No American hero, with the possible exception of George "I Cannot Tell a Lie" Washington, has been more encrusted with myth than Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln did boast virtues¹ that required little embellishment. He rose from obscurity through hard work, self-education and honesty. He endured venomous criticism to save the Union and end slavery. He died shortly after his greatest triumph at the hands of an assassin. But tall-tale-tellers have never hesitated to rewrite Lincoln's biography. On Presidents' Day, it's well worth dispelling² some perennial³ misconceptions about the man on the $5 bill.

美国英雄中，除了可能做到“我没有撒过谎”的乔治·华盛顿外，谁得到的信任都比不上——被捧上神堂的——亚伯拉罕·林肯。林肯夸张地拥有未经雕饰的美德。他通过努力工作、自学，以诚实的品质，从卑微的位置往上走。为保卫联邦，为结束奴隶制，他忍受了恶毒的攻击。在赢得一生中最重要的胜利后，他死于暗杀。但夸张叙事的作者们从来不曾犹豫重写林肯传记。在总统日，消除一些——这男人的头像印在5美元纸币上——流言，是一件很有意义的事情。

1. Lincoln was a simple country lawyer.

流言1、林肯只不过是乡村律师

This durable⁵ legend, personified by laconic⁶ Henry Fonda in John Ford's film "Young Mr. Lincoln," dies hard. Lincoln's law partner William H. Herndon, looking to boost his own reputation, introduced the canard⁷ that Lincoln cared little about his legal practice, did scant⁸ research, joked around with juries and judges, and sometimes failed to collect fees. Lincoln himself may have compromised his legal reputation with his oft-quoted admonition "Discourage litigation."精干利落的亨利·方达在约翰·福特的电影《少年林肯》中的表演，使该传言形象化，因此深入人心。林肯的合伙律师威廉姆·H·赫唐，为了吹嘘自己，造谣说林肯不关心自己的律师事务：调查潦草；与陪审员和法官开玩笑；有时候，还收不到账。林肯经常轻责自己“对官司漠不关心”，因此可能也糟蹋了自己律师的名声。

True, politics became lawyer Lincoln's chief ambition. Still, in the 1850s he ably (and profitably) represented the Illinois Central Railroad and the Rock Island Bridge Co. - the company that built the first railroad bridge over the Mississippi River - and earned a solid reputation as one of his home state's top appeals lawyers.

当然，律师林肯的第一追求是政治。然而，直到19世纪80年代，他成功地（也赚了一大笔）代表了伊利诺伊州中央铁路和洛克岛桥梁公司，该公司修建了第一条横跨密西西比河的铁路桥。这项业务确定了他在本州——属于顶级律师行列——的牢固地位。

Lincoln's legal papers testify to a diverse and profitable practice. Had he not been "aroused," as he put it, to speak out in 1854 against the pro-slavery Kansas-Nebraska Act before seeking a Senate seat, he likely would have remained a full-time⁹ lawyer and earned fame and fortune at the bar.

林肯的法律文件证明他业务多多、利润丰厚。1854年，在竞选参议员之前，如果他不“出头”，强烈反对拥奴的《堪萨斯-内布拉斯加法案》，那么他就可以依然当全职律师，在法庭上名利双收。（《堪萨斯-内布拉斯加法案》使奴隶制得以向北扩张，引起堪萨斯内战，进一步爆发了南北战争。——译者注）。

2. Lincoln was gay.

2、林肯是同性恋

Gay rights activist¹⁰ Larry Kramer has long speculated that Lincoln was gay, claiming in 1999 that he'd discovered Lincoln's love letters to onetime roommate Joshua Speed. The claim is reportedly featured in Kramer's forthcoming history of homosexuality, "The American People," but historian Gabor Boritt called Kramer's assertion "almost certainly . . . a hoax¹²."长久以来，同性恋权利活动家拉瑞·克拉梅认为林肯是同性恋。1999年，他声称发现了林肯写给以前室友——阿尔弗雷德·斯比特——的几封情书。在克拉梅即将出版的同性恋历史《美国人民》一书中，将突出该论断。但历史学家盖博·博瑞特说克拉梅的说法“基本肯定……胡说八道。”

Still, the idea persists. In 2005, "The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln," written by queer theory professor C. A. Tripp - a colleague of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey - purported¹³ to prove that Lincoln was an active homosexual who married only to conform to 19th-century convention and continued flirting¹⁴ and sleeping with young men throughout his presidency¹⁵. Tripp went so far as to suggest that Lincoln's sexual indifference¹⁶ is what contributed to his wife's mental illness.

但，这说法一直流传。2005年，一位酷儿理论教授C·A·特里普出版了《亚伯拉罕·林肯的隐秘世界》。该教授也是性学家阿尔弗雷德·金赛的同事。在书中，他一本正经地声明林肯是一位活跃的同性恋人士，他结婚只是要符合19世纪的风俗，并且在总统任职期间，继续和年轻男子调情、睡觉。特里普进一步深化，认为林肯妻子由于他的性冷落，才患上精神疾病的。（酷儿理论：最早与同性恋有关的一些理论、说法，随后引申至情色、男女等方面的研究，进一步指前卫观点。——译者注）Is it true? And if it is, does it matter? According to Herndon, Lincoln exhibited a "powerful" attraction to women and was a regular customer in prairie brothels before his marriage at age 33. His first son was born just nine months after his marriage, which suggests enthusiasm if not experience. Then again, proving that a man loves women isn't the same as proving that he doesn't love men. Maybe it's best to throw up our hands - and remember that Lincoln's sexual orientation¹⁷ is but a small part of his historical legacy¹⁸.

真的吗？就算真的，又怎样？据赫唐说，林肯对女人有“强烈的”吸引力；在33岁结婚前，他是牧场妓院的常客。结婚后9个月，他的长子就降生了，这说明即使他经验不够，也算热情如火。当然，证明一个男人爱女人，并不能证明他不爱男人。或许最好的办法是放开这个问题——要记住，林肯的性取向和其历史功绩几乎没有关系。

3. Lincoln was depressed¹⁹.

3、林肯性格忧郁

Four generations of biographers attest²⁰ that Lincoln was often morose²¹, but Washington College's Joshua Wolf Shenk made the case in his recent book, "Lincoln's Melancholy²²: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled his Greatness," that the 16th president was clinically depressed. Lincoln certainly had moments of what he called the "hypo," most notably²³ when his first serious crush, Ann Rutledge, died in 1835, and again when he broke up with fianc??e Mary Todd on the eve of their nuptials²⁴ in 1841. (They reconciled the next year.)整整四代传记作家都认为林肯常常忧郁，然而，华盛顿大学的约书亚·沃尔夫·沈克在近期出版的《林肯的伤感：忧郁症如何挑战总统、激励他的伟大》中列出证据，说第十六届总统已被诊断患有忧郁症。林肯自己也说有过不少“抓狂”的时候，特别是遭受了第一次严重打击：安妮·鲁特雷吉死于1836年；随后1841年，在婚礼前夕，他与未婚妻玛丽·托德分手。（第二年，两人复合。）Though I co-edited a collection of Lincoln papers with Shenk, we disagree on this point. Genuine depression was untreatable in the 19th century, and its victims often descended²⁵ into madness or took their own lives. It is impossible to reconcile this debilitating²⁶ disease with the Lincoln who labored²⁷ tirelessly and effectively during his demanding presidency. Clinically depressed people often can't get out of bed, let alone command an army.

尽管我与沈克一起编撰林肯资料，但对该问题，我们意见不同。在19世纪，真正的忧郁症是不治之症，患者经常发疯或自杀。总统的责任繁重，林肯不知疲倦地工作，并且效率很高。将令人崩溃的疾病和林肯联系起来，真的不可能。确诊得了忧郁症的人，几乎不能下床，遑论指挥军队了。

Was Lincoln sad? Sure - his son Willie died of fever in the White House in 1862, while the president himself led a war that would take the lives of 600,000 other young men. It would be far more remarkable²⁸ had Lincoln remained perennially²⁹ jolly.

林肯郁闷吗？当然——1862年，他的儿子发高烧，死在了白宫；当时，他是总统，指挥一场战争,这场战争还夺走了60万年轻男子的性命。如果这样还要林肯保持开朗，未免太强人所难了。

4. Lincoln was too compassionate³⁰.

4、林肯很仁慈

Much has been made by poet and Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg and other historians over the notion that Lincoln was a serial³¹ pardoner. This is untrue - Lincoln not only approved the execution of deserters, but 38 alleged³² Indian raiders were hanged by his order in Mankato, Minn. on Dec. 26, 1862, still the largest mass execution on U.S. soil.

这个说法很大程度来自卡尔·桑伯格（诗人、林肯传记作家）和其他一些历史学家，他们认为林肯一直慈悲为怀。这不是真的——林肯不仅同意处决背弃者；而且签署了——1862年12月26日在明尼苏达州曼卡托绞死38名印第安袭击者——的命令，迄今为止，是在美国大地上发生的最大屠杀。（“最大”是指美国建国后，不包括殖民时代。——译者注。）Meanwhile, Lincoln conducted the bloodiest³³ war in American history to preserve the Union, authorized³⁴ the deployment³⁵ of deadly new weaponry such as mines, ironclad warships³⁶ and niter (a 19th-century version of napalm), and accepted unprecedented³⁷ casualties for his chosen cause.

同时，林肯为保卫联邦，进行了美国历史上最血腥的战争，批准使用了一些致命武器，如水雷、装甲战舰和硝石（19世纪的凝固汽油弹）；而且为了他信仰的理由，不顾伤亡如何惨重。

The recent scandal over an altered National Archives pardon - a document allegedly changed by historian Thomas P. Lowry in 1998 to make it appear that Lincoln spent his final hours pardoning a soldier for desertion - gives us the opportunity to reconsider the chronic³⁸ oversimplification of Lincoln's soft touch. In light of the Archives melee³⁹, historians should re-examine the thousands of pardons Lincoln issued to weigh their authenticity⁴⁰ and balance them against the death sentences he did allow.

近来，出现了一个丑闻：国家档案馆内的特赦令被扭曲了——1998年，历史学家托马斯·P·罗瑞有意扭曲了文件的内容，使其表现出林肯在最后时刻特赦了一名逃兵。这件丑闻让人有机会反思：长期以来，过于简化林肯柔软的一面。随着各类纷杂档案的公布，历史学家应该重新审视林肯签署的上万份特赦，有多少是真实的；而且，还要对比他签署的死刑令。

5. Lincoln was mortally ill.

5、林肯身患重疾

No shortage of armchair physicians are ready to diagnose Lincoln 150 years after his death. He had cardiovascular disease, some say. Or he had the rare genetic⁴¹ disorder⁴² Marfan's Syndrome⁴³. Or he had the fatal cancer MEN2B. Had Lincoln not been assassinated⁴⁴ on April 14, 1865, medical historians like John Sotos imply, he would have died soon enough without John Wilkes Booth's help.

他死后的150年，不少想入非非的内科医生准备给林肯诊断。有人说，林肯有心脏病。还有人说，他患有罕见的马凡氏综合症（一种先天性、遗传性结缔组织疾病。——译者注）。还有些人说，他患有致命的MEN2B癌症 (MEN2B为甲状腺髓样癌，粘膜神经纤维瘤和嗜铬细胞瘤。——译者注) 。医疗历史学家，如约翰·所托斯推论，如果1865年4月14日，他不死于暗杀，不用约翰·威克斯·布斯帮忙，他也快死了。（约翰·威克斯·布斯：刺杀林肯的凶手。——译者注）If any of these illnesses wracked Lincoln's body during his presidency, how do we explain his inexhaustible physical constitution? Or the rarity of his wartime illnesses, limited to a mild bout⁴ of smallpox⁴⁵ which killed his valet? How do we explain the ease with which the 56-year-old demonstrated his favorite frontier feat¹¹ of strength - holding a heavy ax at arm's length between his fingers - just a few days before his death?

如果任职总统期间，林肯真患有这类疾病，那如何解释他力量无穷无尽的体质？如何解释战争期间，除了出过一次温和的天花外，他极少生病?而那次天花，要了身边男仆的命。在死前的几天，56岁的他，用最爱的边疆方式展示力量——用手指夹着一把重重的斧头，伸出一臂的距离。他轻而易举做到，该如何解释？

Like many presidents, Lincoln grew visibly haggard during his presidency. He also lost weight. But the physicians who attended him on his deathbed marveled at his muscular arms and chest. A weaker man, they concluded, would have died the minute he was shot. Lincoln fought off death for nine hours - hardly within the ability of a man with a pre-existing condition.

林肯和很多总统一样，在任职期间日益憔悴。他也变得消瘦。但临终前，来到他床前的医生们，都对他健壮的胳膊和胸膛感到惊讶。他们说，体格稍微弱一些的人，挨枪子的几分钟后就会死亡。林肯和死亡搏斗了九个小时——如果人以前患病的话，根本做不到。