我有一个志愿

I Have a Dream

老舍

Lao She

我是个没有什么大志愿的人。我向来没说过自己有如何了不起的学问与天才，也没觉得谁的职业比我自己的高贵或低贱。我只希望吃的饱，穿的暖，而尽心尽力的写些文章。

I am not an amb’s profession as superior or inferior. I merely hope to have enough to eat and enough to wear so that I can dedicate myself to writing.

在写文章中我可是有个志愿——希望能写出一本好的剧本来。虽然我是没有什么远大志愿的人，这个志愿——写个好剧本——可的确不算很小。要达到这个志愿，我须第一，去读很多很多的书——顶好是能上外国去读几年书。第二，我须有戏必看，去“养”我的眼睛。第三，我想我应当到什么剧团中作二年职员，天天和导演、演员、与其他的专门的技术人员有亲密的接触。第四，或者我还应当学学演戏，常扮个什么不重要的角色。把上述四项都作到，我还不知道我是否有写剧的天才。假若没有，我的工夫虽然下到了，可还是难以如愿。这个志愿真的不算小！

Talking about writing, I have a dream to realize. I hope I can write a good play some day. This dream, however, is not a small one. To realize my dream, firstly I need to read a lot or, better still, spend a couple of years studying abroad. Secondly, I must go to the theater and see as many plays as possible to cultivate my eyes. Thirdly, I should get a job at the theater for a year or two to be in everyday contact with directors, actors and all kinds of technicians. Fourthly, perhaps, I should also learn some acting, getting a minor role to play from time to time. Even with all these prerequisites fulfilled, I am still not sure that I have the aptitude of a playwright. If not, my dream cannot come true even if I have worked the hardest. So you see, in this sense, my dream is really not a small one.

恐怕有人以为我不很实诚吧——写个剧本也值得发这么大的愿？好，让咱们往远里说说吧。第一，即使在没有用文字写出来的小说的民族中，他们也必定有口传的诗歌与故事，人，从一个意义来说，是活在记忆中的。他记得过去，才关切将来。否则他们活在虚无飘渺中，不知自己从何而来，和要往哪里去。因此，文艺——不管是写出来的还是口传的一一老不会死亡。文艺出丧的日子，也就是文化死亡的时候。

You might think I am not telling the truth一making such a ftiss over the mere writing of a play. Very well. Let us look at the matter in a broader perspective. Even in a nation without written fiction, there must be bAllads and folk-tales passed down orally. Man, in a sense, lives in memory. As he remembers the past, he cares for the future. Otherwise he loses his sense of continuity not knowing where he comes from and where he is going. Therefore, literature and arts, either in written form or oral, will never die. If they did, culture would die too.

你看，文艺有多么重要！

You see how important literature and arts are!

第二，等到文化较高了，人们——受宗教的或社会行动的带动——才发明了戏剧。戏剧比诗歌与故事年轻，而在服装上，动作上，谈吐上，都比它的哥哥们更漂亮、活泼、文雅的多。戏剧把当时的文化整个的活现在人的眼前。文化有多么高，多么大，它也就有多么高，多么大。有了戏剧的民族，不会再返归野蛮，它需要好的故事，好的思想，好言语，好的音乐、服装、跳舞，与好的舞台。它还需要受过特别训练的演员与有教养的观众。它不但要包括艺术，也要包括文化！戏剧，从一个意义来说，是文化的发言人。假如你还不大看起戏剧，就请想想看吧，有没有第二个东西足以代替它？准保没有！再看看，哪一个野蛮民族“有”真正的戏剧？和哪个文化高的民族，“没有”戏剧？

And then, it was not until culture was further developed that man, stimulated by religious and social activities, invented drama. Drama is a genre much younger than poetry and fiction, but more beautiful and lively and more refined in constume, acting and monologue or dialogue. Drama presents to the audience the culture of the day in a vivid manner. It develops along with culture. When a nation is developed in drama, it can never be barbarized again because drama requires good stories with good ideas, refined language and good music, graceful dancing and a good stage; it also requires well-trained actors and actresses and well-mannered audiences. It is integrated with arts and culture as well. To a certain degree drama is the spokesman of culture. If by now you still held drama in contempt, I’d like you to think about one question: Is there anything else that can substitute for drama? I can assure you there is none. Here is another question for you to think about: Is there any barbarous tribe that is developed in real drama or any civilized country that is without drama?

你看，戏剧有多么重要！

You see how important drama is!

戏剧既是这么大的东西，我怎能不为要写个剧本而下个很大的志愿呢？它的根子虽然生长在文艺的园地里，它所吸取的却是艺术全部的养分啊！

Since drama is so important, don't you think I should make a resolution to write one? Drama is rooted in the soil of literature and arts, but it absorbs nourishment All arts.

好吧，虽然我是个没有什么远志的人，我却要在今天——戏剧节一一定下这么一个大志愿。这并不是要凑凑热闹，而是想在文化的建设中写写少不得的戏剧呀！文化滋养艺术，艺术又翻回头来领导文化，建设文化。在艺术中，能综合艺术各部门而求其总效果的，只有戏剧。

Well, though I am not an ambitious person, I want to make a resolution on the occasion of this Drama Festival. I don’t mean to add to the clamor but to write some plays that are indispensable to the growth of culture. Literature and arts take nourishment from culture and at the same time guide and promote culture. Of all the genres of literature and arts, drama is the only one that integrates other arts with their artistic effects.

抗战与文化建设须携手而行。那么，我要立志写个好剧本，大概并不能算作无聊。至于我能否如愿以偿，那就看我的努力如何了。愿与戏剧同仁共勉之。

The construction of culture has an important role to play in the War against Japanese Aggression. So when I say I want to write a good play, I am not talking nonsense. As for whether I will be able to realize my dream, it all depends on how hard I work. I am willing to work in this field together with my friends and colleagues to achieve this goal.

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