不止一本書里強(qiáng)調(diào)到過小說開頭的重要性。尤其是第一句話。
因?yàn)樗苯記Q定了你翻開后是否會(huì)讀下去。
從某種意義上說，書的封面要是差點(diǎn)，還未必能影響你的興趣，但第一句話，卻是內(nèi)容的正式開啟。如果它能成功吸引到你的注意力，也許你就會(huì)在不知不覺中追完整本書。
你是否聽說過那句著名的“那是最好的時(shí)代，那是最壞的時(shí)代”（It was the best of times, it was the worst of times）？也許你聽過，但你可能并不知道，這只是狄更斯著作《雙城記》開頭那個(gè)超級(jí)大長句的開頭部分而已。
也有很多書的開頭簡(jiǎn)潔到一個(gè)短句的，比如《第二十二條軍規(guī)》的“那真是一見鐘情。”（It was love at first sight.）還有，《末世男女》里的“雪人在黎明前醒來。”（Snowman wakes before dawn.）事實(shí)上，罕有開頭長到《雙城記》那個(gè)程度的經(jīng)典小說。然而它的長自有獨(dú)特的一面，不信你讀一讀，是不是有種史詩的效果和氣概呢？
看看這些被廣泛閱讀的名著是怎樣開頭的，也許能提醒你檢視一下自己的文字。而且下面列舉的書，時(shí)間跨度也比較大，也能反映一些時(shí)代的印記，讀來相當(dāng)有意思。
They're out there.Black boys in white suits up before me to commit sex acts in the hall and get it mopped up before I can catch them.
他們?cè)谕饷妗４┌咨品暮谀泻儽任以缙穑辉诖髲d里性交，并趕在我能抓到他們之前把地抹干凈。
——肯·克西（Ken Kesey） 《飛越瘋?cè)嗽骸罚∣ne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest，1962）
It was a pleasure to burn.
燒東西給人一種樂趣。
——雷·布萊伯利（Ray Bradbury） 《華氏451度》（Fahrenheit 451，1953）
This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.
這是全世界我最愛的書，雖然從來沒讀過。
——威廉姆·高德曼（William Goldman） 《公主新娘》（The Princess Bride，1973）
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
四月晴冷的一天，鐘敲了十三下。
——喬治·奧威爾（George Orwell） 《1984》（1949）
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
在地底的洞府中住著一個(gè)霍比特人。不是個(gè)骯臟潮濕，滿是蟲子和淤泥氣味的洞穴，也不是個(gè)干燥、光禿，啥都沒有的沙洞，既沒地方坐，也沒東西吃；霍比特人的洞府，意味著舒舒服服。
——J.R.R.托爾金（J.R.R. Tolkien） 《霍比特人》（The Hobbit，1937）
You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly.
如果你沒讀過一本名為《湯姆索亞歷險(xiǎn)記》的書，你就不會(huì)認(rèn)識(shí)我；不過沒關(guān)系。那本書是馬克·吐溫先生寫的，他說的大部分都是真話。
——馬克·吐溫（Mark Twain） 《哈克貝利·費(fèi)恩歷險(xiǎn)記》（Adventures of Huckleberry Finn，1884）
This is a tale of a meeting of two lonesome, skinny, fairly old white men on a planet which was dying fast.
這是一個(gè)瀕死的星球上兩個(gè)瘦得皮包骨的，孤獨(dú)的，蒼老的白種男人會(huì)面的故事。
——小庫特·馮內(nèi)古特（Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.） 《冠軍的早餐》（Breakfast of Champions，1973）
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
這是條舉世公認(rèn)的真理，凡是擁有一大筆財(cái)富的單身漢，總想娶位太太。
——簡(jiǎn)·奧斯汀（Jane Austin） 《傲慢與偏見》（Pride and Prejudice，1813）
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
那是最好的時(shí)代，那是最壞的時(shí)代，那是智慧的歲月，那是愚昧的歲月，那是信仰的時(shí)期，那是懷疑的時(shí)期，那是光明的季節(jié)，那是黑暗的季節(jié)，那是希望的春天，那是失望的冬天，我們擁有眼前的一切,我們眼前一無所有，我們都在直奔天堂，我們都在直奔反方向——簡(jiǎn)而言之，那段時(shí)期充其量跟現(xiàn)在不相上下，某些最喧囂的權(quán)威堅(jiān)稱，不管它是正是邪，都只用形容詞最高級(jí)來比照。
——查爾斯·狄更斯（Charles Dickens） 《雙城記》（A Tale of Two Cities，1859）
The stranger came early in February, one wintry day, through a biting wind and a driving snow, the last snowfall of the year, over the down, walking as it seemed from Bramblehurst railway station, and carrying a little black portmanteau in his thickly gloved hand.
寒冬二月的一天，冒著刺骨的寒風(fēng)和漫天飛舞的雪花，一個(gè)陌生人早早地到來。這是今年最后一場(chǎng)雪。他從頭到腳包裹嚴(yán)實(shí)，戴著厚手套的手提著個(gè)小小的黑色旅行箱，像是從布蘭勃赫斯特火車站步行走過來的。
——赫伯特·喬治·威爾斯（H. G. Wells ） 《隱形人》（The Invisible Man，1897）
If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.
你要是真想聽我說，很可能你頭一件想知道的事就是我在哪出生，我倒霉的童年如何度過，父母在生我之前忙活什么，以及所有大衛(wèi)科波菲爾式的廢話，但跟你說實(shí)話，我不想細(xì)談。
——杰羅姆·大衛(wèi)·塞林格（ J. D. Salinger） 《麥田里的守望者》（The Catcher in the Rye，1951）
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.
—顆小小的名不經(jīng)傳的黃色太陽，位于銀河系西螺旋臂的末端那片未被標(biāo)注的閉塞之處。一顆完全無足輕重的藍(lán)綠色小行星，運(yùn)行在距它大約9800萬英里的軌道上。這顆行星上由猿演化而來的生命形式原始得令人吃驚，他們?nèi)匀徽J(rèn)為電子表是個(gè)相當(dāng)精妙的點(diǎn)子。
——道格拉斯·亞當(dāng)斯（Douglas Adams） 《銀河系漫游指南》（The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy，1979）
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold.
毒品交易開始猖獗之時(shí)，我們正在沙漠的邊緣，巴斯托附近。
—— 亨特·S. 湯普森（Hunter S. Thompson） 《賭城風(fēng)情畫/懼恨拉斯維加斯 : 一場(chǎng)直搗美國夢(mèng)的兇蠻之旅》（Fear a
nd Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream，1971）
When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem’s fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury.
當(dāng)快滿十三歲的時(shí)侯，我哥哥杰姆的肘關(guān)節(jié)嚴(yán)重骨折。傷好之后，他對(duì)于再也玩不了橄欖球的擔(dān)心也緩解了，很少再對(duì)自己的傷敏感。
——哈珀·李（Harper Lee） 《殺死一只知更鳥》 （To Kill a Mockingbird，1960）
It was love at first sight.
那真是一見鐘情。
——約瑟夫·海勒（Joseph Heller） 《第二十二條軍規(guī)》（Catch-22，1961）
All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
幸福的家庭都相似，不幸的家庭卻各有各的不幸。
——列夫·托爾斯泰（Leo Tolstoy） 《安娜·卡列尼娜》（Anna Karenina，1877）
The drought had lasted now for ten million years, and the reign of the terrible lizards had long since ended. Here on the Equator, in the continent which would one day be known as Africa, the battle for existence had reached a new climax of ferocity, and the victor was not yet in sight. In this barren and desiccated land, only the small or the swift or the fierce could flourish, or even hope to survive.
旱情已經(jīng)持續(xù)了一千萬年，恐怖蜥蜴的統(tǒng)治時(shí)代早已結(jié)束。赤道上，將有一天會(huì)以“非洲”聞名的大陸上，生存的戰(zhàn)斗已經(jīng)達(dá)到新一輪殘暴的高潮，勝負(fù)未分。在這一片荒蕪、龜裂的土地上，只有微小、敏捷或兇猛的生物才可能繁衍甚至有希望活下去。
——亞瑟·查爾斯·克拉克（(Arthur C. Clarke） 《2001太空漫游》（2001: A Space Odyssey，1968）
Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board.
遠(yuǎn)處的船承載著每個(gè)男人的心愿。
——佐拉·尼爾·赫斯頓（Zora Neale Hurston） 《凝望上帝》（Their Eyes Were Watching God，1937）
When the blind man arrived in the city, he claimed that he had traveled across a desert of living sand.
當(dāng)瞎子到達(dá)這個(gè)城市的時(shí)候，他宣稱自己穿越了一片活的沙漠。
——?jiǎng)P文?布羅克邁耶（Kevin Brockmeier） 《死者簡(jiǎn)史》（The Brief History of the Dead，2006）
In the town they tell the story of the great pearl- how it was found and how it was lost again.
城里，人們講著大珍珠的故事——它是怎樣被找到，又是怎樣再次丟失的。
——約翰·斯坦貝克（John Steinbeck） 《珍珠》（The Pearl，1947）
Snowman wakes before dawn.
雪人在黎明前醒來。
——瑪格麗特·阿特伍德（Margaret Atwood） 《末世男女/羚羊和秧雞》（Oryx and Crake，2003）
"Where's Papa going with the ax?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.
“爸爸拿著斧子去哪？”在他們收拾桌子準(zhǔn)備吃早飯時(shí)，芬問她的母親。
——E.B.懷特（E. B. White） 《夏洛的網(wǎng)》（Charlotte's Web，1952）
When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping.
我醒來的時(shí)候，另一邊床是冷的。我伸出手指，找尋普瑞姆的溫暖，但只摸到了蓋在床墊上的粗布被套。她一定又做了噩夢(mèng)，爬進(jìn)咱媽的被窩里去了。當(dāng)然，她確實(shí)這么做了。這是個(gè)收獲的日子。
——蘇珊·柯林斯（Suzanne Collins） 《饑餓游戲》（The Hunger Games，2008）
The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
迄今為止，故事如下：起初，宇宙被創(chuàng)造出來。這激怒了許多人，被普遍視為一件劣跡。
——道格拉斯·亞當(dāng)斯（Douglas Adams） 《宇宙盡頭的餐廳》（The Restaurant at the End of the Universe，1980）
When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.
當(dāng)我從電影院的黑暗走到明亮的陽光下，我腦子里只有兩件事：保羅·紐曼和搭車回家。
——S·E·辛頓（S.E.Hinton） 《局外人》（The?Outsiders，1967）
Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.
家住女貞路4號(hào)的德思禮先生和德思禮太太，總是自豪地說，他們一家極為正常，拜托。
——J.K.羅琳（J. K. Rowling） 《哈利波特與魔法石》（Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone，1997）
In the corner of a first-class smoking carriage, Mr. Justice Wargrave, lately retired from the bench, puffed a cigar and ran an interested eye through the political news in the Times.
在頭等車廂吸煙室的角落里，最近剛剛退休的沃格雷夫法官先生抽著雪茄，饒有興味地瀏覽著《泰晤士報(bào)》上的政治新聞。
——阿加莎·克里斯蒂（Agatha Christie） 《無人生還》（And Then There Were None，1939）
ONCE there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. This story is about something that happened to them when they were sent away from London during the war because of the air-raids.
從前，有四個(gè)孩子，名字分別叫做彼得、蘇珊、愛德蒙和露茜。這個(gè)故事講的是他們?cè)趹?zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間因?yàn)榭找u，被送離倫敦期間所經(jīng)歷的事情。
——C·S·路易斯（C. S. Lewis） 《獅子、女巫與魔衣櫥》（The Lion, the Witch and the Wardobe，1950）
James Bond, with two double bourbons inside him, sat in the final departure lounge of Miami Airport and thought about life and death.
詹姆斯·邦德，喝過2盎司波本威士忌，坐在邁阿密機(jī)場(chǎng)的終點(diǎn)站侯機(jī)室里，思索著生死。
——伊恩·弗萊明（Ian Fleming） 《金手指》（Goldfinger，1959）
In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three.
（在英格里之地，像七里靴和隱身斗篷這種東西真實(shí)存在的地方，身為三個(gè)孩子中的老大實(shí)在很不幸。）
—— 戴安娜?韋恩?瓊斯（Diana Wynne Jones） 《哈爾的移動(dòng)城堡》（Howl's Moving Castle，1986）
Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do; once or twice she had looked into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of the book,” thought Alice, “without pictures and conversations?”
愛麗絲厭倦了和姐姐一起坐在河岸上，無所事事；她朝姐姐正看的書瞟過兩眼，但書里面既沒插圖也沒對(duì)話。“這書有啥意思，”她想，“連插圖和對(duì)話都沒有？”
——?jiǎng)⒁姿埂た_爾（Lewis Carroll） 《愛麗絲夢(mèng)游仙境》（Alice's Adventures in Wonderland，1865）
“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.
"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.”
（在我年紀(jì)更輕，感情更脆弱的那些年里，父親曾給過我一句忠告，這話至今仍縈繞在我心頭。
“任何時(shí)候，當(dāng)你想批評(píng)什么人，”他對(duì)我說，“只要記住，這世上并不是所有人都具備你所擁有的優(yōu)勢(shì)。”）
——弗·司各特·菲茨杰拉德（ F. Scott Fitzgerald） 《了不起的蓋茨比》（The Great Gatsby，1925）
The year 1866 was signalized by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten.
1866年因?yàn)橐患欠驳氖录蠓女惒剩粋€(gè)人們無疑還沒有忘記的神秘的、令人費(fèi)解的現(xiàn)象。
——儒勒·凡爾納（Verne, Jules） 《海底兩萬里》（Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea，1870）
All children, except one, grow up.
所有的孩子都會(huì)長大，只除了一個(gè)。
——J. M. 巴里（J. M. Barrie） 《彼得潘與溫蒂》（Peter and Wendy，1911）
中文翻譯部分為原創(chuàng)，轉(zhuǎn)載需事先聯(lián)系。謝謝配合！
