Story of Life and Scenery of Soul

Tie-Ning

我曾经在一些文字里表述过对长篇小说、中篇小说和短篇小说的看法。我说，当我想到短篇小说的时候，我想得最多的两个字是“风景”；当我想到中篇小说的时候，我想得最多的两个字是“故事”；当我想到长篇小说的时候，我想得最多的两个字是“命运”。自以为，我的一些小说，是生活的故事，亦是心灵的风景。

At one time, I had formulated some opinions about full-length novels, medium-length novels and short stories. I said: "when it occurred to me a short story, the word 'Scenery' thought in my mind was maximum. Yet, when I bethought of the medium-length novel, the word, which come maximally into my mind, was 'Story'. However, when I gave my thoughts to the full-length novel, the word 'fate' always deeply touched off my heart really. In my own conceit, some of my novels are the stories of people's live, and the scenery of people's soul."

有时我会想，在这样一个信息爆炸的时代，人们还需要读小说吗？逢这时我却又想起，体验过磁悬浮列车速度的人们，为什么有时候还喜欢看老电影里那慢跑的火车上发生的浪漫而又惊险的爱情呢？原来人心的深处是最难抵达的，心灵的风景是世间最斑驳的风景。抵达人心的深处，尽述情感的风景，是人类在精神领域的高级需要吧，亦是文学和艺术微妙而有力的功能。好的小说在这样的前提下就有能力战胜时间和速度。

Sometimes, it also occurred to me that in an explosive period of message at present, do people still need to read novels？At every turn when I was drawn to such ponder，a question was often brought to my mind: Why some people who have experienced the rate of magnetic suspension train, but they still like to watch old movies with the romantic and breathtaking affections, which often take place in the railway carriage running at a slow speed? The reason is simply because the depth of people's heart is most difficult to be arrived and the scenery of people's soul is the most mottled one in the world. Arriving in the depth of people's heart and telling the scenery of their feeling to the greatest extent, perhaps is really the first class of need in the mental field of human being, and is the delicate and energetic function of literature and art. Therefore, the excellent books on such promise have the capability to triumph over time and speed.

我并不认为我的小说已经达到了这样的深度，这将是我长久的追求。

I do not believe that my novels have achieved the depth like this, but it will be the permanent pursue of mine in writing.

译注

【1】铁凝，姓屈，女，祖籍河北赵县，1957年9月出生于北京，当代作家，是中国作家协会主席，河北师范大学、上海大学、河北大学兼职教授，中共十七届中央候补委员。铁凝的父亲是著名画家铁扬

(三言两语 译)

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