最近終於把愛麗絲夢遊仙境的中英對照版看完了
我看的版本是遠流的《挖開兔子洞》
這個版本有很多注釋
說明當時的社會背景還有一些雙關語的解釋
這本書用了Lewis Carroll的原文
還有最早的John Tenniel的插畫
還不錯
但因為是初版偶爾還是有些錯誤
原版的插畫有一點伊藤潤二的感覺我很喜歡
(譯者注釋三月兔的頭上纏了稻草表示他瘋了 :D)
愛麗絲夢遊仙境這個故事是Carroll編出來講給愛麗絲三姊妹聽的
真實世界的愛麗絲叫作Alice Liddell
↓他長這樣↓
Carroll跟插畫家Tenniel討論後才決定把故事中的愛麗絲畫成金髮女孩
故事中有一些角色是愛麗絲姐妹和Carroll的化身
Carroll非常厲害
在整個故事中穿插很多改編的童謠和詩
還有很多雙關語
這些都是中文翻譯很難表達的
必須看原文才能知道其中的巧秒
下面是其中幾個:
"Mine is a long and a sad tale!" said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing.
"It is a long tail, certainly," said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse's tail; "but why do you call it sad?"
愛麗絲剛掉入洞中時遇到一群動物
老鼠要對他說一個又長又悲傷的故事(tale)
愛麗絲卻以為牠在說牠的尾巴(tail)
"I beg your pardon," said Alice very humbly, "you had got to the fifth bend, I think?"
"I had not!" cried the Mouse sharply and very angrily.
"A knot!" said Alice, always ready to make herself useful, and looking anxiously about her. "Oh, let me help to undo it!"
老鼠說「我沒有」(not)
愛麗絲以為老鼠的尾巴打結了(knot)
"When we were little," the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, "we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle — we used to call him Tortoise — "
"Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't one?" Alice asked.
"We called him Tortoise because he taught us," said the Mock Turtle angrily: 'really you are very dull!"
當時有道菜是用海龜作成的海龜湯(turtle soup)
也有用牛肉做成的假海龜湯(mock turtle soup)
因此Carroll故意創造了一個生物叫做假海龜(Mock Turtle) :D
假海龜說
「 我小時候的老師是一隻老海龜
但我們都叫他陸龜(Tortoise)
因為他教我們(taught us)」
"And how many hours a day did you do lessons?" said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject.
"Ten hours the first day," said the Mock Turtle: "nine the next, and so on."
"What a curious plan!" exclaimed Alice.
"That's the reason they're called lessons," the Gryphon remarked: "because they lessen from day to day."
假海龜說「第一天上課十小時、第二天九小時以此類推
這就是為何稱為『上課』(lesson)
因為他們一天比一天減少」(lessen)
還有很多很妙的雙關語
另外這本書裡面充滿了沒有邏輯的胡言亂語
我看的這本的譯者還用注釋分析了各個角色的邏輯謬誤
還滿有趣的
雖然之前看過了迪士尼的卡通和提姆波頓的電影
但這次認真看了原文感覺想像空間更大
很驚訝維多利亞時代的人竟然有那麼豐富的想像力
還有書中的詩和雙關語也令人讚嘆作者的功力