【中英双语】死灵书之史 洛夫克拉夫特著 | History of the ...

《死灵之书》的原名是《阿尔·阿吉夫》
Its original title was Al Azif-
“阿吉夫”常被阿拉伯人用来形容那些夜间的声音
-azif being the word used by Arabs to designate that nocturnal sound
(也指那些晚间由昆虫发出来的声音)
(made by insects)
也被怀疑是恶魔们的哭嚎和咆哮的声音
supposed to be the howling of demons.
此书是由一位来自也门萨那的疯子诗人阿卜杜尔·阿尔哈兹莱德所编著
Composed by Abdul Alhazred, a mad poet of Sanaá,in Yemen,
据说此人在约公元700年前后的倭马亚王朝享誉盛名
who is said to have flourished during the period of the Ommiade caliphs,circa 700 A.D.
他曾走访过古巴比伦的遗迹和一些位于孟斐斯的地下城
He visited the ruins of Babylon and the subterranean secrets of Memphis
并在阿拉伯南部的大沙漠里独居了10年
and spent ten years alone in the great southern desert of Arabia--
那是被古人所称作“鲁卜哈利”或“虚空”的地方
the Robael Khaliyeh or "Empty Space"of the ancients--
而现在的阿拉伯人称那里为“达哈马”,或是叫“深红”
and "Dahna" or "Crimson" desert of the moden Arabs,
据说那片沙漠生活着许许多多的恶灵守卫和夺命怪物
which is held to be inhabited by protective evil spirits and monsters of death.
在这个沙漠里出现的难以置信的怪奇场景
Of this desert many strange and unbelievable marvels are told
被那些自称曾经穿越过这片沙漠的人所传说
by those who pretend to have ventured into its depths.
在他晚年的时候,阿卜杜尔·阿尔哈兹莱德定居到了大马士革,
In his last years Alhazred dwelt in Damascus,
完成了《死灵之书》的编写工作
where the Necromicon was written,
最后在公元738年死亡,或也可能是失踪了
and of his final death or disappearance in 738 A.D.
书中记载了许多恐怖且自相矛盾的事情
many terrible and conflicting things are told.
一个生活在12世纪的传记作家,名叫伊本·赫里康声
He is said by Ebn Khallikan, a 12th century biographer,
声称阿卜杜尔·阿尔哈兹莱德是在光天化日之下被一个看不见的恶魔抓住
to have been seized by an invisible monster in broad daylight
然后在一大群被吓得目瞪口呆的人目击下被活活吞噬掉了
and devoured horribly before a large number of fright-frozen witnesses.
许多事情都能体现出它的疯癫
Of his madness, many things are told.
此人自称见过瑰城埃雷姆--传说中的千柱之城
He claimed to have seen the fabulous Irem.or City of Pillars,
并且还在一个无名的沙漠小城下
and to have found beneath the ruins of a certain nameless desert town,
潜藏着一个比人类还要古老的种族所留下的令人震惊的秘密和历史
the shocking records and secrets of a race older than mankind.
他始终是一个普通寻常的穆斯林
He was only an indifferent Moslem,
崇拜着那些
worshipping unknown entities
被他称为“犹格·索托斯”和“克苏鲁”的未知存在
whom he called Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu.
在公元950年前后
In 950 A.D. the Azif,
《阿吉夫》一书已经在暗中广为流传,并未公开
which had gained a considerable tho' surreptitious circulation
特别是在当时的哲学家之间
amongst the philosophers of the age,
此书被秘密译制成希腊语
was secretly translated into Greek
译者是君士坦丁堡的希欧多尔·勒塔斯,他也将此书命名为《死灵之书》
by Theodorus Philetas of Constantinople under the title of Necronomicon.
在接下来的一个世纪里,有些实验者受它的鼓动进行了一些可怕的尝试
For a century it impelled certain experimenters to terrible attempts,
最后被主教米哈伊尔查封并烧毁了此书
when it was suppressed and burnt by patriarch Micheal.
在这之后关于这本书的传闻一直晦暗不明
After this it is only heard of furtively,
但在1228年,
but in 1228,
中世纪时期,奥洛斯•沃尔密乌斯编译了一份阿拉伯译本
Olaus Wormius made a Latin translation later in the Middle Ages,
这份译本曾有两次印刷出版--
and the Latin text was printed twice--
其一是15世纪时的哥特字体版(被证实是在德国印制)
once in the fifteenth century in black-letters (evidently in Germany)
其二是在17世纪,可能是在西班牙印制的
and once in the seventeenth, probably in Spain.
这两个版本都没有可供识别的标志
both editions being without identifying marks,
只能根据内文排版印刷方式来推测印刷的时间和地点
and located as to time and place by internal typographical evidence only
后来1232年罗马教皇列高列九世查禁了此书的拉丁语版本与希腊语版本
The work both Latin and Greek was banned by Pope Gregory Ⅸ in 1232,
就在拉丁语译版出现后不久,这也引起了不少人的注意
shortly after its Latin translation, which called attention to it.
根据沃尔密乌斯所做的序言记载,此书的阿拉伯文原版早在他那个时期就已经遗失
The Arabic original was lost as early as Wormius' time, as indicated by its prefatory note
而这希腊译版的最后一次现身--是在1500年至1550年间在意大利印制出版
and no sight of the Greek copy--which was printed in Italy between 1500 and 1550
在某个塞勒镇居民图书馆里被人翻阅,但那座图书馆在1692年被付之一炬
has been reported since the burning of a certain Salem man's library in 1692.
迪伊博士曾把此书译成英语版,但从未印刷出版过
An English translation made by Dr. Dee was never printed,
现存的文本只有从他手稿里复原的一部分残本
and exists only in fragments recovered from the original manuscript.
其拉丁文版本尚有副本留存于世,是15世纪的印版
Of the Latin texts now existing one, from 15th century.
现被大不列颠博物馆锁藏
is known to be in the British Museum under lock and key,
与此同时,巴黎的国家图书馆里存放了一本17世纪印行的版本
while another, from 17th century, is in the national library at Paris.
另外哈佛大学的怀德纳图书馆,
A seventeenth-century edition is in the Widener Library at Harvard,
和阿甘镇的密斯卡托尼克大学的图书馆
and in the library of Miskatonic University at Arkham.
以及布宜诺斯艾利斯大学图书馆中各保存着一本17世纪印行的版本
Also in the library of the university of the Buenos Ayres.
可能还有为数众多的副本仍被秘密的收藏着
Numerous other copies probably exist in secret,
还有一个15世纪的印版
and a fifteenth-century one is
一直有传言说它被一位著名的美国百万富翁收藏起来
persistently rumoured to form part of the collection of a celebrated American millionaire.
另一个真假不明的谣传称一个16世纪的希腊版本
A still vaguer rumour credits the preservation of a sixteenth-century
被塞勒姆的皮克曼家族保留
Greek text in the Salem family of Pickman;
即便事实真是如此
but if it was so preserved,
这本书也与艺术家R•U•皮克曼
it vanished with the artist R.U. Pickman,
在1926年初一起失踪了
who disappeared early in 1926.
大多数国家当局和有组织的教会
The book is rigidly suppressed by the authorities of most countries,
都严厉查禁此书
and by all branches of organised ecclesiasticism.
阅读此书会导致严重的后果
Reading it leads to terrible consequences.
也根据此书的传言,只有很少一部分相关的
It was from rumours of this book, of which relatively few of the general
公众知道,
public know,
罗伯特•W•钱伯斯的早期小说《黄衣之主》就从传言中得到的灵感
that R.W.Chambers is said to have derived the idea of his early novel The King in Yellow.
*年限表*
*timeline*
注释:Sanaá, in Yemen, 萨那,今也门首都。
哈里发:伊斯兰教职称谓。中国穆斯林也做“海里凡”讲。为阿拉伯语音译,意为“代理人”或“继位人”。出自《古兰经》中有“我必定在大地上设置一个代理人”的经文。穆罕默德及其以前的众先知即被认为是安拉在大地上的哈里发。该词后被用于指称穆罕默德逝世后继任伊斯兰教国家政教合一领袖的人。
Memphis:古埃及城市。位于今尼罗河三角洲南部,上下埃及交界的米特·拉辛纳村。其名称起源于第六王朝 (约BC2345-BC2181) 国王佩皮一世的名为Men-nefer的金字塔,希腊人讹称为孟斐斯。传说此城由第一王朝第一法老美尼斯所建,原称“白城”。
Damascus:今叙利亚首都
Irem:又称Aram, Iram, Irum, Irem, Erum, Ubar, Wabar,也称千柱之城 (City of a Thousand Pillars) 阿拉伯半岛上的一座遗失的城市(或者是指该遗失城市的周边区域)。Iram是阿拉伯语的音译,此地传说位于阿拉伯半岛南端,可能自公元前3000到公元1世纪有人曾在此定居。根据传说它与沿海地区、中东乃至欧洲地区的人们进行贸易,最后变得非常非常富有。但是现代历史学尚未发现这个城市存在的证据,也可能只是神话故事。《古兰经》中说Iram居住着عاد部族。不过这座城市真正引起西方文化的注意是它出现在了《一千零一夜》中。
Michael:该词也有米迦勒之意。历史上查无此人 (至少不出名) 。
Widener Library 这个词我觉得还是意译吧。
Robert W. Chambers 本文唯一确切可考的人名。
附注:写传记的Ebn·Khallikan不是伊波恩,只是Ebn这词类似而已。
--写在后面--
译文和注释都参考摘自克苏鲁公社的竹子译版,仅供学习参考,侵删。另外本文原文是由H.P.Lovecraft于1928年(不确定)撰写,并于1938年出版。我烤肉的时候为了贴合视频内容,删减了很多文章中的句子,原文在视频下面的评论里。原视频标题是Necronomicon by Lovecraft,我一直以为这篇文章就叫死灵之书,找了好久都没找到原文qaq,原文叫History of the Necronomicon,有兴趣可以查一下,文章中涉及的很多人名地名已经不可考,且有很大一部分材料很可能是作者胡诌出来的,所以注释仅供参考。作者笔下的“《死灵之书》”很大可能是不存在的,也许有其他流传的版本(内容无非就是一些相关内容的记载和设想),但是也切勿过于当真。