精灵｜博尔赫斯

∞《想像的动物》，1969

The Book of Imaginary Beings

博尔赫斯和玛格丽特·格雷罗 合著

精灵

精灵源于北欧。它们纤小而邪恶，除此之外，其样貌不得而知。精灵偷走耕牛和儿童，并以耍弄微末的恶行为乐。在英格兰，“elflock ”这个词专门用来指纠结成簇的头发，因为人们认定这是精灵搞的把戏。某个盎格鲁-萨克逊咒语——据我们所知可追溯到异教时代——认为，精灵惯于从远处恶作剧地发射细微的铁箭，神不知鬼不觉地穿透人的皮肤，而这就是身体上那种突如其来刺痛的根本原因。

《新埃达》指出了光明精灵与黑暗精灵之间的区别：“光明精灵比太阳的光芒还要亮白，黑暗精灵却比沥青还要漆黑。”

梦魇 的德文单词是“ Alp ”，其词源就来自“elf ”。在中世纪，人们普遍相信，精灵会沉重地压在入睡者的胸口，从而施予种种恶梦。

精灵惯于从远处恶作剧地发射细微的铁箭，神不知鬼不觉地穿透人的皮肤，而这就是身体上那种突如其来刺痛的根本原因。

——博尔赫斯｜姜白 译

— Reading and Rereading—

The Elves

Translated by

Norman Thomas di Giovanni

The Elves are of Nordic origin. Little is known about what they look like, except that they are tiny and sinister. They steal cattle and children and also take pleasure in minor acts of deviltry. In England, the word "elflock" was given to a tangle of hair because it was supposed to be a trick of the Elves. An Anglo-Saxon charm, which for all we know may go back to heathen times, credits them with the mischievous habit of shooting, from afar, miniature arrows of iron that break the surface of the skin without a trace and are at the root of sudden painful stitches. In the Younger Edda, a distinction is noted between Light Elves and Dark: "The Light Elves are fairer than a glance of the sun, the Dark Elves blacker than pitch." The German for nightmare is Alp; etymology traces the word back to "elf," since it was commonly believed in the Middle Ages that Elves weighed heavily upon the breast of sleepers, giving them bad dreams.

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