杜鲁门·卡波特与他的“世纪派对”

GHS

“The woods were dark and so quiet. Occasionally a bird would flutter or sing in the trees， and when their path ran near the stream， they could hear it moving， swiftly， over the rocks and tiny waterfalls.”

Those words were penned by critically acclaimed author Truman Capote， when he was a 15 year-old student at Greenwich High School. They appeared in the Green Witch， and clearly evidenced an already strong literary talent.

Tonight we celebrate our connection to this unique individual by hosting the Greenwich Historical Society 1）Black and White Ball， inspired by Truman Capote and his masked Ball of 1966.

“树林里漆黑一片，寂然无声。偶尔听到鸟儿振翅声，或是树间的鸣唱声。当他们沿着脚下的小路走近小溪时，能听见溪水潺潺地奔流，漫过岩石，流经几处小小的瀑布。”

这些文字出自饱受争议的著名作家杜鲁门·卡波特之笔，是他十五岁在纽约格林威治高中就读时写下的。这段话摘自《绿女巫》，从中可以清楚看到一位出众的文学天才已经崭露头角。

今晚，我们举行格林威治历史学会的黑白舞会，以此来纪念我们与这位独特人物之间的关联。舞会的灵感来自卡波特和他在1966年举办的假面舞会。

Truman Capote： And the reason we made it a masked dance was simply because， well， it went with the black and white idea， the domino black and white idea， but the thing is mainly in a masked ball， you see， for the first hours of it， before the unmasking， anybody can dance with anybody they want to or talk to anybody they want to. Its a completely free thing. By the time the unmaskings come， youve made a lot of new friends， （laughs） and that was the point.

Truman Capotes Other Voices， Other Rooms， his first novel， was met with critical success， but it was Breakfast at Tiffanys which introduced the irrepressible Holly Golightly.

（A Promo Clip of Breakfast at Tiffanys） Audrey Hepburn： Wont you join me？

Voiceover： Yes， join Audrey Hepburn as youve never seen her before， kicking over the traces and bringing to life Truman Capotes Breakfast at Tiffanys.

It was the book that followed that created a new literary genre and catapulted him to fame. In Cold Blood was a 2）painstakingly researched and chilling account of the 1959 3）slaying of a Kansas farm family and the capture， trial and execution of their two killers. Trumans unique approach told the story from the point of view of the murderers.

杜鲁门·卡波特：我们把这场舞会办成假面舞会的理由很简单，就是源于最近很流行的黑白概念，黑白的多米诺骨牌。但重点还是在假面舞会上，你知道，舞会开始的几个小时，在摘下面具之前，人们可以随心所欲地跟任何人跳舞或交谈。这是完全自由的。到了摘下面具的时候，你已经交了很多新朋友了，（笑）这才是最重要的。

杜鲁门·卡波特的第一本小说《别的声音，别的房间》获得了评论界一致好评，但却是《蒂凡尼的早餐》让我们认识了霍莉·戈莱特利这样一个让人无法忘怀的人物。

（《蒂凡尼的早餐》一段预告片）奥黛丽·赫本：和我一起来吧？

画外音：没错，跟着奥黛丽·赫本一起，领略她全新的一面，她的放荡不羁，以及她如何将杜鲁门·卡波特的《蒂凡尼的早餐》鲜活地呈现在银幕之上。

真正使卡波特声名大噪的是他接下来的一本书，它还开创了一种新的文学体裁。《冷血》一书对1959年堪萨斯州的一起农场灭门血案，包括对两名凶手的抓捕、审判和行刑过程作了详尽的调查和紧张刺激的记述。卡波特采取了独树一帜的手法，从凶手的视角来讲述这个故事。

Capote： I always had this idea of writing a reportage using all the fictional techniques. They say， “well， its been done before.” I say it hasnt been done before and nobody has， convincingly， shown me an example.

The book earned him mountains of publicity and millions of dollars. He 4）assiduously pursued personal publicity， and his journey to celebrity meant cultivating scores of famous friends and New York socialites. Partly to celebrate the success of In Cold Blood， and to honour his friend Katherine Graham， the publisher of the Washington Post， Capote threw the party of the century. His Black and White Ball represented a 5）pivotal moment in social history. It was a window into a bright and 6）beckoning world.

Charles Kuralt （Reporter from CBS News）： The party of the year was thrown overhand by author Truman Capote. Using some of the profits he made from a book about murder in Kansas， he rented the ballroom of the Plaza Hotel and invited 500 people. The guest list established a standard for future party-givers in the new society of success. We have only a partial list of the people who were not invited. Everyone was asked to wear a mask， most of which were cleverly designed to reveal the wearers true identity.

Truman Capote died in 1984 at the age of 59. As history would have it， his Black and White Ball would be remembered as “the party of the century，” and In Cold Blood would establish a new literary genre， the non-fiction novel.

Tonight we celebrate the author， this complex， colourful and talented man， whose unique literary contributions are now part of the American experience.

卡波特：我一直有这个想法，想运用小说的技巧来写新闻报道。人们说：“好吧，有人已经这么做过了。”可我认为还没有人这么做过，至少没有人能够给我举出一个有说服力的例子。

《冷血》一书为卡波特赢得了铺天盖地的媒体报道和数百万美元的收入。他乐此不疲地追求着个人的曝光率，广交名流和纽约上层人士，以此来铺就自己的成名之路。为了庆祝《冷血》大获成功，同时也为了向他的朋友——《华盛顿邮报》的出版人凯瑟琳·格雷厄姆致敬，卡波特举行了这场被后人称之为“世纪派对”的盛大舞会。他的黑白舞会标志着社交史上一个极其重要的时刻，仿佛是一扇窗口，借此可以窥见那个五光十色、引人入胜的世界。

查尔斯·库拉尔特（ CBS新闻记者）：今年最盛大的派对由作家杜鲁门·卡波特高调举办。他用他所写的一本关于堪萨斯州谋杀案的书获得的部分收入租下了广场饭店的舞厅，并邀请了500位宾客参加。这份客人名单为后来进入成功者社交圈的派对举办者树立了标准。我们只知道部分未获邀者的名单。每个人都被要求戴上面具，大多数的面具设计巧妙，透露着戴面具者的真实身份。

杜鲁门·卡波特于1984年去世，享年59岁。正如历史后来所呈现的那样，他的黑白舞会将会作为“世纪派对”被人们铭记，而《冷血》将创立一种新的文学体裁——非虚构小说。

今夜，我们在这里纪念这位作家，这位复杂、传奇又才华横溢的人物，他在文学上作出的独特贡献已被载入美国史册。