How did Dracula become the world's most famous vampire? - Stanley Stepanic

譯者: Susan Lin 審譯者: Chen-an Hsaio

How did Dracula become the world's most famous vampire?

德古拉如何躍登最著名的吸血鬼?

More than 100 years after his creator was laid to rest,

在德古拉的創作者辭世一百多年後

Dracula lives on as the most famous vampire in history.

他以史上最著名的 吸血鬼之姿，延續風華

但這位外西凡尼亞貴族

But this Transylvanian noble,

neither the first fictional vampire nor the most popular of his time,

既不是第一個虛構吸血鬼

在當時也不是最受歡迎的

may have remained buried in obscurity if not for a twist of fate.

若不是一次的命運轉折

他可能入墓後，便銷聲匿跡

德古拉首次出現於伯蘭·史杜克 1897 年的同名小說

Dracula's first appearance was in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel of the same name.

But that was far from the beginning of vampire myths.

但書中描述卻與傳說的相差甚遠

Blood-sucking monsters had already been part of folklore for at least 800 years.

吸血怪物流於民間傳說 已有 800 年之久

It was Slavic folklore that gave us the word vampire,

「吸血鬼」源自斯拉夫的民間傳說

or "upir" in Old Russian.

也可說來自古俄文的「upir」

The term's first known written mention comes from the 11th century.

最早的文字記載始於 11 世紀

Vampire lore in the region predated Christianity's arrival

基督教傳至當地前 就有吸血鬼傳說了

and persisted despite the church's efforts to eliminate pagan beliefs.

儘管教會努力消除異教思想 它仍然流傳下來

Stories of vampires originated from misinterpretations of diseases,

吸血鬼的故事其實來自 人們對疾病的誤解

such as rabies,

像是狂犬病

and pellagra,

癩皮病

and decomposition.

和屍體的腐爛

In the case of the latter, gasses swelling the body and blood oozing from the mouth

就後者來說

氣體腫脹的身軀及嘴巴溢出的血液

could make a corpse look like it had recently been alive and feeding.

讓屍體看似復活且飽餐一頓

Vampires were describe as bloated with overgrown teeth and nails.

吸血鬼身軀腫脹 有外露的獠牙和尖長的指甲

This gave rise to many rituals intended to prevent the dead from rising,

因此衍生防止起死回生的殯葬儀式

such as burying bodies with garlic or poppyseeds,

像是用大蒜或罌粟籽來埋葬屍體

as well as having them staked,

將屍體釘上木樁

burned,

焚燒

or mutilated.

或分屍

吸血鬼傳說延續到 18 世紀

Vampire lore remained a local phenomenon until the 18th century

when Serbia was caught in the struggle between two great powers,

當時塞爾維亞夾在哈布斯堡王朝

the Habsburg Monarchy

鄂圖曼帝國兩強權之間求生存

and Ottoman Empire.

Austrian soldiers and government officials observed and documented

奧地利士兵和政府官員發現及紀錄

the strange local burial rituals,

當地特殊的殯葬儀式

and their reports became widely publicized.

這份文件開始廣泛流傳

The resulting vampire hysteria got so out of hand that in 1755,

以致 1755 年，爆發吸血鬼恐慌

奧地利女王命私人醫生

the Austrian Empress was forced to dispatch her personal physician.

進行調查

出版一份詳細的科學報告

He investigated and put an end to the rumors

一掃傳言的謬論

by publishing a thorough, scientific refutation.

恐慌平息下來了

The panic subsided, but the vampire had already taken root

但吸血鬼早已深植

西歐人民的想像中

in Western Europe's imagination,

spawning works like "The Vampyre" in 1819,

催生的文學作品

有 1819 年的《吸血鬼》

and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla" in 1872.

及 1872 年喬瑟夫·芬努的《卡蜜拉》

此書大大影響愛爾蘭 年輕劇評家伯蘭·史杜克

This book would greatly influence a young Irish drama critic named Bram Stoker.

Stoker, who was born in Dublin in 1847,

史杜克生於 1847 年的都柏林

was famously bedridden with an unknown illness until the age of seven.

七歲前的他 一種無名病使他臥病在床

During that time, his mother told him folktales

那段時間中，他媽媽講很多傳說故事

and true tales of horror,

和真實的恐怖事件給他聽

including her experiences during an outbreak of cholera in 1832.

包括她在 1832 年 霍亂爆發時的經歷

There, she described victims buried alive in mass graves.

她提到曾有病患被活埋在亂葬崗

Later in his life, Stoker went on to write fantasy, romance, adventure stories,

這些造就後來的史杜克

寫出奇幻、浪漫、冒險的故事

and, in 1897, "Dracula."

還有 1897 年的《德古拉》

Although the book's main villain and namesake

雖然一般認為書中的主要反派角色

is thought to be based on the historical figure of Vlad III Dracula,

是以一位名叫弗拉德三世

or Vlad the Impaler,

又稱弗拉德穿刺公的歷史人物為原型

the association is mostly just that they share a name.

但他們的關聯性只有名字相同而已

Other elements and characters were inspired directly and indirectly

其他元素和角色則是直接或間接地

by various works in the Victorian Era,

受到維多利亞時代各種作品的啟發

such as "The Mysterious Stranger."

例如《神秘陌生人》

The novel, upon release, was only a moderate success in its day,

《德古拉》一出版後 只有獲得普通的銷售量

nor was it even Stoker's most well-known work,

甚至也不是史杜克最有名的作品

mentioned only briefly in a 1912 obituary.

他 1912 年的訃聞裡 只有簡短提及此書

But a critical copyright battle would completely change Dracula's fate,

不過一場關鍵的著作權之戰 徹底扭轉了德古拉命運

and catapult the character into literary renown.

使這個角色一躍成為文學名流

In 1922, a German studio adapted the novel into the now classic silent film "Nosferatu"

1922 年，一間德國製片公司改編小說

成為一齣經典的默片 《不死殭屍—恐慄交響曲》

without paying royalties.

而沒有支付版稅

Despite changes in character names and minor plot points,

儘管調整了角色名字和劇情細節

the parallels were obvious, and the studio was sued into bankruptcy.

和小說的相似之處顯而易見

最後該公司被告到破產

To prevent more plagiarism attempts,

為了避免更多的抄襲行為

Stoker's widow decided to establish copyright

史杜克的遺孀妻子決定

針對舞台劇版的《德古拉》提出版權

over the stage version of "Dracula"

by approving a production by family-friend Hamilton Deane.

同意她的親信漢彌爾頓·迪恩來製作

Although Deane's adaptation made drastic cuts to the story,

雖然迪恩大幅刪減了故事情節

it became a classic,

它終究成為一部經典之作

thanks largely to Bela Lugosi's performance on Broadway.

貝拉·盧戈西在百老匯的演出

Lugosi would go on to star in the 1931 film version by Universal,

讓他繼續主演 1931 年 環球影業公司的電影版本

lending the character many of his signature characteristics.

賦予這個角色許多鮮明的特質

And since then, Dracula has risen again in countless adaptations,

從此，德古拉在無數的作品中復活

finding eternal life far beyond the humble pages of his birth.

永存於世

遠遠超過原著問世的影響