盛开在油墨香里的康乃馨：乔叟的吉丽花

乔叟（Geoffrey Chaucer，约1343—1400）的《坎特伯雷故事集》
（The Canterbury Tales）里有一篇《托帕斯爵士》（Sir Thopas），
只讲了200多行，就被作为故事裁判的旅店主人打断，认为这种诗叫人
听了腻烦，乔叟不得不讲了另一个故事。

其实这个没讲完的故事影射了较深的文化含义，诗文里还提到了
“吉丽花”，我将前小半段翻译如下：

听着，诸位，我会告诉你们一个，

关于祝福和快乐的真实故事；

他在战斗和比赛中，

是一个骑士和绅士。

他的名字叫托帕斯爵士。

Listeth, lordes, in good entent,

And I wol telle verrayment

Of mirthe and of solas;

Al of a knyght was fair and gent

In bataille and in tourneyment,

His name was sir Thopas.

（现代英文注释：

Listen, lords, with good intent,

And I’ll tell you a true event,

Of bliss and happiness;

About a knight who was a gent,

In battle and in tournament.

His name was Sir Thopas.）

他出生在一个遥远的国度，

大海另一端的，比利时，

在波珀林格镇，

他的父亲富有而自在，

是那个小镇的君王，

在上帝的关照下统治该地区

Y-born he was in fer contree,

In Flaundres, al biyonde the see,

    At Popering, in the place;

His fader was a man ful free,

And lord he was of that contree,

    As it was Goddes grace.

（现代英文注释：

He was born in a far country,

In Belgium, way beyond the sea,

    In the town of Poperinghe, where

His father was wealthy and free,

And was the king of that country,

Where he ruled in God’s care.）

托帕斯爵士健壮和得体，

皮肤如牙齿一般洁白，

    嘴唇像玫瑰一样红，

有着年轻人红润的肌肤，

而且-我要告诉你一个真相-

他的鼻子很俊俏。

（Sir Thopas wex a doghty swayn,

Whyt was his face as payndemayn,

    His lippes rede as rose;

His rode is lyk scarlet in grayn,

And I yow telle in good certayn,

    He hadde a semely nose.）

 （现代英文注释：

Sir Thopas grew so strong and couth,

With pale skin as white as a tooth,

    And lips as red as a rose,

With skin the reddish color of youth

And—now I’ll tell you the truth—

A very handsome nose.）

他的头发和胡须是火红色的，

垂到了腰上。

    他的皮鞋来自西班牙。

而棕色袜子来自比利时；

他的长袍由无比华贵精致的

细线织成。

His heer, his berd was lyk saffroun,

That to his girdel raughte adoun;

    His shoon of Cordewane.

Of Brugges were his hosen broun,

His robe was of ciclatoun,

    That coste many a Iane.

（现代英文注释：

His hair fell to his waist from his head;

That and his beard were firey red.

    His leather shoes were from Spain;

His brown socks from Belgium instead;

His robe made of very fine thread

Which was anything but mundane.）

他成日里猎鹿

并喜欢手持猎鹰，

    在河边打猎。

他是一个非常好的弓箭手

摔跤功夫无人能敌

这两项运动他是这个地区最好的。

He coude hunte at wilde deer,

And ryde an hauking for riveer,

    With grey goshauk on honde;

Ther-to be was a good archeer,

Of wrastling was ther noon his peer,

   Ther any ram shal stonde.

（现代英文注释：

He hunted deer in all weather,

And liked to hawk by the river,

    With his bird on his hand;

He was a very good archer

And at wrestling no one was better

He was the best in the land.）

年轻的姑娘们，夜晚躺在床上

都在渴望他，她们说，

    在任何时候都想和他做爱。

但他不想有婚前性行为；

他是如此甜蜜，如莓子花

结出的果实。

Ful many a mayde, bright in bour,

They moorne for him, paramour,

    Whan hem were bet to slepe;

But he was chast and no lechour,

And sweet as is the bremble-flour

    That bereth the rede hepe.

（现代英文注释：

Young maidens, at night tucked in bed

Would yearn for him, they all said,

    To make love at all hours.

But he wouldn’t have sex while unwed;

He was so sweet, like the fruit that is shed

By the bramble flowers.）

然后，我说的全是真的，

有一天发生了一件事，

托帕斯骑马兜风；

他的战马是灰色的

那天他带着长矛，

他的剑垂在身边。

And so bifel upon a day,

For sothe, as I yow telle may,

    Sir Thopas wolde out ryde;

He worth upon his stede gray,

And in his honde a launcegay,

    A long swerd by his syde.

（现代英文注释：

Now, I’m not lying when I say,

That it so happened one day,

    Thopas went on a ride;

His war horse was the color gray,

And he brought his lance with him that day,

While his sword hung at his side.）

他至少穿过十个森林

里面有一百种野兽，

    包括兔子和鹿。

当他向东北方向骑行时，

忧愁无休无止，

严重困扰着他。

He priketh thurgh a fair forest,

Ther-inne is many a wilde best,

    Ye, bothe bukke and hare;

And, as he priketh north and est,

I telle it yow, him hadde almest

    Bitid a sory care.

（现代英文注释：

He rode through ten forests at least,

Filled with a hundred kinds of beast,

    Including rabbits and deer.

And as he rode far north and east,

His troubles never once ceased,

And his hardship was severe.）

大朵小朵的春花，

田野里大片的吉丽花（即康乃馨），

与甘草和姜，以及

肉豆蔻用来调酒 –

无论是啤酒还是葡萄酒的 —

吉丽花四处盛开。

Ther springen herbes grete and smale,

The lycorys and cetewale,

    And many a clowe-gilofre;

And notemuge to putte in ale,

Whether it be moyste or stale,

    Or for to leye in cofre.

（现代英文注释：

The spring flowers great and small,

The licorice and ginger, and all

    Of the large fields of clove-gillyflowers,

And nutmeg to put in alcohol—

Whether in beer or wine for the fall—

    Were all blooming in droves.）

鸟儿们，包括麻雀和鹦鹉，

快乐地歌唱

如此悦耳。

槲鸫正在下蛋，

树上成排的鸟儿

歌声如此响亮和清澈。

The briddes singe, it is no nay,

The sparhauk and the papeiay,

    That Ioye it was to here;

The thrustelcok made eek his lay,

The wodedowve upon the spray

  She sang ful loude and clere.

(现代英文注释：

The birds were singing so gay,

Including the sparrow and popinjay,

    That it was joyous to hear.

The missel thrush had eggs to lay,

And birds in the trees that lined the way

Sang so loud and clear.)

画眉鸟的声音出现了，

让托帕斯产生了疯狂的性欲。

他踢了一下马肚并伴随一声吼叫，

马儿飞奔起来。

身子两侧大汗淋淋；

你可以像拧湿毛巾一样把它拧干。

Sir Thopas fil in love-longinge

Al whan he herde the thrustel singe,

    And priked as he were wood:

His faire stede in his prikinge

So swatte that men mighte him wringe,

    His sydes were al blood.

(现代英文注释：

The thrush’s song that did emerge,

Gave Thopas a crazy sex urge.

    He kicked and gave a yowl,

Which made the horse bolt with a surge.

On its flanks the sweat did converge;

You could’ve wrung him like a wet towel.)

打马飞奔掠过森林

耗尽了托帕斯爵士的能量

他感到非常疲倦。

于是他停下马休息，

躺在草地上不停出汗

那匹马则自己找吃的。

Sir Thopas eek so wery was

For prikinge on the softe gras,

    So fiers was his corage,

That doun he leyde him in that plas

To make his stede som solas,

    And yaf him good forage.

(现代英文注释：

Well Sir Thopas grew so tired,

From all that energy required,

    To race through the deep wood.

So he stopped his horse and retired,

Lay down in the grass and perspired,

    While the horse ate what it could.)

他哭诉着：“圣母玛丽亚，请救救我！

爱情让我蠢蠢蠕动

使我不洁！

昨晚我做了一个梦

见到了一副很朦胧的画面：

我和一个精灵女王发生了肉体关系！

‘O seinte Marie, benedicite!

What eyleth this love at me

    To binde me so sore?

Me dremed al this night, pardee,

An elf-queen shal my lemman be,

    And slepe under my gore.

(现代英文注释：

He cried, “Saint Mary, please help me!

Love has made me all squirmy

    It has made me unclean!

Last night as I slept so dreamy

I pictured something so steamy:

    Me having sex with an elf-queen!)

“我发誓，我只会和精灵女王睡觉！

其他的女人都配不上我，

    精灵女王似乎

     无以伦比。

除了梦中的那个

我拒绝和其他女人

搞外遇！”

An elf-queen wol I love, y-wis,

For in this world no womman is

Worthy to be my make

             In toune;

Alle othere wommen I forsake,

And to an elf-queen I me take

    By dale and eek by doune!’

 (现代英文注释：

“I’ll sleep with an elf-queen, you’ll see!

No other is good enough for me,

    The elf-queen’s without compare

            it seems.

I refuse to have an affair

With any other women out there,

    Except the one in my dreams!”)

这是故事的第一部分，托帕斯爵士决定爱上梦中的精灵女王。然后
他在林子里不停地寻找她，遇到了一个名叫奥利潘特爵士（Sir Oliphaunt，
即大象爵士，Sir Elephant）的巨人。由于忘记带盔甲，他无法与其
作战，只好狼狈逃脱。诗行里野生的吉丽花（clowe-gilofre,
即clove-gillyflowers）是风味独特的康乃馨，与甘草、姜和肉豆蔻用
来调啤酒和葡萄酒。

故事的第二部分，托帕斯爵士回到镇上，受到民众的款待，他找回了盔甲。
故事的第三部分，乔叟对托帕斯爵士的壮举作了曲折的叙述，但主持人
打断了他，说这个故事不好听。

   （吉丽花即康乃馨）

《托帕斯爵士》大大地讽刺了当时流行于英国的浪漫主义作品。
浪漫主义（Romance）文学体裁最早起源于法国，起初以诗歌形式表
达，后出现在散文中。到了14世纪，浪漫主义已在法国和德国式微，
但这些旧题材又在英格兰被翻炒，重新改编加工，以适应不同读者
的口味。故事中的男主人公通常为骑士，身怀一个或多个任务，
任务之一就是解救陷于困境中的少女，而后两人擦出爱的火花等。
英雄救美的情节中包含了魔术等元素，如巫师或魔法物品，还要与
怪兽和巨人搏斗等。此类文学作品基本涉及三个大背景：罗马主题
（The Matter of Rome），围绕亚历山大大帝（Alexander the Great）
的生平展开；法国主题（The Matter of France），围绕查理曼大帝、
罗兰和圣骑士展开；英国主题（The Matter of Great Britain），
围绕亚瑟王、圆桌骑士以及圣杯搜寻展开。浪漫主义故事通常由吟
游诗人通过说唱形式传达给观众，乔叟便采用相同的文学题材，以
幽默诙谐的语言嘲讽了骑士文学。

首先，乔叟给故事的男主人公起了一个很女性化的名字“托帕斯”
（Thopas），Thopas的谐音为Topaz，即今人熟知的托帕石，是一种
无色透明的大型石英结晶体矿物。有多种色彩，属于中档宝石，中国
古人称其“黄玉”。欧洲女性通常佩戴托帕石以示贞洁，Thopas是
当时流行的女性名字。给一个骑士取名“托帕斯”，表明这是一个
相当女性化的骑士，与浪漫主义小说中的英雄形象的期待值相悖。

其次，一系列的描述表明了托帕斯爵士是不完美的骑士典范。
“ fer contree”（far country 遥远的国度）与Flandres 
（法兰德斯，比利时西部的一个地区）自相矛盾，十四世纪的伦敦人
无法将比利时视为遥远或烂漫的国度。波珀林格镇 （ Popernyng）
是一个以精美服装和优质梨而闻名的小镇。 在中世纪，服装业被
认为是专门为女性服务的行业，梨的外形酷似女性的外阴，而且
托帕斯是那个小镇的统治者，更加彰显了他的女性魅力。乔叟在
形容托帕斯的外表时，女性化的特征也很明显。“His rode is 
lyk scarlet in grayn”（rode 在现代英文里是“complexion”
肤色的意思，rode一词专门用来形容女人的肤色的），“semely nose ”
（俊俏的鼻子）也是用来形容女性的。在中世纪，人们普遍认为可以
从一个人的身体特征看出他（她）的性格特征，乔叟形容托帕斯爵士
“嘴唇像玫瑰一样红”，“有着年轻人红润的肌肤”，“
鼻子很俊俏”等，分明是在写一个俏女子。

再看看他的装束：红发及腰，精美昂贵的皮鞋、棕色袜子和长袍，
完全不是一副外出冒险的行头。乍一看，托帕斯可能仍然具有某些素质，
使他适合当骑士，因为他是个好弓箭手，摔跤功夫无人能及。但令听众
失望的是，射箭并不是一项骑士技艺，更像是一位好农夫必须掌握的
本领。摔跤也是一项低下阶层的运动。

种种因素综合考虑，乔叟分明一开始就把骑士托帕斯爵士当成一个
笑话来写，托帕斯的一切想法和行为也是荒诞可笑的。他爱上的是
梦中的精灵女王，现实中根本不存在，他却在林中不停地寻找，因为
忘记带盔甲，在遇到巨人时无法与之交战，只能落荒而逃。

通篇行文流利，语调诙谐幽默，充满了荒唐细节，感觉说故事的人
一边说故事，一边现编，漫不经心的，整个故事是个烂摊子，表示
对骑士文学的不屑态度。