和谐英语

您现在的位置是:首页 > 英语阅读 > 英语阅读|英语阅读理解

正文

毁童年:德国古童话热衷女汉子/娘炮

2014-12-29来源:每日邮报

Most fairytales are overrun with wicked witches, entrapped princesses and dashing young princes.

邪恶的女巫、受困的公主、年轻勇敢的王子,这是大多数童话故事里都有的人物。

But a new collection offers a different take on the classics - without the Happily Ever After.

但是最近有一部童话集却“不走寻常路”,跳出了那种“王子和公主从此过上了幸福生活”的形式。

The stories were compiled by German historian Franz Xaver von Schönwerth in the 1880s - around the same time as the Brothers Grimm folk tales - from across the Bavarian region of Oberpfalz.

这部童话集中的故事由德国历史学家弗朗兹·克萨韦尔·冯·希昂韦斯收集而来。希昂韦斯和格林兄弟生活在同一时期,他在德国上普法尔茨地区收集到的这些故事与格林童话形成了鲜明对比。

毁童年:德国古童话热衷女汉子/娘炮

And now the collection, which lay undiscovered in a local archive for 150 years, is set to be published in English for the first time, the Guardian reports.

而现在这部被作为地方档案收藏了近150年的童话集首次被译成英文并出版。

While the well-known Grimm fairytales often feature a vulnerable princess and dragon-slaying hero, Schönwerth reverses their roles - offering readers powerful female and vulnerable male characters.

格林童话童话中描绘的多是柔弱、易受攻击的公主和英勇的王子之间的故事,而希昂韦斯收集的这套童话却与此正相反,它们塑造的则是强有力的女性形象和柔弱、易受攻击的男性形象。

In Schönwerth's fantastical version Cinderella, for example, the heroine uses her golden - not glass - slippers to rescue her lover from beyond the moon.

比如希昂韦斯版本的《灰姑娘》,讲述的是女主人公用她的金鞋子而不是水晶鞋将她的爱人从月球之外拯救出来的故事。

But his work, which also includes untold tales such as The Stupid Wife and The Girl And The Cow, failed to attract the same attention as that of the Brothers Grimm and faded into obscurity.

希昂韦斯收集的还包括了如《傻老婆》、《女孩和牛》等故事,但这些并没有引起和格林童话一样的关注度,因此逐渐被人淡忘。

Many of the tales were told to him by peasants, labourers and servants, after being passed down through generations by word-of-mouth.

希昂韦斯收集的故事大多是从一些农民、仆人及体力劳动者那儿听来的,这些故事多是经历了几代人的口口相传。

He completed a book on his findings called Aus der Oberpfalz – Sitten und Sagen, which came out in three volumes. They included the fairy tales and historical background on them.

希昂韦斯根据收集到的这些童话故事编辑成一套三卷本的著作。其中不仅包括了童话故事,还包括了故事的历史背景。

In 1885, Jacob Grimm said this about him: 'Nowhere in the whole of Germany is anyone collecting [folklore] so accurately, thoroughly and with such a sensitive ear.'

1885年,雅各布·格林曾这样评价道:“德国再也找不到任何人能凭借这样一双灵敏的耳朵将故事收集得如此准确和全面。”

But Schönwerth's volumes never gained prominence and were mostly forgotten.

但是希昂韦斯的童话集并未获得关注,而且大部分都被遗忘了。

It was only when Erika Eichenseer, 80, was sifting through Schönwerth's work in an archive in Regensburg that his work re-emerged into the public domain.

直到80岁的艾丽卡·爱琴斯尔将这部一直沉睡在雷根斯堡历史档案馆中的著作发掘出来,才使它们重新回归到公众的视线中。

Ms Eichenseer, a retired teacher who now works as a cultural curator, moved to have the tales translated English and they will be published in a new Penguin edition called The Turnip Princess.

退休教师、现从事文化图书等工作的爱琴斯尔女士一直致力于将这套童话集翻译成英文,并重新出版,定名为《萝卜公主》。

One story tells of a maiden who escapes a witch by transforming herself into a pond. The witch then lies on her stomach and drinks all the water, swallowing the young girl.

在这套童话集中,其中有一个故事讲述了一个年轻女孩为了躲避女巫把自己变成了一个池塘,女巫趴下来喝光了池塘中所有的水,也吞掉了这个年轻女孩。

But once she has drunk the pond, the girl uses a knife to cut her way out of the witch.

但是当女巫试图吞下整个池塘时,女孩用一把刀逃了出来。

In another, a woman gives her belongings to the poor but regains her wealth after she scares off a group of thieves.

另一个故事中,一个女人把自己的所有财产都给了穷人,但在吓退了一群盗贼之后又重新得回了自己的财产。

Ms Eichenseer says the fairytales were invented for people of all ages.

爱琴斯尔女士称这些童话故事适合各个年龄段的人群。

Speaking about the books in 2012, she said: 'Their main purpose was to help young adults on their path to adulthood, showing them that dangers and challenges can be overcome through virtue, prudence and courage.'

说起这套书,她说:“目的是为了帮助年轻人更好地成长,让他们知道,成长的道路上遇到的任何危险和挑战都能用美德、谨慎和勇气去化解、克服。”