尘下才情——论乞丐的诗及其功能

The Talent under Dust——on the Poetry of Beggar and Its Function

乞丐诗作为特殊人群——乞丐的创作成果,因为种种原因,其在中国古代诗歌作品集中几乎未曾留下痕迹;有清一代,《沅湘耆旧集》和《烟屿楼笔记》等作品中凡录亦只数首,兼及俚语村言所传唱的乞丐诗,有代表性的共约十余首。这些乞丐诗虽不可与雅文学相提并论,但其对研究当时的风俗民貌仍然具有举足轻重的作用;乞丐诗的功能有三:第一是争悯乞怜,以博他人同情,得以温饱;第二是调笑自谑,颇具诙谐风采;三是刺俗挞弊,与现实进行抗争,价值最高。

Given to various reasons, the beggar poetry, as the creative results of a special group--beggar, almost not left any trace in the Chinese ancient poetry collections. In Qing dynasty, Yuan Xiang Qi Jiu Ji and Yah Yu Lou Bi Ji did include only several beggar poems, together with a few more sung in the countryside by local dialects, therefore, and all together are ten odd representative beggar poems. Although the beggar poetry is hard to compare with elegant literature, it still plays an important role in the study of folk customs. The beggar poetry has three functions： the first is to beg for mercy or to win sympathy for life subsis- tence; the second is to tease with self-mockery, which is full of witticisms; the third is to criticize the ills of society and to strug- gle with reality, which has the most values of all.