弗吉尼亚?伍尔夫致罗伯特?塞西尔女士
弗吉尼亚?伍尔夫(1882—1941)，英国小说家、评论家，也是一位女权主义者。她主张淡化情节、运用内心独白和意识流手法写作。在两次世界大战期间，伍尔夫是伦敦文学界的一个象征。她的主要作品有长篇小说《海浪》《黛洛维夫人》《到灯塔去》《幕与幕之间》等和评论集数种。伍尔夫被看做是引导现代主义潮流的先锋，人们甚至认为她革新了英语本身，有人在一篇评论里说她将英语“朝着光明的方向推进了一小步”。她在小说中尝试运用意识流的写作方法，试图描写人们心底的潜意识。她在文学上的成就和创造至今仍有很大影响。
亲爱的奈莉：
我早就想为你的来信而向你表示感谢，它是我收到的第一封对我的文学作品发表看法的信，因此我非常高兴！你想不到作家是一种何等爱慕虚荣的动物——不过妮莎会告诉你的。我想艺术家不会像作家那样强烈地受到虚荣的诱惑，因为，所有他或她的创作都是公开进行的，因此总是遭受到批评；然而，可怜的作家们遭遇的就是另外一种情形了，他们把自己的思想都藏匿在大脑黑暗的角落里，当这些思想被印刷成文字的时候，他们看上去是那样的**颤抖、战战兢兢。因此，对于作家来说，有人喜欢他的作品就是一种很大的鼓舞。这并非说评论文章值得赞扬，我想，写评论肯定是一件十分乏味的事。我憎恨对人妄加批评的态度，因为我知道自己一直在说些骗人的空话。扪心自问，如果我自己都做不好，我又有什么权利来断定何谓好坏！
请你仔细思考一下某个需要人们去写的严肃题材，并在我们下次会面的时候告诉我。现在我是一个四处求职的人——即寻找一个恢弘庞大，能让我奉献生命中十年时间的好题材。我曾经请教过一个这方面的专家，他建议我选择某种历史题材，并且说：“你到70岁时就可以着手把它写在纸上。”可是，说实话，我不敢保证自己到70岁时身体还非常健康，能把它写在纸上，但对于历史这样的题材来说，他似乎并没有考虑到这样一些细节方面的问题。
在伦敦的大雾里待了10天之后，我们已于昨天抵达这里。你看，我是多么细致地告诉你这个都市的情况的：你每时每刻都得撑着阳伞去采玫瑰花或散步！在这里，我们第一次看见了太阳——至少是太阳的余晖，因为此刻太阳刚刚落山。然而，今天早上，太阳顺利升起来了，阳光明媚。这真是一个非常可爱的地方。如果你还想建造一座小别墅，那就建在这里吧。这里，山毛榉枝条几乎挤进我们的前门——至少艾德里安说他在起居室里就能闻到它们的气味，而且，只要你呼唤一声，森林猎场上的矮种马就会来到你的身边——托比昨晚在月光下看见一头奶牛在野地里追逐一只狐狸。今天早上，我不知道那只狐狸是否与此事有关，他剃去了唇上的小胡子——希望看上去更像一名律师。我和妮莎各租了一辆自行车。今天下午，我车子的前轮爆了，啪的一声，像枪声一样，轮胎的一侧裂开了一个大口子。你或许并不特别想收到我的信，然而，我却不知道为什么给你写了这么长的一封信。这里没有书籍，所以我一见到笔墨，就情不自禁地写个不停，就像有人一见到杜松子酒就会痛饮一番那样。
爱你的艾?维?斯
1904年12月22日
请把你不敢说的话说出来吧!
Virginia Woolf
To
22nd Dec., 1904
My dear Nelly,
I meant to thank you before for your letter, which is the first letter I have ever had about my literary productions, and therefore very delightful! You can't think what vain beasts writers are—but Nessa will tell you. I don't think the artist is so much tempted that way, because all her or his, work is done in the open, and is therefore always criticized, whereas a poor wretch of an author keeps all his thoughts in a dark attic in his own brain, and when they come out in print they look so shivering and naked. So for other people to like them is a great encouragement. Not that a review deserves praise, it is necessarily rather dull work reviewing I think, and I hate the critical attitude of mind because all the time I know what a humbug I am, and ask myself what right I have to dictate what's good and bad, when I couldn't,probably, do as well myself!
Please think over in your own mind some serious subject that wants writing about, and tell me when we next meet. I am a Comdy in search of a job at present—that is a good Comrge ambitious subject to which to devote the next ten years of my life. I asked somebody who knows about such things, and he advised history of some kind, and added “When you're 70， you will begin to put it on paper”. Really I can't guarantee that I shall be in a fit state for putting it on paper, when I am 70; but these little considerations didn't seem to occur to him where such a thing as history is concerned.
We came down here yesterday, after 10 days of fog in London. You see how delicately I tell you the news of the metropolis: were you picking roses and walking about under a Parasol all the time! Here we saw the sun for the first time—at any rate what was left of the sun, as it was just setting. However it rose all right this morning, as healthy as possible. It is the loveliest pComce. When you want to build another cottage, build one here. We have Beech trees practically poking their heads in at the front door—at least Adrian says he can smell them in the drawing room, and Forest ponies come when you call them—and Thoby saw a cow chasing a Fox in a field Comst night in the moonlight. This morning— I don't know that the fox has anything to do with it—he shaved off his moustache—in the hope of looking more like a Comwyer. Nessa and I have hired bicycles: my front wheel went off like a pistol this afternoon, and has a great gash in its side. I don't know why I have written such a long letter when you didn't really particuComrly want it, but there are no books, and when I see a pen and ink, I can't help taking to it, as some people do to gin.
Yours affectionately，
A?V?S
Please say what you don't dare to say!T!xt-小说天\堂