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The story of what can happen to an American Negro writer in Europe simply illustrates, in some relief, what can happen to any American writer there.
一个美国黑人作家在欧洲所可能遇到的一切只是比较鲜明地显示了任何一位美国作家在欧洲所可能遇到的情况。
It is not meant, of course, to imply that it happens to them all, for Europe can be very crippling too;
当然这并不是说所有的人都会遇上同样的情况，因为欧洲也很有可能阻碍人的发展。
and, anyway, a writer, when he has made his first breakthrough, has simply won a crucial skirmish in a dangerous, unending and unpredictable battle still,
不管怎么说，当一个作家完成自己的第一次突破时，他只不过是在一次险象环生、旷日持久、胜负难料的战役中打赢了一场有决定意义的小规模战斗。
the breakthrough is important, and the point is that an American writer, in order to achieve it, very often has to leave this country.
虽则如此，第一次突破仍是很重要的，问题是一个美国作家要实现这一次突破，往往就必得离开自己的国家。
The American writer, in Europe, is released, first of all, from the necessity of apologizing for himself.
在欧洲，美国作家首先是不必为自己进行辩护的。
It is not until he is released from the habit of flexing his muscles and proving that he is just a “regular guy” that he realizes how crippling this habit has been.
只有等到他摆脱了要靠屈伸肌肉亮出本领来证明自己是个"正常人"的习惯之后，他才会认识到这一习惯是多么的有害。
It is not necessary for him, there, to pretend to be something he is not, for the artist does not encounter in Europe the same suspicion he encounters here.
在欧洲，他不必装模作样地掩饰自己的本来面目，因为艺术家在那里不会像在美国一样遭到怀疑。
Whatever the Europeans may actually think of artists, they have killed enough of them off by now to know that they are as real-and as persistent-as rain, snow, taxes or businessmen.
不论欧洲人对待艺术家的实际态度如何，他们所毁掉的艺术家已经够多的了，而现在他们终于认识到艺术家就像雨、雪、税收和商人一样是真实存在，并且永远会存在的。
