海外文化:英美民俗 魔鬼

【英文原文】

摘要：魔鬼在猶太教和基督教裏又稱撒旦，是上帝和天使的敵人。一般認爲魔鬼也就是路濟弗兒，一位因反叛上帝而被打入地獄受罰的天使

The Devil, also known as Satan in Judaism and Christianity, is an evil spirit that opposes God or good spirits. It is usually identified with Lucifer, an angel who tried to rebel against God and so fell from heaven to hell to suffer there forever. He is considered as the ruler of the underworld, or hell, where he has many followers to help him in spreading evil throughout the world. His followers, called devils, were lesser angels who fell with Lucifer. The Devil tempts people to be wicked. He is the chief Tempter. Sometimes the religious belief in devils is combined with folklore about ghosts and demons.

In many works of art and literature, Satan and other devils are pictured with goat’s horns, bat’s wings, split hooves, and a barbed tail, to show that the Devil is like a beast, cruel, gross, and savage. Many modern theologians consider the Devil to be a symbol of the power of evil, of the worst qualities of human nature, or of the destructive forces in the universe.

【中文譯文】

魔鬼在猶太教和基督教裏又稱撒旦，是上帝和天使的敵人。一般認爲魔鬼也就是路濟弗兒，一位因反叛上帝而被打入地獄受罰的天使。魔鬼是地獄之王，在那裏他有很多嘍羅幫他在世界上傳播邪惡。他的嘍羅們也曾是天使，由於追隨魔鬼而與他一同被打入地獄受罰。魔鬼總是引誘人們作惡。有時這種基督教徒對魔鬼的看法會與民間關於鬼魂的傳說混淆起來。

在文學藝術作品中，魔鬼通常被描繪成一個怪物，長着一對山羊角，蝙蝠的翅膀，分瓣的蹄子，帶倒刺的尾巴，表明他野蠻、殘酷、貪慾十足。許多現代神學家則將魔鬼視爲邪惡勢力的象徵，他集所有人類之惡於一身，或者將它視爲宇宙中的毀滅力量。

題外話：要想了解魔鬼如何與上帝爲敵，可讀密爾頓的《失樂園》。密爾頓的魔鬼形象很有趣，正如莎士比亞筆下的很多人物，有兩面性，既有高貴、人性的一面，又有卑鄙、獸性的一面。