注：问题的中文为《三联生活周刊》记者所提，英文是我译的；答案的英文是Jed Rubenfeld所写，中文是我译的。
1.I am told that The Interpretation of Murder is revised greatly from its previous draft, The Name of Action, can you tell me the differences between them?
我听说《谋杀的解析》初稿叫《行动的名义》，改动很大，你能说说它们的区别吗？
"The Name of Action" was the book's original title. Those words, "the name of action," come from Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy. One of the differences between the original manuscript and the final book was that the original had more Hamlet in it -- more about Shakespeare. There was also more about the theory of psychoanalysis and the "Oedipus Complex." Because I'm a professor, I think I made the original manuscript too academic. The Interpretation of Murder is my first novel; I had a lot to learn.
《行动的名义》是这本书原来的名字。“行动的名义”这几个字出自哈姆雷特那段to be or not to be的著名独白。初稿和定稿的一个区别是，初稿关于哈姆雷特的内容更多——关于莎士比亚的内容更多。有关心理分析和“俄狄普斯情结”的内容也更多。因为我是个大学教授，我觉得我初稿写得太学术了。《谋杀的解析》是我第一本小说。我要学习的地方还有很多。
2.In your book, scenes change like TV show. Did you consult your brother Vik Rubenfeld? In my point of view, your book is not easy to read because the scenes change a little fast. What do you think?
在你的书中，场景变换像电视连续剧。你请教过你的兄弟维克·鲁本菲尔德吗？在我看来，你的书场景变换有点快，不太好读。你的意见呢？
I'm sorry you think so. Many readers, I think, like the fast pace. My brother, Vik Rubenfeld, is a very successful film and television producer. His television show, "Early Edition," was a big hit. I didn't consult him in writing this book, but I did get his advice when Warner Brothers, the movie studio, became interested in The Interpretation of Murder. In September, 2006, a few days after the book was published, my agents reached an agreement with Warner Brothers, which bought the movie rights. Perhaps the fast scene changes will work well in a movie.
你这么想我很遗憾。我觉得很多读者会喜欢这种快节奏。我的弟弟维克·鲁本菲尔德是个非常成功的电影和电视剧出品人。他的电视剧Early Edition轰动一时。我没有请教过他写这本书的问题。但华纳兄弟电影公司对我这本书产生兴趣的时候，我问过他的意见。2006年9月，这本书出版后没几天，我的代理人和华纳兄弟达成了协议，后者购买了电影改编权。也许这种快速的场景变化在电影中能起到很好的作用。
3.I know your wife has Chinese blood in her veins, can you talk about how did you know and marry each other? The Chinese images, Chong Sing, William Leon and other cantonese, in your book are really not welcome. I believe your accounts are true to the early decades of last century, but as a chinese-american, did Amy Chua protest these images?
我知道你的妻子有中国血统，你能聊聊你们是怎么认识、结婚的吗？在你的书中，中国人——钟胜、威廉·利昂和其他有些广东人——的形象真的很糟糕。我相信你的描写符合上个世纪初的史实，但蔡美儿毕竟是个华裔美国人，她对这些形象表示过不满吗？
Yes, my wife, Amy Chua, has Chinese blood in her veins. In fact, her blood is pure 100% Chinese. We met at Harvard Law School, where we were both students, and have been married for more than 15 years. Today, we are both professors at Yale Law School, and Amy is herself the author of a bestselling non-fiction book called World on Fire, which is in part about the extraordinary economic success of Chinese people throughout Southeast Asia. Amy did not protest my descriptions of Chong Sing and William Leon. Please remember: I did not make those characters up. Chong Sing and William Leon (also known as Leon Ling) were real people. William Leon, although never captured, is believed to have murdered Elsie Sigel, the granddaughter of a famous American general. All the descriptions of Chong Sing and William Leon in my book come from actual historical sources. As you know, things were very different in America a hundred years ago. Today, Americans of Chinese descent are among the country's richest businessmen, most distinguished scientists, most accomplished doctors, musicians, engineers, authors, and so on. But in 1909, most Chinese immigrants in America were laborers with very little education and poor English. Their lives were hard, and they were not always treated respectfully. I tried to capture the reality in my book, instead of pretending that the reality was better than it was.
是的，我的妻子蔡美儿有中国血统。实际上，她是百分之百的中国人。我们在哈佛法学院相识，当时我们都是那里的学生，结婚到现在超过15年了。现在，我们俩都是耶鲁法学院的教授。蔡美儿自己写了一本非虚构类的畅销书：《火焰上的世界》，这本书有一部分是关于东南亚各地取得非凡经济成就的中国人的。美儿没有抗议我对钟胜和威廉·利昂的描写。请记住：这些人物不是我凭空捏造的。钟胜和威廉·利昂（也叫凌利昂）是真有其人。威廉·利昂虽然从来没有被抓住，但人们相信他杀害了艾尔茜·西格尔，那个著名的美国将军的孙女。我书中所有关于钟胜和威廉·利昂的描写都有真正的历史来源。你也知道的，一百年前，美国的情况非常不同。当今，这个国家最富裕的商人、最杰出的科学家、最有成就的医生、音乐家、工程师、作家等等都有中国人。但在1909年，多数在美国的中国移民都是苦力，没什么文化，英语也很糟糕。他们的日子过得很艰难，也不总是得到尊重。在我的书中，我试图符合事实，而不是将事实伪造成更好的样子。
4.How did your background as a professor of Yale Law School help you in writing this novel? Did academic reason restrain your imagination?
你是耶鲁法学院的教授，这种背景对你写这本小说有什么帮助吗？学术的理性会限制你的想象力吗？
History, not reason, restrained my imagination. A very great deal of The Interpretation of Murder is historically accurate and factually based. Almost all the details of New York City in 1909 are real. Freud's visit to America is real. Freud's complicated, friend-enemy relationship with his follower, Carl Jung, is real. The hostility that many Americans felt toward Freud is real. The discovery of Elsie Sigel's dead body inside a trunk in William Leon's small apartment is real. Even the psychoanalysis of the young woman, Nora Acton, is largely real: it is drawn from Freud's analysis in Vienna of a girl he called Dora. With all these historical elements, my imagination was necessarily constrained. But that was a good thing. I don't have the brilliant imagination of the great novelists like Charles Dickens or Tolstoy or Cáo Xu qín (Cao Zhan) (author of the work called in English "The Dream of the Red Chamber"). If The Interpretation of Murder had been based merely on my imagination, it would not have been interesting at all.
限制我的想象力的，是历史而不是理性。《谋杀的解析》很大一部分都是确凿的事实，有事实的基础。几乎所有关于1909年的纽约城的细节都是真的。弗洛伊德访问美国也是真的。弗洛伊德和他的追随者卡尔·荣格之间亦友亦敌的关系也是真的。很多美国人对弗洛伊德抱有敌意是真的。在威廉·利昂的小房间中发现艾尔茜·西格尔被装在一个箱子中，这也是真人实事。甚至连对少女娜拉·阿克顿的心理分析也大部分是真的：它是从弗洛伊德在维也纳对一个他称为朵拉的女孩的分析中抽取出来的。因为所有这些历史元素，我的想象力当然会受到制约。但这是好事。我没有像查尔斯·狄更斯、托尔斯泰或者曹雪芹那么丰富的想象力。如果《谋杀的解析》仅仅是基于我的想象，它根本就不会吸引人。
5.You have weaved historical figures, Freud, Jung, Dana etc. into your fiction. Is this writing technique against any law in U.S.? Did any descent of those figures protest yet?
你将一些历史人物，比如弗洛伊德，荣格，达纳等写进小说中。这种写作方式违背美国的法律吗？这些人的后代表达过不满吗？
In the United States, the right of free speech protects novels, movies, and all other kinds of art. Of course, if you write a book about people who are still alive, then different rules apply. You can't just say anything you want about people who are still alive! But if you write a novel about people who lived a hundred years ago, you are entitled to portray them as you wish -- whether favorably or unfavorably. For example, in The Interpretation of Murder, the Swiss psychiatrist Jung does not appear in a very flattering light, and yes, I have received some protests about that! But my portrait of Jung is factually based, and I stand by it. As you know, I am not the first novelist to weave historical figures into a work of fiction. Tolstoy did it in War and Peace. Victor Hugo did it too, especially in a book called Ninety-Three (or 1793). But I wouldn't compare my book to those works of great literature!
在美国，言论自由的权利涵盖了小说、电影和其他所有艺术形式。当然，如果你写一本关于一个还在世的人的小说，那么有另外的法律条文来规范。你不能随便说一个还活着的人！但如果你小说中的人物活在一百年前，那么你有权利随便写——不管是赞美他们还是诋毁他们。例如，在《谋杀的解析》中，瑞士的心理学家荣格就不太讨人喜欢。确实，有人就此向我表达不满！但我对荣格的描写有事实的基础，我没理会这种抗议。你知道的，我不是第一个将历史人物写进作品的小说家。托尔斯泰在《战争与和平》中这么做了。维克多·雨果也这么做过，特别是在那本叫做《九三年》的小说中。但我不想把我的书和这些伟大的文学作品做比较！