梅林，上帝和“你知道是谁”: 巫师界的宗教

毛球

来源：活力吧 | 哈利波特 | 论坛
翻译：米赫普

未经授权，严禁转载。

Merlin, God, and You-Know-Who
Religion in the Wizarding World by glamourousgeek

梅林，上帝和“你知道是谁”


巫师界的宗教


glamourousgeek

自从极端基督教分子宣称《哈利·波特》宣扬巫术、反基督，并警告家长关注此事以来，这套系列书便成了大量有关宗教的辩论焦点。另一方面，有些穆斯林人士则出于完全相反的原因禁止该书。他们认为，这套书包藏着拙劣的基督教义宣传。但令人吃惊的是，辩论的中心总是围绕着一点进行，就是以微妙的图解“证据”的形式来揭示罗琳“深藏不露的企图”。这些讨论几乎从来没有涉及书中实际上是如何对待宗教的，即，巫师世界的宗教信仰和宗教传统。

The Harry Potter books have been the subject of much religious debate after fundamentalist Christians warned parents against the books, deeming them pro-witchcraft and consequently anti-Christian. Some Muslims, on the other hand, have banned the books for the entirely opposite reason, claiming they are poorly concealed Christian propaganda. Surprisingly however, the debate has always centred around Rowling’s “hidden intentions” with “proof” in the form of subtle symbolism. The discussions have rarely if ever touched upon the actual treatment of religion in the books; that is, the religious beliefs and traditions of the wizarding world.

当我阅读这本书时，我时常深刻感触到罗琳是怎样试图完全避免触及宗教这一主题的。与绝大多数现实世界的人不同，书中人物生活在生命时时受到威胁的环境之中，但却没有一个人发出祷告，甚至提都没有提到过上帝。尽管他们只不过是十几岁的孩子，但他们发出的最强烈的诅咒词也不过就是“梅林的胡子啊”之类语句。在政治斗争的高潮之中，敌对双方也没有在集会中通过宗教来博取精神支持。这是不是说巫师界根本不存在宗教？本文试通过分析巫师界的名字，节假日和迷信传统来回答书中人物是否有宗教信仰这一问题，以及如果有的话他们信仰的是哪种宗教。


When reading the books, it has often struck me how it seems as if JKR is avoiding the subject of religion altogether. Despite being in life-threatening situations more often than most, no one ever prays or even mentions God; despite being teenagers, the strongest swear word we ever hear them utter is “Merlin’s beard”; and despite the political climate, neither side of the war uses religious arguments in its rally for moral support. Does this mean that the wizarding world is simply non-religious? By looking at the names, holidays and superstitions in the wizarding world, this essay attempts to answer the question of whether or not the characters in the books are religious, and if so, what religion they subscribe to.

On reading the Harry Potter books the first thing that made me aware of the tendency to avoid religion was the surprising lack of common Christian names such as John, Mary and Paul. Now, this may simply be a result of J. K. Rowling’s creativity. On the other hand, with the notable exceptions of Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, Remus John Lupin, Tom Riddle, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Angelina Johnson and Parvati Patil, the names with obvious religious origin are really surprisingly few and far between. Add to this that a number of these exceptions are Muggle-born (for example, Tom Riddle — named after his Muggle father) and presumably named to give us a clue about their ethnic origins (for example, Seamus, Parvati), there really are only James Potter, Remus John Lupin and Peter Pettigrew left who lack an explanation for their religious names. Why is this?

读《哈利·波特》时最先让我意识到作者在有意避谈宗教的就是人物中很少有人取 Mary， Paul， John
一类常用的基督教教名。当然这很可能是由于J。K。罗琳的创作能力。但另一方面，除了一些显著的特例如Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, Remus John Lupin, Tom Riddle, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Angelina Johnson 和 Parvati Patil 之外，带有明显的宗教来源的名字真的是少而又少。此外，以上特例中有些是麻瓜出身的巫师 （例如 Tom Riddle —— 以其麻瓜父亲的名字命名），还有的则可能是要通过名字对他们出身的民族有所暗示（如 Seamus， Parvati），那么余下的就只有James Potter, Remus John Lupin 和 Peter Pettigrew，他们使用基督教色彩的名字我们还找不到解释。为什么这样？


Of course, names such as Albus Dumbledore give us a hint about the difference between Muggle and wizarding naming traditions. But what exactly is the wizarding naming tradition? Apparently the different families have different traditions, or themes. For example the Weasley clan borrows names from the Arthurian legends, the Blacks from stars, the Malfoys from classical politics (interestingly the name Draco falls into both the Black and Malfoy categories). The only common theme for wizarding names seem to be that they have more or less classical Greek/Roman origins. I might have mentioned Minerva McGonagall in the list of religiously-themed names above, but named after a Roman goddess, her name is perfectly in tune with conservative wizarding traditions.

当然，Albus Dumbledore 一类名字给我们一些麻瓜与巫师的命名传统有所不同的暗示。但究竟巫师界的命名传统又是什么呢？显然不同的家族有不同的传统，或者背景旋律。例如韦斯莱一族从亚瑟王传说中借用名字，布莱克家族使用恒星的名字，马尔福家族选取经典的政治名字（有趣的是德拉科的名字横跨布莱克与马尔福两大家族范畴）。所有巫师名字唯一的共同背景旋律似乎是，它们都或多或少地带有古典的希腊或罗马起源。Minerva McGonagall 似乎可以放进我前面所说的带有宗教背景的名字的名单里边，但这却是一个罗马女神的名字，因此她的名字与传统的巫师界习惯完全合拍。


这是否说明巫师社会仍然赞同古罗马的信仰和传统呢？很可能，回答是“不”。这些名字只不过是过去传统的一部分，而不是现在的信仰，不然的话JKR一定会在她的书中提到农神节或其他希腊与罗马的庆典与节日。取而代之的是，我们看到巫师们庆祝万圣节前夜，哈利·波特的朋友们回家过圣诞节，韦斯莱家人互相赠送丑陋的套头衫和其他圣诞礼物。但却从来没有一个人提到过他们为什么要庆祝，更遑论提出去教堂了。（我们甚至完全不知道巫师们是不是去教堂，希望第七部中比尔和芙蓉婚礼的安排与庆祝仪式能给我们一些启示。）我们听不到任何巫师咏唱圣诞赞歌，似乎韦斯莱夫人认为 Celestina Warbeck的“一满锅热辣辣的爱”就够用了（HBO16）。简言之，似乎传统的圣诞节只不过就是放假的一个借口罢了，而且我倾向于认为这也是从麻瓜那里搬来的。由于学校里有许多来自麻瓜家庭的学生，我们自然可以很容易想到为什么把假期放在12月底是很方便的。对于麻瓜的任何事物都如此干兴趣的韦斯莱一家自然又可以抓住机会大织套头衫了。但我们却不知道其他纯血统的巫师们在圣诞节里干些什么。我们知道德拉科·马尔福，Vincent·克拉布和Gregory·高尔在二年级时没有回家过圣诞节，这或许说明，他们的家庭虽然在在其他方面恪守陈规，但并没有把跟孩子们一起庆祝圣诞节看得太重要。


Does this indicate that the wizarding community still subscribes to the beliefs and traditions of ancient Rome? Most likely the answer is no, and the names are simply part of an old tradition rather than present faith, or JKR would have included in her books mention of Saturnalia and other Greek and Roman feasts and holidays. Instead we learn that wizards celebrate Hallowe'en and that Harry Potter’s friends return to their homes for Christmas holidays and the Weasleys give each other hideous jumpers and other Christmas presents. However, not once does anyone mention the reasons for the celebration or suggest going to church. (We do not even know whether wizards go to church at all, and hopefully the setting and ceremony of Bill’s and Fleur’s wedding in the last book will give us some answers.) We do not hear of any wizards singing Christmas carols, [*] and Mrs. Weasley seems to think Celestina Warbeck’s A Cauldron Full of Hot Strong Love does the job (HBP16). In short, it seems as if the Christmas tradition is just an excuse for a holiday, and I am inclined to believe it has been adopted from the Muggles. With a large number of students from Muggle families attending Hogwarts, it is easy to work out why it would be convenient for the school to place the holidays late in December. The Weasleys, curious as they are about anything Muggle, would naturally embrace this opportunity to knit more jumpers. However, we do not know what other pure blood families do for Christmas. We do know that Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle did not go home for Christmas holidays in their second year, which may indicate that their otherwise tradition-oriented families did not see Christmas celebrations with their children as particularly important.

如果基督教节日并不是纯粹的巫师传统的一部分，那什么才是呢？许多同人作者写到巫师们庆祝一些异教节日，如萨卖因（凯尔特人的新年，译者注）和别尔滕（古代凯尔特人的五月一日庆典，译者注），但在正本书中毫无此类描写。实际上，唯一整个巫师社会全民庆祝的节日是万圣节前夜。麻瓜们相信这是一个基督教节日，但他们（我们？）也可能根本就搞错了。按我的理解，万圣节前夜在巫师界是欢庆魔法的力量以及亡灵与生人团聚的日子，同时也是他们吞吃大量南瓜馅饼和观看骷髅舞蹈的借口（PS10）。想要在这里找到任何宗教背景可不是件容易事。


If Christian holidays are not part of the genuine wizarding tradition — what is? Many fan fiction writers have wizards celebrating pagan holidays such as Samhain and Beltane, but there is no mention of these in the canon. In fact, the only holiday that seems to be celebrated by the whole wizarding community is Hallowe'en. This is believed by Muggles to be a Christian holiday, but it might of course be that they (we?) were wrong. As I’ve understood it, Hallowe'en in the wizarding world is a happy celebration of magic and a uniting of ghosts and living as well as an excuse to eat massive amounts of pumpkin pasties and watch dancing skeletons (PS10). If there are any religious beliefs behind, these are rather hard to spot.

即使巫师界的宗教传统比较淡薄，那也不能说巫师们是完全“唯物”的。他们也有许多迷信思想，最明显的是不敢说出“伏地魔”这个名字，以及这个名字的各种替代品：“你知道是谁”和“那个不能提名字的家伙”。这种恐惧使人想起古老的民间迷信。当然除了被误导的恐惧之外也可能有些原因，我们探讨的究竟是魔法世界里的现象。但如果我们信任邓布利多的话，事情就简单了：“对于事物名字的恐惧增加了对于事物本身的恐惧”（PS17）。另一个例子是相信夜骐的不祥，对此海格认定“不过迷信而已”（OP21）。纯血统巫师对于麻瓜出身巫师的偏见其实也毫无根据。另外还有特里劳妮教授对她的“天目”和茶叶的预言能力等等的盲目相信，我们有一大堆迷信事例需要对付。对此可能有人会说，这些事与作为信仰体系和社会秩序的宗教实际上没有多大相干。但这些事情至少告诉我们，巫师们和麻瓜一样，倾向于相信一些超自然的力量在主宰他们的幸与不幸，尽管没有一种这样的力量已被证实是存在的（除非你把幸运药水和霉运蟹（mackled malaclaw）算上）。从这一理念到有组织的宗教之间只不过一步之遥。对于哈利·波特的英雄崇拜（也可以加上对于Gilderoy·洛哈特的）和极端意识的运用可能填补了人们头脑由于没有宗教信仰而形成的空缺。伏地魔则恰恰利用了人们渴望本源力量和权威人物的倾向。


If the religious traditions of the wizarding world are somewhat scarce this does not mean that wizards and witches are completely rational. The superstitions are abundant, the most obvious being the fear of uttering the name “Voldemort,” and the various substitutes for his name “You-Know-Who” and “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.” This fear is reminiscent of old folk superstitions. There may, of course, be something more to this than misguided fear — after all, we are dealing with magic. However, if we are to believe Dumbledore, the matter is simple: “Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself” (PS17) Another example is the belief that Thestrals are unlucky which Hagrid claims is “jus’ superstition” (OP21). The pureblood prejudice towards Muggle-borns is also largely insubstantial. Add to that Trelawney’s irrational belief in her Inner Eye, and the power of tea leaves and we have a whole set of superstitions to work on. This, one may argue, has very little to do with religion as systems of belief and a social order. But if nothing else, these notions do show us that wizards and witches, like Muggles, have the inclination to believe in supernatural forces that guide their fortune or misfortune even when none is proven (unless you count Felix Felicis or mackled malaclaw, to name another example - editor's note). From that, the step to organized religion is not a very big one. The hero-worshipping of Harry Potter (and Gilderoy Lockhart for that matter) and the appeal of extreme ideologies may be filling the gaps in people’s minds that would normally be occupied by religion. Voldemort appeals precisely to people’s tendency to crave causal agents and authority figures.

In sum, there does not seem to be any prevalent religious tradition in the wizarding world. Judging from wizarding naming tradition and holidays, people’s beliefs are a jumble of different traditions from Muggle and wizarding culture, as well as folk superstition. The fact that nearly everything in the books is seen from Harry Potter’s point of view severely limits our perspective, and it may well be that wizards celebrate feasts we do not know of, or that Merlin is regarded by most wizards as an omnipotent supernatural presence as well as a historical/mythical character.  However, if we assume that Harry Potter would know about it if it were the case, the magical world is not religious. On the other hand, wizard’s mind seems to work largely like that of a Muggle. The many superstitions wizards hold may be an indication that witches and wizards are just as irrational and “religious-minded” as Muggles. The lack of religion might thus work to the wizarding world’s disadvantage, in that people will tend to seek truth, ultimate causes, and authority figures elsewhere.

作为总结：在巫师世界中看不出有什么通行的宗教传统。从巫师的命名习惯和他们庆祝的节日来看，人们的信仰是麻瓜文化和巫师文化引出的不同传统以及迷信思想的混杂。读者只能通过哈利·波特的角度观看世界，这一点严重影响了我们的视野。不能排除这样的可能性：巫师们庆祝我们所不知道的什么节日，或者大部分巫师不但把梅林看作是一位历史和神话人物，同时也是无所不能的超自然存在。但是，如果我们假定“如果事情果真如此哈利一定会知道”，那么巫师的世界便是没有宗教的。另一方面，巫师的思维方式似乎也和麻瓜的基本一致。巫师们相信的大量迷信说法可能说明，巫师们也和麻瓜们一样是唯心的，是头脑易受宗教影响的。因此缺乏宗教信仰这一点可能是巫师界的一个劣势，使得人们倾向于从别处追寻真理，终极因果和权威人物。

韦小崽

“余下的就只有James Potter, Remus John Lupin 和 Peter Pettigrew，他们使用基督教色彩的名字我们还找不到解释。”

这有什么找不到解释的。。。至少后面两个，hp wiki都有官方解释

    The name "Remus" comes from the brothers Romulus and Remus, the legendary brothers who fought to the death over the control of Rome, having been raised by a mother wolf whose cubs had died. Because of this, some fans speculated that Remus had a brother, but "Romulus" is merely the code name used by Lupin for Potterwatch. Remus's intense rivalry with Romulus indicates Lupin's ongoing struggle with his other side, the werewolf.
    "Lupin" is derived from "lupinus", Latin for "wolf-like"; "lupus", or "wolf", being the basic word. Canis l​upus is the scientific name for the wolf - to be described as "lupine" means to "resemble a wolf." Lupin is also the name of an plant with edible seeds.

。。。简单点说就是remus和lupin俩词儿都和狼有关，前面是狼孩儿后面是狼

彼得也是。petti是法文的矮小，那pettigrew差不多就是长得小了