[現代文學史]The Stories, I: The Technique of Modernity

(Excerpt)

Yet the story's true ending is mentioned in the very beginning: in the pseudo-preface the implied author announces that the Madman is"cured" of his madness, thus nullifying the validity of everything contained in the diary, including its final message. In this double-play of optimism and pessimism, couched in the double structure of a text-within-text, Lu Xun has demonstrated a supreme sense of irony, which in my view is the defining characteristic of his genius as a modern writer.

然而，故事真正的結局卻在最初就早已提及：在偽序中，隱身的作者宣布狂人已經「痊癒」，從而使這本日記中一切有效性的內容無效，也包括日記最後的訊息。在樂觀與悲觀的雙重戲、文句與文句間的雙重結構中，魯迅展示了高明的反諷技巧，在我的觀點，這是魯迅作為現代作家的天才特質之一。

（翻譯非常不容易=u=）