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堂吉诃德|Don Quixote

Part 1 The Author’s Preface

属类: 双语小说 【分类】世界名著 -[作者: 塞万提斯] 阅读:[54194]
Part 1 The Author’s Preface
《堂吉诃德》是一部幽默诙谐、滑稽可笑、充满了奇思妙想的长篇文学巨著。此书主要描写了一个有趣、可敬、可悲、喜欢自欺欺人的没落贵族堂吉诃德,他痴狂地迷恋古代骑士小说,以至于放弃家业,用破甲驽马装扮成古代骑士的样子,再雇佣农民桑乔作侍从,三次出征周游全国,去创建所谓的扶弱锄强的骑士业绩。他们在征险的生涯中闹出了许多笑话,到处碰壁受辱,堂吉诃德多次被打成重伤,有一次还被当成疯子关在笼子里遣送回乡。最后,他因征战不利郁郁寡欢而与世长辞,临终前他那一番貌似悔悟的话语让人匪夷所思又哭笑不得。
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闲逸的读者,你一定会以为我希望我杜撰的这本书尽善尽美,优美绝伦。

1.①塞万提斯曾两度身陷囹圄,也有资料认为,《唐吉诃德》始作于狱中。
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Idle reader: thou mayest believe me without any oath that I would this book, as it is the child of my brain, were the fairest, gayest, and cleverest that could be imagined.

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可我却悖逆不了自然界物造其类的规律。像我这样思维贫乏、胸无点墨的人,就像一个出生在纷扰尽生、哀声四起牢房里的人①,除了编造一个枯瘦任性、满脑怪谲的孩子的故事,还能编什么呢?

1.①塞万提斯曾两度身陷囹圄,也有资料认为,《唐吉诃德》始作于狱中。
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But I could not counteract Nature’s law that everything shall beget its like; and what, then, could this sterile, illtilled wit of mine beget but the story of a dry, shrivelled, whimsical offspring, full of thoughts of all sorts and such as never came into any other imagination — just what might be begotten in a prison, where every misery is lodged and every doleful sound makes its dwelling?

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如果生活安逸,环境清幽,田园秀丽,天空晴朗,泉水低吟,心绪平静,再贫乏的创作思维也会变得丰富,从而为社会提供各种作品,让社会洋溢着美好和欢乐。

1.①塞万提斯曾两度身陷囹圄,也有资料认为,《唐吉诃德》始作于狱中。
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Tranquillity, a cheerful retreat, pleasant fields, bright skies, murmuring brooks, peace of mind, these are the things that go far to make even the most barren muses fertile, and bring into the world births that fill it with wonder and delight.

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有的父亲得了面目丑陋、毫不可爱的孩子,可是父爱蒙住了父亲的眼睛,对孩子的短处视而不见,反而认为是聪明漂亮,向朋友们说孩子机灵标致。

1.①塞万提斯曾两度身陷囹圄,也有资料认为,《唐吉诃德》始作于狱中。
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Sometimes when a father has an ugly, loutish son, the love he bears him so blindfolds his eyes that he does not see his defects, or, rather, takes them for gifts and charms of mind and body, and talks of them to his friends as wit and grace.

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我呢,就像唐吉诃德的父亲,虽然只不过是继父,却不愿意随波逐流,像别人那样,几乎是眼噙泪水,求尊贵的读者宽恕或掩饰你所看到的我儿子的短处。

1.①塞万提斯曾两度身陷囹圄,也有资料认为,《唐吉诃德》始作于狱中。
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I, however — for though I pass for the father, I am but the stepfather to “Don Quixote” — have no desire to go with the current of custom, or to implore thee, dearest reader, almost with tears in my eyes, as others do, to pardon or excuse the defects thou wilt perceive in this child of mine.

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既然你不是孩子的亲戚,也不是他的朋友,你有自己的灵魂和意志,又聪明绝顶,而且还是在自己的家里,是一家之主,那么完全可以为所欲为。

1.①塞万提斯曾两度身陷囹圄,也有资料认为,《唐吉诃德》始作于狱中。
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Thou art neither its kinsman nor its friend, thy soul is thine own and thy will as free as any man’s , whate’er he be, thou art in thine own house and master of it as much as the king of his taxes.

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你知道,俗话说,“进我披风,国君可弑”。因此,你可以不受任何约束,不承担任何义务,对这个故事任意评论。请不必担心,说它不好,没有人指责你,说它好,也没有人奖励你。

1.①塞万提斯曾两度身陷囹圄,也有资料认为,《唐吉诃德》始作于狱中。
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and thou knowest the common saying, “Under my cloak I kill the king;” all which exempts and frees thee from every consideration and obligation, and thou canst say what thou wilt of the story without fear of being abused for any ill or rewarded for any good thou mayest say of it.

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我只想给你原原本本地讲个故事,而不用前言和卷首惯有的许多十四行诗、讥讽诗和颂词来点缀。

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My wish would be simply to present it to thee plain and unadorned, without any embellishment of preface or uncountable muster of customary sonnets, epigrams, and eulogies, such as are commonly put at the beginning of books.

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我可以告诉你,虽然我编这个故事小费气力,却绝没有写这篇序言那么困难。

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For I can tell thee, though composing it cost me some labour, I found none greater than the making of this Preface thou art now reading.

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多少次,我提笔欲写,却又因无从写起而搁笔。

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Many times did I take up my pen to write it, and many did I lay it down again, not knowing what to write.

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有一次,我面前铺着纸,耳朵上夹着笔,胳膊肘撑在桌上,手托脸颊,正冥思苦索,忽然来了一位朋友。他活泼可爱,熟谙世事,看见我若有所思,就问我在想什么。我直言不讳,说我正想为唐吉诃德的故事写个序言,还说我简直不想写了,也不想把这位贵族骑士的业绩公之于众了。

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One of these times, as I was pondering with the paper before me, a pen in my ear, my elbow on the desk, and my cheek in my hand, thinking of what I should say, there came in unexpectedly a certain lively, clever friend of mine, who, seeing me so deep in thought, asked the reason; to which I, making no mystery of it, answered that I was thinking of the Preface I had to make for the story of “Don Quixote,” which so troubled me that I had a mind not to make any at all, nor even publish the achievements of so noble a knight.

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“一想到那位被称之为大众的严厉的法官,我怎能不惶惶然呢?他看到我默默无闻多年①,已是一大把年纪,现又复出,编个故事竟干如针茅,毫无创新,风格平淡,文思枯窘,学识泛泛,会怎么说呢?而且这本书边白没有批注,书末没有集释,不像其他书,即使粗制滥造,也满篇亚里士多德、柏拉图和一堆哲学家的格言,令读者肃然起敬,认为作者是博学多闻、文才横溢的人。

①塞万提斯在1585年出版了第一部小说《加拉特亚》第一部,然后一直到1605年,才出版了《唐吉诃德》上卷。
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“For, how could you expect me not to feel uneasy about what that ancient lawgiver they call the Public will say when it sees me, after slumbering so many years in the silence of oblivion, coming out now with all my years upon my back, and with a book as dry as a rush, devoid of invention, meagre in style, poor in thoughts, wholly wanting in learning and wisdom, without quotations in the margin or annotations at the end, after the fashion of other books I see, which, though all fables and profanity, are so full of maxims from Aristotle, and Plato, and the whole herd of philosophers, that they fill the readers with amazement and convince them that the authors are men of learning, erudition, and eloquence.

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他们引用《圣经》,不过是为了表示他们是圣托斯·托马斯②或其他神学家嘛!他们这行字刻画一个放荡的恋人,另一行字却是基督教说教,令人赏心悦目,又巧妙地保持了自己的持重。②圣托斯·托马斯是基督教神学家。

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And then, when they quote the Holy Scriptures! — anyone would say they are St. Thomases or other doctors of the Church, observing as they do a decorum so ingenious that in one sentence they describe a distracted lover and in the next deliver a devout little sermon that it is a pleasure and a treat to hear and read.

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所有这些,我的书里都没有。我在边白没有什么可批注的,书尾也没有什么可集释的,更不知道有哪些我所参考的作者的名字可以列在卷首,不像其他人,按照字母A、B、C的顺序,从亚里士多德到色诺芬③、索伊洛④或宙克西斯⑤,逐一列注,虽然索伊洛只不过是批评家,而后一位是画家。

③色诺芬是古希腊历史学家、作家。④索伊洛是古希腊批评家。⑤宙克西斯是古希腊的画家。
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Of all this there will be nothing in my book, for I have nothing to quote in the margin or to note at the end, and still less do I know what authors I follow in it, to place them at the beginning, as all do, under the letters A, B, C, beginning with Aristotle and ending with Xenophon, or Zoilus, or Zeuxis, though one was a slanderer and the other a painter.

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我的书卷首没有十四行诗,起码连公爵、侯爵、伯爵、主教、贵夫人或著名诗人的十四行诗都没有

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Also my book must do without sonnets at the beginning, at least sonnets whose authors are dukes, marquises, counts, bishops, ladies, or famous poets.

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尽管我如果向我的两三个做官的朋友求诗的话,他们会给我写的,而且写得绝不亚于我们西班牙最有名气的那些人。

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Though if I were to ask two or three obliging friends, I know they would give me them, and such as the productions of those that have the highest reputation in our Spain could not equal.

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“总之,我的朋友,”我又接着说,“我决定还是让唐吉诃德先生埋没于他留在曼查的故纸堆里,直到有一天,苍天造就了能够装点其门面的人。反正我回天无力,才疏学浅,而且生性怠惰,懒得到处求人说那些我自己也能说的东西。因此我才发愣。你刚才听我说的这些事就足以让我发愣了。”

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“In short, my friend,” I continued, “I am determined that Senor Don Quixote shall remain buried in the archives of his own La Mancha until Heaven provide some one to garnish him with all those things he stands in need of; because I find myself, through my shallowness and want of learning, unequal to supplying them, and because I am by nature shy and careless about hunting for authors to say what I myself can say without them. Hence the cogitation and abstraction you found me in, and reason enough, what you have heard from me.”

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听到这儿,我的朋友拍了一下额头,大笑着对我说:

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Hearing this, my friend, giving himself a slap on the forehead and breaking into a hearty laugh, exclaimed,

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“看在上帝份上,兄弟,认识你这么长时间了,我才刚刚醒悟过来。我一直以为你是个聪明谨慎的人,可现在看来,你远非如此,而且跟我料想的简直有天壤之别。

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“Before God, Brother, now am I disabused of an error in which I have been living all this long time I have known you, all through which I have taken you to be shrewd and sensible in all you do; but now I see you are as far from that as the heaven is from the earth.

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本来在短时间内很容易做到的事情,却居然把像你这样饱经世故的人吓懵了,想罢手不干了。其实,你不是能力不足,而是太懈怠了,懒于思索。

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It is possible that things of so little moment and so easy to set right can occupy and perplex a ripe wit like yours, fit to break through and crush far greater obstacles? By my faith, this comes, not of any want of ability, but of too much indolence and too little knowledge of life.

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你想想看我说的对不对?那么,请听我说,著名的唐吉诃德是所有游侠骑士的光辉楷模,你却怯于出版他的故事。你会看到,我如何在转瞬之间就克服你说的那些困难,把那些装门面的东西都填补上。”

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Do you want to know if I am telling the truth? Well, then, attend to me, and you will see how, in the opening and shutting of an eye, I sweep away all your difficulties, and supply all those deficiencies which you say check and discourage you from bringing before the world the story of your famous Don Quixote, the light and mirror of all knight-errantry.”

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“你说吧,”我听了他的话说道,“你打算怎样除掉我的疑虑,解开我的谜团呢?”

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“Say on,” said I, listening to his talk; “how do you propose to make up for my diffidence, and reduce to order this chaos of perplexity I am in?”

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他说:“你首先考虑的是卷首没有十四行诗、讥讽诗和颂词,而且还得要风雅文士和贵族之作,其实,这些你只须用些微之力自己作就行了。

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To which he made answer, “Your first difficulty about the sonnets, epigrams, or complimentary verses which you want for the beginning, and which ought to be by persons of importance and rank, can be removed if you yourself take a little trouble to make them;

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你把它任意加上几个名字,加上教士国王①或特拉彼松达②皇帝的名字,据说他们都是著名诗人。

①教士国王是中世纪传说里的人物,指阿比西尼亚王或鞑靼王。②特拉彼松达是古希腊时代的一个帝国。
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you can afterwards baptise them, and put any name you like to them, fathering them on Prester John of the Indies or the Emperor of Trebizond, who, to my knowledge, were said to have been famous poets:

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即使他们不是诗人,而且有腐儒和多嘴家伙在背后嘀咕并诋毁你,你也毫无损失。他们就算查清了那是虚构,也不能把你写字的手砍掉。

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and even if they were not, and any pedants or bachelors should attack you and question the fact, never care two maravedis for that, for even if they prove a lie against you they cannot cut off the hand you wrote it with.

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“至于书页边白上,你可以引用经典以及那些经典的作者,只须凭记忆写些相应的格言或拉丁文就行了。或者你费点力气查一查,例如,谈到自由和禁锢,你就写上:

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“As to references in the margin to the books and authors from whom you take the aphorisms and sayings you put into your story, it is only contriving to fit in nicely any sentences or scraps of Latin you may happen to have by heart, or at any rate that will not give you much trouble to look up; so as, when you speak of freedom and captivity, to insert

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为黄金,失自由,并非幸福。

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Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro;

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然后,你就可以写上贺拉斯①或其他什么人的名字。如果谈到死亡的力量,你就引用:

①贺拉斯是古罗马的杰出诗人。
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and then refer in the margin to Horace, or whoever said it; or, if you allude to the power of death, to come in with —

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死神踏平贫民屋,

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Pallida mors Aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas,

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同样扫荡君王殿。

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Regumque turres.

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如果说到上帝让我们对敌人也要友爱,你就引用《圣经》。你随便一翻就能找到上帝的原话:‘只是我告诉你们,要爱你们的仇敌!’讲到邪念,你不妨援用《福音》:‘从心里发出来的有恶念。’如果朋友不可靠,那么有卡顿②呢,他会告诉你:

②卡顿是古罗马的政治家。
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If it be friendship and the love God bids us bear to our enemy, go at once to the Holy Scriptures, which you can do with a very small amount of research, and quote no less than the words of God himself: Ego autem dico vobis: diligite inimicos vestros. If you speak of evil thoughts, turn to the Gospel: De corde exeunt cogitationes malae. If of the fickleness of friends, there is Cato, who will give you his distich:

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顺利之时朋友多,

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Donec eris felix multos numerabis amicos,

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危难之时门冷落。

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Tempora si fuerint nubila, solus eris.

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有了这类拉丁文的东西,人们至少把你看成是语言学家,这在当今可以名利双收呢。

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With these and such like bits of Latin they will take you for a grammarian at all events, and that now-a-days is no small honour and profit.

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要说书尾的集释,你也完全可以照此办理。如果你想在书里加上一位巨人的名字,你就写巨人歌利亚。这本来不费你什么事,还可以大做注释。

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“With regard to adding annotations at the end of the book, you may safely do it in this way. If you mention any giant in your book contrive that it shall be the giant Goliath, and with this alone, which will cost you almost nothing, you have a grand note,

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你找到有关章节就可以注上:‘据《列王记》,巨人歌利亚或者歌利亚特,是腓力士人,在特雷宾托山谷③被牧人大卫用一块石头猛击而死。’

③据《旧约·撒母耳记》第十七章,应为以拉山谷。
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for you can put — The giant Golias or Goliath was a Philistine whom the shepherd David slew by a mighty stone-cast in the Terebinth valley, as is related in the Book of Kings — in the chapter where you find it written.

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“然后,如果你要炫示你对人文学和宇宙学有研究,就要尽量在你的故事里提到塔霍河,接着你就可以再作一段精彩的注解,写道:

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“Next, to prove yourself a man of erudition in polite literature and cosmography, manage that the river Tagus shall be named in your story, and there you are at once with another famous annotation, setting forth —

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‘塔霍河得名于一位西班牙国王。它发源于某地,又沿着著名的里斯本城墙,流入海洋,据说它含有金沙等等。’

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The river Tagus was so called after a King of Spain: it has its source in such and such a place and falls into the ocean, kissing the walls of the famous city of Lisbon, and it is a common belief that it has golden sands, etc.

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若是涉及小偷,我可以告诉你卡科①的故事,这我还记得。

①卡科是古罗马神话中火神的儿子,因窃牛被杀。
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If you should have anything to do with robbers, I will give you the story of Cacus, for I have it by heart;

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谈到风尘女,蒙多涅多主教会向你提供拉米亚、列伊达和弗洛拉,这个注释会让你信誉倍增。

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if with loose women, there is the Bishop of Mondonedo, who will give you the loan of Lamia, Laida, and Flora, any reference to whom will bring you great credit;

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说到狠毒的人,奥维德②会举荐美狄亚③。

②奥维德是古罗马诗人。③美狄亚是希腊神话中科尔喀斯国王的公主,会巫术,后为伊阿宋之妻。年迈时伊阿宋另娶。美狄亚送新娘一件婚服,新娘披上即被焚死。美狄亚还杀死了两个儿子和她的弟弟。
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if with hard-hearted ones, Ovid will furnish you with Medea;

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要说女魔法师和女巫师,荷马有卡吕普索④,维吉尔⑤有喀尔刻⑥。

④卡吕普索是古希腊神话中俄古癸亚岛的女神。⑤维吉尔是古罗马诗人。⑥喀尔刻是古希腊神话中太阳神和佩耳塞之女,精通魔法。
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if with witches or enchantresses, Homer has Calypso, and Virgil Circe;

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论骁将,尤利乌斯·凯撒会挺身而出,献上他的《高卢战记》和《内战记》;普鲁塔克⑦会告诉你上千个亚历山大。

⑦普鲁塔克是古希腊传记作家、散文家。
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if with valiant captains, Julius Caesar himself will lend you himself in his own ‘Commentaries,’ and Plutarch will give you a thousand Alexanders.

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[p1]提及爱情,你只需知道托斯卡纳语⑧之皮毛,就可以找到莱昂·埃夫雷奥,满足你的需要。

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If you should deal with love, with two ounces you may know of Tuscan you can go to Leon the Hebrew, who will supply you to your heart’s content;

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[p2]倘若你不愿意到国外去找,家里就有丰塞卡的《上帝之爱》,你和旷世智者需要的材料在那里应有尽有。

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or if you should not care to go to foreign countries you have at home Fonseca’s ‘Of the Love of God,’ in which is condensed all that you or the most imaginative mind can want on the subject.

46
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总之,你要做的事情就是开列出这些名字,或者把我刚才说的这些故事塞进你的故事,由我负责写批注和集释。我保证把边白都填满,书尾再补上四页。

46
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In short, all you have to do is to manage to quote these names, or refer to these stories I have mentioned, and leave it to me to insert the annotations and quotations, and I swear by all that’s good to fill your margins and use up four sheets at the end of the book.

47
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“现在,咱们再来说说参考作家的名单吧。别人的书里都有,而你的书却没有。解决的方法很简单,

47
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“Now let us come to those references to authors which other books have, and you want for yours. The remedy for this is very simple:

48
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你只须找一个作者名单,就像你说的那样,按照字母顺序从A到Z列到你的书上。

48
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You have only to look out for some book that quotes them all, from A to Z as you say yourself, and then insert the very same alphabet in your book,

49
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尽管一看就是假的,因为你大可不必参阅那么多作者,那也没关系,说不定真有人头脑单纯,相信你为写这个简单普通的故事参阅了那么多作者呢。

49
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and though the imposition may be plain to see, because you have so little need to borrow from them, that is no matter; there will probably be some simple enough to believe that you have made use of them all in this plain, artless story of yours.

50
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这个长长的名单即使没什么用,也至少可以给你的书额外地增加权威性。而且,也不会有人去调查你是否参阅了那些作者,这跟他没关系。

50
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At any rate, if it answers no other purpose, this long catalogue of authors will serve to give a surprising look of authority to your book. Besides, no one will trouble himself to verify whether you have followed them or whether you have not, being no way concerned in it;

51
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尤其是我忽然想到,你说你这本书缺少那些装门面的东西,我觉得其实大可不必。这本书是讽刺骑士小说的,而骑士小说亚里士多德从未提及,圣巴西利奥也不置可否,西塞罗①又看不懂。

①西塞罗是古罗马政治家、演说家、哲学家。
51
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especially as, if I mistake not, this book of yours has no need of any one of those things you say it wants, for it is, from beginning to end, an attack upon the books of chivalry, of which Aristotle never dreamt, nor St. Basil said a word, nor Cicero had any knowledge;

52
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这个故事的真实程度以及它是否有占星学的观测力,都不必听他们信口雌黄。至于是否有几何学的精确尺度,有修辞学的标准论据,都对你这本书无关紧要。你也无须将人的东西和神的东西混为一体,告诉某人说这本书是个综合体。任何一种基督教意识都不会认为应该有这种装饰。

①西塞罗是古罗马政治家、演说家、哲学家。
52
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nor do the niceties of truth nor the observations of astrology come within the range of its fanciful vagaries; nor have geometrical measurements or refutations of the arguments used in rhetoric anything to do with it; nor does it mean to preach to anybody, mixing up things human and divine, a sort of motley in which no Christian understanding should dress itself.

53
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你只能依靠在写作的过程中摹仿得益。摹仿得越贴切,写得就越好。你这本书的宗旨是为了消除骑士小说在社会上和百姓中的影响和地位,因此不必到处乞求哲学家的警句、《圣经》的箴言、诗人编造的神话、修辞学家的词句和圣人的奇迹,

①西塞罗是古罗马政治家、演说家、哲学家。
53
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It has only to avail itself of truth to nature in its composition, and the more perfect the imitation the better the work will be. And as this piece of yours aims at nothing more than to destroy the authority and influence which books of chivalry have in the world and with the public, there is no need for you to go a-begging for aphorisms from philosophers, precepts from Holy Scripture, fables from poets, speeches from orators, or miracles from saints;

54
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而是要直截了当,言之有物,用词得体,写出的句子动人诙谐,尽可能地表现出你的意图,有条不紊、文从字顺地陈述你的观点。

①西塞罗是古罗马政治家、演说家、哲学家。
54
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but merely to take care that your style and diction run musically, pleasantly, and plainly, with clear, proper, and well-placed words, setting forth your purpose to the best of your power, and putting your ideas intelligibly, without confusion or obscurity.

55
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你还应该争取做到让人读了你的故事以后,忧郁的人转忧为笑,愉快的人夸其创意,苛求的人不睥睨视之,矜持的人也赞不绝口。

①西塞罗是古罗马政治家、演说家、哲学家。
55
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Strive, too, that in reading your story the melancholy may be moved to laughter, and the merry made merrier still; that the simple shall not be wearied, that the judicious shall admire the invention, that the grave shall not despise it, nor the wise fail to praise it.

56
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实际上,你的目的就是要推翻骑士小说胡编滥造的那套虚幻的东西。很多人厌恶骑士小说,但更多的人喜欢它。你要是能达到你的目的,收获不小呢。”

①西塞罗是古罗马政治家、演说家、哲学家。
56
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Finally, keep your aim fixed on the destruction of that ill-founded edifice of the books of chivalry, hated by some and praised by many more; for if you succeed in this you will have achieved no small success.”

57
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我洗耳恭听朋友的忠告,条条在理,打动我心。我深信不疑,欣然采纳,按照他的意见写了这个序言。

57
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In profound silence I listened to what my friend said, and his observations made such an impression on me that, without attempting to question them, I admitted their soundness, and out of them I determined to make this Preface;

58
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在这个序言里,温和的读者,你可以看到,我的朋友是多么聪明,我又是多么走运,在最需要帮助的时候遇到了这位顾问,而你也松了一口气,看到了曼查著名的唐吉诃德的真实故事。据蒙铁尔地区的所有居民说,多年来,唐吉诃德在那一带一直称得上是最忠实的情人,最勇敢的骑士。

58
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wherein, gentle reader, thou wilt perceive my friend’s good sense, my good fortune in finding such an adviser in such a time of need, and what thou hast gained in receiving, without addition or alteration, the story of the famous Don Quixote of La Mancha, who is held by all the inhabitants of the district of the Campo de Montiel to have been the chastest lover and the bravest knight that has for many years been seen in that neighbourhood.

59
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我不想强调是我向你介绍了这位尊贵正直的骑士,但希望你感谢我让你即将认识他的侍从,那位著名的桑乔·潘萨。我认为,我已把那些空洞的骑士小说里侍从的所有滑稽之处都集于他一身了。

59
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I have no desire to magnify the service I render thee in making thee acquainted with so renowned and honoured a knight, but I do desire thy thanks for the acquaintance thou wilt make with the famous Sancho Panza, his squire, in whom, to my thinking, I have given thee condensed all the squirely drolleries that are scattered through the swarm of the vain books of chivalry.

60
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现在,愿上帝保佑你健康,毋忘我。请多多保重。

60
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And so — may God give thee health, and not forget me. Vale.

简典