Gulliver"s Travels《格列佛游记》

胡志美+

《格列佛游记》自1726年出版以来被译成几十种语言，在世界各地流传甚广。该书虽然沿用了18世纪欧洲小说盛行的航海冒险模式，却被赋予了截然不同的性质和魅力。作者以幽默的语言丰富了作品的道德含义，使之读来妙趣横生；又以主人公荒诞的经历讽刺了当时英国社会的腐朽；同时还通过人物塑造和叙述框架的安排使读者能在大笑过后反思人性。

作者乔纳森·斯威夫特是英国18世纪著名的政论家和讽刺小说家。他喜欢用讽喻的方式来创作，用丰富的幻想和夸张的手法塑造了一个个鲜明的形象，用曲折动人的故事情节和浅显易懂的语言文化反映现实生活从而起到抑恶扬善的教育作用。他的很多传世之作如《一只桶的故事》和《一个小小的建议》在文学史上占有重要的地位，而最具代表性的《格列佛游记》因其语言雅俗共赏，思想直指人心，一直位列英国文学库的必读经典之作。 该书由四部分组成，每个部分都讲述了梅尔·格列佛在出海航行的过程中在一些荒岛上的离奇经历。

Lilliput 小人国:

The first part tells about Gullivers extraordinary experience on an island called Lilliput. In a shipwreck, Gulliver is pushed forward by the water to the shore, making him the only survivor1. Later he wakes up only to find that he is fastened2 on each side to the ground by many tiny threads. Until then does he know that he is trapped3 in the island—Lilliput. People on the island are only six inches tall.

第一部分讲述的是格列佛在一个叫“利立普特”的小人国的离奇遭遇。在一次船只失事中，因为被海水冲到海岸上，格列佛成为了唯一的幸存者。醒来后，他发现自己被无数根细线捆绑在地上。此时他才知道自己被困在一个叫“利立普特”的岛上。 那里的居民只有六英寸高。

During his stay on Lilliput, Gulliver learns two strange things. One is that the emperor of Lilliput chooses his officials not by evaluating4 their abilities but by holding a “rope-dancing” activity. Those who are outstanding and make the emperor happy in this competition will get a position in the government. The other thing is that Lilliput and Blefescu—a neighboring5 country of little people, wage6 wars against each other because they disagree with each other on where to crack7 an egg. The Lilliputians prefer to crack it on the small end while the people in Blefescu insist that its better to crack it on the large end.

在利立普特，格列佛观察到两件很怪异的事情，第一件是国王在选拔政府官员时不是衡量他们的能力而是举行一个“跳绳”比赛，那些在比赛中表现突出并取悦国王的人就可以谋得一份职务。另外一件事就是，利立普特和一个相邻的小人国Blefescu常年混战，仅仅他们因为在从哪头敲碎鸡蛋这件事上发生了分歧。前者认为应该从小的那头去敲，而后者则坚持认为从大的那头去敲更好。

Being called a “man mountain”, Gulliver successfully helps the Lilliputians fight against the invasion8 from Blefescu, and also saves the royal family when a palace is on fire. This, however, brings about jealousy9 from some officials who later scheme against Gulliver with some rumors. At last, Gulliver is sentenced to blindness and starvation. Hearing this, Gulliver simply leaves Lilliput to put an end to it.

格列佛被他们称作“巨人山”，并且成功地帮利立普特人抵御了Blefescu的入侵，还在皇宫着火时挽救了皇室人员。可是这招致了一些官员的嫉妒，于是他们用一些谣言诋毁格列佛。终于，国王下令刺瞎他的双眼并将他活活饿死。听到这个消息，格列佛离开了利立普特结束了这一切。

Brobdingnang 大人国：

After staying at home for two months, Gulliver goes for another voyage. On an island, Gulliver and the crewmen splits up10 to find fresh water. Before long, Gulliver finds that his colleagues all run back to their ship because a gigantic creature is running after them. For their safety, the ship sails—without Gulliver. When exploring the island—Brobdingnang, he is surprised by the sights in front of him: corn 40 feet tall, a hedge 120 feet high and trees reaching to the sky. A farmer finds him and takes him home as a pet. To make money, the farmer takes Gulliver to the market and charges11 viewers who want to take a look at this little strange man. Soon he is bought by the queen of Brobdingnag as a present for the king. Gullivers two years stay in Brobdingnag is not easy because he has to worry about his life all the time because everything including a bee, a monkey and a frog is too large for him. Quiet interestingly, he leaves there because an eagle picks him up when he traveled to the sea together with the royal family.

在家呆了两个月后，格列佛又开始第二次出海航行。在一座岛上，他和船员分头去寻找水源。不久后他发现船员们纷纷跑回船上，因为后面有一只巨大的怪物在追他们。为了自己的安全，船员们竟然撇下格列佛开船走了。在大人国布罗卜丁奈格上探索时，他被眼前的景象惊呆了：玉米40英尺高，篱笆120英尺高而树木则快要碰到天了。一个农夫发现了格列佛并把他当做宠物带回了家。为了赚钱，农夫每天都把他带到集贸市场去，并且向那些想要一睹这个奇怪的小人风采的游客收取费用。不久，大人国的皇后将他买去作为礼物送给国王。格列佛在那里的两年并不容易，因为那里的一切——就连一只蜜蜂，一只猴子和一只青蛙——对他来说都太大了，他要时刻担心自己的安危。颇为有趣的是，他在一次和皇室成员去海边旅游的时候被一只鹰叼走才得以离开那里。

Laputa 飞岛国：

Gulliver sets sail for the third time when, unluckily he is attacked by pirates12 and is later left on an island called Laputa. It is an strange island that can fly without any aids. People on the island are all theoreticians and daydreamers. The scientists spend most time in trying to extract sunbeams from cucumbers, plow13 farmland with pigs and so on. They make their living by oppressing the people below Laputa and impose14 tax on them. Tired of their lifestyle, Gulliver finally leaves Laputa.

在格列佛的第三次出行中，他很不幸地被一群海盗袭击并被流放到一个叫“乐普他”的岛屿上。奇怪的是这个岛屿在没有任何帮助的情况下可以在空中飞行。岛上的居民都是纯理论者，整天做着白日梦。科学家们将所有的时间都花在一些很荒诞的事情上，比如说从黄瓜中提取阳光，用猪犁地等等。他们完全靠压榨住在岛下的居民，以向他们征税来维持生活。格列佛厌倦了他们的生活方式之后，最终离开了那里。

Houynhmns 慧骃国：

After five months, Gulliver once again answers the call of the ocean. This time he finds himself on the land of the Houynhmns—a race of intelligent horses. On this land, the horse which is rational, civilized and noble becomes the ruler, giving orders to another ugly and brutal species called Yahoo. Gulliver has great respect for the horses because he thinks they have all the virtues15 of humanity. But he observes that the Yahoo has the face and figure of a human. But they are rude and disgusting16 and feed on the dead dogs. Gulliver gradually learns quite a lot from the horse. He wants to stay longer, but the horses still asks him to leave because they think he looks too much alike the Yahoos and might one day become the leader of Yahoos. Later, he luckily comes across a Portuguese ship whose captain agrees to take him back to England.

五个月后，格列佛又一次回应了大海的号召。这次他发现自己身处一个叫“慧骃国”的地方。 “慧骃”指一种聪明的马。在这个岛上，理性、文明、高贵的马处于统治者的地位，管理着另外一种叫做“雅虎”的丑陋粗鲁的生物。格列佛很敬佩这些马因为他觉得他们身上具有人性该有的一切美德。但是，他发现雅虎竟然有着和人类一样的面孔和身体，但他们粗俗，令人恶心，以死狗为食。格列佛逐渐从慧骃马那里学到了许多东西。尽管他很想继续留在那里，慧骃马却还是要求他离开，因为他们认为格列佛和雅虎很相像，说不定哪天会成为雅虎的领头人。不久之后，他很幸运地遇到一艘葡萄牙的船只，船长同意带他回到英国。

Gullivers Travels is a classic which always arouses the interest of every child to share Gullivers adventures into those fascinating lands. At the same time, it makes every adult to think over the writers satire on humanity and his wishes to build a harmonious and democratic17 society. The interesting plot and the profound18 ideas make Gullivers Travels a must-read since its first publish in 1726.

《格列佛游记》是一部经典之作，它激发起每个小孩的兴趣想要和格列佛一起去开启奇幻岛屿之旅。同时，它鞭策着每个成年人去思考作者对人性的讽刺和建立一个和谐民主社会的美好愿望。情节生动有趣，思想深刻有力，这种完美的结合使得《格列佛游记》自1726年出版以来就成为了一部必读经典。