美国学生人类历史第59期:古希腊的戏剧(3)

 　　This individual was allowed to step out of line. He waved his arms and gesticulated while he spoke¹ (that is to say he "acted" while the others merely stood by and sang) and he asked a lot of questions, which the bandmaster answered according to the roll of papyrus³ upon which the poet had written down these answers before the show began.

　　这位合唱队队员获得了离开行列的特权，他一边说话，一般挥舞双臂，做出种种手势（这意味着，当别的人站在一旁唱颂的时候，他却是在"表演"）。他大声问出许多问题，乐队领队则根据诗人事先写在纸莎草纸上的答案，-一予以回答。

　　This rough and ready conversation-the dialogue-which told the story of Dionysos or one of the other Gods, became at once popular with the crowd. Henceforth every Dionysian procession had an "acted scene" and very soon the "acting⁴" was considered more important than the procession and the meh-mehing.

　　这一粗糙且事先准备好的谈话，就是戏剧里"对白"的前身。它通常是讲述酒神狄俄尼索斯或其他某个神的故事。这种新颖形式一出现，立刻大受群众的欢迎。由此，每一个酒神游行仪式里，便都有了这样一段"表演场面"。过了没多久，"表演"变得比游行本身以及咩咩合唱更重要了。

　　Aeschylus, the most successful of all "tragedians" who wrote no less than eighty plays during his long life (from 526 to 455) made a bold step forward when he introduced two "actors" instead of one. A generation later Sophocles increased the number of actors to three. When Euripides began to write his terrible tragedies in the middle of the fifth century, B.C., he was allowed as many actors as he liked and when Aristophanes wrote those famous comedies in which he poked⁵ fun at everybody and everything, including the Gods of Mount Olympus, the chorus had been reduced to the r?le of mere² by-standers who were lined up behind the principal performers and who sang "this is a terrible world" while the hero in the foreground committed a crime against the will of the Gods.

　　埃斯库罗斯"是古希腊最成功的"悲剧家"，在其漫长的一生里（公元前526－455年），他写了大约80部悲剧。他做过一个大胆的创新，为合唱表演引入两名"演员"来取代原来的一名"演员"。其后，京福克勒斯"把演员的数量增为三人。公元前5世纪中期，当欧里庇德斯"开始创作他那些让人毛骨悚然的悲剧时，他开始视剧情需要使用演员，想用多少便用多少。当阿里斯托芬写作他嘲笑所有人、所有事。甚至奥林匹斯山众神的著名喜剧时，合唱队已经被降到旁观者的地位。他们列队站在主要角色的身后，当前台的英雄犯下了违反神意的罪行时，他们便齐声高唱，"啊，这是个何等恐怖的世界！"

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

3 papyrus   

n.古以纸草制成之纸

参考例句：

• The Egyptians wrote on papyrus.埃及人书写用薄草纸。
• Since papyrus dries up and crumble,very few documents of ancient Egypt have survived.因草片会干裂成粉末所以古埃及的文件很少保存下来。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》