John Neal，1793—1876，a brilliant but eccentric American writer，was born in Portland，Maine.He went into business，when quite young，in company with John Pierpont，the well-known poet.They soon failed，and Mr.Neal then turned his attention to the study of law.He practiced his profession somewhat，but devoted most of his time to literature.For a time he resided in England，where he wrote for “Blackwood's Magazine”and other periodicals.His writings were produced with great rapidity，and with a purposed disregard of what is known as “classical English.”

In the academy I attended，elocution was taught in a way I shall never forget——never！We had a yearly exhibition，and the favorites of the preceptor were allowed to speak a piece；and a pretty time they had of it.Somehow I was never a favorite with any of my teachers after the first two or three days；and，as I went barefooted，I dare say it was thought unseemly，or perhaps cruel，to expose me upon the platform.And then，as I had no particular aptitude for public speaking，and no relish for what was called oratory，it was never my luck to be called up.

Among my schoolmates，however，was one ——a very amiable，shy boy——to whom was assigned，at the first exhibition I attended，that passage in Pope's Homer beginning with，

“Aurora，now，fair daughter of the dawn！”

This the poor boy gave with so much emphasis and discretion，that，to me，it sounded like “O roarer！”and I was wicked enough，out of sheer envy，I dare say，to call him “O roarer！”——a nickname which clung to him for a long while，though no human being ever deserved it less；for in speech and action both，he was quiet，reserved，and sensitive.

My next experience in elocution was still more disheartening，so that I never had a chance of showing what I was capable of in that way till I set up for myself.Master Moody，my next instructor，was thought to have uncommon qualifications for teaching oratory.He was a large，handsome，heavy man，over six feet high；and having understood that the first，second，and third prerequisite in oratory was action，the boys he put in training were encouraged to most vehement and obstreperous manifestations.Let me give an example，and one that weighed heavily on my conscience for many years after the poor man passed away.

Among his pupils were two boys，brothers，who were thought highly gifted in elocution.The master，who was evidently of that opinion，had a habit of parading them on all occasions before visitors and strangers；though one bad lost his upper front teeth and lisped badly，and the other had the voice of a penny trumpet.Week after week these boys went through the quarrel of Brutus and Cassius，for the benefit of myself and others，to see if their example would not provoke us to a generous competition for all the honors.

How it operated on the other boys in after life I can not say；but the effect on me was decidedly unwholesome discouraging，indeed，until I was old enough to judge for myself，and to carry into operation a system of my own.

On coming to the passage，——

“Be ready，gods，with all your thunderbolts；

Dash him to pieces！”——

the elder of the boys gave it after the following fashion: “Be ready，godths，with you're your thunderbolths，——dath him in pietheth！”——bringing his right fist down into his left palm with all his strength，and his lifted foot upon the platform，which was built like a sounding-board，so that the master himself，who had suggested the action and obliged the poor boy to rehearse it over and over again，appeared to be utterly carried away by the magnificent demonstration；while to me——so deficient was I in rhetorical taste——it sounded like a crash of broken crockery，intermingled with chicken peeps.

I never got over it；and to this day can not endure stamping，nor even tapping of the foot，nor clapping the hands together，nor thumping the table for illustration；having an idea that such noises are not oratory，and that untranslatable sounds are not language.

My next essay was of a somewhat different kind.I took the field in person，being in my nineteenth year，well proportioned，and already beginning to have a sincere relish for poetry，if not for declamation.I had always been a great reader；and in the course of my foraging depredations I had met with “The Mariner's Dream”and “The Lake of the Dismal Swamp，”both of which I had committed to memory before I knew it.

And one day，happening to be alone with my sister，and newly rigged out in a student's gown，such as the lads at Brunswick sported when they came to show off among their old companions，I proposed to astonish her by rehearsing these two poems in appropriate costume.Being very proud of her brother，and very obliging，she consented at once，——upon condition that our dear mother，who had never seen anything of the sort，should be invited to make one of the audience.

On the whole，I rather think that I succeeded in astonishing both.I well remember their looks of amazement——for they had never seen anything better or worse in all their lives，and were no judges of acting——as I swept to and fro in that magnificent robe，with outstretched arms and uplifted eyes，when I came to passages like the following，where an apostrophe was called for:

“And near him the she wolf stirred the brake，

And the copper snake breathed in his ear，

Till he，starting，cried，from his dream awake，

‘Oh，when shall I see the dusky lake，

And the white canoeofmy dear！’”

Or like this:

“On beds of green sea flowers thy limbs shall be laid；

Around thy white bones the red coral shall grow，

Of thy fair yellow locks，threads of amber be made，

And every part suit to thy mansion below；”——

throwing up my arms，and throwing them out in every possible direction as the spirit moved me，or the sentiment prompted；for I always encouraged my limbs and features to think for themselves，and to act for themselves，and never predetermined，never forethought，a gesture nor an intonation in my life；and should as soon think of counterfeiting another's look or step or voice，or of modulating my own by a pitch pipe （as the ancient orators did，with whom oratory was acting elocution，a branch of the dramatic art），as of adopting or imitating the gestures and tones of the most celebrated rhetorician I ever saw.

The result was rather encouraging.My mother and sister were both satisfied.At any rate，they said nothing to the contrary.Being only in my nineteenth year，what might I not be able to accomplish after a little more experience！

How little did I think，while rehearsing before my mother and sister，that anything serious would ever come of it，or that I was laying the foundations of character for life，or that I was beginning what I should not be able to finish within the next forty or fifty years following.Yet so it was.I had broken the ice without knowing it.These things were but the foreshadowing of what happened long afterward.

譯文　TRANSLATION

約翰·尼爾（1793—1876）是一位才華橫溢、特立獨(dú)行的美國(guó)作家。他出生于緬因州的伯特蘭德。年輕時(shí)，他曾和著名詩人皮爾龐特一起經(jīng)商，不久，他們就失敗了。之后，尼爾將注意力轉(zhuǎn)向?qū)W習(xí)法律，并嘗試做過律師。但他絕大部分精力都用于文學(xué)。他曾在英國(guó)生活過一段時(shí)間，這期間，他為《布萊克伍德雜志》及其他期刊撰稿。他寫作速度極快，并有意對(duì)“經(jīng)典英語”不屑一顧。

在我就讀的那所中學(xué)，朗讀是以一種讓我永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)忘懷的方式教授的。我們每年有場(chǎng)年度公演。老師最鐘愛的幾名學(xué)生將獲準(zhǔn)朗誦某個(gè)片段；對(duì)此，他們很得意。但不知什么原因，才過兩三天，我就失去了所有老師的歡心。我猜是他們認(rèn)為我赤腳上臺(tái)表演有礙觀瞻，甚或殘忍；隨之，因?yàn)槲覜]有公開演說的資質(zhì)，并對(duì)所謂演說術(shù)毫無興趣，也就從沒有被選中的榮幸。

然而，在我參加的第一次公演中，我的一位同學(xué)，一個(gè)溫和、羞澀的男孩被指定朗誦蒲柏所譯荷馬史詩選段。那段的開頭是：

奧羅拉，黎明女神的美麗女兒！

這可憐的男孩讀得又重又不連貫，以致“奧羅拉”在我聽來像是“偶裸拉”，我當(dāng)時(shí)很頑皮，想必是出于純粹的嫉妒吧，就稱他為“偶裸拉”——這個(gè)綽號(hào)跟了他很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間，盡管他言談舉止安靜、內(nèi)斂、敏感，與之一點(diǎn)都配不上。

我接下來的朗讀經(jīng)驗(yàn)更令人沮喪，以致在找到適合自己的方式前，我從未有機(jī)會(huì)以老師們教的那種方式朗誦。我下一位指導(dǎo)教師是“大師”穆迪。人們認(rèn)為穆迪在教授演說術(shù)的資質(zhì)方面出類拔萃。穆迪高大、英俊、魁梧，個(gè)頭超過六英尺。他認(rèn)為演講的第一、第二，乃至第三個(gè)前提都是動(dòng)作。他鼓勵(lì)那些由他指導(dǎo)的男孩們演講時(shí)應(yīng)奔放不羈。且讓我舉一事為例，這件事在穆迪老師去世多年后，我還難以釋懷。

在穆迪的學(xué)生中，有兩兄弟。大家都認(rèn)為他們有很高的朗誦天賦。穆迪顯然也持這一觀點(diǎn)，他習(xí)慣于讓這兩兄弟在來訪者和生人面前表演，以資炫耀。但這兩兄弟，一個(gè)掉了上門牙，口齒不清；另一個(gè)的聲音則像一便士一把的小號(hào)那么難聽。周復(fù)一周，這兩個(gè)男孩為我及其他同學(xué)示范表演著布魯圖斯和卡修斯的那場(chǎng)爭(zhēng)吵，以便激發(fā)我們?yōu)闃s譽(yù)而戰(zhàn)的精神。

我不知道這樣做對(duì)其他同學(xué)日后的人生有怎樣的作用，但對(duì)我而言，這卻絕對(duì)是有害身心，令人氣餒的。我直到能夠自己獨(dú)立判斷并能將自己演講的原則和理念付諸實(shí)踐后才擺脫這一影響。

接下來看他們朗誦的篇章：

準(zhǔn)備好，諸神，

用你們所有的霹靂，

將他擊碎。

但那位哥哥讀起來卻是這樣：“準(zhǔn)備好，諸森，用你們所有的霹靂，將他擊睡?！?/p>

同時(shí)，他盡全力地用右拳砸著左手掌，用腳跺著講臺(tái)，仿佛講臺(tái)是共鳴板。而建議這一動(dòng)作并督促那可憐的孩子反復(fù)演練的大師穆迪似乎也為這大氣磅礴的表演陶醉了。但對(duì)我這個(gè)欠缺修辭品位的人來說，那聽起來就像把破陶罐的碎裂聲和小雞的嘰嘰喳喳混合在了一起。

我從未克服自己的這一“成見”。時(shí)至今日，我也不能忍受朗誦時(shí)插入拍手、敲桌子、跺腳，哪怕只是用腳輕踏。我認(rèn)為這些噪聲不是演說，無從翻譯的聲音不是語言。

我接下來的嘗試卻有不同。十九歲時(shí)，我已出落得一表人才，可以上得臺(tái)面了，并能真切體味詩歌的魅力。我讀了很多書。在廣泛涉獵中，我讀到了《舟子的夢(mèng)》和《陰郁的沼澤之湖》。在沒讀懂它們之前，我已能背誦。

有一天，我碰巧和姐姐單獨(dú)在一起。當(dāng)時(shí)我穿著新置辦的學(xué)袍，就像布倫斯維克的大學(xué)生們?cè)谂f日伙伴們面前炫耀一樣，我想給她驚喜，就提議穿著學(xué)袍為她朗誦那兩首詩。姐姐馬上答應(yīng)了，她一向以我為傲并樂于助人，唯一的條件是也邀請(qǐng)我們親愛的媽媽來觀看，因?yàn)閶寢審膩頉]看過朗誦。

整體而言，我認(rèn)為我真的把她們震住了。我清楚地記得她們?cè)尞惖纳袂椤业膵寢尯徒憬闵經(jīng)]有見過更好或更壞的朗誦，她們絕非在對(duì)表演品頭論足——當(dāng)時(shí)，我穿著華麗的學(xué)袍急速地走來走去，伸出雙臂、揚(yáng)起眼睛來加強(qiáng)下面這些段落的朗誦效果：

在他身旁，母狼在灌木叢中窸窣，

蝮蛇的呼吸聲傳到他耳朵里，

直到他從夢(mèng)中醒來，驚慌地大呼：

“啊，什么時(shí)候我能看到昏暗的湖，

和我的戀人的白色獨(dú)木舟？”

再如這段：

你被放在綠色海藻鋪就的床上，

你的白骨四周長(zhǎng)出紅珊瑚。

你金黃的頭發(fā)形成琥珀的線，

每一部分都匹配你的華府。

揮動(dòng)著雙臂，在精神或情感的支配、推動(dòng)下，向各個(gè)可能的方向揮動(dòng)著雙臂；因?yàn)槲铱偸谴偈刮业闹w和表情獨(dú)立地思考和動(dòng)作，而在一生中從未預(yù)先設(shè)定或提前想好某個(gè)手勢(shì)、某種語調(diào)；一想到采用或模仿我所見過的最著名的演說家的手勢(shì)或語調(diào)，我就會(huì)想到去假扮別人的表情、步伐或聲音以及用定音管來調(diào)整自己的聲調(diào)（古代演說家曾這樣做過，對(duì)他們來說，演說就是表演朗誦，是戲劇的一個(gè)分支）。

結(jié)果很令人振奮。我媽媽和姐姐都很滿意。至少，她們沒有任何不滿。我才僅僅十九歲，再多一點(diǎn)經(jīng)驗(yàn)后，我會(huì)無所成就嗎？

當(dāng)我在媽媽和姐姐面前朗誦時(shí)，我?guī)缀鯖]有想過這會(huì)產(chǎn)生任何嚴(yán)肅的結(jié)果，沒有想到我是在為未來生活的勇氣奠定基礎(chǔ)，是正在開始一個(gè)持續(xù)四五十年尚未完成的事業(yè)。是的，就是這樣。我在不知不覺間打破了堅(jiān)冰。這些事不過是很久以后發(fā)生的那些事的預(yù)兆。