异乡异客的序言
2006-11-01 08:41:11 来自: 牛牛*奋斗
All men, gods; and planets in this story are imaginary,
Any coincidence of names is regretted.
Part One HIS MACULATE ORIGIN, 5
Part Two HIS PREPOSTEROUS HERITAGE, 81
Fart Three HIS ECCENTRIC EDUCATION, 261
Part Four HIS SCANDALOUS CAREER, 363
Part Five HIS HAPPY DESTINY, 425
Preface
本文故事纯属虚构，如有雷同实属巧合
IF YOU THINK that this book appears to be thicker and contain more words than you found in the first published edition of Stranger in a Strange Land, your observation is correct. This edition is the original one the way Robert Heinlein first conceived it, and put it down on paper.
若你认为这本书比第一版异乡异客厚且字数更多，你的观察所得是正确的。这个版本是最初Robert Heinlein构思并起草的。
The earlier edition contained a few words over 160,000, while this one runs around 220,000 words. Robert's manuscript copy usually contained about 250 to 300 words per page, depending on the amount of dialogue on the pages. So, taking an average of about 275 words, with the manuscript running 800 pages, we get a total of 220,000 words, perhaps a bit more.
早期版本只有为数不多的16万字，而这本书足足有22万字。ROBERT的原稿通常每页250~300词，字数多少取决于每页中对话的数量。平均275词，原稿有800页，总数为22万词，或者更多。
This book was so different from what was being sold to the general public, or to the science fiction reading public in 1961 when it was published, that the editors required some cutting and removal of a few scenes that might then have been offensive to public taste.
编辑对这本书进行斧凿并删减了一小部分在当时可能挑战受众能力的场景描写，改头换面之后于1961年面向大众或着说科幻的读者群出版。
The November 1948 issue of Astounding Science Fiction contained a letter to the editor suggesting titles for the issue of a year hence. Among the titles was to be a story by Robert A. Heinlein-"Gulf."
1948年11月份的惊奇科幻上有封给编辑的信建议了来年的选题，其中就有分派给ROBERT的深渊。（没看明白）
In a long conversation between that editor, John W. Campbell, Jr., and Robert, it was decided that there would be sufficient lead time to allow all the stories that the fan had titled to be written, and the magazine to come out in time for the November 1949 date. Robert promised to deliver a short story to go with the title. Most of the other authors also went along with the gag. This issue came to be known as the "Time Travel" issue.
与编辑John W. Campbell, Jr.长时间的讨论后，大家一致认为应该有足够的时间来完成这些粉丝的选题，于是杂志于1949年11月出版（这句不太懂）。ROBERT承诺交付一篇关于选题的短篇。其他的大部分作家也纷纷动笔。这就是为后人所熟悉的“时间旅行”的出版。（不懂）
Robert's problem, then, was to find a story to fit the title assigned to him.
ROBERT那时的难题是构思一个故事以符合指派给他的选题。
So we held a "brainstorming" session. Among other unsuitable notions, I suggested a story about a human infant, raised by an alien race. The idea was just too big for a short story, Robert said, but he made a note about it. That night he went into his study, and wrote some lengthy notes, and set them aside.
于是我们开了个头脑风暴的会，在其它天马行空的设想中，我构思了一个人类由童年开始截然不同的发展过程。然而这个构思对一个短篇故事来说太长了，ROBERT 说，但是他记录下来。那晚，他开始查找资料在这个构思旁边记了很多笔记。
For the title "Gulf" he wrote quite a different story.
关于深渊，他写了个与众不同的的故事。
The notes sat in a file for several years, at which time Robert began to write what was to be Stranger in a Strange Land. Somehow, the story didn't quite jell, and he set it aside. He returned to the manuscript a few times, but it was not finished until 1960: this was the version you now hold in your hands.
这些笔记尘封了多年，直至ROBERT 开始创作后来成为异乡异客的小说。不知何故，故事没有成型。他几易手稿，直到1960年才完工，这就是你现在手中的版本。
In the context of 1960, Stranger in a Strange Land was a book that his publishers feared-it was too far off the beaten path. So, in order to mini~ mize possible losses, Robert was asked to cut the manuscript down to 150,000 words-a loss of about 70,000 words. Other changes were also requested, before the editor was willing to take a chance on publication.
1960年前后，出版商认为异乡异客太超前。所以为了一个合适的版本，ROBERT被要求将字数减少到15万词，大概少7万词。最后出版之前，还有其它的修改。
To take out about a quarter of a long, complicated book was close to an impossible task. But, over the course of some months, Robert accomplished it. The final word count came out at 160,087 words. Robert was convinced that it was impossible to cut out any more, and the book was accepted at that length.
删减1/4对如此复杂的书来说简直是不可能的任务。但是，几个月后，ROBERT 完工了。最后的定稿为16万零87个词。ROBERT 深信不可能再少了，于是以那个长度成为定稿。
For 28 years it remained in print in that form.
28年来异乡异客以那个版本印刷。
In 1976, Congress passed a new Copyright Law, which said, in part, that in the event an author died, and the widow or widower renewed the copyright, all old contracts were cancelled Robert died in 1988, and the following year the copyright for Stranger in a Strange Land came up for renewal.
1976年，议会通过新的版权法，其中有一条，若作者死亡，遗孀或鳏夫可以申请新的版权，所有旧的合同作废。ROBERT 死于1988年，1989年异乡异客的版权重新修订。
Unlike many other authors, Robert had kept a copy of the original typescript, as submitted for publication~ on file at the library of the University of California at Santa Cruz, his archivists. I asked for a copy of that manuscript, and read that and the published versions side by side. And I came to the conclusion that it had been a mistake to cut the book.
不像其他的作家，在负梓后，ROBERT 保存有最初打印稿的复印件。复印件位于SANTA CRUZ的加州大学图书馆他的卷宗内。我要了一份那份手稿的复印件，对比着已有版本一页一页的读。我的结论是删减此书是错误的。
So I sent a copy of the typescript to Eleanor Wood, Robert's agent. Eleanor also read the two versions together, and agreed with my verdict. So, after the notification to the publisher, she presented them with a copy of the new/old version.
于是我给ELEANOR WOOD 一份复印件，他是ROBERT 的经纪人。ELEANOR也是对比着两个版本读，肯定了我的结论。通知了出版商后，她把新旧版本作为礼物送给他们。
No one remembered the fact that such drastic cutting had been done on this book; over the course of years all the editors and senior officers at the publishing house had changed. So this version was a complete surprise to them.
没人记得此书做了如此剧烈的修改，许多年过后，当年的编辑和高层早已更换一新。这个版本对他们而言绝对震惊。
They decided to publish the original version, agreeing that it was better than the cut one.
他们决定出版这个原版，同时承认比删减版好。
You now have in your hands the original version of Stranger in a Strange Land, as written by Robert Anson Heinlein.
现在你手中的这个版本是ROBERT最初的异乡异客的版本。
The given names of the chief characters have great importance to the plot. They were carefully selected: Jubal means "the father of all," Michael stands for "Who is like God?" I leave it for the reader to find out what the other names mean.
主要人物的姓名对小说的情节很重要。这些名字都是精挑细选才决定的：JUBAL意味着所有人的父亲，MICHAEL代表谁像上帝。其它名字的含义留给读者去思索。
-Virginia Heinlein Carmel, California
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