Gulliver"s Travels《格列佛游記》

胡志美+

《格列佛游記》自1726年出版以來(lái)被譯成幾十種語(yǔ)言，在世界各地流傳甚廣。該書雖然沿用了18世紀(jì)歐洲小說(shuō)盛行的航海冒險(xiǎn)模式，卻被賦予了截然不同的性質(zhì)和魅力。作者以幽默的語(yǔ)言豐富了作品的道德含義，使之讀來(lái)妙趣橫生；又以主人公荒誕的經(jīng)歷諷刺了當(dāng)時(shí)英國(guó)社會(huì)的腐朽；同時(shí)還通過(guò)人物塑造和敘述框架的安排使讀者能在大笑過(guò)后反思人性。

作者喬納森·斯威夫特是英國(guó)18世紀(jì)著名的政論家和諷刺小說(shuō)家。他喜歡用諷喻的方式來(lái)創(chuàng)作，用豐富的幻想和夸張的手法塑造了一個(gè)個(gè)鮮明的形象，用曲折動(dòng)人的故事情節(jié)和淺顯易懂的語(yǔ)言文化反映現(xiàn)實(shí)生活從而起到抑惡揚(yáng)善的教育作用。他的很多傳世之作如《一只桶的故事》和《一個(gè)小小的建議》在文學(xué)史上占有重要的地位，而最具代表性的《格列佛游記》因其語(yǔ)言雅俗共賞，思想直指人心，一直位列英國(guó)文學(xué)庫(kù)的必讀經(jīng)典之作。 該書由四部分組成，每個(gè)部分都講述了梅爾·格列佛在出海航行的過(guò)程中在一些荒島上的離奇經(jīng)歷。

Lilliput 小人國(guó):

The first part tells about Gullivers extraordinary experience on an island called Lilliput. In a shipwreck, Gulliver is pushed forward by the water to the shore, making him the only survivor1. Later he wakes up only to find that he is fastened2 on each side to the ground by many tiny threads. Until then does he know that he is trapped3 in the island—Lilliput. People on the island are only six inches tall.

第一部分講述的是格列佛在一個(gè)叫“利立普特”的小人國(guó)的離奇遭遇。在一次船只失事中，因?yàn)楸缓Ｋ疀_到海岸上，格列佛成為了唯一的幸存者。醒來(lái)后，他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己被無(wú)數(shù)根細(xì)線捆綁在地上。此時(shí)他才知道自己被困在一個(gè)叫“利立普特”的島上。 那里的居民只有六英寸高。

During his stay on Lilliput, Gulliver learns two strange things. One is that the emperor of Lilliput chooses his officials not by evaluating4 their abilities but by holding a “rope-dancing” activity. Those who are outstanding and make the emperor happy in this competition will get a position in the government. The other thing is that Lilliput and Blefescu—a neighboring5 country of little people, wage6 wars against each other because they disagree with each other on where to crack7 an egg. The Lilliputians prefer to crack it on the small end while the people in Blefescu insist that its better to crack it on the large end.

在利立普特，格列佛觀察到兩件很怪異的事情，第一件是國(guó)王在選拔政府官員時(shí)不是衡量他們的能力而是舉行一個(gè)“跳繩”比賽，那些在比賽中表現(xiàn)突出并取悅國(guó)王的人就可以謀得一份職務(wù)。另外一件事就是，利立普特和一個(gè)相鄰的小人國(guó)Blefescu常年混戰(zhàn)，僅僅他們因?yàn)樵趶哪念^敲碎雞蛋這件事上發(fā)生了分歧。前者認(rèn)為應(yīng)該從小的那頭去敲，而后者則堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為從大的那頭去敲更好。

Being called a “man mountain”, Gulliver successfully helps the Lilliputians fight against the invasion8 from Blefescu, and also saves the royal family when a palace is on fire. This, however, brings about jealousy9 from some officials who later scheme against Gulliver with some rumors. At last, Gulliver is sentenced to blindness and starvation. Hearing this, Gulliver simply leaves Lilliput to put an end to it.

格列佛被他們稱作“巨人山”，并且成功地幫利立普特人抵御了Blefescu的入侵，還在皇宮著火時(shí)挽救了皇室人員?？墒沁@招致了一些官員的嫉妒，于是他們用一些謠言詆毀格列佛。終于，國(guó)王下令刺瞎他的雙眼并將他活活餓死。聽(tīng)到這個(gè)消息，格列佛離開(kāi)了利立普特結(jié)束了這一切。

Brobdingnang 大人國(guó)：

After staying at home for two months, Gulliver goes for another voyage. On an island, Gulliver and the crewmen splits up10 to find fresh water. Before long, Gulliver finds that his colleagues all run back to their ship because a gigantic creature is running after them. For their safety, the ship sails—without Gulliver. When exploring the island—Brobdingnang, he is surprised by the sights in front of him: corn 40 feet tall, a hedge 120 feet high and trees reaching to the sky. A farmer finds him and takes him home as a pet. To make money, the farmer takes Gulliver to the market and charges11 viewers who want to take a look at this little strange man. Soon he is bought by the queen of Brobdingnag as a present for the king. Gullivers two years stay in Brobdingnag is not easy because he has to worry about his life all the time because everything including a bee, a monkey and a frog is too large for him. Quiet interestingly, he leaves there because an eagle picks him up when he traveled to the sea together with the royal family.

在家呆了兩個(gè)月后，格列佛又開(kāi)始第二次出海航行。在一座島上，他和船員分頭去尋找水源。不久后他發(fā)現(xiàn)船員們紛紛跑回船上，因?yàn)楹竺嬗幸恢痪薮蟮墓治镌谧匪麄?。為了自己的安全，船員們竟然撇下格列佛開(kāi)船走了。在大人國(guó)布羅卜丁奈格上探索時(shí)，他被眼前的景象驚呆了：玉米40英尺高，籬笆120英尺高而樹(shù)木則快要碰到天了。一個(gè)農(nóng)夫發(fā)現(xiàn)了格列佛并把他當(dāng)做寵物帶回了家。為了賺錢，農(nóng)夫每天都把他帶到集貿(mào)市場(chǎng)去，并且向那些想要一睹這個(gè)奇怪的小人風(fēng)采的游客收取費(fèi)用。不久，大人國(guó)的皇后將他買去作為禮物送給國(guó)王。格列佛在那里的兩年并不容易，因?yàn)槟抢锏囊磺小瓦B一只蜜蜂，一只猴子和一只青蛙——對(duì)他來(lái)說(shuō)都太大了，他要時(shí)刻擔(dān)心自己的安危。頗為有趣的是，他在一次和皇室成員去海邊旅游的時(shí)候被一只鷹叼走才得以離開(kāi)那里。

Laputa 飛島國(guó)：

Gulliver sets sail for the third time when, unluckily he is attacked by pirates12 and is later left on an island called Laputa. It is an strange island that can fly without any aids. People on the island are all theoreticians and daydreamers. The scientists spend most time in trying to extract sunbeams from cucumbers, plow13 farmland with pigs and so on. They make their living by oppressing the people below Laputa and impose14 tax on them. Tired of their lifestyle, Gulliver finally leaves Laputa.

在格列佛的第三次出行中，他很不幸地被一群海盜襲擊并被流放到一個(gè)叫“樂(lè)普他”的島嶼上。奇怪的是這個(gè)島嶼在沒(méi)有任何幫助的情況下可以在空中飛行。島上的居民都是純理論者，整天做著白日夢(mèng)?？茖W(xué)家們將所有的時(shí)間都花在一些很荒誕的事情上，比如說(shuō)從黃瓜中提取陽(yáng)光，用豬犁地等等。他們完全靠壓榨住在島下的居民，以向他們征稅來(lái)維持生活。格列佛厭倦了他們的生活方式之后，最終離開(kāi)了那里。

Houynhmns 慧骃國(guó)：

After five months, Gulliver once again answers the call of the ocean. This time he finds himself on the land of the Houynhmns—a race of intelligent horses. On this land, the horse which is rational, civilized and noble becomes the ruler, giving orders to another ugly and brutal species called Yahoo. Gulliver has great respect for the horses because he thinks they have all the virtues15 of humanity. But he observes that the Yahoo has the face and figure of a human. But they are rude and disgusting16 and feed on the dead dogs. Gulliver gradually learns quite a lot from the horse. He wants to stay longer, but the horses still asks him to leave because they think he looks too much alike the Yahoos and might one day become the leader of Yahoos. Later, he luckily comes across a Portuguese ship whose captain agrees to take him back to England.

五個(gè)月后，格列佛又一次回應(yīng)了大海的號(hào)召。這次他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己身處一個(gè)叫“慧骃國(guó)”的地方。 “慧骃”指一種聰明的馬。在這個(gè)島上，理性、文明、高貴的馬處于統(tǒng)治者的地位，管理著另外一種叫做“雅虎”的丑陋粗魯?shù)纳?。格列佛很敬佩這些馬因?yàn)樗X(jué)得他們身上具有人性該有的一切美德。但是，他發(fā)現(xiàn)雅虎竟然有著和人類一樣的面孔和身體，但他們粗俗，令人惡心，以死狗為食。格列佛逐漸從慧骃馬那里學(xué)到了許多東西。盡管他很想繼續(xù)留在那里，慧骃馬卻還是要求他離開(kāi)，因?yàn)樗麄冋J(rèn)為格列佛和雅虎很相像，說(shuō)不定哪天會(huì)成為雅虎的領(lǐng)頭人。不久之后，他很幸運(yùn)地遇到一艘葡萄牙的船只，船長(zhǎng)同意帶他回到英國(guó)。

Gullivers Travels is a classic which always arouses the interest of every child to share Gullivers adventures into those fascinating lands. At the same time, it makes every adult to think over the writers satire on humanity and his wishes to build a harmonious and democratic17 society. The interesting plot and the profound18 ideas make Gullivers Travels a must-read since its first publish in 1726.

《格列佛游記》是一部經(jīng)典之作，它激發(fā)起每個(gè)小孩的興趣想要和格列佛一起去開(kāi)啟奇幻島嶼之旅。同時(shí)，它鞭策著每個(gè)成年人去思考作者對(duì)人性的諷刺和建立一個(gè)和諧民主社會(huì)的美好愿望。情節(jié)生動(dòng)有趣，思想深刻有力，這種完美的結(jié)合使得《格列佛游記》自1726年出版以來(lái)就成為了一部必讀經(jīng)典。