1、Samuel Johnsons letter to Lord ChesterfieldTo The Right Honorable The Earl Of Chesterfield7th February, 1755.My Lord,I have been lately informed, by the proprietor of The World, thattwo papers, in which my Dictionary is recommended to the public, werewritten by your lordship. To be so distinguished

2、is an honor which,being very little accustomed to favors from the great, I know not wellhow to receive, or in what terms to acknowledge.When, upon some slight encouragement, I first visited your lordship,I was overpowered, like the rest of mankind, by the enchantment of youraddress, and could not fo

3、rbear to wish that I might boast myself Levainqueur du vainqueur de la terre;that I might obtain that regard forwhich I saw the world contending; but I found my attendance so littleencouraged, that neither pride normodesty would suffer me to continue it. When I had once addressedyour Lordship in pub

4、lic, I had exhausted all the art of pleasing which aretired and uncourtly scholar can possess. I had done all that I could;and no man is well pleased to have his all neglected, be it ever solittle.Seven years, my lord, have now passed, since I waited in youroutward rooms, or was repulsed from your d

5、oor; during which time I havebeen pushing on my work through difficulties, of whichand have brought it, at last, to the verge of publication, withoutone act of it is useless to complain,assistance, one word of encouragement, or one smile of favor. Suchtreatment I did not expect, for I never had a pa

6、tron before.The shepherd in Virgil grew at last acquainted with Love, and foundhim a native of the rocks. Is not a patrons my lord, one who looks withunconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he hasreached ground, encumbers him with help? The notice which you have beenpleased to

7、 take of my labors, had it been early, had been kind; but ithas been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it: till I amsolitary, and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it. Ihope it is no very cynical asperity not to confess obligations where nobenefit has been, which recei

8、ved, or to be unwilling that the public should considerme as owing that to a patronprovidence has enabled me to do for myself.Having carried on my work thus far with so little obligation to anyfavorer of learning, I shall not be disappointed though I shouldconclude it, if less be possible, with less

9、; for I have been longwakened from that dream of hope, in which I once boasted myself with somuch exultation,My Lord,Your lordships most humble,most obedient servant,SAM. JOHNSON. 致齊斯特菲伯爵書伯爵大人鈞鑒:日前，乘世界日報業(yè)主告知，該報所刊對拙著字典贊譽交加之兩篇文章，實出于閣下之手筆。閣下對本人如此揄揚，誠三生有幸。本人素乏偉人提攜獎勵，驟得恩寵，惶恐萬分，不知該如何承受，如何致謝，始得其當也 。昔日，本人嘗稍

10、受鼓勵，即趨階請益。閣下言辭華美迷人，一介凡夫如我，何能免俗，禁不住陶醉神馳而沾沾自喜，大興非獨霸文壇而不罷休之豪情曾幾何時，閣下之言，雖猶在耳，閣下對我之垂顧，卻已煙消云散，使我無論如何自欺，亦無法開釋于懷。自問當初本人對閣下之尊敬忠誠，殷勤取悅，比諸任何煮字療饑的文人，絕不遜色，我已竭其所能，使盡渾身解數(shù)，仍然無法獲得閣下垂青，是可忍，孰不可忍也 。憶及當初本人或枯候閣下于玄關，或見擯于大門之外，時光無情，忽焉巳七載有余;當是時也，本人無一日不孜孜矻矻，夙夜匪懈，努力工作而無一字一句埋怨;如今大功告成，字典行將出版，亦無人助一臂之力，致一安慰之詞，或?qū)ξ椅⑿κ净荩再Y鼓勵。世所謂“恩主”(

11、Patron)者，與本人一向無緣，今后亦不敢有此奢望。維吉爾詩中之牧羊童子，最后雖有幸結(jié)識愛神(Love)，但早已奄奄一息，僵臥于野，為時已晚矣閣下，世之所謂恩主者，豈見溺不救，任其浮沉，不加理睬，及其登岸，又伸以援手，示以關切者之流耶,閣下對本人挖空心思之捧場文章，如果早來一步，不知使我將物和感激涕零;然而，時過境遷，一切均成明日黃花，本人現(xiàn)已無心強顏歡笑，自我陶醉;當我孤獨一人，呼天既不應，呼地亦無聞，現(xiàn)我功成名就，又何勞他人錦上添花，代為吹噓。此乃出自肺腑之言，并非一時意氣之爭，尚希仁人君子不至于誤解本人乃忘恩負義之徒，因我既無恩可忘，更無義可負也。本人工作已近完成階段。以往既未蒙任何文

12、壇先進，袞袞諸公，提攜獎掖，如今亦不會因此而傷心欲絕，肝腸寸斷。對于一切事后溢美之詞，最好能省即省，能免則免。對于曩昔信以為真，全心以赴的千秋大夢，本人已夢醒多時此頌約翰遜 再拜辜正坤先生白話體譯文伯爵大人:近日從世界報館主得知，該報刊載了兩篇文章，對拙編詞典頗多舉薦濫美之詞，這些文章?lián)ぞ鲎蚤w下您的手筆。承蒙您如此的推崇，本應是一種榮耀，只可惜在下自來無緣得到王公大人的青睞，所以真不知道該如何來領受這份榮耀，也不知道該用些什么言辭來聊表謝意?；叵氘斈?，也不知哪來的勇氣，我竟第一次拜訪了大人閣下。我像所有的人一樣，深為大人的言談豐采所傾倒，不禁玄想他年能口出大言“吾乃天下征服者之征服者也?！?/p>

13、雖知此殊榮是舉世學人所欲得，仍希望有朝一日能僥幸獲取。然而我很快發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的趨走逢迎根本沒有得到鼓勵。不管是出于自尊也好，自矜也好，我反正無法再周旋下去。我本是一個與世無爭、不善逢迎的書生，但那時我也曾用盡平生所學的阿諛奉承的言辭，當眾贊能做的一切我都做了。如果一個人在這方面付出的一切努力(不管是多么微不美過閣下。足道)受到完全的忽視，他是絕不會感到舒服的。大人閣下，從我第一次候立于貴府門下，或者說被您拒于門外時算起，已經(jīng) 7年過去。7 年多來，我一直苦苦地撐持著我的編撰工作。這些苦楚，現(xiàn)在再來傾訴，已經(jīng)沒有用處。所幸我的勞作而今終于快要出版，在這之前我沒有獲得過一個贊助的行為，一句鼓勵的話語，一抹稱許的微笑。我固然不曾指望這樣的禮遇，因為我從未有過一位贊助人。維吉爾筆下的牧童最后終于和愛神相識，這才發(fā)現(xiàn)所謂愛神只不過是巖穴土人而已。大人閣下，有的人眼見落水者在水中拼命掙扎而無動于衷，等他安全抵岸之后，卻才多余地伸出所謂援手，莫非這就叫贊助人么,大人而今忽有雅興來關照在下的勞作，這原本是一樁美意，只可惜太遲了一點。遲到我已經(jīng)意懶心灰，再無法快樂地消受;遲到我已經(jīng)是孤身一人，無從與家人分享;遲到我已經(jīng)名聞海內(nèi)，再不需閣下附麗張揚。我既然本來就沒有得到過實惠，自然母需懷感恩之心;既然是