林紓譯《撒克遜劫後英雄略》呈現的猶太族群形象

Early Twentieth Century Novel Readers’ Perceptions of Jewish People as Reflected in Lin Shu’s Sākèxùn jié hòu yīngxióng lüè

二十世紀初翻譯活動盛行，讀者求知若渴，翻譯小說也是傳遞域外新知的管道。比起直接接觸在中國境內為數僅數千的猶太居民，一般中國人對猶太民族的認識更容易來自暢銷小說。生動感人的角色刻劃和情節描述，會讓讀者印象深刻，從而建立一些基本認識。而後人對照翻譯小說與原著，當中的增與刪、強調或淡化，都可能反映出譯者的評估與用心，以及讀者能得到的訊息。本文從放貸、宗教及國家三方面，觀察林紓與魏易譯《撒克遜劫後英雄略》（Ivanhoe）中的猶太女子呂貝珈，發現該譯本對於猶太人借貸活動的資本來源和重要性的認知不多，只留意債主貪婪、債務人仗勢欺人的層面；猶太文明基礎的宗教，亦不為譯本所重。譯本強調的是猶太族群沒有屬於自己的民族國家，並視之為其苦難的根源：既使得他們只能愛家、愛財，而強烈愛家、愛財之心，又讓他們無法重新建國。這個偏重展現的是本書翻譯時的思想背景，也影響了讀者對猶太民族的認識。

During the late Qing Dynasty, translated novels served as a conduit for knowledge from abroad for Chinese readers eager to learn about the world. Differences between original texts and their translations are particularly enlightening, illustrating either the particular intentions of the translator or the tacit influence of the target language and culture’s norms. This paper compares depictions of Rebecca in Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe and Lin Shu’s translation to explore three aspects of early twentieth century Chinese readers’ perceptions of Jewish people. First, conventional descriptions in Chinese literature avoid ethnic stereotypes of facial features. Other stereotypes, however, are emphasized and employed in place of more detailed analysis. For example, the source of Jewish wealth is often attributed to greed rather than to business practices. Second, Judaism receives negligible treatment in translation, from which little can be learned about the religion’s tenets or practices, except perhaps the fervor it inspires in Rebecca. Third, the nation-state concept has a more prominent role in the translation than in the original. The inability of the Jews to either maintain their ancient kingdom or subsequently revive it was a cause of great lament for the translator. This may reveal the preoccupation of the age, which was a time when many feared that China was under existential threat.