悲劇的誕生The Birth Of Tragedy 第68期:兩個特殊的觀衆

What was it, then, that drove the highly talented and incessantly creative Euripides from a path bathed in the light of those twin luminaries--his great predecessors--and of popular acclaim as well?

那麼，是甚麼強大的力量，驅使這位才氣磅礴而又不斷努力創作的詩人拋棄了詩壇盛譽和民衆愛戴，離開了這陽光隨處長空無雲的錦鏽前程呢？

What peculiar consideration for the spectator made him defy that very same spectator?

他對觀衆有甚麼稀奇的考慮，以致反對觀衆呢？

How did it happen that his great respect for his audience made him treat that audience with utter disrespect?

他怎能夠因爲太尊重觀衆，以致輕視觀衆呢？

Euripides--and this may be the solution of our riddle-- considered himself quite superior to the crowd as a whole; not, however, to two of his spectators.

關於方纔提出的謎，我們的解答是：歐裏庇德斯覺得自己，作爲一個詩人，比一般羣衆高明得多，但是隻有兩個觀衆他甘拜下風。

He would translate the crowd onto the stage but insist, all the same, on revering the two members as the sole judges of his art;

他把羣衆帶上舞臺，唯獨對這兩個觀衆，他卻敬之爲他的藝術的合格判官和導師。

on following all their directions and admonitions, and on instilling in the very hearts of his dramatic characters those emotions, passions and recognition which had heretofore seconded the stage action,

遵從他們的指導和勸告，他把一切情感，激情，經驗之世界，

like an invisible chorus, from the serried ranks of the amphitheater.

即以前每次演出坐在觀衆席上的無形歌隊的內心世界，移入劇中人物的心靈中。

It was in deference to these judges that he gave his new characters a new voice, too, and a new music.

當他爲這些角色尋找新語言和新情調時，他要對他們的要求讓步；

Their votes, and no others, determined for him the worth of his efforts.

當他一再被觀衆輿論否決時，唯有從他們的話裏。

And whenever the public rejected his labors it was their encouragement, their faith in his final triumph, which sustained him.

他聽到對他作品的合情合理的宣判，聽到勝利在望的鼓勵。