各位晚安。在此謹向瑞典學院成員與今晚在座每一位卓越的賓客，致上最誠摯的祝福。
很抱歉，今晚我沒辦法親自到場。但是請相信：我絕對在精神上與各位同在，並且對於獲頒這座聲譽崇高的獎，感到無比光榮。獲頒諾貝爾文學獎是我完全無法想像、更不可能預料的事。我從小就熟悉許多曾經獲得這門獎項肯定的作家作品，並曾浸淫其中：吉卜林、蕭伯納、湯瑪斯曼、賽珍珠、卡繆、海明威。這些文學巨匠的作品在課堂教授，被全世界圖書館典藏，人們用敬仰的口吻討論傳誦，無不留下深遠的影響。如今我竟也加入了這個行列，心中感觸實在難以言表。
我不清楚那些男男女女是否想過諾貝爾獎的榮耀將會屬於自己，但我猜想全世界任何一個寫書、寫詩、寫劇本的人，都在心底深處偷偷藏著這麼一個夢想。它可能藏得太深，連自己都不知道它的存在。從前要是有人跟我說：我有一丁點機會獲得諾貝爾獎，我會以為那就和跑去站在月亮上的機率一樣低。事實上，在我出生那年，以及之後若干年，全世界都沒有人夠資格獲得這項諾貝爾獎。所以至少可以這麼說：我想我算是加入了一個非常珍貴的小團體。（按：迪倫生於1941，1940-1943年諾貝爾文學獎從缺未頒）
我是在巡迴演出半途獲知這個驚喜的消息，我得花上不只幾分鐘的時間消化它。我想到了莎士比亞，那位偉大的文學家。我估計他把自己當成寫劇本的，腦子裡絕對沒有「他正在創作文學作品」的概念。他的字句是為了舞台演出而寫，必須唸出聲來，而非靜靜閱讀。他寫《哈姆雷特》的時候，我很確定他想的都是些雜七雜八的事：「最適合這些角色的演員是誰？」、「舞台該怎麼設計？」、「我真的要把背景設在丹麥嗎？」，在他心中，創意和野心毫無疑問凌駕一切，但他還有更多瑣碎日常的問題要處理：「資金到位了嗎？」、「贊助人都有位子坐嗎？」、「我該到哪兒去弄一顆骷顱頭？」，我敢打賭，莎士比亞最沒在想的就是：「這是文學嗎？」
在我十幾歲開始寫歌的時候，甚至在我因為自己的能耐而獲得若干聲名之後，我想像那些歌的潛力最多就是：我猜它們會在咖啡店或者酒吧被聽見，或許之後還會來到卡內基音樂廳、倫敦帕拉丁劇院那樣的場所。假如我真敢大膽做夢，或許我會想像自己錄一張唱片，然後在收音機聽到我的歌。在我心目中，那就是最大的大獎了。錄唱片、在收音機聽到你的歌，表示你掌握了廣大的群眾，也表示你或許可以繼續做你決心要做的事。
這麼說吧，我已經做我決心要做的事很多年了。現在我已經錄了好幾十張唱片，走遍世界，唱過幾千場演唱會。但我的歌，是我做的幾乎每件事情賴以維繫的核心。那些歌似乎進入了許多不同的文化，藉此在許多人的生命中備受珍惜，對此我始終心存感激。
不過有一件事我非說不可。作為一個表演者，我曾為五萬人表演，也曾為五十人表演。老實說：為五十人表演，比為五萬人表演還難。五萬人只有單一的人格，五十人則不然。每個人都有各自獨立、彼此不同的特質，每個人都是一個小世界。他們能夠更清晰地感知一切：你到底有多真誠，它又如何反映你才華的深度，都會在這時候遭受考驗。諾貝爾委員會人數這麼少，尤其對我意義重大，不敢或忘。
不過，就像莎士比亞，我也經常一面殫精竭慮地創作，一面被人生種種瑣碎事物佔據心思：「誰是最適合這些歌的樂手？」、「我挑這間錄音室是正確的嗎？」、「這首歌的曲調對嗎？」有的事情永遠不會變，即使已經過了四百年。
我從來沒有時間自問一句：「我的歌是文學嗎？」
所以，非常感謝瑞典學院，不但花時間思考了這個問題，並且最終提供了如此美好的答案。
祝福各位。
巴布‧迪倫（翻譯：馬世芳）
© The Nobel Foundation 2016
Bob Dylan:
Good evening, everyone. I extend my warmest greetings to the members of the Swedish Academy and to all of the other distinguished guests in attendance tonight.
I’m sorry I can’t be with you in person, but please know that I am most definitely with you in spirit and honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize. Being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature is something I never could have imagined or seen coming. From an early age, I’ve been familiar with and reading and absorbing the works of those who were deemed worthy of such a distinction: Kipling, Shaw, Thomas Mann, Pearl Buck, Albert Camus, Hemingway. These giants of literature whose works are taught in the schoolroom, housed in libraries around the world and spoken of in reverent tones have always made a deep impression. That I now join the names on such a list is truly beyond words.
I don’t know if these men and women ever thought of the Nobel honor for themselves, but I suppose that anyone writing a book, or a poem, or a play anywhere in the world might harbor that secret dream deep down inside. It’s probably buried so deep that they don’t even know it’s there.
If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think that I’d have about the same odds as standing on the moon. In fact, during the year I was born and for a few years after, there wasn’t anyone in the world who was considered good enough to win this Nobel Prize. So, I recognize that I am in very rare company, to say the least.
I was out on the road when I received this surprising news, and it took me more than a few minutes to properly process it. I began to think about William Shakespeare, the great literary figure. I would reckon he thought of himself as a dramatist. The thought that he was writing literature couldn’t have entered his head. His words were written for the stage. Meant to be spoken not read. When he was writing Hamlet, I’m sure he was thinking about a lot of different things: “Who’re the right actors for these roles?” “How should this be staged?” “Do I really want to set this in Denmark?” His creative vision and ambitions were no doubt at the forefront of his mind, but there were also more mundane matters to consider and deal with. “Is the financing in place?” “Are there enough good seats for my patrons?” “Where am I going to get a human skull?” I would bet that the farthest thing from Shakespeare’s mind was the question “Is this literature?”
When I started writing songs as a teenager, and even as I started to achieve some renown for my abilities, my aspirations for these songs only went so far. I thought they could be heard in coffee houses or bars, maybe later in places like Carnegie Hall, the London Palladium. If I was really dreaming big, maybe I could imagine getting to make a record and then hearing my songs on the radio. That was really the big prize in my mind. Making records and hearing your songs on the radio meant that you were reaching a big audience and that you might get to keep doing what you had set out to do.
Well, I’ve been doing what I set out to do for a long time, now. I’ve made dozens of records and played thousands of concerts all around the world. But it’s my songs that are at the vital center of almost everything I do. They seemed to have found a place in the lives of many people throughout many different cultures and I’m grateful for that.
But there’s one thing I must say. As a performer I’ve played for 50,000 people and I’ve played for 50 people and I can tell you that it is harder to play for 50 people. 50,000 people have a singular persona, not so with 50. Each person has an individual, separate identity, a world unto themselves. They can perceive things more clearly. Your honesty and how it relates to the depth of your talent is tried. The fact that the Nobel committee is so small is not lost on me.
But, like Shakespeare, I too am often occupied with the pursuit of my creative endeavors and dealing with all aspects of life’s mundane matters. “Who are the best musicians for these songs?” “Am I recording in the right studio?” “Is this song in the right key?” Some things never change, even in 400 years.
Not once have I ever had the time to ask myself, “Are my songs literature?”
So, I do thank the Swedish Academy, both for taking the time to consider that very question, and, ultimately, for providing such a wonderful answer.
My best wishes to you all,
Bob Dylan
Banquet speech by Bob Dylan, Nobel Laureate in Literature 2016, presented at the Nobel Banquet by the United States Ambassador to Sweden Azita Raji.
© The Nobel Foundation 2016
