Why should you read “The Master and Margarita”? - Alex Gendler

翻译人员: Tianning Zhu 校对人员: 功伟 邢

The Devil has come to town.

恶魔来到了城里。

But don’t worry – all he wants to do is stage a magic show.

但别担心——他只想来表演个魔术。

This absurd premise forms the central plot

这个荒诞的设定就是 米哈伊尔·布尔加科夫的杰作

of Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece, "The Master and Margarita."

《大师和玛格丽特》的主要情节。

Written in Moscow during the 1930s,

这本书创作于1930年代的莫斯科，

this surreal blend of political satire, historical fiction,

凭借政治讽刺、历史小说 以及神秘主义的超现实融合，

and occult mysticism

has earned a legacy as one of the 20th century’s greatest novels–

成为了20世纪最伟大的小说之一，

and one of its strangest.

也是最古怪的小说之一。

The story begins when a meeting between two members

故事开始于两个莫斯科 文学精英的一次会面

of Moscow’s literary elite

is interrupted by a strange gentleman named Woland,

会面被一个古怪的绅士打断，

绅士名为沃兰德，自称是国外的学者

who presents himself as a foreign scholar

invited to give a presentation on black magic.

被邀请来做一个关于黑魔法的展示。

As the stranger engages the two companions in a philosophical debate

正当这个陌生人将这两个同伴 卷入一场哲学辩论，

and makes ominous predictions about their fates,

并对他们的命运做出了不详的预言时，

the reader is suddenly transported to 1st century Jerusalem.

读者却突然被传送到一世纪的耶路撒冷。

There a tormented Pontius Pilate

在那里备受折磨的本丢·彼拉多

reluctantly sentences Jesus of Nazareth to death.

正不情愿地判处拿撒勒的耶稣死刑。

With the narrative shifting between the two settings,

随着叙事视角在两个叙事背景之间转换，

Woland and his entourage– Azazello, Koroviev, Hella,

沃兰德和他的随从—— 阿扎泽勒、卡罗维夫、赫勒，

and a giant cat named Behemoth–

以及一只叫做河马的大猫——

are seen to have uncanny magical powers,

展示了超乎寻常的魔力，

which they use to stage their performance

他们用魔力来上演表演

while leaving a trail of havoc and confusion in their wake.

与此同时又在身后 留下一堆的混乱和困惑。

Much of the novel’s dark humor comes not only from this demonic mischief,

小说中的许多黑色幽默不仅来源于 这个恶魔的恶作剧，

but also the backdrop against which it occurs.

还来自于故事发生的背景，

Bulgakov’s story takes place in the same setting where it was written–

布尔加科夫的故事发生在小说写作时的 同一背景下——

the USSR at the height of the Stalinist period.

斯大林时期的苏联。

There, artists and authors worked under strict censorship,

那时艺术家和作家们 在严格的审查制度下工作，

subject to imprisonment, exile, or execution

随时可能坐牢、被流放或者处决，

if they were seen as undermining state ideology.

如果他们被认为是 在破坏国家的意识形态，

Even when approved, their work–

即使是允许的创作，他们的工作——

along with housing, travel, and everything else–

与住房、旅行以及其它的一切一样——

was governed by a convoluted bureaucracy.

都被一个盘根错节的官僚体系管理着。

In the novel,

在小说中，沃兰德利用现实的材料 操纵着这个体系，

Woland manipulates this system along with the fabric of reality,

to hilarious results.

使之产生了滑稽的结果。

As heads are separated from bodies and money rains from the sky,

随着脑袋和身体分家， 以及从天而降的金钱雨，

the citizens of Moscow react with petty-self interest,

莫斯科的市民们表现出了 小气的自私自利，

illustrating how Soviet society bred greed and cynicism

展现了苏联社会是如何培养出贪婪 和愤世嫉俗，尽管这与其意识形态相悖。

despite its ideals.

And the matter-of-fact narration

实事求是的叙事风格则精心地融合了

deliberately blends the strangeness of the supernatural events

超自然事件的陌生感

with the everyday absurdity of Soviet life.

以及苏联人日常生活的荒诞。

So how did Bulgakov manage to publish such a subversive novel

所以布尔加科夫究竟是怎么在 一个压迫性的政权下

under an oppressive regime?

发表如此颠覆性的小说的呢？

Well… he didn’t.

好吧，其实他并没有。

He worked on "The Master and Margarita" for over ten years.

他写作《大师和玛格丽特》 有十年以上的时间。

But while Stalin’s personal favor

尽管斯大林的个人宠幸

may have kept Bulgakov safe from severe persecution,

可以保证布尔加科夫免遭严重迫害，

many of his plays and writings were kept from production,

他的许多戏剧以及文学作品被禁止出版，

leaving him safe but effectively silenced.

使得他很安全，但也被禁言。

Upon the author’s death in 1940,

直到1940年作者死去，

the manuscript remained unpublished.

手稿仍旧没有出版。

A censored version was eventually printed in the 1960s,

审查删改后的版本最终 在60年代得以印刷，

while copies of the unabridged manuscript

而未删节的手稿则仍然流通于

continued to circulate among underground literary circles.

地下文学圈子里，

The full text was only published in 1973,

完整版本直到1973年才出版，

over 30 years after its completion.

在作品完成的30年后。

Bulgakov’s experiences with censorship and artistic frustration

布尔加科夫的受审查经历 以及艺术上的挫败感

lend an autobiographical air to the second part of the novel,

使得小说的第二部分充满了 自传性的色彩，

when we are finally introduced to its namesake.

在这一部分，我们终于明白 小说名字的意思。

"The Master" is a nameless author who’s worked for years on a novel

“大师”是一个不知名的作者， 他花费多年写作一部小说，

but burned the manuscript after it was rejected by publishers–

但在被出版商拒绝后，烧掉了手稿，

just as Bulgakov had done with his own work.

正如布尔加科夫对自己作品所做的。

Yet the true protagonist is the Master’s mistress Margarita.

而真正的主角是大师的情妇玛格丽特。

Her devotion to her lover’s abandoned dream

她对爱人所遗弃的梦想的热爱，

bears a strange connection to the diabolical company’s escapades–

与恶魔集团的恶作剧产生了奇怪的联系，

and carries the story to its surreal climax.

使故事到达了超自然的高潮。

Despite its dark humor and complex structure,

尽管有着黑色幽默以及复杂结构，

"The Master and Margarita" is, at its heart,

《大师和玛格丽特》在本质上 是对艺术、爱情以及救赎的思考，

a meditation on art, love, and redemption,

that never loses itself in cynicism.

这种思考不会被愤世嫉俗所掩盖。

And the book’s long overdue publication and survival against the odds

这本书漫长的出版历程和幸存经过，

is a testament to what Woland tells the Master:

则是沃兰德告诉大师的话的证明：

“Manuscripts don’t burn.”

“手稿不会被烧光的”。