Why should you read "Don Quixote"? - Ilan Stavans

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Regina Chu

Mounting his skinny steed,

騎上他皮包骨的駿馬，

the protagonist of Don Quixote

主人翁唐吉訶德

charges an army of giants.

衝向巨人軍團。

In his eyes, it is his duty

在他眼中，他的責任是

to vanquish these behemoths

要擊敗這些巨獸，

in the name of his beloved lady, Dulcinea.

且要以他的摯愛杜爾西內婭之名。

However, this act of valor is ill conceived.

然而，這個英勇之舉的構想很拙劣。

As his squire Sancho Panza explains to him

他的侍從桑丘潘薩向他再三解釋，

time and again, these aren’t giants;

沒有巨人存在；

they are merely windmills.

那些只是風車。

Don Quixote is undeterred,

唐吉訶德不受影響，

but his piercing lance

但他的長矛

is soon caught in their sails.

很快就被風車翼給打斷。

Never discouraged,

這位騎士從來不氣餒， 驕傲地站著，

the knight stands proudly, and becomes

even more convinced of his mission.

反而更相信這是他的使命。

This sequence encapsulates

這個橋段包含了許多

much of what is loved about Don Quixote,

《唐吉訶德》最為人所愛的特點，

the epic, illogical, and soulful tale of

這本史詩故事， 儘管不合邏輯但很有感情，

Alonso Quijano,

講述阿隆索·吉哈諾的故事，

who becomes the clumsy but valiant

他變成了笨拙卻英勇的

Don Quixote of la Mancha, known as

「曼查的唐吉訶德」，

為人所知的「愁容騎士」。

the Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance.

Originally published in two volumes,

最早出版時有兩冊，

the narrative follows Don Quixote

故事開始於唐吉訶德

as he travels through central and northern Spain

穿越西班牙中部和北部的旅行，

fighting the forces of evil.

一路上對抗邪惡勢力。

Despite Don Quixote’s lofty imagination,

儘管唐吉訶德的想像力很高，

his creator, Miguel de Cervantes,

他的創作者，米格爾德塞凡提斯，

could never have imagined his book would

從來沒有想像過他的書

become the best-selling novel of all time.

會成為史上最熱賣的小說。

Barring 5 years as a soldier,

塞凡提斯當了五年的士兵，

and 5 more enslaved by pirates,

又被海盜給奴役了五年，

Cervantes spent most of his life

他的人生大部分時間

as a struggling poet and playwright.

都是個掙扎的詩人和劇作家。

It wasn’t until his late 50’s

一直到快要六十歲時，

that he published his greatest creation:

他最偉大的創作才出版：

an epic satire of chivalry novels.

一部諷刺騎士道小說的史詩作品。

At this time,

此時，記載了騎士的冒險

medieval books chronicling the adventures

及其道德規範的中世紀書籍

of knights and their moral code

dominated European culture.

主宰了歐洲的文化。

While Cervantes was a fan,

塞凡提斯雖然是這類書迷，

he was weary of these repetitive tomes,

但他也厭倦了這些不斷重覆的書，

which focused more on listing heroic feats

重點都比較是在列出英勇功績，

than character development.

而不是角色發展。

為了挑戰這些書， 他寫了《唐吉訶德》，

To challenge them, he wrote Don Quixote,

the story of a hidalgo, or idle nobleman,

故事主角是個 無所事事的西班牙貴族，

who spends his days and nights

他不分晝夜

reading chivalry novels.

都在閱讀騎士道小說。

Driven mad by these stories,

這些故事讓他發了瘋，

he fashions himself a champion for the downtrodden.

他把自己塑造成 為受壓迫者而戰的鬥士。

Everyone in his village

他村中的每個人

tries to convince him to give up his lunacy,

都試著說服他放棄他的愚蠢行為，

going so far as to burn some of the

甚至做到燒毀了他個人圖書館中

lurid books in his personal library.

一些駭人聽聞的書籍。

But Don Quixote is unstoppable.

但沒人能阻擋唐吉訶德。

He dresses up in old shining armor,

他穿戴上古老的閃亮盔甲，

mounts his skinny horse,

騎上他那匹皮包骨的馬，

and leaves his village in search of glory.

離開了他的村落，去追尋榮耀。

Cervantes’ novel

塞凡提斯的小說是以 一系列事件的方式呈現，

unfolds as a collection of episodes

detailing the mishaps of the valiant knight.

詳細刻劃了這位英勇騎士的不幸。

Yet unlike the chivalry books

但，和騎士道書籍不同，

and perhaps all other prior fiction,

可能也和所有其他先前的小說不同，

Cervantes’ story deeply investigates

塞凡提斯的故事深入探究了

the protagonist’s inner life.

主人翁的內在生活。

Don Quixote matures as the narrative develops,

隨著故事發展， 唐吉訶德也漸漸成熟，

undergoing a noticeable transformation.

經歷了重要的轉變。

This literary revelation

這種文學揭示性，

has led many scholars to call Don Quixote

導致許多學者把《唐吉訶德》稱為

the first modern novel.

第一部現代小說。

And this character development

這種角色發展

doesn’t happen in isolation.

並不是單獨發生的。

Early on, Don Quixote is joined

早先，有位由村民轉任的侍從

by a villager-turned-squire

加入唐吉訶德，

named Sancho Panza.

名叫桑丘潘薩。

Sancho and Don Quixote

研究認為，桑丘潘薩 和唐吉訶德是完全相反的：

are a study in opposites:

with one as the grounded realist

一個是踏實的現實主義者，

to the other’s idealism.

一個是理想主義者。

Their lively, evolving friendship is often credited

他們生動的友誼不斷演變， 這段關係被譽為

as the original hero and sidekick duo,

最早的英雄和搭擋二人組，

inspiring centuries of fictional partnerships.

是後來數百年小說中 夥伴關係的靈感來源。

Don Quixote was a huge success.

《唐吉訶德》是很大的成功。

Numerous editions were published across Europe

在十七世紀時，

歐洲各地出版了許多版本。

in the seventeenth century.

Even in the Americas,

甚至風行到美洲，

where the Church banned all novels

在美洲，教堂禁止所有小說，

for being sinful distractions,

因為小說是罪惡的分心之物，

audiences were known to enjoy pirated editions.

讀者看的都是盜版。

The book was so well received that

這本書很受好評，

readers clamored for more.

讀者吵著想要看更多。

After a rival author attempted to cash in

在一位競爭對手作家試圖

on a fake follow-up, Cervantes released

用假的續集來賺錢之後，

塞凡提斯推出了官方續集做為回應。

the official sequel in response.

Now published alongside the first volume

現在續集和第一冊一起發行，

as a completed text, this second volume picks up

成為完整的文本，

第二冊接續第一冊沒講完的故事，

where the original left off,

only now Don Quixote and Sancho have become folk heroes.

差別只在於，現在唐吉訶德和桑丘 已經成為了民間英雄。

Just as in real-life, Cervantes included

和真實人生一樣， 塞凡提斯把他小說的成功

his novel’s success in the world of his characters.

放入了他的角色的世界裡。

This unconventional meta-awareness

這種不因循守舊的元認知

created philosophical complexity,

隨著騎士與他的侍從思考著

as the knight and his squire ponder

他們的故事的意義，

創造出了哲學式的複雜性。

the meaning of their story.

Unfortunately, Cervantes had sold

不幸的是，塞凡提斯

低價賣出這本書的版權。

the book’s publishing rights for very little.

He died rich in fame alone.

他過世時，只有名聲上的富足。

But his treatise on the power of creativity

但他用創造力所寫出的論述

and individualism has inspired

以及個人主義，

啟發了藝術、文學、

art,

literature,

popular culture,

流行文化，

甚至政治上的改革。

and even political revolution.

Don Quixote argues

唐吉訶德主張，

that our imagination greatly informs our actions,

我們的行為大部分是 基於我們的想像力，

making us capable of change,

想像力讓我們能夠改變，

and, indeed, making us human.

也確實，讓我們成為人類。