They are two novels about traveling across America and an unconventional couple.

两篇都关于穿越美国的旅行且都是一种非常规的二人组
But now, that modernist tradition is something that Nabokov owes a lot to,

但是纳博科夫的很多特点虽然都来自于现代主义传统
but he always tries to distinguish himself from it.

他却试图将自己与这一传统区分开来
For Nabokov, the highest value is originality.

对纳博科夫而言原创性才是最有价值的
He says this in his last Russian novel, the Gift.

他在他最后一部俄语小说《天赋》中提到了这一点
Or, he doesn't say it; his autobiographical hero says it:

他自己虽未明说但自传的主人公却说
"Any genuinely new trend in art is a knight's move,

"艺术上真正的新风潮如同象棋中马的行进
a change of shadows, a shift that displaces the mirror."

如同是转移镜子的转变"
Okay. Any genuinely new trend is a knight's move.

艺术上任何一种真正的新风潮都如象棋中马的行进
I just remind you, in chess the knight doesn't move in a straight line.

这里要提醒一下国际象棋中的马不走直线
It starts out in a straight line and then it hops off on a diagonal.

它以直线出发然后要跳到对角线的一格
Unlike any other piece, it skips over pieces in the way.

不同于其它棋子它可以跳过挡着的棋子