No Other Choice—别无选择（乔治·布莱克）（前言）

Foreword

     It has, on various occasions, been suggested to me that I should write the story of my life. I once made a half-hearted attempt but it led nowhere. In the first place, it did not very much appeal to me to have to write about myself and reveal to all and sundry my actions and innermost thoughts. Also, as my life unfolded day by day before my eyes, it did not seem to me all that extraordinary and worth writing about. To do so might seem presumptuous. What is more, I have always been of the opinion that secret intelligence operations should remain secret and that those who are called upon to take part in them should remain silent, except perhaps within the small circle of those who are in the know, who are 'indoctrinated' as the term has it. Finally, I must say that I look upon espionage as an 'unfortunate necessity', or to put it more strongly 'a necessary evil', imposed on states by their rivalry and confrontation, by the existence of violent conflicts between nations and wars or the threat of wars and, as such, is a matter rather for regret than something to boast about or exult in. 

【在不同的场合，都有人建议我写下我的人生经历。我曾经半心半意地尝试过，但没有成功。首先，写我自己，向所有人揭示我的行为以及内心深处的想法，对我来说并不是很有吸引力。此外，随着我过去的生活一天天在我眼前展开，在我看来，它并没有那么特别值得写。这样做似乎有些冒昧。更重要的是，我一直认为秘密情报行动应该保持秘密，那些被要求参与其中的人应该保持沉默，也许除了那些知情的小圈子内，他们“灌输”这个词。最后，我必须说，我将间谍活动视为一种“不幸的必要性”，或者更强烈地说，它是“一种必要的邪恶”，由于国家之间的竞争和对抗、国家之间的暴力冲突或战争的威胁，因此，与其说是吹嘘或高兴，倒不如说是遗憾。】

     Since my escape from prison and arrival in the Soviet Union, I have, therefore, tried to avoid meeting foreign journalists, eschewed publicity and in general been content to 'lie low'. In spite of this my name and the events with which it is connected have continued to crop up in the press or been referred to in books and, more often than not, they have been represented in a false light.

【因此，自从我越狱并抵达苏联以来，我一直试图避免与外国记者会面，避开宣传，总体上显得“低调”。 尽管如此，我的名字和与之相关的事迹仍继续出现在媒体上或在书籍中被提及，并且在大部分时候，它们被曲解了。】

     Meanwhile, great changes have taken place in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and the world as a whole. The Cold War has to all intents and purposes come to an end. Glasnost, which I welcome, with the irresistible urge to open up to the public gaze all aspects of life which were previously hidden, has become a fact of daily life in the Soviet Union. The pendulum has swung the other way. Many matters, which before nobody dare even whisper among intimate friends, are now shouted from the rooftops. In consequence, the suggestions, both from the Soviet and the British side, that I should write my story have become more insistent.

【与此同时，苏联、东欧乃至世界都发生了翻天覆地的变化。 冷战彻底结束。 开放已经成为苏联日常生活的一个事实，我对这种开放现象表示欢迎，并怀着一种不可抗拒的冲动，要向公众开放以前隐藏着的生活的各个方面。 钟摆向另一边摆动。 很多以前在知心好友之间连小声细语都不敢说的事情，现在都在屋顶上喊了出来。 结果，苏联和英国方面都更坚定的建议我写我的故事。】

     I objected that I was not a professional writer and that I doubted whether I could write a good and interesting book. Against this it was argued that the story would be worth writing simply as a record of the times; that as a man who had at the same time, been an officer of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and an agent of the Soviet Intelligence Service at the height of the Cold War, I had a unique story to tell which should be an interesting contribution to the history of that war. When it so happened that at about the same time my friends in England who had helped me to escape from prison were forced to come out in the open about their role in the escape, wrote a book about it and, in consequence, might stand trial with all the publicity this would bring with it, I yielded. I realised that whether I remained silent or wrote a book, whether I sought publicity or not, my name would still be mentioned in the mass media and I might as well give my side of the story, which so far had gone by default.

【我反对说我不是专业作家，我怀疑我是否能写出一本好书和有趣的书。与此相反，有人认为这个故事仅仅值得作为时代的记录而写。作为一个在冷战高峰期同时担任英国秘密情报局（SIS）官员和苏联情报局特工的人，我有一个独特的故事应该可以对那场战争的历史做出贡献。大约在同一时间，我在英国帮助我越狱的朋友们被迫公开了他们在越狱过程中所扮演的角色，并为此写了一本书，这样一来，他们就可以在公众的关注下接受审判，我只好屈服了。我意识到，无论我是保持沉默还是写书，无论我是否寻求宣传，我的名字仍然会在大众媒体上被提及，我不妨说出我的故事，到目前为止，这一切都是默认的。】

     Many accusations have been made against me, many imputations cast upon me and many speculations and theories have surrounded my case. When a man who has acted strongly against a cause ends up by going over to the side of those whom he has combated, thereby undoing much of what his former friends and colleagues had achieved, it was inevitable that this should be so, all the more so as all this happened in a field of human activity which is carefully shielded from the eyes of the public and surrounded by great secrecy. I have always accepted this as part of the penalty which I naturally and justly incurred by going over to the Soviet side. I must say at once that many of these theories and speculations I was unaware of until very recently and some I may not know about even to this day. For the last twenty-five years I have had only irregular access to the British press and been unable to acquire the many books on espionage which have appeared in Britain in that time and in which my case has been discussed. I am therefore not in a position, nor have I tried, to answer or refute any of them specifically, except for two or three cases which have been especially brought to my notice. I realised that if I refuted some and left others unanswered simply because I did not know about them, I would create the impression that I could not do so and that therefore they must be true. I decided therefore that the best course was to content myself with giving a true account of my life and set out what happened so that it might be seen what did not happen; to relate the development of my thinking, describe the state from which I started and in which events and circumstances my opinions had their origin,how they grew and changed and how, in the end, this led me to embrace the cause of Communism; finally, how the ideal of building a Communist society, which to this day I consider the highest form of society mankind can achieve, affected my position and actions in that great conflict between East and West which, it now looks, has come happily to an end.

【人们对我提出了许多指控，对我提出了许多责难，对我的案子也提出了许多猜测和理论。当一个人强烈反对一项事业，结果倒向了他曾经反对过的人一边，从而使他以前的朋友和同事所取得的成就在很大程度上毁于一旦时，这是不可避免的，更重要的是，所有这一切都发生在一个人类活动的领域，这个领域被小心地保护着，不让公众看到，并被极大的秘密所包围。我一直接受这是惩罚的一部分，这是因为我自然和公正地选择了苏联。我必须马上说，其中许多消息和推测我直到最近才知道，有些我可能直到今天也不知道。在过去的25年里，我只能不定期地接触英国的媒体，也无法获得当时英国出版的许多关于间谍活动的书籍，我的案件就是在这些书籍中被讨论的。因此，除了特别提醒我注意的两三个案件外，我没有立场，也没有试图具体回答或驳斥任何一个案件。我意识到，如果我仅仅因为不了解而反驳一些观点，而不回答另一些观点，就会给人留下这样的印象:我不能这样做，因此这些观点一定是正确的。因此，我决定，最好的办法是满足于把我的生活真实地描述出来，把发生的事情说明出来，这样就可以看到没有发生的事情。叙述我思想的发展，描述我的思想从何而来，我的观点是在哪些事件和环境中产生的，它们是如何成长和变化的，以及最终是如何引导我投身于共产主义事业的;最后，建设共产主义社会的理想——至今我认为这是人类所能实现的最高形式的社会——如何影响了我在东西方之间这场大冲突中的立场和行动，而这场冲突现在看来已经结束了。】

     I have tried to tell the story without any embellishments or prevarications, avoiding, I hope, that cheap sensationalism with which matters connected with espionage are frequently made to look more exciting than they in reality are. The story itself will refute, I trust, those accusations, imputations and theories which are false and confirm those which are true.

【我试图在没有任何修改的情况下讲述这个故事，我希望避免那种廉价的耸人听闻的感觉，与间谍活动有关的事情常常看起来比实际上更令人兴奋。 我相信，这个故事本身将驳斥那些错误的指责和论调，并证实哪些才是真的。】

     It may well be asked but how can we believe him? He has over along period successfully deceived us; how then can we believe him now? I have nobody to blame but myself for having put myself in position where such a question can justly be asked. I must accept that together with other reproaches. I can only reply that I have tried to tell the truth as I see it, free from constraint of any kind, except only in so far as it affects the privacy of my family and friends. I am content to let readers draw their own conclusions and form their own judgment on whether what I say is true or not.

【也许有人会问，但我们怎么能相信他呢？他已经成功地欺骗了我们一段时间；那我们现在怎么能相信他呢？我把自己置于这样一个可以提出这样一个问题的位置，除了我自己之外，我不能责怪任何人。 我必须接受这一点以及其他指责。 我只能回答说，我试图说出我看到的真相，不受任何形式的约束，除非它影响到我的家人和朋友的隐私。 我习惯于让读者自己得出结论，对我说的事情的对错形成自己的判断。】

     I should point out that by the very nature of my profession and activities I have never kept a diary or taken notes so that in this narrative I have had to rely entirely on my memory. It may, therefore, in certain respects be incomplete, especially in regard to operations which took place thirty to forty years ago. I have had no access to any documents which could have refreshed my memory or brought back certain facts. I have also forgotten the names of many people, one way or another involved, or remember them only incompletely. Rather than give wrong names, I have preferred to limit myself to general descriptions.

【我应该指出，由于我职业的特殊，我从来没有写过日记或笔记，所以在这个叙述中我不得不完全依赖我的记忆。 因此，它在某些方面可能是不确切的，尤其是对于三四十年前发生的事情。 我无法访问任何可以辅助我的记忆或描述某些事实的文件。 我也忘记了很多人的名字，不管是这样还是那样，或者是记得不完整。 与其给出错误的名字，我更愿意给出一个一般的描述。】

     This book is not meant to be a justification or an apology. It is simply an explanation to which I think the British public, at least, is entitled. I have tried, as far as I am able, to explain myself, my opinions and actions, and state the facts whether they go against me or not.

【这本书并不意味着辩解或道歉。 这只是我认为至少英国公众有权得到的解释。 我已尽我所能解释我的观点和行为，并陈述事实，无论它们是否错误。】

G.B.

Moscow

31st March, 1990