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A Hunger Artist《饥饿艺术家》节选
作者：Franz Kafka（弗朗茨·卡夫卡）
首次出版：1922 年（月、日不详）
首次收录于：《Die neue Rundschau》《新评论》
出版背景：德国，以期刊刊载形式推出
收录说明：1924 年收录于短篇小说集《Ein Hungerkünstler》《饥饿艺术家》
创作背景：
这是卡夫卡极具代表性的短篇小说。
作品以饥饿表演艺人的荒诞遭遇，
叩问现代人的孤独、不被理解与精神困境，
探讨艺术、信仰与世俗大众之间无法弥合的隔阂。
英文原文
For he alone knew,
what no other initiate knew,
how easy it was to fast.
It was the easiest thing in the world.
He made no secret of this,
yet people did not believe him.
At the best they set him down as modest;
most of them, however,
thought he was out for publicity
or else was some kind of cheat
who found it easy to fast
because he had discovered a way of making it easy,
and then had the impudence to admit the fact,
more or less.
He had to put up with all that,
and in the course of time had got used to it,
but his inner dissatisfaction always rankled.
And never yet,
after any term of fasting—this must be granted to his credit—
had he left the cage of his own free will.
The longest period of fasting was fixed by his impresario at forty days.
Beyond that term he was not allowed to go,
not even in great cities,
and there was good reason for it, too.
Experience had proved that for about forty days
the interest of the public could be stimulated
by a steadily increasing pressure of advertisement,
but after that the town began to lose interest,
sympathetic support began notably to fall off.
There were of course local variations
as between one town and another or one country and another,
but as a general rule forty days marked the limit.
So on the fortieth day the flower-bedecked cage was opened.
An enthusiastic crowd of spectators filled the hall.
A military band performed.
Two doctors entered the cage
to take the necessary measurements of the hunger artist,
announced these results to the audience through a megaphone.
Finally two young ladies came forward,
pleased to have been selected for the honor
of assisting the hunger artist from the cage
and down the first few steps toward a small table
laden with a carefully prepared invalid’s meal.
And at this very moment the hunger artist always turned stubborn.
He would go so far as to surrender his bony arms
to the outstretched hands of these solicitous ladies as they bent down to him,
but stand up—that he would not do.
Why stop now, after just forty days?
He could have gone on longer, infinitely longer.
Why stop now when he was in his best fasting form,
or rather, not yet in his best form?
Why should he be robbed of the glory of fasting longer,
not only for being the greatest hunger artist of all time,
which he probably was already,
but for surpassing his own record
to achieve the inconceivable?
Because he felt his powers of fasting knew no bounds.
Why did his public,
who claimed to so admire him,
have so little patience with him?
If he could endure fasting longer,
why couldn’t they endure it?
And besides,
the impresario said that the hunger artist’s wish to go on fasting
came from the fact that he was exhausted.
That was a distortion of the truth,
which the hunger artist had to endure in silence.
He looked up at the crowd,
his eyes heavy with weariness,
but still bright with stubborn devotion to his art.
No one seemed to grasp his true longing.
The crowd cheered for the spectacle,
for the ritual of ending the fast,
not for the hunger artist himself
and the sacred meaning he attached to his performance.
译文
只有他自己清楚，
别的内行人都无从知晓，
绝食这件事对他而言轻而易举。
这是天底下最简单的事。
他从不隐瞒这一点，
可人们始终不肯相信他。
往好里说，大家觉得他为人谦逊；
但大多数人，
都认为他只是想博眼球，
或是一个骗子。
他们觉得他之所以能轻松绝食，
是找到了投机取巧的法子，
还厚着脸皮把这件事大肆宣扬。
这一切他都默默承受，
久而久之也习以为常，
但心底的不甘始终隐隐作痛。
有一点必须承认：
每一场绝食表演结束之后，
他从来没有主动走出笼子。
经纪人把绝食表演的最长时限定为四十天。
哪怕在繁华的大城市，
也绝不允许他超过这个期限，
这背后自有现实考量。
经验证明，四十天左右，
铺天盖地的宣传可以持续勾起观众的兴致。
一旦超过这个时间，
城里人的兴趣就会消退，
观众的热情明显衰减。
当然，不同城市、不同国家情况略有差别，
但四十天是一条通用的界线。
于是到第四十天，装点鲜花的笼子会被打开。
热情的观众挤满大厅。
军乐队奏响乐曲。
两名医生走进笼子，
为饥饿艺术家做必要的检查测量，
再通过扩音器向观众公布检测结果。
最后两名年轻女士走上前来，
为自己有幸获选而欣喜，
她们要搀扶饥饿艺术家走出笼子，
走下几级台阶，
走向一张小桌，
桌上摆着精心准备的病号餐。
可每每到这个时刻，饥饿艺术家总会执拗起来。
他愿意把皮包骨头的手臂，
递给俯身向他伸出手的热心姑娘，
但他不肯起身。
才四十天，为什么就要停下？
他本可以坚持更久，无止境地坚持下去。
为什么偏偏在他状态最好，
甚至还没有抵达巅峰的时候终止表演？
为什么要夺走他继续绝食的荣光？
他或许已经是有史以来最伟大的饥饿艺术家，
他还想要突破自己的纪录，
抵达常人无法想象的境界。
因为他深知，自己绝食的能力没有上限。
这些口口声声欣赏他的观众，
为什么如此缺乏耐心？
既然他可以承受更长时间的饥饿，
为什么观众不能多等一等？
除此之外，
经纪人对外宣称饥饿艺术家想要继续绝食，
只是因为他已经神志恍惚、体力透支。
这是对事实的歪曲，
饥饿艺术家只能默默忍受。
他抬眼望向人群，
眼神疲惫沉重，
却依旧闪烁着对自己这份艺术执拗的虔诚。
没有人读懂他真正的渴望。
人们为这场表演仪式欢呼，
为绝食落幕的热闹场面喝彩，
却不懂饥饿艺术家本人，
不懂他赋予这场表演的神圣意义。
🔍长难句赏析与拆解
原句一
He had to put up with all that,
and in the course of time had got used to it,
but his inner dissatisfaction always rankled.
句式解读
本句为but连接的并列复合句。
由and先衔接两个谓语，
再通过but形成转折关系。
属于并列句，用来凸显外在顺从和内心痛苦的反差。
句子主干
He had to put up with all that and had got used to it,
but his dissatisfaction rankled.
原句二
Experience had proved that for about forty days
the interest of the public could be stimulated
by a steadily increasing pressure of advertisement,
but after that the town began to lose interest.
句式解读
本句为主句+that引导宾语从句，
宾语从句内部又包含but引导并列分句。
从句中使用被动语态。
交代因果变化，客观陈述观众兴趣的变化规律。
句子主干
Experience had proved that the interest could be stimulated,
but the town began to lose interest.
原句三
Why did his public,
who claimed to so admire him,
have so little patience with him?
句式解读
本句是特殊疑问句，
who引导非限制性定语从句，修饰先行词public。
插入定语从句制造反差，强化讽刺意味。
句子主干
Why did his public have so little patience with him?
📖全篇句式特点
全文以陈述句、转折并列句为主，穿插特殊疑问句。
大量使用宾语从句、定语从句构建思辨色彩。
长短句交错排布，平静克制的陈述之下藏着强烈的内在冲突。
冷静客观的叙事句式，和人物内心汹涌的执念形成反差，
正是卡夫卡典型的冷峻叙事风格。
适合长难句精读，学习定语从句、宾语从句、并列转折结构。
核心词汇
1. initiate
/ɪˈnɪʃiət/
内行，知情者
名词（n.）
2. fast
/fɑːst/
禁食，绝食
动词（v.）
3. impudence
/ˈɪmpjədəns/
厚颜，放肆
名词（n.）
4. rankle
/ˈræŋkl/
使人耿耿于怀，持续让人难受
动词（v.）
5. impresario
/ˌɪmprəˈsɑːriəʊ/
演出经纪人，主办人
名词（n.）
6. bedecked
/bɪˈdekt/
装饰着的
形容词（adj.）
7. megaphone
/ˈmeɡəfəʊn/
扩音器
名词（n.）
8. solicitous
/səˈlɪsɪtəs/
热心关切的
形容词（adj.）
9. inconceivable
/ˌɪnkənˈsiːvəbl/
难以想象的
形容词（adj.）
10. distortion
/dɪˈstɔːʃn/
歪曲，曲解
名词（n.）
📜文学赏析
《饥饿艺术家》是卡夫卡经典的荒诞短篇小说。
选文聚焦表演第四十天这个关键节点。
一边是世俗约定好的表演终点、观众的狂欢仪式；
一边是饥饿艺术家永不停歇的精神追求。
艺术家把绝食当成属于自己的艺术与信仰。
可大众只把它当成猎奇娱乐。
所有人都在用自己的认知去曲解他：
认为他造假、认为他逞强、认为他疲惫发疯。
没有人愿意理解他的精神追求。
经纪人、观众、围观者，
共同构成了一个无法沟通的世俗世界。
卡夫卡没有激烈控诉，
只用冷静克制的文字铺陈矛盾。
这种不被理解的孤独，
是卡夫卡作品永恒的母题。
艺术追求和世俗认知之间横亘着无法跨越的鸿沟。
💡主旨品读
选文核心冲突：艺术家追求精神层面的极致，
而大众只愿意停留在浅层的观赏与消费。
饥饿艺术家执着于属于自己的艺术标准，
他想要的不是热闹的喝彩，
而是有人真正认可他的追求。
这篇文本借荒诞的饥饿表演，
写出一切纯粹精神追求者共同的困境：
当一个人的追求超出世俗理解的边界，
他注定要承受误解、曲解与孤独。
世俗只愿意接纳符合他们预期的表演，
却无法接纳超越规则本身的理想。
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