Love Is Eternal

爱是永恒的

· American Heritage · 原文

Historians are inclined to dismiss the historical novel as having no positive value and, as a matter of fact, of contributing in a major way to the misunderstanding of history.

历史学家倾向于认为历史小说没有任何积极价值，事实上，它在很大程度上导致了对历史的误解。

Yet a great many readers of the biographical novels of Irving Stone would know nothing at all about Jessie and John Charles Fremont, Rachel and Andrew Jackson, and—currently—Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln, were it not for his books.

然而，如果不是欧文·斯通的传记小说，很多读者对杰西·弗里蒙特和约翰·查尔斯·弗里蒙特、雷切尔·杰克逊和安德鲁·杰克逊，以及目前的玛丽·托德和亚伯拉罕·林肯一无所知。

Despite the liberties he has taken with his subject, the knowledge his readers have gained of American history is essentially accurate.

尽管他对自己的主题采取了自由的态度，但他的读者所获得的美国历史知识基本上是准确的。

In recording the events of history, he is meticulously careful; it is only when he introduces the thoughts and words of his characters that his biographical portraits are open to question.

他在记录历史事件时，一丝不苟；只有当他介绍人物的思想和言语时，他的传记肖像才值得商榷。

The reader of this book will emerge with a better pen portrait of the Lexington, Kentucky, and the Springfield, Illinois, of Mary Todd Lincoln’s time than he will find in any other work in the field of Lincolniana, with the possible exception of Carl Sandburg’s description of Springfield in The Prairie Years .

本书的读者将会对玛丽·托德·林肯时代的肯塔基州列克星敦和伊利诺伊州斯普林菲尔德有比他在林肯领域的任何其他作品中看到的更好的钢笔描绘，除了卡尔·桑德堡在《草原岁月》中对斯普林菲尔德的描述之外。

These cities come alive in Mr. Stone’s pages.

这些城市在斯通先生的书中栩栩如生。

In the Washington-Presidential period, the reader is more apt to be disappointed.

在华盛顿总统时期，读者更容易感到失望。

Here the portrait is less convincing.

这里的肖像不太令人信服。

Mr. Stone is obviously in love with his heroine.

斯通先生显然爱上了他的女主角。

He does not try to explain away all of her faults—as some writers have imprudently done—but he does use the novelist’s device to build up his heroine at the expense of her husband.

他并没有像一些作家轻率地做的那样，试图为她的所有错误做出解释，但他确实利用小说家的手法来塑造他的女主人公，而牺牲她的丈夫。

That Abraham Lincoln was a difficult husband no one can deny, but Mrs. Lincoln was far from perfect herself.

无人能否认亚伯拉罕·林肯是一位难相处的丈夫，但林肯夫人本人也远非完美。

Lincoln’s spells of melancholia are exaggerated, and in the hands of a skillful artist help to convey a most sympathetic portrait of Mrs. Lincoln.

林肯的忧郁症被夸大了，在一位熟练的艺术家的手中，有助于传达林肯夫人最富有同情心的肖像。

If the portrait of Lincoln does not quite accord with the opinions of most of the reputable Lincoln biographers, the story itself is told with a high degree of literary craftsmanship.

如果说林肯的肖像不太符合大多数著名林肯传记作家的观点，那么这个故事本身就是以高度的文学技巧来讲述的。

For over 75 years, American Heritage has chronicled our nation's history like no other publication.

75 年来，《美国遗产》以无与伦比的方式记录了我们国家的历史。

Please support our trusted, non-partisan historical writing and the volunteers that sustain it by donating today.

请通过今天的捐赠来支持我们值得信赖的、无党派的历史写作以及维持它的志愿者。

We rely on contributions from readers like you to survive.

我们依靠像您这样的读者的贡献才能生存。

Donate

捐赠

For 75 years, American Heritage has been the leading magazine of U.S. history, politics, and culture.

75 年来，《美国遗产》一直是美国历史、政治和文化的领先杂志。