论《圣经》对《浮士德》的影响

On the Holy Bible's Influence on Faust

歌德的伟大诗体悲剧《浮士德》取材于中世纪浮士德博士的民间传说,与原素材及作者本人的初稿相比,诗剧的两处重要改动都与圣经有关:一是开头增添了"天上序幕",上帝和魔鬼打赌的情节几乎就是《旧约.约伯记》的照搬,这使得诗剧得以在《圣经》的背景下展开,并以此作为贯穿全剧的线索;二是结尾浮士德的得救升天,宗教色彩浓厚,据作者本人表述,灵感来自教堂壁画,亦可看作《圣经》的间接影响。《圣经》对《浮士德》的影响,除了体现在素材提炼、主题设置和情节、人物的借用外,还体现在大量吸收了《圣经》中的典故和经句,使其成为《浮士德》的有机组成部分。但《浮士德》终究不是《圣经》的诠释之作,因为作家在其中灌注了合乎个性和时代性的新思想内涵,有所突破而成为一部时代和思想的杰作。

Goethe＇s two-part closet drama Faust,though originally adapted from the medieval legend Tragedy of Dr.Faust,bears two significant changes in comparison with the original tale and Goethe＇s first draft of the work.Both of the two changes show their connection with Holy Bible.First,Goethe added a Prologue in Heaven to the beginning part of the drama,in which the bet done between God and Mephistopheles seems to be a copy version from The Book of Job of the Old Testament,thus offered a plot clue and paved a Biblical background for the whole drama.Second,Faust was saved and carried aloft to heaven at the end of the drama,which is obviously a religious symbol that was,according to Goethe＇s own words,inspired by the wall paintings in churches,and could be regarded as implicit influence from the Bible.Besides the ＂borrowing＂ of the subject matter,the motif,the plot and the characters＇ role,the Bible＇s influence on Faust remains also in the many lingual allusions of the latter to the former,which constitute an imperative part of the drama.Yet Faust is never merely a literary interpretation of the Bible,since Goethe had embedded in it a new connotation out of his own creativity and the spirit of the era he lived in,thus making a great breakthrough for the work to become a historic masterpiece.