【散文】给小朋友们的信（E.B.怀特）
各位小朋友、大朋友们，来听听那个写了《精灵鼠小弟》和《夏洛的网》的叫E.B.怀特的老头儿有些什么话要对你们说？
Letter from E.B. White
This is the letter that Mr. White wrote before his death about his three books for children:
Dear Reader:
I receive many letters from children and can't answer them all -- there wouldn't be time enough in a day. That is why I am sending you this printed reply to your letter. I'll try to answer some of the questions that are commonly asked.
Where did I get the idea for Stuart Little and for Charlotte's Web? Well, many years ago I went to bed one night in a railway sleeping car, and during the night I dreamed about a tiny boy who acted rather like a mouse. That's how the story of Stuart Little got started.
As for Charlotte's Web, I like animals and my barn is a very pleasant place to be, at all hours. One day when I was on my way to feed the pig, I began feeling sorry for the pig because, like most pigs, he was doomed to die. This made me sad. So I started thinking of ways to save a pig's life. I had been watching a big grey spider at her work and was impressed by how clever she was at weaving. Gradually I worked the spider into the story that you know, a story of friendship and salvation on a farm. Three years after I started writing it, it was published. (I am not a fast worker, as you can see.)
Sometimes I'm asked how old I was when I started to write, and what made me want to write. I started early -- as soon as I could spell. In fact, I can't remember any time in my life when I wasn't busy writing. I don't know what caused me to do it, or why I enjoyed it, but I think children often find pleasure and satisfaction is trying to set their thoughts down on paper, either in words or in pictures. I was no good at drawing, so I used words instead. As I grew older, I found that writing can be a way of earning a living.
Some of my readers want me to visit their school. Some want me to send a picture, or an autograph, or a book. And some ask questions about my family and my animals and my pets. Much as I'd like to, I can't go visiting. I can't send books, either -- you can find them in a bookstore or a library. Many children assume that a writer owns (or even makes) his own books. This is not true -- books are made by the publisher. If a writer wants a copy, he must buy it. That's why I can't send books. And I do not send autographs -- I leave that to the movie stars. I live most of the year in the country, in New England. From our windows we can look out at the sea and the mountains. I live near my married son and three grandchildren.
Are my stories true, you ask? No, they are imaginary tales, containing fantastic characters and events. In real life, a family doesn't have a child who looks like a mouse; in real life, a spider doesn't spin words in her web. In real life, a swan doesn't blow a trumpet. But real life is only one kind of life -- there is also the life of the imagination. And although my stories are imaginary, I like to think that there is some truth in them, too -- truth about the way people and animals feel and think and act.
Yours sincerely,
E.B. White
埃尔文·布鲁克斯·怀特（E.B.White，1899-1985），“，美国著名散文家、评论家，以散文名世，“其文风冷峻清丽，辛辣幽默，自成一格”。生于纽约蒙特弗农，毕业于康奈尔大学。作为《纽约客》主要撰稿人的怀特一手奠定了影响深远的 “《纽约客》文风”。怀特对这个世界上的一切都充满关爱，他的道德与他的文章一样山高水长。除了他终生挚爱的随笔之外，他还为孩子们写了三本书：《斯图尔特鼠小弟》（又译《精灵鼠小弟》）、《夏洛的网》与《吹小号的天鹅》，同样成为儿童与成人共同喜爱的文学经典。
主要作品：《女士是冷酷的》（1928），《性是必需的吗？》（1929），《美国幽默文库》（1941），《个人观点》（1942），《小老鼠斯图尔特》（又译《精灵鼠小弟》）（1945），《野菖蒲》（1946），《这里是纽约》（1949），《夏洛的网》（1952），《角落里的第二棵树》（1954），《文体的要素》（1959），《我罗盘的方位》（1962），《吹小号的天鹅》（1970），《怀特散文》（1977），《诗与小品》（1981），《纽约客文选1925-1976》（1990）。 书信集《最美的决定》（2009》。
Letter from E.B. White
This is the letter that Mr. White wrote before his death about his three books for children:
Dear Reader:
I receive many letters from children and can't answer them all -- there wouldn't be time enough in a day. That is why I am sending you this printed reply to your letter. I'll try to answer some of the questions that are commonly asked.
Where did I get the idea for Stuart Little and for Charlotte's Web? Well, many years ago I went to bed one night in a railway sleeping car, and during the night I dreamed about a tiny boy who acted rather like a mouse. That's how the story of Stuart Little got started.
As for Charlotte's Web, I like animals and my barn is a very pleasant place to be, at all hours. One day when I was on my way to feed the pig, I began feeling sorry for the pig because, like most pigs, he was doomed to die. This made me sad. So I started thinking of ways to save a pig's life. I had been watching a big grey spider at her work and was impressed by how clever she was at weaving. Gradually I worked the spider into the story that you know, a story of friendship and salvation on a farm. Three years after I started writing it, it was published. (I am not a fast worker, as you can see.)
Sometimes I'm asked how old I was when I started to write, and what made me want to write. I started early -- as soon as I could spell. In fact, I can't remember any time in my life when I wasn't busy writing. I don't know what caused me to do it, or why I enjoyed it, but I think children often find pleasure and satisfaction is trying to set their thoughts down on paper, either in words or in pictures. I was no good at drawing, so I used words instead. As I grew older, I found that writing can be a way of earning a living.
Some of my readers want me to visit their school. Some want me to send a picture, or an autograph, or a book. And some ask questions about my family and my animals and my pets. Much as I'd like to, I can't go visiting. I can't send books, either -- you can find them in a bookstore or a library. Many children assume that a writer owns (or even makes) his own books. This is not true -- books are made by the publisher. If a writer wants a copy, he must buy it. That's why I can't send books. And I do not send autographs -- I leave that to the movie stars. I live most of the year in the country, in New England. From our windows we can look out at the sea and the mountains. I live near my married son and three grandchildren.
Are my stories true, you ask? No, they are imaginary tales, containing fantastic characters and events. In real life, a family doesn't have a child who looks like a mouse; in real life, a spider doesn't spin words in her web. In real life, a swan doesn't blow a trumpet. But real life is only one kind of life -- there is also the life of the imagination. And although my stories are imaginary, I like to think that there is some truth in them, too -- truth about the way people and animals feel and think and act.
Yours sincerely,
E.B. White
埃尔文·布鲁克斯·怀特（E.B.White，1899-1985），“，美国著名散文家、评论家，以散文名世，“其文风冷峻清丽，辛辣幽默，自成一格”。生于纽约蒙特弗农，毕业于康奈尔大学。作为《纽约客》主要撰稿人的怀特一手奠定了影响深远的 “《纽约客》文风”。怀特对这个世界上的一切都充满关爱，他的道德与他的文章一样山高水长。除了他终生挚爱的随笔之外，他还为孩子们写了三本书：《斯图尔特鼠小弟》（又译《精灵鼠小弟》）、《夏洛的网》与《吹小号的天鹅》，同样成为儿童与成人共同喜爱的文学经典。
主要作品：《女士是冷酷的》（1928），《性是必需的吗？》（1929），《美国幽默文库》（1941），《个人观点》（1942），《小老鼠斯图尔特》（又译《精灵鼠小弟》）（1945），《野菖蒲》（1946），《这里是纽约》（1949），《夏洛的网》（1952），《角落里的第二棵树》（1954），《文体的要素》（1959），《我罗盘的方位》（1962），《吹小号的天鹅》（1970），《怀特散文》（1977），《诗与小品》（1981），《纽约客文选1925-1976》（1990）。 书信集《最美的决定》（2009》。
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