雙語散文|陸文夫——快樂的死亡
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快樂的死亡
作家有三種死法。一曰自然的死，二曰痛苦的死，三曰快樂的死。自然的死屬于心臟停止跳動，是一種普遍的死亡形式，沒有特色，可以略而不議。快樂的死和痛苦的死不屬于心臟停止跳動，是人還活著，作品已經(jīng)、或幾乎是沒有了！
作家沒有了作品，可以看作是個人藝術(shù)生命的死亡、職業(yè)的停頓。其中有些人是因?yàn)槟晔乱迅撸Σ粡男?。這不是藝術(shù)的死亡，而是藝術(shù)的離休，他自己無可自責(zé)，社會也會尊重他在藝術(shù)上曾經(jīng)作出的貢獻(xiàn)。
痛苦的死亡卻不然，即當(dāng)一個作家的體力和腦力還能勝任創(chuàng)作的時(shí)候，作品已經(jīng)沒有了，其原因主要是由于各種苦難和折磨（包括自我折磨）所造成。折磨毀了他的才華，苦難消沉了意志，作為人來說他還活著，作為作家來說卻正在或已死去。這種死亡他自己感到很痛苦，別人看了心里也很難受。
快樂的死亡卻很快樂，不僅他自己感到快樂，別人看來也很快樂。昨天看見他大會上做報(bào)告，下面掌聲如雷；今天又看見他參加宴會，為這為那地頻頻舉杯。昨天聽見他在高朋中大發(fā)議論，語驚四座，今天又聽見他在那些開不完的座談會上重復(fù)昨天的意見。昨天看見他在北京的街頭，今天又看見他飛到了廣州……只是看不到或很少看到他的作品發(fā)表在哪里。
我不害怕自然的死，因?yàn)楹ε乱矝]用，人人不可避免。我也不太害怕痛苦的死，因?yàn)槟菚r(shí)代已經(jīng)過去。我最害怕的就是那快樂的死，毫無痛苦，十分熱鬧，甚至還有點(diǎn)轟轟烈烈。自己很難控制，即很難控制在一定的范圍之內(nèi)。因?yàn)槲矣X得喝酒不一定完全是壞事，少喝一點(diǎn)可以舒筋活血，據(jù)說對心血管也是有幫助的。作家不能當(dāng)隱士，適當(dāng)?shù)纳鐣顒雍臀膶W(xué)活動可以開闊眼界，活躍思想，對創(chuàng)作也是有幫助的?？墒窃趺床拍懿恍锞啤⒉蛔骶乒?，這有益的定量究竟是多少呢？怕只怕三杯下肚，豪情大發(fā)，嘟嘟嘟，來個瓶底朝天，而且一頓喝不上便情緒不高，頗有怨言，甚至?xí)教幦フ揖坪?。嗚呼，快樂地死去?br />
Happy Death
A writer can die three kinds of death: natural death, painful death, happy death.Natural death, caused by the discontinuation of heartbeat, is a common form of death with no characteristics of its own, and therefore may as well be left out without any comment. In the case of happy death and painful death, which are not caused by the discontinuation of heartbeat, the writer, alive as he is, has stopped or almost stopped writing!
When a writer no longer produces any works, it is tantamount to the death of his artistic life or the end of his career. Some writers lay down their pens because they are too old to be equal to the task. We call it retirement from art rather than death of art. They have nothing to blame themselves for. And society at large will pay tribute to the contributions they have already made to art.
Painful death is quite another matter. It occurs when a writer abandons writing even though he is still sound in mind and body. It results mainly from various kinds of sufferings and torments (including self-inflicted torments). Torments ruin his talent while sufferings demoralize him. Though still alive as a man, he is dying or already dead as a writer. This kind of death causes not only much pain to the writer himself, but much sadness to other people as well.
Happy death is a joyful thing, bringing happiness to both the writer himself and other people. Yesterday we saw him addressing a big meeting amidst thunderous applause, and today we saw him attending a banquet, drinking nonstop to this and that. Yesterday we heard him talking volubly to a gathering of distinguished guests, capturing the attention of all present, and today we heard him repeating himself at one of those endless forums. Yesterday we met him on a Beijing street, and today we saw him flying to Guangzhou... But never or very seldom do we find his new works seeing the light of day.
I do not fear natural death for nobody can avoid it, hence no use fearing. Nor do I fear painful death for it is something belonging to a bygone age. What I fear most is happy death, which is absolutely painless and full of bustle, excitement and even dramatic spectacle. It is difficult to exercise self-control, that is, difficult to keep within limits. Drinking is, to my mind, not always bad because a few spots may help blood circulation and is, as they say, good for the heart and blood vessels. Being no hermit, a writer stands to benefit in writing as long as he gets properly involved with social and literary activities to widen his field of vision and stimulate his thinking. But how can he avoid excessive drinking or becoming a drunkard? What is the safety limit in this respect? The trouble is after three cups of alcohol he will get wild and unrestrained and end in gulping down a whole bottle. One meal without liquor will upset him and set him complaining and searching around for drink. Alas, just to end up dying happily!
作者陸文夫（1927—2005）是小說家。此文寫于1985年4月，是一篇有很強(qiáng)現(xiàn)實(shí)針對性的雜感，作者以辛辣的筆調(diào)調(diào)侃當(dāng)前有些作家終日沉溺于社會活動、不務(wù)正業(yè)的現(xiàn)象。
