Spirit ofRaven

云南曲靖市第一中學(xué) 莊季明

背景介紹

烏鴉被北美印第安人視為聰明和富有創(chuàng)造力的象征，主要源于印第安神話故事《烏鴉偷日》。傳說一只烏鴉從一個(gè)居住于高山之巔的儲(chǔ)藏光明的老人那里偷來太陽和月亮，送給了長(zhǎng)期在黑暗中生活的人類。許多部落都將烏鴉作為自己的圖騰，圖騰柱上烏鴉口中所含的球就是太陽的象征。

情景對(duì)話

Marcie:Chayton，you're native American，right?Do you know anything about the Spirit of the Raven?I heard somewhere that ravens are really important to indigenous（土生土長(zhǎng)的）people in the America，but I don't know why...Can you tell me something about it?

Chayton:Well，I am native American，but our family comes from the Sioux tribe.The raven is a very important animal for native peoples of the Pacific Northwest，which includes the coast of California，Oregon，Washington，and Alaska in the United States，and parts of Canada as well.From what I know about it，the ravenplays an outstanding role inmany native mythologies（神話） including the Tsimshian，Haida，Heiltsuk，Tlingit，Kwakwaka'wakw，Koyukons，and Inuit tribes.

Marcie:I've seen the raven represented in many art and functional pieces in museums...

Chayton:Yes，those pieces would be from these tribes.The raven in these indigenous peo-ples'stories is the one who created the world.Sometimes the raven is seen as the Creator，but also，he is often seen as a trickster（詭計(jì)多端的人）.

Marcie:Of all the animals tochoose from，what's so special about the raven?I have always thought the raven was kind of a symbol of bad luck in Western cultural traditions...probablybecause ofthe black color.

Chayton:The raven not onlyshows upin native American traditions，but it is also popular in many mythologies，including Greek and Norse.It means many things to many people，but in native American tradition，the raven is special because it is seen as a bridge between life and death.Ravens eat carrion （腐肉），so theyarecloselyassociated withdeath.For Western cultures，a raven might be a bad omen（征兆）.For the native peoples of the Pacific northwest，the stories tell of the raven bringing the sun，moon，and stars into the world.One story explains the black color of the raven is because it was burned from carrying the fire of the sun in its mouth.

Marcie:That's really interesting！Those of us coming from a Western perspective might think the raven brings bad luck because it is black and is associated with death.But to native peoples，the raven touches the pathway between this life and the next and the color is a reminder of the light in the world.But it's just two different ways of looking at the same bird.

譯文助讀

瑪西：查頓，你是土生土長(zhǎng)的美國人吧？你知道烏鴉精靈嗎？我聽說烏鴉對(duì)于美國本土人非常重要，但我不知道這是為什么……你能和我說說嗎？

查頓：哦，我雖然是土生土長(zhǎng)的美國人，但是我的家族來自蘇族部落。烏鴉對(duì)于太平洋西北地區(qū)的本土人是非常重要的，包括美國的加利福尼亞州沿海地區(qū)、俄勒岡州、華盛頓州、阿拉斯加州，以及加拿大的部分地區(qū)。據(jù)我所知，烏鴉在當(dāng)?shù)氐脑S多神話故事中扮演著重要的角色，包括欽西安族、海德族、海爾楚克族、特林吉特族、夸夸嘉夸族、科育康族和因紐特部落。

瑪西：我在博物館看到了許多藝術(shù)品和功能性展品里面都有烏鴉的形象……

查頓：嗯，那些展品應(yīng)該是源自這些部落的。在這些土著人的故事中，烏鴉是世界的創(chuàng)造者。有時(shí)，烏鴉被視為上帝；但有時(shí)，烏鴉也被視為詭計(jì)多端的人。

瑪西：有那么多動(dòng)物可以選擇，為什么要選烏鴉呢？我一直以為，在西方文化傳統(tǒng)中，烏鴉象征著霉運(yùn)……或許因?yàn)樗呛谏陌伞?/p>

查頓：烏鴉不僅出現(xiàn)在美國土著人的傳統(tǒng)中，在希臘和挪威等國的神話中也很常見。它對(duì)于不同的人有著不同的含義，但在美國的土著傳統(tǒng)中，烏鴉的特別之處在于它代表生與死之間的橋梁。烏鴉吃腐肉，因此人們將它與死亡緊緊地聯(lián)系在一起。在西方文化中，烏鴉可能是一個(gè)不好的征兆。但在太平洋西北地區(qū)的土著人的故事中，烏鴉將太陽、月亮和群星帶到了這個(gè)世界上。有一個(gè)故事講的是，烏鴉之所以是黑色的，是因?yàn)樗鼘⑻栥曉谧炖锒惶栔馃齻恕?/p>

瑪西：那個(gè)故事很有意思呀。我們這些持西方觀點(diǎn)的人可能會(huì)認(rèn)為烏鴉會(huì)帶來厄運(yùn)，因?yàn)樗呛谏?，讓人?lián)想到死亡。不過對(duì)于土著人而言，烏鴉是連接此生和來生的橋梁，它的黑色提醒人們記住世界的光明。然而這只是看待同一種鳥的兩種不同的看法。

Language study

1.play an outstanding role in在……中扮演突出的角色

2.choose from從……中選擇

3.because of因?yàn)?/p>

4.show up出現(xiàn)；露面

5.be associated with與……有關(guān)；與……有關(guān)系