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.?

【在不同的場(chǎng)合，都有人建議我寫(xiě)下我的人生經(jīng)歷。我曾經(jīng)半心半意地嘗試過(guò)，但沒(méi)有成功。首先，寫(xiě)我自己，向所有人揭示我的行為以及內(nèi)心深處的想法，對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)并不是很有吸引力。此外，隨著我過(guò)去的生活一天天在我眼前展開(kāi)，在我看來(lái)，它并沒(méi)有那么特別值得寫(xiě)。這樣做似乎有些冒昧。更重要的是，我一直認(rèn)為秘密情報(bào)行動(dòng)應(yīng)該保持秘密，那些被要求參與其中的人應(yīng)該保持沉默，也許除了那些知情的小圈子內(nèi)，他們“灌輸”這個(gè)詞。最后，我必須說(shuō)，我將間諜活動(dòng)視為一種“不幸的必要性”，或者更強(qiáng)烈地說(shuō)，它是“一種必要的邪惡”，由于國(guó)家之間的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)和對(duì)抗、國(guó)家之間的暴力沖突或戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的威脅，因此，與其說(shuō)是吹噓或高興，倒不如說(shuō)是遺憾?！?/p>

? ? ?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，自從我越獄并抵達(dá)蘇聯(lián)以來(lái)，我一直試圖避免與外國(guó)記者會(huì)面，避開(kāi)宣傳，總體上顯得“低調(diào)”。 盡管如此，我的名字和與之相關(guān)的事跡仍繼續(xù)出現(xiàn)在媒體上或在書(shū)籍中被提及，并且在大部分時(shí)候，它們被曲解了?！?/p>

? ? ?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.

【與此同時(shí)，蘇聯(lián)、東歐乃至世界都發(fā)生了翻天覆地的變化。 冷戰(zhàn)徹底結(jié)束。 開(kāi)放已經(jīng)成為蘇聯(lián)日常生活的一個(gè)事實(shí)，我對(duì)這種開(kāi)放現(xiàn)象表示歡迎，并懷著一種不可抗拒的沖動(dòng)，要向公眾開(kāi)放以前隱藏著的生活的各個(gè)方面。 鐘擺向另一邊擺動(dòng)。 很多以前在知心好友之間連小聲細(xì)語(yǔ)都不敢說(shuō)的事情，現(xiàn)在都在屋頂上喊了出來(lái)。 結(jié)果，蘇聯(lián)和英國(guó)方面都更堅(jiān)定的建議我寫(xiě)我的故事?！?/p>

? ? ?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.

【我反對(duì)說(shuō)我不是專業(yè)作家，我懷疑我是否能寫(xiě)出一本好書(shū)和有趣的書(shū)。與此相反，有人認(rèn)為這個(gè)故事僅僅值得作為時(shí)代的記錄而寫(xiě)。作為一個(gè)在冷戰(zhàn)高峰期同時(shí)擔(dān)任英國(guó)秘密情報(bào)局（SIS）官員和蘇聯(lián)情報(bào)局特工的人，我有一個(gè)獨(dú)特的故事應(yīng)該可以對(duì)那場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的歷史做出貢獻(xiàn)。大約在同一時(shí)間，我在英國(guó)幫助我越獄的朋友們被迫公開(kāi)了他們?cè)谠姜z過(guò)程中所扮演的角色，并為此寫(xiě)了一本書(shū)，這樣一來(lái)，他們就可以在公眾的關(guān)注下接受審判，我只好屈服了。我意識(shí)到，無(wú)論我是保持沉默還是寫(xiě)書(shū)，無(wú)論我是否尋求宣傳，我的名字仍然會(huì)在大眾媒體上被提及，我不妨說(shuō)出我的故事，到目前為止，這一切都是默認(rèn)的?！?/p>

? ? ?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.

【人們對(duì)我提出了許多指控，對(duì)我提出了許多責(zé)難，對(duì)我的案子也提出了許多猜測(cè)和理論。當(dāng)一個(gè)人強(qiáng)烈反對(duì)一項(xiàng)事業(yè)，結(jié)果倒向了他曾經(jīng)反對(duì)過(guò)的人一邊，從而使他以前的朋友和同事所取得的成就在很大程度上毀于一旦時(shí)，這是不可避免的，更重要的是，所有這一切都發(fā)生在一個(gè)人類(lèi)活動(dòng)的領(lǐng)域，這個(gè)領(lǐng)域被小心地保護(hù)著，不讓公眾看到，并被極大的秘密所包圍。我一直接受這是懲罰的一部分，這是因?yàn)槲易匀缓凸剡x擇了蘇聯(lián)。我必須馬上說(shuō)，其中許多消息和推測(cè)我直到最近才知道，有些我可能直到今天也不知道。在過(guò)去的25年里，我只能不定期地接觸英國(guó)的媒體，也無(wú)法獲得當(dāng)時(shí)英國(guó)出版的許多關(guān)于間諜活動(dòng)的書(shū)籍，我的案件就是在這些書(shū)籍中被討論的。因此，除了特別提醒我注意的兩三個(gè)案件外，我沒(méi)有立場(chǎng)，也沒(méi)有試圖具體回答或駁斥任何一個(gè)案件。我意識(shí)到，如果我僅僅因?yàn)椴涣私舛瘩g一些觀點(diǎn)，而不回答另一些觀點(diǎn)，就會(huì)給人留下這樣的印象:我不能這樣做，因此這些觀點(diǎn)一定是正確的。因此，我決定，最好的辦法是滿足于把我的生活真實(shí)地描述出來(lái)，把發(fā)生的事情說(shuō)明出來(lái)，這樣就可以看到?jīng)]有發(fā)生的事情。敘述我思想的發(fā)展，描述我的思想從何而來(lái)，我的觀點(diǎn)是在哪些事件和環(huán)境中產(chǎn)生的，它們是如何成長(zhǎng)和變化的，以及最終是如何引導(dǎo)我投身于共產(chǎn)主義事業(yè)的;最后，建設(shè)共產(chǎn)主義社會(huì)的理想——至今我認(rèn)為這是人類(lèi)所能實(shí)現(xiàn)的最高形式的社會(huì)——如何影響了我在東西方之間這場(chǎng)大沖突中的立場(chǎng)和行動(dòng)，而這場(chǎng)沖突現(xiàn)在看來(lái)已經(jīng)結(jié)束了?！?/p>

? ? ?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.

【我試圖在沒(méi)有任何修改的情況下講述這個(gè)故事，我希望避免那種廉價(jià)的聳人聽(tīng)聞的感覺(jué)，與間諜活動(dòng)有關(guān)的事情常?？雌饋?lái)比實(shí)際上更令人興奮。 我相信，這個(gè)故事本身將駁斥那些錯(cuò)誤的指責(zé)和論調(diào)，并證實(shí)哪些才是真的?！?/p>

? ? ?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.

【也許有人會(huì)問(wèn)，但我們?cè)趺茨芟嘈潘?？他已?jīng)成功地欺騙了我們一段時(shí)間；那我們現(xiàn)在怎么能相信他呢？我把自己置于這樣一個(gè)可以提出這樣一個(gè)問(wèn)題的位置，除了我自己之外，我不能責(zé)怪任何人。 我必須接受這一點(diǎn)以及其他指責(zé)。 我只能回答說(shuō)，我試圖說(shuō)出我看到的真相，不受任何形式的約束，除非它影響到我的家人和朋友的隱私。 我習(xí)慣于讓讀者自己得出結(jié)論，對(duì)我說(shuō)的事情的對(duì)錯(cuò)形成自己的判斷?！?/p>

? ? ?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.

【我應(yīng)該指出，由于我職業(yè)的特殊，我從來(lái)沒(méi)有寫(xiě)過(guò)日記或筆記，所以在這個(gè)敘述中我不得不完全依賴我的記憶。 因此，它在某些方面可能是不確切的，尤其是對(duì)于三四十年前發(fā)生的事情。 我無(wú)法訪問(wèn)任何可以輔助我的記憶或描述某些事實(shí)的文件。 我也忘記了很多人的名字，不管是這樣還是那樣，或者是記得不完整。 與其給出錯(cuò)誤的名字，我更愿意給出一個(gè)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.

【這本書(shū)并不意味著辯解或道歉。 這只是我認(rèn)為至少英國(guó)公眾有權(quán)得到的解釋。 我已盡我所能解釋我的觀點(diǎn)和行為，并陳述事實(shí)，無(wú)論它們是否錯(cuò)誤。】

G.B.

Moscow

31st March, 1990