写在前面的话
Shawn M.Tomlinson所著的《Robert W. Chambers: Maker of Moons: Author of The King in Yellow Unmasked》与《Robert W. Chambers: In Search of the Unknown Author of The King in Yellow》是作者花费37年时间创作而成的钱伯斯“伪”传记。作者Tomlinson在钱伯斯生活过的小镇Broadalbin长大，在阅读了林卡特的《Lovecraft: A Look Behind the "Cthulhu Mythos"》后对钱伯斯产生了浓厚的兴趣，随即便踏上了长达37年的寻找钱伯斯的旅途。他通过在当地的探索、采访以及向诸多专业人士请教，尽可能地准确、真实的呈现出钱伯斯曾经的生活样貌。尽管其内容不可避免的参杂了诸多作者本人的故事，且由于信息来源及一系列相关细节问题，内容也存在一定联想与猜测。但2021年，由Hippocampus Press出版的著名黄衣之王神话出版物《Under Twin Suns》的引言中，作家James Chambers对其给予了肯定的评价。可以说，如今这两本“伪”传记已成为钱伯斯的粉丝必备的参考文献，具有十足的研究价值。

本贴旨在分享这两本著作中的一些趣闻，不定期更新


正文
他（钱伯斯）的儿子Robert Edward Stuart Chambers在父母去世后因酗酒和精神不稳定而声名狼藉。
他与儿子小罗伯特有些疏远，作为作家的名声也有所下降。他的妻子Elsie在1939年去世前一直住在这栋房子里（Broadalbin House），并一直在出版已故丈夫的作品，直到1938年。
或者，“也许”是她丈夫写的。
仍有传言称，钱伯斯在他生命的最后几年里雇佣了代笔作家，据说是钱伯斯的朋友Rupert Hughes为他完成了最后一篇小说《Smoke of Battle》。

His son,Robert Edward Stuart Chambers,became notorious following his parents's death for this drinking and mental instability.
When Chambers died Dec,1,1933,he was somewhat estranged from his son,Robert Jr.,and his popularity as an author had fallen off.His wife,Elsie,lived in the house until her death in 1939 and kept publishing books written by her late husband until 1938.
Or,well,maybe written by her husband.
Rumors still persist that for the last few years of his life,Chambers employed ghostwriters,and a friend,Rupert Hughes,allegedly finished Chambers' last novel,Smoke of Battle,for him.

钱伯斯的儿子继承这栋房子时，有很多关于他酒后出轨的故事。根据John E.Boos的《The Sacandaga Vally》一书，几个人去找他，发现门没锁，里面空无一人。于是他们问了附近的一个小男孩，问他小罗伯特去哪了，那个男孩告诉他们去当地的杜松子酒馆看看。他的酒瘾显然人尽皆知，要么就是夸大其词了，甚至连一个孩子都知道重复这些普遍的言论。

When Chambers' son took over the house,there were many stories of his drunken escapades.According to he Book The Sacandaga Vally by John E.Boos,a couple of guys went to see him one day to find the house open,unlocked,empty.When they asked a boy they saw nearby where Robert Jr. might be,the boy told them to check the local gin joints.His habits apparently were that well known or exaggerated that even a child knew to repeat the common comment.

还有一本素描本，据说钱伯斯在里面写下了自己关于是继续画画还是成为一名作家的争论。纽约萨拉托加斯普林斯的Lyrical Ballad书店店长John DeMarco跟我提起过这件事，因为他说他有。但他把它卖给了一位他不愿透露姓名的私人收藏家，所以我一直没有机会看到它。

Then there's that sketchbook in which Chambers allegedly wrote out the argument with himself about whether to stick with painting or to become a writer.John DeMarco,owner of Lyrical Ballad bookstore in Saratoga Springs,N.Y.,told me about it because he said he had it.He sold it to a private collector whom he would not name,so I never got a chance to see it.

钱伯斯继续作画。事实上，《黄衣之王》的一个版本的扉页上有我所见过的唯一一张钱伯斯作画的照片。
然而奇怪的是，在钱伯斯创作的近90本书中，他从来没有给自己的故事画过插图。甚至连他那些配满了插图的儿童读物也都是由其他画家画的。但他的确在1895年为Ethan Allen的两卷本《Washington Or The Revolution》的第一卷画过插图。
Chambers continued to paint.In fact,the frontispiece of one edition of The King in Yellow has the only photo I've ever seen of Chambers painting.
Oddly,however,in the nearly 90 books he wrote,Chambers never illustrated any of his own stories.Even his children's books,loaded with illustrations,were painted by other painters.He did illustrate the first volume of the two-volume Washington Or The Revolution by Ethan Allen in 1895.

伴随着城市的喧嚣与繁华，钱伯斯也看到了它阴暗的一面，狭窄的小巷和无望的街道。他看到了贫民窟，绝望的穷人，不同种族的人们挤在一块，至少当他坐在昂贵的马车上颠簸时是这样的。
然而，他并非什么高瞻远瞩之人。他看见这一场景，不是恨它，就是转移目光。他鄙视任何非自己种族的人，抨击黑人、犹太人、亚洲人以及其他任何不符合他的世界观的人。
我认为，现代美国人很容易认为，一旦亚伯拉罕·林肯解放了奴隶，一切都将变得美好。不同种族、阶层、背景的人们就会开始和睦相处。当然，并非如此。抛开奴隶制不谈，北方和南方的偏见同样多。
钱伯斯就是当时那个世界的产物。没有任何借口。他的一些同时代人确实认为人人平等，或者至少认为，在具备相同优势的情况下，每个种族都可以达到与富有白人同等的高度。至少直到晚年，他都没有超越自己的时代、成长环境或灌输给他的刻板印象。几乎没有迹象表明，他随着年龄的增长，逐渐有了一丝宽容。

Along with the bustle and exuberance of the city,Chambers also saw the darker side,the tiny alleys and hopeless streets.He saw the slums,the desperate poor,the various races jostling together,at least as he jounced along in expensive carriages.
He was not a visionary,however. He saw it and either hated it or turned away. He despised any race that was not his own,railed against blacks,Jews,Asians and any other people who did not meet his view of what his world should be.
It's easy,I think,for modern Americans to think that once Abraham Lincoln emancipated the slaves,everything was rosy. People of different races,classes and backgrounds simply started getting along. That isn't true,of course. Except for slavery,there was just as much bigotry in the North as in the South.Chambers was a product of his world.There are no excuses for it.Some of his contemporaries did see all people as equal,or at least that,given the same advantages,every race could reach the same heights as the wealthy white people.He did not rise above his times or his upbringing or the the prejudices that were drilled into him,at least until late in his life.There are few hints that,as he grew older,he developed a tiny bit a tolerance.

起初，钱伯斯是一名画家，后来，他放弃了这一生涯，转而成为一名作家并认为自己的画作不值得收录进自己的书里。为什么他宁愿请朋友、合伙人或毫不相干的人来为他的书作画，也不愿亲自来做这件事呢？
成为职业作家的他并没有放下画笔，但很少向任何人展示他的作品。
唯一的例外是，他在自己的一个社交俱乐部的年度晚宴上，创作了马克·吐温等人的漫画。
但在钱伯斯的儿子继承了这栋Brodalbin的美丽的白色宅邸后，所有的这些画作，甚至是漫画全部不见踪影，连同书籍、大量蝴蝶标本、珍贵的信件以及其他文物一起消失了。

Chambers began as a painter,abandoned it for his career as a writer and considered his painting too unworthy to ever include it in his own books.Why would he ask friends or associates or total strangers to do the illustrations for his books,yet never once paint a single plate for his own books?
After he became a professional writer,he continued to paint,but rarely showed his works to anyone.
The one exception was his caricatures of the likes of Mark Twain and others for the annual dinner for one of his social clubs.
But all those paintings and even the caricatures have vanished,lost with the books,the enormous butterfly collection,the rare letters and other artifacts that disappeared after Chambers' son took possession of the great white house in Brodalbin.

钱伯斯也和许多作家一样，他要求自己每天都保持工作。在他39年的职业生涯中，平均每年产出2.82本书，想必他花了很多时间在这上面。
上午的计划结束后，也许他会和家人在餐厅吃午饭，或者在天气好的时候，也许还会在花园或茶室野餐。
然后继续回去工作，直到晚饭时间，也许还会有一些饭后的交谈。过后，他可能会再次回到书房，去读别人写的书。他宣称亚历山大·大仲马是他最喜爱的作家之一。
......
在纽约市的时候，钱伯斯在家里不怎么写作。相反，他在他的一家社交俱乐部附近开了一间私人工作室。司机Crannell（Leon Crannell）会把他送到俱乐部，然后他再步行到工作室工作。不知出于何种原因，他对自己的办公室位置守口如瓶（也许是不想被打扰）。1910年末或1911年初，《The Cosmopolitan》杂志的记者Marguerite Mooers Marshall曾去那里拜访过他，进行过一次简短的采访，但她也没有透露办公室的所在地。只是说“中央公园附近有一栋工作室大楼。”(Mooers Marshall,1911)

Like many writers,he required of himself to work at his work every day.At an average of 2.82 books per year of his 39-year career,he must have spent a great deal of time at it.
After the morning session,perhaps he would break for lunch in the dining room with his family,or on a nice day,perhaps a picnic in the garden or teahouse.
Then back to work until dinner and perhaps some after dinner conversation.He might return to his study again to read a book written by someone else.He declared Alexander Dumas as one of his favorite authors.
......
In New York City,Chambers did not write much at home.Instead,he kept a private office somewhere near one of his social clubs.Crannell would drop him off at the club and Chambers would walk to his office to work.For whatever reason——perhaps not to be disturbed——he kept the location of his office secret.Even when a reporter,Marguerite Mooers Marshall,for The Cosmopolitan magazine visited him there in late 1910 or early 1911 for a short interview,she did not reveal its location.She only states "Up near Central Park is a certain studio-building"(Mooers Marshall,1911).

This post has been edited by 柯索提亚: 2024-07-29, 09:31

1954年，作者的儿子Robert Edward Stuart Chambers Jr.身体状况不佳。实际上，那会的他已经奄奄一息了。1939年，他的母亲Elsie去世后，他继承了这栋白色的大别墅。他时常任由别墅大门敞开，导致这栋房子被多次洗劫，他父亲常年积累的文学宝藏也因此被掠夺。由于“Bobby” Chambers的精神状态，他分居的妻子Bernadina Gardner Chambers曾试图掌控他的财产。美国陆军也以“精神病态人格”为由开除了他，Bernadina利用了这一点夺取了他的财产、房屋和土地。

小罗伯特曾反抗了她和军队，不知怎么的——用他父母遗产中的一大笔钱——取得了胜利。他保住了对父亲遗产的控制权，但他在1949年后就离开了Broadalbin House。

Robert Edward Stuart Chambers Jr.,son of the author,was in bad shape in 1954.He was dying,in fact.He had inherited the big white house from his mother,Elsie,when she died in 1939.He often left it open and it was ransacked many times,robbed of the literary treasures accumulated by his father.His estranged wife,Bernadina Gardner Chambers,had made an attempt to take control of the estate due to "Bobby" Chambers's mental state.The U.S. Army had discharged him for having a "psychopathic personality,"and Bernadina capitalized on that to get access to the money,house and grounds.

Robert Jr. fought her and the Army and somehow——with a lot of money from his parent's estate——managed to beat them both.He retained control of his father's estate,but did not live at Broadalbin House after 1949.