Until he relearns these things，he will write as though he stood among and watched the end of man. I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy enough to say that man is immortal simply because he will endure：that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening，that even then there will still be one more sound：that of his puny inexhaustible voice，still talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure，he will prevail. He is immortal，not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice，but because he has a soul，a spirit capable of compassion，and sacrifice，and endurance. The poet’s，the writer’s duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart，by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man，it can be one of the props，the pillars to help him endure and prevail.
我感到这个奖项不是授予我个人而是授予我的工作的——它是对我呕心沥血、毕生从事的人类精神探索的工作的肯定。我从事这项工作，既非为虚名，更非为浮利，而是为了从人的精神素材中创造出一些前所未有的东西。因此，我只是这份奖金的保管者而已。要做出与这份奖赏最初的目的和意义相符，又与其奖金等价的贡献并非难事，但我还愿意利用这个难得的机会，向那些可能听到我的讲话并已献身于同一艰苦事业的男女青年讲几句。他们中一定有人有一天也会站到我现在站着的地方。
人类今天的悲剧是人们普遍存在一种生理上的恐惧，这种恐惧存在已久，以至于我们已经习惯了背负这种恐惧。现在不存在精神上的问题，唯一的问题是：“我什么时候会被炸得粉身碎骨？”正因如此，今天从事写作的男女青年已经遗忘了人类内心深处的冲突，而这本身就能成为好的作品。因为这是唯一值得去写、值得为之呕心沥血的题材。
他一定要重新思考这些问题。他必须使自己明白世间最可鄙的事情莫过于恐惧；他必须要使自己永远忘却恐惧，在他的工作室里除了心底深处永恒的真理之外，任何别的东西都没有容身之地。缺少这些永恒的普遍真理，任何小说都只能是昙花一现，注定要失败。这些真理就是：爱、荣誉、怜悯、尊严、同情与牺牲。
若是他做不到这一点，他的工作就是白费功夫。他写的不是爱情而是情欲；他写的失败是不值得一提的失败；他写的胜利没有希望，更可悲的是没有怜悯或同情的胜利；他写的悲伤不是为普遍的逝者而悲伤，所以留不下深刻的心灵烙印；他写的不是灵魂而是器官。
在他重新认识到这一点之前，他的写作就犹如他眼睁睁地看着世界末日的来临而束手无策一般。我不同意人类末日的说法。说人是不朽的，因为他能忍受巨大的苦痛，说当厄运的最后一次钟声在没有潮水冲刷的，映在末日最后一抹余晖里的，最后一块无用礁石旁渐渐消失时，还会有一个声音，那就是人类微弱但不倦的声音。说这些都很容易，但是我不能接受这种说法。我相信人类不仅能忍受，更拥有战胜一切的力量。人类之所以不朽，不是因为万物中唯有他有着不知疲倦的声音，而是因为他有灵魂，有充满同情、勇于牺牲和善于忍耐的精神。而把这些写出来就是诗人和作家的责任。诗人和作家有一种特权，那就是去鼓舞人的斗志、使人们记住曾经有过的光荣——人类曾有过的勇气、荣誉、希望、尊严、同情、怜悯与牺牲的精神——去升华人们的心灵，达到最终的永恒。诗人的声音不应仅仅是人类的记录，而应成为人类得以永存和胜利的力量。
导读
福克纳于1949年获诺贝尔文学奖。这是福克纳在1949年诺贝尔文学奖获奖时所作的演说。瑞典著名的发明家和化学家诺贝尔在1895年11月27日写下遗嘱，捐献全部财产设立基金，每年把利息作为奖金，授予“一年来对人类做出最大贡献的人”。这便是诺贝尔奖的由来。根据他的遗嘱，瑞典政府于同年建立“诺贝尔基金会”，负责把基金的年利息按五等分，其中一份授予“在文学方面创作出具有理想倾向的最佳作品的人”。这就是诺贝尔文学奖，由瑞典文学院颁发。另外四个奖项为物理、化学、生理或医学及和平奖。
单词注解
agony [5A^Eni] n.极大的痛苦
dedication [7dedi5keiFEn] n.献身精神，奉献精神
pinnacle [5pinEkl] n.顶点，极致
anguish [5AN^wiF] n.极度痛苦
sustained [sEs5teind] adj.持久的，持续的
诵读名句
So this award is only mine in trust.
Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear so long sustained7 by now that we can even bear it.
The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man，it can be one of the props，the pillars to help him endure and prevail.
第一章 The Origin of the Universe
史蒂芬·威廉·霍金：宇宙的起源
Stephen William Hawking/史蒂芬·威廉·霍金
According to the Boshongo people of central Africa，in the beginning there was only darkness，water，and the great god Bumba. One day Bumba，in pain from a stomach ache，vomited up the sun. The sun dried up some of the water，leaving land. Still in pain，Bumba vomited up the moon，the stars，and then some animals：the leopard，the crocodile，the turtle，and，finally man.
This creation myth，like many others，tries to answer the questions we all ask. Why are we here？ Where did we come from？ The answer generally given was that humans were of comparatively recent origin，because it must have been obvious，even at early times，that the human race was improving in knowledge and technology. So it can’t have been around that long，or it would have progressed even more. For example，The Book of Genesis placed the creation of the world at 9 am on October the 23th，4，004 BC. On the other hand，the physical surroundings，like mountains and rivers，change very little in a human life time. They were therefore thought to be a constant background，and either to have existed for ever as an empty landscape，or to have been created at the same time as the humans.
Not everyone however，was happy with the idea that the universe had a beginning. For example，Aristotle，the most famous of the Greek philosophers，believed the universe had existed forever. Something eternal is more perfect than something created. He suggested，the reason we see progress was that floods，or other natural disasters，had repeatedly set civilization back to the beginning. The motivation for believing in an eternal universe was the desire to avoid invoking divine intervention，to create the universe，and set it going. Conversely，those who believed the universe had a beginning，used it as an argument for the existence of God，as the first cause，or prime mover of the universe.