不朽的成就－C.S.路易斯

撰文及考題設計／英國文化協會教學團隊Joel Finnestad中譯／陳怡君 （中央社編譯）

The list of great British writers is long, as is the list of great speakers and religious figures. Few, however, can hold a candle to the remarkable life and career of Clive Staples Lewis, better known simply as “C.S. Lewis”.

英國偉大作家的名單可以像演說家與宗教名人一樣有一長串，但幾乎沒有人能和克利夫．斯特普爾斯．路易斯（Clive Staples Lewis）的卓越生活與經歷相匹敵，他又以「C.S.路易斯」之名傳世。

C.S. Lewis（1898-1963）, is best known for his series of children’s novels, The Chronicles of Narnia . The chronicles have been translated into 41 languages, and have sold over 100 million copies! The seven fantasy novels were written between 1949 and 1954 and are considered classics of children’s literature.

C.S.路易斯（1898-1963）最著名的是他的兒童小說系列《納尼亞傳奇》，這個系列的小說被翻譯成41國語言，暢銷超過1億冊，這七本奇幻小說在1949年至1954年間寫成，被視為兒童文學的經典。

The stories are written as Christian allegories, and have been adapted many times for film, radio, stage, and television. Three of the novels have recently been made into very successful films （The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe（2005）， Prince Caspian（2008）and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader）. Lewis once said that he was opposed to live action versions of his work because of the animal characters. “When taken out of narrative into actual visibility”, he argued, “they always turn into buffoonery or nightmare”.With such major advances in film technology, it would be interesting to hear what Lewis would say about the recent films!

這些小說蘊含基督教寓言，多次被改編成電影、廣播、舞台劇和電視劇，其中三本改編成非常成功的電影（分別是2005年的《納尼亞傳奇： 獅子．女巫．魔衣櫥》、2008年的《賈思潘王子》與《黎明行者號》）。路易斯曾說由於作品中的動物角色，因此他反對作品被改編成真人電影。他主張說：「當把文字敘述轉化成實際影像時， 他們總會把它變成丑角或惡夢。」不過隨著電影技術的進步，要是能聽到路易斯對於近來影片的看法，應該會相當有趣。

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Although most famous for The Chronicles of Narnia , Lewis’legacy i s m ore t han j ust n ovels (of which he wrote over thirty). A close friend of J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings ) and many other legendary writers and scholars, Lewis was a lecturer, a poet, an academic, a medievalist, a literary critic, a theologian, a broadcaster, and perhaps most notably, a universally respected Christian apologist. He worked at both Oxford and Cambridge universities, and his works have been translated into over 30 languages.

儘管路易斯最著名的作品是《納尼亞傳奇》， 他留下的精神財富可不只是小說（他寫了超過30本）。身為《魔戒》作者托爾金與其他許多傳奇作家與學者的密友，路易斯還是個演講者、詩人、學者、中世紀史專家、文學評論家、神學家、廣播員、以及或許最為人所知的，他是受全球景仰的基督教護教士，他同時在牛津與劍橋大學任教，著作被翻譯成超過30種語言。

Christian apologetics is“a field of Christian theology which presents reasoned bases for the Christian faith, defending the faith against objections”. Lewis came from a very religious family, but became an atheist at t he age of fifteen. Inf luenced by Tolkien, he later returned to Christianity, and became one of the most influential apologists of his time. He published many important works, including Mere Christianity. What many may not realise is how inf luential his views on Christianity were in his most famous and popular works, like The Chronicles of Narnia .

基督教辯惑學是「基督教理論的領域之一， 代表的是基督教信仰的理性基礎，抵禦異見、捍衛信仰」。路易斯來自一個非常虔誠的家庭，但他卻在15歲時成了一個無神論者。後來受到托爾金影響，路易斯又恢復基督教信仰，並且成為當代最具影響力的護教士之一。他出版了許多包括《返璞歸真》（Mere Christianity）在內等重要作品，多數人或許很難從他最著名與最受歡迎的作品中，如《納尼亞傳奇》，來瞭解他對基督教的觀點影響力有多大。

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Consider The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe . The novel is an allegory, and it presents a Christian worldview at the same time as delivering a mythic story. The story presents many symbols, such as Aslan, the lion. Aslan represents Christ. He dies and comes back to life, similar to the resurrection in the bible. He dies for the sins of Edmund who represents the sons of Adam (as in the bible), and returns to earth to do away with the White Witch. There are many biblical associations in all of the novels, and for years scholars have studied them and their symbolic value.

寓言小說《獅子．女巫．魔衣櫥》，代表的是基督徒的世界觀，同時也是個神話故事。這本小說呈現許多象徵，像是雄獅亞斯藍（Aslan）代表的就是基督，牠死後復生，類似聖經裡面的「重生」，牠為愛德蒙（Edmund）國王的罪孽而死，就如同《聖經》裡的亞當之子，之後回到世上除掉白女巫。整部小說中有許多與《聖經》有關的東西， 學者多年來都在探討與研究其象徵意義。

Lewis was a prolific figure, and is considered one of the greatest British writers of all time. He is also said to have been an unusually kind and generous man, who gave away much of his income to people in need. He will be forever remembered at Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey, along with generations of cherished scribes.

路易斯是個創作力豐富的人物，被視為英國史上最偉大的作家之一，據說他是個極為溫和與慷慨的人，捐出大部分所得幫助弱勢。他將和其他備受推崇的歷代作家，一同在西敏寺的「詩人之隅」永遠受到懷念。

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