爱丽丝漫游奇境记
《爱丽丝漫游奇境记》(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)是一部被公认为世界儿童文学经典的童话,由于其中丰富的想象力和种种隐喻,不但深受各代儿童欢迎,也被视为一部严肃的文学作品。作者刘易斯·卡罗尔还写有续集《爱丽丝镜中奇遇记》。故事讲述了一个叫爱丽丝的小女孩,在梦中追逐一只兔子而掉进了兔子洞,开始了漫长而惊险的旅行,直到最后与扑克牌王后、国王发生顶撞,急得大叫一声,才大梦醒来。这部童话以神奇的幻想,风趣的幽默,昂然的诗情,突破了西欧传统儿童文学道德说教的刻板公式,此后被翻译成多种文字,走遍了全世界。
作者简介
刘易斯·卡罗尔(Lewis Carroll,1832~1898)的真名叫查尔斯·勒特威奇·道奇森(Charles Lutwidge Dodgson),是一位数学家,长期在享有盛名的牛津大学任基督堂学院数学讲师,发表了好几本数学著作。他因有严重的口吃,故而不善与人交往,但他兴趣广泛,对小说、诗歌、逻辑都颇有造诣,还是一个优秀的儿童像摄影师。《爱丽丝漫游奇境记》是他兴之所致,给友人罗宾逊的女儿爱丽丝所讲的故事,写下后加上自己的插图送给了她(这个手写本近年在英国影印出版了)。后来在朋友鼓励下,卡罗尔将手稿加以修订、扩充、润色后,于1865年正式出版。卡罗尔后来又写了一部姐妹篇,叫《爱丽丝镜中奇遇记》(Through the Looking-Glass,and what Alice found there),并与《爱丽丝漫游奇境记》一起风行于世。此外卡罗尔还著有诗集《The Hunting of the Snark》、《Jabberwocky》等作品让人们喜欢。
出版经过
《爱丽丝漫游奇境记》的第一版出版于1865年7月4日,距卡罗尔和友人罗宾逊及三个小女儿一起在泰姆士河上泛舟之时,刚好经过了三年。
这本童话的最初构思起源于闲暇时卡罗尔给罗宾逊的三个小女儿讲的故事。其中的二女儿,十岁的爱丽丝——一般认为这个活泼的金发小女孩就是书中小主角的原型——很喜欢这个故事,要要卡罗尔把故事写下来给她看。于是1864年11月,卡罗尔写了一份故事的手稿交给她,当时的书名叫“爱丽丝地下奇遇记”(Alice's Adventures Under Ground)。
其实早在1863年春天,卡罗尔把未完成的手稿给一个朋友乔治·麦克唐那看时,后者就建议过他把这本书付诸出版。1865年,这个童话终于以《爱丽丝漫游奇境记》的名字出版,并使用了刘易斯·卡罗尔这个笔名。书一出版就大获成功,不仅孩子们喜欢读,很多大人也喜欢,其中包括著名作家奥斯卡·王尔德和当时在位的维多利亚女王。目前这本书已经被翻译成至少125种语言,在全世界风行不衰。
情节简介
故事讲述的是一个叫爱丽丝的小女孩和姐姐在河边看书时睡着了,梦中她追逐一只穿着背心的兔子而掉进了兔子洞,从而来到一个奇妙的世界。在这个世界里她时而变大时而变小,以至于有一次竟掉进了由自己的眼泪汇成的池塘里;她还遇到了爱说教的公爵夫人、神秘莫测的柴郡猫、神话中的格里芬和假海龟、总是叫喊着要砍别人头的扑克牌女王和一群扑克士兵,参加了一个疯狂茶会、一场古怪的槌球赛和一场审判,直到最后与女王发生冲突时才醒来,发现自己依然躺在河边,姐姐正温柔地拂去落在她脸上的几片树叶——在梦里她把那几片树叶当成了扑克牌。
书中充满了有趣的文字游戏、双关语、谜语和巧智、因此有时是难以翻译的,比如第二章章名里的“Tale(故事)”因为被爱丽丝听成同音的“Tail(尾巴)”而闹出了笑话。由于开始时是一部给朋友的孩子讲的自娱之作,故事里的很多角色名都影射了作者身边的人,如第三章里的渡渡鸟(dodo)是作者自己(因为他有口吃的毛病,听起来像dodo这个词)、鸭子(duck)是朋友Duckworth、鹦鹉(Lory)是爱丽丝的姐姐Lorina,小鹰(Eaglet)是爱丽丝的妹妹Edith。
重要角色简介(按出场顺序):
爱丽丝(Alice):故事的主角,一个纯真可爱的小女孩,充满好奇心和求知欲,在她身上体现出了属于儿童的那种纯真。在人的成长过程中,这种儿童的纯真常常会遭到侵蚀。因而,纯真的爱丽丝对儿童、对成年人都极具魅力,且弥足珍贵。
兔子(The White Rabbit):一只穿着背心的白兔,在故事开场正要去给女王取东西的它喊着“天哪!天哪!要迟到了!”跑过爱丽丝面前,引起了她的注意,为了追它,爱丽丝才从兔子洞掉进了那个神秘的世
界,后来爱丽丝在它的家里又误喝了一瓶魔药而变成巨人。
蜥蜴比尔(Bill the Lizard):爱丽丝在兔子家里误喝魔药变成巨人,无法离开房屋,兔子以为屋里出现了怪物,派这只小蜥蜴从烟囱进去看看情况,结果不等进去就被爱丽丝踢了出来。
毛毛虫(The Caterpillar):一只坐在蘑菇上吸烟斗的古怪毛毛虫,态度有点目中无人,不过它教给了爱丽丝自由变大变小的方法。我是毛毛虫
公爵夫人(The Duchess):一个爱好说教的女人,口头语是“一切事皆能引申出一个教训”。爱丽丝去过她家,正是在那里她才认识了柴郡猫
。
柴郡猫(The Cheshire Cat):一只总是咧着嘴笑(grin)的猫,来源于英谚“笑得像一只柴郡猫(grin like a Cheshire Cat)”。它帮了爱丽丝几次忙。
帽匠(The Hatter):疯狂茶会(Mad Tea-party)的参加者之一,来源于英谚“疯得像个帽匠(Mad as a hatter)”。
三月兔(The March Hare):疯狂茶会(Mad Tea-party)的参加者之一,来源于英谚“疯得像只三月的野兔(Mad as a March Hare)”。
睡鼠(The Dormouse):疯狂茶会(Mad Tea-party)的参加者之一,总是在睡觉。
红心女王(The Queen of Hearts):率领着一群扑克牌士兵的扑克牌女王,很容易生气,动辄要砍别人的头,不过其实并没有实行过。
红心国王(The King of Hearts):扑克牌国王,不像妻子那么爱动怒,相反给人以受妻子指使的老好人的感觉。
格里芬(The Gryphon):希腊神话中的狮身鹰首怪兽,在女王的命令下带爱丽丝去见了假海龟。
假海龟(The Mock Turtle):女王命令格里芬带爱丽丝去见的角色,它给爱丽丝讲了一个充满文字游戏的莫名其妙的故事。
[Contents] Chapter 1 -- Down the Rabbit-Hole Chapter 2 -- The Pool of Tears Chapter 3 -- A Caucus-race and a Long Tale Chapter 4 -- The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill Chapter 5 -- Advice from a Caterpillar Chapter 6 -- Pig and Pepper Chapter 7 -- A Mad Tea-party Chapter 8 -- The Queen's Croquet Ground Chapter 9 -- The Mock Turtle's Story Chapter 10 -- The Lobster Quadrille
Chapter 11 -- Who Stole the Tarts? Chapter 12 -- Alice's Evidence
Book Review: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Why It Is Classic Literature
A few days before graduation, an eighth grade classmate came to school with letters I and the other children had written to him years earlier while he had been recuperating in the hospital after a car accident. He thought it would be interesting to us to see the things we had thought and then wrote about when we were only in the fourth grade. No surprise to me, a voracious reader, the letter I had written was full of the book I had been reading at that time. My friend did not know what book I had described but liked what I had written about the Duchess' baby that later turned into a pig and ran away. I knew, of course, that the passage I had written about was from one of my favorite books, Alice 's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
Throughout my life, although I have read countless books, there are some I have read and re-read because they resonate in me on some emotional or intellectual level. The story of Alice, who in following a white rabbit falls down a rabbit hole and into a land full of wonderful beings is one such book. To me, Alice in Wonderland is a timeless classic, not just for children but adults as
well.
Thanks to the Disney movie, many are familiar with the basic story. One sunny afternoon, a bored young girl named Alice wakes suddenly from a nap to see a white rabbit run by, carrying a pocket watch and worrying about being late. Alice follows the rabbit down a rabbit hole and into a strange land where she has many adventures, alternately shrinking and growing large from the things that she finds and eats.
Along the way, she talks to a slowly vanishing Cheshire cat, meets a caterpillar sitting on a mushroom smoking a hookah and attends a tea party with the Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Dormouse. Ultimately, she meets up with a pack of cards who take her to play croquet with the Queen of Hearts. After the Queen threatens to chop off her head, Alice eats a bit of mushroom that she finds in her pocket, growing so large that she knocks the cards down. At that point, Alice wakes up to find herself back in her own world.
To me, the story of Alice and her adventures is a true example of classic literature. Of course, what constitutes a classic can differ from one individual to the next. Essentially, however, a classic book is one that meets the test of time. Generally written as a representation of its own era, a classic work has merits that continue to be recognized through the ages. It also has universal appeal. It contains themes of love, hate, greed, envy, mercy and justice that hold value to society on every level, despite cultural, generational or political divides. A classic work resonates emotionally with each individual, who can see in its ideas a reflection of his or her own life.
Clearly, Alice 's Adventures in Wonderland has met the test of time. Written by the Reverend Charles Dodson, it was published under the pen name Lewis Carroll in 1865. Its first edition consisted of only 2,000 copies, but by the end of 1866, over 5,000 copies had been sold. Since then, hundreds of editions have been published in over 125 different languages. Succeeding generations, adults and children have read about Alice 's adventures now for over 140 years. The book has also been adapted for film twelve times, first in 1901 and including the Disney animated version in 1951. Next to the Bible and the works of Shakespeare, it is the most often quoted book in the world.
Although written during the Victorian era, the adventures of the little girl who fell down a rabbit hole continue to have universal appeal today. Essentially, Alice in Wonderland is the story of a little girl who must face the challenges of growing up in an increasingly out of control world. Throughout her travels, Alice is faced with difficult situations. Her curiosity in seeing a pocket watch carrying white rabbit and following it into the strange world is what initially lands her in the predicament. Having done so, however, Alice accepts the consequences and sets about finding her way, making decisions on where to go, what to eat and how to act. Like any individual on the path to maturity, she does not always make the right choice, as when, in the white rabbit's house, she eats the biscuit and grows too large to get out of it. Despite the challenges and setbacks, however, Alice perseveres, facing the threats and intimidation of the Queen of Hearts during the croquet game to grow large enough to overcome adversity and find her way back where she belonged. Her story, in facing challenges and overcoming them, maturing in the process is familiar to child and adult alike and accounts for its decades of continuing appeal, across continents and cultures, societies and social divides.
Even though I am now a mature adult with grown children of my own, Alice 's Adventures in Wonderland stills resonates with me on an emotional and intellectual level. Often, during the trials and tribulations of my own day, I find myself quoting passages from the book. "Curiouser and
curiouser!" I say, faced with a seemingly inexplicable situation. When falling behind schedule, I quote to myself "Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!' At times, when I am confused, I say, "I can't explain myself you see, because I'm not myself." Finally, when confusion reigns supreme in my life, I throw up my hands and cry, "We are all mad, here!" As you can see, to me the appeal of Alice 's Adventures in Wonderland is timeless and universal and one that I will always enjoy. Lewis Carroll's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was not originally written for the general public but for a single child: Alice Pleasance Liddell, second daughter of the Dean of Christ Church College, Oxford. The story of its composition, as Carroll recorded it in the prefatory verses to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, goes something like this: On a warm summer afternoon (July 4, 1862, according to Carroll's diary) the author, his friend Reverend Robinson Duckworth, and the three young Liddell sisters (Lorina Charlotte, age thirteen, Alice Pleasance, age ten, and Edith, age eight), daughters of the Dean of Christ Church College, Oxford, made a short trip up the Thames River in a rowboat. "The trip," explains Martin Gardner in his The Annotated Alice, "was about three miles, beginning at Folly Bridge, near Oxford, and ending at the village of Godstow. 'We had tea on the bank there,' Carroll recorded in his diary, 'and did not reach Christ Church again till quarter past eight„.'" "Seven months later," Gardner continues, "he added to this entry the following note: 'On which occasion I told them the fairytale of Alice's adventures underground.'"
According to an account written many years later by Alice Liddell, she pestered Carroll—the pseudonym for mathematician and dean Charles Lutwidge Dodgson—to write the story down for her. "She 'kept going on, going on' at him," explains Morton N. Cohen in his critical biography Lewis Carroll, "until he promised to oblige her. For one reason or another, however, it took him two and a half years to deliver the completed manuscript, illustrated with his own drawings." Between the time that Carroll began work on the manuscript and the time that he completed it, he had lost the friendship of the Liddells. He had also shown the manuscript to his friends Mr. and Mrs. George MacDonald, who read it to their children and urged Carroll to publish the story. Working through friends, Carroll found a publisher—Macmillan of London—and an illustrator, noted cartoonist John Tenniel. The first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published in June of 1865. However, Tenniel objected to some sloppy reproduction work of his illustrations in the printing, and Carroll agreed to cancel the entire press run of two thousand copies and to print a new press run of another two thousand copies at his own expense. This early, flawed edition of the novel is now considered one of the rarest books in the world and commands huge prices among collectors.
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," writes Cohen, "was widely reviewed and earned almost unconditional praise. Charles's diary lists nineteen notices." Sales were high and many foreign editions were quickly authorized. Inspired by the book's success, Carroll began work on a sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice
Found There, published in 1872. The two Alice books remain in print today, over a century after their publication. They remain, next to the Bible and the works of Shakespeare, among the world's most widely translated works of literature.
Translations are available in over seventy languages, including Yiddish and Swahili. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Summary
After a short verse prologue, in which he commemorates the day on which he first told his tale, Lewis Carroll begins Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a familiar episode: Alice is sitting by the bank of a stream, bored, when she notices the White Rabbit dressed in a waistcoat scurrying along. The rabbit stops to pull a pocket watch out of its waistcoat pocket, mutters to itself that it will be late for something, then scurries off and disappears down a hole. Alice follows the rabbit down the hole, and suddenly finds herself falling, though not so fast that she is in any danger of being injured when she lands.
She catches sight of the rabbit after she lands, but soon loses it again, and finds herself in a...
After a short verse prologue, in which he commemorates the day on which he first told his tale, Lewis Carroll begins Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a familiar episode: Alice is sitting by the bank of a stream, bored, when she notices the White Rabbit dressed in a waistcoat scurrying along. The rabbit stops to pull a pocket watch out of its waistcoat pocket, mutters to itself that it will be late for something, then scurries off and disappears down a hole. Alice follows the rabbit down the hole, and suddenly finds herself falling, though not so fast that she is in any danger...
In part because of its popularity with children and in part because of the fascination it has for adults, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has become one of the most widely-interpreted pieces of literature ever produced. Victorians praised Lewis Carroll's word-play and brilliant use of language. Critics after his death found psychological clues to Carroll's own subconscious in the book's curious dream-structure and the strange and often hostile creatures of Wonderland. During the 1960s, many young people read the book as a commentary on the contemporary drug culture.