海外文化:英美民俗 鬼魂
【英文原文】
摘要：在古代和中世纪，看见和听见闹鬼的说法十分流行。现代大多数人不信鬼魂之说，但仍对有关鬼魂的故事、小说和电影十分感兴趣，而且不肯夜间走过坟地或废弃的老房子。
The ghost is supposed to be the spirit of a person who has died. Reports of seeing or hearing ghosts have been common throughout history — especially in ancient times and in the Middle Ages. Most modern people do not believe in ghosts, but they are interested in stories, books, films and plays about ghosts. And they prefer not to go into graveyards or deserted house at night. In most stories and reports about ghosts, the ghost resembles its living form. Many ghosts are transparent or shadowy. Some ghosts are pictured in long white robes.
Many ghosts have the intention of doing harm or evil. But some ghosts are friendly. Ghosts with evil intention are usually the spirits of people who were murdered. They are believed to haunt the place where, in their real form, they died or were buried. Whole families may be visited by the ghost of a person that an early ancestor killed or injured, or even by the ghost of an ancestor. A ghost may try to reveal who murdered it — as in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet — or try to frighten the murderer — as in Shakespeare's Macbeth. A ghost haunts a place by screaming, groaning, making strange noises and causing doors, furniture, and other objects to move by themselves.
In many stories and reports, a ghost returns from the dead without being called by anyone. In others, a medium(a person with special powers) calls the ghost back to earth. Ghosts are associated with darkness and night, so they usually end their visits by dawn, as the old saying goes, "Apparitions vanish at cock-crow."
【中文译文】
在古代和中世纪，看见和听见闹鬼的说法十分流行。现代大多数人不信鬼魂之说，但仍对有关鬼魂的故事、小说和电影十分感兴趣，而且不肯夜间走过坟地或废弃的老房子。据说鬼魂具有人形，但有的是透明的，或以影子的形式出现。有人想象中的鬼魂身披白色裹尸布，只露两只眼睛。
大多数鬼魂怀有恶意，但也有些鬼则态度友善，并无害人之心。怀有恶意的鬼一般是被谋杀者的灵魂，出没于他们被杀害或被埋葬的地点。祖先若杀了人，其后代可能全都受到屈死鬼的纠缠。有时祖先的鬼魂也会出现在后代面前。有的鬼魂出现是为了揭发谋杀者，如莎士比亚悲剧《哈姆雷特》里老哈姆雷特的鬼魂；也有的则是为了恐吓谋杀者，如《麦克白》里班柯的鬼魂。鬼魂显现的方式有多种，有的尖叫，有的呻吟，有的弄出声响，或使门自动开关、家具或其他东西莫名其妙地移动等。
一般说法是鬼魂可自动从阴间返回人间，也有人说鬼魂需要灵魂的召唤。鬼魂一般只在夜间出没，凌晨时返回阴间，如谚语所说，“鸡一叫，鬼魂消。”
