《少年维特的烦恼·第二部·1771 年 10 月至 1772 年 12 月》第29节
OCTOBER 12. Ossian has superseded Homer in my heart. To what a world does the illustrious bard carry me! To wander over pathless wilds, surrounded by impetuous whirlwinds, where, by the feeble light of the moon, we see the spirits of our ancestors; to hear from the mountain-tops, mid the roar of torrents, their plaintive sounds issuing from deep caverns, and the sorrowful lamentations of a maiden who sighs and expires on the mossy tomb of the warrior by whom she was adored. I meet this bard with silver hair; he wanders in the valley; he seeks the footsteps of his fathers, and, alas! he finds only their tombs. Then, contemplating the pale moon, as she sinks beneath the waves of the rolling sea, the memory of bygone days strikes the mind of the hero, days when approaching danger invigorated the brave, and the moon shone upon his bark laden with spoils, and returning in triumph. When I read in his countenance deep sorrow, when I see his dying glory sink exhausted into the grave, as he inhales new and heart-thrilling delight from his approaching union with his beloved, and he casts a look on the cold earth and the tall grass which is so soon to cover him, and then exclaims, "The traveller will come,—he will come who has seen my beauty, and he will ask, 'Where is the bard, where is the illustrious son of Fingal?' He will walk over my tomb, and will seek me in vain!" Then, O my friend, I could instantly, like a true and noble knight, draw my sword, and deliver my prince from the long and painful languor of a living death, and dismiss my own soul to follow the demigod whom my hand had set free!
注释摘要
维特在这封信里写下的，已经不是对一本书的评论，而是一次精神世界的更替。他说莪相已经取代了荷马在他心中的位置，这句话的分量在全书里是不可逆的。荷马代表的是第一部里维特所眷恋的那种世界——清晰、明亮、有人的劳作与交往，有尤利西斯在牧猪人家中受款待的那种温暖的秩序感。而莪相带来的是另一番景象：没有道路的荒野、呼啸的旋风、月光下若隐若现的先人幽灵，以及洞穴深处传来…