Good evening, everyone. I extend my warmest greetings to the members of the Swedish Academy and to all of the other distinguished guests in attendance tonight.
各位晚上好。我向瑞典文学院的成员和今晚所有出席宴会的尊贵来宾致以最热烈的问候。

I'm sorry I can't be with you in person, but please know that I am most definitely with you in spirit and honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize. Being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature is something I never could have imagined or seen coming.
很抱歉我没能到现场与诸位共享此刻，但请相信，在精神上，我绝对与你们同在，我深感荣幸能获得如此声望卓著的奖项。被授予诺贝尔文学奖，是我从未想象过也没有预见到的事情。

From an early age, I've been familiar with and reading and absorbing the works of those who were deemed worthy of such a distinction: Kipling, Shaw, Thomas Mann, Pearl Buck, Albert Camus, Hemingway. These giants of literature whose works are taught in the schoolroom, housed in libraries around the world and spoken of in reverent tones have always made a deep impression. That I now join the names on such a list is truly beyond words.
从小，我就熟悉、阅读并充分汲取那些被认为值得获得该项殊荣的人的作品，如吉卜林、萧伯纳、托马斯·曼、赛珍珠、加缪、海明威。这些文学巨匠的著作在学堂上被讲授、在世界各地图书馆中陈列、被人们虔诚地谈论着，它们给我留下了深刻的印象。如今能加入这样的名列，我的心情无以言表。

I don't know if these men and women ever thought of the Nobel honor for themselves, but I suppose that anyone writing a book, or a poem, or a play anywhere in the world might harbor that secret dream deep down inside. It's probably buried so deep that they don't even know it's there.
我不知道，这些作家是否想过自己能获得诺奖，但我猜想世界上任何一个著书写诗、或创作戏剧的人，内心深处都怀揣着这个秘密的梦想。这梦想或许是埋藏得如此之深，以至于他们自己都没意识到它的存在。

If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think that I'd have about the same odds as standing on the moon. In fact, during the year I was born and for a few years after, there wasn't anyone in the world who was considered good enough to win this Nobel Prize. So, I recognize that I am in very rare company, to say the least.
如果有人告诉我，我有那么一丝希望能获得诺奖，那我会认为这跟我能站在月球上的概率差不多。事实上，我出生的那一年和随后的那些年，世界上几乎没有人是完全值得诺贝尔奖的，所以，我想，至少可以说我现在属于一个非常少数的群体。

I was out on the road when I received this surprising news, and it took me more than a few minutes to properly process it. I began to think about William Shakespeare, the great literary figure. I would reckon he thought of himself as a dramatist. The thought that he was writing literature couldn't have entered his head. His words were written for the stage. Meant to be spoken not read.
我是在世界巡演的过程中得知这一令人惊讶的消息的，我花了好一会儿去消化它。然后，我联想到了莎士比亚这位文学伟人。我想他是把自己当一个写剧本的来看待的，他怎么也不会想到自己是在创作文学。他的文字是为舞台而生的，是为了言说而不是阅读。

When he was writing Hamlet, I'm sure he was thinking about a lot of different things: "Who're the right actors for these roles?" "How should this be staged?" "Do I really want to set this in Denmark?" His creative vision and ambitions were no doubt at the forefront of his mind, but there were also more mundane matters to consider and deal with. "Is the financing in place?" "Are there enough good seats for my patrons?" "Where am I going to get a human skull?" I would bet that the farthest thing from Shakespeare's mind was the question "Is this literature?"
在写《哈姆雷特》的时候，他一定在想这些问题，“谁适合演这些角色？”“这段要怎么在舞台上展现出来？”“故事背景真的要设在丹麦吗？”他富于创造的想象与野心毫无疑问是他思维最活跃的部分，但也有很多世俗琐事要考虑和处理。 “资金到位了吗？”“赞助人都能安排到好座位吗？”“到哪里能弄到人的头骨啊？”我打赌莎士比亚最不可能思考的问题就是：“这是文学吗？”

When I started writing songs as a teenager, and even as I started to achieve some renown for my abilities, my aspirations for these songs only went so far. I thought they could be heard in coffee houses or bars, maybe later in places like Carnegie Hall, the London Palladium. If I was really dreaming big, maybe I could imagine getting to make a record and then hearing my songs on the radio. That was really the big prize in my mind. Making records and hearing your songs on the radio meant that you were reaching a big audience and that you might get to keep doing what you had set out to do.
我少年时代开始写歌时，甚至当我因自己的才能而小有知名度时，我对这些歌曲的期待都十分有限。我希望它们能在咖啡厅或酒吧被人听到，或者将来能在卡内基音乐厅、伦敦帕拉狄昂剧院这些地方被演唱。如果梦做得再大胆些，我希望我的音乐能被制作成唱片在电台播放，这真是我心目中最好的奖赏了。录唱片在电台播放意味着你能接触到更庞大的听众群体，而你也能按照自己的规划继续走下去。

Well, I've been doing what I set out to do for a long time, now. I've made dozens of records and played thousands of concerts all around the world. But it's my songs that are at the vital center of almost everything I do. They seemed to have found a place in the lives of many people throughout many different cultures and I'm grateful for that.
现在，我已经按照自己规划的路走了很久了。我发行了几十张唱片，在全球举办了上千场演唱会。但我的歌曲才是我所做一切的核心，它们似乎在不同文化的各类人群中产生了影响，对此我无限感激。

But there's one thing I must say. As a performer I've played for 50,000 people and I've played for 50 people and I can tell you that it is harder to play for 50 people. 50,000 people have a singular persona, not so with 50. Each person has an individual, separate identity, a world unto themselves. They can perceive things more clearly. Your honesty and how it relates to the depth of your talent is tried. The fact that the Nobel committee is so small is not lost on me.
但有件事我必须要说，作为一个表演者，我为5万人演唱过，也为50人演唱过，而为50个人表演难度更高。因为5万人会融成单一人格，但50人不会。他们每个人都是一个鲜明的个体，不同的身份，自成一体。他们能更加清晰地感知事物。你的真诚以及它如何反应出你的才华和深度，都在经受考验。诺奖评委会的人数之少，我是清楚的。

But, like Shakespeare, I too am often occupied with the pursuit of my creative endeavors and dealing with all aspects of life's mundane matters. "Who are the best musicians for these songs?" "Am I recording in the right studio?" "Is this song in the right key?" Some things never change, even in 400 years.
然而，与莎士比亚一样，我常常被音乐创作和日常杂事占据了大部分时间精力，“谁最适合演唱这些歌？”“这个录音室录音效果好吗？”“这首歌的调子定对了吗？”就算过了400年，有些事也不会变的。

Not once have I ever had the time to ask myself, "Are my songs literature?"
但我从来没有时间问过自己：“我的歌算文学吗？”

So, I do thank the Swedish Academy, both for taking the time to consider that very question, and, ultimately, for providing such a wonderful answer.
所以，我真的要感谢瑞典文学院，不仅花时间思考这个问题，还最终给出了一个精彩的回答。

My best wishes to you all,
致以最好的祝福，

Bob Dylan
鲍勃·迪伦