美国学生人类历史第57期:古希腊的戏剧(1)

 　　Chapter 17

　　第十七章

　　The Greek Theater

　　古希腊的戏剧

　　The Origins of the theater, the first form of public amusement

　　人类第一种公共娱乐形式---戏剧的起源

　　At a very early stage of their history the Greeks had begun to collect the poems, which had been written in honor¹ of their brave ancestors who had driven the Pelasgians out of Hellas and had destroyed the power of Troy. These poems were recited in public and everybody came to listen to them. But the theatre, the form of entertainment which has become almost a necessary part of our own lives, did not grow out of these recited heroic² tales. It had such a curious origin that I must tell you something about it in a separate chapter.

　　从很早开始，古希腊人便开始采集歌颂其英勇先祖的诗歌。这些诗歌讲述了他们的先祖把皮拉斯基人逐出希腊半岛以及摧毁特洛伊城的丰功伟绩。行吟诗人走村串户，当众朗诵这些诗歌，每个人都出来聆听。可是，作为我们当代日常生活中必不可少的娱乐形式之一的戏剧，却不是起源于这些当众吟诵的史诗。它的起源奇妙无比，因此我想单独用一章的篇幅来给你讲述这个故事。

　　The Greeks had always been fond of parades. Every year they held solemn³ processions⁵ in honor of Dionysos the God of the wine. As everybody in Greece drank wine (the Greeks thought water only useful for the purpose of swimming and sailing) this particular Divinity was as popular as a God of the Soda-Fountain would be in our own land.

　　古希腊人向来喜欢游行。每年他们都会举行盛大游行来赞美与敬奉酒神狄俄尼索斯。希腊人好饮葡萄酒（他们认为水的用处仅止于游泳与航海），因此这位酒神大受欢迎。我想，如果我们这个时代有汽水饮料之神，他也会受到同样的待遇。

　　And because the Wine-God was supposed to live in the vineyards, amidst a merry mob⁶ of Satyrs (strange creatures who were half man and half goat), the crowd that joined the procession⁴ used to wear goat-skins and to hee-haw like real billy-goats. The Greek word for goat is "tragos" and the Greek word for singer is "oidos."

　　希腊人认为这位酒神是住在葡萄园里的，终日与一群名为萨堤罗斯的半人半羊的怪物一起，过着快乐而放纵的生活。因此，参加游行的人们惯常披着羊皮，发出咩咩的叫声，像真正的公羊。在希腊语里，山羊写法为"tragos"，而歌手则拼作"oidos"。

1 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

2 heroic   

adj.英雄的，英勇的，崇高的

参考例句：

• Many people have heard of the man's heroic deeds.许多人都已经听说了这个人的英雄事迹。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

3 solemn   

adj.庄严的，肃穆的；严肃的

参考例句：

• He wore an extraordinarily solemn expression.他脸上带着异常严肃的表情。
• Do not let us be too solemn on the business.关于这件事，还是不要让我们太认真了吧。

4 procession   

n.队伍，行列；v.列队行进

参考例句：

• The students entered the school in procession.学生们排队进入学校。
• The grand procession moves slowly out of the temple.这支庄严的队伍缓缓地走出庙堂。

5 processions   

n.队伍，行列( procession的名词复数 )；列队行进

参考例句：

• Banners, processions, slogans, games, community hikes all that stuff. 旗帜，游行，口号，竞赛，集体野游——全是这些鬼东西。 来自英汉文学
• The processions wound themselves about the town in circles. 一队队的行列在市内绕着圈行进。 来自互联网

6 mob   

n.暴民，民众，暴徒；v.大举包围，乱挤，围攻

参考例句：

• The king was burned in effigy by the angry mob.国王的模拟像被愤怒的民众烧掉以泄心中的愤恨。
• An angry mob is attacking the palace.愤怒的暴徒在攻击王宫。