王守仁英国文学选读第3、4版笔记和课后答案
第1单元 杰弗里·乔叟
1.1 复习笔记
Geoffrey Chaucer (杰弗里·乔叟)(1343-1400)
- Life (生平)
Geoffrey Chaucer, born in 1343 in London, is the founder of English poetry. He was the son of a wine merchant who had connections with the Court. He later became a courtier and comptroller.
Chaucer’s learning was wide in scope. He obtained a good knowledge of Latin, French and Italian. He had broad and intimate acquaintance with persons high and low in all walks of life, and knew well the whole life of his time, which left great impressions upon his works and particularly upon his variegated depiction of the English society of his time.
He died in 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, thus founding the Poets’ Corner.
杰弗里·乔叟于1343年出生于伦敦，他是英语诗歌之父。他是一个与宫廷有联系的酒商的儿子。他后来担任过侍臣和审计官。
乔叟知识渊博。他精通拉丁语、法语和意大利语。他结交广泛且易与人深交，无论是贵族还是贫民，因此他深谙所处世事。这尤其有益于他在作品中对英国社会的刻画。
他逝于1400年，被葬在威斯敏斯特教堂，由此“诗人角”开始出现。
- Major Works (主要作品)
The Book of the Duchess (1368) 《公爵夫人之书》
The Parliament of Fowls (1380) 《百鸟议会》
The House of Fame (1374-1384) 《声誉之堂》
Troilus and Criseyde (1380-1385) 《特罗勒斯与克丽西德》
The Canterbury Tales (1386-1400) 《坎特伯雷故事集》
- Chaucer’s Literary Career (文学生平)
Chaucer’s literary career can be divided into three periods, which is closely related to his life experiences. The first period consists of works translated from French literature; the second consists of works adapted from Italian literature, especially influenced by Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, such as Troilus and Criseyde. The third period includes The Canterbury Tales, which is purely English.
乔叟的文学生平可划分为三个阶段，均与其个人生活经历有关。第一阶段乔叟的作品主要是翻译法国文学，第二阶段则改编于意大利文学，深受但丁、彼特拉克和薄伽丘的影响，如《特罗勒斯与克丽西德》。第三阶段包括《坎特伯雷故事集》，这是纯英语创作阶段。
- Selected Work (作品选读)
The Canterbury Tales 《坎特伯雷故事集》
(1) Plot (情节)
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English. The tales (mostly in verse) are told as part of a story-telling contest by twenty-nine pilgrims, together with the narrator, who travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. When they met at the Tabard Inn, they agreed that each tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two more on the way back. The best storyteller will get a meal at the inn when they return, courtesy of the other pilgrims. But instead of 120 tales, the text ends after 24 tales, covering all the major types of medieval literature. The stories are well suited to their different characters, ranging from the knight, the monk and the pardoner etc.
《坎特伯雷故事集》是一部用中古英语写成的诗体短篇小说集。29名朝圣者和叙述者前往坎特伯雷去朝拜托马斯·贝克特朝圣。当他们在旅馆相遇，决定途中进行讲故事比赛，每个人去时和返回时各讲两个，讲得最好的人，回到旅馆后其他朝圣者请他吃饭。最终共有24个故事被写进故事集，故事涵盖了中世纪文学的各个方面。每个故事都与讲述者的身份相符，讲述者包罗各种阶层的人，有骑士、僧侣、赦罪僧等。
(2) Theme (主题)
It shows a true-to-life picture of Chaucer’s time. His tales expose and satirize the evils of his time, attack the degeneration of the noble and the corruption of the Church. Standing for the rising bourgeoisie, Chaucer opposes the dogma of asceticism preached by the Church, and believes man’s right to earthly happiness. He praises man’s energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life.
故事集展示了乔叟时代的真实生活画面。揭露并批判了他所处时代的罪恶，批判了贵族的堕落和教会的腐败。乔叟站在新兴小资产阶级的立场，反对教会宣扬的禁欲主义，并且相信人们追求世俗幸福的权利。他赞扬了人的力量、智慧和对生活的热爱。
(3) Language (语言)
Chaucer is the first poet to write in English vernacular, now called Middle English, which bear a close visual resemblance to the English written and spoken today. His language is vivid, exact and fluent. He introduced from France and Italy the rhymed stanza of various types, especially the heroic couplet to English poetry.
乔叟是第一位用中古英语写作的诗人，其看起来和今天使用的英语很相似。他的语言生动、准确、流畅。他采用了法国和意大利的诗歌形式，尤其是“英雄双韵体”的使用。
1.2 课后习题详解
- How is the setting of the tales described? With such a setting, could you predict the general tone of the tales that are to follow?
Key: (1) Chaucer sets the tales in the spring, describing both the natural world and people—the natural world shows a kind of renewal and rebirth, and people begin to stir after the long sleep of winter. Chaucer’s description of the landscape is lively (欢快的)and fresh(清新的), since he speaks of budding flowers, growing crops and singing birds.
(2) According to such a setting, we can predict that the general tone of the tales will be light, sprightly(活泼、愉快的)and humorous.
- In your own words, summarize the character of the Knight from the brief introduction in this excerpt.
Key: According to the excerpt, we can see that the Knight has followed chivalry—truth, honor, freedom and courtesy. He had fought many battles for the faith of people. He is a brave, wise, modest and “truly perfect gentle knight”.
- Without comparison with the translated version, are there words still recognizable to you in the original Middle English version?
Key: Yes, there are many words that can be recognized. Because many words only contain few different letters compared with the modern words. What’s more, sometimes, we can recognize the words by guessing or by the sense-group.