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Edmund Crispin: "shortly before Richard Cadigan
埃德蒙·克里斯平说:"就在理查·德卡迪甘
pushed his way into the toy shop"
进入玩具店之前"
he's been hitchhiking, he gets so flurry.
他在搭车旅行，所以他有点急躁
"Through a rift in the trees he caught his first real glimpse of Oxford,
"他从树间缝隙中初次瞥了一眼牛津
in that ineffectual moonlight, an underwater city,
在那样昏暗的月光下，一座水下城市
its towers and spires standing ghostly,
高塔和塔尖幽幽的竖立着
like the memorials of lost Atlantis, fathoms deep."
就像亚特兰蒂斯的墓地，深不可测"
So if this is romantic Oxford, other worldly Oxford, timeless Oxford,
那么这样一个浪漫的，世俗的，永恒的牛津
where does that locate the detective story?
侦探小说从何而来呢
Surely, it derives its impact precisely by shattering tranquility
当然是源自于惊天动地的安宁
and beauty by violence and evil.
以及暴力与邪恶之美
Peter Kemp mentioned Auden's essay The guilty vicarage.
彼得·坎普提到了奥登的文章，罪恶的牧师之家
And in that essay he says
在那篇文章中他说
murder should take place "in the great good place.
谋杀应该发生"在伟大的地方
The corpse must shock not only because it is a corpse,
尸体让人震惊不仅是因为它是一具尸体
but also because, even for a corpse, it is shockingly out of place."
并且还要让人震惊于它的发现地点"
And Auden in fact anticipated a great deal of more recent literary
事实上，奥登在他写的时候期待
theorizing about detective novels when he wrote.
最近文学中有更多关于侦探小说的理论
I'm quoting "the detective story society (cast of characters)
原句是"侦探小说的社会(角色表)
is a society consisting of apparently innocent individuals.
是一个明显有很多无辜个体的社会
The murder is the act of disruption by which innocence is lost.
谋杀就是谋害无辜个体的行为
The fantasy, then, which the detective story addict indulges in
侦探小说所让人上瘾沉迷的
is the fantasy of being restored to the garden of Eden
就是让人恢复到伊甸园的那种幻想
to a state of innocence."
回到一种无罪的状态"
Val McDermid makes a similar point.
瓦尔·麦克德米德提出过相似的观点
"Oxford," she says, "is a beautiful city,
她说:"牛津是个美丽的城市
murder, the ugliest of crimes.
谋杀是最丑陋的犯罪
The university is a place of intellect, of pure reason
大学是个纯粹智慧的地方
Murder is a reminder of how corporally mortal we all are."
谋杀提醒了我们都是凡人"
Crime fiction flourishes in Oxford on this reading
犯罪小说在牛津阅读文学中快速发展
because the city in real life is a relative haven,
因为在现实生活中这个城市是个相对的天堂
with a level of violent crime well below the national average.
它的暴力犯罪率远低于国家平均水平
When fictional detectives solve fictional crimes in fictional Oxford,
当虚构的侦探小说解决了虚构的牛津中发生的虚构罪行
their success is important to us to the reader,
他们的成功对于我们对于读者是十分重要的
because that restores order,it sets wrongs right,
因为它恢复秩序，拨乱反正
and it makes possible for us to continue to believe
并且它可以让我们继续相信
in an Oxford of golden stone, green lawns,
牛津有着金色的石头，绿色的草坪
and high minded intellectuals.
和高智商的知识分子
In this sense, all Oxford detective fiction is nostalgic,
从这个意义上来说，所有牛津侦探小说都是怀旧的
is an exercise of restoration and reassurance.
是一种修复和安慰
