Author Murakami wades into Japan-China island row 作家村上春樹涉入日中島嶼爭議

Haruki Murakami, one of the world’s foremost novelists, waded into the territorial row between China and Japan recently, warning of the peril of politicians offering the "cheap liquor" of nationalism.

全球最知名的小說家之一村上春樹最近也涉入中國與日本之間的領土爭議，警告政客們提供民族主義「廉價劣酒」可能引發的風險。

The Japanese author of "Norwegian Wood" said cool heads should prevail.

這位曾寫過小說「挪威森林」的日本作家表示，在爭議中理智應該佔上風。

Writing in the liberal-leaning Asahi Shimbun, Murakami, who has been tipped as a future Nobel laureate, said disputes over land existed because of the unfortunate system of dividing humanity into countries with national borders.

多次被視為諾貝爾文學獎可能得主的村上投書給自由派的朝日新聞寫道，有關釣魚台的爭議之所以存在，是因為把人類用國界分為不同國家的不幸系統所導致。

"When a territorial issue ceases to be a practical matter and enters the realm of ’national emotions’, it creates a dangerous situation with no exit.

「當領土議題不再是實際問題，而成為『民族情感』的問題時，就會製造出無路可走的危險情勢。」

"It is like cheap liquor. Cheap liquor gets you drunk after only a few shots and makes you hysterical. It makes you speak loudly and act rudely... But after your drunken rampage you are left with nothing but an awful headache the next morning.

「這就像是喝劣酒。廉價的劣酒只要幾杯就能讓你喝醉，變得歇斯底里。喝劣酒讓你說話大聲，舉止粗魯……但當你發完酒瘋後，第二天早上除了頭痛欲裂外一無所有。

"We must be careful about politicians and polemicists who lavish us with this cheap liquor and fan this kind of rampage," he wrote.

「我們必須提防這些拚命給我們倒劣酒、煽起暴動的政客和好辯人士，」他寫道。

"You soon sober up after the buzz of cheap liquor passes," he said. "But the path for souls to come and go must not be blocked."

「劣酒帶來的宿醉過後，你很快就會清醒過來，」他說。「但靈魂的交流道路不該被堵住。」

Murakami has never shied away from controversy. When he received the 2009 Jerusalem Prize, Israel’s highest literary honour for foreign writers, he obliquely criticised the Middle East conflict.

村上過去從不畏懼涉入爭議話題。當他於2009年獲得以色列頒給外國作家的最高文學獎項耶路撒冷獎時，就曾間接批評過中東衝突。

"If there is a hard, high wall and an egg that breaks against it, no matter how right the wall or how wrong the egg, I will stand on the side of the egg," he said at the ceremony in Jerusalem.（AFP）

「假如有一堵堅固的高牆，和一顆擊打在牆上的雞蛋，不論那堵高牆有多正確，或雞蛋有多錯誤，我都會站在雞蛋那邊，」他在耶路撒冷的頒獎儀式上表示。（法新社）

新聞辭典

a cool head：指在困境中保持冷靜思考的能力，如These are high pressure situations and you have to keep a cool head.（在這種高壓情況下，你必須保持冷靜。）

sober up：片語，指使（酒醉者）清醒，亦可引申為指讓某人面對現實，如The harsh reality of what had happened sobered him up immediately.（事情發生的殘酷現實讓他立刻清醒過來。）

obliquely：副詞，形容詞為oblique，指斜的、傾斜的，引申為指拐彎抹角的、不直截了當的，間接的，如He referred obliquely to a sordid event in her past.（他拐彎抹角地提到她過去發生的一樁難堪事件。）