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

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

The Devil has come to town.

魔鬼來到鎮上了。

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

但別擔心，他只想籌劃一場魔法秀。

This absurd premise forms the central plot

這荒唐的前提，形成了 米哈布爾加科夫的鉅作

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

《大師與瑪格麗特》的中心劇情。

Written in Moscow during the 1930s,

於三○年代在莫斯科撰寫，

this surreal blend of political satire, historical fiction,

這部超現實的作品 混合了政治諷刺、

歷史虛構故事，和奧妙的神祕主義，

and occult mysticism

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

被認為是二十世紀 最偉大的小說之一，

and one of its strangest.

也是該世紀最奇怪的小說之一。

The story begins when a meeting between two members

故事一開始，是兩名莫斯科 文學菁英成員的會面

of Moscow’s literary elite

is interrupted by a strange gentleman named Woland,

被一名陌生的男子沃蘭德給打斷，

who presents himself as a foreign scholar

他自稱是外國學者，

invited to give a presentation on black magic.

受邀來做黑魔法的展現。

As the stranger engages the two companions in a philosophical debate

當這名陌生人讓這兩位伙伴 展開一場哲學辯論，

and makes ominous predictions about their fates,

並對他們的命運 做出不祥的預測時，

the reader is suddenly transported to 1st century Jerusalem.

讀者突然被傳送到 第一世紀的耶路撒冷。

There a tormented Pontius Pilate

在那裡，痛苦的本丟 · 彼拉多

reluctantly sentences Jesus of Nazareth to death.

不情願地判拿撒勒的耶穌處死刑。

With the narrative shifting between the two settings,

故事的敘述在兩個背景間轉換，

Woland and his entourage– Azazello, Koroviev, Hella,

沃蘭德和他的隨行人員—— 阿札柴拉、柯羅維亞、戈拉，

and a giant cat named Behemoth–

以及一隻巨貓貝海莫斯——

are seen to have uncanny magical powers,

被看見有怪異的魔法力量，

which they use to stage their performance

他們用這些力量來表演，

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

在身後留下大片破壞和混亂的痕跡。

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

這本小說的大部分黑暗幽默 不僅來自於惡魔的惡作劇，

but also the backdrop against which it occurs.

也來自它發生時的背景。

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

布爾加科夫的故事發生的背景， 正是他寫這個故事時的背景——

the USSR at the height of the Stalinist period.

蘇聯正處於史達林主義的高峰期。

There, artists and authors worked under strict censorship,

藝術家和作家的作品 在那裡受到嚴格的審查，

subject to imprisonment, exile, or execution

如果他們被認為是 在暗中破壞國家意識形態，

if they were seen as undermining state ideology.

就可能會被囚禁、放逐，或處決。

Even when approved, their work–

就算是被核准了，他們的作品

along with housing, travel, and everything else–

與其住房、旅行及所有其他一切，

was governed by a convoluted bureaucracy.

都由錯綜複雜官僚政治管理。

In the novel,

在小說中，沃蘭德操控 這個體制以及現實的結構，

Woland manipulates this system along with the fabric of reality,

to hilarious results.

產生可笑的結果。

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

當頭和身體分離， 且天空下起了錢雨，

the citizens of Moscow react with petty-self interest,

莫斯科的市民用 小我的利益來做出反應，

illustrating how Soviet society bred greed and cynicism

描繪出儘管蘇聯社會有理想， 卻也培養了貪婪和憤世嫉俗。

despite its ideals.

And the matter-of-fact narration

事實的敘事方式刻意混合

deliberately blends the strangeness of the supernatural events

奇特的超自然事件

with the everyday absurdity of Soviet life.

以及日常荒誕的蘇聯生活。

So how did Bulgakov manage to publish such a subversive novel

所以，布爾加科夫 怎麼在壓迫的政權下

under an oppressive regime?

出版這種顛覆性的小說？

Well… he didn’t.

嗯……他並沒有出版。

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

他在《大師與瑪格麗特》 投入了超過十年的時間。

But while Stalin’s personal favor

雖然史達林的個人偏愛

may have kept Bulgakov safe from severe persecution,

可能可以讓布爾加科夫 不受到嚴重的迫害，

many of his plays and writings were kept from production,

但他的許多劇作和創作被禁止製作，

leaving him safe but effectively silenced.

讓他很安全卻也被有效地禁聲了。

Upon the author’s death in 1940,

這位作家死於 1940 年，

the manuscript remained unpublished.

此時他的手稿仍然沒被出版。

A censored version was eventually printed in the 1960s,

最終，在六○年代， 審查過的版本被出版了，

while copies of the unabridged manuscript

同時未刪減的手稿複本則持續

continued to circulate among underground literary circles.

在地下文學圈中流通。

The full text was only published in 1973,

完整的文本到 1973 年才被出版，

over 30 years after its completion.

這已經是作品完成後三十年了。

Bulgakov’s experiences with censorship and artistic frustration

布爾加科夫所經歷的 審查以及藝術上的挫折，

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

讓這本小說的第二部分 充滿了自傳的味道，

when we are finally introduced to its namesake.

在這部分，和書名 同名的角色終於出場。

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

「大師」是位無名的作者， 他投入數年撰寫一本小說，

but burned the manuscript after it was rejected by publishers–

但被出版商拒絕之後， 他便把手稿給燒了——

just as Bulgakov had done with his own work.

布爾加科夫對他自己的 作品也是這麼做的。

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

但，真正的主角 是大師的情婦瑪格麗特。

Her devotion to her lover’s abandoned dream

她對愛人放棄的夢想 所做出的奉獻，

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

和惡魔公司的越軌行為 有著奇特的連結——

and carries the story to its surreal climax.

讓故事進入了超現實的高潮。

Despite its dark humor and complex structure,

儘管《大師與瑪格麗特》 有著黑暗幽默和複雜的結構，

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

它的核心仍然是關於 藝術、愛，和救贖的沉思，

a meditation on art, love, and redemption,

that never loses itself in cynicism.

這些沉思沒有為了譏諷而遺失。

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

這本書拖很久才出版， 且在不利的情況下還能存活下來，

is a testament to what Woland tells the Master:

就證明了沃蘭德 對大師說的這句話：

“Manuscripts don’t burn.”

「手稿是燒不掉的。」