下载掌阅APP，畅读海量书库
立即打开
路德维希·凡·贝多芬（Ludwig van Beethoven , 1770-1827），德国作曲家，出生于宫廷音乐世家。他是维也纳古典乐派代表人物之一，被世人尊称为“乐圣”。
音乐巨匠贝多芬逝世后，人们在他的遗物中发现了三封从未寄出的情书，这些信都写于1806年。那一年，贝多芬要去波希米亚的一个以温泉闻名的小镇——特普利茨住些日子。贝多芬在陌生的道路上经历了一次艰难的夜间旅程，于7月5日凌晨4点钟到达特普利茨。到达后的第二天早上，贝多芬开始撰写一封热情洋溢的情书。晚上，贝多芬接着写这封信，第三天早上又给它加了一页。信中，他称这位神秘女郎为“永恒的爱人”。本文选自第一封书信。
July 6, 1806
My angel, my all, my very self—only a few words today and at that with your pencil—not till tomorrow will my lodgings be definitely determined upon—what a useless waste of time. Why this deep sorrow when necessity speaks—can our love endure except through sacrifices—except through not demanding everything from one another—can you change it that you are not wholly mine, I not wholly thine ?
Oh, God! Look out into the beauties of nature and comfort yourself with that which must be—love demands everything and that very justly—that it is with me so far as you are concerned, and you with me. If we were wholly united you would feel the pain of it as little as I!
My journey was a fearful one; I did not reach here until 4 o’clock yesterday morning. Lacking horses the post-coach chose another route, but what an awful one; at the stage before the last I was warned not to travel at night; I was made fearful of a forest, but that only made me the more eager—and I was wrong. The coach must needs break down on the wretched road, a bottomless mud road. Without such postilions as I had with me I should have remained stuck in the road. Esterhazy, traveling the usual road here, had the same fate with eight horses that I had with four—yet I got some pleasure out of it, as I always do when I successfully overcome difficulties.
Now a quick change to things internal from things external. We shall surely see each other; moreover, I cannot share with you the thoughts I have had during the last few days touching my own life—if our hearts were always close together I would have none of these. My heart is full of so many things to say to you—Ah!—there are moments when I feel that speech is nothing after all—cheer up—remain my true, only treasure, my all as I am yours. The gods must send us the rest that which shall be best for us.
Your faithful,
Ludwig
我的天使，我的一切，我的至爱——今天只有寥寥数语，且是以你的笔述之。直至明天，我的住所才能完全确定——如此无聊度日，纯粹是蹉跎光阴。对于必然的现实，我们为何总是满怀愁绪——除了牺牲，以及彼此无法求全的东西外，我们的爱情还能用何法才能历久弥坚——你我也无法全身心地拥有彼此，你又如何能改变这一事实。
天啊，尽情饱览这自然界的山明水秀吧！对于必然之事——爱情予取予求，这是无可非议的——正如你之于我，我之于你。倘若我们完全融为一体，你我就不会遭受这般痛苦。
我的旅行令人心存余悸——昨日凌晨4点才到达此地。由于缺少马匹，邮差只好另择他路，但这条路却糟糕至极。这次启程之前，我被告诫夜间不要赶路，所以思及要穿越大片森林便顿生怯意，可这却使我更加情急心切，想要赶快行进——但是我错了。这条路泥泞不堪，崎岖难行，车马行至中途必须稍作休整。若非车夫驭车娴熟，我想我定会被困至中途。亚斯托哈基驶在常行的路上，驾着八匹马的车子，而他所遭受的际遇与我驾着四匹时相近无几——但是我仍从中寻到了一些快乐，正如我每次成功地克服困难时一样。
现在闲话少说，言归正传。我们肯定很快就要见面。在过去的几天里，我生出一些关于我生活的想法，但今天恐怕不能全部与你共享——如果我们的心紧密相连，我也不会生出一丝此想法。我有满腹的话语想向你倾诉——有时我却觉得，言语竟如此苍白无力——祝你愉快——愿你永远做我唯一忠实的宝贝，做我的一切，恰如我之于你。至于其他我们必须的东西，神一定会赐予我们的。
你忠实的路德维希
1806年7月6日
关于贝多芬，大家对他身残志坚的故事耳熟能详。拥有极高音乐天赋的贝多芬在28岁时发现自己的听觉有了障碍，后来双耳失聪，他曾一度崩溃绝望，但最终选择“扼住命运的咽喉”，创造了音乐奇迹。贝多芬这样一副“苦行僧”的形象早已深入人心，以至于他同样充满悲情色彩的爱情史却湮没无闻，不为世人所知。
但此信一公开，便引起了传记作家们浓厚的兴趣。究竟谁是这位“永恒的爱人”，谁曾被这位音乐狂人如此热烈而崇高地爱过，学术界对此众说纷纭。不过，为众人略知的是他几段无疾而终的感情史。贝多芬曾数次陷入爱河，所恋对象多是贵族名媛，而贝多芬却出身平民。在讲究门第的年代，身份地位的鸿沟是不会被炽热的爱恋和旷世的才华所填补的，他的爱情之花也注定随风夭折，使得他不得不一次次独自舔舐感情的创伤。而影片《永恒的爱人》将这些名媛都一一排除，最终把这位“神秘女郎”锁定在贝多芬的弟媳乔安娜身上。这种戏谑的推断被认为毫无根据，无任何资料可佐证，贝多芬所有的学生都未曾对该影片提出的观点表示过支持。“永恒的爱人”这一神秘身份仍然扑朔迷离。
lodging [ˈlɒdʒɪŋ]
n. 寄宿（处）
thine [ðaɪn]
pron. （旧）你的
wretched [ˈretʃɪd]
a. 可怜的；悲惨的
postilion [pəˈstɪlɪən]
n. 车夫