Never stop smiling,not even when you are sad,someone might fall in love with your smile.A smile is the most charming part of a person forever.

永遠都不要停止微笑，即使是在你難過的時候，說不定有人會愛上你的笑容。微笑永遠是一個人身上最好看的東西。

Ogden Nash to His Daughter　奧格登·納什致女兒

February 6,1939

My sweet girls,

I wish so that you were here with us.The next time we must surely bring you along,so remember to practice your manners and learn to eat all sorts of food.Paris is full of children.There are lots of parks,and every park is full of boys and girls on bicycles and roller skates,or playing football and other games all day long.Also,I think everybody in Paris has a dog,but none of them are as pretty as Spangle.A beautiful river,the Seine,runs right through the middle of the city,and Mummy and I have already counted 22 bridges that cross it.Don't you think that you could have fun here?The French children are very polite,as everyone is in France,and I am sure you would enjoy playing with them;so,Linell,you must pay great attention to your French teacher and learn very fast,in order to be able to understand well when you come here.You might teach Isable some of what you learn,too.

There are many,many interesting things to see here.Paris is a very old city,and today Mummy and I saw a beautiful building,that was started by the Romans more than 1600 years ago.It is called Cluny.We have also been to the Louvre,a museum now full of the most beautiful paintings and statues.But years ago,the kings and queens of France used to live there,until the French people got angry with them and chopped off their heads.

This afternoon we went to a beautiful cathedral on an island in the middle of the river.It is called the Cathedral of the Dame,which means the cathedral of Our Lady the Virgin.It is more than 900 years old,and so high that you can hardly see the top.The windows are of gorgeous stained glass,red and blue and yellow and green and purple,so that they cast light like a rainbow on the walls.A very good king of France who lived 700 years ago and later became Saint Louis was buried(from)there.Tell Delia that we offered a candle to the Virgin Mary for each of you there,and that we are bringing her back a rosary from there also.Mummy and I climbed the tower later.We were very tired when we got to the top,but it was interesting.Some hideous stone gargoyles were looking right into our faces,so we looked down at Paris lying at our feet,and it was beautiful.We could see miles of river,and the bridges and the lovely old buildings.It is warmer here than at home,but sometimes the fogs so thick that even the taxi drivers get lost;last night three of them ran right off the street and into the fountains on the Rond Point on the Champs Elysees,which Boppy can tell you about.It must have been very damp and uncomfortable for the passengers.

I think you would like the French trains.We rode on one from Le Havre to Paris,just like the one that Gaston et Josephine took when they were leaving for America.When the engine whistles it says tweet instead of toot,and the porters are very polite.

Yon would like the boat,too.There is a little theatre where there are puppet shows for children every afternoon,and there is plenty of room to run and play on the decks.Sometimes,when the wind blows hard and the sea is rough,the boat joggles a little bit,but that is good fun,like being in as swing.On our trip there was a little girl only 14 years old who is already famous because she plays the violin so beautifully.Her name is Guila Bustabo,and she played for us one night,at the gala concert,where everybody gave money to help the old sailors.French sailors have very pink cheeks indeed,and speak very fast,and I don't think they ever get old.Really,so I am not sure who got the money.

I must tell you that whenever you walk along the banks of the Seine,you see dozens of old men fishing with long,1ong poles.I don't think they ever catch anything,but they have a lovely time thinking about what they might catch just supposing there were any fish there.We'll try it when you come here with us.Perhaps we'll catch the first fish ever to be caught there.

I adore you both,my darlings,

And don't forget me.

Daddy

我可愛的女孩們：我非常希望你們能與我們一起來這里。下次我們一定會把你們一起帶上，所以你們要記住要多多練習禮儀并學會吃各種類型的食物。巴黎這里到處都是小孩，還有許多的公園，而且公園里整天都有許多小孩，男孩女孩都有，他們在這里騎自行車、滑旱冰，或者踢足球和玩其他游戲。還有，我認為巴黎的每個人都有一條狗，但沒有一條狗能像斯潘格那樣漂亮。這有一條美麗的河流，塞納河，它正好從市中心穿過。媽咪和我已經數過了，河上有22座橋。難道你們不認為你們可以在這里玩得很開心嗎？如每一個法國人一樣，法國的孩子非常有禮貌，我保證你們會非常喜歡與他們一起玩耍；所以，利內爾，你必須注意聽你法語教師的課，這樣就可以學得很快，以便你來這里后能很好地理解法文。你也可以教伊莎貝爾一些你所學到的東西。這里有許許多多有趣的東西可以看。巴黎是一個非常古老的城市，今天媽咪和我去看了一棟非常美麗的建筑。它是1600多年前由羅馬人開始建造的，它的名字叫做克盧尼。我們也去了盧浮宮這個裝滿最美麗的繪畫和雕塑的博物館。但是許多年以前，法國歷代的國王和王后曾住在那里，直到法國人民憤怒起義，砍掉了他們的頭。今天下午，我們去了位于河中央的島上的一座美麗的教堂，它的名字叫做巴黎圣母院，意思是我們圣母瑪利亞的教堂。它已有900多年的歷史。教堂很高，幾乎看不到頂。窗戶是用絢麗的彩色玻璃做的，有紅色、藍色、黃色、綠色和紫色，所以玻璃把光投射到墻上就像彩虹一樣。700年前，有一位非常好的法國國王，后來成為圣路易斯，他就埋在那兒。告訴迪莉婭，在那里，我們替你們每個人向圣母瑪利亞獻了一支蠟燭，并且我們從那里帶回了一串念珠給她。后來，媽咪和我爬上了塔樓。當我們爬到塔頂時，我們累壞了，但這很有趣。一些可怕的石像魔鬼正眼對著我們，所以我們轉而俯視腳下的巴黎，它十分美麗。我們能看到數英里長的河流、河上的橋以及可愛的古老建筑。這里的氣候比家鄉要暖和一些，但有時濃霧彌漫，就連出租車司機都會迷路。昨晚，三輛出租車開出街道，駛入了位于切普斯·艾利瑟斯街的街心噴泉池中，博普會告訴你們這件事。車上的乘客們身上一定濕透了，非常不舒服。我想你們會喜歡法國的火車的。我們坐上了一列從勒阿弗爾到巴黎的火車，這列火車與加斯頓和約瑟芬他們去美國時乘坐的火車很像。引擎發動的時候，汽笛發出“吱吱”的聲音而不是“嘟嘟”聲，而且乘務員非常有禮貌。你們也會喜歡船的。船上有一個小劇院，每天下午那里會上演木偶劇給孩子們看，而且甲板上有足夠的空間給孩子們跑來跑去玩耍。有時候，風刮得很猛，海浪洶涌，船就會有些搖晃，但那很有趣，就像蕩秋千一樣。在我們的旅行中，有一個年僅14歲的小姑娘，她因為小提琴拉得很出色而出名，她的名字叫吉拉·布斯塔波。有一天晚上，在節日音樂會上，她為我們演奏，每個人都出了錢用以幫助那些老水手。事實上，法國水手們臉頰紅潤，說話很快，我不覺得他們會變老。真的，所以我無法肯定誰得到了那些錢。我必須告訴你們，無論什么時候，沿著塞納河岸走，你都能看見許多的老人拿著很長很長的魚桿在那釣魚。我想他們什么也沒有釣到，但是他們只要心中堅定信念，想著那兒有魚，可能會釣到魚，他們就過得很開心了。等你們到這兒和我們一起時，我們也去試一試。也許我們會在所有人當中，釣到這里的第一條魚呢。我愛你們倆，親愛的，不要忘記我。

爸爸

寫于1939年2月6日

名人小課堂

奧格登·納什（Ogden Nash,1902～1971）美國詩人。納什的詩風非常獨特，對20世紀的美國洞察深刻，評論精辟，被稱為“稀有詩人”、“最滑稽的詩人”、“幽默語言大師”、“上帝賜與美國的禮物”等。代表作品有《自由旋轉》、《享樂之路》及《1929年以來的詩歌》等。他的作品在全世界都具有很大的影響力。

Winston Churchill to His Daughter

(Mary Churchill)　溫斯頓·丘吉爾致女兒

（瑪麗·丘吉爾）

My darling Mary,

"Many Happy Returns of the Day."This should reach you on your Birthday the 15th.but if it comes earlier or later it carries with it the fondest love of your Father.I have watched with admiration and respect the career of distinction and duty what you have made for yourself during the hard years of the war.I look forward in the days that may be left me to see you happy and glorious in peace.You are a great joy to your mother and me and we are hoping that very soon you will be living with us at Chart well and in our new house in London.It will be lovely having you with us.

Here it is sunshine and calm.I paint all day and every day and have banished care and disillusionment to the shades.Alex came and painted too.He is very good.Monsieur Montag is coming to comment and guide me in a few days.I have three nice pictures so far,and am now off to seek for another.Sarah is writing you herself.

With all my affection

Your loving Father

Winston S.Churchill

親愛的瑪麗：“祝你生日快樂，年年有今日，歲歲有今朝！”這封信應該可以在15號你生日那天到達你手中，但不管它早到或遲到，都帶著你父親最深情的愛。我一直帶著贊賞與尊重的目光看待你在艱苦的戰爭歲月中為自己所創立的非凡的業績和承擔的職責。在我有生之年，我期待看到你在和平的日子過得幸福輝煌。你是你母親與我的巨大快樂，我們盼望著很快你就能和我們在查特維爾莊園和倫敦的新居共同生活。有你同我們在一起一定會很好。這里陽光燦爛，一片寧靜。我整天作畫，每天如此，這讓我消除了煩惱，也對陰暗的事物也浮想聯翩。亞歷克斯也到這里來畫畫，他人很好。蒙塔格先生過幾天會來給我點評與指導。到目前為止，我已完成了三幅好畫。現在我開始為另一幅作品尋找題材。此時，薩拉正在親自給你寫信。給你我全部的情感

愛你的父親溫斯頓·S·丘吉爾

Ernest Hemingway to His Daughter

(Mary Hemingway)　歐內斯特·海明威致女兒

（瑪麗·海明威）

Torcello,20 November1948

Dearest Kittner,

Been working hard and missing you harder.No mails today at all.I wrote you day before yesterday and forwarded a letter from your family to the Excelsior in Firenze today.Now writing you just at sun-set.Been beautiful fall weather ever since the day you left.I went shooting with Emilio and shot 25 small birds and we might have gotten two ducks as four flashed over us very low but were eating lunch when it happened.Might have missed them too.

Have my correspondence all done except for letter to Rice.Then will do the article.May do the article and then Rice since will have to go into Venice to get Power of Attorney notarized.Wrote Charley Ritz too.

There is a big duck shoot either tomorrow(Sunday)a.m.or else Monday.Emilio is going to let me know tonight.Hope it's Monday as my shoulder is sore from those high,straight up and down shots.I think those are probably quite heavy loads of the light shot.Can really shoot that over and under now.Haven't started learning the double yet.

Believe magazines etc.held up by the dock strike.They say over 50 000 sacks of mail on the docks in NY.But you read the papers too so won't Kalten born the news to you.

Your last pictures(the tower etc.)came out excellently.Got them last night.

No more word from Childies.

Hope your news was good.

I've been trying to stay awake and read until midnight or one a.m.

No local news.Mooky's foot got ok.Ate outdoors in the sun today and he kept his head in my lap all through lunch;clams,sole,white rice plain.Bobby the other dog,Crazy's brother,can sit up to beg and also make a how do you do and a Fancy Meeting You.

There's nobody living here now.Today three couples for lunch though a character who was either a fairy or a cinema star or both with reconditioned woman(fenders straightened,bad paint job),a sort of Brusadelli type with woman to match and a brace of Belgiums.I can now tell the travelling Belgium as far as can smell them.

Best to all your friends.Love to my kitten.Be good and have good fun.It's dark now and the shooting has started.Been trying to think what a Belgium smells like(the post-war travelling Belgiums)think it is a blend of traitorous King,toe jam,un-washed navels,old bicycle saddles,(sweated)paving stones,and eminently sound money with a touch of leek soup and cooking parsnips.

I love you dearest Kittner and miss you very,very very very,very,very much.

Papa

最親愛的基特納：我一直努力地工作著，而且更想你了。今天，我連一封郵件也沒有收到。我前天給你寫了封信，今天又從你的家轉寄了一封到羅佛倫薩艾塞斯爾的信。現在是日落時分，我正在給你寫信。自你離開的那天起，這里一直是秋高氣爽、氣候宜人。我和埃米利奧去打獵了，共捕獲了25只小鳥。有四只野鴨從我們頭上低低地飛過，但是當時我們正在吃午飯，要不我們有可能打到兩只野鴨，也有可能一只也打不到。除了寫給賴斯的信之外，我已處理完我所有的信件。接著我要開始寫那篇文章。也許我會先寫文章，再給賴斯寫信，因為我一會得去威尼斯辦理授權書證明。我也給查理·里茲寫了一封信。明天（星期天）上午或者星期一，我們將有一場野鴨大獵殺。埃米利奧今晚會讓我知道確切的時間。我希望星期一去，由于我的肩膀因向高處射擊，重復地直直抬起和放下獵槍而感到酸痛。我想那可能是負荷太重。我現在已經能真正地掌握立式獵槍射擊的技巧了。我還沒有開始學雙管槍射擊。相信雜志之類的東西已經因為碼頭工人罷工而受阻。他們說有5萬多麻布袋的郵件滯留在紐約碼頭。但你也看過這些報道，所以我不用再把這些消息詳細轉告給你。你最新的攝影作品（塔之類）照得非常好。我昨晚收到它們的。沒有奇爾狄斯的消息。希望你的消息都是好的。我一直在努力保持清醒，看書看到午夜或凌晨1點。沒有當地的消息。穆基的腳已經好了。我今天在戶外的陽光下吃午飯，那只米白色的小狗一直把頭放在我的膝蓋上。它靜靜地獨自待著。另一只小狗博比，即克雷茲的兄弟，能坐起來討好，也會做“你好”和“見到你真高興”等動作。現在已經沒有別的人住在這兒了。不過今天有三對夫婦在這兒吃午飯：一個像童話里的人物，或像電影明星，或許兩者都是，他帶著一個打扮過的女人（后背挺得直直的，濃妝艷抹），一個像布魯斯代爾類型的男人帶著一個女人，還有一對比利時夫婦。只要聞一下，我就知道他們從比利時來旅游的。向你所有的朋友問好。我愛你，我的小貓咪。祝你身體健康、生活愉快。現在，天已經黑了，外面的槍聲已經響起。我一直在努力回想比利時人聞起來像什么（戰后的比利時旅行者），我想它是一種混合味，融合了叛變的國王、擁擠的腳趾、沒有洗的肚臍、破舊自行車的座板、（浸著汗）鋪路的石子、大量錢財，以及一點兒韭蔥湯和烹調用的歐洲防風草的味道。我愛你，最親愛的基特納，我非常非常，非常非常，非常非常想念你。

爸爸

寫于托切羅1948年11月20日

Eugene O'Neill to His Son

尤金·奧尼爾致兒子

June 20th 1936

Dear Eugene,

It was good to get your letter.I would have written you,only you said in your wire you were writing,so I waited to learn all the details of your good news.And it sure is good news!But,as I wired you,I was by no means astonished,or anything like that,that you had done so nobly,for your somber premonitions had not impressed me as being liable to coincide with the facts when they appeared.I know such dreary forebodings too damned well.They are the familiar spirits of this branch of the O'Neills—one of the baneful heritages you get from me,I'm afraid.I've been enjoying more than my usual share of them lately,too,what with this Cycle of plays stretching out into a future of seemingly endless hard labor.It looks now as if there would have to be still another play—a ninth which will carry me back to 1770 as a starter.

What you write about the exams is damned interesting and I am glad you told me so much about the oral.Of course,I knew there was one,but had no idea it was such a formidable inquisition.I can imagine how you felt when you paced the hall waiting for the verdict!

As for the job,from what you tell me,that assuredly is a grand bit of good fortune!And the salary is more than I ever thought you would get to start with.

Speaking of money,you know,I hope that if ever you get in a tough spot I can always manage to come across with something,although,as you may guess,the next couple of years will be lean ones unless that rarity for me,a movie rights purchase,comes up.I want to tell you frankly what my exact situation is.Whatever income I have from investments is more than abolished by the alimony dole.That means that as far as my half of Carlotta's and my household expenses,etc.is concerned I am living on capital and will be for the next two years or more,for I do not expect to be able to release any new play for production or publication before then.Royalties on books bring in something but comparatively little.Stock,amateur performances'royalties don't amount to much because my plays are difficult to cast and seldom attempted.Foreign productions continue to be flatteringly constant—but are done in repertoire for a few performances at a time,and with half to a translator,tax,etc.the return to me in dollars is negligible,or less.I had hoped something from the London production of Ah,Wilderness!by the Irish Group Theatre,but in spite of a unanimously enthusiastic critical reception,no one is going to see it and it has possibly closed by this.

So that's about the situation—and it is due to grow steadily worse instead of better,pending the appearance of my new work.I tell you all this not to cry poor,you understand,but to present the hard facts.

I am determined,if I go broke in the process,not to release any play of the Cycle until I have at least three or four in final form,and more in first draft.This is essential to me because the emphasis with me is naturally on the work as a whole,not on its separate parts.It is also essential for the stage production of the work as a whole that the Guild have several plays to plan on as a starter—for they intend to get together a special repertoire company just to do this Cycle,and when it comes to tying up actors and actresses for three or four years,in these days of Talkie temptation,you've got to show them parts in several plays that make it to their advantage to sign up.You can't do it on one or two plays with a vague promise of good parts in plays not yet written,no matter who the author.The plan,as I guess I've told you before,is to do two plays a season.

So you see how this Cycle has me involved in a hell of a lot of labor—and costly time—before I can expect any returns of any kind.You will also appreciate that I have many low days of O'Neill heebie-jeebies when I feel very old and tired,and doubt myself and my work,and wonder why in hell something in me drove me on to undertake such a hellish job when I might have coasted along and just written some more plays,as a well-behaved playwright does.

But enough of that.

I foresaw that you would probably get some tart retorts from the Middle West on your article.Midwesterners are very sensitive people—that is,in one respect.

Love to you and Betty from us—and a sweet kiss from Blemie to Cabot.

Father

親愛的尤金：很高興收到你的來信。我本該已經給你寫完信的，只是你在電話里說你正寫信給我，所以我就等著了解你的好消息的所有細節。這確實是好消息！但是，當我從電話中得知你干得如此出色時，我并不感到驚訝或者任何類似那樣的感覺。我并未在意你的不祥預感，因為當事實發生的時候，它們是很容易與之相一致的。我對那些可惡的不祥預感了如指掌。那是我們這支奧尼爾家族成員常見的情緒——恐怕這是你從我這里繼承的有害遺傳因子之一。我近期也一直遇到這種情況，而且比以前還要糟。因為，這部系列劇越往后面發展，這煩人的工作似乎越沒完沒了。現在看起來好像還得接下去寫另一部劇本——第九部劇本，這部劇本一開始將要把我帶回至1770年。你在信里所講的關于考試的事情相當有趣，我很高興你如此詳盡地告訴我關于口試的情況。當然，我知道有口試這回事，但并沒想到它竟是一種如此可怕的詢問。我可以想象得到當時你在大廳中走來走去，等待結論時是怎樣的感覺。說到工作，從你告訴我的內容來看，那無疑是一個很好的運氣！而且薪水比我曾經設想過的你一開始能拿到的要高一些。說到錢，你知道的，我希望假如你真的遇到什么困難時，我總是可以盡力提供幫助——盡管你也可能猜到，今后的兩三年里我會比較拮據，除非有人想要購買我的電影版權，不過這種事很罕見。我想坦率地告訴你我的實際情況。無論我的投資能獲得多少收益，都不夠贍養費這一項開支。那意味著就我所承擔的夏洛特一半的贍養費以及家庭的各項開支等而言，我現在是在吃老本，而且今后兩年或更長的時間內也將如此，因為，在那之前，我不期望我的任何一個新劇本可以上演或出版。書的版稅能帶來些許收入，但相當少。股票、業余演出的使用費也非常有限，因為我的劇本上演的難度很大，而且很少有人嘗試。在國外，我的劇本倒是經常繼續在上演，頗受追捧——但演出的是保留劇目，一次演幾場。一半的收入用于支付譯者稿酬、交稅等，最后以美元返回給我的錢是微不足道的，或者更少。我原本寄希望于愛爾蘭群體劇團在倫敦上演的《啊，荒野！》會給我帶來收益，但是盡管該劇引起廣泛而熱烈的評論反應，卻沒有一個人去看，這樣的話，演出可能已經終止了。這就是我的實際情況——而且在等待我的新作品問世期間，這情形會逐步地惡化，而不是好轉。你明白的，我告訴你這一切并不是哭窮，而是向你陳述困難的事實。假如在這個過程中我破產了，我也決不會將這個劇本系列中的任何一本發布出來，除非這個系列我至少有三四部劇本已經定稿了，其他的劇本已經有了初稿。對我來說，這是必要的，因為，我所重視的當然是這項工作作為一個整體，而不是它的各個部分，這對于將整個系列劇在舞臺上的演出也一樣必要。蓋爾德劇團已經計劃上演好幾部戲作為事業的開始，因為他們為了演出這個系列劇而打算組織一個專門的戲劇團。而且，男女演員的選定也要花上三四年時間。在如今有聲電影對演員造成巨大誘惑的情況下，你得拿出幾部劇本里的某些片段給他們看看，這樣才會有利于他們簽協議。要是只依靠一兩個劇本，含糊地承諾劇本里還未寫好的精彩內容，那么，不論作者是誰，你都不會獲得成功。如我猜想我之前告訴過你的，我的計劃是每個季度寫兩個劇本。因此，你瞧，在我可以期待得到任何回報之前，這個系列劇已經使我陷入了無窮無盡的工作之中，還要花費大量的時間。你也將會理解，我度過了許多奧尼爾家族特有的那種緊張兮兮的日子。我覺得自己老了，也累了，開始懷疑自己以及自己的工作。而且我想知道，究竟為什么我內心中的某種東西會一直驅使我去承擔這樣一件可怕的工作。我本可以隨意地向前生活下去，像一些舉止大方的劇作家那樣，只是多寫一些劇本。嗯，說得夠多了。我已經預見你的文章很可能會在中西部受到一些尖酸的反駁。中西部的人非常敏感——在某一方面是如此。獻上我們的愛給你和貝蒂，以及來自布萊米的一個甜甜的吻帶給卡伯特。

爸爸

1936年6月20日

名人小課堂

尤金·奧尼爾（Eugene O'Neill,1888～1953年）美國著名劇作家。他是一位多產作家，一生創作獨幕劇21部，多幕劇28部。其中優秀劇作有：《東航卡迪夫》、《加勒比斯之月》、《天邊外》、《安娜·克利斯蒂》、《瓊斯皇帝》等。1936年憑借代表作《天邊外》獲諾貝爾文學獎。

John O'hara to His Daughter

(Wylie O'hara)　約翰·奧哈拉致女兒

（威利·奧哈拉）

Princeton

7th January1962,Sunday

My dear,

I have been thinking about our conversation of last night,and I hope you have too.

1962,in some ways,is Wylie O'hara's Year of Decision.Some of the decisions you make this year will have an important bearing on decisions you may want to make several years hence.

For example:suppose that when you are 20 or 21,you should discover that you want to participate in one of the many activities that will be open to young people in the federal or state government.The first thing they will want to know is what education and/or training you have had.Nowadays the minimum,absolute minimum requirement for hundreds of jobs is two years'college,either at a four-year-college or at a junior college.

For another example:you have said that you don't expect to marry before you are 23.Well,that is something you can't be sure of,but suppose you do wait till you're 23.Suppose your fianc¨-husband is a young man who is taking graduate work at some university—law,medicine,the sciences,government work,etc.—and you and he are living in the vicinity of his graduate school.You may want to do work on the college or the graduate school level yourself,but I assure you will not be very enthusiastic about it if you have to start as a freshman of 23.

Now I could go on at some length,but the point I am aiming at it this:I want you to think very,very seriously about what you are going to do after St.Tim's.You are not Miss Rich bitch.You are not going to be Miss Church mouse,either,but you must think in terms of being able to earn at least part of your own living.I don't think you are going to fall in love with a dumb head.I think a dumb head,rich or not,would bore the hell out of you.Therefore it is extremely likely that the kind of boy you will like and fall in love with is going to be one who uses his brains to earn his living.That almost automatically means that he will be taking either graduate work or special post-college training of some sort.And even if you have children right away,you will want to keep up with him intellectually.

I can tell you from my own experience how important it is to have a wife with whom to discuss one's work.My first wife was a Wellesley B.A.and a Columbia M.A.and a diplomat,I think they are called,at the Sorbonne.Your mother did not go to college,but she could have.Sister and your mother both graduated from good schools and took courses at Columbia and your mother even attended lectures at Oxford without having to enroll there.Both your mother and Sister loved to read and read a great deal,and Sister is multilingual.Both your mother and Sister disliked women's colleges,but they did not dislike higher learning.They formed their dislike of college-girl types thirty years ago.The type has almost vanished,because the kind of girl your mother and Sister were then would be applying for college today.Everybody goes to college.

Now this is what's on my mind:the tentative program you have outlined for yourself does not seem to me very"realistic"in 1962 and 1963 and so on.I am hopeful that you will redirect yourself toward a good college so that you will get those two minimum-requirement years on your record and then be able,three years from now,to qualify for jobs or continue working for a degree.You will not regret having those two years on your record,whereas you might easily regret not having them.As your father,I have a duty to point these things out to you.But once I have done that I have to leave the real decision up to you.

Love,

Dad

我親愛的：我一直在思考我們昨晚的談話，而且我希望你也如此。1962年，在某種程度上，是對威利·奧哈拉具有決定性的一年。你今年所做的某些決定將會對你今后幾年可能想要做出的決定起到至關重要的作用。譬如：假設當你20歲或21歲時，你會發現你想參加聯邦政府或州政府為年輕人舉辦的某項活動。他們想要知道的第一件事就是你曾受過何種教育和/或培訓。如今，對各行各業最低的，絕對最低的要求是兩年的大學教育，要么在四年制大學里學習，要么在兩年制大學里學習。再譬如：你說過你不想在23歲以前結婚。好吧，那是你無法確定的事，但假設你的確等到23歲。假設你的未婚夫是個在某所大學里讀研究生的年輕人，他學的可能是法律、醫學、理科、行政管理等等。你和他住在他攻讀研究生的學校附近。你也許會希望你自己也上大學或讀研究生。但我肯定，如果你不得不以一個23歲的新生身份開始，你將沒有熱情去學習。現在我可以繼續往下多說一些了，但我說這些的目的是：我希望你非常非常認真地思考從圣·蒂姆斯中學畢業后你將要做什么這一問題。你現在不是富家千金。你將來也不會是一貧如洗的姑娘，但你必須考慮你怎樣才能起碼掙到你自己的部分生活費。我想你不會愛上一個笨蛋。我認為，一個笨蛋，不管貧富與否，他都會讓你極其厭煩的。因此，你將來喜歡或愛上的男孩極有可能是那種用自己的頭腦來謀生的人。那自然而然地意味著，他將會讀研究生或是接受大學畢業后的某種培訓。此外，即使你想立即生孩子，你也會希望你們的孩子在才智方面能趕得上他。我可以用我自己的經歷告訴你，有一個能與自己討論工作的妻子有多么重要。我的第一任妻子是威爾斯利大學的學士和哥倫比亞大學的碩士。我想，在索爾邦他們這些人被稱為有文憑的人。你母親沒有上過大學，但她有能力上的。西斯特和你母親都畢業于好的中學，并且在哥倫比亞大學修過課，而且你母親甚至在不必注冊的情況下，在牛津大學聽過課。你母親和西斯特都熱愛讀書，也讀過大量的書，而且西斯特會說多種語言。你母親和西斯特都不喜歡女子大學，但她們并非不喜歡高等教育。她們對女大學生類型的不喜歡在三十年之前就成型了。這種類型現在已基本消失了，因為像當年你母親和西斯特那樣的女孩，如今都在申請讀大學。每個人都去上大學。現在我所考慮的是：你為自己所制定的暫時計劃，在我看來這在1962年或1963年或其他時候似乎都是不太現實的。我希望，你能重新為自己規劃一下，去讀一所好的大學，這樣在你的履歷上就會有受過兩年大學教育的這一最低要求，三年之后，你就有資格找工作或繼續學習并獲得學位。你不會因為在你的履歷上有這兩年學習經歷而后悔的；反而，你也許極易因為沒有它們而懊悔。作為你的父親，我有責任向你指明這些事情。但是，一旦我為你指明了這一切，我必須把真正的決定權留給你自己。

愛你的：爸爸

1962年1月7日星期日寫于普林斯頓

名人小課堂

約翰·奧哈拉（John O'hara,1905～1970年）美國作家。他出生于賓夕法尼亞州的波特斯維爾，憑借處女作《相約薩馬拉》一舉成名。除在雜志發表一些短篇小說外，他一生共寫了14部長篇小說，代表作有《向怒而生》、《酒綠花紅》及《北弗雷德里克街十號》等。其中《北弗雷德里克街十號》一書讓他獲得了美國國家圖書獎。他的大部分小說以冷漠的且客觀的筆觸描寫中上層階級的道德觀念和行為原則。

Francis Fitzgerald to His Daughter　弗朗西斯·菲茨杰拉德致女兒

Metro Goldwyn Mayer Corporation

Culver City,California

July 7,1938

Dearest Scottie,

I don't think I will be writing letters many more years and I wish you would read this letter twice—bitter as it may seem.You will reject it now,but at a later period some of it may come back to you as truth.When I'm talking to you,you think of me as an older person,an"authority";and when I speak of my own youth,what I say becomes unreal to you—for the young can't believe in the youth of their fathers.But perhaps this little bit will be understandable if I put it in writing.

When I was your age,I lived with a great dream.The dream grew and I learned how to speak of it and make people listen.Then the dream divided one day when I decided to marry your mother after all,even though I knew she was spoiled and meant no good to me.I was sorry immediately I had married her but,being patient in those days,made the best of it and got to love her in another way.You came along and for a long time we made quite a lot of happiness out of our lives.But I was a man divided—she wanted me to work too much for her and not enough for my dream.She realized too late that work was dignity,and the only dignity,and tried to atone for it by working herself,but it was too late and she broke and is broken forever.

It was too late also for me to recoup the damage—I had spent most of my resources,spirit and material,on her,but I struggled on for five years till my health collapsed,and all I cared about was drink and forgetting.

The mistake I made was marrying her.We belonged to different worlds—she might have been happy with a kind simple man in a southern garden.She didn't have the strength for the big stage—sometimes she pretended,and pretended beautifully,but she didn't have it.She was soft when she should have been hard,and hard when she should have been yielding.She never knew how to use her energy—she's passed that failing on to you.

For a long time I hated her mother for giving her nothing in the line of good habit—nothing but"getting by"and conceit.I never wanted to see again in this world women who were brought up as idlers.And one of my chief desires in life was to keep you from being that kind of person,one who brings ruin to themselves and others.When you began to show disturbing signs at about fourteen,I comforted myself with the idea that you were too precocious socially and a strict school would fix things.But sometimes I think that idlers seem to be a special class for whom nothing can be planned,plead as one will with them—their only contribution to the human family is to warm a seat at the common table.

My reforming days are over,and if you are that way I don't want to change you.But I don't want to be upset by idlers inside my family or out.I want my energies and my earnings for people who talk my language.

I have begun to fear that you don't.You don't realize that what I am doing here is the last tired effort of a man who once did something finer and better.There is not enough energy,or call it money,to carry anyone who is dead weight and I am angry and resentful in my soul when I feel that I am doing this.People like—and your mother must be carried because their illness makes them useless.But it is a different story that you have spent two years doing no useful work at all,improving neither your body nor your mind,but only writing reams and reams of dreary letters to dreary people,with no possible object except obtaining invitations which you could not accept.Those letters go on,even in your sleep,so that I know your whole trip now is one long waiting for the post.It is like an old gossip that cannot still her tongue.

You have reached the age when one is of interest to an adult only insofar as one seems to have a future.The mind of a little child is fascinating,for it looks on old things with new eyes—but at about twelve this change.The adolescent offers nothing,can do nothing,say nothing that the adult cannot do better.Living with you in Baltimore(and you have told Harold that I alternated between strictness and neglect,by which I suppose you mean the times I was so inconsiderate as to have T.B.o or to retire into myself to write,for I had little social life apart from you)represented a rather too domestic duty forced on me by your mother's illness.But I endured your Top Hats and Telephones until the day you snubbed me at dancing school,less willingly after that...

To sum up:what you have done to please me or make me proud is practically negligible since the time you made yourself a good diver at camp(and now you are softer than you have ever been).In your career as a"wild society girl",vintage of 1925,I'm not interested.I don't want any of it—it would bore me,like dining with the Ritz Brothers.When I do not feel you are"going somewhere",your company tends to depress me for the silly waste and triviality involved.On the other hand,when occasionally I see signs of life and intention in you,there is no company in the world I prefer.For there is no doubt that you have something in your belly,some real gusto for life—a real dream of your own—and my idea was to wed it to something solid before it was too late—as it was too late for your mother to learn anything when she got around to it.Once when you spoke French as a child it was enchanting with your odd bits of knowledge—now your conversation is as commonplace as if you'd spent the last two years in the Corn Hollow High School—what you saw in Life and read in Sexy Romances.

I shall come East in September to meet your boat—but this letter is a declaration that I am no longer interested in your promissory notes but only in what I see.I love you always but I am only interested by people who think and work as I do and it isn't likely that I shall change at my age.Whether you will—or want to—remains to be seen.

Daddy

P.S.If you keep the diary,please don't let it be the dry stuff I could buy in a ten franc guide book.I'm not interested in dates and places,even the Battle of New Orleans,unless you have some unusual reaction to them.Don't try to be witty in the writing,unless it's natural—just true and real.

P.P.S.Will you please read this letter a second time?I wrote it over twice.

親愛的司各特：我覺得我也沒多少歲月可以給你寫信了，我希望你能把這封信讀上兩遍——雖然這看上去比較痛苦。或許，你現在會抵制它，但是不久之后，信里的某些內容將成為你的真理。當我在跟你說這些的時候，你覺得我已是一個老人，是個“專橫”的人；當我向你講述我自己年輕時的經歷，我所說的一切對你來說是不真實的——因為年輕人總是不相信父輩們年輕時候的事情。但是，如果我能把它寫下來的話，你也許會好理解一點。當我像你那么大的時候，我有一個偉大的夢想。夢想在成長，我也學會了如何去闡述它，讓別人聆聽它。有一天，夢想破碎了，那就是當我最終決定和你媽媽結婚的時候，盡管我知道她從小嬌生慣養，而且對我也無好處。娶了她之后，我就立刻后悔了，但是那些日子我一直很耐心，盡量做到最好以維持我們的婚姻關系，通過另一種方式去愛她。隨著你的到來，有很長一段時間，我們的生活充滿了幸福。但我是一個分裂的人——她想要我為她做太多的工作，因而我沒有足夠的精力與時間去追求自己的夢想。當她意識到工作就是尊嚴，而且是唯一的尊嚴，一切都為時已晚了。她還試圖通過自己的工作來彌補這些，但是已經太遲了，她的身體已經不行了，徹底地不行了。彌補所受的傷害，對我來說也為時已晚了——我已經將自己絕大部分的資源、精力和財富都傾注在她的身上了，但是我依舊奮斗了5年，直到我的身體也垮掉了，而現在我所關心的事情只有借酒消愁。我所犯的錯誤就是和她結婚。我與她屬于不同的世界——假如她和南方的莊園里的一個善良單純的男人結婚的話，她可能會過得很快樂。她沒有適應大舞臺的能力——有時她會假裝有這個能力，而且裝得很好，但事實上她并沒有。在應該強硬的時候，她表現得軟弱；在應該屈服的時候，她卻表現得很強硬。她從來都不知道如何運用自己的力量——她已經把這些缺點都傳給了你。有很長一段時間，我恨她的母親沒有教給她任何好的習慣——除了“得過且過”和狂妄自負。在這個世界上，我永遠不想再見到任何一個女人被養育成一個游手好閑者。我生命中主要的心愿之一就是讓你不要變成那種人，那種給自己和別人都帶來毀滅的人。你14歲時開始顯露出令人煩擾的跡象，那時我安慰自己說，你可能在社交方面早熟了一些，接受嚴格的學校教育將會解決這些問題。但是，有時我也這樣想，那些游手好閑的人似乎是一個特殊的階層，對他們來說，沒有什么事情是可以被計劃的，他們會以此為自己辯護——他們對于人類家庭惟一的貢獻，就是占據一張普通桌子前的一個座位罷了。我重新自我調整的日子已經結束了，假如你選擇那種游手好閑的生活方式，我也不想去改變你。但是，不管是在家里還是在外面，我都不想被游手好閑的人煩擾。我希望自己的精力和收入能花在那些與我有共同語言的人們身上。我開始擔心你并沒有意識到這些，沒有意識到我在這里所做的一切，是一個曾經做出優秀業績的人最后的疲倦的努力。我已經沒有足夠的精力，或者說足夠的金錢來支持任何一個純粹是沉重的負擔的人。而當我感覺自己正在做這些的時候，我內心充滿憤怒和怨恨。像你媽媽那樣的人必須得到支持，因為他們的病痛致使他們無所作為。但是，你的事情就另當別論了：你已經度過了兩年碌碌無為的生活，你既沒有改進你的身體狀況，也沒有充實你的頭腦知識，你惟一做的就是給那些沉悶的人們一封接一封地寫沉悶的信件，除了收到一些你自己并不接受的邀請之外，你做這件事沒有任何目的。甚至在睡覺的時候，那些信件都在繼續。因此，我知道你現在的整個旅程就是一個等待郵件的漫長過程。它就像一個愛嚼舌的老婦無法令她的舌頭安分下來一樣。你已經到了這樣的年齡：只有當你看起來有前途時，大人們才會對你產生興趣。小孩子的心靈是迷人的，因為兒童用全新的眼睛看待舊的事物——但是大約12歲的時候，這種情形就改變了。青少年們提供不了任何東西，他們什么也不會做，什么也不會說，而成年人對那些事卻可以做得更好。由于你母親的病情，強加在我身上的一點家庭責任的體現就是要和你一起住在巴爾的摩。（你曾跟哈羅德說我對你的態度在嚴格和疏忽之間交替變化，據此我猜你的意思是指當年我因為過于輕率而感染了肺結核；或者是我只顧自己一心寫作，因為除了你之外，我幾乎沒有任何社交活動）。但是，我對你戴大禮帽和打電話的行為，一直都忍耐，直到那天在舞蹈學校你冷落我，從那以后，我才稍微不樂意……總而言之，自從你在夏令營把自己訓練成一個優秀的潛水員，之后（你現在已經比以前退步了不少），你所做的能讓我高興和自豪的事情事實上幾乎可以忽略不計。你作為“野蠻社會女孩”的經歷，那是在1925年，我一點兒也不感興趣。我不想知道任何關于它的事情——它會令我心煩意亂，就像跟里茲兄弟共進晚餐一樣。當我感覺不到你在進步的時候，你的陪伴存在令我有沮喪的傾向，因為那是愚蠢的浪費和瑣事。從另一面來說，當我偶然看到你身上散發出生活的氣息和向上的意志時，我在世界上將不再需要任何陪伴。因為毫無疑問，你身上依然存在某些東西，一種對于生活的真正熱忱——一種屬于你自己的真正的夢想——我的想法是在還來得及之前，把它跟一些可靠實在的事物捆綁在一起——因為當你媽媽開始考慮去學些什么的時候，卻為時已晚了。當你還是個孩子時，你曾學過說法語，你對知識的零星掌握讓人著迷——而現在你的談話卻非常平庸，似乎過去兩年你是在考恩·霍洛高級中學度過的——就像你在《生活》和《性感傳奇》中所看到的內容那樣。9月份，我將到東部去接你——但是，這封信是一個聲明：我將不再對你的許諾感興趣，只對自己親眼所見的感興趣。我會一直愛你，但讓我感興趣的只是那些與我志同道合的人，而且到我這樣的年紀，我也不可能做出什么樣的改變。無論你是否愿意——或者是想要——拭目以待吧。爸爸又及：如果你還堅持寫日記的話，請不要讓你的日記成為干癟癟的東西，那些內容在我用10法郎就能買到的指南書里就有。我對日期、地名，甚至“新奧爾良戰役”都不感興趣，除非你對它們有一些與眾不同的反應。寫作時，不要試圖追求措辭巧妙詼諧，除非是自然而然的——只需要準確真實。再及：你愿意把這封信再看一遍嗎？這封信我寫了不止兩遍。

1938年7月7日

寫于加利福尼亞州，科佛市米高梅電影公司

名人小課堂

弗朗西斯·菲茨杰拉德(Francis Fitzgerald,1896～1940)出生于明尼蘇達州圣保羅市，美國小說家，著名的編劇，也是“爵士時代”的發言人和“迷惘的一代”的代表作家之一。他的代表作品有《人間天堂》、《了不起的蓋茨比》及《夜色溫柔》等，他的小說生動地反映了20年代“美國夢”的破滅，展示了大蕭條時期美國上層社會“荒原時代”的精神面貌。