悲劇的誕生The Birth Of Tragedy 第69期:慧星光尾的意義

One of the two spectators I just spoke of was Euripides himself,

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這兩個觀衆之一，就是歐裏庇德斯自己。

the thinker Euripides, not the poet.

是思想家歐裏庇德斯，而非詩人歐裏庇德斯。

Of him it may be said that the extraordinary richness of his critical gift had helped to produce, as in the case of Lessing, an authentic creative offshoot.

我們可以說，歐裏庇德斯的非常豐富的批評才能，正如萊森的那樣，即使不產生，也會不斷妊育着一種接進創作的藝術衝動。

Endowed with such talent, such remarkable intellectual lucidity and versatility, Euripides watched the performances of his predecessors' plays and tried to rediscover in them those fine lineaments which age,

歐裏庇德斯就是懷着這樣的才能，懷着他光輝而靈敏的批判思想，坐在劇場，努力去認識他前輩大師的傑作，

as happens in the case of old paintings, had darkened and almost obliterated.

一點一滴，逐行逐句推敲，如同鑑識一幅褪色的油畫那樣。

And now something occurred which cannot surprise those among us who are familiar with the deeper secrets of Aeschylean tragedy.

於是，在這裏，他體會到一些爲洞識埃斯庫羅斯悲劇之祕奧的專家們所能預料的特點，

Euripides perceived in every line, in every trait, something quite incommensurable:

他在埃氏悲劇的字裏行間看出一些深不可測的東西，

a certain deceptive clarity and, together with it, a mysterious depth, an infinite background.

表面上是一種似是而非的淺顯。同時在背後是一種神祕的深奧，甚至無限的深奧。

The clearest figure trailed after it a comet's tail which seemed to point to something uncertain, something that could not be wholly elucidated.

即使最淺顯的人物形象，也往往帶着慧星的光尾，彷彿暗示着一些飄渺朦朧的意義。