麥布女王(1594年莎翁創作“羅密歐與朱麗葉”中的仙女)

麥布女王(1594年莎翁創作“羅密歐與朱麗葉”中的仙女)

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基本介紹

角色簡介,角色分析,原文描述,賞析,

角色簡介

“麥布女王”(Queen Mab)為世人所知主要是莎士比亞的功勞,其第一次在英語作品中出現是莎翁的著名悲劇羅密歐與朱麗葉”(Romeo and Juliet)的第一幕第四場中的“默庫肖的演說”(Mercutio’s speech)。
“麥布女王”(藝術家詹姆士的手工藝品)“麥布女王”(藝術家詹姆士的手工藝品)
在莎翁的喜劇仲夏夜之夢”(A Midsummer Night's Dream)中也提及過“麥布女王”。在該劇中“麥布女王”被古怪地描述成類似飛蛾Moth)和芥子Mustardseed),劇中提到了她的四輪馬車和侍從
“麥布女王”在莎翁的著作中是在人類熟睡時喚醒人類陰暗面(包括口臭,當庭賄賂,教會貪婪戰爭性慾等等)的精靈,難怪羅密歐疾呼“和平,和平,默庫肖,和平!”(Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace!,"羅密歐與朱麗葉"第一幕第四場第95行)。
“麥布女王”並不是莎翁創造的人物,早在莎翁創作“羅密歐與朱麗葉”幾個世紀之前,麥布女王是凱爾特Celtic,現為愛爾蘭)的民間傳說中的人物,其歷史原型是王后美芙(Medb)。

角色分析

原文描述

“羅密歐與朱麗葉”第一幕第四場“默庫肖的演說"(原文),
Mercutio: O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep;
Her waggon-spokes made of long spinners' legs,
The cover of the wings of grasshoppers,
The traces of the smallest spider's web,
The collars of the moonshine's watery beams,
Her whip of cricket's bone, the lash of film,
Her waggoner a small grey-coated gnat,
Not so big as a round little worm
Prick'd from the lazy finger of a maid;
Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut
Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,
Time out o' mind the fairies' coachmakers.
And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love;
O'er courtiers' knees, that dream on court'sies straight,
O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees,
O'er ladies' lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are:
Sometime she gallops o'er a courtier's nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;
And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig's tail
Tickling a parson's nose as a' lies asleep,
Then dreams, he of another benefice:
Sometime she driveth o'er a soldier's neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five-fathom deep; and then anon
Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes,
And being thus frighted, swears a prayer or two
And sleeps again. This is that very Mab
That plats the manes of horses in the night,
And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,
Which once untangled much misfortune bodes:
This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,
That presses them and learns them first to bear,
Making them women of good carriage:
This is she--
Romeo: Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace!
Thou talk'st of nothing.

賞析

麥布女王被莎翁描述成一個“仙女促成者”(the fairies' midwife),她是一個幫助人類實現夢境的仙女精靈。劇中的羅密歐剛剛從一場惡夢中醒來,默庫肖和羅密歐開起了玩笑,默庫肖說夢總是騙人的,當羅密歐反駁他的時候,默庫肖開始了關於麥布女王篇幅42行的演講(如目錄“原文描述”所示),其中描繪了麥布女王的形象坐騎
“麥布女王”(英國皇家郵政發行的郵票)“麥布女王”(英國皇家郵政發行的郵票)
“她的身體只有戒指上一顆瑪瑙那么大(“comes / In shape no bigger than an agate stone”,第55~56行);幾匹螞蟻大小的細馬替她拖著車子,越過酣睡的人們的鼻樑,她的車輻是用蜘蛛的長腳作成的;車篷是蚱蜢的翅膀;挽索是小蜘蛛絲,頸帶如水的月光;馬鞭是蟋蟀的骨頭;韁繩是天際的遊絲。替她駕車的是一隻小小的灰色的蚊蟲,它的大小還不及從一個貪懶丫頭的指尖上挑出來的懶蟲的一半。她的車子是野蠶用一個榛子的空殼替她造成,它們從古以來,就是精靈們的車匠。”
麥布女王的坐騎是四輪馬車,四輪馬車在莎翁的時代是貴族富人才能夠乘坐的,所以麥布女王是仙界的貴族。
莎翁所描繪的麥布女王是個惡魔傳播者,她在其所到之處都傳播著病害
“她每夜驅著這樣的車子,穿過情人們的腦中,他們就會在夢裡談情說愛;經過官員們的膝上,他們就會在夢裡打躬作揖;經過律師們的手指,他們就會在夢裡伸手討訟費;經過娘兒們的嘴唇,她們就地在夢裡跟人家接吻,可是因為春夢婆討厭她們嘴裡吐出來的糖果的氣息,往往罰她們滿嘴長著水泡。有時賓士過廷臣的鼻子,他就會在夢裡尋找好差事,有時她從捐獻給教會的豬身上拔下它的尾巴來,撩撥著一個牧師的鼻孔,他就會夢見自己又領到一份俸祿;有時她繞過一個兵士的頸項,他就會夢見殺敵人的頭,進攻、埋伏、銳利的劍鋒、淋漓的痛飲——忽然被耳邊的鼓聲驚醒,咒罵了幾句,又翻了個身睡去了。就是這一個春夢婆在夜裡把馬鬣打成了辮子,把懶女人的齷齪的亂髮烘成一處處膠粘的硬塊,倘然把它們梳通了,就要遭逢禍事;就是這個婆子在人家女孩子們仰面睡覺的時候,壓在她們的身上,教會她們怎樣養兒子。”
莎翁此處可能是喻指各類身體疾病和社會弊病。

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