美人魚 - 6分鐘英語：英語精讀講義

Six Minute English from BBCLearningEnglish.com.

來自 BBCLearningEnglish.com 的六分鐘英語。

Hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

大家好，這裡是 BBC 英語教學的六分鐘英語。

I'm Neil.

我是尼爾。

And I'm Georgina.

我是喬治娜。

Do you believe in ghosts, Georgina? 片語搭配

喬治娜，妳相信有鬼嗎？

Well, I've never actually seen one,

嗯，我其實從來沒有看過，

not even at Halloween.

甚至在萬聖節也沒有。

How about dragons then,

那龍呢，

or fairies and elves?

或者是仙女和精靈？

Have you been reading fantasy books, Neil? 文法

尼爾，你是不是一直在看奇幻小說？

Lord of the Rings?

《魔戒》嗎？

I have been reading a book, Georgina,

喬治娜，我確實有在看一本書，

but not Lord of the Rings.

但不是《魔戒》。

My book is about an amphibious creature, 用詞

我的書是關於一種兩棲動物的，

a creature that lives both on land and in water. 文法

一種既生活在陸地又生活在水裡的生物。

Some kind of frog man? 片語搭配

某種蛙人嗎？

Mm, you've almost got the idea, Georgina, 語氣意圖

嗯，妳快猜對了，喬治娜，

but think woman not man and fish not frog. 文法

但想想女人而不是男人，魚而不是青蛙。

Half woman, half fish. 文法

半人半魚。

Mm.

嗯。

I've got it.

我知道了。

A mermaid.

美人魚。

That's right.

沒錯。

Mermaids are magical creatures,

美人魚是神奇的生物，

half woman, half fish,

半人半魚，

that feature in the myths and legends of many cultures around the world. 用詞

牠們出現在世界許多文化的神話和傳說中。

Like the sirens whose seductive singing 講解

就像賽蓮，她們誘人的歌聲

shipwrecked Odysseus and his sailors in ancient Greek mythology. 用詞

在古希臘神話中讓奧德修斯和他的水手們遭遇海難。

The sirens are perhaps the most famous, 文法

賽蓮或許是最有名的，

but certainly not the only mermaids we'll be hearing about.

但絕對不是我們將要聽到的唯一一種美人魚。

But before we dive into the program, 慣用語

但在我們深入探討本集節目之前，

it's time for my quiz question. 片語搭配

到了我的提問時間。

The book I've been reading was, of course,

我一直在讀的書，當然是，

The Little Mermaid.

《小美人魚》。

Yes, I've seen the Disney movie.

是的，我看過迪士尼的電影。

The mermaid is called Ariel.

那條美人魚叫愛麗兒。

Right, but the movie was based on a fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen. 片語搭配

對，但這部電影是根據漢斯·克里斯蒂安·安徒生寫的童話改編的。

It became so famous that a statue of The Little Mermaid 文法

它變得如此著名，以至於《小美人魚》的雕像

was built in the harbor of Andersen's birthplace.

被建在了安徒生出生地的海港裡。

But where?

但在哪裡呢？

Was it A) Amsterdam,

是 A) 阿姆斯特丹，

B) Copenhagen,

B) 哥本哈根，

or C) Oslo?

還是 C) 奧斯陸？

I'm going to say B) Copenhagen.

我猜是 B) 哥本哈根。

Okay, Georgina.

好的，喬治娜。

I'll tell you the answer later.

稍後我會告訴妳答案。

Disney's defenseless mermaid, Ariel,

迪士尼那條毫無防備的美人魚愛麗兒，

seems the total opposite to the seductive dangerous sirens in The Odyssey. 片語搭配

似乎和《奧德賽》中誘人而危險的賽蓮完全相反。

In fact, 表達脈絡

事實上，

descriptions and stories of mermaids have always changed from place to place. 片語搭配

關於美人魚的描述和故事在各地總是有所不同。

One mermaid-like character found across Africa and the Americas is named Mami Wata. 講解

在非洲和美洲各地發現的一個類似美人魚的角色名叫 Mami Wata。

Here's British writer Marcelle Mateki

這是英國作家 Marcelle Mateki

talking about the origins of this legend

正在談論這個傳說的起源，

to BBC World Service program The Forum.

在 BBC 世界頻道《The Forum》節目中。

Even the name Mami Wata,

甚至是 Mami Wata 這個名字，

which is pidgin English for mother water, 用詞

這是「mother water」的洋涇浜英語，

so it's loosely translated from pidgin English 用詞

所以它從洋涇浜英語中被粗略翻譯為

as the mother of water.

水之母。

And the characteristics are commonly shared 片語搭配

大家普遍認同的特徵，

when speaking about Mami Wata across the West African coast

當在西非海岸談論 Mami Wata 時，

is that this deity is the protector of the water kingdom. 講解

就是這位神明是水上王國的保護者。

The name Mami Wata comes from Nigerian pidgin English, 片語搭配

Mami Wata 這個名字來自奈及利亞洋涇浜英語，

a language which has developed from a mixture of two languages 文法

這種語言是由兩種語言混合發展而來的，

and is used as a way of communicating by people who do not speak each other's languages. 講解

被不說對方語言的人用作一種交流方式。

Marcelle says that Mami Wata means the mother of water when loosely translated.

Marcelle 說，粗略翻譯的話，Mami Wata 的意思是水之母。

Translated in a way that carries over the basic ideas, 片語動詞

以一種傳達基本概念的方式進行翻譯，

but using words which may not be so accurate. 語氣意圖

但使用的詞語可能不那麼準確。

Mami Wata is also described as the protector of the water kingdom 片語搭配

Mami Wata 也被描述為水上王國的保護者，

and a deity, a god, goddess, or other divine being. 用詞

以及一位神明，即神、女神或其他神聖存在。

Another version of mermaid-like creatures called selkies 文法

另一種被稱為 selkies 的類似美人魚的生物，

are found in the remote Orkney Islands north of the Scottish mainland. 文化背景

在蘇格蘭大陸以北偏遠的奧克尼群島被發現。

The selkies can take human form and marry men, 片語搭配

selkies 可以化作人形並與人類結婚，

but every now and then they return to their watery kingdom under the sea. 片語搭配

但偶爾她們會回到海底的水下王國。

Cristina Bacchilega is co-editor of The Penguin Book of Mermaids.

Cristina Bacchilega 是《The Penguin Book of Mermaids》的共同編輯。

According to her, these different versions of mermaids share something in common. 講解

根據她的說法，這些不同版本的美人魚有一些共同之處。

They force us to question our relationship to water and other beings in the natural world, 片語搭配

牠們迫使我們質疑我們與水以及自然界中其他生物的關係，

and even to question how we see ourselves.

甚至質疑我們如何看待自己。

Here's Cristina explaining more in the BBC World Service's The Forum.

以下是 Cristina 在 BBC 世界頻道的《The Forum》節目中做的進一步解釋。

The beings, not just mermaids, 文法

這些生物，不只是美人魚，

but selkies and water deities and other water spirits,

還有 selkies 和水神以及其他水精靈，

are often shapeshifters. 用詞

通常是變形者。

They have a certain kind of fluidity of being. 慣用語

牠們在存在上有一種流動性。

So do we approach this world with humility 片語搭配

那麼我們是以謙卑的態度對待這個世界，

or do we really uphold a kind of anthropocentric view, 用詞

還是真正堅持一種人類中心主義的觀點，

human-centered view of life?

即以人類為中心的生命觀？

Mythical creatures are often shapeshifters.

神話生物經常是變形者。

They have the power to change into a different shape or form. 片語搭配

牠們擁有變成不同形狀或形態的力量。

Moving between the sea and the earth, 文法

在海洋和陸地之間穿梭，

mermaids link two natural worlds. 表達脈絡

美人魚連接了兩個自然世界。

Christina thinks that as humans,

Christina 認為作為人類，

we should approach them with humility.

我們應該以謙卑的態度對待牠們。

Someone who has humility is not proud

一個擁有謙卑之心的人是不驕傲的，

and doesn't think they're better than others.

也不認為自己比別人更好。

Well, Neil, I don't think I'm better than a ghost,

嗯，尼爾，我不認為我比鬼魂、

a water spirit,

水精靈、

or a mermaid.

或美人魚更好。

It's just that I've never seen one. 語氣意圖

只是我從來沒見過罷了。

But then again, 表達脈絡

話又說回來，

I've never seen electricity and I believe in that.

我也從來沒看過電，但我相信它存在。

Maybe it would help if you saw a statue of a mermaid, 文法

也許如果你看到一座美人魚的雕像會有所幫助，

if not the real thing. 文法

就算不是真的。

Maybe, but where would I find one?

也許吧，但我哪裡能找到呢？

In my quiz question,

在我的問答題中，

I asked you where you'd see the statue of Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid. 文法

我問你會在哪裡看到漢斯·克里斯蒂安·安徒生的《小美人魚》雕像。

What did you say, Georgina?

妳說了什麼，喬治娜？

I guessed B) Copenhagen.

我猜的是 B) 哥本哈根。

Which was the correct answer.

這是正確的答案。

The Little Mermaid statue is found in Andersen's birthplace of Copenhagen,

小美人魚雕像就在安徒生的出生地哥本哈根，

and it really is little, 語氣意圖

而且它真的很小，

only 1 and 1/4 m high.

只有 1.25 公尺高。

In this program,

在這個節目中，

we've been talking about mermaids,

我們一直在談論美人魚，

mythical half-woman, half-fish creatures

神話中半人半魚的生物，

which are amphibious,

牠們是兩棲的，

live both on land and in water.

既生活在陸地上也生活在水裡。

In some cultures,

在某些文化中，

mermaids are deities or goddesses.

美人魚是神明或女神。

They can also be shapeshifters,

牠們也可以是變形者，

imaginary creatures with the power to change into different shapes.

即有能力變成不同形狀的假想生物。

One African mermaid is called Mami Wata in pidgin English,

有一種非洲美人魚在洋涇浜英語中被稱為 Mami Wata，

a mixture of English and local languages

它是英語和當地語言的混合體，

which enables people who do not share a common language to communicate. 文法

使沒有共同語言的人們能夠交流。

Mami Wata means mother water,

Mami Wata 意思是水之母，

but this is a loose translation,

但這是一個粗略翻譯，

a translation which carries over the basic idea,

一種傳達基本概念的翻譯，

but using words which may not be so accurate.

但使用的詞語可能不那麼準確。

That's all for this program,

這就是本集節目的全部內容，

but the next time you're near the sea, 文法

但是下次你在海邊的時候，

keep an eye out for a splash in the waves. 慣用語

留意一下海浪中的水花。

You never know what you might see. 語氣意圖

你永遠不知道你可能會看到什麼。

Join us again soon for more discussion and vocabulary here at Six Minute English

歡迎不久後再次加入我們六分鐘英語的更多討論和詞彙學習，

and follow us on social media.

並關注我們的社群媒體。

Bye for now.

暫且拜拜。

Bye.

拜拜。

Six Minute English from the BBC.

英國廣播公司六分鐘英語。