部分時間都花在了驅趕禍害莊稼的獅子和大象上。

海明威在基維斯特釣魚

然而，盡管海明威酷愛打獵，他真正的成功卻是在手握釣竿的時候。他曾有過一次遠近聞名的捕魚經歷。1935年，他在“比拉號”漁船上成功地捕獲了一條重達1175磅的槍魚，這條令人嘆為觀止的大魚是截至當時被捕獲的最大的一條槍魚。的確，在他個人看來，他一生最輝煌的事跡很可能不是他在文學領域的成就，而是他在垂釣方面的成功。

拳擊手海明威

海明威小時候就開始練習拳擊這門“甜蜜的科學”，一度是一名非常成功的業余拳擊手。在比米尼群島舉行的一次釣魚錦標賽上，海明威屢屢得勝。在其中一次獲勝之后，當地的一些參賽者開始憤憤不平起來，他們不服氣：在他們終日捕魚的這片水域，海明威竟然有能力超過他們。海明威把眾人的怒氣看成是一次機會，他想趁此把自己的不同愛好結合起來，于是便提出可以給那些當地人一個機會，讓他們贏回獎金。條件非常簡單：在拳擊場上和老爹面對面打三個回合，如果他們贏了，獎金就是他們的。第一個挑戰者據當地人說“能夠用頭頂起一架鋼琴”，但只堅持了一分半鐘就被35歲的海明威擊倒在拳擊臺上了。另外三名挑戰者的命運也都大同小異。于是，海明威帶著他的獎金得意而歸。

拳擊是海明威的最愛，其他愛好皆不能與之相比。在他位于基維斯特的家的后院里，他甚至還搭建了一個拳擊場。在基維斯特的家里，每當不寫作時，他的時間往往都花在拳擊上。

海明威也將他對拳擊運動的喜愛帶到了文學世界。他的好幾部作品都反映了他對拳擊的熱愛，包括短篇小說《五萬美金》和《拳擊手》以及長篇小說《太陽照常升起》。

戰斗英雄海明威

第一次世界大戰期間，海明威參加了意大利前線的紅十字會，當時他還很年輕。其實，他原本是極力要參軍的，但由于視力不好未被錄取。于是，他只好加入紅十字會，成了一名救護車司機。到達意大利前線不久，海明威就受了重傷。在給前線士兵運送巧克力和香煙時，他被迫擊炮炸傷，腿上留下了兩百多片炮彈碎片，整個膝蓋幾乎都廢掉了。雖然身受重傷，但他卻成功地將另一名受傷的戰士拖到了安全的地方，自己則把運送的香煙塞在傷口上以暫時止血。后來，意大利政府為他頒發了軍隊英勇銀質勛章，以褒獎他那天的英勇行為。

中年以后，海明威又一次進入歐洲，這一次他作為戰地記者來親眼目睹二戰戰事。海明威對戰事并不陌生，他加入了英國皇家空軍的一系列空襲行動，又追隨步兵師跑遍了整個歐洲。哪里戰事最激烈，哪里就有他的身影。在離海岸不遠的一艘登陸艇上，他親眼目睹了盟軍在諾曼底登陸當日的登陸過程，記錄了戰爭中的許多恐怖場景。接下來，海明威在他采訪和紀錄的一些戰斗中扮演了更為積極主動的角色，常常擔負起一名士兵的職責。而這顯然直接違反了《日內瓦公約》中對戰地記者行動的有關規定。據說，在當時戰爭的混亂局面中，海明威組織了一支自己的作戰隊伍。而且，這支隊伍居然不知從哪里搞到了比其他所有作戰單位多一倍的火力和酒類配額。毫無疑問，這肯定是老爹的“功勞”。后來，軍方組織了一個調查組，專門調查他在戰爭期間的所作所為，指控他多次違背了自己作為非戰斗人員應遵守的規則，包括撕掉他的非戰斗人員徽章，以及假冒上校領導法國的一支抵抗組織進行戰斗。

海明威在意大利米蘭

他的幾個高級軍官朋友在調查中為他做了有利證詞。在調查結束時，軍方不但撤消了對他的所有指控，還向他頒發了戰地記者的英勇青銅星章。他的一位好朋友蘭海姆上校說：“毫無疑問，他是我所認識的最勇敢的人之一。他從不知恐懼為何物。”

大難不死的海明威

在海明威的所有輝煌成就中，最令人難以置信的是他多次大難不死，一次又一次從致命的疾病和事故中逃生。除了第一次世界大戰中迫擊炮彈在他腿上留下的殘余彈片外，他腿上還受過一次槍傷。這次槍傷是他自己用槍走火造成的，事故發生在他獵捕鯊魚的時候。當時，他已將鯊魚拖到甲板上，但鯊魚還是不停地掙扎，他試圖用手槍干掉那頭鯊魚，卻失手傷了自己。在人生的后半段，海明威又經歷了各種各樣更為嚴重的外傷和疾病。晚年時，他先后得過肺炎、皮膚癌、肝炎、糖尿病、高血壓，并多次遭遇嚴重外傷，但他一次次都死里逃生。

在他最后一次前往東非的狩獵之行中，他遭遇了兩次飛機失事，但都幸運脫險。第一次墜機事故發生在烏干達叢林深處，消息傳到美國，人們紛紛報道他已死亡的消息，許多報刊都登了訃告。這些訃告后來成了海明威每天早上一邊喝咖啡、一邊讀著玩兒的消遣讀物。就在第一次墜機事故發生僅僅幾天后，又發生了第二次墜機事故。這次事故要嚴重得多，海明威因此身受重傷。他受的傷簡直可以開一個長長的清單，包括一度燒傷、內出血、腎臟破裂、脾臟破裂、肝臟破裂等等。雖然身受疼痛的折磨，海明威還是對在救援現場等待的記者們露出了一個微笑，對他們說：“我真幸運。”之后，不出一個月，海明威就又開始狩獵活動了。這一次，他遇到一場野火，在滅火過程中，他的左手和臉部被燒成二度燒傷。

這一切事故和傷痛都沒能要了海明威的命。他活了下來，親口向世人講述他的故事。

傳奇人物海明威

海明威一生的經歷為他的文學創作提供了豐富的素材，他的許多人生經歷都在小說中得到了反映。在他的許多短篇小說中，男主人公既有他的男子氣概，也有他的內心痛苦，然而在壓力之下卻又總能從容不迫，坦然承受。正如他自己所言：“人都有自己的必去之所、必做之事和必見之物。在這一過程中，你用以寫作的工具也許會變鈍，不再鋒芒畢露。但是，我情愿它折彎、變鈍，心里明白我必須將它再次放在磨石上，打造成型，用砥石磨光，但知道自己仍有東西可寫，也不愿意把它保養得光鮮照人，而我卻無話可說。”

在海明威的生前身后，總有一些評論家試圖將他描繪成一個過分追求男子氣概的人，聲稱其公共形象只是在裝模作樣。但在讀了他的作品和其好友寫的有關他的傳記之后，我們能清晰地看出，歐內斯特·海明威并不是在演戲。事實上，他是一個活得最真實的人。他過的是自己想過的生活，從不放過任何機會，也從未舍棄過自己熱愛的東西。也許，他的好朋友、演員馬琳·迪特里希的話是對他一生最好的總結：“我認為歐內斯特最突出的特點在于，大多數男人只能在夢中想一想的事，他卻花時間做到了。從某種意義上來說，他一直都有勇氣、進取心、時間和情趣去旅游、消化、寫作和創造。在他的內心深處，季節在悄悄地流轉，每一個季節都先降臨大地，然后轉入地下，然后重現，周而復始，循環往復，每次都生機勃發，充滿新生的能量。”