下载掌阅APP，畅读海量书库
立即打开
I have been asked by my American friends to write the story of my life. At first,the idea seemed alien to me, but I yielded to persuasion. However, I could not conceivemy biography as a complete expression of personal feelings or a detailed descriptionof all incidents I would remember. Many of our feelings change with the years, and,when faded away, may seem altogether strange; incidents lose their momentary interest and may be remembered as if they have occurred to some other person. But there may be in a life some general direction, some continuous thread, due to a few dominant ideas and a few strong feelings, that explain the life and are characteristic of a human personality. Of my life, which has not been easy on the whole, I have described the general course and the essential features, and I trust that my story gives an understanding of the state of mind in which I have lived and worked.
My family is of Polish origin, and my name is Marie Sklodowska. My father and my mother both came from among the small Polish landed proprietors. In my country this class is composed of a large number of families, owners of small and medium-sized estates, frequently interrelated. It has been, until recently, chiefly from this group that Poland has drawn her intellectual recruits.
美国的朋友们让我把自己的生活经历写出来。开始的时候,我觉得这个建议对我来说真的是难以接受,但是最后,我还是被友人们说服了,勉强地写了这个简短的生平传记。但我不可能凭借这本简略的传记写出我一生中的全部感受,也没办法对我所经历过的全部事情进行详述。时过境迁,许多关于当时感受的记忆已经模糊,时间越久,就越加模糊不清,竟至有时还认为有些事情与自己无关,像是别人所经历的。无疑,人的一生总会受一些主要思想以及某些深刻感受的影响与支配,从而使生活能够沿着一条主线往前走。有了这一主线,就会明白当时为什么这么做而不是那么做,就可以看出当事人的性格等各方面的特点。我会把自己并不算一帆风顺的一生作一个概述,将其中的要点记叙下来。相信我的故事能够将我从工作和生活中得到的启示展示给大家。
我祖籍波兰,名叫玛丽·斯可罗多夫斯卡。我的父母都出生于波兰的小地主家庭。在我的祖国,像我父母那样拥有一份不大产业的中产阶级的人数颇多。他们成为了社会上的一个阶层,彼此之间通常有着千丝万缕的联系。直到现在,波兰的知识分子大部分都还来自于这一阶层。
While my paternal grandfather had divided his time between agriculture and directing a provincial college, my father, more strongly drawn to study, followed the course of the University of Petrograd, and later definitely established himself at Warsaw as Professor of Physics and Mathematics in one of the lyceums of that city. He married a young woman whose mode of life was congenial to his; for, although very young, she had, what was, for that time, a very serious education, and was the, director of one of the best Warsaw schools for young girls.
My father and mother worshiped their profession in the highest degree and have left, all over their country, a lasting remembrance with their pupils. I cannot, even today, go into Polish society without meeting persons who have tender memories of my parents.
Although my parents adopted a university career, they continued to keep in close touch with their numerous family in the country. It was with their relatives that I frequently spent my vacation, living in all freedom and finding opportunities to know the field life by which I was deeply attracted. To these conditions, so different from the usual villegiature, I believe, I owe my love for the country and nature.
Born at Warsaw, on the 7th of November, 1867, I was the last of five children, but my oldest sister died at the early age of fourteen, and we were left, three sisters and a brother. Cruelly struck by the loss of her daughter and worn away by a grave illness, my mother died at forty-two, leaving her husband in the deepest sorrow with his children. I was then only nine years old, and my eldest brother was hardly thirteen.
我的祖父对一所省立中学进行管理,闲暇时也干一些农活。我的父亲热爱学习,曾在俄国圣彼得堡大学读书,毕业后回到波兰,在华沙的一所预科大学里教授物理和数学。他娶了一位和他情投意合、志趣相同的女子为妻。母亲很年轻时,就已经在华沙一所女子学校担任校长了。那时候,她所从事的教育事业是极其崇高而又庄严的。
我的父母对自己所从事的教育事业兢兢业业、恪尽职守。他们的学生遍及波兰,可谓桃李满天下。这些学生直到现在仍对我的父母十分感激,并且怀念着他们。即便在今天,每当我回到波兰,遇见以前父母教过的学生,他们还总要向我倾诉对我父母的怀念。
我的父母尽管在城市从事教育事业,但他们与农村的亲戚们也都保持着往来。每到放假,我都会到农村亲戚家去住上一段日子,这使我对波兰的农村了解很深,并因此喜欢上了它。在那里,我很自然地就会感到无拘无束、散淡惬意。我想这段难忘的生活经历也正是我终生喜爱田野乡村,热爱大自然的原因吧!
1867年11月,我出生于华沙,是家中五个孩子里最小的一个,但是我的大姐于14岁时不幸病逝,所以留下了我们姐妹三个和一个兄弟。我的母亲因为大女儿的不幸病逝而悲恸欲绝,并因此而患上了不治之症,在她年仅42岁的时候便撒手人寰。母亲去世时,我仅9岁,哥哥也只有13岁,全家人都沉浸在无以言表的悲痛之中。
This catastrophe was the first great sorrow of my life and threw me into a profound depression. My mother had an exceptional personality. With all her intellectuality she had a big heart and a very high sense of duty. And, though possessing infinite indulgence and good nature, she still held in the family a remarkable moral authority. She had an ardent piety (my parents were both Catholics), but she was never intolerant; differences in religious belief did not trouble her; she was equally kind to any one not sharing her opinions. Her influence over me was extraordinary, for in me the natural love of the little girl for her mother was united with a passionate admiration.
Very much affected by the death of my mother, my father devoted himself entirely to his work and to the care of our education. His professional obligations were heavy and left him little leisure time. For many years we all felt weighing on us the loss of the one who had been the soul of the house.
We all started our studies very young. I was only six years old, and, because I was the youngest and smallest in the class, was frequently brought forward to recite when there were visitors. This was a great trial to me, because of my timidity; I wanted always to run away and hide. My father, an excellent educator, was interested in our work and knew how to direct it, but the conditions of our education were difficult. We began our studies in private schools and finished them in those of the government
亲人的突然离去,是我人生中第一次遭遇的最悲惨、最痛苦的事情。在这之后,我就陷入了忧伤悲戚之中,我的母亲品格高尚、温柔敦厚、心地善良,而且她知识广博、心胸坦荡且又严于律己,在家中很有威望,大家都信服她。她对自己的信仰非常虔诚(我的父母亲都是天主教徒),但又能够包容一切,对有关宗教的不同看法,她向来都是求同存异,不将自己的观点强加于人。这对我们是有着很大影响的。就我个人而言,一方面是因为身为小女儿备受呵护与关切,从而使我深爱着我的母亲;另一方面,那种崇拜之情也将我和母亲紧密地联系在一起。
母亲去世之后,父亲非常悲痛,但他并没有因此而消沉,而是全身心地投入到了自己的工作当中,投入到对自己孩子们的教育上来,从而使自己没有多少空闲再去伤心难过。母亲过世多年后,我们仍然感到很不习惯,总是觉得家中少了灵魂和主宰。
我们兄弟姐妹很早就开始学习了。我在6岁的时候就入了学,在班里年龄最小、个子最矮。每当有人听课或是参观时,老师总是把坐在第一排的我叫上讲台朗读课文。我性格内向,一叫我上台就会吓得不行,恨不能跑出教室躲起来。我的父亲是一位优秀的教师,十分关心我们的学习,并懂得如何对我们进行指导,但是由于家里的经济条件不是很好,一开始我们上的是私立学校,后来就不得不转到公立学校了。
Warsaw was then under Russian domination, and one of the worst aspects of this control was the oppression exerted on the school and the child. The private schools directed by Poles were closely watched by the police and overburdened with the necessity of teaching the Russian language even to children so young that they could scarcely speak their native Polish. Nevertheless, since the teachers were nearly all of Polish nationality, they endeavored in every possible way to mitigate the difficulties resulting from the national persecution. These schools, however, could not legally give diplomas, which were obtainable only in those of the government.
The latter, entirely Russian, were directly opposed to the Polish national spirit. All instruction was given in Russian, by Russian professors, who, being hostile to the Polish nation, treated their pupils as enemies. Men of moral and intellectual distinction could scarcely agree to teach in schools where an alien attitude was forced upon them. So what the pupils were taught was of questionable value, and the moral atmosphere was altogether unbearable. Constantly held in suspicion and spied upon, the children knew that a single conversation in Polish, or an imprudent word, might seriously harm, not only themselves, but also their families. Amidst these hostilities, they lost all the joy of life, and precocious feelings of distrust and indignation weighed upon their childhood. On the other side, this abnormal situation resulted in exciting the patriotic feeling of Polish youths to the highest degree.
华沙当时正处在俄国的统治之下,而他们的统治中最残酷的一面就是对学校和学生进行严格的控制与迫害,波兰人经营的私立学校都被警方监视,并且全部使用俄语教学。这样学生们在很小的时候就开始学习俄语,以至于对自己的母语波兰语反而说不利索了。幸亏这些学校的老师全是波兰人,他们不想受此迫害,想尽一切办法让学生们多掌握一些波兰语。这些私立学校都不被准许授予正式文凭,仅有公立学校才有这个权力。
俄国人领导着所有的公立学校,他们一味地对波兰人的民族意识觉醒进行压制。学校里所有的课程全由俄国人用俄语讲授。由于仇视波兰民族,那些俄国教师对待学生就好像对待敌人似的。品德高尚、知识渊博的老师都不愿意到这种学校去教书,因为他们忍受不了这种敌视。处于这种校园环境中,孩子们学习的知识是否有用是很让人怀疑的。尤其严重的是,这样的环境对孩子们道德品质的影响是着实令人担忧的。在这种监视之下,孩子们不小心说了一句波兰话,或是用词稍不留神,就要受到严厉的处罚,不但自己倒霉,还会殃及家人。在这种严酷的环境里,孩子们天真烂漫的本性丧失殆尽,也无法感受到生命的乐趣。但是,另一方面,这种恐怖的氛围也将青少年内心极大的爱国热情激发起来了。
Yet of this period of my early youth, darkened though it was by mourning and the sorrow of oppression, I still keep more than one pleasant remembrance. In our quiet but occupied life, reunions of relatives and friends of our family brought some joy. My father was very interested in literature and well acquainted with Polish and foreign poetry; he even composed poetry himself and was able to translate it from foreign languages into Polish in a very successful way. His little poems on family events were our delight. On Saturday evenings he used to recite or read to us the masterpieces of Polish prose and poetry. These evenings were for us a great pleasure and a source of renewed patriotic feelings.
Since my childhood I have had a strong taste for poetry, and I willingly learned by heart long passages from our great poets, the favorite ones being Mickiewecz, Krasinski and Slowacki. This taste was even more developed when I became acquainted with foreign literatures; my early studies included the knowledge of French, German, and Russian, and I soon became familiar with the fine works written in these languages. Later I felt the need of knowing English and succeeded in acquiring the knowledge of that language and its literature.
My musical studies have been very scarce. My mother was a musician and had a beautiful voice. She wanted us to have musical training. After her death, having no more encouragement from her, I soon abandoned this effort, which I often regretted afterwards.
在异族蹂躏和丧母之痛的双重影响下,我少年时期的日子过得郁郁寡欢、了无生趣。不过,仍旧有着一些愉快的事情,保留在我的记忆当中。亲朋好友的欢聚令人兴奋愉快,使我们原本郁闷的生活出现了慰藉与希望。除此之外,我父亲特别喜欢文学,对于波兰和外国诗人们的诗歌都能够熟记,并且自己也能作诗赋词,他还经常将外国的优秀诗篇翻译成波兰文。他以家庭琐事为题材所写的短诗常使我们赞叹不已、佩服至极。每个周末的夜晚,我们都围在他旁边,听他为我们朗诵波兰的著名诗歌和散文。这样的夜晚其乐融融,并且在不知不觉中使我们的爱国主义情愫日益增强。
我从少年时起就对诗歌十分喜爱,并且能够将波兰著名诗人们的大段诗篇背诵下来,在这些诗人中,我最欣赏的就是密茨凯维奇、克拉西茨基和斯沃瓦茨基。当我日后开始学习外国文学时,这种爱好就更加明显了。我很早就开始学习法语、德语和俄语,并且能够对这些语言的外文书籍进行阅读。后来,我觉得英语很有用,便又开始学习英语,不久就可以阅读英文书籍了。
对于音乐,我研究的很少。我母亲是个音乐家,具有很美的嗓音,她希望我们都能跟她学点音乐,但我却因为对音乐不怎么感兴趣而没能开窍。自从她去世之后,没有了她的鼓励与督促,我曾经跟她学到的那仅有的一点音乐知识,也都荒废了。每当我想到这些的时候,总是免不了要后悔。
I learned easily mathematics and physics, as far as these sciences were taken in consideration in the school. I found in this ready help from my father, who loved science and had to teach it himself. He enjoyed any explanation he could give us about Nature and her ways. Unhappily, he had no laboratory and could not perform experiments.
The periods of vacations were particularly comforting, when, escaping the strict watch of the police in the city, we took refuge with relatives or friends in the country. There we found the free life of the old-fashioned family estate; races in the woods and joyous participation in work in the far-stretching, level grain-fields. At other times we passed the border of our Russian-ruled division and went southwards into the mountain country of Galicia, where the Austrian political control was less oppressive than that which we suffered. There we could speak Polish in all freedom and sing patriotic songs without going to prison.
My first impression of the mountains was very vivid, because I ad been brought up in the plains. So I enjoyed immensely our life in the Carpathian villages, the view of the pikes, the excursions to the valleys and to the high mountain lakes with picturesque names such as: "The Eye of the Sea. "However, I never lost my attachment to the open horizon and the gentle views of a plain hill country.
Later I had the opportunity to spend a vacation with my father far more south in Podolia, and to have the first view of the sea at Odessa, and afterwards at the Baltic shore. This was a thrilling experience. But it was in France that I become acquainted with the big waves of the ocean and the ever-changing tide. All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.
中学时期很受重视的数学和物理我都学得毫不费力,并且成绩很好。每当遇到问题,我便会向父亲求教。父亲热爱科学,并且在学校也进行这类课程的教学。他喜欢尽自己所能向我们解说大自然的奥秘和他对科学的研究。可惜的是,他没有自己的实验室,所以无法进行实验研究。
假期是尤其令人感到欣慰的。我们住到乡下的亲友家中,避开了警探的监视,可以自由自在、无忧无虑地生活。我们在林中奔跑喊叫,还在广阔的田地间劳作,乐得心花怒放,自在极了。有些时候,我们甚至越过俄国边境进入加里西亚山中,那儿不是俄国的领土,而是由奥地利人统治。奥地利人要比俄国人好一些。在那里,我们可以尽情地讲波兰语,高声唱爱国歌曲,而不必担心被捕入狱。
因为从小生活在平原地区,所以我对山峦的第一印象很好,也非常喜欢住在喀尔巴阡山的小村子里,喜欢那巍峨突兀的山峰,喜欢在山谷里和高山之间那被诗意地称为“海之眼”的湖泊旁流连忘返。但是,在我心中,对那一望无垠的平原的眷念却从未消逝,那开阔的视野,那柔和的色调,永远使我的心灵感到震颤。
后来,父亲带我到更南边的波多尼亚度假,并且在敖德萨第一次看到了大海,后来又北上到了波罗的海。这次经历对我来说是美好的。但是,直到去了法国,我才算是真正地领略到了海洋的波涛澎湃和潮汐涌退的壮丽景象。在一生之中,每当看到大自然的新景象,我就总会像个孩子似的欢呼雀跃。
Thus passed the period of our school life. We all had much facility for intellectual work. My brother, Doctor Sklodowski, having finished his medical studies, became later the chief physician in one of the principal Warsaw hospitals. My sisters and I intended to take up teaching as our parents had done. However, my elder sister, when grown up, changed her mind and decided to study medicine. She took the degree of doctor at the Paris University, married Doctor Dluski, a Polish physician, and together they established an important sanatorium in a wonderfully beautiful Carpathian mountain place of Austrian Poland. My second sister, married in Warsaw, Mrs. Szalay, was for many years a teacher in the schools, where she rendered great service. Later she was appointed in one of the lyceums of free Poland.
I was but fifteen when I finished my high-school studies, always havin held first rank in my class. The fatigue of growth and study compelled me to take almost a year's rest in the country. I then returned to my father in Warsaw, hoping to teach in the free schools. But family circumstances obliged me to change my decision. My father, now aged and tired, needed rest; his fortune was very modest. So I resolved to accept a position as governess for several children. Thus, when scarcely seventeen, I left my father's house to begin an independent life.
That going away remains one of the most vivid memories of my youth. My he a r t was heavy as I climbed into the railway car. It was to carry me for several hours, away from those I loved. And after the railway journey I must drive for five hours longer. What experience was awaiting me? So I questioned as I sat close to the car window looking out across the wide plains.
我们的学生生涯很快就结束了。那些需要动脑筋的课程我们都可以得心应手,学习起来毫不费力。我的哥哥从医学院毕业之后,走上了从医的道路,后来成为华沙一家著名医院的主任医师。我和我的姐姐们原打算像父母那样去当教师。但是后来,随着年龄的增长,我的大姐改变了主意,决定也去学医,她在巴黎大学取得医学博士学位后,嫁给了一位波兰内科医生德鲁斯基。他们夫妇两人前往奥属波兰喀尔巴阡山区一个风景秀丽的地方创办了一家大型疗养院。我的二姐在华沙嫁给了斯查莱先生,她在学校从事教育工作多年,一直兢兢业业,波兰独立后,担任了一所中学的校长。
上中学的时候,我的成绩一直名列前茅,毕业时,才刚刚15岁。由于读书用功,身体劳累,我不得不在毕业之后到农村生活了将近一年的时间。在那之后,我又回到了华沙,回到了父亲的身边。开始我希望去一所免费中学任教,但因家境不佳,我不得已改变了自己的决定。当时父亲已经年迈,心力交瘁,需要休息,但是他的收入却很微薄。所以,我决定找一份待遇更好的工作来减轻他的压力。因此,17岁那年,我接受了一份家庭教师的工作,从那时起,我就离开了父亲的家,开始了一个人在外地的生活。
离家时的情景我至今历历在目,记忆犹新。当上了火车的时候,我的心情十分沉重。我将被火车带到要行驶几个小时才能到达的远方,并且下了火车后,我还需要乘坐马车再走五个小时的路程。车窗外广袤的平原飞一样地向后退去,我的心里却像是坠了铅一样:等待我的将会是什么呢?
The father of the family to which I went was an agriculturist. His oldest daughter was about my age, and although working with me, was my companion rather than my pupil. There were two younger children, a boy and a girl. My relations with my pupils were friendly; after our lessons we went together for daily walks. Loving the country, I did not feel lonesome, and although this particular country was not especially picturesque, I was satisfied with it in all seasons. I took the greatest interest in the agricultural development of the estate where the methods were considered as models for the region. I knew the progressive details of the work, the distribution of crops in the fields; I eagerly followed the growth of the plants, and in the stables of the farm I knew the horses.
In winter the vast plains, covered with snow, were not lacking in charm, and we went for long sleigh rides. Sometimes we could hardly see the road. "Look out for the ditch! "I would call to the driver. "You are going straight into it, "and "Never fear! " he would answer, as over we went! But these tumbles only added to the gayety of our excursions.
I remember the marvelous snow house we made one winter when the snow was very high in the fields; we could sit in it and look out across the rose-tinted snow plains. We also used to skate on the ice of the river and to watch the weather anxiously, to make sure that the ice was not going to give way, depriving us of our pleasure.
我前去任教的那家的男主人是位农场主。他的大女儿和我年龄相仿,在跟我学习的过程中,渐渐成了我的伙伴。除了她,主人家还有一个男孩和一个女孩。我和他们相处得很好。每天课程结束之后,我们便一起出去散步。因为非常热爱农村生活,所以在这里我并不觉得寂寞。虽然这里的景色并不算美,但却四季各异,仍然能够使我感到欢快和满足。这个庄园先进的种植技术被公认为是这个地区的典型,对于它,我有着很浓厚的兴趣。渐渐地,我懂得了种植技术,并且一直关注着谷物种植后的生长情况。在农庄的马厩里,我还熟识了马匹的脾性。
冬季到来的时候,一望无际的大地上白雪皑皑,显得分外妖娆。有时候,我们驾着雪橇在雪地上飞驰,竟至连路都看不清楚,吓得我冲着驾雪橇的人大喊:“小心河沟!”驾雪橇的人却毫不在意地回答我:“您这是正往河沟冲去,别害怕!”话音刚落,雪橇就翻倒了。不过,在雪野上翻倒不但不可怕,反而还给我们的远足增添了乐趣。
我记得有一年冬天,大雪纷飞,地面上覆盖着厚厚的积雪,我们用雪堆成了一座形状怪异的雪屋,并且坐在里面观赏远处被映成玫瑰色的茫茫雪原。我们还经常到封冻的河上去溜冰,这一切都使我们感到欣喜若狂,欢快的同时我们最担心的就是天气转暖,那样我们的这份快乐就会被夺走。
Since my duties with my pupils did not take up all my time, I organized a small class for the children of the village who could not be educated under the Russian government. In this the oldest daughter of the house aided me. We taught the little children and the girls who wished to come how to read and write, and we put in circulation Polish books which were appreciated, too, by the parents. Even this innocent work presented danger, as all initiative of this kind was forbidden by the government and might bring imprisonment or deportation to Siberia.
My evenings I generally devoted to study. I had heard that a few women had succeeded in following certain courses in Petrograd or in foreign countries, and I was determined to prepare myself by preliminary work to follow their example.
I had not yet decided what path I would choose. I was as much interested in literature and sociology as in science. However, during these years of isolated work, trying little by little to find my real preferences, I finally turned towards mathematics and physics, and resolutely undertook a serious preparation for future work. This work I proposed doing in Paris, and I hoped to save enough money to be able to live and work in that city for some time.
My solitary study was beset with difficulties. The scientific education I had received at the lyceum was very incomplete; it was well under the bachelorship program of a French lyceum; I tried to add to it in my own way, with the help of books picked up at random. This method could not be greatly productive, yet it was not without results. I acquired the habit of independent work, and learned a few things which were to be of use later on.
因为在农庄的工作没有占用我所有的时间,所以在教课之余我便把村子里许多因为被俄国人统治而没法求学的儿童,以及那些想要加入我们学习读写的女孩子编成一个班,用波兰语的课本教他们读书写字。在这个过程中,主人家的大女儿就成了我的助手。孩子们的父母对我非常感激,但是说实话,我需要承担一定的风险:虽然我的这种义务教学有利无弊,但却是政府所禁止的,因为它被认为不利于社会稳定,所以,一旦被察觉,我就很有可能被捕入狱或是被流放到西伯利亚。
晚上的空余时间,我一般都用来学习。我曾经听说过彼得格勒或者其他国家的女性在某些领域取得成功的事迹,于是我决定以她们为榜样开始努力,争取取得和她们同样的成绩。
当时我并没有决定选择什么方向进行发展。开始我对文学和社会学有着很浓厚的兴趣,但是通过长达三年的学习,我却逐渐发现自己真正喜欢的还是数学与物理,因此也就一步一步地朝着这个方向发展,并暗下决心日后要到巴黎求学,并为此认真地做了学习上的准备。并且我还计划着积攒点钱,用来负担自己今后在巴黎的学习与生活。
自学的过程中充满了困难。我在中学时期所学的东西非常不完整,与法国的中学相比是有很大差距的。为了将差距缩小,我便通过自己选择的一些书籍来自学。这种方法虽然不很理想,却也收到了一些成效。我不但学到了一些对日后有所裨益的知识,还养成了独立思考的习惯。
I had to modify my plans for the future when my eldest sister decided to go to Paris to study medicine. We had promised each other mutual aid, but our means did not permit of our leaving together. So I kept my position for three and a half years, and, having finished my work with my pupils, I returned to Warsaw, where a position, similar to the one I had left, was awaiting me.
I kept this new place for only a year and then went back to my father, who had retired some time before and was living alone. Together we passed an excellent year, he occupying himself with some literary work, while I increased our funds by giving private lessons. Meantime I continued my efforts to educate myself. This was no easy task under the Russian government of Warsaw; yet I found more opportunities than in the country. To my great joy, I was able, for the first time in my life, to find access to a laboratory: a small municipal physical laboratory directed by one of my cousins. I found little time to work there, except in the evenings and on Sundays, and was generally left to myself. I tried out various experiments described in treatises on physics and chemistry, and the results were sometimes unexpected. At times I would be encouraged by a little unhopedfor success, at others I would be in the deepest despair because of accidents and failures resulting from my inexperience. But on the whole, though I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy, this first trial confirmed in me the taste for experimental research in the fields of physic and chemistry.
在我大姐决定到巴黎学医时,我被迫更改了自己的学习计划。因为我家的经济状况不允许我们俩同时赴巴黎留学,所以我们两个许诺互相帮助,先后完成学业。这样,我便一直待在这位农庄主家,直到三年半后把我三个学生的课程教完。然后,我回到华沙,那儿有一个类似的工作在等着我。
这个新的工作我干了一年。然后,我就回到已经退休并且独自生活的父亲身边,与他共同度过了一年的美好时光。在这一年中,他写了一些作品,我则通过做家教获得一些酬劳用以补贴家用。与此同时,我仍旧抓紧时间自学。在俄国人统治下的华沙,想要实现自己的梦想并不容易,但比起在农村时,成功的概率则更大一些。最使我兴奋的是,我生平第一次可以进入一间实验室去做实验:这是属于市政府的一个小实验室,我的一个堂哥是这个实验室的主任。除去晚上和星期天,我没有时间进实验室做实验,而且通常都是我自己在做。按照课本上所讲的方法,我做了各种各样的物理与化学实验,经常会获得一些预料之外的结果。这时候,我会因为这些成功而兴奋,并且大受鼓舞;不过有的时候,我也会由于缺乏经验导致失败而感到非常沮丧。这些经历使我更加懂得,成功的道路非常坎坷。不过,这也让我更加坚信,我的天性的确适合对物理与化学进行研究。
Other means of instruction came to me through my being one of an enthusiastic group of young men and women of Warsaw, who united in a common desire to study, and whose activities were at the same time social and patriotic. It was one of those groups of Polish youths who believed that the hope of their country lay in a great effort to develop the intellectual and moral strength of the nation, and that such an effort would lead to a better national situation. The nearest purpose was to work at one's own instruction and to provide means of instruction for workmen and peasants. In accordance with this program we agreed among ourselves to give evening courses, each one teaching what he knew best. There is no need to say that this was a secret organization, which made everything extremely difficult. There were in our group very devoted young people who, as I still believe today, could do truly useful work.
I have a bright remembrance of the sympathetic intellectual and social companionship which I enjoyed at that time. Truly the means of action were poor and the results obtained could not be considerable; yet I still believe that the ideas which inspired us then are the only way to real social progress. You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.
后来,我又找到了一个教学职务。我加入了华沙的一个学习团体,这个团体是由热心于教育事业并且具有共同学习愿望的波兰年轻人所组成的,他们有着一套自己独特的学习方式。这个团体带有一定的政治色彩,它要求自己的成员将服务社会、报效祖国作为自己的任务。在一次聚会时,有一位青年说道:“祖国的希望寄寓于人民知识水平的提高和道德观念的加强之上,只有如此,才能使我们的祖国在世界上的地位得到提高。当前我们首要的任务就是努力自学,并竭尽所能地在工人和农民之间普及知识。”为此,大家商量决定:晚间每个人向广大群众讲授自己所精通的内容,用以普及知识。毋庸置疑,这个团体具有秘密结社的性质,每件事情的进展都充满了艰难险阻。直到如今,我依然深信,这个团体的参与者必将为祖国、为社会作出有益的贡献。
我至今仍对那曾经让我欣喜的团体有着深刻的印象。当时那互助互励的情景,至今回想起来还会令我感到欣慰、激动。由于活动经费不足,这个团体并没有取得很大的成效,但是,直到现在,我仍然坚信,当时激励我们的那种精神是推动波兰社会进步的唯一途径。如果不是社会中的每一个人都得到很好的教育,具备良好的素质,一个美好的社会是不可能建立起来的。为了实现这一美好的目的,所有人都必须完善自己,并且共同分担社会责任,竭尽全力投入到本职工作中去,并有效地去帮助别人,这样,我们才觉得自己生活得更有价值。
All the experiences of this period intensified my longing for further study. And, in his affection for me, my father, in spite of limited resources, helped me to hasten the execution of my early project. My sister had just married at Paris, and it was decided that I should go there to live with her. My father and I hoped that, once my studies were finished, we would again live happily together. Fate was to decide otherwise, since my marriage was to hold me in France. My father, who in his own youth had wished to do scientific work, was consoled in our separation by the progressive success of my work. I keep a tender memory of his kindness and disinterestedness. He lived with the family of my married brother, and, like an excellent grandfather, brought up the children. We had the sorrow of losing him in 1902, when he had just passed seventy.
So it was in November, 1891, at the age of twenty-four, that I was able to realize the dream that had been always present in my mind for several years.
When I arrived in Paris I was affectionately welcomed by my sister and brother in law, but I stayed with them only for a few months, for they lived in one of the outside quarters of Paris where my brother-in-law was beginning a medical practice, and I needed to get nearer to the schools. I was finally installed, like many other students of my country, in a modest little room for which I gathered some furniture. I kept to this way of living during the four years of my student life.
这段时期的经历更加坚定了我日后学习、深造的决心。尽管我父亲的经济并不宽裕,但爱女之心使他愿意帮助我早日实现自己的梦想。我的姐姐刚刚在巴黎结婚,我便决定前往巴黎学习,同她住在一起。父亲同我都希望我学成回国后,能够再开开心心地生活在一起,但是,后来因为在巴黎结了婚,我便留在了那里,没有再回到华沙,回到父亲身边。做科学研究工作是父亲年轻时就一直有的梦想,后来我在法国取得的成功,令远在波兰的父亲深感欣慰,因为我实现了他的梦想。父亲无私的爱,令我终生难忘。后来,父亲同我已婚的哥哥住在一起,并且作为一个慈祥的爷爷,抚养着几个孙子。1902年,他在年逾古稀时离我们而去,给我们留下了深深的遗憾。
1891年11月,在24岁的时候,我终于实现了多年以来魂牵梦萦的愿望。
当到了巴黎的时候,我受到了姐姐和姐夫的热情欢迎,但是我只在他们家里住了没几个月,便另外寻找住处了。这是因为他们为了方便行医住在巴黎郊外,距离我上学的学校很远,而我需要就近住宿,以便省下时间学习。像许多波兰学生一样,我租住了一间只有很少家具的小房间。就这样我艰难地度过了四年留学生活。
It would be impossible to tell of all the good these years brought to me. Undistracted by any outside occupation, I was entirely absorbed in the joy of learning and understanding. Yet, all the while, my living conditions were far from easy, my own funds being small and my family not having the means to aid me as they would have liked to do. However, my situation was not exceptional; it was the familiar experience of many of the Polish students whom I knew. The room I lived in was in a garret, very cold in winter, for it was insufficiently heated by a small stove which often lacked coal. During a particularly rigorous winter, it was not unusual for the water to freeze in the basin in the night; to be able to sleep I was obliged to pile all my clothes on the blankets. In the same room I prepared my meals with the aid of an alcohol lamp and a few kitchen utensils. These meals were often reduced to bread with a cup of chocolate, eggs or fruit. I had no help in housekeeping and I myself carried the little coal I used up the six flights
This life, painful from certain points of view, had, for all that, a real charm for me. It gave me a very precious sense of liberty and independence. Unknown in Paris, I was lost in the great city, but the feeling of living there alone, taking care of myself without any aid, did not at all depress me. If sometimes I felt lonesome, my usual state of mind was one of calm and great moral satisfaction.
四年中,我在学习上所取得的进步,不可能被一一讲述出来。我只身一人,没有任何纷扰,得以全身心地投入到学习中去,学业上的进步又令我心满意足,欢快不已。至于我的日常生活,可以说是非常的艰难,因为我自己本身积蓄就不多,亲人们也没有多大能力对我进行帮助。但并不是我一个人这样,据我所知,许多波兰来的留学生的境况都是大同小异的。我住在位于顶层的阁楼里,冬天很冷,取暖炉又小,屋子里根本烧不暖和,而且煤还经常短缺,所以在夜晚,屋子里脸盆中的水经常结冰。为了能够入睡,我把全部的衣服都压在被子上。就在这样一间小屋子里,我用一盏酒精灯和有限的几件炊具做饭。为了节省金钱和时间,我常常用一点点面包加一杯巧克力茶、几个鸡蛋或一点水果充饥。我一个人处理家务,没有任何人对我进行帮助,连取暖用的煤,也是由我亲自弄上七楼的。
在别人看来,我的日子未免过于艰苦,但是我却能够自得其乐,每天都心情愉悦地埋头于学习之中。这份生活经历也使我充分体会到了自由与独立精神的弥足珍贵。在偌大的巴黎,我默默无闻地独自生活在自己的狭小天地里。尽管单寒羁旅,无依无靠,但是我并不沮丧消沉,也不觉得凄惨。当然,有的时候,孤独之感也会突然涌上心头,但由于我的情绪一般十分平静,精神上又非常满足,孤独情绪总是转瞬即逝。
All my mind was centered on my studies, which, especially at the beginning, were difficult. In fact, I was insufficiently prepared to follow th physical science course at the Sorbonne, for, despite all my efforts, I had not succeeded in acquiring in Poland a preparation as complete as that of the French students following the same course. So I was obliged to supply this deficiency, especially in mathematics. I divided my time between courses, experimental work, and study in the library. In the evening I worked in my room, sometimes very late into the night. All that I saw and learned that was new delighted me. It was like a new world opened to me, the world of science, which I was at last permitted to know in all liberty.
I have pleasant memories of my relations with my student companions. Reserved and shy at the beginning, it was not long before I noticed that the students, nearly all of whom worked seriously, were disposed to be friendly. Our conversations about our studies deepened our interest in the problems we discussed.
Among the Polish students I did not have any companions in my studies. Nevertheless, my relations with their small colony had a certain intimacy. From time to time we would gather in one another's bare rooms, where we could talk over national questions and feel less isolated. We would also go for walks together, or attend public reunions, for we were all interested in politics. By the end of the first year, however, I was forced to give up these relationships, for I found that all my energy had to be concentrated on my studies, in order to achieve them as soon as possible. I was even obliged to devote most of my vacation time to mathematics.
我在学习上有着一定的困难,特别是在开始的时候,因此,我把精力全部集中到学习上。确实,我从前的基础知识非常薄弱,虽然到这之前做了一些准备,但却很不充分,与法国同学的差距很大,尤其是数学的差距更大,所以我必须付出巨大的努力去对自己的不足进行弥补。白天我在课堂、实验室和图书馆之间忙碌,晚上我就一个人躲在阁楼陋室里刻苦学习,常常学到深夜。每当学到新的东西,我便会激动兴奋起来。科学奥秘就像一个新的世界一样逐渐地展现在我的面前,我因此也就能够自由地学习它们并且掌握它们了,这真的使我很高兴。
与同学们的和睦相处同样也给我留下了愉快的印象。初到巴黎时,我不爱说话,腼腆羞涩,但是不久我便发现同学们全都学习认真、待人亲切,因此我便开始同他们一起探讨学习上的问题,这使我对学习的兴趣更浓厚了。
在我所就读的那个系里,并没有波兰学生,但是我同一个波兰侨民小团体的关系却非常密切。我经常参与他们在一个简陋的小屋中举行聚会,和他们一起对祖国波兰的各种问题进行讨论,我那怀念祖国的情感在此得以尽情地抒发。我们有时会一起外出散步,有时还会参与公众集会,对政治始终保持着一种极大的热情。但是第一学年临近结束时,我却不得不离开了这个小团体,因为我认为自己应该把全部精力放在学习上面,这样才能够尽快地完成学业。即使是在假期里,我也仍在抓紧时间复习我的数学。
My persistent efforts were not in vain. I was able to make up for the deficiency of my training and to pass examinations at the same time with the other students. I even had the satisfaction of graduating in first rank as"licenciée es sciences physiques" in 1893, and in second rank as "licenciée es sciences mathématiques" in, 1894.
My brother-in-law, recalling later these years of work under the conditions I have just described, jokingly referred to them as "the heroic period of my sister-in-law's life." For myself, I shall always consider one of the best memories of my life that period of solitary years exclusively devoted to the studies, finally within my reach, for which I had waited so long.
It was in 1894 that I first met Pierre Curie. One of my compatriots, a professor at the University of Fribourg, having called upon me, invited me to his home, with a young physicist of Paris, whom he knew and esteemed highly. Upon entering the room I perceived, standing framed by the French window opening on the balcony, a tall young man with auburn hair and large, limpid eyes. I noticed the grave and gentle expression of his face, as well as a certain abandon in his attitude, suggesting the dreamer absorbed in his reflections. He showed me a simple cordiality and seemed to me very sympathetic. After that first interview he expressed the desire to see me again and to continue our conversation of that evening on scientific and social subjects in which he and I were both interested, and on which we seemed to have similar opinions.
天道酬勤,我的努力没有白费。我成功地弥补了先前在知识方面的各种差距,从而能够和同学们一起通过考试。1893年,我以优异的成绩完成了物理学的结业考试;1894年,数学结业考试时,我的成绩位于乙等,这些成绩使我感到非常满意。
我的姐夫后来在谈到我那几年的艰难学习情况时,曾戏谑地说那是“我妻妹的一生当中英勇顽强的时期”,我自身也始终将这段时期的艰苦奋斗看做是我一生之中最值得回忆的美好时期。在这期间中,我孤身奋斗,废寝忘食地埋头钻研,终于能够进行科学研究了,这是我长久以来所期盼的。
那是在1894年,我与皮埃尔·居里第一次相遇了。我的同胞、弗利堡大学的一位教授打电话邀请我到他家去玩,同时也邀请了巴黎的一位年轻物理学家,他对这位物理学家非常熟悉,也十分赞赏。当我走进这位教授家的客厅时,我看见了这个年轻人。他正好站在一扇朝向阳台的法式窗户的凹入处,宛如镶嵌在玻璃窗上的一幅画一样。他身材修长,头发是赤褐色的,一双大眼睛清澈明亮。他的神态飘逸,表情深沉而又温柔。第一眼看到他时,你会认为他是一个沉浸在自己的思绪之中的梦幻者。他表现出一种质朴而又真诚的态度,仿佛对我很有好感。并且在第一次见面之后,他还希望以后能够再见到我,继续对科学和社会等各种问题进行讨论。对于这些问题,我俩看法相似,很有共同语言。
Some time later, he came to me in my student room and we became good friends. He described to me his days, filled with work, and his dream of an existence entirely devoted to science. He was not long in asking me to share that existence, but I could not decide at once; I hesitated before a decision that meant abandoning my country and my family.
I went back to Poland for my vacation, without knowing whether or not I was to return to Paris. But circumstances permitted me again to take up my work there in the autumn of that year. I entered one of the physics laboratories at the Sorbonne, to begin experimental research in preparation for my doctor's thesis.
Again I saw Pierre Curie. Our work drew us closer and closer, until we were both convinced that neither of us could find a better life companion. So our marriage was decided upon and took place a little later, in July, 1895.
Pierre Curie had just received his doctor's degree and had been made professor in the School of Physics and Chemistry of the City of Paris. He was thirty-six years old, and already a physicist known and appreciated in France and abroad. Solely preoccupied with scientific investigation, he had paid little attention to his career, and his material resources were very modest. He lived at Sceaux, in the suburbs of Paris, with his old parents, whom he loved tenderly, and whom he described as "exquisite" the first time he spoke to me about them. In fact, they were so: the father was an elderly physician of high intellect and strong character, and the mother the most excellent of women, entirely devoted to her husband and her sons. Pierre's elder brother, who was then professor at the University of Montpellier, was always his best friend. So I had the privilege of entering into a family worthy of affection and esteem, and where I found the warmest welcome.
随后,他来到我的学生公寓拜访我,我们逐渐成了好朋友。他将他每天的工作情况、他的研究和他献身科学的梦想与决心向我作了介绍。没过多久,他便向我吐露心声,希望能够和我共同生活,共同对科学的梦想进行追求。但开始时,我还不能立刻下定决心,我犹豫着,因为这样的话,我就不得不永远离开自己的祖国与家人。
假期到了,我回到波兰,并且当时也没有作出决定是否返回巴黎。但是,那年秋天,我又回到了巴黎,进入巴黎大学的一个物理实验室,着手进行实验研究,为我的博士论文做准备。
我又见到了皮埃尔·居里。出于科研的缘故,我同他的接触日益增多,关系也更加密切。等到我们彼此都认为除了对方,谁都不会找到更合适的生活伴侣的时候,我们便决定结婚了,并于1895年7月举行了婚礼。
那个时候,皮埃尔·居里刚刚荣获博士学位,并受聘任教于巴黎物理和化学学校。那一年,他36岁,已经成为国内外颇具名气的物理学家了。他全心全意地投入科学研究当中,而很少留意自己的职位、待遇等问题,所以他的经济状况非常一般。结婚前,他与年迈的父母在一起生活,住在巴黎郊区的苏城。他特别孝顺,我记得他第一次跟我提到他的父母的时候,用了“慈父慈母”一词。事实上,他并没有夸大其词。他的父亲是一位很有资历的物理学家,为人慷慨大度、性格刚强;他母亲是一位典型的贤妻良母,一生相夫教子,从无怨言。他的哥哥为蒙彼利埃大学的教授,兄弟二人情深意笃,皮埃尔对他的哥哥十分敬重。进入这样的一个家庭,我感到十分荣幸,而且我确实也受到这家人的热忱欢迎。
We were married in the simplest way. I wore no unusual dress on my marriage day, and only a few friends were present at the ceremony, but I had the joy of having my father and my second sister come from Poland.
We did not care for more than a quiet place in which to live and to work, and were happy to find a little apartment of three rooms with a beautiful view of a garden. A few pieces of furniture came to us from our parents. With a money gift from a relative we acquired two bicycles to take us out into the country.
我们举行了一个十分简单的婚礼,也没有专门购置结婚礼服。参加婚礼的只有为数不多的亲朋好友。令我感到高兴的是,我的父亲和二姐也从波兰赶来了。
除了想要一个安静的地方用来居住和工作以外,我和皮埃尔并无其他什么奢望。我们非常高兴地找到了一套三居室的小房子,从窗口看出去,眼前出现的是一座美丽的花园。老人们给我们购置了一些家具。我们还用一个亲戚给我们的喜钱买了两辆自行车,用来出去远游。