在一個大多數人都慣用右手的世界裡,左撇子似乎依然是一個特殊的存在，在思維方式、生活習慣等方面，總是與這個「右手世界」顯得格格不入。但事實上在很多領域裡，一些傑出的人才都是用左手徵服了世界。
Popular thought has it that left-handers are somehow more artistic and creative than right-handers, and that they are better at tasks involving geometry[1] or spatial [2] analysis. This is because they are supposedly right-brain dominant and the right brain is the hemisphere that controls certain types of creative thinking. Unfortunately, people don’t really use their brains that way, and a left-hander is just as likely to be a manual[3] laborer or great writer as the rest of the population. The following authors are all left-handers who have made an indelible[4] mark on the literary landscape.
人們普遍認為：不知道什麼原因，左撇子比慣用右手的人更富有藝術才華和創造力，而且更善於做與幾何學或者空間分析相關的事情。這是因為，人們一般認為左撇子的右腦更發達，而右腦是控制特定類型創造性思維的腦半球。令人遺憾的是，人們並不真那樣利用自己的大腦——左撇子既有可能成為一名體力勞動者，也有可能成為一名大作家，和慣用右手的人差不多。以下幾位作家都是左撇子，他們業已在人類文學捲軸留下了不可磨滅的印記。
01
Hans Christian Anderson (1805~1875)
He is a Danish author of plays, essays and poems, but best known for more than 100 fairy tales that he published from 1835 onwards. Anderson was born to a very poor family, and entertained himself as a child by making up stories and songs, and by crafting his own toys. Many of his tales contain thinly veiled autobiographical details. His wonderful stories, which include The Little Mermaid, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling, and The Little Match Girl were immensely[5] popular in his own lifetime and are likely to always be so.
漢斯·克裡斯蒂安·安徒生(1805~1875)
安徒生是丹麥劇作家、散文家和詩人，不過，他最為知名的還是其自1835年以來發表的100多篇童話故事。安徒生出生於一個非常貧寒的家庭，小時候，他就用自編故事、自創歌曲和自製玩具的方式來自娛自樂。他的許多童話作品當中都幾乎不加掩飾地含有自傳性的細節。他創作的精彩童話故事包括《小美人魚》(譯註：又譯作《海的女兒》)、《皇帝的新裝》、《醜小鴨》和《賣火柴的小女孩》等，這些故事在安徒生所處的時代就非常受歡迎，而且現在也很可能一直這樣被大家喜愛下去。
(郵票上印的圖畫為安徒生童話《海的女兒》)
02
Lewis Carroll (1832~1898)
Born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson in Cheshire, England, he was the eldest son of a clergyman. Although he excelled at mathematics as a child, he found an outlet[6] for his imagination in telling stories to his ten siblings. Charles was always fond of children, whom he found he could talk to without his customary[7] stammer[8], and he was famously inspired to write Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland through his close friendship with young Alice Liddell. In 1871, he created a popular sequel, Through the Looking Glass while continuing to lecture in mathematics.
劉易斯·卡羅爾(1832~1898)
劉易斯·卡羅爾原名查爾斯·勒特威奇·道奇森，出生於英國英格蘭柴郡，父親是一名牧師，他是家中的長子。雖然劉易斯小時候數學學得很不錯，但他卻是用給十個兄弟姐妹講故事的方式來釋放自己的想像力的。查爾斯一直都非常喜歡孩子，他發現自己跟他們講話時不會出現習慣性的口吃。眾所周知，正是他與小愛麗絲·利德爾之間的親密友誼給了他創作《愛麗絲夢遊仙境》的靈感。1871年，他又創作了該書的續篇《愛麗絲鏡中奇遇》，也深受讀者喜愛;與此同時，他還繼續在大學裡教數學。
(《愛麗絲夢遊仙境》)
03
H. G. Wells (1866~1946)
English novelist, essayist and historian, Wells is regarded as one of the fathers of science-fiction. His great and prophetic[9] works include The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, and The War of the Worlds. Wells also several books on contemporary political issues and on history, including A Short History of the World.
赫伯特·喬治·威爾斯(1866~1946)
威爾斯是英國小說家、散文家和歷史學家，被看作是科幻小說的創始人之一。他出色而富有預言性的作品包括《時間機器》、《莫洛博士島》和《星際戰爭》等。此外，威爾斯還寫過一些有關當代政治問題和歷史的書，包括《世界史綱》。