第2章 小美人鱼 The Little Mermaid (第1/23页)

《小美人鱼》，1836 年

the Little mermaid, 1836

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安徒生认为，凭借《小美人鱼》，他创作出了自己最动人的童话故事之一。

with “the Little mermaid,” Andersen believed that he had created one of his most moving fairy tales.

“我与我的角色同甘共苦。” 他反复对朋友们这样讲，他的读者也承受了他笔下那美丽水生生物的痛苦。

“I suffer with my characters,” he told his friends again and again, and his readers too have endured the pain of his beautiful aquatic creature.

《欢乐满人间》系列书籍的作者 p.L. 特拉弗斯发现汉斯?克里斯蒂安?安徒生是折磨艺术的大师。

p.L.travers, author of the mary poppins books, found hans christian Andersen to be a master in the art of torture.

“我多么希望看到邪恶的继母被油煎……” 她宣称，“而不是忍受小美人鱼或者穿红鞋的女孩那漫长的痛苦。”

“how much rather would I see wicked stepmothers boiled in oil...,” she declared, “than bear the protracted agony of the Little mermaid or the girl who wore the Red Shoes.”

在安徒生的故事里，苦难可能成为一种精神优越的标志，他笔下那些受压迫的主人公在忍受了看似无尽的屈辱之后常常胜利归来。

In Andersen’s tales, suffering can bee a badge of spiritual superiority, and his downtrodden protagonists often emerge triumphant after enduring seemingly endless humiliations.

小美人鱼有着世俗的野心，并非朝着默默忍受痛苦的方向。

the little mermaid has worldly ambitions that run in directions other than silent suffering.

被上层世界所吸引，她渴望航海、爬山并探索禁地。

drawn to the upper world, she is eager to sail the seas, climb mountains, and explore forbidden territory.

她穿上男孩的衣服，和王子一起骑马，以前所未有的方式跨越性别界限。

donning boy’s clothing, she goes horseback riding with the prince, crossing gender boundaries