“盗食”与“长生”——一个东方神话母题的比较研究

A Comparative Study on the Motif of "Taking-Elixir-on-the-Sly" and "Immortality"

"盗食"与"长生"神话母题称,某种神格化的动物或人由于偷吃了原本属于人类的不死之药而长生不死,人类却衰老而死。该神话母题有三种形态,并分属于巴比伦神话系统、古印度神话系统和我国汉族飞天神话系统。三种形态的神话母题之间存在相通之处。这些相通性有的是文化交流所致,有的则是平行发生的结果。

According to the motif of ＂taking-elixir-on-the-sly＂ and ＂immortality＂,a certain person or animal could be immortal because of stealing the elixir possessed by human beings.Instead,the human beings died of oldness.The motif exists in Babylonian myths,ancient Indian myths and Chinese flying apsaras.There are similarities between them resulting from cultural exchange and parallel development.