殊途同归 一致百虑——试论蒲松龄与爱伦·坡小说中的“借尸还魂”

All Roads Lead to Rome Thousand of Considerations Converge at the Same Point——On “Using a Corpse to Resurrect a Dead Soul” of Pu Songling's and Edgar Allan Poe's Novels

蒲松龄与爱伦·坡在其小说中都涉及到"借尸还魂"这一特殊模式。他们对灵魂与肉体以及二者之间关系的描述各有不同。蒲松龄笔下的灵魂具有强烈的人格化倾向,灵魂与肉体之间的关系也非常灵活多变。中国古人的灵魂信仰、佛教的轮回观以及道家的长生思想都对蒲松龄描写"借尸还魂"故事产生了重要影响。爱伦·坡笔下的灵魂具有幽灵的性质,它具有极大的恐怖性与极强的破坏力。爱伦·坡的灵肉观并不完全等同于基督教的灵肉观,古希腊人对灵魂与肉体的看法以及德国古典哲学尤其是哲学中的同一性问题对爱伦·坡产生了重大影响。除了以上诸多明显的差异之外,蒲松龄与爱伦·坡在描写女主角"借尸还魂"后的灵肉样貌、前世记忆等方面具有很大的相似之处。

The special pattern of ＂using a corpse to resurrect a dead soul＂often occurs in Pu Songling＇s and Edgar Allan Poe＇s novels. Descriptions on the soul and body as well as the relation of the two are different. Under the pen of Pu Songling,soul has a strong tendency of personality,and the relationship between soul and body is very flexible. At the same time,Chinese Ancients＂ soul belief, Buddhist samsara and Taoists＂ immortal thoughts also played a significant role for Pu Songling＇s description of ＂using a corpse to resurrect a dead soul＂stories. With the phantom nature,souls under Pu Songling＇s pen have great terror and strong destructive power. Meanwhile,Edgar Allan Poe＇s idea of soul and body is not equal to the great influence of Christian concept of soul and body,the ancient Greeks view of soul and body and the German classical philosophy—— especially the identity problem. In addition to the obvious differences above,there are great similarities in aspects of Pu Songling＇s and Edgar Allan Poe＇s description of＂using a corpse to resurrect a dead soul＂of the heroine＇s appearance, the memory of previous life etc.