小说《洛丽塔》出版后,即成经典,被认为是二十世纪文坛最有名的和极具争议的一部作品。在2003年时,在英国广播公司的 The Big Read 民意调查中被列入英国200本“最受喜爱的小说”之一 [1],曾蹿升到《纽约时报》畅销书单的第一位,在Modern Library 100 Best Novels(时代杂志百大英文小说)中位列第四位,并已被改编成电影。其电影获得了奥斯卡金像奖、美国金球奖等多项奖项。Lolita也进入了流行文化之中并衍生出了全球通用的lolita/萝莉一词[2],后形成了洛丽塔式的服装。
Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul, Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo, Lee, Ta.
She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.
Did she have a precursor? She did, indeed she did. In point of fact, there might have been no Lolita at all I not loved, one summer, a certain initial girl-child. In a princedom by the sea. Oh when? About as many years before Lolita was born as my age was that summer. You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.
"That was my Lo," she said, "and these are my lilies."
“那是我的洛,”她说,“这些是我的百合花。”
"Yes, "I said, "yes. They are beautiful, beautiful, beautiful."
“是的,”我说。“是的,它们看上去很美,很美,很美。”
I looked and looked at her and I knew, as clearly as I know that I will die, that I loved her more than anything I'd ever seen or imagined on earth. She was only dead leaf echo of the nymphet from from long ago... but I loved her, this Lolita, pale and polluted and big with another man's child. She could fade and wither. I didn't care. I would still go mad with tenderness at the mere sight other face.
What I heard then was the melody of children at play. Nothing but that. And I knew that the hopelessly poignant thing was not Lolita's absence from my side, but the absence of her voice from that chorus.
最后我听到了一群儿童的欢笑声,使我悲哀的不是我的身边没有洛丽塔,而是在这欢笑声中没有她。
I'm thinking of bison and angels, paint enduring secret prophetic sonnets, the refuge of art. This is what I think of, I can share with you forever, my Lolita.
How strange life is! What we are eager to get rid of is the destiny we want to pursue.
人生有多奇怪啊!我们急于摆脱的正是我们想要追求的命运。
He tore my heart, but you broke my life.
他撕碎了我的心,而你只不过撕碎了我的生活。
There are three things in life that cannot be concealed - coughing, poverty and love. Try to conceal them and they will stand out.
人生有三样东西是无法隐瞒的,咳嗽,贫穷和爱,你想隐瞒却欲盖弥彰。
There are three things in life that cannot be taken for granted - health, wealth and love. Take them for granted and they will be lost.
人生有三样东西是不该挥霍的,身体,金钱和爱,你想挥霍却得不偿失。
There are three things in life that cannot be prolonged - life, time and love. Try to prolong them and they will slip away.
人生有三样东西是无法挽留的,生命,时间和爱,你想挽留却渐行渐远。
There are three things in life that should not be remembered - misfortune, death and love. Try to remember them and they will be more bitter than you can bear.