剑桥风云

好几年前，和一个朋友聊天，他是基督教徒，问他耶路撒冷还有什么别的含义，是因为这首诗：
 And did those feet in ancient time
        Walk upon England's mountains green?
    And was the holy Lamb of God
        On England's pleasant pastures seen?
    And did the Countenance Divine
        Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
    And was Jerusalem builded here
        Among those dark Satanic mills?

    Bring me my bow of burning gold:
        Bring me my arrows of desire:
    Bring me my spear: O clouds, unfold!
        Bring me my chariot of fire!
    I will not cease from mental fight,
        Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
    Till we have built Jerusalem
        In England's green and pleasant land.
耶路撒冷是一个地名不是么，怎么能在英格兰的“绿色美好大地”上建立呢？朋友说它指的可能是天堂。
后来有了Wiki就容易多了。对William Blake的注解下可以找到Milton: a Poem，然后可以看到这样的解释：The Christian church in general, and the English Church in particular, used Jerusalem as a metaphor for Heaven, a place of universal love and peace，一点没错。
The Cambridge Spies 用这首歌（hymn really）开篇，中间又有出现。而容易让人印象最深的片断，几个人离开剑桥之前，Guy脱光衣服站在桥边跳下之前喊道：I love this country, this sceptered f**king isle, this wonderful, foolish England! 几句话和Blake的词句道出的是同样的意思。他们缺少“因为我爱这土地爱得深沉”一类文字。
The Cambridge Five的故事太多精彩复杂，还有不可思议的比各种书（有很多很多）和电影都更精彩复杂的真实历史，不可思议同时也就让人浮想联翩。关于故事，一个叫Russel Aiuto的人写的很全，也非常有趣。他同时也提到：But such day-dreaming tends to glamorize these four very different, very questionable men. It is an exercise that unnecessarily exhalts them and, at the same time, trivializes their very serious crimes. But it is a temptation difficult to resist. 认定了Cambridge Five的间谍行为是严重的罪行，但是又不偏不倚地，在后面段落里谈起“没有秘密的世界是和平的”的观点。
四个人都是剑桥Apostles society的成员，Apostles - 使徒，已经毕业的成员可以申请成为Angels - 天使。实际是一种知识辩论协会。这些名字让人想起Dan Brown。有一些前辈Apostles是后来的Bloomsbury Group，有电影里Julian提到的他的aunt Virginia Wolf，但是在一战前的事了。当然还有E.M.Forster。Forster的Maurice让我觉得像Guy。Another Country是更同志类型的电影吧，主角确实是Guy。也是他，开始“发展”Donald的时候有段台词说，他父亲死的时候他得到了一种自由。会有一种自由，特别是如果死去的是你深爱的人。那个Establishment，他们是其一部分同时也是他们的一部分的国家体制和阶层，是他们要摆脱的深爱的亲人。所以让人怀疑内心的动机是自由，而非任何主义。
肯定不是为了物质回报，他们是分文不取的叛国者。Kim Philby第一次执行秘密任务的时候，拒绝了给他的钱，腼腆不知道该如何解释。编剧似乎有意让Guy是那个在听似胡言乱语中道出理想的，而让Kim代表了典型的绅士。在维也纳被警察拦住的时候，Kim说他去不会有事的，他有英国护照，还有“straight back and stiff upper lip”。剑桥间谍事发后舆论批评出现这样的事根本原因是英国政府很长时间都以一种“old boys' club”的态度运行，没有人质疑这些人，很大程度因为他们被无条件地认为是“自己人”。那个俱乐部也是绅士俱乐部，有无数的弊端，但同时，在那些年代里，也演出了一种绅士的世界和历史，行为标准是straight back and stiff upper lip，游戏规则是荣誉大于一切，或者说功利的目的并非大于一切。像《钢琴家》里面纳粹军官的善意。
BBC把这故事拍得很得体，演员都多少有传说中四个人的气质，但说实话刚看半天都没分出来谁是谁。感动有限，舒缓节奏中点滴的情感，没有什么足以压迫心头的，只是看了个故事。可故事本身，那个藏在拍出来的影片或者写出的书背后的真实历史，无限精彩的可能性已经很吸引人。还有时代，现今在迅速消亡的绅士规则，他们有选择向往另一种理想another country，真心感到有意义，这样的选择消亡得更早。只在光影世界中。

刚看完剑桥间谍，插曲很好听。

不知为什么哭了，觉得他们好不容易，剑桥五杰，不过，我还是不知道第五个人是谁。

他们为了信仰，为了友情工作着，不曾出卖朋友，他们虽然帮苏联，但他们没有出卖英国的情报。

在那样的年代，真不容易。

很震撼，很震撼。

“许多人可能会说，自杀可能是"光荣的"出路……但我认为，恰恰相反，那是一种懦弱的解决方式。”
------ Blunt回忆录

在1930年代中期
对于我和当时的很多人来说
共产主义俄国是
反对法西斯主义的唯一堡垒
在那时
西方国家对德国采取了暧昧的
妥协的立场
我被Guy说服
为了反对法西斯主义
我加入了他的苏联间谍组织
这是一个出于良知的决定
反对的是纳粹
我选择了良心
------ Blunt回忆录



--------------------------------华丽丽的分割线-------------------------------

 

英语底子好的同学可以看这个


 

The True Memoirs of Anthony Blunt
 

Summary:
A year after Guy's death, Anthony remembers his friend - and their folly - as best he can.


 

Notes:
Inspired by slowascent's Yuletide Letter and her love of the seven deadly sins, especially the sin of pride.

 

 

 

Work Text:
August 30th, 1964

Guy went mad a bit, after Julian died. Perhaps I should have seen it then. It was the sort of madness that was too easy to dismiss, and it might have been that I wanted to dismiss it. We four friends had spent many years making excuses for one another, but I had known Guy the longest and excused the most. Friends since the beginning, I suppose I found it harder than most to admit he might be going so terribly wrong. He'd always had his excesses, little foibles and quirks. It is how things begin, isn't it? With Guy it was always matter of degrees, each action seems less harsh in the light of what came before. I wanted to believe that he wasn't off the rails, that it was simply more of his usual. More fool myself, and that is something not easily admitted.

He'd always been a bit madcap, hadn't he? We were so different, he and I, for all that our lives and upbringings had been so similar. It was likely what drew us together, at least it was why I noticed him at Cambridge. When you moved in the same circles as Guy, it was hard not to notice him. Loud and flamboyant, the sort to speak his mind - no, not speak it, for the word speak implies some sort of decorum. Guy shouted it from rooftops and pulpits. Discretion was not his friend. Whereas things in my life were so careful and controlled, compartmentalised, Jackie said the same thing to me so many years later. That I had boxes and found it all too easy to simply shut something away. Shouldn't I have? My compartmentalisation kept us safe, so many times. When Guy went off on his tangents - even when we were both Apostles - I was the one that stood sure and true. I was the one that remained calm when so many simply reacted and acted. The mark of an English gentleman, that deep-rooted stoicism, wasn't it? I epitomised that very thing and always had. I couldn't be any other way. Even when Guy told others he was a friend of Stalin whilst drunk at parties, I would be the one smiling benignly at Guy's little joke. I was always able to pretend it was a joke, but guy never was. He always felt things so strongly. He threw himself into all of it, holding nothing of himself back. I warned him of the danger of it, but Guy was never the sort to listen to such advice.

Julian was the first warning, or he should have been. He'd almost gone to him, after that party we were at. Raining. It was already raining Julian had said, the crowd having gone quiet in that convenient way that it did. Inconvenient, actually, where Julian was concerned. That night Guy had been drunker than most nights. An accomplishment when one thinks about it seriously. He'd been so determined to leave the house, to find Julian. To explain to him privately that we hadn't changed. That we were working for Moscow and our rejection of socialism was part of the cover.

I stopped him. I was the one that wouldn't let him go. Perhaps I was the one that made it so hard for Guy when Julian died. Had I let him go that night... There's little time for regret in our lives, if any. I refuse to doubt my decisions then. At the time they were the right ones. Guy couldn't have let Julian know any more than we could have let anyone know. It was the point of it, wasn't it? Distancing ourselves from the movement in order to have more use.

It wasn't a friendship without troubles, even when we were at Cambridge. Guy was brilliant, and if I were utterly and brutally honest, I'd say he was smarter than I was. Yet he squandered it shamefully throwing away a brilliance in a way that always bothered me. There was so much he could have done. There was no doubt he'd have been that much more valuable an asset had he not drank and caroused so. It wasn't like anyone could have altered that. When we were still in school it was the norm, just a bit of boys being boys. Once we had graduated, well, there was never any stopping Guy, nor changing Guy.

I realise now I couldn't have. I never thought it at the time, I thought I had him under control. Yes, he said things no one should, especially one in our position. Guy would get drunk and say the most obscene things. Few ever paid them any mind. He was known as a bit of a drinker and if he declared himself a spy at a party, who would think his words the truth?

Should I have noticed it then? I told myself there was nothing to notice. Guy would be Guy, I excused it over and over, always taking note but doing little. I would say a word here and there, nothing more than suggestions or mild admonishments. They were laughed off. Why wouldn't they be laughed off? I never could have seriously admonished Guy and somehow he knew that.. Too many things we laughed off and brushed away. Pride is such a funny thing, isn't it? Not that I would have called my perceived control of Guy pride, I still have issues with referring to it as such. It seemed so reasonable then. We were friends, friends before anything else, before everything else. Shouldn't a man be capable of keeping an eye on his friends, be capable of keeping them in line? A better friend might have seen that it wasn't the simple thing I told myself it was/ Frankly, Guy was out of control long before I cared to admit it.

So many at school knew what we were, even if I'd never been as open as he was. I refer to the communism, that is, not the homosexuality -- though I am sure many knew that as well, such an ill-kept secret as it was in those days. There was no shame in being a communist, not as a student. Being an anti-fascist was a point of pride for many, and later in life it was seen as a sort of undergraduate rash. It was an ailment that one had the good sense to recover from. We were Apostles the, an informal fellowship of students who gathered for many reasons. Many of us homosexuals, all of us anti-fascists, that sort of movement was nearly expected when we were students. Just as it was expected we would move on from it after college to join the establishment. Only, we never did recover from it, we only seemed to. It was all part of the master plan. One couldn't be an effective spy if one was known to have socialist tendencies. It was logical, sensible, the most useful thing that we could have done: distance ourselves from our own pasts. But it hurt Guy deeply, having to pretend that he'd rejected Communism, especially to Julian.

I would swear it all changed when Julian died. I'd rather not use the word died, it sounds so innocuous, as if he were elderly and passed on in his sleep. Julian was killed, yet another death at the hands of those same fascists we all hated. There were times that it seemed Julian had the simpler and easier task. There was elegance in our roles – an excitement - that didn't exist in Julian's open devotion to the cause. I told myself that. We all did, I'm sure, that we were fighting the longer fight, the more important one. What would have changed for us if we could have done what he did? If we could have been open in our fight against the forces that tried to devour Europe?

He knew, you know. He knew that Julian and I had been together. I knew of his affection for Julian but it didn't stop me. Guy never saw how they would have been the end of each other, fanned flames burning too quickly. Their passion, however different and sometimes misguided, would have been the end of them both. That isn't to say there was anything noble about my affair with Julian. I was fond of him, yes, but never in love. Love was such a dangerous thing. As dangerous as happiness, moreso when they came together. The four of us - any spies really - couldn't afford such luxuries, not and perform our chosen task and be safe.

I should have seen it. I should have seen it after Julian's death but I wouldn't allow myself to. Pride, hubris, call it what you will. Perhaps even something so much simpler: the loyalty of four friends to one another. Beyond any cause or any devotion, those friends were the things that I had to keep safe and that I held to be most important. Do you know I believed it? I believed that I, Anthony Blunt, could keep us safe. I thought that I could protect each of us against the world. What an utter fool I was. There was nothing and no one that could protect us from ourselves, we were always our own worst enemies. Guy and Donald were both problems, but it was Guy that mattered most to me. Kim and Donald; Guy and myself. It was how things had always been and how they would always be.

I never knew if he was hurt by Jackie's defection, as it might have been called. Jackie wasn't as important to Guy as Julian had been. I always felt that he was more a distraction to Guy, something to keep him occupied when he couldn't be bothered venturing out to one of his less than reputable locales. Perhaps that alone should have warned me away. Once his distraction was gone - once his distraction was mine - he became ever the more on edge. I've said already how brilliant he was. Brilliant and mad -- no, lost is a better word then mad. Guy needed our cause, he needed to believe. Julian, to him, had been an ideal, the personification of a concept and a belief. Not only someone he loved, but his beacon in an otherwise dark world. What Guy felt he should be and how he should be. When Julian was killed it all changed. He clung to the cause, wrapping himself in it as one would a blanket on the coldest of nights.

I should have seen. I should have seen and I should have stopped it, long before I became so tired. There is a part of me that believes, still, this end could have been avoided. If I had acted earlier or made more of an effort that we could have all been safe. Guy deserved more than a warm coat and a sad life lived out away from the country he loved so. I never wrote him once he'd been exiled. The letters might have been intercepted after all. I couldn't have, and maintained my own secrets. Sad that those secrets that in the end were made public. In the end, we were all betrayed. When we became agents at Cambridge, we were such idealists, and we believed. It was exciting. Did I ever say that? There was this whiff of adventure that came with being a spy. It was a life that I could never have imagined otherwise. A life I could never have had otherwise. When did it stop being such an adventure? When did watching over my friends become such a task and a trial? The years took their toll. I would say that it was inevitable, but I am not fond of admitting inevitability. I'm not fond of admitting my own faults, nor am I fond of admitting my own part in our downfall. Yet fond or not, it is there. My hubris led us as much to our downfall as their excess did.

Silly, isn't it? To think that we shared secrets that changed the world, and yet it was the simplest things that affected us. Julian's death. Jackie. Stalin making a pact with Hitler in order to buy himself time. The last... Were it not for Kim and myself, I think we would have lost Guy then. He would have self-destructed or done something truly foolish. He was always on the edge, you realise. When I heard of what he did in Washington, driving drunk, appearing at that dinner at Kim's house, I knew just how far Guy had gone. That he'd lost his belief in some way, and had gone over the edge, seeking his own downfall. Only his self-destruction would pull in those associated with him. It would pull in Donald, Kim and myself.

Or it may have been that he was already gone long before Washington and that even to this day I'm fooling myself. I'm letting that same pride colour my memories. It's a difficult thing see things clearly that are in the past. Our visions are filtered to show the events in the light they find most favourable. In some ways our memories are like paintings. They are creations of our own mind that relates to the world but does not truly reflect it. We see that world in the painting through the filter of the artist with our own perceptions layered atop that. A difficult thing to consider when it's something as personal as our own own past. Am I remembering correctly, interpreting the events the way they occurred? Or have my perceptions shaped my very memories? Do I remember things the way I wish them to be? I can no longer tell.

关于剑桥的故事太多太多, 从此地走出的名人也载满史册。一直没有想起去英国前看了一半的《剑桥风云》。那时候迷迷糊糊地下了这四集片，满心期待，也算是为行程做准备吧。十分钟之后发现是政治片，虽然情节吸引人，但还是到半即废，现在想想确实符合自己性格……

直到有那么一个晴朗凉爽的日子，穿过国王学院，踏上旁边草地石刻《再别康桥》的某座不起眼的石桥，听人提起，这就是Guy Burgess, Philby那帮人当年"裸蹦"之桥，才金光回闪，顿有种神奇的穿越感……

Goodbye, Cambridge! Goodbye old life!

       红彤彤的理想，真正能实现的又有多少人?这部英剧间接告诉我们，因为历史和现实的残酷，答案是很少。但是这不能磨灭埋没在历史洪流中这些勇士的贡献。

    即便是剑桥五杰这样相对有名的人，我们也对其真正生活了解甚少，一些迷题争论也无从考究。感谢这样一部严谨认真的剧，给我们或多或少展示了故事的一面……

    四个面相姣好的演员中，我最爱饰演Guy Burgess的Tom Hollander。虽然媒体评论大多是类似于“他是由于身高原因不得不将戏路限制在搞笑这一特质之上”，我还得为此人叫冤，像Guy这种人物，虽然幽默讨喜，终究还是悲剧性结局……第二，除去舞台剧表演经验，对于伯吉斯的演绎也是Hollander的成名作之一吧？

    说回剧本身，如果说Philby一行人牺牲之物都浮于水面，那么Burgess的牺牲和痛苦则是更深沉而抽象的。他牺牲的也许就是自己又爱又恨的英格兰和宁静的后半生吧。苏联浑浑噩噩，疾病缠身的结局让人慨叹命运的不公。神秘放浪、口无遮拦、忠于同伴和深爱的人（他从来没忘记Julian），四人中感情最丰富，同时也最理智清醒的他没有像Philby那样得到实在的结果，船上对祖国的告别是他能得到的最后一点慰藉。那一刻，真正是对年轻、对自己的根、对无所作为的告别。

    我常想，如果将guy在苏联的后半生拍成一部富有浪漫主义色彩的悲剧，也未尝不可。多少伟大的灵魂不是在郁郁寡欢中化为灰烬？但是理想主义留下了不能磨灭的遗产，它成了一种氛围，几乎随处可见。

    过了两天，又经此桥，看到一人站在桥上，面对剑桥一片夏日的绿色，满对清冽的River Cam，脱了上衣大喊一声：Goodbye, Cambridge! Goodbye Old Life! 随后一跃而进，旁人欢呼。这也是当初四人跃下桥的回响吧。

第一集Burgess从剑桥毕业时站在桥上的speech:
"I love this country, this scepter'd fucking isle, this wonderful, foolish England."
摘自Richard II 第二幕第一场
John of Gaunt:
This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.
[最著名的赞美英格兰的文学段落之一]

第四集Philby背诵的段落：
（摘自Henry V Act IV Prologue. 阿金库尔战役前夜）
The poor condemnèd English,
Like sacrifices, by their watchful fires
Sit patiently and inly ruminate
The morning’s danger; and their gesture sad,
Investing lank-lean cheeks and war-worn coats,
Presenteth them unto the gazing moon
So many horrid ghosts.

莎士比亚的历史剧四部曲——理查二世，亨利四世上下（两部），亨利五世。第一集和第四集分别摘录了第一部和第四部的段落，奇妙地呼应起来了。

印象深刻的片段：
Philby在公园长椅上对着Litzi Friedman的背影一遍遍重复“I don't love you.” 与其是拒绝，不如说是自我说服。（Philby可以为了信仰放弃家庭，但是Maclean却很难过这个坎儿。四个人的特点非常鲜明，而且很大程度上是对立的。Philby老辣沉稳，Maclean则受情感控制，Blunt行事谨慎，悄然抽身，Burgess则放浪形骸，被命运推到了莫斯科。）
Blunt提出要帮Burgess买一件大衣，暗示他去的地方将会很冷。

用一段亨利五世在阿金库尔战役前夕发表的讲话来概括这四个人的friendship(comradeship):
St Crispin's Day Speech
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say "To-morrow is Saint Crispian."
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say "These wounds I had on Crispin's day."

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

P.S. Philby的美国学徒是Endeavour试播集里面的Special Branch Agent,长了一张特工脸==

如果BBC想感动你，你就很难装酷......

很多哲学家美学家都讨论过贵族精神。俺对英国文化不熟悉，也没有被牛津剑桥的等级含义逼疯过。但看完这片子，抓着头发想一想，俺的一点理解是：

1.他们看起来缺乏野心，或者贪婪。在英国，雄心壮志是一个尴尬的字眼。所以会有Effortlessly Fabulous这个词。

2.他们甚至缺乏专注的兴趣

3.他们不需要工作。所以他们可以做自己喜欢的事。但如果做，就一定要做的很好。

4.他们不能缺乏坚定的信仰。信仰黑白与否无关紧要，但一定要有勇气有能力来维护之。

5.永远不能离开Gentleman's Club.请注意这是绅士俱乐部，不是功利至上的社交网络。这是个传统问题，和道德无关。

6.可以失去生命，但要挽回尊严。


俺想，虽然俺们一辈子都需要工作，养家糊口，但俺按照这些规矩做人，大概也能体味到一点所谓的贵族精神。

同时期的德国，却是贵族体制被摧毁的大变革时期。无论贵族精神与否，贵族和平民中都有令人感叹的故事。世界和历史是多么奇妙。

这片子里对美国人的态度，是不屑一顾，极端鄙视的。

影片本身很棒，不过与史实或许有些差异。
我认为他们早年出于无知和冲动，投身间谍工作，但他们都是聪明人，在获得了大量政治情报之后，他们不难得出客观的结论。但是已经骑虎难下了。
英国人对待历史的态度还是比较客观的，片子并没有把他们拍成十恶不赦的卖国贼，而是把他们描绘成一群忠于朋友的人。聪明理性，充满感情。很难想象我们能拍出这样的片子。
另外，字幕的翻译有些问题，还好大多能看懂。

                     剑桥间谍


　　时间退回到冷战年代。地点，则是KGB位于莫斯科的总部大楼，一间黑暗、没有窗户的小屋。房间里除了一张长桌、一把椅子和一排排的文件柜，就再没有其他物件。如果这间房子开了一扇窗户，可以发现，离这里不远处，就是闪闪发光的克里姆林宫。

  
　　刚刚走马上任的官员坐在桌前，开始翻阅厚厚的文件，渐渐地，他的脸上露出了一副难以置信的表情。一份份厚厚的卷宗显示了一个事实：四个英国籍的间谍已经渗入了最高层，他们将丘吉尔、罗斯福或者是杜鲁门的最新动向都原原本本地向苏联通报。文件上明明白白地标注着“呈递贝里亚、斯大林”的字样。没有哪个官僚机构敢于延误这些文件，这四个英国间谍太重要，而他们传递出来的信息一直都那么可靠。KGB官员的表情，渐渐由惊诧变成了释然。

　　这四个间谍并非小说中的主人公，而这位官员也不是某位剧作家笔下的人物。他们都是真实的。四个间谍的名字分别是伯吉斯、布朗特、迈克林和菲尔比。他们都出身良好，在上世纪30年代，四个人就读于剑桥大学著名的三一学院。同时，他们又是成功而坚定的KGB间谍，为苏联工作逾30年。其中一位，金·菲尔比，为苏联工作了差不多50年，因为他的卓越表现，他的肖像甚至出现在了苏联的邮票上。

　　四个人最终都暴露了身份，但离奇的是，没有一个人因此而被捕。他们的个性职业都不相同，其中，伯吉斯是个喜欢夸夸其谈、爱喝酒的同性恋。布朗特同样是同性恋，专长是艺术史，并因为担任皇室的艺术顾问而被封爵。第三个人，迈克林，是个严肃的外交家，在性倾向上忽左忽右。而第四个，也是其中为KGB贡献最大的菲尔比，则是一个花花公子，极其善于勾引已婚女性，人称“20世纪最出色的间谍”。

　　四个剑桥学生

　　“今天，当然，大家都知道哈罗德·阿德里安·罗素·菲尔比是个在MI-6(英国军情六处)工作的苏联间谍，一个背叛了自己祖国的人，一个将许多西方世界的重要情报泄露给苏联的人。今天，菲尔比成了一个传奇—魔鬼或是反英雄，这视乎你的个人判断。”

　　—罗伯特·J·兰费尔，FBI探员，1986年

　　上世纪20年代末，KGB的前身，内务人民委员会决定，开始渗透到英国的情报机关中去。他们的目标，是一群前途光明、出身良好的大学生，这群年轻人应该有机会去英国的外交部门或者是情报机关工作。如果他们是坚定的马克思主义者或是反法西斯主义者，将会得到特别关注。至于那些英国共产党的公开成员，内务委员会反倒认为没有可以利用的价值，一方面，这些人的行动太激进，容易引起英国安全部门的注意；另一方面也是因为这群年轻人大多数出身自工人家庭，最终不大可能打入英国的上流社会。多年以后，这个计划被证明考虑得相当周到。

　　在四个学生在剑桥读书期间，他们被KGB征召了。其中两个人，布朗特和伯吉斯，是“剑桥传道者”协会的成员，这是上世纪30年代在剑桥非常有威望的地下组织，成员都是坚定的反纳粹主义者。看起来，布朗特是其中最大，也是最早被征召的，1933年，在他去了一趟俄罗斯以后，身份就已经发生了变化。由于他是一位出色的法语老师，而法语是当时英国外交部门的工作人员必修的一门课程，所以，很多人推测他凭借着这种特殊的身份，默默观察剑桥中的激进学生，并将其中有可能进入外交部工作的年轻人，发展到KGB中去。

　　主要人物

　　安东尼·布朗特(1907-1983)，法语教授，艺术史专家，伊丽莎白女王的艺术顾问，二战期间担任军情五处探员。

　　安东尼·布朗特生得很高大，性格傲慢甚至可以说是冷酷，却又有种迷人的魅力。他的祖父是英国主教，父亲则是教区牧师。他是个身份未被公开的同志，一度曾与伯吉斯是情侣关系。在战争年代，布朗特为军情五处工作，而在战后，作为一位艺术史方面的权威，他成了王室的艺术顾问，在1956年被授以爵位。1979年，就在撒切尔公开宣布他是苏联间谍后不久，他被剥夺爵位。1983年去世。

　　盖伊·弗朗西斯·伯吉斯(1910-1963)，BBC播音员，军情六处探员，先后担任英国外交部副部长和部长秘书。

　　盖伊·伯吉斯是海军军官的后代，长得非常英俊迷人，但性情有些颠三倒四，这可能是他长期酗酒的后果，和布朗特一样，他也是同性恋，不同的是，他对自己的性取向非常坦白，并且公开拥有过几个情人。虽然表面上看来，他完全不具备一个间谍所应该拥有的任何素质，可他却凭借着自己的魅力，得到了不少权贵的崇拜或者宠爱，可以毫不费力地弄到对苏联有用的消息。

　　唐纳德·迈克林(1915-1983)，英国驻巴黎、华盛顿、开罗等国的外交官员。

　　唐纳德·迈克林与布朗特一样，身材高大，长得也不错，可是却少了布朗特的镇定与坚决。他的父亲曾是议会议员，也做过鲍德温内阁的教育部长。他曾与伯吉斯短暂地发生过关系—据说是被伯吉斯勾引，但实际上看来是个异性恋。他是个好酒之人，一次在开罗因为醉得太凶，被人送回伦敦治疗。而在这次治疗后不久，他就被任命为英国外交部驻美国的负责人。

　　哈罗德·罗素·菲尔比(又称金·菲尔比，1912-1988)，记者，军情六处探员。

　　绰号“金”的菲尔比，是个变色龙式的人物，有些人认为他温文尔雅，是个真正的绅士，有些人却觉得他粗野不堪，事实上，他是一个天生的演员，可以根据不同的情势扮演不同的角色。作为一个间谍，他有着超凡的天赋，可以从大量的情报资源中，发现哪些是故意想要泄露给苏联的假情报，哪些则是真正有价值的秘密。

　　菲尔比的父亲圣约翰·菲尔比，是一位阿拉伯问题专家，外交家，也是沙特阿拉伯国王的顾问。此人性情古怪，常常在公开场合批评英国的种种政策，有些人猜测他的精神有些不正常。少年时代，金·菲尔比很少能够见到父亲，却非常崇拜他，一些人分析说，这可能影响到了日后金·菲尔比的意识形态立场。

　　和布朗特与伯吉斯不同，菲尔比是个公认的花花公子，结过四次婚，而且有过无数情妇。除了他的第四任妻子—一个苏联人，和他的第一任妻子，他的第二任妻子和第三任妻子都不知道他是个间谍，而且这两位在认识他时，都是有夫之妇，为了追随他，甘愿抛弃原来的丈夫。

　　菲尔比死于1988年，在他死后，他登上了苏联邮票，上面用俄语介绍了他的生平。

　　行动

　　KGB的耐心非比寻常。就像一瓶未够年头的好酒，伯吉斯、布朗特、迈克林和菲尔比在被征召后，并没有很快为苏联工作，KGB希望在他们打入英国情报局高层后，才渐渐给他们分派任务，最大程度地保证计划不会遭到英国人的怀疑。

　　剑桥四位间谍所进行活动的年代也各不相同。伯吉斯与迈克林是从1939年工作到1951年。菲尔比则是从1940年一直工作到1963年，直至最后逃至苏联，而在身份暴露后，他仍在继续为KGB效劳，担任顾问与密探教员工作，前后做了差不多半个世纪。布朗特则是被发现最晚的，从上世纪30年代初，一直秘密工作到70年代末。

　　战前

　　在1930年代晚期，四位间谍执行的都是无关紧要的小任务，一方面KGB担心他们身份被暴露，另一方面也是KGB自我保护的需要，他们还需要对这几个年轻人多加考验，避免培养出双重间谍。

　　四个年轻人果然没让KGB失望。布朗特很快就在艺术史研究方面取得了很大建树，达官贵人们想要购买某件古董家具或者油画，都希望先听听他的专家意见。迈克林成长为一位年轻的外交官。伯吉斯表面上是公开的反纳粹者，以此成功地掩饰了他真实的政治立场。

　　菲尔比未能进入外交部，而是成为了 《泰晤士报》 的一名记者，他的第一份工作是帮助苏联，营救奥地利的共产主义者和反法西斯活动家。在那里，他遇到了自己的第一任妻子丽兹，对方也是位苏联特工。离开维也纳后，他前往西班牙，为 《泰晤士报》 报道西班牙内战新闻，但这位记者与众不同，专门报道有利于佛朗哥的消息。在一次采访中，载着他和其他几名记者的车子被炮火击中，两个人遇难，而他只受了点轻伤。因为他的杰出“贡献”，佛朗哥向他颁发了勋章，从而进一步加深了人们对于菲尔比反共立场的印象。

　　1939年二战爆发时，年轻的外交官迈克林和一度去法国采访的记者菲尔比，都回到了英国，布朗特则顺利加入军情五处，这样，他的职责从征召新人，变成了将秘密文件传递给KGB。

　　战争年代

　　二战期间，是四人最为活跃的时期。

　　伯吉斯和布朗特向KGB源源不断地传送着盟军的军事策略与军情处的秘密文件。

　　迈克林在1944年到1948年，在英国驻美国大使馆工作，丘吉尔与罗斯福和杜鲁门之间沟通的文件，他都悉数奉献给了斯大林。他并没有向苏联提供关于核弹的技术参数，不过作为美国-英国-加拿大三边共享核研究委员会的英方代表，他向苏联报告了核爆研究的进展，同时泄露了美国的铀储备量。有了这些数据，苏联科学家足以计算出美国人可以制造多少枚核弹。

　　金·菲尔比执行了一系列任务。在二战期间，他向苏联人泄露了纳粹的密码“Enigma”已经被英国解码的消息。以他在军情六处的职位，他不仅可以轻松地骗取解码中心同事的信任，而且可以及早发现安插到KGB的英国特工—事实上，他不仅知道这些人姓甚名谁，而且是其中很多人的直接主管或导师。

　　冷战

　　在战后，迈克林对于斯大林来说，发挥了尤其重要的作用。他继续传递着杜鲁门与丘吉尔之间的沟通结果，令斯大林对于英美打算如何占领德国，划清东欧国家的边界都了如指掌，在雅尔塔会议、波茨坦会议和德黑兰会议中，斯大林都从中受益。1948年，迈克林被调到了英国驻埃及大使馆。

　　菲尔比在战后则来到华盛顿，担任军情六处与CIA之间的联络员，同时也与FBI保持联系，作为英国大使馆的安全专家，他有权看到一切FBI与英国共享的情报。他和迈克林共同合作，让斯大林知道了美国不会在朝鲜战争中使用核武器的消息。

　　伯吉斯在BBC担任过一段时间的节目主持人，主持的是一档关于议会的节目，在此期间又结交了一群重要的政客。其后，他成为英国副外长赫科特·迈克内尔的秘书，这个职务对苏联来说尤为意义重大。作为迈克内尔的秘书，他可以定期将最高外交机密传送给KGB—夜晚将它们偷偷运出来，拍成缩微照片，早上再神不知鬼不觉放回到迈克内尔的书桌上。

　　布朗特除了继续召募新丁为KGB效力，还充当着联络员的角色，为伯吉斯、菲尔比和他们的苏联上司提供沟通信息。

　　毫无疑问，在这四位剑桥间谍中，最重要的还是菲尔比。在此期间，有数位苏联特工叛变，都不约而同地暗示说英国情报机构里有一个内奸，但幸运的是，菲尔比恰恰被安排处理这类案件，因此可以方便地转移人们的怀疑目标。其中一个叫做沃尔科夫的苏联特工，已经与英国政府谈妥了条件，答应在拿到钱之后就说出内奸的准确名单，而菲尔比正是去中东，与沃尔科夫谈判的英国情报机会代表。结果，这位特工据说人间蒸发，菲尔比汇报说他始终无法找到沃尔科夫，这起危机就这样被化解。倘若不是后来伯吉斯与迈克林的身份暴露，菲尔比可能还会在军情六处平步青云，事实上，一些传记作家相信菲尔比将会是军情六处负责人的热门人选。菲尔比在去世前不久，这样解释自己的运气：

　　“真的，在我的一生中，我的运气一直好得出奇。在很多极度危险的时刻，我都想，完了，无路可逃了，突然间一线阳光洒进来，我又找到了出路。我难以形容，自己拥有多么多么幸运的人生。”

　　背叛

　　关于伯吉斯与迈克林叛逃、菲尔比身份被揭穿的故事，已经被人拍成电影。然而在KGB、FBI和军情六处的档案完全被解密前，坊间流传的这些故事，也许都不完全准确，以下的这个故事，或许比较接近当时的事实。

　　1949年，负责对付苏联间谍的FBI探员罗伯特·兰费尔有了一个惊人的发现，他与几个密码破译员发现，在1944年到1946年间，英国大使馆的一位成员，在持续地向KGB发送信息。这个英国人的代号是“霍默”。经过了一段时间的排查，他们找到了三到四个“霍默”的可能人选，其中一个是迈克林。

　　就在兰费尔的调查开始不久后，菲尔比前往华盛顿工作，充任英国军情部门与美国CIA、FBI与NSA之间沟通的使者。在对苏联情报的解码中，他推测迈克林很可能就是霍默，此后，他又从自己的KGB上司那里证实了这一点。另一方面，他也知道，兰费尔的调查进行得也很顺利，已经确认消息是由纽约发出，而迈克林在华盛顿任职期间，会定期前往纽约，公开的理由是要去那里探望他的太太与孩子们。

　　菲尔比的压力开始与日俱增。假如迈克林作为苏联间谍的身份被揭穿，一旦他招供，就很有可能牵连出其他的剑桥间谍。即使他在审判中咬紧牙关，以他们当年在剑桥的关系，菲尔比同样可能被连累。

　　与此同时，伯吉斯则是一颗不知何时便会爆发的炸弹。此时他任职于英国驻美国大使馆，他酗酒的毛病益发厉害，而且在私生活方面越来越不知检点，很难想象军情六处为何仍然会对他委以重任。在他前往美国任职前，老上司迈克内尔提醒他避免招惹三件事，“种族问题，与激进组织联系，以及公开同性恋身份”。伯吉斯脱口而出，“噢，你的意思是，我不要跟保罗·罗伯逊乱搞？”众所周知，罗伯逊是美国黑人歌唱家，也是著名的反种族歧视者和社会主义者。也只有喝酒喝得颠三倒四的伯吉斯，才会如此口无遮拦。为了控制这位老兄，菲尔比干脆将伯吉斯拉到了眼皮子底下，让他住在自己华盛顿的家中。即使是这样，伯吉斯依然不可理喻，在一次菲尔比举行的家庭宴会上，伯吉斯竟然当众羞辱了一位CIA高官的太太。

　　考虑到迈克林脆弱的性格，菲尔比认为对方几乎一定会在审判中招供，于是，他与伯吉斯一起想出了一条对策。让伯吉斯回伦敦，通知迈克林潜在的危险。可是，如何才能让伯吉斯回国，而又不至于引起外界怀疑呢？

　　他们的主意是将伯吉斯遣送回国，使他这次回伦敦的旅程，看似是英国大使馆所做出的决定。他们的计划天衣无缝，伯吉斯需要做到的是在一天内接到三张超速告票。他特意带上一位熟人，驱车从华盛顿特区前往南卡罗来纳，参加一个会议。前两次超速，因为他表示自己享有外交豁免权，警察只好将他放走，到了第三次超速时，警方忍无可忍，将他和同车的乘客扣留了几个小时，随后释放了他们。这起事件被汇报给了弗吉尼亚州长，州长向国务院汇报，国务院再知会英国大使馆。于是，伯吉斯顺理成章地收到了大使馆方面的谴责，并被勒令立即回伦敦。

　　接下来，伯吉斯在迈克林的办公室里与对方见面，由于害怕房间里安装了窃听器，伯吉斯丢下了一张纸条，上面写有他们两人见面的地点。在KGB探员于利·莫丁的安排下，他们见面，得以详细讨论迈克林的处境，并准备安排迈克林不日逃往苏联。但迈克林此时的情绪极其不稳定，不愿意一个人离开英国。莫丁倒是乐意带他回苏联，但KGB总部要求伯吉斯陪伴迈克林一起去苏联。

　　与此同时，军情五处坚持要求迈克林接受他们的调查。他们计划安排迈克林在1951年5月28日，星期一，接受FBI与军情五处的联合讯问。

　　结果，在迈克林生日那天，也就是5月25日，他与伯吉斯跳上了一艘开往法国的小船，然后消失得无影无踪。是布朗特事先得知了迈克林即将被审讯的消息，并预先警告了迈克林吗？布朗特在多年后依然否认这一点，那么，更大的可能，则是伯吉斯与迈克林认为无论形势如何，都应该在25号那天逃离英国。莫丁和菲尔比都猜测，伯吉斯会在安全将迈克林送到苏联后，就自行返回，可是苏联人坚持让伯吉斯留了下来。也许在他们看来，伯吉斯作为间谍来说，虽然对KGB已经意义不大，但若落入军情五处手中，却有可能造成更大的损失。

　　在伯吉斯与迈克林安全逃往苏联几周后，英国政府才很没面子地承认，这两人就是苏联间谍。而苏联方面始终拒绝承认二人身份，表示他们仅仅是“意识形态的叛离者，对自己的帝国主义祖国感到不满”。

　　此后的12年里，伯吉斯在KGB的照顾下，过着相当自在的生活，他一直没有学习俄语，住在一所舒适的公寓里，并且不断在这里发展新的恋情。即便如此，他仍然认为苏联的生活很乏味，表达过回英国的愿望，当然，苏联人不会放他走，而英国人也再也不容许他归国了。

　　与伯吉斯不同，迈克林则在努力进入苏联的体制内，他学习俄语，后来成为了一位研究西方经济政策的专家。

　　镜头拉回到华盛顿。当菲尔比得知迈克林叛逃到苏联的消息，他假装出一副惊讶的表情。而当他听说，与迈克林一起逃走的还有伯吉斯时，他脸上的表情就真是实实在在的了。他曾经明确告诉过伯吉斯，假使伯吉斯因为迈克林的事情被牵连，那么他也逃不了，因为伯吉斯就住在他的家里。从那时起，菲尔比就将伯吉斯说成是“那个该死的家伙”，两人再也没说过一句话。1963年，当菲尔比也逃到苏联时，伯吉斯已经到了弥留之际，临死前，他想要见菲尔比，但菲尔比拒绝了他的请求。

　　自从伯吉斯与迈克林双双叛逃，菲尔比就成了最大的嫌疑犯，情报机关称他为“第三人”。他的罪名，小一点，可以说是交友不慎，结交了伯吉斯这样一个损友；大一点，就有可能是苏联特工。

　　第三人

　　回到伦敦，菲尔比开始接受军情五处的反复审问，好在以他超凡的心理素质，他完全可以承受得住一轮又一轮的盘问，最终，他没有被安上任何罪名，但被勒令从军情六处辞职，并获得了一笔遣散费。现在，菲尔比失了业，他要养活妻子和四个孩子，生活一下子变得拮据起来。

　　到了1955年，一位议员追问，菲尔比是否真的就是“第三人”。过了一段时间，当时的英国外长给出了一个明确的答复，表明菲尔比并未与迈克林和伯吉斯有实质上的联系，他之所以被解雇，只是因为他早期的“共产主义倾向”。随后菲尔比在他母亲的寓所里召开了一个新闻发布会，表示迈克米兰的发言已经彻底洗去了他身上的冤屈。

　　与军情五处素有不和的军情六处，早就对菲尔比被解雇一事多有不满，于是，他们安排菲尔比出任两份报纸的记者，又聘请他出任他们在中东的探员，总部位于黎巴嫩，而那里也正是菲尔比的父亲与其中东籍的太太定居的地方。此后的六年里，菲尔比继续为军情六处提供情报，不过他更重要的工作则是为KGB效劳，苏联对于中东这块地方，也一直拥有着浓厚的兴趣。

　　1963年，一位叛逃到澳大利亚的苏联密探揭穿了菲尔比的身份，前往贝鲁特负责审讯菲尔比的，是他在军情六处的老同事兼老朋友。菲尔比承认他是苏联密探，但请求对方宽限他几天，好让他打点行李回到伦敦。在这几天里，他顺利逃到了苏联。不过也有人怀疑，英国方面早就因为自己的情报机构频频后院起火而难堪不已，为了避免再次受辱，他们干脆放了菲尔比一马，容许他逃走。

　　在菲尔比逃去苏联后不久，他的第三任太太和孩子也来到了莫斯科，不过他们最终还是选择回到英国。他曾与迈克林的妻子发生过一段恋情，但迈克林太太最后选择回到了丈夫身边，最后在美国定居(现在她仍然在美国生活)。菲尔比的第四任太太是个苏联人。他的余生在苏联度过，而且几乎一直为KGB服务，担任KGB顾问和探员导师。

　　菲尔比究竟是个怎样的人？一个忠贞的共产主义者，抑或是其他？莫丁的这段描述，也许是对菲尔比很好的总结：

　　“菲尔比从来都没有在外人面前展现过他真实的一面。无论是英国人，和他生活的女人们，还是我们(指KGB)，都无法洞穿包裹在他身上的那层神秘的膜。他将做间谍视为他一生最大的事业，并且直到死前，都为此兢兢业业。可是到了最后，我却怀疑菲尔比嘲弄了每一个人，尤其是我们。”

　　第四人

　　早在1951年时，安东尼·布朗特就被怀疑是苏联间谍，可是一直到菲尔比叛逃至苏联，人们也没有找到对付他的确凿证据。到了1964年，一个曾在剑桥留学的美国人迈克尔·斯特雷特向FBI和军情五处承认，布朗特曾表示希望召募他为KGB工作，他的身份才算确认下来。但是英国方面没办法迫使布朗特签署书面认罪书，毕竟布朗特是女王的艺术顾问，而且可以在皇室行走自如。

　　1964年4月23日，军情五处负责人马丁与布朗特会面，马丁承诺将不会起诉布朗特，布朗特则提供了其他几个间谍的名字，这几个不是已经死了，就是身份已经被公开。对他的审问一直延续到了1972年，在这段时间里，他颠三倒四地“交待”了21个所谓的间谍名单，但大多死无对证，而且供词前后矛盾。1979年，撒切尔公布了他的间谍身份，他被撤销爵位，第二年，他又被迫辞去了剑桥大学三一学院和英国皇家艺术院院士的职务。

　　之后的几年里，他与情人约翰·加斯金安静地生活在一起，1983年因为心脏病去世。作为一个英国绅士，布朗特从未离开过英国，也在这里宁静地被安葬。而他的同行菲尔比，遗体安葬在莫斯科。伯吉斯和迈克林的遗体被火化，骨灰被送回英国安葬。