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Myths (神话)

The Enduring Myth of Pygmalion and the Statue 美梦成真：毕马龙神话

详细资料: 创建于 2011年1月24日; 最后更新于 2024年5月25日; 发布于 2013年9月10日; 作者：Mike Lee; 点击数：233

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In Metamorphoses, the Roman poet Ovid tells the tale of Pygmalion, king of Cyprus, and his rather unusual love affair. The story has been interpreted in many ways, and its fascinating hero and heroine have inspired numerous artists, poets, filmmakers, writers, composers, and choreographers.

在《变形记》里，罗马诗人奥维德讲述塞浦路斯国王毕马龙与他甚为奇特的爱情故事。该故事已从许多观点被诠释，而许多艺术家、诗人、电影制片家、作家、作曲家、与编舞家从故事里令人着迷的男女主角身上找到了灵感。

Disgusted by Cypriot women, who Pygmalion found immoral, he took comfort in a statue of a beautiful lady, which he sculpted from ivory. Before long, Pygmalion was obsessed with the sculpture. He kissed and caressed her, and showered her with gifts, making himself believe that the woman was made not of ivory but of flesh and blood.

毕马龙对塞浦路斯不道德的女性感到厌恶，于是他用象牙雕出一尊美丽的少女，并从中得到安慰。很快地毕马龙便对这尊雕像魂牵梦萦，他亲吻、轻触它，送它许多礼物，并说服自己相信这尊女性雕像不是用象牙刻成，而是一位真实的女性。

When the festival of Aphrodite came around, Pygmalion was completely in love. He begged that Aphrodite might make him a wife just like his ivory statue. When he returned home, he kissed his sculpted female and found her lips to be warm. Pygmalion’s wish had been granted: his beloved statue was a living being. The two wed, and she bore him a son, Paphos.

当爱神阿芙罗黛蒂的庆典来临时，毕马龙与他的雕像正深陷爱河。他祈求阿芙罗黛蒂赐他一位有如那尊象牙雕像般的妻子。在毕马龙回到家、亲吻雕像之际，他发现了雕像的嘴唇带着余温。毕马龙的愿望实现了。他心爱的雕像变成真实的女性。毕马龙与她结婚，这位女性为他生下一名男孩，取名帕佛斯。

Interpretations of the myth have varied. In 1912, playwright George Bernard Shaw wrote Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts – the story of a professor who makes a bet that he can train an uneducated Londoner to behave like an upper-class lady. The theme of the man creating his ideal woman is seen in both tales. In Bernard Shaw’s more feminist version, though, the heroine ultimately rejects her “creator.”

毕马龙神话的诠释版本各个不同。剧作家乔治．萧伯纳于1912年的作品《卖花女》中，描述一位教授打赌要把一个土气的伦敦姑娘训练成一位举止如上流社会般的淑女。在毕马龙神话与萧伯纳的作品中，都有男性打造理想女性的主题，但萧伯纳带有女性主义色彩的版本里，女主角最终反抗她的「创造者」。

Whether you see Pygmalion as a hopeless romantic, a misogynist, or both, there’s no doubt that the myth has inspired many fine works of art and literature. The story of the king and his ivory wife is certainly one that captures the imagination.

不论你把毕马龙当作无可救药的浪漫主义者、憎恨女性者，或两者皆是，此一神话无庸置疑地启发了许多艺术与文学作品。国王与他的象牙雕像变成的妻子绝对是一个引起人们想象力的故事。

－by Alice Davis

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