古今中外，以筆名而著稱的作家數(shù)不勝數(shù)。而筆名的由來也可謂形形色色，千奇百態(tài)。我們都熟知的歐·亨利原來并非作家的真名，而是取自一名獄警的名字。還有哪些作家有著不為常人所知的筆名，這背后又有著怎樣的故事？

Pen names speckle1) literary history and our modern bookshelves. If you own anything by George Orwell， Anthony Burgess， or George Eliot， you own a piece of the epic chronicle of pseudonyms2). Authors change their names for many reasons， but historically one of the strongest reasons to use a pen name was to hide gender. But gender isn't the only guiding force when picking your pen name. Here are seven strange stories behind famous writers' pen names.

筆名點(diǎn)綴著文學(xué)史的漫漫長河，也裝點(diǎn)著我們現(xiàn)代人的層層書架。如果你擁有喬治·奧威爾、安東尼·伯吉斯或是喬治·艾略特的任何一本著作，那你就擁有了一部關(guān)于“筆名”的宏大編年史。作家們改用筆名的原因有很多，但在歷史上作家使用筆名最主要的原因之一是為了掩蓋性別。不過，性別并不是選取筆名的唯一因素。下文講述了七位名家筆名背后的奇聞軼事。

Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel)

After he threw a raging party， breaking Dartmouth and federal law during Prohibition3)， Dr. Seuss， born Theodor Geisel， was fired from his job as editor-in-chief of the college's Jack-O-Lantern4) magazine. However Theodor， that rapscallion5)， kept writing for the humor mag by signing his work under his middle name—Seuss. Years later， when his first book was published， Seuss added the \"Dr.\" as a joke at the expense of6) his father， who always wanted him to pursue a medical career.

J. K. Rowling (Joanna Rowling)

A lot of writers choose to represent themselves with initials instead of given names. E. E. Cummings. T. S. Eliot. J. K. Rowling. In the case of the Harry Potter scribe7)， however， the \"K\" doesn't really stand for anything. Joanna Rowling has no middle name， but her publisher thought Harry Potter would sell better if she disguised her gender. Thus， the mysterious \"K\" was born， which Rowling attributes to \"Kathleen\"， her grandmother.

Isaac Bickerstaff， Esq.

(Jonathan Swift)

Jonathan Swift used the pseudonym \"Isaac Bickerstaff， Esq.\" to essentially punk8) John Partridge， who was a then-famous astrologist9) and almanac10)-maker. Swift loved April Fool's Day， so \"Bickerstaff\" published \"Predictions for the Year 1708\"， prophesying11) the astrologist's death by \"raging fever\". Two months later， Swift used a different pen name to proclaim that Partridge did， in fact， die—an event so many people believed that it pestered12) Partridge until his actual death. His mourning followers cried outside his window at night， disrupting his sleep. After an undertaker13) arrived， an elegy14) was published， and a gravestone was inscribed15)， Partridge finally published a statement declaring himself alive.

Currer， Ellis， and Acton Bell (Charlotte， Emily， and

Anne Bronte)

Charlotte， Emily， and Anne Bronte wrote under many names， but the ones that stuck were Currer， Ellis， and Acton Bell—each pseudonym sharing the same first and last initial as the real writer. When their writing gained fame， some critics and publishers mistakenly thought Wuthering Heights， Agnes Grey， and Jane Eyre were all penned by the same author. Charlotte and Anne were so upset by this that they traveled through a snowstorm to Smith， Elder， Co.16) in London. The publishers had never met their author， \"Currer Bell\"， in person17)， and were startled to find Charlotte instead! Afterward， the truth spread， and the three sisters became famous.

Boz (Charles Dickens)

When Charles Dickens started writing， he used the pen name of Boz. He once explained， writing that \"Boz\" was \"the nickname of a pet child， a younger brother， whom I had dubbed18) Moses， in honour of Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield19)， which， being pronounced Bozes， got shortened into Boz\". Fair enough20). His early writing was so popular that Sketches by Boz21) was actually published in 1836.

Silence Dogood

(Benjamin Franklin)

From the age of 16， Benjamin Franklin didn't just use pen names; he created entire personas22)， often quite different from himself. For example， his first pen name， Silence Dogood， was a widowed woman several decades older than then-teenage Franklin. He used these characters to many ends， from the frivolous23) to the serious. Through names like Anthony Afterwit and Alice Addertongue， Franklin humorously examined society， spread gossip， or exposed the flaws in conventional thought. Polly Baker， for example， was an alter-ego24) Franklin used to show that women were discriminated against by the law. Baker was the former mistress of several important men， raised their illegitimate children， and was punished while the fathers got off scot-free25).

O. Henry

(William Sydney Porter)

William Sydney Porter may have immortalized26) an Ohio State Penitentiary27) guard with his famous pen name， O. Henry. While in jail for embezzlement28)， Porter published his first story under that pseudonym， though why he'd want to celebrate his guard， we don't know. The guard's name was reportedly Orrin Henry.

蘇斯博士 (西奧多·蓋澤爾)

蘇斯博士，原名西奧多·蓋澤爾，他在禁酒令期間舉辦了一場狂歡派對，違反了達(dá)特茅斯學(xué)院的校規(guī)和聯(lián)邦法律，因而丟掉了在該學(xué)院《南瓜燈》雜志的主編工作。可西奧多這個“壞家伙”卻將他的作品署上自己的中名——蘇斯，繼續(xù)為《南瓜燈》這本幽默雜志寫稿。多年以后，當(dāng)蘇斯的第一本書出版時，他在名字前添上“Dr.”這個頭銜，算是和他的父親開了個玩笑，因?yàn)楦赣H一直希望他從醫(yī)。

J. K. 羅琳 (喬安娜·羅琳)

很多作家選擇用名字的首字母代替全名來代表自己，比如E. E. 卡明斯、T. S. 艾略特和J. K. 羅琳。不過，說到《哈利·波特》系列小說的作者J. K. 羅琳，她名字中的“K”卻并不真有什么含意。喬安娜·羅琳原本沒有中名，但是她的出版商認(rèn)為如果她隱瞞自己的性別，《哈利·波特》就會賣得更好。于是，神秘的“K”橫空出世，羅琳說這個K來自她的祖母“凱瑟琳”。

艾薩克·比克斯塔夫先生

(喬納森·斯威夫特)

喬納森·斯威夫特曾用“艾薩克·比克斯塔夫先生”這個筆名著實(shí)戲弄了一下當(dāng)時著名的占星家和歷書作者約翰·帕特里奇。斯威夫特喜歡愚人節(jié)，于是便以“比克斯塔夫”的名義出版了《對1708年的預(yù)言》，書中預(yù)言這位占星家將會死于高燒。兩個月后，斯威夫特又用另一個筆名宣稱帕特里奇確已亡故。這個消息讓很多人都信以為真，以致帕特里奇的余生都深受此事困擾。悲痛的追隨者們夜晚在他的窗外號哭，攪得他夜不能寐。殯葬業(yè)者找上門來，哀悼詞見諸報(bào)端，甚至還有人給他刻好了墓碑，帕特里奇最后只好發(fā)表一篇聲明，宣告自己尚在人世。

柯勒、埃利斯和阿克頓·貝爾

(夏洛蒂、埃米莉和安妮·勃朗特)

夏洛蒂、埃米莉和安妮·勃朗特曾用過許多筆名發(fā)表作品，但其中令人印象最為深刻的當(dāng)屬柯勒、埃利斯和阿克頓·貝爾——每個筆名中姓和名的首字母均與作家真實(shí)姓名的首字母相同。在她們的作品出名之后，一些評論家和出版商誤以為《呼嘯山莊》、《阿格尼絲·格雷》和《簡·愛》全部出自同一位作家筆下。夏洛蒂和安妮對此感到十分不快，她們冒著暴風(fēng)雪前往倫敦的史密斯埃爾德出版社。出版社的人們與他們的作家“柯勒·貝爾”此前從未謀面，因而在見到夏洛蒂本人時不由地大吃一驚。后來，關(guān)于她們身份的真相不脛而走，三姐妹由此成名。

博茲 (查爾斯·狄更斯)

查爾斯·狄更斯在開始寫作之初，用的是“博茲”這個筆名。他曾經(jīng)解釋道，“博茲”是“我一個可愛的小弟弟的綽號，為了紀(jì)念哥爾德斯密斯的《威克菲爾德的牧師》，我原本叫他‘摩西’，卻被誤讀為‘博茲斯’，后被簡稱為‘博茲’”。解釋得有些道理。狄更斯的早期作品廣受歡迎，使得《博茲札記》得以在1836年出版。

賽倫斯·杜古德

(本杰明·富蘭克林)

從16歲起，本杰明·富蘭克林不僅使用過許多筆名，還常常借由這些筆名化身成為與他本人迥然不同的人物角色。比如，富蘭克林用的第一個筆名是“賽倫斯·杜古德”，他當(dāng)時才十幾歲，但這個筆名對應(yīng)的人物卻是一位比他年長幾十歲的寡婦。富蘭克林讓這些角色服務(wù)于多種不同的目的，有的無聊輕松，有的嚴(yán)肅認(rèn)真。通過“安東尼·阿弗特威特(譯注：afterwit本意為‘馬后炮’或‘事后諸葛’)”和“愛麗絲·阿達(dá)通(譯注：addertongue本意為‘毒舌’)”這樣一些筆名，富蘭克林用詼諧的方式審視社會、傳播小道消息，或是揭示傳統(tǒng)觀念的缺陷。比如，波莉·貝克就是富蘭克林用過的一個化身，用來揭露法律對女性的歧視。貝克做過多位要人的情婦，撫養(yǎng)他們的私生子，到頭來卻一人承受責(zé)罰，而做父親的都逃之夭夭、逍遙法外。

歐·亨利

(威廉·悉尼·波特)

威廉·悉尼·波特用歐·亨利這個名聞遐邇的筆名，或許已經(jīng)讓俄亥俄州立監(jiān)獄的一名獄警名垂青史了。波特曾因挪用公款而入獄，在坐牢期間，他用這一筆名發(fā)表了自己的處女作，至于他為什么要借用獄警的名字，我們就不得而知了。據(jù)說那名獄警名叫歐林·亨利。

1.speckle [?spekl] vt. 點(diǎn)綴

2.pseudonym [?su?d?n?m] n. 筆名；假名

3.Prohibition [?pr????b??n] n. 【美史】(1920～1933年間的)禁酒時期

4.Jack-O-Lantern: (把南瓜挖空并雕成人面形的)杰克燈，南瓜燈。此處為雜志名。

5.rapscallion [r?p'sk?lj?n] n. <古> <謔>壞蛋，無賴

6.a joke at the expense of: 拿……開玩笑；以……為嘲笑對象

7.scribe [skra?b] n. <謔>作家

8.punk [p??k] vt. 戲弄，嘲諷

9.astrologist [??str?l?d?ist] n. 占星家

10.almanac [???lm?n?k] n. 歷書，歷本

11.prophesy [?pr?f?sa?] vt. 預(yù)言，預(yù)告

12.pester [?pest?(r)] vt. 不斷打擾，糾纏

13.undertaker [??nd?te?k?(r)] n. 喪事承辦人，殯儀員

14.elegy [?el?d?i] n. 哀詞，悼詞

15.inscribe [?n?skra?b] vt. 刻；雕

16.Smith， Elder， Co.: 史密斯埃爾德出版社，是一家英國出版社，由喬治·史密斯和亞歷山大·埃爾德創(chuàng)建，因出版夏洛蒂·勃朗特的《簡·愛》(Jane Eyre)而一舉聞名，而當(dāng)時夏洛蒂·勃朗特的署名即為其筆名Currer Bell。

17.in person: 親自，本人

18.dub [d?b] vt. 給……起綽號，把……稱為

19.The Vicar of Wakefield: 《威克菲爾德的牧師》，由英國詩人、小說家奧利弗·哥爾德斯密斯(Oliver Goldsmith，1730～1774)著，書中有一人物名叫Moses。

20.fair enough: 有所保留地接受

21.Sketches by Boz: 《博茲札記》，英國作家狄更斯的第一部散文集，于1836年出版。

22.persona [p??s??n?] n. (同本人真實(shí)品格不一的)表面形象；人格面貌

23.frivolous [?fr?v?l?s] adj. 輕浮的；不重要的

24.alter-ego [??lt?r ?i?ɡ??] n. 第二個我；個性的另一面

25.scot-free: 免于受罰的；安然無恙的

26.immortalize [??m??t?la?z] vt. 使不朽；使名垂千古

27.penitentiary [?pen??ten??ri] n. 監(jiān)獄；(美)州(或聯(lián)邦)監(jiān)獄

28.embezzlement [?m?bezlm?nt] n. 盜用；挪用(公款)