【每日克苏鲁】洛夫克拉夫特《阿撒托斯》中英文对照（Azathoth）

前言

应盒友的要求，今天给大家带来的是洛夫克拉夫特于1922年6月创作的短篇《阿撒托斯》，是一篇非常短的文章，据说是作为他计划写作的某部小说的片段，不过暂时并无证据证明。

阿撒托斯这个角色实际上是洛夫克拉夫特在后来的克苏鲁神话体系中创造的宇宙至高主神形象，关于它的详细讲解我并不打算放在本文，因为市面上的主流规则书、各种二创和流传的猜想已经把阿撒托斯的信息搞得乱七八糟，需要仔细梳理才能做到严谨；且这篇文章虽然名为阿撒托斯，但事实上和那位主神的事没什么关系。

主神阿撒托斯

本文作为洛夫克拉夫特早期作品来说真的非常梦幻，各位可以尝试着想象文中场景来辅助阅读，会有意外之喜。

正文

《Azathoth》

When age fell upon the world, and wonder went out of the minds of men; when grey cities reared to smoky skies tall towers grim and ugly, in whose shadow none might dream of the sun or of spring’s flowering meadow; when learning stripped earth of her mantle of beauty, and poets sang no more save of twisted phantoms seen with bleared and inward-looking eyes; when these things had come to pass, and childish hopes had gone away forever, there was a man who travelled out of life on a quest into the spaces whither the world’s dreams had fled.

当这世界年岁渐行，而人们也不再心怀奇迹之时；当灰蒙蒙的城市上空烟云缭绕，无人能在那丑陋阴冷的高塔遮蔽下梦见阳光和春日鲜花繁茂的草地之时；当知识脱去大地美丽的纱服，诗人们不再放声歌唱，只剩下模糊闭塞的双眼所能看到的虚幻之时；当这些已成过往、而天真的希望也早就消失殆尽之时，有一个人从生活中走出，踏上了探寻世间梦境所逃离之处的旅程。

Of the name and abode of this man but little is written, for they were of the waking world only; yet it is said that both were obscure. It is enough to know that he dwelt in a city of high walls where sterile twilight reigned, and that he toiled all day among shadow and turmoil, coming home at evening to a room whose one window opened not on the fields and groves but on a dim court where other windows stared in dull despair. From that casement one might see only walls and windows, except sometimes when one leaned far out and peered aloft at the small stars that passed. And because mere walls and windows must soon drive to madness a man who dreams and reads much, the dweller in that room used night after night to lean out and peer aloft to glimpse some fragment of things beyond the waking world and the greyness of tall cities. After years he began to call the slow-sailing stars by name, and to follow them in fancy when they glided regretfully out of sight; till at length his vision opened to many secret vistas whose existence no common eye suspects. And one night a mighty gulf was bridged, and the dream-haunted skies swelled down to the lonely watcher’s window to merge with the close air of his room and make him a part of their fabulous wonder.

由于皆只存在于清醒世界，所以关于这个人的名字和居处，几乎没有任何记载，据说也无人知晓。只知道他曾栖身于一座高墙围障的城市里，整日在贫瘠的暮色笼罩下伴着混乱与阴霾辛勤劳作，夜间归来，家中唯一一扇窗子还并非面向原野和林地，而是对着昏暗的庭院，经受其他窗子死气沉沉的注视。从那扇窗户向外望去，看到的就只是高墙和窗口，唯有偶尔将身子探出窗外并向着上空看去，才能望见微小星辰的经过。而满眼的高墙和窗子足以将一个爱读书、爱寻梦的人逼疯，因此他一夜又一夜地将身子探出去，只为向空中凝望，以瞥见清醒世界之外的寥寥碎片以及这高耸城市的灰暗乏味。多年以后，他开始为那些缓行的星星命名，即便它们令人遗憾地滑出视野，他也依然会在想象之中继续追随；直到最后，他甚至能够看见许多常人根本无法觉察的隐秘景象。终于，在一天晚上，那份无法穿越的隔阂被打开了，如梦似幻的天空弥漫而下，穿过孤独的观星者的窗扉，与空气交融在一起，并将他拥进那绝妙的奇景当中。

There came to that room wild streams of violet midnight glittering with dust of gold; vortices of dust and fire, swirling out of the ultimate spaces and heavy with perfumes from beyond the worlds. Opiate oceans poured there, litten by suns that the eye may never behold and having in their whirlpools strange dolphins and sea-nymphs of unrememberable deeps. Noiseless infinity eddied around the dreamer and wafted him away without even touching the body that leaned stiffly from the lonely window; and for days not counted in men’s calendars the tides of far spheres bare him gently to join the dreams for which he longed; the dreams that men have lost. And in the course of many cycles they tenderly left him sleeping on a green sunrise shore; a green shore fragrant with lotus-blossoms and starred by red camalotes.

随后，一股股紫罗兰色的涓流裹携着金色粉尘在暗夜中涌入房间；尘埃和火焰形成漩涡，吸满那异界的芳香，自虚空中悄然出现。醉人的**倾覆而下，被那轮人眼也许永远无法触及的耀日所照亮，漩涡中游弋着的，是早已被人遗忘之深海中的奇异海豚和海中仙女。无尽虚空在梦者身边无声无息地缓缓旋转，将他僵靠在窗边的身体推拂而出，在人类无法计算的时日里，从那遥远领域而来的潮汐，轻柔地把他带入了渴盼已久的、人类早已遗失了的梦境之中。在时间的往复循环中，海浪温和地将他放在一处晨光照耀的翠绿海岸安眠，陪伴着他的，是斑驳的红色水植和盛放莲花的恬淡香气。