双语美文：美人鱼的传说

 The mermaid¹ and merman legends begin with the worship of god as have many mythologies². The earliest representations and descriptions of these now well-known creatures can be traced back as far as the eighth century BC, where merfolk got their beginnings as pagan water deities³ and supernatural female water beings.

远古美人鱼的传说　

　　如同众多神话一样，关于雌性和雄性美人鱼的传奇故事始于天神崇拜。对如今这一广为人知的生物的最早描述可以追溯到公元前八世纪，在那个时代，人们最开始视其为原始水神和具有超自然能力的雌性水怪。

　　The Babylonians were known to worship a sea-god called Oanne or Ea. Oannes was reputed to have risen from the Erythrean Sea and taught to man the arts and sciences. In the Louvre today can be seen an eighth century wall-scene depicting⁴ Oannes as a merman, with a fish-like tail and the upper-body of a man.

　　古巴比伦人敬奉一个名为“奥尼斯”或“伊亚”的海神。据说，奥尼斯从厄立特里亚古海上升起，向人类传授艺术与科学知识。如今在卢浮宫里，人们还可以看到一幅创作于八世纪的壁画，画中的奥尼斯是一条雄性人鱼，上身为人形，长着一条貌似鱼尾的尾巴。

　　The Syrians and the Philistines⁵ were also known to have worshiped a Semitic mermaid moon-goddess. The Syrians called her Atargatis while the Philistines knew her as Derceto. It is not unusual or surprising that this moon-goddess was depicted⁶ as a mermaid as the tides ebbed⁷ and flowed with the moon then as it does now, and this was incorporated into the god-like personifications that we find in their art and ancient literature. Atargatis is one of the first recorded mermaid and the legend says that her child Semiramis was a normal human and, because of thi Atargatis was ashamed and killed her lover. Abandoning the infant she became wholly a fish.

　　众所周知，叙利亚人和腓力斯人敬奉一位闪米特美人鱼月神。叙利亚人称她为“阿塔哥提斯”，而腓力斯人则把她叫作“得塞托”。潮水随着月亮的阴晴圆缺而涨退，古今皆如此，所以美人鱼被那个时代的人称为月神也很正常，不足为奇，而美人鱼也因这一点在古代腓力斯艺术创作和文学作品中被诠释为神的化身。阿塔哥提斯是最早被记载的美人鱼之一。传说称她的第一个孩子斯米拉米斯是一个普通人，她因此感到羞愧不已，先杀死了情人，后抛弃了还是婴儿的孩子，自己完完全全地变成了鱼形。

　　In Japanese and Chinese legends there were not only mermaids⁸ but also sea-dragons and dragon-wives. The Japanese mermaid known as Ningyo was depicted as a fish with only a human head. Polynesian mythology⁹ includes a creator named Vatea who was depicted as half-human and half-porpoise¹⁰.

亚洲美人鱼的传说

　　日本和中国的传说故事里不仅有美人鱼，还有海龙王和龙母。日本的美人鱼叫“人鱼”，有着人头鱼身的形象。玻利尼西亚神话里则有一个名叫“维提”的半人半海豚形怪物。

　　Greek and Roman mythology is often placed together as the two are very similar, and it is in the literature from these cultures that one finds the first literary description of the mermaid and, indeed, mermen. Poseidon and Neptune¹¹ were often depicted as half-man and half-fish, and Homer mentions the Sirens during the voyage of Odysseu although he fails to give a physical description.

　　因为古希腊和古罗马神话非常相似，因此人们常常把两者放在一起讨论。对于雌性美人鱼与雄性美人鱼的文字描述最早便出现在这两种文化的文学作品里。古希腊海神波塞冬和古罗马海神尼普顿常常被描述成半人半鱼的形象。荷马在讲述奥德修斯的海上征程时提到了塞壬，只可惜他并没有对其外形作具体描述。

　　The British Isles¹² too had their fair share of merfolk mythology. The Cornish knew mermaids as Merrymaids; the Irish knew them as Merrows or Muirruhgach and some sources write that they lived on dry land below the sea and had enchanted¹³ caps that allowed them to pass through the water without drowning. While the women were very beautiful, the men had red nose piggy eye green hair and teeth, and a penchant¹⁴ for brandy.

　　不列颠群岛也不缺美人鱼的传说。康沃尔人把美人鱼称为“梅丽少女”，而爱尔兰人则称之为“梅尔萝”或者“梅如加”。有资料称，这些美人鱼住在海底干燥的陆地上，因为头戴魔帽而不会在水中溺毙。雌性美人鱼都异常惊艳，而雄性美人鱼则是红鼻小眼，绿发青牙，还酷爱喝白兰地。

　　Germanic mythology has the Meerfrau, the Nix and the Nixe who were male and female fresh-water inhabitant and it was believed that they were treacherous¹⁵ to men. The Nixe lured¹⁷ men to drown while the Nix could be in the form of an old dwarfish¹⁸ character or as a golden-haired boy and, in Iceland and Sweden, could take the form of a centaur¹⁹. The Nix also loved music and could lure¹⁶ people to him with his harp²⁰; if he was in the form of a horse he would tempt²¹ people to mount him and then dash into the sea to drown them. While he sometimes desired a human soul he would often demand annual human sacrifices. There was also the more elven-like Nixies that would sometimes appear in the market; she could be identified by the corner of her apron²² being wet. If she paid a good price it would be an expensive year, but if she paid a low price the prices for that year would remain cheap. In the Rhine were to be found the Lorelei from which the town took its name. The Germans also knew the Melusine as a double-tailed mermaid as did the British heraldry as well.

　　梅尔弗、尼克斯和尼斯则是日尔曼民族神话中的美人鱼，他们是生活在淡水中的雄性和雌性美人鱼，据说对人类奸诈凶险。雌性美人鱼会把男人引诱到水中使其溺毙，而雄性美人鱼则会变成年迈的侏儒或者金发男孩引诱人类；在冰岛和瑞典，他还会以人首马身的样子出现。雄性美人鱼喜爱音乐，会弹奏竖琴以诱惑人类。如果他以马的形象出现，他就会诱人骑到马背上，再冲到海里，把人淹死。有时候，他想要获得人的灵魂，于是就要求人类每年以活人作为供品。雌性美人鱼有时会以类似小精灵的形象在集市上出现，围裙一角湿答答的就是她。如果她支付了大价钱，那这一年集市的商品价格就会走高；而如果她出了低价，那这一年的价格就低。在莱茵河流域，其中一个小镇的名字就是源自美人鱼罗日雷。日尔曼人还知道“梅尔露辛”是条双尾美人鱼，而英国的纹章上也有双尾美人鱼。

　　With the growth of science, the fantastic became childish amongst the writers of the growing educated, especially during the eighteenth century, but began to flourish again with the Romantic Movement at the turn of the century. It was also the time, however, for the scientifically-minded to do their utmost to dispel²³ the myth of the mermaid, claiming that all the recorded sightings were simply men who'd been at sea too long and wanting to believe, and so, when a seal, porpoise, dugong or manatee²⁴ was spotted²⁵ from the ship, they'd swear they'd seen a mermaid.

近代美人鱼的传说

　　随着科学的日益发展，对于学识日渐丰富的作家来说，那些稀奇古怪的说法显得幼稚可笑，这一点在十八世纪尤为突出，但这些关于美人鱼的说法在十八世纪末的浪漫主义运动中却又重新抬头了。但也正是在那个时候，有科学头脑的人力求尽最大努力去解开美人鱼之谜。他们称，所有记录在案的美人鱼目击事件，只不过是因为人在海上漂流的时间过长，没有精神寄托，于是，当他们在船上看到一只海豹、海豚、儒艮或海牛时，他们就信誓旦旦地宣称自己看到了美人鱼。

　　It is not until the twentieth century that the mermaid is tossed back and forth²⁶ between those that believe, or want to believe, and those that stand behind their logic²⁷ and scientific proof that a creature such as the mermaid simply cannot exist. A wonderful film of these two meeting is the film Splash, with Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks. No matter how the mermaid is used or what role she plays she will always retain her mysterious air. Perhaps the next move is a more feminine one, bringing back the myth of the mermaid protecting women, or the soul of the woman drowned before her natural time of death…

　　结束语：到了二十世纪，美人鱼存在与否一直是一个争论不休的话题。相持不下的双方是笃信者——或者那些想要相信的人——和那些以逻辑和科学实证为原则、坚称像美人鱼这样的生物根本不存在的人们。由达丽尔·汉纳和汤姆·汉克斯主演的电影《美人鱼》让双方的争论得到了很好的表现。不管美人鱼被如何利用，或是扮演着怎样的角色，她身上的神秘感仍将挥之不去。在传说中，美人鱼守护女性，或者那些在正常死去前就被溺死的女性的灵魂。也许这个争论的下一步发展会体现出更多的女性关怀，让这个美人鱼的传说重获新生……

1 mermaid   

n.美人鱼

参考例句：

• How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起，那个女孩会有多受欢迎！
• The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴，因为她等不及了。

2 mythologies   

神话学( mythology的名词复数 )； 神话（总称）； 虚构的事实； 错误的观点

参考例句：

• a study of the religions and mythologies of ancient Rome 关于古罗马的宗教和神话的研究
• This realization is enshrined in "Mythologies." 这一看法见诸于他的《神话集》一书。

3 deities   

n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明

参考例句：

• Zeus and Aphrodite were ancient Greek deities. 宙斯和阿佛洛狄是古希腊的神。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Taoist Wang hesitated occasionally about these transactions for fearof offending the deities. 道士也有过犹豫，怕这样会得罪了神。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文

4 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

5 philistines   

n.市侩，庸人( philistine的名词复数 )；庸夫俗子

参考例句：

• He accused those who criticized his work of being philistines. 他指责那些批评他的作品的人是对艺术一窍不通。 来自辞典例句
• As an intellectual Goebbels looked down on the crude philistines of the leading group in Munich. 戈培尔是个知识分子，看不起慕尼黑领导层不学无术的市侩庸人。 来自辞典例句

6 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

7 ebbed   

（指潮水）退( ebb的过去式和过去分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落

参考例句：

• But the pain had ebbed away and the trembling had stopped. 不过这次痛已减退，寒战也停止了。
• But gradually his interest in good causes ebbed away. 不过后来他对这类事业兴趣也逐渐淡薄了。

8 mermaids   

n.（传说中的）美人鱼( mermaid的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The high stern castle was a riot or carved gods, demons, knights, kings, warriors, mermaids, cherubs. 其尾部高耸的船楼上雕满了神仙、妖魔鬼怪、骑士、国王、勇士、美人鱼、天使。 来自辞典例句
• This is why mermaids should never come on land. 这就是为什么人鱼不应该上岸的原因。 来自电影对白

9 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

10 porpoise   

n.鼠海豚

参考例句：

• What is the difference between a dolphin and porpoise?海豚和和鼠海豚有什么区别？
• Mexico strives to save endangered porpoise.墨西哥努力拯救濒危的鼠海豚。

11 Neptune   

n.海王星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun.海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Neptune turned out to be a dynamic,stormy world.海王星原来是个有生气、多风暴的世界。

12 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

13 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

14 penchant   

n.爱好，嗜好；（强烈的）倾向

参考例句：

• She has a penchant for Indian food.她爱吃印度食物。
• He had a penchant for playing jokes on people.他喜欢拿人开玩笑。

15 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

16 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

17 lured   

吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The child was lured into a car but managed to escape. 那小孩被诱骗上了车，但又设法逃掉了。
• Lured by the lust of gold,the pioneers pushed onward. 开拓者在黄金的诱惑下，继续奋力向前。

18 dwarfish   

a.像侏儒的，矮小的

参考例句：

• Her dwarfish spouse still smoked his cigar and drank his rum without heeding her. 她那矮老公还在吸他的雪茄，喝他的蔗酒，睬也不睬她。
• Rest no longer satisfied with thy dwarfish attainments, but press forward to things and heavenly. 不要再满足于属世的成就，要努力奔向属天的事物。

19 centaur   

n.人首马身的怪物

参考例句：

• His face reminded me somehow of a centaur.他的脸使我想起半人半马的怪物。
• No wonder he had soon been hustled away to centaur school.也难怪父母匆匆忙忙就把他送到了半人马学校。

20 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

21 tempt   

vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣

参考例句：

• Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
• The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了，可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。

22 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

23 dispel   

vt.驱走，驱散，消除

参考例句：

• I tried in vain to dispel her misgivings.我试图消除她的疑虑，但没有成功。
• We hope the programme will dispel certain misconceptions about the disease.我们希望这个节目能消除对这种疾病的一些误解。

24 manatee   

n.海牛

参考例句：

• We watched dolphin,manatee,sea lion and whale shows.我们看了海豚、海牛、海狮和鲸的表演。
• One of the most extraordinary river creatures is Amazonian manatee.其中河里最特别的生物之一要数亚马孙海牛。

25 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

26 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

27 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。