中外文学中“火”的三重寓意

Fire and its three levels of meanings in Chinese and Western literature

本文论述"火"在古代社会的实用意义、宗教寓意和修辞喻意。原始人类发明了取火的方法,从中获得了极大的便利,并使自己进入到文明社会;火的进一步利用促进了文明的进程。于是人们将它视为神圣的东西加以崇拜。另一方面,由于火能造成人体极大的痛苦,古人一方面把它用来惩罚罪人,一方面在宗教上想像出所谓的烈火地狱,以警告世人。古人由于科技水平的局限,经常遭到火的危害,因此对它十分恐惧。语言修辞上"火"的比喻大多与其负面作用有关,正是这种心理恐惧的遗迹。

This paper attempts to analyze the practicable significance of fire in the ancients＇life, its symbolic sense in religion and its metaphorical meanings in rhetoric. Man invented and benefited from the use of fire which not only helped raise him to civilization, but also became holy itself in his religious worships. The burnt - offering of Judaism, the fire - worship of Zoroas- trianism and the burning of incense in these and other religions are only common examples. On the other hand, the destructive effects of fire were often intentionally exercised as punishment or accidentally initiated, wreaking havoc on the body and life of human beings. As a result, hell fire emerged in different religions to threaten the wrong - doers and to warn future attempters. Man~ horror of fire brings into language lots of metaphors of this object, often pertaining to its negative effects and carrying de- rogatory sense, such as disease, pain, suffering, urgency, bad - temper, desires etc.