評論
打印
The singer who meh-mehed like a goat therefore was called a "tragos-oidos" or goat singer, and it is this strange name which developed into the modern word "Tragedy," which means in the theatrical sense a piece with an unhappy ending, just as Comedy (which really means the singing of something "comos" or gay) is the name given to a play which ends happily.
由此，學山羊發出咩咩之聲的歌手就被稱為山羊歌手。這一奇怪的稱呼后來演變為現代名詞--"悲劇"（tyagedy）。從戲劇的角度來說，"悲劇"意味著一出結局悲慘的戲，就如同喜劇（原意是歌詠、歡快、幽默之事）以大團圓而收場。
But how, you will ask, did this noisy chorus of masqueraders, stamping around like wild goats, ever develop into the noble tragedies which have filled the theatres of the world for almost two thousand years?
你肯定會問，這些化裝成野山羊的歌手們嘈雜的合唱，究竟是如何發展成在世界各劇院上演2000年而不衰的高貴悲劇的呢？
The connecting link between the goat-singer and Hamlet is really very simple as I shall show you in a moment.
山羊歌手和哈姆雷特之間的聯系，其實非常簡單。我馬上就向你說明。
The singing chorus was very amusing in the beginning and attracted large crowds of spectators who stood along the side of the road and laughed. But soon this business of tree-hawing grew tiresome and the Greeks thought dullness an evil only comparable to ugliness or sickness. They asked for something more entertaining. Then an inventive young poet from the village of Icaria in Attica hit upon a new idea which proved a tremendous success. He made one of the members of the goat-chorus step forward and engage in conversation with the leader of the musicians who marched at the head of the parade playing upon their pipes of Pan.
起初，山羊歌手的咩咩合唱很讓人著迷，吸引了大批的觀眾站在街道兩旁圍觀，笑聲不斷。可沒過多久，這種叫聲便讓人厭煩了。希臘人把沉悶乏味視為與丑陋、疾患同等的罪惡，他們強烈要求合唱隊拿出一些更吸引人的東西。后來，一位來自阿提卡地方伊卡里亞村的青年詩人，他想出了一個頗富創意的新點子。
