《罗刹海市》是清代小说家蒲松龄创作的一篇文言短篇小说，讲述了青年马骥的奇异冒险故事。这也是《聊斋志异》中第一批被翻译成英文的作品之一。

"The Raksha Country and the Sea Market" is a short story by Pu Songling published in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. This story is one of the initial entries from the Strange Tales collection to be translated into English, depicting the adventures of the scholar-merchant Ma Ji.

天津人民美术出版社1983年3月出版的《罗刹海市》连环画册

《罗刹海市》到底讲了一个什么故事

这篇短篇文言小说讲述了一个名叫马骥的美少年代父出海贸易，不巧在途中遭遇巨浪，被卷入一个奇异的国度——罗刹国。

罗刹国的颠倒世界与寻常世界完全不同，人们以丑为美，越丑的人地位越高，相反，越漂亮的人地位越低。所以马骥在这里被看作是怪物，人们看到他都纷纷退散。

后来，马骥因为才华被执戟郎赏识，将他引荐给皇帝却未得召见。然而，有一天，马骥把煤灰涂到脸上扮起张飞舞剑，执戟郎认为这样很美，就让马骥按这样的扮相去觐见皇帝，后来，马骥果然得到了重用。但每天隐藏真面目，让他苦闷。

Ma Ji, a rakish scholar and handsome young man, embarked on a sea trade voyage and encountered massive waves, which confronted by towering waves, which carried him into an enigmatic realm named the Raksha country. Within this land, people embraced the notion that ugliness equated to beauty, and the more unsightly one's appearance, the greater their popularity. In order to survive, Ma smeared his face with soot and skillfully garnered the admiration of the King of Raksha, subsequently achieving a prestigious position. Yet, the burden of concealing his genuine self made him ill at ease.

后来，马骥离开罗刹国。趁海市开幕，他冒险跟随村民前去，见到了许多奇珍异宝。他进入龙宫，凭借才华得到龙王和龙女的赏识，与龙女结为夫妻。不久便生下了一对儿女。

几月之后，他和龙女告别，回家看望父母，两人缘分结束。三年后，他去海岛接回了自己的两个孩子，从此再也没见过龙女。

After departing from the realm of Raksha, Ma embarked on audacious journeys to the Sea Market, where he encountered a plethora of rare treasures. Venturing into the Dragon Palace, his talents garnered the admiration of the Dragon Lord and the Dragon Princess, ultimately leading to his marriage with the latter. Several months afterward, he bid a fond farewell to the Dragon Princess and returned home to visit his parents. Three years later, he ventured to a sea island to reunite with his two children, and thereafter, he never saw the Dragon Princess again.

蒲松龄为什么写《罗刹海市》

《罗刹海市》龙的国度与罗刹国截然相反。这里的一切都是美好的，人美、花美、树美、鸟美，更为重要的是这里政治清明。这里重用的是贤士，看重的是文才，君仁臣忠，夫义妻贞。

这毫无疑问是蒲松龄的理想寄托，他一生郁郁而不得志，抱旷世之才，而屡试不中，所以故事最后，他在假借“异史氏”之口，感叹万端，说出了《罗刹海市》的真谛：

异史氏曰：“花面逢迎，世情如鬼。嗜痂之癖*，举世一辙。‘小惭小好，大惭大好*’。若公然带须眉以游都市，其不骇而走者盖几希矣！彼陵阳痴子*，将抱连城玉向何处哭也？呜呼！显荣富贵，当于蜃楼海市中求之耳！”

译文：

装出一副假的、看起来如同花儿一样的美丽面目，去迎合世俗所好，简直像是到了鬼国。喜欢吃伤口结痂这样的怪癖，其实世人都一样。如果公然保持男子汉本来面目去游逛都城，而不吓得人们四散奔逃，大概一定会很少的了。真有才华的人，不被赏识，连哭都没地方哭，就像那个献玉楚王的傻人卞和，怀抱着价值连城的美玉，无人赏识一样。哎！飞黄腾达的理想，最终也只能去虚幻中追求罢了。

The Chronicler of the Tales comments: "The ways of the world are no different from the ways of goblins; both would have us paint our faces to curry favor. When it comes to proclivities for eating scabs and such, the whole world is in the same rut. Moderately embarrassing actions receive moderate praise; greatly embarrassing actions receive great praise. If a person were to amble through a city with his true face exposed for all to see, few must be the ones who would not take to their heels in fright. Whose shoulder can the Fool of Lingyang cry on with his fabled jade worth fifteen cities? Alas! Glory and wealth can only be found in castles in the air and ocean bazaars."

*嗜痂之癖：出自《南史·刘穆之传》，南朝刘邕喜欢吃结痂，觉得像鱼肉一样美味。

*小惭小好，大惭大好：出自韩愈《与冯宿论文书》，意思是自己感到比较不满意的，别人却称赞说不错；自己感到非常不满意的，别人却大吹特吹。用来比喻世道与自己的愿望相反。

*陵阳痴子：见《韩非子·和氏》，指春秋时楚人卞和，曾封陵阳侯。卞和发现一璞玉，献给楚王，都被视为石头。卞和被刖双脚。后文王即位，卞和抱璞哭于荆山之下。楚文王使人问之。卞和曰：“臣非悲刖。宝玉而题之以石，贞士而名之为诳，所以悲也。”文王使人剖璞，果得宝玉，称为“和氏璧”。意谓真正才德之士，不被赏识，无处申诉他的委屈和悲愤。

《罗刹海市》中两个海外幻域产生强烈对照，这是蒲松龄对世风的揭露与讽刺：重形貌，不重文章，而且美丑颠倒，丑者显贵，美者卑贱。但是，“雄才能够施展，抱负可以实现”的理想毕竟在当时无法实现，所以作者不禁发出“当于蜃楼海市中求之耳”的哀叹。

以下是《罗刹海市》一些片段，一起来品读：

从人浮海，为飓风引去，数昼夜，至一都会。其人皆奇丑；见马至，以为妖，群哗而走。

Ma embarked on an ocean voyage with a party of other passengers, but it happened that they were blown off course by a typhoon. After several days the ship came to a city in which all the inhabitants were freakishly ugly. They ran off in an uproar as Ma approached, taking him for a monster.

曰：“我国所重，不在文章，而在形貌。其美之极者，为上卿；次，任民社；下焉者邀贵人宠，故得鼎烹以养妻子。”

Someone answered, "In our country what is valued is appearance rather than literary ability.

The most handsome among us become high ministers at court; the fairly handsome are given posts in local administrative offices; and the somewhat handsome can support their wives and children in style by winning the favor of some nobleman".

居久之，与主人饮而醉，把剑起舞，以煤涂面作张飞。主人以为美，曰：“请客以张飞见宰相，宰相必乐用之，厚禄不难致。”

Ma stayed with the officer for a long while. One day, when he and his host were in their cups, he smeared his face with soot to look like Zhang Fei and began to dance with sword in hand.

The host thought he was attractive and said, "Why don't you make yourself up as Zhang Fei and go to see the prime minister? I am sure he will be delighted to find a place for you. An ample salary is within your grasp."

问：“海市何地？”曰，“海中市，四海鲛人，集货珠宝。四方十二国，均来贸易。中多神人游戏。云霞障天，波涛间作。”

"Where is the ocean bazaar?" asked Ma. "Mermen from the four seas gather at the ocean bazaar to trade in pearls and jewels. People from four directions and twelve kingdoms all come to trade with them. Many deities are engaged in pleasurable pastimes there. The sky is filled with clouds, and great waves roll ashore from time to time."

宫中有玉树一株，围可合抱，本莹澈如白琉璃，中有心，淡黄色，梢细于臂；叶类碧玉，厚一钱许，细碎有浓阴。

A jade tree as big in girth as a man's embrace grew in the palace. The trunk was shimmeringly transparent, like clear glass, with a pale yellow center slightly thinner than an arm. The leaves resembled green jade and were a bit thicker than copper coins.

女曰：“仙尘路隔，不能相依。妾亦不忍以鱼水之爱，夺膝下之欢。容徐谋之。”

"Faerie and earth have separate roads," she said. "They cannot remain together. I cannot bear, for the sake of our marital love, to deny you the happiness of being at your parents' side. Give me time to think of a way."

——Translated by Denis C.Mair and Victor H. Mair

了解了这个故事，说说你的感悟吧！

编辑：陈月华

实习生：贺子怡 谭馨

来源：自说文史等