框架中的浪漫－－林 短篇小說的言情敘事

Romantic Grafting:Lin Shu's Short Romances

林紓以一位不諳外文的傳統士子透過口譯者進行翻譯，在晚清中國率先引進大量域外小說。他的翻譯小說在當時廣泛流傳並被熱烈接受，其中言情小說尤為大宗。後來林紓的自撰短篇小說集《畏廬漫錄》包含了不少寫情題材，本文即以《畏廬漫錄》為主要文本，檢視其經驗知識如何與敘事結構連結，以及翻譯小說對他的寫情作品所注入的新成份。《畏廬漫錄》雖是仿《聊齋》之傳奇文體的作品，其中卻偶有借取西方小說技巧的篇章，足見西洋小說對譯者的滲透。林紓通過翻譯小說間接見識了西方的社會樣貌與生活方式，感受西方言情小說中情感至上、往來自主與婚姻自由的訊息，然他所書寫的男女，雖已具有自由氣息、浪漫情調，卻仍有傳統寫情成規（romanceconventions）與倫理框架（ethical framework）的制約，而呈現著文人氣息與平和中正的傳統美學。翻譯小說為林紓的創作帶來了靈感或啟發，而傳統宗法制度和倫理道德規範的價值取向，也無所不在地發生著作用。整體而言，林紓依倫常原則鋪敘浪漫故事，他的觀念並不捨離傳統，卻比起當時禁錮的思想要寬容而開闊，且小說內容開始著手處理新的和令人印象深刻的現代性領域：性別與現代化。

A traditional man of letters without knowledge of any foreign languages, Lin Shu undertook translation with the mere help of oral interpreters to become a pioneer in introducing foreign novels to China in the Late Qing period. His translated works, love stories in particular, were widely popular at the time. In addition to translation, Lin Shu also wrote short stories of his own, some of which, as can be found in his WeiLu Manlu (畏廬漫錄), were love stories. This article takes examples from WeiLu Manlu to see how Lin's love stories are influenced by his translated novels. Although WeiLu Manlu follows the narrative convention of Strange Tales from Liaozhai (聊齋志異) in the main, its apparent application of techniques from the Western novels evinces how the influence mentioned above takes place. Lin Shu makes indirect acquaintance with western societies and life-styles from the stories he translates. In western love stories, he senses that amorous love itself has a paramount value, that men and women are autonomous entities in social intercourse, and that they are free to decide on marriage according to their own will. Indeed, men and women characters in his stories are relatively free and romantic in disposition. But equally evident in Lin's stories are the confining powers of traditional romance conventions and a traditional ethical framework. Much a traditional man of letters, Lin writes with classical aesthetic, his lovers still succumbing to Confucian ideals of personality. The works Lin translates inspire him; he is yet preoccupied with Chinese clan ethic. In all, Lin does not deviate from tradition, but is open and accommodating compared with his contemporaries. Most impressively, his stories are among the earliest ones touching upon topics of modernity such as gender difference and modernization.