1818年第一次出版的《弗兰肯斯坦》被公认为第一部近代科幻小说,书的全名是《弗兰肯斯坦——现代普罗米修斯的故事》(Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus)。它出自英国著名诗人雪莱之妻玛丽·雪莱之手,此书出版时她年仅21岁。《弗兰肯斯坦》讲述了一位名叫弗兰肯斯坦的科学家利用死人器官拼凑出一个怪物的故事,而怪物因得不到社会的理解和同情,最终走上了弑主愤世的毁灭道路。小说除了被翻译成多种语言外,还先后被话剧、音乐剧和电影等艺术形式演绎,其中1931年拍摄的黑白电影《弗兰肯斯坦》塑造了一个流传至今的怪物形象。
无声部分
No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a 1)hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent creatures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs. Pursuing these reflections, I thought that if I could 2)bestow animation upon lifeless matter, I might in the process of time (although I now found it impossible) renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption.
没有人能够明白当我初次体会到成功的喜悦时那种纷繁复杂的心情,就好像在我的身体里刮过一阵飓风一样。新的物种将把我奉为它们的造物主,无数幸福、完美的生命将因我而生。我将比这个世界上任何一个父亲,都更有权力获得我创造的生命的感恩之情。为了追求这些,我甚至还想到,如果我能够将生命力注入没有生命的物质,那么,今后我也许还可以让已经开始腐烂的身体重新恢复生命。尽管,现在我发现这还不可能。
These thoughts supported my spirits, while I pursued my undertaking with 3)unremitting 4)ardour. My cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become 5)emaciated with 6)confinement. Sometimes, on the very brink of certainty, I failed; yet still I clung to the hope which the next day or the next hour might realize.
就是这些想法成为支持我的精神动力,使我将源源不断的热情投入到工作中。我的脸颊因为工作过度而日渐苍白,身体也因为足不出户而消瘦下去。有的时候,我已经在成功的边缘了,可是又功亏一篑。但是我始终坚信:我只要再坚持一天,甚至再坚持一个小时,我就能够实现我的梦想。
It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might 7)infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain 8)pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a 9)convulsive motion 10)agitated its limbs.
在十一月一个阴郁的夜晚,我终于看到了辛劳的成果。在极度的焦急不安中,我拿起身边各种激活生命所需要的仪器,准备给躺在我脚下的躯体注入生命。当时已经是凌晨一点了,雨滴狂乱地打在窗上,蜡烛也即将燃尽。突然,就在火苗临近熄灭的微光里,我看到那具躯体睁开了浑浊昏黄的眼珠,呼吸急促,四肢痉挛地抽搐起来。
How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how 11)delineate the 12)wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had 13)endeavoured to form?
我该如何形容我对这场灾难的感受啊?我又该如何描述这个我费尽千辛万苦造就出来的怪物啊?
His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a 14)lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these 15)luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the 16)dun-white sockets in which they were set, his 17)shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.
他四肢倒还符合比例,我也尽力按照美的标准挑选他的五官。美啊!我的老天!他的黄皮肤刚好包住肌肉和皮下血管;他的头发乌黑油亮,而且顺滑,他的牙齿也洁白如珍珠。但是这些标致的器官和他水泡眼配在一起,反而更加骇人。而且他的眼眶也如眼睛一样惨白。他的面部肌肤萎缩,嘴唇又黑又直。
英式发音 适合精读
有声部分
The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded 18)moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued a long time 19)traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep. At length 20)lassitude succeeded to the 21)tumult I had before endured, and I threw myself on the bed in my clothes, endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness. But it was in vain; I slept, indeed, but I was disturbed by the wildest dreams.
虽说世事无常,可是再怎么也没有人类的情感多变了。就为了让无生命的躯体恢复生命力这个惟一的目标,我辛勤地耕耘了近两年了。为此,我废寝忘食,甚至连健康都搭了上去。我热切地盼望圆这个梦,简直都过了头。可谁知,现在我终于大功告成了,可美梦也破灭了,心中只有令人窒息的恐惧和恶心。我实在无法忍受那个我自己造出来的生命,于是我冲出了工作室,回到我的寝室在里面不断走来走去,良久不能使心情平复下来入睡。又过了好久,我烦躁不安的情绪才逐渐平静下来,我于是衣服也没脱,倒头就睡,努力寻求忘掉一切的片刻平静。但是一切都是徒劳,我虽然睡着了,但是却不断地被噩梦惊扰,不得安宁。
I thought I saw 22)Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of 23)Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the 24)hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms; a25)shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel.
我梦见青春健康的伊丽莎白,正在英格尔斯塔德街头漫步。我又惊又喜,把她紧紧抱在怀里,并想要亲吻她。可是当我的嘴一碰到她,她的嘴唇马上就变成死人般的颜色,她的其他五官也都发生了变化。最后我觉得自己抱的好像是故去母亲的遗体,她被裹尸布包着,而尸虫在法兰绒的褶缝里面缓缓蠕动。
I started from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed; when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch—the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some 26)inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs.
我惊恐地从噩梦中惊醒,额头上全是冷汗,牙齿上下打着寒战,四肢不停地抽搐。这时,昏黄的月光透过百叶窗的缝隙照射进来,我看见了那个怪物——我亲手造出来的可怜怪物。他正掀起床帷,眼睛(如果可以叫眼睛的话)直直地盯着我。他张开嘴,发出了一串含糊不清的声音,然后咧嘴一笑,那张脸上顿时布满了皱纹。他可能说了点什么,可我根本没听清;这时他伸出一只手,似乎是想抓我,我躲过他的手,冲下了楼梯。
I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited, where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the 27)demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life.
我后来一整晚都躲在楼下的院子里。我不安地在里面来回地走动,耳朵还时刻警惕着周围的响动。任何风吹草动都会让我以为是那具可怜地被我赋予生命的活死尸追上来了!
Oh! No mortal could support the horror of that 28)countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then, but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived.
噢!这个世上没人能忍受那张脸。哪怕是木乃伊转世,也没有那个怪物更吓人了。在我还没完工的时候,我就一直盯着他看,当然他那时也很丑,但是谁想到等他的肌肉和关节活动起来之后,就变成一副连但丁也想象不出的丑恶嘴脸。 翻译:木乃伊
