名人轶事【1】向肖伯纳求婚 2007-9-24 9:15:52 　·1．Marriage Proposal to Bernard ShawOnce a beautiful and dissolute British actress wrote to propose marriage to Bernard Shaw． She said she did not mindBernard Shaws old age and ugliness because he was a genius． And if they could combine the beauty of the woman with the talents of the great man，that would be greatly harmonious． “With your wisdom and my appearance，our children must be perfect．”Bernard Shaw answered，in a letter，that her imagination wassplendid，“But，what if the children take my appea…… 名人轶事【2】闹饥荒的原因 2007-9-24 9:15:52 　·2．The Reason of the FamineIn one dinner party，a capitalist eyed bony Bernard Shawup and down regretfully， and said in all seriousness，“Look atyour appearance，it really makes people believe that all the Britishare starving．”Bernard Shaw，examining the potbellied capitalist，said，“But，I know as soon as I saw you the reason why Britain is suf－fering from famine．”2．闹饥荒的原因在一次宴会上，一个资本家用遗憾的目光上下打量着瘦骨嶙峋的肖伯纳，一本正经地说：“看看你的模样，真叫人以为英国人都在挨饿。”肖伯纳审视着大腹便便的资本家说：“但是，我一见到你，就知道英国正在闹饥荒的原因了。”…… 名人轶事【3】开头写得差是好事 2007-9-24 9:15:52 　·3．Good to Write Poorly at the BeginningOnce Chekhov met a young writer．The moment he sawChekhov，the writer said，in great distress，that when he beganwriting，he could not write well no matter how hard he tried．Hisstyle of writing often went against the expression of his ideas，and he was in deep agony for his clumsiness and his situation．On hearing it，Chekhov，instead of giving slightest comfort，saidsurprisingly，What are you talking about？It is good to writepoorly at the beginning．”The young writer …… 名人轶事【4】一场累人的斗争 2007-9-24 9:15:51 　·4．An Exhausting StruggleBalzac once said artistic creation was “an exhausting strug-gle”．He believed that only by tenacious work and fearing notafraid of difficulties could you show your talent．It was just likethe soldiers charging the fortress，not relaxing your effort foreven a moment．Once Balzac wrote for hours on end， he was so tired that hecould not hold out any longer．He ran to a friends home andplunged headlong on the sofa．He wanted to sleep，but he told hisfriend he must be woken up within…… 名人轶事【5】巴尔扎克的幻觉 2007-9-24 9:15:48 　·5．Hallucination of BalzacAs soon as he took the pen to start writing，Balzac seemed tohave been possessed so much so that he often had hallucinationsof what he wrote．Once a friend went to Balzacs home．He knocked the door，and heard Balzac was having a heated argument with someone：“You ruffian， Ill teach you a lesson！”The friend opened the door hurriedly only to find that there was only Balzac in theroom．It turned out that Balzac was bitterly attacking the base conduct of the character that he was …… 名人轶事【6】亏损？赢利？ 2007-9-24 9:15:47 　·6．Lose？Gain ？In his diary entry of August 2，1882，Lewis Carroll （author and publisher）estimated that even if he sold the entire 2,000—copy first printing of Alice in Wonderland he would lose￡200．By selling another 2,000 copies，he would make ￡200．If he sold additional copies，he would then realize a bigger gain， but “that I can hardly hope for．”Before his death，in 1898，about 180,000 copies had been sold．6．亏损？赢利？刘易斯·卡罗尔（作者和出版人）在1882年8月2日的日记中估计，即使他的《艾丽丝漫游奇境记》第一版的2,000本全卖掉，他会亏损200英镑；如果再卖出2,000本，他可以赚20…… 名人轶事【7】亲身体验现实细节 2007-9-24 9:15:47 　·7．Experiencing Realistic DetailsNovelists sometimes go to great lengths in personally expe－riencing realistic details to enhance the immediacy in their art．Frederick Forsyth（American novelist）may have topped them all．When his novel The Dogs of War appeared in ，few readersknew that this tale of a group of mercenaries who had overthrownan African government was based on Forsyths own attempt to dojust that—to overthrow，with the help of thirteen men，thegovernment of Equatorial Guinea by kidnapping i…… 名人轶事【8】欧文笔下的圣·尼古 2007-9-24 9:15:47 　·8．St．Nicholas Described by IrvingTo support the American Revolution，the American authorWashington Irving used a Dutch St．Nicholas to contrast thepatriotic， hardworking Dutch－Americans with the soft living British．The St．Nicholas described in Irvings Knickerbocker History was not the traditional serious holy saint who protectedtravelers and rewarded good children．Instead he was very muchlike the Dutch immigrants —a happy，fat little man，but ridingthrough the air in a sleigh pulled by reindeer．And …… 名人轶事【9】不同寻常的回音 2007-9-24 9:15:47 　·9．Unusual EchoesOnce Mark Twain and two friends were sitting in a restau－rant．One friend had just returned from a trip to Vermont． Thefriend said that the air in the mountains of Vermont was veryclear．In many places the echo of a voice came back five timesstronger than the original voice．The second friend said that wasnothing．In Colorado，where he lived，in many places the echoof a voice spoken in the morning came back in the afternoon．Mark Twain laughed．Then he said，Listen！The echoeswhich you hav…… 名人轶事【10】马克·吐温的演讲策略（1） 2007-9-24 9:15:46 　·10．Mark Twains Speechmaking Strategy （1）When he first began his speaking career，Mark Twain re－called，he used a full page of notes to keep him from getting mixedup．He would write down the beginning of key sentences，to takehim from one point to another and to protect him from skipping ．For a typical evenings lecture，he would write and memorize key beginnings．The plan failed．Twain would remember the sentences，allright，but forget their order．He would have to stop，consult hisnotes，and thereby spoil …… 名人轶事【11】马克·吐温的演讲策略（2） 2007-9-24 9:15:42 　·11．Mark Twains SpeechmakingStrategy（2）Mark Twain tried several ways in making speeches，butfailed．Then his great idea came—that its hard to visualize letters，words and sentences，but pictures are easy to recall．Theytake hold ．They can make things stick…Especially if you draw them yourself．Twain was no artist，mind you ，but that didnt stop him．“In two minutes I made six pictures with a pen，”he reported，“and they did the work of the catch－sentences ，and did itperfectly．”Having once drawn the picture…… 名人轶事【12】他产生过自杀的念头 2007-9-24 9:15:42 　·12．He Once Had Thoughts of SuicideTheodore Dreisers novel Sister Carrie，Which is now con- sidered an American classic，was an immediate success in Londonwhen it was published at the turn of the century ．But when it waspublished in the U．S．it received no enthusiasm and was vir-tually suppressed because the wife of the publisher so disap－proved of the realistic story of the deterioration of a man causedby an immoral girl．Dreiser had been a successful journalist ，andhe suddenly now found him…… 名人轶事【13】四次荣获普利策奖 2007-9-24 9:15:42 　·13．Won the Pulitzer Prize Four TimesA prize known as the Pulitzer Prize for poetry is given eachyear in America．Robert Frost（American poet，—）won this prize four times—in ，，，and ．Noother American poet has won it so many times．President John F．Kennedy invited Frost to read one of hispoems at his inauguration in January，．It was a cold，windy day，and the ceremony was held outdoors．The sun andthe wind blinded the old mans eyes，and the papers on which hehad the poem he was to read were blown to the g…… 名人轶事【14】同年同月同日死 2007-9-24 9:15:41 　·14．Died on the Very Same DayThe greatest writers in their respective language—WilliamShakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes —died on the very same day in the very same year，April ，．They probablydid not know of each other．Two men who knew each other well—the second and the third Presidents of the United States，JohnAdams and Thomas Jefferson —died on the very same day inthe very same year，the Fourth of July in ．Adamss lastwords were：“Jefferson still lives．”Jefferson had died，however，a few hours ear…… 名人轶事【15】反着写的笔记 2007-9-24 9:15:38 　·15．Notes Written BackwardAmong the designs left by Leonardo da Vinci almost 500 years ago—with notes written backward to be read with a mirror—were the parachute，life jacket， water pump，swim fins，Well digger，paddle－wheel boat，horseless carriage ，sprocketchain， steam gun， water turbine，lens-grinding0 machine，shrapnel ，machine gun， airplane， helicopter，submarine，and mass production．15．反着写的笔记近500年前列奥纳多·达·芬奇留下的许多设计稿——即须通过镜子才能读懂的反着写的笔记，其中有降落伞、救生衣、水泵、游泳脚蹼、钻井机、明轮机、无马马车、扣齿链、蒸汽枪、水轮机、磨镜片机、子母弹、机关枪、飞机、直升飞机、…… 名人轶事【16】密码写成的见解 2007-9-24 9:15:38 　·16．Notions1 Written in CodeNearly five centuries ago，Leonardo da Vinci had notions．later proved correct．about fossils，about the circulation of theblood，about the Earth not being the center of the universe，aboutfalling bodies，and about anatomy． His close observation andamazing skill at drawing were such that his pictures of waves andbubbles in water could be improved on only by a slow-motioncamera．But his genius went for naught．He kept these ideas tohimself，writing them in code in voluminous note…… 名人轶事【17】毕加索画上的雅科布的脚印 2007-9-24 9:15:37 　·17．Jacobs Footprints on Picassos PaintingsPicasso and the poet Max jacob ，down but not quite out in Paris，shared a bed in turn．Jacob slept at night while Picassoworked，and Picasso slept by day when Jacob worked as a novelty -shop clerk． On arising in the morning， Jacob often would have towalk on a floor carpeted with drawings． Later， Jacobs footprintshad to be removed by art experts．17．毕加索画上的雅科布的脚印潦而不倒的毕加索和诗人马克斯·雅科布曾在巴黎轮流共睡一张床。晚上雅科布睡觉，毕加索工作；白天毕加索睡觉，雅科布在一家玩具商店当店员。雅科布早上起床时常常得走过铺满图画的地板。后来不得不请美术专家除…… 名人轶事【18】毕加索留下…… 2007-9-24 9:15:37 　·18．Picasso Left…Picasso ，when he died in 1973，left in four repositories inthe south of France the following：1，876 paintings，1，355 sculptures ，2，880 ceramics ，more than 11，000 drawings andsketches ，and some ，27，000 etchings ，engravings ，andlithographs in various states．His estate was worth—at theofficial appraisal —1，251，673，200 French francs ， or ap－proximately＄250 million．18．毕加索留下……1973年毕加索去世时，在法国南部四个陈列室里留下了下列作品：1，876幅画，1，355尊雕塑， 2，880件陶瓷，11，000多幅素描和速写，还有大约，27，000件各种各样的版画、镌刻和平版画。根据官方估计，他的遗产…… 名人轶事【19】第一次也是最后一次会面 2007-9-24 9:15:37 　·19．The First but Also the Last MeetingSo shy was Franz Peter Schubert that his first meeting withLudwig van Beethoven was his last．Schubert had written a set ofvariations on a French tune for four hands and dedicated it toBeethoven，to whom he wanted to present the score personally．A meeting was arranged．Because he was deaf，Beethoven handeda piece of papor and pencil to Schubert so that a particular bar ofmusic could be explained．Schubert became so nervous at the re－quest that he fled from…… 名人轶事【20】摆脱不了13的瓦格纳 2007-9-24 9:15:33 　·20．Wagner，Haunted by Number 13The composer Richard Wagner（1813—1883） was hauntedall his life by the number 13． There were 13 letters in wagnersname，and the sum of the figures of the year of his birth was 13．He made his first public appearance in 1831，the unmber of whichagain added up to 13．He completed Tannhauser on April 13， and it was performed in Paris on March 13，1861．On August 13，1876， he began the first presentation of the Ring of theNibelungen．The year he was made director of the state ……