原文

誰能不說話，除了啞子？有人這個時候說，那個時候不說。有人這個地方說，那個地方不說。有人跟這些人說，不跟那些人說。有人多說，有人少說。有人愛說，有人不愛說。啞子雖然不說，卻也有那伊伊呀呀的聲音，指指點點的手勢。

說話并不是一件容易事。天天說話，不見得就會說話；許多人說了一輩子話，沒有說好過幾句話。所謂“辯士的舌鋒”、“三寸不爛之舌”等贊詞，正是物稀為貴的證據；文人們講究“吐屬”，也是同樣的道理。我們并不想做辯士，說客，文人，但是人生不外言動，除了動就只有言，所謂人情世故，一半兒是在說話里。古文《尚書》里說，“唯口，出好興戎”，一句話的影響有時是你料不到的，歷史和小說上有的是例子。

說話即使不比作文難，也決不比作文容易。有些人會說話不會作文，但也有些人會作文不會說話。說話像行云流水，不能夠一個字一個字推敲，因而不免有疏漏散漫的地方，不如作文的謹嚴。但那些行云流水般的自然，卻決非一般文章所及。——文章有能到這樣境界的，簡直當以說話論，不再是文章了。但是這是怎樣一個不易到的境界！我們的文章，哲學里雖有“用筆如舌”一個標準，古今有幾個人真能“用筆如舌”呢？不過文章不甚自然，還可成為功力一派，說話是不行的；說話若也有功力派，你想，那怕真夠瞧的！

說話到底有多少種，我說不上。約略分別：向大家演說，講解，乃至說書等是一種，會議是一種，公私談判是一種，法庭受審是一種，向新聞記者談話是一種；——這些可稱為正式的。朋友們的閑談也是一種，可稱為非正式的。正式的并不一定全要拉長了面孔，但是拉長了的時候多。這種話都是成片斷的，有時竟是先期預備好的。只有閑談，可以上下古今，來一個雜拌兒；說是雜拌兒，自然零零碎碎，成片段的是例外。閑談說不上預備，滿是將話搭話，隨機應變。說預備好了再去“閑”談，那豈不是個大笑話？這種種說話，大約都有一些公式，就是閑談也有——“天氣”常是閑談的發端，就是一例。但是公式是死的，不夠用的，神而明之還在乎人。會說的教你眉飛色舞，不會說的教你昏頭搭腦，即使是同一個意思，甚至同一句話。

中國人很早就講究說話。《左傳》，《國策》，《世說》是我們的三部說話的經典。一是外交辭令，一是縱橫家言，一是清談。你看他們的話多么婉轉如意，句句字字打進人心坎里。還有一部《紅樓夢》，里面的對話也極輕松，漂亮。此外漢代賈君房號為“語妙天下”，可惜留給我們的只有這一句贊詞；明代柳敬亭的說書極有大名，可惜我們也無從領略。近年來的新文學，將白話文歐化，從外國文中借用了許多活潑的，精細的表現，同時暗示我們將舊來有些表現重新咬嚼一番。這卻給我們的語言一種新風味，新力量。加以這些年說話的艱難，使一般報紙都變乖巧了，他們知道用側面的，反面的，夾縫里的表現了。這對于讀者是一種不容避免的好訓練；他們漸漸敏感起來了，只有敏感的人，才能體會那微妙的咬嚼的味兒。這時期說話的藝術確有了相當的進度。論說話藝術的文字，從前著名的似乎只有韓非的《說難》，那是一篇剖析入微的文字。現在我們卻已有了不少的精警之作，魯迅先生的《立論》就是的。這可以證明我所說的相當的進步了。

中國人對于說話的態度，最高的是忘言，但如禪宗“教”人“將嘴掛在墻上”，也還是免不了說話。其次是慎言，寡言，訥于言。這三樣又有分別：慎言是小心說話，小心說話自然就少說話，少說話少出錯兒。寡言是說話少，是一種深沉或貞靜的性格或品德。訥于言是說不出話，是一種渾厚誠實的性格或品德。這兩種多半是生成的。第三種是修辭或辭令。至誠的君子，人格的力量照徹一切的陰暗，用不著多說話，說話也無須乎修飾。只知講究修飾，嘴邊天花亂墜，腹中矛戟森然，那是所謂小人；他太會修飾了，倒教人不信了。他的戲法總有讓人揭穿的一日。我們是介在兩者之間的平凡的人，沒有那偉大的魄力，可也不至于忘掉自己。只是不能無視世故人情，我們看時候，看地方，看人，在禮貌與趣味兩個條件之下，修飾我們的說話。這兒沒有力，只有機智；真正的力不是修飾所可得的。我們所能希望的只是：說得少，說得好。

英譯

Is there anyone who can keep mute except those dummies? Some people speak a lot now but keep mute then, some speak a lot here but keep mute there, and some speak a lot to these people but keep mute to others. Some people speak much, and some people speak little. Some are always ready to speak, and some are used to keeping mute. However, the dummies speak not at all, but they can make babbling sounds and gesticulating signs.

To speak well is not an easy matter. We speak everyday, but few of us are articulate. We speak all our life long, but few of us have said the right thing at the right time. The eulogistic expressions as the“incisive remarks of the orator”and“eloquent sophists”are the supporting proof for the rarity of the eloquent speaker. It is the same for those scholars who pay particular attention to the style of conversation. Not all of us want to become sophists, persuasive speakers or scholars. However, we keep ourselves bound to our speech and behaviors in our life, that is to say, we are only left to our speech except our behaviors. The so-called“skill of the world”is partly involved in our speech. As it is said in the Chinese classic book Collection of Ancient Chinese Historical Files,“the words said may lead to cordial relations or cause a war or dispute between States.”The influence of a word may be out of our expectation. We can learn many cases from history and stories.

Even if speaking is not more complicated than writing, it will never be easier. Some people are accomplished in speaking while some others are better at writing. We cannot refine and polish every word when speaking in a free flowing way, so inevitably we will miss something. In this way, speaking is less serious and precise than writing. However, ordinary articles are by no means comparable to fluent and natural speaking. Supposing writing is as natural as speaking, then it should be called colloquy rather than article, which, however, is almost impossible! Although in philosophy“writing is as glib as speaking”is a criterion for writing, almost no one in history can really meet the standard. Of course, writing is not so natural as speaking, it can still be euphuistic, elaborate and magnificent. But if speaking was heavily decorated with rhetoric, you could imagine how terrible it would be!

I am unsure how many different sorts of speaking there are. Approximately: making a speech, expounding, story-telling and such are divided into the same category; council board is one type; personal and open conferences belong to one kind; standing trial in the court and being interviewed by journalists fall into two separate sorts. These are all formal. Chatting with friends is informal. It.s common to see people pulling a face during official talks, it.s not essential though. Speech in the formal occasion is sequential and logical, sometimes it is prepared in advance. But for chatting, we can talk over past and present, just like a hodgepodge. A hodgepodge of course is odds and ends, so sequential and logical chatting is an exception. Also there is no need to prepare for chatting, you can strike up a conversation and accommodate yourself to different topics. Isn.t it ridiculous that you make preparation for idle talks? All sorts of speaking probably have some formulas, even for idle talk.Here is a case:“weather”always gets a conversation started. But formulas are limited and fixed, the real differences still rely on people. Although expressing the same meaning, or even using the same words, a good speaker will get you enraptured while a poor speaker will make you muddle-brained and confused.

Chinese people were particular about speaking long ago. Zuo.s Biography of Chinese Historical Files, Stratagems of the Warring States and A New Account of Tales of the World are three Chinese speaking classics. One is about diplomatese, one is about elocutionists.speeches and the third one is about idle talks. You can enjoy the euphemistic, eloquent and touching languages in these books. The conversations in Hong Lou Meng, another Chinese classic, are also exquisite and comfortable. Moreover, Jia Junfang of the Han Dynasty was known as“a great speaker”, but unfortunately all that he left now is the eulogy. Liu Jingting of the Ming Dynasty was noted for story-telling, however, at the moment it.s impossible for us to see it. In recent years, in the process of the new literature westernizing vernacular Chinese, we have borrowed lots of creative and refined words from foreign literature and start to reflect upon the original methods of literary expression. Fortunately it has injected fresh energy and flavor into our language. Furthermore, the situation becomes more difficult for speaking these years, and most newspapers turn to be shrewder. They try to report news in an indirect and reversed way. It is an inevitable but good training experience for readers; they acquire a higher degree of sensitivity, and only some of them can appreciate the fabulous taste in the newspapers. At that moment, the skills of speech have got improved considerably. Difficulties in Lobbying written by Han Feizi, is an essay with detailed analysis and remains the most renowned article on speaking in the past. Now we have quite a few pointed and profound books, such as On Presenting a View written by Lu Xun. We can see we.ve made much progress.

Chinese people think that catching meaning while forgetting words is the highest level of speaking. However, speaking can.t be avoided even if we follow Zen.s way and hung our mouths on the wall. Being watchful over words comes the second level, and then taciturnity and being slow in speech follows. Some differences still exist among these three: being watchful over words demands us to say carefully and speak less, in this way we will make fewer mistakes; taciturnity means speaking less, and it.s a trait of profound or modest character; while slow in speech means losing one.s tongue, representing an honest and sincere character. The former two types of speaking are always acquired in practice. Eloquence or rhetoric is the third category. The personality power of a sincere gentleman can drive away all darkness, so there is no need for him to talk much or embellish his speech. The person who is particular over speech embellishment, with florid and flowery words in mouth but filthy and sharp ideas in mind, is really a flunky. His too much speech embellishment will make people discredit what he says. But it.s certain that his jugglery will be debunked one day. Without such great power, we are just ordinary people in between, but at least we should not lose ourselves. And we must learn the ways of the world. With a view to both courtesy and entertainment we should choose the way to speak based on right timing, proper place and the recipient. We can make it by wisdom rather than power. What.s more, real power can.t be acquired through embellishing. What we expect is speaking well while speaking less.