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我常常收到从全国各地飞来的信件，要了解书中故事的真伪。在此我将详细答复大家。 The separate incidents that compose the narrative are, to a very great extent, authentic, occurring, many of them, either under her own observation, or that of her personal friends. She or her friends have observed characters the counterpart of almost all that are here introduced; and many of the sayings are word for word as heard herself, or reported to her. 故事中涉及的情节基本是真实的，而且许多事件曾经是我或者我的朋友亲眼所见。书中所写的人物也大部分是我或者我的亲友见过的原型，而且文中的许多语句也曾经是当事人的原话，经人转述或是作者亲耳所闻。 The personal appearance of Eliza, the character ascribed to her, are sketches drawn from life. The incorruptible fidelity, piety and honesty, of Uncle Tom, had more than one development, to her personal knowledge. Some of the most deeply tragic and romantic, some of the most terrible incidents, have also their paralle in reality. The incident of the mother's crossing the Ohio river on the ice is a well-known fact. The story of "old Prue," in the second volume, was an incident that fell under the personal observation of a brother of the writer, then collecting-clerk to a large mercantile house, in New Orleans. From the same source was derived the character of the planter Legree. Of him her brother thus wrote, speaking of visiting his plantation, on a collecting tour; "He actually made me feel of his fist, which was like a blacksmith's hammer, or a nodule of iron, telling me that it was `calloused with knocking down niggers.' When I left the plantation, I drew a long breath, and felt as if I had escaped from an ogre's den." 现实生活中的艾莉查，无论容貌还是性情都被如实地写入书中。依据她的见闻，作者塑造了汤姆叔叔坚贞隐忍、忠实诚信的性格。有一些颇含悲剧性和传奇色彩的故事情节也都有事实可循。许多人都知道有位母亲踩着浮冰渡过俄亥俄河的真实事件。第十九章中"老普吕"的事件细节，是作者一位兄弟亲眼所见的。当时他在新奥尔良做收账工作，是一家商店的职员。从他的叙述中作者演绎了另一个形象--烈格雷。作者的兄弟曾到烈格雷种植园去收账，他叙述说："烈格雷让我摸他的硬拳，像锤子，也像铁块，他说是'打黑奴磨炼出来的铁拳'。我离开他的种植园时简直就像是离开魔鬼的巢穴一样。" That the tragical fate of Tom, also, has too many times had its parallel, there are living witnesses, all over our land, to testify. Let it be remembered that in all southern states it is a principle of jurisprudence that no person of colored lineage can testify in a suit against a white, and it will be easy to see that such a case may occur, wherever there is a man whose passions outweigh his interests, and a slave who has manhood or principle enough to resist his will. There is, actually, nothing to protect the slave's life, but the _character_ of the master. Facts too shocking to be contemplated occasionally force their way to the public ear, and the comment that one often hears made on them is more shocking than the thing itself. It is said, "Very likely such cases may now and then occur, but they are no sample of general practice." If the laws of New England were so arranged that a master could _now and then_ torture an apprentice to death, would it be received with equal composure? Would it be said, "These cases are rare, and no samples of general practice"? This injustice is an _inherent_ one in the slave system,--it cannot exist without it. 全国各处都有汤姆这样的悲剧，说也说不尽，如今还健在的目击者仍数不胜数。在南方的法庭上，凡是在控诉白人的案件中，黑人的证词根本无效。他们的法规就是如此。因此可以想象，如果一个奴隶主的残酷已经上升到极点、完全不顾及他的暴虐会损失一个奴隶时，而对手却是一个顽强至极、决不肯屈节的奴隶，悲剧也就不可避免了。事实上，除非主人性格良善，奴隶根本就没有生命保障。有时候这类残酷的事件传入众人耳中，众人的评论却往往比事情本身更令人齿冷。他们说："这种事情有可能会偶而发生，但不能代表全部。"如果新英格兰法律明文规定：假设一个老板可以摧残学徒，偶而把学徒折磨死掉，又无法寻求公正，那么人们是否能以如此平淡的心绪来讨论这一事件呢？是否可以说："这类事情根本不会发生，不能以一点囊括了全部？"奴隶制之所以得以存在，就是因为它本身固有的这种不公正的现象。 The public and shameless sale of beautiful mulatto and quadroon girls has acquired a notoriety, from the incidents following the capture of the Pearl. We extract the following from the speech of Hon. Horace Mann, one of the legal counsel for the defendants in that case. He says: "In that company of seventy-six persons, who attempted, in 1848, to escape from the District of Columbia in the schooner Pearl, and whose officers I assisted in defending, there were several young and healthy girls, who had those peculiar attractions of form and feature which connoisseurs prize so highly. Elizabeth Russel was one of them. She immediately fell into the slave-trader's fangs, and was doomed for the New Orleans market. The hearts of those that saw her were touched with pity for her fate. They offered eighteen hundred dollars to redeem her; and some there were who offered to give, that would not have much left after the gift; but the fiend of a slave-trader was inexorable. She was despatched to New Orleans; but, when about half way there, God had mercy on her, and smote her with death. There were two girls named Edmundson in the same company. When about to be sent to the same market, an older sister went to the shambles, to plead with the wretch who owned them, for the love of God, to spare his victims. He bantered her, telling what fine dresses and fine furniture they would have. `Yes,' she said, `that may do very well in this life, but what will become of them in the next?' They too were sent to New Orleans; but were afterwards redeemed, at an enormous ransom, and brought back." Is it not plain, from this, that the histories of Emmeline and Cassy may have many counterparts?" 珍珠"号被拦截以后发生了许多令人不齿的事件。最使它名声败坏的是进行拍卖混血女孩的勾当。作为此案的辩护律师，霍勒斯·曼先生曾叙述过这件事："一八四八年'珍珠'号轮船启程远行，船上有七十六个来自哥伦比亚的黑人，他们想逃跑。当时我是这艘船船员的辩护律师。这些逃亡者当中有许多年青漂亮的女孩子，她们的身材和气质都非常好，博得了乘客们的赞叹。其中有个女孩名叫艾莉查白·拉塞尔，不幸猝然降临在她的头上，她被奴隶贩子抓获，将被送到新奥尔良的拍卖市场。看到如此美丽的女孩子身陷厄运，人们都怜惜嗟叹，他们纷纷筹钱想赎回她的自由，筹金总额达一千八百美元，有些人甚至把自己所有的钱都捐出来。可恨的是阴狠的奴隶贩子并不就此罢手，他毫不动心，仍然将她运到新奥尔良。幸运的是，这姑娘半路上就患了重病，不治而亡。她以死亡使前路中即将遭受的苦海一般的折磨得以免除。还有两个姐妹，姓埃德蒙森，她们也在被贩卖之列。她们在即将被押送新奥尔良拍卖市场之前，姐姐去旅馆寻找主人，哀求他看在上帝的份上放她们走。可那个卑鄙的奴隶贩子花言巧语地说，她们今后会有漂亮衣服穿，有豪华的家具可以使用。如果想要舍弃这些荣华富贵，真是不识抬举。姐姐回答说：'不错，今生今世也许能够享富贵，但来生来世又有什么样的结局呢？'最终她们还是在拍卖市场上被卖掉了。后来，听说她们又被人以高额赎金救回来了。"从霍勒斯·曼先生的这段话中，我们可以看到在那个时代里有许多个类似埃米琳和卡西的例子。 
同样，圣克莱尔乐善好施的品质在现实人物中也有影迹可循。在此我要叙述一个真实的故事：几年前有位年青的南方贵族带着男仆抵达辛辛那提。这个男佣人虽然对从小侍奉的主人情意深厚，却还是趁机逃走了，被收留在一位教友会会员的家里。这位教徒因为一向收容逃亡的黑奴而闻名遐迩，主人找到了线索，前去拜访他。年青的主人恼怒万分，他向来对这位随身侍仆十分宽容亲厚，万万没料到他竟会逃走。可是对仆人的忠诚，主人也坚信不疑，所以断定是有人从中挑拨，使仆人产生了叛逃的心理。教徒接待了这位贵族，向他讲述了自己的看法。贵族渐渐平息了怒气，因为这是自己以前从未曾想过的观点。他说，如果能够与仆人当面讨论这个问题，只要仆人愿意获得自由，他一定成全。于是主仆二人见面了，贵族问内森是否对宅里的生活感到不满。 "No, Mas'r," said Nathan; "you've always been good to me." 内森回答："不，少爷。你对我总是那么宽厚仁慈。" "Well, then, why do you want to leave me?"" 可你是为了什么原因要离开我呢？" "Mas'r may die, and then who get me?--I'd rather be a free man."After some deliberation, the young master replied, "Nathan, in your place, I think I should feel very much so, myself. You are free."" 少爷，也许有一天你会出事，也许你会死，到那时候，我不知道自己的命运会怎样，不知谁会成为我的主人！我希望自己是自由的人。"年青的贵族思考了一会儿，说："内森，设身处地来考虑，我也会像你这样做的。我给你自由。" He immediately made him out free papers; deposited a sum of money in the hands of the Quaker, to be judiciously used in assisting him to start in life, and left a very sensible and kind letter of advice to the young man. That letter was for some time in the writer's hands. 他给内森写好了自由证书，然后请教徒替他保存一笔钱，并合理支配，留待他的仆人将来使用，以便帮助这个新获自由的人在社会上挣得一席之地。他还给内森写了一封信，满怀善意和劝导之情。我曾经看过这封信。 
但愿我能够公道地评议怜慈、慷慨的南方贵族，因为这些人的存在，使我们对人类仍抱有希望。可是是否随处可见品质如此优秀的人呢？试问每一个洞悉社会现实的人：如何回答这个问题？ For many years of her life, the author avoided all reading upon or allusion to the subject of slavery, considering it as too painful to be inquired into, and one which advancing light and civlization would certainly live down. But, since the legislative act of 1850, when she heard, with perfect surprise and consternation, Christian and humane people actually recommending the remanding escaped fugitives into slavery, as a duty binding on good citizens,--when she heard, on all hands, from kind, compassionate and estimable people, in the free states of the North, deliberations and discussions as to what Christian duty could be on this head,--she could only think, These men and Christians cannot know what slavery is; if they did, such a question could never be open for discussion. And from this arose a desire to exhibit it in a _living dramatic reality_. She has endeavored to show it fairly, in its best and its worst phases. In its _best_ aspect, she has, perhaps, been successful; but, oh! who shall say what yet remains untold in that valley and shadow of death, that lies the other side? 很多年来我一直拒绝去看关于奴隶制的书籍，也不愿谈论这个问题。因为对奴隶制的研究使我无比痛苦，我相信随着文明的发展进步，奴隶制必将消亡。可我听说某些善良仁义的人们和一些基督徒居然也宣扬这样一种公民义务--应该让逃亡者重新受奴役和制约。这个观点使我惊愕。我在自由的北方土地上听到种种传言，那些仁善、德高望重的人们终日在讨论着这一项义务，并认为基督徒有责任来尽力实现它。凡是抱有这种观点的人和基督徒都相当无知，他们根本就看不清什么是奴隶制。假如知道奴隶制的本质，他们绝对不会持有这种见地。正是由于这一点，我萌生了描写奴隶制的想法，尽量用生动写实的笔墨向读者揭开奴隶制的面纱。书中所写的仁善之处，可能令人欣慰；可是在它的背面，在那深邃不见底的死一般的黑暗中，有多少罪恶为人们所不见！ To you, generous, noble-minded men and women, of the South,--you, whose virtue, and magnanimity and purity of character, are the greater for the severer trial it has encountered,--to you is her appeal. Have you not, in your own secret souls, in your own private conversings, felt that there are woes and evils, in this accursed system, far beyond what are here shadowed, or can be shadowed? Can it be otherwise? Is _man_ ever a creature to be trusted with wholly irresponsible power? And does not the slave system, by denying the slave all legal right of testimony, make every individual owner an irresponsible despot? Can anybody fall to make the inference what the practical result will be? If there is, as we admit, a public sentiment among you, men of honor, justice and humanity, is there not also another kind of public sentiment among the ruffian, the brutal and debased? And cannot the ruffian, the brutal, the debased, by slave law, own just as many slaves as the best and purest? Are the honorable, the just, the high-minded and compassionate, the majority anywhere in this world? 我诚挚地向南方贵族中品格高尚的人士致敬；我向你们发出我心底的呼声：久经艰险，你们磨炼出了宽容、坚定、高贵的品质，你们对奴隶制的罪恶和隐患必定感触至深。你们是否觉得，我书中所述的苦难和凄惨远远比不上现实生活的残酷？奴隶制不正是这副丑恶面目吗？人类岂能拥有逃避责任的特权？奴隶制剥夺了奴隶在法庭上作证的资格，不是在纵容奴隶主们变成暴虐的君主吗？难道没有人能够预料到奴隶制后面隐藏的祸患吗？在正直仁善的人们中间存在着共识，同样，在那些暴徒、恶棍中间难道不存在另一种共性吗？奴隶制度允许残暴的恶徒像真正的贵族绅士一样拥有众多数量的奴隶，可是在这个世界上的任何地方，是否正义和高尚的人士都占大多数呢？
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