Mr. Ishiguro, have you ever found one of your booksat a second-hand bookstore?

伊西古罗先生，你有没有在二手书店里看到过你写的书?

Yes. That kind of thing is difficult.

有啊。那种事情很难办。

If they've got my book there, I think "Well, this is aninsult!

如果二手书店有我的书，我会想：“好吧，这是种侮辱!

Somebody didn't want to keep my book."

因为有人不想留着我的书。

But if it's not there, I feel it's an insult too.

但如果二手书店里没有我的书，我也觉得是种侮辱。

I think, "Why aren't people exchanging my book?

我会想，为什么人们不交易我的书呢?

Why isn't it in this store?"

为什么它没有这家书店里?

Does being a writer require a thick skin?

成为一名作家需要脸皮厚一些吗?

Yes. For example, my wife can be very harsh.

当然。比如说，我妻子对我很苛刻。

I began working on my latest book, The Buried Giant, in 2004, but I stopped after I showed mywife a little section.

我是在2004年开始创作我的最新小说《地下巨人》的，我给我妻子看了一小部分后，就停止了创作。

She thought it was rubbish.

因为她觉得那是一堆垃圾。

Even after you won a Booker Prize?

甚至在你获得“布克奖”后?

She is not intimidated at all, and she criticises me in exactly the same way she did when I wasfirst unpublished and I was starting.

她根本就没有被这个奖吓到，她完全在用当年我刚开始创作且没有发表过作品时的方法批评我。

But you would never compromise on your vision?

但你绝不会在你的设想上妥协?

No. I wouldn't ever compromise on the essential, the ideas, or the themes.

当然不会。我永远不会在本质、思想或主题上妥协的。

This isn't really what my wife is trying to criticise me about.

我妻子其实不是想要批评我的这些东西。

It's always about execution.

她是在批评我的写作手法。

So why did you put your book The Buried Giant aside for so long?

那么，你为什么让你的书《地下巨人》搁置了那么久?

Apparently, you started working on it over ten years ago.

显然你在十年前就开始写这本书了。

I've often stopped writing the book and left it for a few years.

我常常停止写这本书，一停就停几年。

And by the time I come back to it, it may have changed.

等我再来写这本书的时候，它可能就发生了改变。

Usually my imagination has moved on, and I can think of different contexts or a different way todo it.

通常是我的想象力改变了，我会想到不同的情景或有了不同的写作手法。

What does it feel like when you finally finish a book?

你写完了一本书的感觉是什么样的啊?

It's funny you ask that, because I never have this moment when I feel "Ah, I've finished!"

你这么问很有趣，因为我从来没有过“啊!我终于写完了!”这种感觉。

I watch footballers at the end of the match, you know; the whistle goes and they've won orlost.

你看，我观看比赛结束时的足球运动员;哨声吹响后，他们不是赢了就是输了。

Until then, they've been giving everything they have, and at that moment they know it's over.

在此之前，他们竭尽全力，但听到哨声后他们就知道比赛结束了。

It's funny for an author.

这对作家来说很有趣。

There's never a finishing whistle.

因为写作是永无止境的。

Questions 1 to 4 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

问题1到4是基于你刚才所听到的那段对话。

Question 1: How would the man feel if he found his book in a second-hand bookstore?

问题1：对话中的男士如果在二手书店发现了他的书，他会怎么想?

Question 2: What does the man's wife think of his books?

问题2：对话中男士的妻子对他的书是什么看法?

Question 3: What does the man do when he engages in writing?

问题3：对话中的男士从事写作时候，他会做什么?

Question 4: What does the man want to say by mentioning the football match?

问题4：对话中的男士提到足球比赛，他想借此说明什么?