紀念九一八事變89周年，勿忘國恥。給大家推薦一本名著《戰爭與和平》，這本書的主題思想是人道主義與博愛精神。《戰爭與和平》它歌頌和平，同時又描寫戰爭，反映人民保衛自己祖國土地不受敵人凌辱的英勇精神。
"War and Peace,"a tome, a slog, the sort of book you shouldn't read in bed because if you fall asleep, it could give you a concussion, right?
《戰爭與和平》，它是一部恢弘的巨著，也是一部嘔心瀝血的作品，它並不是一本枕邊書， 因為如果你打算睡了，它會衝擊你的心靈，不是嗎？
Only partly.
不過，這也只是對一部分人來說。
"War and Peace" is a long book, sure, but it's also a thrilling examination of history, populated with some of the deepest, most realistic characters you'll find anywhere.
《戰爭與和平》確實是一本很厚的書，但它精彩地展現了歷史，書中充滿了現實、卻不乏深刻的人物。
And if its length intimidates you, just image how poor Tolstoy felt.
如果讀這個大部頭令你止步， 可以想像託爾斯泰寫它時將多麼痛苦。
In 1863, he set out to write a short novel about a political dissident returning from exile in Siberia.
1863年，託爾斯泰本來打算 寫一本關於政見不合的短篇小說，此時他剛從西伯利亞流亡回來。
Five years later, he had produced a 1,200 page epic featuring love stories, battlefields, bankruptcies, firing squads, religious visions, the burning of Moscow, and a semi-domesticated bear, but no exile and no political dissidents.
5年後，他洋洋灑灑寫了1200頁,這部著作中包含了愛情故事、戰爭、經濟破產、消防隊員、宗教、莫斯科大火、以及半馴化的熊，但是書中並未講到流亡和政見不合。
Here's how it happened.
其原因如下。
Tolstoy, a volcanic soul, was born to a famously eccentric aristocratic family in 1828.
託爾斯泰這個暴脾氣的人，1828年出生於貴族家庭， 此家庭以性格古怪而聞名。
By the time he was 30, he had already dropped out of Kazan University, gambled away the family fortune, joined the army, written memoirs, and rejected the literary establishment to travel Europe.
三十歲時，他從喀山大學輟學，揮霍著家族的財富，參了軍，寫了回憶錄，選擇去西歐旅遊而不是潛心文學。
He then settled into Yasnaya Polyana, his ancestral mansion, to write about the return of the Decembrists, a band of well-born revolutionaries pardoned in 1856 after 30 years in exile.
他後來定居在 Yasnaya Polyana， 這也是他的祖居，在這裡他寫下了十二月黨人的回歸，即一群出身良好的改革分子 在經歷30年流放後於1856年被赦免。
But, Tolstoy thought, how could he tell the story of the Decembrists return from exile without telling the story of 1825, when they revolted against the conservative Tsar Nicholas I?
但託爾斯泰認為，如果不描述十二月黨人在1825年對沙皇尼古拉斯二世進行的起義，那該如何描寫十二月黨人的結束流放呢？
And how could he do that without telling the story of 1812, when Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia helped trigger the authoritarianism the Decembrists were rebelling against?
這又不得不談到1812年時，拿破崙對俄羅斯的入侵事件，觸發了十二月黨人所反對的專制主義。
And how could he tell the story of 1812 without talking about 1805, when the Russians first learned of the threat Napoleon posed after their defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz?
而描述1812年則需要描述1805年，當時俄羅斯在奧斯特裡茨戰役中失敗，從而開始感受到拿破崙的威脅。
So Tolstoy began writing, both about the big events of history and the small lives that inhabit those events.
因此，託爾斯泰決定了他既要描寫歷史上的重要事件，也要描寫歷史洪流中小人物的生活。
He focused on aristocrats, the class he knew best.
他把目標放在自己熟悉的貴族階層。
The book only occasionally touches on the lives of the vast majority of the Russian population, who were peasants, or even serfs, farmers bound to serve the owners of the land on which they lived.
書中只是偶爾涉及到俄羅斯的普通大眾，其中包括農民，甚至農奴，這些人在當時不得不為地主服務。
"War and Peace" opens on the eve of war between France and Russia.
《戰爭與和平》的故事以法俄戰爭前夕為開始。
Aristocrats at a cocktail party fret about the looming violence, but then change the topic to those things aristocrats always seem to care about: money, sex, and death.
雞尾酒會上的貴族們 為逼近的戰事而擔憂，但話題迅速轉向 貴族們一向關注的問題：錢、色、死亡。
This first scene is indicative of the way the book bounces between the political and personal over an ever-widening canvas.
書的第一節也暗示了在一個前所未有的宏大背景下，情節同時在政治和個人兩方面展開。
There are no main characters in "War and Peace."
《戰爭與和平》中並沒有主角。相反，讀者們會看到一張巨大的關係和問題交錯的網。
Will the hapless and illegitimate son of a count marry a beautiful but conniving princess?
那個不幸的私生子能夠娶到美麗但卻驕縱的公主嗎？
Will his only friend survive the battlefields of Austria?
他唯一的朋友能夠在戰爭中活下來嗎？
And what about that nice young girl falling in love with both men at once?
那個對兩個男人一見鍾情 的年輕女孩又會如何呢？
Real historical figures mix and mingle with all these fictional folk, Napoleon appears several times, and even one of Tolstoy's ancestors plays a background part.
真實的歷史人物和虛構的形象彼此交叉，拿破崙在書中出現數次，託爾斯泰的祖先甚至都在書中扮演了角色。
But while the characters and their psychologies are gripping, Tolstoy is not afraid to interrupt the narrative to pose insightful questions about history.
儘管人物及其心理描寫扣人心弦，託爾斯泰並不擔心打斷原有的敘述而提出深刻的，關於歷史的問題。
Why do wars start?
為什麼戰爭會爆發？
What are good battlefield tactics?
什麼是好的戰場戰術？
Do nations rise and fall on the actions of so-called great men like Napoleon, or are there larger cultural and economic forces at play?
偉大人物，例如拿破崙，是否決定了國家的興亡？還是說更大的文化和 經濟力量起著決定作用？
These extended digressions are part of what make "War and Peace" so panoramic in scope.
這些延伸出的題外話也成就了這本巨著，使其擁有更加宏大的格局。
But for some 19th century critics, this meant "War and Peace" barely felt like a novel at all.
但19世紀的一些評論認為，很難說《戰爭與和平》是一部小說。
It was a "large, loose, baggy monster,"in the words of Henry James.
Henry Jame 認為這是 「大部頭、鬆散、拖沓的怪物。」
Tolstoy, in fact, agreed.
事實上，託爾斯泰也承認這點。
To him, novels were a western European form.
於他而言，小說是西歐的一種文學形式。
Russian writers had to write differently because Russian people lived differently.
而俄羅斯人民的生活方式和西歐不同， 這使得俄羅斯作家需要做出改變。
"What is 'War and Peace'?"he asked.
他自問「什麼是《戰爭與和平》？」
"It is not a novel. Still less an epic poem. Still less a historical chronicle.
「它並不是部小說，也不像一部史詩，也不是編年體歷史。它是作者用一種能夠表達的題材去表達他想要、並且能夠表達的內容。」換句話說，這是託爾斯泰全部的想像力，僅此而已。
By the time "War and Peace" ends, Tolstoy has brought his characters to the year 1820,36 years before the events he originally hoped to write about.
《戰爭與和平》結尾時，書中的時間已經回溯到1820年，這比託爾斯泰最初設想的1856年早了36年。
In trying to understand his own times, he had become immersed in the years piled up behind him.
在試圖了解自己所處的時代的情況下，他沉浸在過去。
The result is a grand interrogation into history, culture, philosophy, psychology, and the human response to war.
最終誕生了這部追索 在戰爭背景下，歷史、文化、哲學、心理、以及人類如何應對戰爭的巨著。