【导读】本文选自《欧内斯特·海明威精选书信1917—1961》。在1934年出版新书《夜色温柔》（Tender is the Night）后，F. 斯科特·菲茨杰拉德向他的朋友欧内斯特·海明威征求其对这本书的真实看法，海明威给予了回应。在这封回信中，海明威表达了其对友谊的珍视，对菲茨杰拉德才华的认可，以及对他未来的期许。这封回信也再现了海明威对作家们颇具价值的写作建议，例如注重人物塑造的真实性，重视倾听与观察等等。这封信件不仅体现了海明威对菲茨杰拉德作品的深刻批评与建设性建议，还展现了他对文学创作原则的坚持、对个人生活的关切以及对友谊与未来的美好期待。这封信件不仅是两位文学巨匠之间友谊的见证，也是文学创作理论与实践相结合的宝贵财富。

Key West

基韦斯特

28 May 1934

1934年5月28日

Dear Scott：

亲爱的斯科特：

I liked it and I didn’t like it. It started off with that marvelous description of Sara and Gerald1 （goddamn it Dos2 took it with him so I can’t refer to it. So if I make any mistakes—）. Then you started fooling with them， making them come from things they didn’t come from， changing them into other people and you can’t do that， Scott. If you take real people and write about them you cannot give them other parents than they have （they are made by their parents and what happens to them） you cannot make them do anything they would not do. You can take you or me or Zelda3 or Pauline4 or Hadley5 or Sara or Gerald but you have to keep them the same and you can only make them do what they would do. You can’t make one be another. Invention is the finest thing but you cannot invent anything that would not actually happen.

这本小说让我又爱又恨。你在开头对萨拉和杰拉尔德的描写真是精彩绝伦（该死的，多斯把书拿走了，让我无法查阅。所以要是我哪里搞错了——）。然后你就开始戏弄他们了，乱改他们的出身，将他们写成其他人，这可不行啊，斯科特。如果你以真实人物为原型进行创作，你就不能为他们设定不同于现实的父母（人物可是由他们的父母及自身经历塑造的），也不能编排他们做出他们根本不会做的事。你可以以你、我、泽尔达、保利娜、哈德利、萨拉或杰拉尔德为原型，但必须保持人物的本色，只能让他们做符合他们性格的事。你不能将一个人写成另一个人。创作是极好的，但你不能创作出完全脱离实际的东西。

That is what we are supposed to do when we are at our best—make it all up—but make it up so truly that later it will happen that way.

我们状态好的时候就该如此——编写故事——但要编得真实，接下来故事才能发展得顺理成章。

Goddamn it you took liberties with peoples’ pasts and futures that produced not people but damned marvellously faked case histories. You， who can write better than anybody can， who are so lousy with talent that you have to—the hell with it. Scott for gods sake write and write truly no matter who or what it hurts but do not make these silly compromises. You could write a fine book about Gerald and Sara for instance if you knew enough about them and they would not have any feeling， except passing， if it were true.

该死，你竟然随意地篡改人物的过去和未来，这样创作出的可不是活生生的人物，而是一些可恶的、精彩绝伦的伪造病历。你呀，你比任何人写得都好，滥用才华到不得不——算了，不说了。斯科特，看在上帝的份上，你就写吧，实实在在地写，无论会伤害到什么人或是物，都不要这样稀里糊涂地勉强凑合。如果你足够了解杰拉尔德和萨拉，就可以写一本关于他们的好书，而且，如果写得真实，他们除了一时的不快，不会有其他想法。

There were wonderful places and nobody else nor none of the boys can write a good one half as good reading as one that doesn’t come out by you， but you cheated too damned much in this one. And you don’t need to.

这部作品中有许多精彩之处，其他人，包括那些同行，都写不出哪怕一半这样引人入胜的段落。