鬥牛

　　On Bullfighting

　　今天，一位客人送我一本畫冊，雖然對攝影一竅不通，但爲了不辜負別人的好意，只得胡亂翻看翻看。忽然，一幅令人觸目驚心的畫面跳入了我的視野。

　　A visitor of mine gave me a photo album today. Although I knew nothing about photography, but in order to acknowledge his good intentions, I flipped through the pages. All of a sudden, a frightful scene arrested my sight.

　　那是一幅鬥牛的場面，一位身穿白衣的男子，正與一頭公牛進行著生死的決鬥。牛的身上已經鮮血淋漓，飛濺的血染紅了男子的衣服，他們的眼中都露出令人心悸的寒光。我看了看標題，名爲《力與美的較量》。我不知道爲什麼會起這個名字，我實在從中看不出有什麼“力與美”，映入我腦海的全是殘忍、恐怖、野蠻等字眼。

　　It is a picture of bullfighting. A man dressed in white and a bull are engaging in a fight for life and death. The body of the bull is already soaked in blood, which splatters onto the man”s clothes and stains it red. Unnerving and scary glares are shooting out from both of their eyes. The title of this picture, as I noticed, is: “A Contest of Strength and Beauty.” It is beyond me why such a title was chosen. To me there is not a single shred of “strength and beauty” in the picture; what is conjured up in my mind are only the words of brutality, horror, and barbarians.

　　據說，鬥牛源自于克裏特島的米洪斯文明，是西班牙人最推崇的一項競技性表演。無數的文學家、藝術家們，都各展所長，以不同的方式對其進行渲染。衆所周知的，如梅裏美撰寫的小說《卡門》，以及比才以其爲主題創作的舞曲《西班牙鬥牛士》，已成爲人們心中西班牙的象征。

　　Bullfighting is a competitive spectacle highly celebrated by the Spanish; its origin is believed to be the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete. It has inspired many men of letters and artists to hype it in various ways. For instance, there is the novel Carmen, written by Prosper Mérimée, as well as the bullfighting-themed aria Votre Toast (Toreador Song), by Georges Bizet; both have long been symbols of the country of Spain.

　　在很長一段時間，鬥牛士成了英雄的代名詞。在鬥牛場上獲勝的“勇士”，用自牛身上摘下的花結奉獻女人的示愛方式，被很多女人視爲最高的榮耀。欣賞殺戮的過程，成爲衆人心目中一種高雅的樂趣。一想到這些觀念仍殘存在人們的腦海裏，這種殘暴的場景還在上演，並被人們津津樂道，我就有種針刺般的疼痛。

　　For a long time, the bullfighter, or the matador, was a synonym of a hero. Many women would consider it the highest honor to receive a love offer of the dead bull”s wreath from the winning “warrior.” Fans see this spectacle that ends with the animal being killed by a sword thrust as a refined performance. Somehow people still cannot outgrow this barbarian instinct, allowing the atrocious scene to go on and even savoring it. Thinking of this, my heart pains as if being pricked by sharp needles.

　　這些可憐的牛成了供人消遣的道具，上場的牛必將死亡，絕無逃脫機會。曾經，它們中的一員“企圖”反抗，用犄角穿透了鬥牛士伊約的心髒，令伊約當場殒命，最終它也逃脫不出陪葬的下場。它的頭被送至博物館，成爲供人們觀賞的戰利品。以宣布人類的最終“勝利”。

　　These poor bulls are serving as props for entertainment; once sent to the ring, the bull is destined to die, and there is absolutely no chance to escape its sealed fate. There was once a bull among them that “attempted” to rebel; it killed the bullfighter Yiyo by puncturing his heart with its horn. But of course this bull had to be sacrificed in the end; its stuffed head is now displayed in a museum as a trophy to declare the human”s ultimate “victory.”

　　曾經有一位意大利的神甫，爲了阻止人們的暴行，不顧自己的安危，在鬥牛場上苦口婆心地勸說人們放棄這一滅絕人性的行爲，被失去理智的人們用亂石砸死，沸騰的鮮血映紅了冰冷無情的鬥牛場。

　　It is said that once an Italian priest, in an attempt to put an end to the merciless killing and, disregarding his own safety, jumped into the ring and tried to persuade people to stop this sadistic sports activity. The crowd who had lost their reasoning stoned him to death; his scarlet warm blood glittered on the chilly and brutal bullfighting ground.

　　神甫的死終于引起了人們的反思，該項活動被停止了一段時間。雖然我已記不清這位神甫的名字，但他在鬥牛場上上演的英勇一幕，將永遠銘刻在我以及稍有良知之人的記憶裏。

　　The death of the priest made people feel pensive, and the bullfighting was put on hold for some period. Although I cannot recall this priest”s name, his bravery in the bullfighting arena will remain indelibly engraved in my memory and in that of anyone with a clear conscience.

　　我無意貶低西班牙人，鬥牛也不是西班牙人的專利。我之所以冒天下之大不韪，只是想告訴人們，以其他衆生的生命來換取快樂、尋求刺激、填補空虛，博得英雄的頭銜、女人的青睐，實在是黑白混淆、善惡顛倒，愚昧而又荒唐的舉動。最終孰勝孰負，因果自有決斷。任何一個殘殺生命，或爲之歌功頌德的人，終將逃不脫閻羅無情的宣判。

　　I don”t mean to belittle the Spanish, nor is bullfighting claimed exclusively by them. Here I am willing to risk everyone”s condemnation to point out the imprudence and absurdity of bullfighting. To sacrifice another being”s life for pleasure, for excitement, for filling the blank mind, or for winning the title of hero and the favor of women, is perverted and against what”s right. The principle of cause and effect will deliver the final verdict on who is the winner and who is the loser. Anyone who engages in the act of killing or in rejoicing and praising killing will find no escape from the unbendable judgment of the Lord of Death.

　　如果有機會，我願追隨神甫的腳步！

　　Should there be an opportunity, I will also follow the steps of that priest!

　　壬午年七月十八日 　

　　2002年8月25日 　

　　18th of July, Year of RenWu

　　August 25, 2002

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