復讎(其二) Revenge (II)

Because he believed himself to be the Son of God, the King of Israel, he was going to be crucified.

因为他自以为神之子,以色列的王,所以去钉十字架。

穿The soldiers dressed him in a purple robe, crowned him with a crown of thorns, and paid him homage;and struck his head with a reed, spat on him, and knelt to worship him;穿When the mockery was over, they stripped off the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him.

兵丁们给他穿上紫袍,戴上荆冠,庆贺他;又拿一根苇子打他的头,吐他,屈膝拜他;戏弄完了,就给他脱了紫袍,仍穿他自己的衣服。

……Behold, they strike his head, spit on him, worship him……

看哪,他们打他的头,吐他,拜他……

調He refused to drink the wine mixed with myrrh, wishing to savor clearly how the people of Israel would deal with their own Son of God, and to pity their future all the more enduringly, yet to hate their present.

他不肯喝那用没药调和的酒,要分明地玩味以色列人怎样对付他们的神之子,而且较永久地悲悯他们的前途,然而雠恨他们的现在。

On every side was hostility, pitiable, and cursed.

四面都是敌意,可悲悯的,可咒诅的。

穿使Clink, clink it sounded, the nail-points piercing through the palms of his hands — they were about to nail their Son of God to death; O pitiable people, you make his pain gentle.穿使Clink, clink it sounded, the nail-points piercing through the backs of his feet, shattering a piece of bone, the anguish piercing through to the very marrow — yet it was they themselves who were nailing their own Son of God to death; O cursed people, this makes his pain feel almost sweet.

丁丁地响,钉尖从掌心穿透,他们要钉杀他们的神之子了,可悯的人们呵,使他痛得柔和。丁丁地响,钉尖从脚背穿透,钉碎了一块骨,痛楚也透到心髓中,然而他们自己钉杀着他们的神之子了,可咒诅的人们呵,这使他痛得舒服。

The cross was raised upright;he hung suspended in the void.

十字架竖起来了;他悬在虚空中。

調He had not drunk the wine mixed with myrrh.He wished to savor clearly how the people of Israel would deal with their own Son of God, and to pity their future all the more enduringly, yet to hate their present.

他没有喝那用没药调和的酒。要分明地玩味以色列人怎样对付他们的神之子,而且较永久地悲悯他们的前途,然而雠恨他们的现在。

Passers-by all reviled him, the chief priests and scribes also mocked him, and the two robbers crucified with him also jeered at him.

路人都辱骂他,祭司长和文士也戏弄他,和他同钉的两个强盗也讥诮他。

……Behold, those crucified with him……

看哪,和他同钉的……

On every side was hostility, pitiable, and cursed.

四面都是敌意,可悲悯的,可咒诅的。

In the pain of his hands and feet, he savored the sorrow of the pitiable people who were nailing the Son of God to death, and the joy of the cursed people who wished to nail the Son of God to death, and that the Son of God was indeed about to be nailed to death.Suddenly, the great anguish of the shattered bone pierced through to the very marrow, and he sank at once into a deep rapture of great joy and great pity.

他在手足的痛楚中,玩味着可悯的人们的钉杀神之子的悲哀和可咒诅的人们要钉杀神之子,而神之子就要被钉杀了的欢喜。突然间,碎骨的大痛楚透到心髓了,他即沈酣于大欢喜和大悲悯中。

His belly heaved — waves of the anguish of pity and of cursing.

他腹部波动了,悲悯和咒诅的痛楚的波。

Over the whole land darkness fell.

!?』(!?)"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani!?" (Translated, that is: My God, why have you forsaken me!?)

『以罗伊,以罗伊,拉马撒巴各大尼!?』(繙出来,就是:我的上帝,你为甚么离弃我!?)

;』God had forsaken him, and in the end he was after all only a 'Son of Man'; yet the people of Israel had gone and nailed to death even a 'Son of Man.'

上帝离弃了他,他终于还是一个『人之子;』然而以色列人连『人之子』都钉杀了。

On the bodies of those who had nailed the 'Son of Man' to death, there is blood-filth and blood-reek even more than on those who had nailed the 'Son of God' to death.

钉杀了『人之子』的人们身上,比钉杀了『神之子』的尤其血污,血腥。

。)(December 20, 1924.)

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What it’s about

The crucifixion, written from inside the man being nailed up, and dated the same day as the first 復讎. Because he believed himself the son of God and the king of Israel, he goes to the cross. The soldiers put a purple robe on him and a crown of thorns and congratulate him, beat his head with a reed, spit on him, kneel to him in mockery, then take the purple off and put his own clothes back on him. He refuses the wine mixed with myrrh: he wants to taste clearly how the men of Israel deal with their son of God, to pity their future the longer for it, and to hate their present.

Then the nails — through the palms, through the insteps, splintering a bone, the pain reaching the marrow — and Lu Xun writes the pain as something savoured. The pity makes it gentle; the curse makes it comfortable. Hanging in the air, reviled by passers-by, mocked by the chief priests and the scribes and even by the two robbers nailed up beside him, he tastes both the sorrow of the pitiable people who are killing the son of God and the joy of the accursed ones who are getting it done. Darkness covers the whole ground. He cries Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani — my God, why hast thou forsaken me — and God has: in the end he is only a son of man, and the men of Israel have crucified even that. The last line is the revenge. Those who killed the son of man are filthier with blood, and stink of it worse, than those who killed the son of God.

When it was written 背景

Dated 20 December 1924. The narrative follows the Gospel of Mark closely: the purple robe, the reed, the wine mixed with myrrh, the two robbers and the cry from the cross are all Mark's, in the wording of the Chinese Bible then in circulation, and the Aramaic of the cry is transliterated into hanzi with its meaning supplied in a parenthesis. That makes it an unusual page for a learner — the vocabulary is biblical rather than Chinese-literary (兵丁, 紫袍, 荊冠, 祭司長, 文士, 神之子, 人之子) and the shape is a passion narrative rather than an essay. What Lu Xun does with it is what he does in the first 復讎: the man on the cross is surrounded by spectators, and his revenge on them is to see exactly what they are.

Words in this chapter 生词