[美文欣賞]

Suppose someone gave you a pen - a sealed, solid-colored pen.

You couldn't see how much ink it had. It might run dry after the first few tentative words or last just long enough to create a masterpiece(or several) that would last forever and make a difference in the scheme of things. You don't know before you begin. Under the rules of the game, you really never know. You have to take a chance!

And of what would you write: Of love? Hate? Fun? Misery? Life? Death? Nothing? Everything? Would you write to please just yourself? Or others? Or yourself by writing for others? Would your strokes be tremblingly timid or brilliantly bold? Fancy with a flourish or plain? Would you even write? Once you have the pen, no rule says you have to write. Would you sketch? Scribble? Doodle or draw? Would you stay in or on the lines, or see no lines at all, even if they were there? Or are they?

There's a lot to think about here, isn't there?

Now, suppose someone gave you a life...

[參考譯文]

人生之筆

假如有人送你一支筆，一支不可拆卸的單色鋼筆。

看不出里面究竟有多少墨水。或許在你試探性地寫(xiě)上幾個(gè)字后它就會(huì)枯干，或許足夠用來(lái)創(chuàng)作一部影響深遠(yuǎn)的不朽巨著(或是幾部)。而這些，在動(dòng)筆前，都是無(wú)法得知的。 在這個(gè)游戲規(guī)則下，你真的永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)預(yù)知結(jié)果。你只能去碰運(yùn)氣!

你又會(huì)用筆寫(xiě)下些什么呢：愛(ài)?恨?喜?悲?生?死?虛無(wú)?萬(wàn)物?你寫(xiě)作只是為了愉己?還是為了悅?cè)?抑或是借替人書(shū)寫(xiě)而愉己?你的落筆會(huì)是顫抖膽怯的，還是鮮明果敢的?你的想象會(huì)是豐富的還是貧乏的?甚或你根本沒(méi)有落筆?這是因?yàn)椋隳玫焦P以后，沒(méi)有哪條規(guī)則說(shuō)你必須寫(xiě)作。也許你要畫(huà)素描，亂寫(xiě)一氣?信筆涂鴉?畫(huà)畫(huà)?你會(huì)保持寫(xiě)在線內(nèi)還是線上，還是根本看不到線，即使有線在那里?嗯，真的有線嗎?

這里面有許多東西值得考慮，不是嗎?

現(xiàn)在，假如有人給予你一支生命的筆……