移民女人的香草梦:莎士比亚的马郁兰
(三)莎士比亚的马郁兰
大概在中世纪,马郁兰传到了英国,成为当地一种很普遍的香草,有着丰富的植物知识的莎士比亚将它写进了几部戏剧中。
(马郁兰)
《冬天的故事》(The Winter’s Tale)第四幕第四场中,牧羊女珀迪塔(Perdita)对前来的宾客说:“这是给你的花:浓郁的薰衣草、薄荷、香薄荷、马郁兰,日落后花瓣闭合,日出后花瓣张开并带着露珠的金盏花。这些是在夏季中间开的花,我认为应该将它们送给中年男人。非常欢迎您来。”
(Here’s flowers for you;
Hot lavender, mints, savoury, marjoram;
The marigold, that goes to bed wi’ the sun
And with him rises weeping: these are flowers
Of middle summer, and I think they are given
To men of middle age. You’re very welcome.)
戏剧《终成眷属》(All's Well that Ends Well)第四幕第五场,罗西昂伯爵夫人Countess of Rossillion)在获悉儿媳妇海伦娜(Helena)去世的不实消息后,与老臣拉佛(Lafeu)有一场对话:
拉佛:
“不,不,不,令郎是受了那个穿橘黄色塔夫绸的家伙的误导。全国所有容易被蒙蔽的青年都相信他的胡作非为,和他一样行事。如果没有我所说的这只红尾熊蜂,令媳一定活在这世上,令郎也一定呆在家里,享受着国王的眷顾。”
(LAFEU
No, no, no, your son was misled with a snipt-taffeta fellow there, whose villanous saffron would have made all the unbaked and doughy youth of a nation in his colour: your daughter-in-law had been alive at this hour, and your son here at home, more advanced by the king than by that red-tailed humble-bee I speak of. )
伯爵夫人:
“但愿我从来不曾认识过他,是他害死了世上最贤德的淑女。即使她是我的亲身女儿,让我忍受生育的痛苦,也无法使我更加深切地爱她了。”
(COUNTESS
I would I had not known him; it was the death of the most virtuous gentlewoman that ever nature had praise for creating. If she had partaken of my flesh, and cost me the dearest groans of a mother, I could not have owed her a more rooted love. )
拉佛:
“她是一位好姑娘,她是一位好姑娘。我们尝试过千种色拉,才发现那株可遇而不可求的香草。”
(LAFEU
'Twas a good lady, 'twas a good lady: we may pick a thousand salads ere we light on such another herb. )
小丑:
“是的,大人,她就是色拉中的甜马郁兰,或者,恩典草药。”
(CLOWN
Indeed, sir, she was the sweet marjoram of the salad, or rather, the herb of grace. )
拉佛:
“傻瓜,它们都不算香草,只是好闻的植物罢了。”
LAFEU
They are not herbs, you knave; they are nose-herbs.
(注:the herb of grace,恩典草药,指的是芸香)
这部戏剧讲述的是聪慧美丽的女主人公海伦娜如何费尽心机去争取一个出身高贵、狂妄肤浅的纨绔子弟的爱情。尽管海伦娜的地位和身份并不高,伯爵夫人和拉佛还是对她贤德的人品给予了高度的评价,将她形容为可遇而不可求的香草,马郁兰和芸香同她比起来,只是好闻的植物。
大多数西方学者认为《终成眷属》大约是在1600-1605年期间创作的。该剧剧情多为今人诟病,甚至有一些评论家认为这是一部失败的喜剧,所以二十世纪的读者已经不太能理解为何此剧在伊丽莎白时代能受到观众的欢迎。男主角贝尔特拉姆(Bertram)是个典型的渣男和人渣,卑鄙势利,不忠于感情,然而人设近乎完美的海伦娜却对他爱慕到了痴迷的地步。贝尔特拉姆不满意自己的婚事,结婚当天就离家去意大利参战。他写了一封信给海伦娜,给出两个几乎无法办到的条件:若想让他接受她为妻,就必须获得他手上的一枚戒指,并怀上他的孩子。海伦娜扮成一位朝圣者千里寻夫,并利用贝尔特拉姆勾引狄安娜的机会,代替她与贝尔特拉姆上了床,获取了他的戒指,并成功地怀上了孩子。贝尔特拉姆
以为勾引狄安娜成功,又听说海伦娜已死,回到了法国,打算娶老臣拉佛的女儿。关键时刻,狄安娜与海伦娜及时赶回,前者斥责渣男始乱终弃,后者称信中的条件全部实现,贝尔特拉姆别无选择,只得接受海伦娜为妻。
看似皆大欢喜的结局,其实危机四伏。一个女人殚精竭虑,赢回的只是一个不爱自己的渣男,足见她的眼光和境界是上不了档次的。而且十有八九她会在今后的婚姻生活中被渣男折磨到精神崩溃,我怎么觉得莎翁写的是一出警世悲剧呢?
该剧情节简单,但人物对白细腻生动,莎翁写台词的功夫是一流的。
马郁兰作为口令,出现在莎士比亚最著名的悲剧之一《李尔王》(King Lear)里。第四幕第六场,化身为乞丐的爱德伽在野外流浪时遇到了被挖去双目的父亲葛罗斯特,把他带到多佛(Dover),背他上了悬崖,假装满足他自杀的愿望。葛罗斯特从假想的悬崖跳下去,重重地跌倒在地上。爱德伽装成一个过路的,告诉父亲他被神迹救了,打消了他自杀的念头。此时疯疯癫癫的李尔王头戴由野花和杂草编成的花冠上场,说了一堆逻辑混乱的话。
现将部分台词翻译如下:
爱德伽:
“我站在下面望着他,以为他的眼睛
是两轮满月。他有一千个鼻子,
弯曲的犄角,像愤怒的大海的波峰。
一定是某个恶魔。所以,您是个幸运的老人家,
看来神明救了你的命,
他们无所不能,以便人们崇拜他们。
(EDGAR
As I stood here below, methought his eyes
Were two full moons. He had a thousand noses,
Horns whelked and waved like the enragèd sea.
It was some fiend. Therefore, thou happy father,
Think that the clearest gods, who make them honors
Of men’s impossibilities, have preserved thee.)
葛罗斯特:
“我现在记住了。从今以后我要耐忍受痛苦,
直到痛苦本身大声喊了出来,
‘够啦,够啦’ ,然后死去。你说的那个东西,
我认为是个人;它经常说着,
‘恶魔,恶魔’;他把我领到了那个地方。
(GLOUCESTER
I do remember now. Henceforth I’ll bear
Affliction till it do cry out itself,
“Enough, enough,” and die. That thing you speak of,
I took it for a man. Often ’twould say,
“The fiend, the fiend!” He led me to that place.)
爱德伽 :
“振作起来,不要胡思乱想。”
(EDGAR
Bear free and patient thoughts.)
疯癫的李尔上 (Enter LEAR, mad )
爱德伽 :
“那个人是谁?
一个神志清醒的人绝不会
把自己打扮成这个样子。”
(But who comes here?
The safer sense will ne'er accommodate
His master thus.)
李尔 :
“不,他们不能判我造假币的罪名。我是国王。”
(LEAR
No, they cannot touch me for coining. I am the king himself.)
爱德伽:
(自言自语) “哦,多么令人心碎的景象!”
(EDGAR
(aside) O thou side-piercing sight!)
李尔:
“ 在那一点上,天然是胜过人工的。这是征募你们当兵的饷银。那家伙弯弓的姿势像个稻草人;给我拉开一码的长度试试。瞧,瞧!一只小老鼠!别闹,别闹!这一块烤奶酪会抓到它的。这是我的铁手套,我会向一个巨人挑战。带那些步兵上来。啊!那箭飞得好,鸟儿;正中靶心,正中靶心,嗨!口令!”
(LEAR
(Nature’s above art in that respect. There’s your press- money. That fellow handles his bow like a crowkeeper. Draw me a clothier’s yard. Look, look, a mouse! Peace, peace, this piece of toasted cheese will do ’t. There’s my gauntlet. I’ll prove it on a giant. Bring up the brown bills. O, well flown, bird. I' th' clout, i' th' clout. Hewgh! Give the word. )
(注:brown bill: 15和16世纪步兵用的一种长柄钩矛刀)
爱德伽:
“甜马郁兰。”
(EDGAR
Sweet marjoram.)
李尔:
“对啰。”
(LEAR
Pass.)
葛罗斯特:
“我认得那个声音。”
(GLOUCESTER
I know that voice.)
李尔:
“ 哈!留着白胡子的高纳里尔?哈,里根?她们像狗一样奉承我,说我还没有长出黑胡须前就有了白胡须。我说‘是’,她们就说一声‘是’,我说‘不’,她们就说一声‘不’,没有一点诚心。当雨水淋湿了我,风吹得我全身颤抖,当雷声不肯听我的命令平静下来的时候 – 我这才发现了她们,嗅出了她们。我告诉你,她们不是心口如一的人。她们把我说的天花乱坠,都是谎言,我会发烧的。”
(LEAR
Ha! Goneril with a white beard? Ha, Regan? They flattered me like a dog and told me I had white hairs in my beard ere the black ones were there. To say “Ay” and “No” to everything that I said “Ay” and “No” to was no good divinity. When the rain came to wet me once, and the wind to make me chatter, when the thunder would not peace at my bidding—there I found 'em, there I smelt 'em out. Go to, they are not men o' their words. They told me I was everything. 'Tis a lie, I am not ague-proof. )
(注:还没有长出黑胡须前就有了白胡须,指的是李尔很有智慧,尚未出生前就很有智慧了。)
葛罗斯特:
“这种说话的声调我记得很清楚,他不就是国王吗?”
(GLOUCESTER
The trick of that voice I do well remember.
Is ’t not the king?)
李尔:
“是的,如假包换的国王。我一瞪眼,所有的东西都在发抖。我赦免那个人的死罪。你被指控什么?通奸?你不用死。因为通奸而犯死罪?不。小鸟都在干那把戏,小蜻蜓也在我面前交合。让世上多一点通奸吧,因为葛罗斯特的私生子,也比我的合法的女儿更孝顺父亲。干吧,淫风越盛越好 – 我正缺少士兵。瞧那个满脸假笑的女人,她装作端庄娴静,一副守身如玉的样子,听见别人谈性事就摇头。其实她干起那事来,比鸡猫和脏马还浪得多。她们的上半身是女人,从腰以下是马的躯干和四肢。腰带以上是属于天神的,腰带以下全是属于恶魔的:那儿是地狱,那儿是黑暗,那儿是硫磺坑 — 炽热燃烧着,发出恶臭,吞噬了一切。啐!啐!啐!呸!呸!给我一盎司麝香,好药剂师,让我的想象甜美些。这是给你的钱。”
LEAR
(Ay, every inch a king. When I do stare, see how the subject quakes. I pardon that man’s life. What was thy cause? Adultery? Thou shalt not die. Die for adultery? No. The wren goes to ’t, and the small gilded fly does lecher in my sight. Let copulation thrive, for Gloucester’s bastard son Was kinder to his father than my daughters got ’tween the lawful sheets. To ’t, luxury, pell-mell—for I lack soldiers. Behold yond simpering dame, whose face between her forks presages snow, that minces virtue and does shake the head to hear of pleasure’s name. The fitchew, nor the soiled horse, goes to ’t with a more riotous appetite. Down from the waist they are centaurs, though women all above. But to the girdle do the gods inherit; beneath is all the fiends'. There’s hell, there’s darkness, there’s the sulfurous pit— burning, scalding, stench, consumption! Fie, fie, fie, pah, pah!—Give me an ounce of civet, good apothecary, to sweeten my imagination. There’s money for thee. )
(注:fitchew,是鸡貂 polecat的古英语用法。鸡貂也叫鸡猫,但它们不是猫而是属于貂科,是一种害羞的动物,它们经常是在夜间活动,人们很少能够见到它们。
Centaurs:半人马,上半身是人,下半身是马的躯干和四肢。一般他们被作为野蛮的代表,与酗酒、暴力和色情相联系。)