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The Rape of the Lock (Canto IV)

作者Author / Alexander Pope 亞歷山大．波普

The Rape of the Lock

Canto IV

But anxious cares the pensive nymph oppressed,	[1-10]
And secret passions laboured in her breast.
Not youthful kings in battle seized alive,
Not scornful virgins who their charms survive,
Not ardent lovers robbed of all their bliss,	5
Not ancient ladies when refused a kiss,
Not tyrants fierce that unrepenting die,
Not Cynthia when her Manteau's pinned awry,
E'er felt such rage, resentment, and despair,
As thou, sad virgin! for thy ravished hair.	10

For, that sad moment, when the Sylphs withdrew,	[11-16]
And Ariel weeping from Belinda flew,
Umbriel, a dusky, melancholy sprite,
As ever sullied the fair face of light,
Down to the central earth, his proper scene,	15
Repaired to search the gloomy Cave of Spleen.

Swift on his sooty pinions flits the Gnome,	[17-24]
And in a vapour reached the dismal dome.
No cheerful breeze this sullen region knows,
The dreaded east is all the wind that blows	20
Here in a grotto, sheltered close from air,
And screened in shades from day's detested glare,
She sighs for ever on her pensive bed,
Pain at her side, and Megrim at her head.

Two handmaids wait the throne: alike in place,	25 [25-39]
But differing far in figure and in face.
Here stood Ill-nature like an ancient maid,
Her wrinkled form in black and white arrayed;	(28-30)
With store of prayers, for mornings, nights, and noons,
Her hand is filled; her bosom with lampoons.	30

There Affectation with a sickly mien,
Shows in her cheek the roses of eighteen,
Practised to lisp, and hang the head aside,
Faints into airs, and languishes with pride;
On the rich quilt sinks with becoming woe,	35 (35-36)
Wrapt in a gown, for sickness, and for show.
The fair ones feel such maladies as these,
When each new night-dress gives a new disease.

A constant vapor o'er the palace flies,	[39-46]
Strange phantoms rising as the mists arise;	40
Dreadful, as hermit's dreams in hunted shades,
Or bright, as visions of expiring maids.
Now glaring fiends, and snakes on rolling spires,	(43-44)
Pale spectres, gaping tombs, and purple fires:
Now lakes of liquid gold, Elysian scenes,	45 (45-46)
And crystal domes, and angels in machines.

Unnumbered throngs, on every side are seen,	[47-54] (47-48)
Of bodies changed to various forms by Spleen.
Here living teapots stand, one arm held out,	(49-50)
One bent; the handle this, and that the spout:	50
A pipkin there like Homer's tripod walks;
Here sighs a jar, and there a goose-pie talks;
Men prove with child, as powerful fancy works,
And maids, turned bottels, call aloud for corks.

Safe past the Gnome through this fantastic band,	55 [55-78]
A branch of healing spleenwort in his hand.
Then thus addrest the Power: "Hail wayward Queen!
Who rule the sex to fifty from fifteen:
Parent of vapors and of female wit,
Who give the hysteric or poetic fit,	60
On various tempers act by various ways,
Make some take physic, others scribble plays;
Who cause the proud their visits to delay,
And send the godly in a pet, to pray.
A nymph there is, that all thy power disdains,	65
And thousands more in equal mirth maintains.
But oh! if e'er thy Gnome could spoil a grace,
Or raise a pimple on a beauteous face,
Like citron-waters matron's cheeks inflame,
Or change complexions at a losing game;	70
If e'er with airy horns I planted heads,
Or rumpled petticoats, or tumbled beds,
Or caused suspicion when no soul was rude,
Or discomposed the headdress of a prude,
Or e'er to costive lapdog gave disease,	75
Which not the tears of brightest eyes could ease:
Hear me, and touch Belinda with chagrin;
That single act gives half the world the spleen."

The Goddess with a discontented air	[79-88]
Seems to reject him, though she grants his prayer.	80
A wondrous bag with both her hands she binds,	(81-82)
Like that where once Ulysses held the winds;
There she collects the force of female lungs,
Sighs, sobs, and passions, and the war of tongues.
A vial next she fills with fainting fears,	85 (85-86)
Soft sorrows, melting griefs, and flowing tears.
The Gnome rejoycing bears her gift away,
Spreads his black wings, and slowly mounts to day.

Sunk in Thalestris' arms the nymph he found,	[89-94]
Her eyes dejected, and her hair unbound.	90
Full o'er their heads the swelling bag he rent,
And all the furies issu'd at the vent.
Belinda burns with more than mortal ire,
And fierce Thalestris fans the rising fire.
"O wretched maid!" she spread her hands, and cryed,	95 [95-120]
(While Hampton's echoes, "Wretched maid!" replied),
"Was it for this you took such constant care
The Bodkin, comb and essence to prepare?
For this your locks in paper durance bound,	(99-100)
For this with torturing irons wreathed around!	100
For this with fillets strained your tender head,
And bravely bore the double loads of lead?
Gods! shall the ravisher display your hair,
While the fops envy, and the ladies stare!
Honour forbid! at whose unrivaled shrine	105
Ease, pleasure, virtue, all, our sex resign.
Methinks already I your tears survey,
Already hear the horrid things they say,
Already see you a degraded toast,
And all your honour in a whisper lost!	110
How shall I, then, your hapless fame defend?
'Twill then be infamy to seem your friend!
And shall this prize, the inestimable prize,
Exposed through crystal to the gazing eyes,
And heightened by the diamond's circling rays,	115
On that rapacious hand for ever blaze?
Sooner shall grass in Hyde Park Circus grow,
And wits take lodgings in the sound of Bow;
Sooner let earth, air, sea, to chaos fall,
Men, Monkeys, lapdogs, parrots, perish all!"	120

She said; then raging to Sir Plume repairs,	[121-140]
And bids her beau demand the precious Hairs:
(Sir Plume, of amber snuffbox justly vain,
And the nice conduct of a clouded cane)
With earnest eyes and round unthinking face,	125
He first the snuffbox opened, then the Case,
And thus broke out--"My Lord, why, what the devil!
"Z----ds! damn the lock! 'fore Gad, you must be civil!
"Plague on't! 'tis past a jest--nay, prithee, pox!
Give her the Hair"--he spoke, and rapped his box.	130

"It grieves me much," replied the Peer again,
"Who speaks so well should ever speak in vain.
But by this Lock, this sacred Lock I swear,
(Which never more shall join its parted hair;
Which never more its honors shall renew,	135
Clipped from the lovely head where late it grew),
That while my nostrils draw the vital air,
This hand, which won it, shall for ever wear."
He spoke, and speaking, in proud triumph spread
The long-contended honors of her head.	140

But Umbriel, hateful Gnome, forbears not so;	[141-146]
He breaks the vial whence the sorrows flow.
Then see! the nymph in beauteous grief appears,
Her eyes half-languishing, half drowned in tears;
On her heaved bosom hung her drooping head,	145
Which with a sigh she raised, and thus she said:

"Forever cursed be this detested day,	[147-176]
Which snatched my best, my faverite curl away!
Happy! ah, ten times happy had I been,
If Hampton Court these eyes had never seen!	150
Yet am not I the first mistaken maid,
By love of courts to numerous ills betrayed.
Oh had I rather unadmired remained
In some lone isle, or distant northern land;
Where the gilt chariot never marked the way,	155
Where none learn ombre, none e'er taste Bohea!
There kept my charms concealed from the mortal eye,
Like roses that in desarts bloom and die.
What moved my mind with youthful lords to rome?
Oh, had I stayed, and said my prayers at home!	160
'Twas this the morning omens seemed to tell,
Thrice from my trembling hand the patch box fell;
The tottering china shook without a wind,
Nay, Poll sate mute, and Shock was most unkind!
A Sylph too warned me of the threats of fate,	165
In mystic visions, now believed too late!
See the poor remnants of these slighted hairs!
My hands shall rend what even thy rapine spares.
These, in two sable ringlets taught to break,
Once gave new beauties to the snowy neck.	170
The sister lock now sits uncouth, alone,
And in its fellow's fate foresees its own;
Uncurled it hangs, the fatal shears demands;
And tempts once more thy sacrilegious hands.
Oh hadst thou, cruel! been content to seize	175
Hairs less in sight, or any hairs but these!

Line / No.	Word or Phrase	Annotation
[第1-10節大意]:Belinda秀髮被剪後感到十分憤怒和失望。第三行到第十行為一句，其主詞為第三行到第八行以"not"為首的六個片語，動詞為第九行的"felt"。[back]
1	the pensive nymph	苦心焦慮的Belinda。[back]
4	scornful virgins who their charms survive	散文句法為scornful virgins who survive their charms可恥的處女在失去了美色和媚力(Chams)之後依然活著。[back]
7	unrepenting die	死時沒有懺悔。[back]
8	Cynthia	一美麗少女名。Cynthia為月神之名，又稱Artemis或Diana。
8	Manteau	一種十八世紀英國仕女常穿的鬆寬外衣。[back]
[第11-16節大意]:Ariel和其他Sylphs在這悲戚之際都離Belinda而去。而Umbriel 為一憂鬱的精靈，牠到地心去搜查Cave of Spleen（憤怒的巖穴）。這與史詩中 Odysseus和Aeneas地獄之遊的故事相彷彿。。[back]
13	dusky	黑暗的，悽慘的。[back]
14	sullied	玷污。[back]
16	Cave of Spleen	Cave of ill humor憤怒或憂鬱之巖穴。[back]
[第17-24節大意]:Umbriel (the Gnome)在憤怒之穴中找到Queen of Spleer痛苦和頭痛兩者常侍其側。[back]
21	grotto	巖穴。[back]
23	She	Queen of Spleen司憤怒和憂鬱之后。[back]
24	Megrim	頭痛。[back]
[第25-39節大意]:Queen of Spleen有二女僕。一為Ill-nature（性悄乖戾）一為 Affectation（裝腔作勢）。[back]
28-30	滿身皺紋的性情乖戾身著黑白兩色的衣服，手執禱文，而心懷譏嘲。[back]
31	a silky mien	面帶病容。[back]
33	Practiced to lisp	故作小孩口齒不清狀。
33	hang the head aside	頭歪向一邊，為矯揉造作的動作。[back]
34	嬌弱無力，矜持的樣子。[back]
35-36	當時流行婦女穿著華貴的襯棉睡袍在床上會客，一面裝出生病的樣子，一面為了炫耀。[back]
38	每一件新睡袍可帶來一種不同的病（以形容裝腔作勢）。[back]
[第39-46節大意]:奇怪的幻影在宮殿中飛來飛去。[back]
39	vapor	即發怒，憂鬱。（為時髦士女們所常見的毛病）。[back]
43-44	為巫術或魔術中常見的幻象。
	glaring fiends	怒目而視的惡魔。
	snakes on rolling spiresv	綣曲的蛇群。
	pale specters, gaping tombs, and purple fires	幽靈，裂墳，紫火。[back]
45-46	為當時劇台效果佈景所用的一些機械道具。當時的觀眾多頗好之。[back]
[第47-54節大意]: Queen of Spleen把兩旁的人體變成各種不同的形狀，如茶壺、瓦罐、鵝餅等。[back]
47-48	眾人由於生氣(Spleen)身體變成了種種不同的形狀。[back]
49-50	Here living teapots stand, one arm held out, One bent	為王婆罵街的姿態，一手伸出，一手彎曲像壺把。[back]
51	一個三腳瓦罐，像（Iliad十八章373-77行）鐵神Vulcan為眾神所鑄的『三腳登』，可自動行走。[back]
52	a goose pie talks	會說話之鵝餅。鵝是愚蠢的久徵，即瞎扯胡謅。[back]
53	Men prove with child	男人會懷孕。[back]
54	maids, turned bottles, call aloud for corks	女人像一個翻倒的瓶子（指好說話）須要塞住。或有sexual image：指女人需要男人。[back]
[第55-78節大意]:Umbriel要求Queen of Spleen使出她的能耐，讓Belinda感到煩悶，這樣可使所有的男人(half of the world)憤怒。[back]
56	spleenwort	治療發脾氣的草藥。Aeneas帶了一枝金枝遊地獄。Celsus亦帶一樹枝遊極樂園。[back]
57	wayward Queen!	剛愎，任性的女王！[back]
60	hysteric or poetic fit	歇斯底里或詩人的靈感。敏感和憂鬱二者被視為創作所不可缺少的條件。[back]
64	the godly	虔誠的教徒。
64	in a pet	不高興、鬧蹩扭。[back]
69	本行的散文句法為：Like citron-water inflame matrons' cheeks.
69	citron-water	為白蘭地酒加橘子或檸檬皮，飲後使面孔發紅。[back]
71	with airy horns I planted heads	horns是cuckold的象徵（戴綠帽），airy horns（丈夫們）胡亂猜疑，以為妻子與別人有染。
71	散文句法為：I planted heads with airy horns或(Umbriel)在男人的頭頂上按上猜疑的犄角（即戴上綠帽）。[back]
74	discomposed	弄亂。
74	headdress	髮型。[back]
75	costive	便秘時。[back]
[第79-88節大意]:Queen of Spleen給Umbriel一個袋子和一個瓶子，內含有女人的各種情緒。[back]
81-82	這袋子如風神Aeolus給Ulysses的袋子相同。Aeolus的袋子中裝滿各式各樣的風，他告訴Ulysses不可打開，但Ulysses的部屬趁他不在時把袋子弄開，暴風雨遂起，使他們在海上漂泊不得歸鄉 (Ithaca)。Queen of Spleen的袋中則裝滿嘆息，熱情，詈罵，哭泣等女人的情緒。[back]
85-86	fainting fears, melting griefs, and flowing fears	（Pope喜歡用一連串的現在分詞當形容詞用）令人昏迷的懼怕，令人感動的悲哀，和滿溢的淚水。[back]
[第89-94節大意]:Umbriel回到陽間，見Belinda正在Thalestris懷中，Umbriel把 Spleen的袋子二人的頭頂上打開，袋中的怒火衝出，於是Belinda大發雷霆。 Thalestris 更是火上加油。[back]
89	Thalestris	原為亞馬遜(Amazons)女王的名字，她身體碩壯，赳赳有男子氣概。[back]
[第95-120節大意]:Thalestris大聲為Belinda之秀髮遭劫而鳴不平，決心要為失去的榮譽而爭。[back]
96	Hampton's echoes	在Hampton court可以聽到Thalestris的回聲，描寫女人尖叫聲之響亮。[back]
99-100	Paper durance bound…Torturing irons wreathed around	此處指秀髮所受之折磨。綣紙與燒紅的鐵條常被用來燙頭髮。[back]
101	fillets	hair bad。在epic中女教士用來束髮的狹長帶子。[back]
102	double loads of lead	加倍重的鉛條架子在上面可梳複雜的髮型。 [back]
103	ravisher	指Sir Petre the Baron。[back]
104	fops	紈糸夸子弟。[back]
105	unrivaled	無比的，無雙的（指Honor的至高無比）。 [back]
109	toast	喝酒的對象。在此即指名女人，因為當時名女人的健康常為喝酒時祝福的對象。[back]
112	infamy	惡名。[back]
116	rapacious	貪婪的。[back]
117	Hyde Park Circus	海德公園的賽馬場。在復辟時期主要戶外運動即在聖詹姆士公園的林蔭大道(mall)散步，及在海德公園賽馬場駕車兜風。該賽馬場在今日Serpentine東端，因地高，可俯視四方景色。海德公園的賽馬場灰塵很大。管理人曾設法以水車減低灰塵。此處指海德公園沒有草。[back]
118	sound of Bow	即在Bowchurch鐘聲可及處。[back]
[第121-140節大意]:Thalestris叫Sir Plume向男爵討回秀髮，Sir Plume白費口舌，徒勞無功。男爵拒絕歸還秀髮。[back]
124	clouded cane	灰黑色的手扙。當時紈糸夸子弟都喜歡攜持手扙，這裏也可能指手扙上有似雲的花紋。 [back]
128	Z-ds	即Zounds表示憤怒，罵人的話，如畜生！ [back]
133	this sacred Lock	這綹神聖的頭髮。因在Iliad廿三卷中 Achilles 在Patroclus葬禮時，曾剪掉自己的頭髮致哀。[back]
134	頭髮被剪後不能再連結起來。[back]
135	honors	指「貌美」「溫雅」。[back]
137	當我鼻孔仍能呼吸維繫生命的空氣時(vital air)，意為while I remain alive。[back]
140	long-contended honors	競爭長久才得到的秀髮。[back]
[第141-146節大意]:Umbriel把裝滿悲傷的瓶子打開。美麗的Belinda不禁悲從中來。[back]
143	beauteous grief	美麗的悲傷，為一種矛盾的形容法 (oxymoron)。[back]
144	drowned in tears	熱淚盈眶。[back]
[第147-176節大意]: Belinda詛咒這可恨的一日，她寧願住在一孤島上從未被人見過，但事到如今，只好把另一束秀髮也剪下來。[back]
147	detested	可憎的。此行以下Belinda所說的話是仿 Iliad 十八卷Achilles哀悼Patroclus的設段話。 [back]
149	ten times happy had I been	（假設語氣）比現在要快活十倍。[back]
151	mistaken	wronged受委屈的。[back]
152	numerous ills	許許多多惡意傷害。[back]
155	never marks the way	人跡未到之處車子不曾留下轍跡。[back]
156	Bohea	武夷茶，紅色，比綠茶濃。相傳最早傳入英國的茶為中國福建北部出產的武夷茶。福建方言常以"b"代"w"或"v"，故「武夷」會變成 Bohea。再以國語和臺語讀「武夷茶」的音比較如下： Wu I (Mandarin) ch'a （ㄔㄚ/） Bu Hi (Taiwanese) dei （ㄉㄟ/）[back]
162	patch box	裝patch的匣子。Patch是當時婦女為增加美麗而貼在臉上的小黑布片。通常布片上塗有甘油作美容用。[back]
163	tottering china	搖搖欲墜的瓷器。
163	shook without a wind	無風自搖（不祥之兆）。[back]
164	Poll	鸚鵡之名。[back]
167	remnants	（頭髮）殘餘（部份）。
167	these slighted hairs	這些受人輕視的頭髮。[back]
168	rapine	搶劫。
168	spares	放過，不損害。[back]
169	sable	黑髮或深褐色之髮。於1717年左右黑髮盛行，婦女們多用黑色鉛製梳子，使髮變黑。 [back]
170	snowy neck	粉頭。[back]
171	uncouth	古怪的，醜陋的。[back]
173	the fatal shears	致命的剪刀（對頭髮言）。[back]
176	此行有點猥褻，意思是：比較隱蔽的毛或其他的什麼毛不剪，偏偏剪這束頭髮。[back]