我取名Doris背後的故事
The Story Behind My Name Doris
一個美麗的誤會，成就了一個非凡的名字。
A perfect name came from a beautiful mistake.
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著名的安徒生童話《小美人魚》是我最喜歡的書，沒有之一。
我第一次讀到她是在幼兒園。畢業時每個小朋友都可以選一本小人書帶回家，我選了封面上是小美人魚的那本，我記得那時書名被譯作《海的女兒》。回家後，我不厭其煩一遍一遍地看，憧憬著自己就是那條小美人魚，因為她不僅美麗，而且善良，為了不傷害自己愛的人，不惜讓生命化作泡沫。
多年後，在準備移民加拿大時要取英文名。輔導我們英文的加拿大老師給我推薦了兩個名字：Jennifer和Doris，說前者是「白色浪花」，後者是「海神的女兒」。我毫不猶豫地選了Doris，從那時起，我就在心裏叫小美人魚Doris了。
2019年3月，趁著在北歐放映我的紀錄片《假孔子之名》，我終於有機會來到哥本哈根，看到矗立在波羅的海岸邊那尊著名的「小美人魚」塑像。她小小的，那麼安靜，眼眸低垂地看著海面，若有所思。
其實，在安徒生的童話裡，小美人魚是為了獲得「不死的靈魂」（immortal soul）才不惜答應巫婆，割舌為啞人，忍受著萬箭穿心般的疼痛用雙腿走路，因為只有成為人，為人做足300年好事，才能最終獲得「不死的靈魂」。（中國的小人書裏並沒有這一段。）
在願望即將實現之時，小美人魚救下了一個溺水的英俊王子，並且愛上了他。但王子誤以為是另一個美麗女子救了自己，就準備娶那位女子為妻。巫婆告訴小美人魚，她要麼毒死那個女子，自己就能變成人和王子結婚；要麼她在第二天王子結婚的早晨就會化作泡沫。為了不傷害心愛的王子，不傷害人，小美人魚選擇了犧牲自己的生命，也即放棄那個獲得「不死靈魂」的機會。
然而，第二天太陽升起時，看著自己的身體正一點點幻化成泡沫的小美人魚，卻驚訝地發現，自己的靈魂輕盈如一束光芒般裊裊升空！正因為她無條件地履行了「為人做好事」的承諾，小美人魚通過了獲得「不死靈魂」的考驗，終究如願以償。
知道了這一切，我比以往任何時候都更加愛「小美人魚」了。
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後記：
Doris是希臘神話裏海洋女神的名字，她是大洋河流之神俄克阿諾斯（Oceanus）與妻子、同時也是其妹的忒提斯（Tethys）的女兒。應該是我自己錯把Doris當小美人魚的名字了。
幾十年來一直以為小美人魚就是個淒美的愛情故事，直到前兩年才了解到，中國譯作其實是閹割和竄改版，刪除了原著的精華——不死靈魂，也即人類歷經魔難、提昇心性成為神這一東西方皆然的古老修煉文化。
中共是不允許任何精神信仰存在於中國人頭腦中的。連一本童話小人書都不放過，其它任何書籍有多少可信度？！
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The famous Andersen’s fairy tale The Little Mermaid is my favourite book of all time.
I first read it when I was a kid in a Chinese kindergarten many many years ago. At graduation, every child was allowed to pick an illustrated kid’s book to bring home, and I chose The Little Mermaid. In China, the title of the famous Danish fairy tale was translated to “The Daughter of The Sea”. I remember I read it again and again at home, wishing I were the little mermaid because she was not only beautiful but very kind.
Years later when I was preparing my immigration to Canada, I needed an English name. Based on my Chinese name, the Canadian language teacher gave me two suggestions: Jennifer, meaning white waves, and Doris, daughter of the God of Sea. I chose Doris and since then called the little mermaid Doris.
The Chinese version describes the little mermaid as a girl who sacrificed her life for her love of the prince. It’s not wrong but it’s not all. Her love was not only to the prince but to all human.
However, in Andersen’s story, the little mermaid chose to endure all the hardships of being a human-cannot speak and walks with two legs in huge pain- because of her wish to obtain an immortal soul. To achieve such, she must be a human and do good to human for 300 years.
When she was almost there, the little mermaid saved a drowned prince and fell in love with him. Yet the prince mistakenly thought it was another beautiful young lady saved his life and was about to marry that girl. The little mermaid faced a dilemma: kill the prince and her bride to continue being a human or she would become foam and vanish the morning they got married. The little mermaid chose the latter.
The next morning, when the little mermaid’s body vanishing to foam, she saw her soul elevated to heaven in sunrise! It was precisely because of her fulfillment of promises to do good to human under any circumstances, she didn’t lose her life and instead got an immortal soul!
After knowing the true story of the little mermaid, I found myself in love with her more than ever!
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Afterwords:
Doris was a sea goddess in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of Oceanus, god of the sea, and Tethys. Doris is connected to “gift” and “pure”.
For decades, I thought the Little Mermaid was a poignant love story. But only two years ago did I learn that the Chinese book was in fact a castrated and falsified version. It removes the essence of Andersen’s story – the immortal soul, which is the culture of cultivation commonly exists in both East and West, in which human beings undergo huge ordeal and purify their hearts in order to become gods. The Chinese Communist Party does not allow any spiritual beliefs to exist in the minds of Chinese people. When a fairy tale kid’s book can be distorted to this extent, how much can you trust any other Chinese books? |
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