Melancholy in Paris (Selected Works) Baudelaire

A room is like a dream. Real spiritual home. The room is filled with faint pink and light blue.

Here, the mind is bathed in laziness, and regrets and desires are fragrant. -a dark rose, flashing blue light in the dusk, like a happy dream in a nap.

The shape of furniture is elongated, weak and tired; They are dreaming, too. People will say that they, like plants and minerals, are endowed with the life of sleepwalking. Curtains, flowers, the sky and the sunset are also telling in silent language.

There is no disgusting art decoration on the wall. For pure dreams and unanalyzed images, real and effective works of art are a kind of blasphemy and insult. Here, everything is immersed in enough light and wonderful dark harmony.

A carefully selected and very delicate fragrance, mixed with mild wetness, floats in the air; Shallow sleeping thoughts are rippled by warm emotions.

In front of the window and bed, the soft gauze curtain hangs down like a snow-white waterfall. Sleep in bed, baby-the queen of dreams. However, how did she get here? Who brought her here? What kind of magic put her on the throne of dreams and * *?

Who cares? Anyway, she was here, and I recognized her.

Look, these are not her eyes! Its keen and frightening eyes! Their light penetrates the darkness, which can be identified from their terrible cunning. It will attract, control and devour those casual eyes. I often think-these curious and worshipful black stars.

I can always be immersed in mystery, tranquility, peace and fragrance. Which god should I thank?

Ah! How happy I am! What we usually call life, even at the happiest moment, is completely different from what I feel now. I am grateful, one minute, another minute; One second, another second. ...

Don't! Every minute here is gone, time is gone, the master is eternal and happy forever!

However, a terrible, heavy voice sounded on the door, just like sleepwalking in hell, and I got a pick on my body!

Then, a ghost came in-a law enforcement officer tortured me in the name of the law; A shameful concubine came to cry about her pain and imposed the vulgarity of her life on my pain; Or the civil servant of the newspaper owner asked for the next sequel. ...

Paradise-like house, baby, master of dreams, as Rene said, the air fairy; With the ghost's rude knock on the door, this magical world disappeared.

Terrible! I remember again, I remember again! Yes, this dirty and ugly house, this endless boredom, belongs to me. Look! Stupid furniture is covered with dust and faces are gone; There is neither fire nor wood in the fireplace full of spittle marks; Rain washed out gullies on dark and dusty windows; Sketch paper is incomplete; There is also a calendar with dangerous dates written in pencil. ...

There is the fragrance of another world, and I was intoxicated with a perfect emotion just now! Now, alas! It has been replaced by a stench mixed with rotten tobacco leaves. I don't know if it is disgusting. What people breathe here is only a rotten smell.

In this narrow and evil world, only one thing I know is still smiling at me-a small bottle of tincture of opium, a terrible friend with a long history, full of caress and betrayal like all friends in the world.

Oh! Yes! Time old man appeared again, and now time old man has become the master; With the appearance of this ugly old man's demonic entourage: memory, regret, spasm, fear, panic, nightmare, anger and neurosis, it also appeared.

In fact, time is very important. Every second, when it is generated from the clock hammer, it is crying, "I am life, an unbearable and heartless life!" "

In a person's life, there is only one second to report good news-good news that causes everyone's incredible fear.

Yes, time is the master. He waved his rude scepter again, as if I were a cow. He urged me with his heavy thorns:

"ouch! Idiot! Drive! Slave! Live! You damn fool! "

Everyone's monster

Above is an open gray sky, and at the foot is a dusty desert. No roads, no lawns, no thistles and nettles. I met many people and hunched forward.

Each of them carries a huge monster on his back. The weight of this monster is equivalent to a bag of flour, a bag of coal or the luggage of Roman infantry.

However, this monster is not a burden. On the contrary, it holds people tightly with its powerful and elastic muscles, hooks people's chests with its two huge front paws, and presses its unusually huge head on its forehead, just like the terrible helmet worn by ancient warriors to intimidate the enemy.

I asked one of them where they were going in such a hurry. He answered me that he knew nothing; Not only he doesn't know, but also others don't know. But obviously, they must go somewhere. Because they are driven by an uncontrollable desire to walk.

It is worth noting that none of the travelers expressed anger at the fierce beasts lying on their backs and hanging around their necks. On the contrary, they all think that monsters are part of themselves. None of these tired and serious faces showed despair. Under this gloomy sky, the earth is as sad as the sky. They walk, their steps are in the dust, their faces are helpless, and they are doomed to eternal hope.

The group of travelers passed me and disappeared into the distant sky. Because the surface of the planet is round, the curious eyes of human beings disappear there.

For a long time, I have been trying to solve this mystery; But soon, irresistible indifference took control of me, so I looked more tired than those who were oppressed by monsters.

The madman and Venus

What fine weather! The wide park froze under the scorching sun, just like a young man controlled by the fire of love.

Everything is in a state of ecstasy, and no sound is made to express itself; Even the running water seems to be asleep. Unlike the cheers of human beings, this is a quiet carnival.

More and more intense light makes everything shine brighter; The blooming flowers are colorful and eager to compete with the blue sky; Warmth makes the fragrance faintly visible, making it rise slowly in the air like smoke.

However, in the enjoyment of all things, I caught a glimpse of a sad person.

Under a huge statue of Venus, an artificial madman and a voluntary clown can even make the emperor laugh when regret and boredom bother him. Dressed in strange clothes, ridiculous and dazzling, with horns and bells on his head, he curled up on a stone pedestal and looked at the eternal goddess with tears in his eyes.

His eyes said: "I am the most incompetent and lonely person among mankind, and I can't get love and friendship." In this respect, I am inferior to even the most imperfect animal. But like everyone else, I was born knowing and feeling beautiful! Goddess! Have pity on my sadness and fanaticism! "

However, the ruthless Venus, with her marble eyes, looked at things in the distance. ...

Dogs and perfume bottles

"My beautiful dog, my good dog, my lovely Du Du, come here! Come and smell this wonderful perfume, which is bought from the best perfume shop in town! "

Here comes the dog. This poor animal wags its tail and may smile like a human! Strangely, it put its wet nose on the perfume bottle with the lid open. It jumped back in horror, screamed at me and made a reproachful sound.

"ah! Damn dog! If I bring you a bag of feces, you will smell it with ecstasy and maybe swallow it. You ah! My despicable companion of melancholy life, you are like most readers; For them, never take out the most beautiful perfume, because it will stimulate them. However, you can take out the carefully selected garbage. "

Bad glassmaker

Some people's habits are purely thinking, and their actions are completely timid. But sometimes, they will do something unusual under the impetus of a mysterious force, and the speed is even beyond their reach.

For example, some people are afraid of getting any bad news from the reception room, so they timidly wander outside the door for hours and dare not go in; Or, with a letter in hand, I dare not open it for half a month; Others have to wait six months before taking action when faced with something that takes a year to complete. However, they sometimes feel an irresistible force forcing them to take action, just like an arrow being shot by a bowstring. Ethicists and doctors think they know everything, but they can't explain where such crazy power suddenly came from in such a lazy and erratic mind; How can a person who can't even do the simplest and most important things have great courage to do some of the most absurd and often dangerous things in a certain period of time?

I have a friend who can be said to be the most honest dreamer in the world, but one day, he set fire to the forest. He said he wanted to see if the fire was as easy to burn as people often say. He failed to light it ten times in a row, but the eleventh time, the fire burned happily.

Another friend ran to the powder keg and lit a cigarette, saying that he came to see, experience and try his luck; Others say that it is to force yourself to prove your courage; For fun, experience the joy of panic; Or, do nothing, just because of willfulness and laziness.

This is a power derived from boredom and dreams. Most people with this situation, as I said just now, are the laziest and most fond of dreaming.

There is also a friend who is shy enough to lower his head in front of men; Even if you put all your poor courage together, you can walk into the cafe or walk through the gate of the theater, where the ticket inspector has great power over him, Minos, Eyak and Hadamard. But sometimes, he will suddenly run over, put his arms around the neck of an old man passing by and kiss him warmly in front of all the shocked people.

Why? Because ... because this face has an irresistible attraction to him? Maybe. But a more reasonable assumption is that he doesn't know why.

I have been the victim of this impulse and attack more than once, which makes me believe that naughty demons have slipped into our bodies and instructed us to carry out their absurd will without our consciousness.

One morning, I got up and felt gloomy and sad; Feel tired of doing nothing, feel forced to do something unusual, an amazing move; So, I opened the window, alas!

Please note that some people's spiritual mystery is not the result of a job or a matchmaking, but an accidental inspiration. It has many emotions-the doctor thinks it is hysterical; People who think a little better than doctors think that this is an evil emotion, which urges us to do something crazy, dangerous or inappropriate. )

The first person I saw in the street was a craftsman who installed glass. His shrill scream pierced my ears through the muddy and dreary air in Paris. At that time, I was suddenly filled with a momentary and overbearing hatred for the poor glassmaker, but I could never tell why I came.

"ah! Hey! " I told him to come up. At this time, it is not without joy to think that the house is on the seventh floor and the stairs are very narrow. This person will certainly encounter many difficulties in climbing, and the fragile objects on his back will definitely hit and hang in many places.

He finally showed up. I looked at all his glasses curiously and said to him, "Why, you don't have stained glass?" Pink, red and blue, aren't they? No magic glass, no glass in heaven? You are so careless! You dare to walk in the slums without letting people see the glass of a better life! "

I shoved him up the stairs. He continued to complain in a low voice.

I came to the balcony with a small vase in my hand. When the man appeared at the door, I dropped a small bomb, which landed right next to the goods behind him. "bang!" "The impact made him fall and broke all the glass on his back; The violent noise was like a crystal palace being blown up.

At this time, I was immersed in madness and shouted angrily to him: "Good luck! Wonderful life! "

However, all kinds of neurotic jokes are not without danger and often have to pay a high price. However, permanent punishment is nothing to those who have unlimited fun for one second.

The kindness of the moon

The moon itself is an unpredictable love tide. When you were asleep in the cradle, she looked at you through the window and said to herself, "Hey! I like this child very much. "

So, she gently walked down the foggy steps and quietly walked through the glass. Then she pounced on you with maternal love and sprinkled her color on your face. Your eyes are still green, but your face looks white. When you stare at a visitor, your eyes will open strangely, but she will put her arms around your neck very gently to make you stop crying. ...

However, Sister Moon is very happy. She filled the whole room with fluorescence, just like a shiny little fish. All the flashing lights are thinking and saying, "You have to bear the magic of my kiss forever. You will be as beautiful as me, and you will love what I love and everything I love: water, clouds, stillness and night; Vast blue sea, surging water; You should love where you are not; Love your unknown lover, animal-shaped flowers, maddening fragrance; I also love civet cats who are crazy on the piano. They sing with hoarse and warm voices like women!

"In this way, you will get the love of my lover and the favor of my favorite person. You will also be the queen in the eyes of people with green eyes, and I will hug their necks under the caress of the night. There are also love rolling waves, the vast sea, the ever-changing water that can't be seen, places that are not there, women that have never met before, incense burners in strange churches that disturb people's will and animals that symbolize their madness. You will get their love. "

You spoiled and hateful child, that's why I sleep at your feet now, looking for the "shadow" of terrible God, appointed godmother, poisonous wet nurse and all mental patients in you.

Anywhere in the world.

Life is a hospital, and every patient is troubled by the desire to change beds. This one is willing to put out the fire, and that one thinks that the disease can only be cured by the window.

I think I'd better go where I am not. I have been discussing the problem of always wanting to change places with my heart.

"Tell me, mind, indifferent mind, how about living in Lisbon? It must be warm there, and you will wake up like a lizard; The city is located by the sea. Everyone says it is made of marble. People there hate plants and uproot all the trees. You see, the scenery is just to your taste. They are all composed of light and minerals, and there is water to reflect. "

My mind didn't answer.

"Since you like to rest so much, and you also like to rest while watching sports games, would you like to live in the Netherlands? This is really a quiet place. You used to enjoy the scenery of this country in museums, so maybe you can have fun there? Hey, how about Rotterdam? You like the masts in front of and behind the house and the ships moored. "

My heart remains silent.

"Batavia eighty percent more to your liking? We will feel the European spirit that blends in with the tropical beauty there. "

Without a word-is my mind dead?

"Don't you already numb to just want to stay in their own pain? If so, let's escape to a place similar to death. Poor guy, I'm in charge of our trip, and I'm going to pack for Donovan. Otherwise, go ahead and go to the extreme edge of the Baltic Sea. Stay away from life. If possible, let's settle in the North Pole. There, the sun only sweeps obliquely once a year, and the alternation of day and night is also very slow, making the earth lifeless. Half of it is nothing, and everything is monotonous. There, we can bathe in the dark for a long time, and at the same time we can watch the Arctic morning light appear on the horizon from time to time. Bundles of rosy red light are like fireworks in hell, flying around us from time to time ... "

Finally, my heart broke out and it cried quietly, "anywhere, anywhere, as long as it is not in this world."

(translated by Aden)

Precautions:

Monster: Chimère in French is a pun, that is, monster and fantasy. But we can't find such puns in Chinese.

Minos, Eyak and Hadamard: Characters in Greek mythology. Minos was a legendary king, Eyak was a god and Hadamard was a warrior.

Lisbon: The capital of Portugal.

Rotterdam: Dutch port city.

Batavia: the ancient name of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.

Donis: A region in the northernmost part of Europe, located in the Arctic Circle.

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The seven articles here are selected from Baudelaire's collection of prose poems "Melancholy in Paris". The article is full of * * * identical, or silent or hysterical "mental patients" and the same contradictory and painful theme of despair for the world and eternal longing for light. Why did a talented young poet write such an article full of gloom, depression and even despair? To understand this problem, we have to start with the poet's unusual life experience.

Baudelaire was born in Paris in 182 1. At the age of 6, his father died of illness; A year later, his mother remarried, which cast a shadow over the poet's young mind. His stepfather, Colonel Aupic, was later promoted to general, and was appointed as the French ambassador to Spain during the Second Reich. As a soldier, his stepfather can't understand Baudelaire's poetic temperament and complicated mood, and Baudelaire can't accept his stepfather's autocratic style and high-handed means, so the relationship between father and son is almost impossible to communicate, which makes the poet feel a sense of "eternal loneliness". With the transfer of his stepfather's work several times, Baudelaire had to transfer to another school many times, which led to his lack of friends to pour out his inner confusion and pain, so he turned more to his inner world, and his talent for poetry creation gradually emerged. By the time he was 19 years old, he finally fell out with his stepfather, was expelled from school for violating discipline, and began a wandering career. In Paris, a world of flowers and flowers, he read widely and lived a wandering life, resulting in poverty. 1845, he tried to commit suicide twice. 1848, he actively participated in revolutionary groups. After many twists and turns, he finally gave up all political activities with the failure of the revolution in 185 1 and devoted himself more to literary creation such as the poem "The Flower of Evil" and the collection of prose poems "The Melancholy of Paris". 1859 or so, the poet's mental and physical condition went from bad to worse. Although he was famous for "Flowers of Evil" and was nominated as a candidate for the Academy of France, he finally died in 1867 at the age of 46 under the double torture of mental depression and poor health.

The era in which poets live is a turbulent one, with revolutions coming and going, and many social classes coming and going. The dual pressures of family discord and national decline have greatly reduced the living space of poets, making it difficult for a person who loves light and life to breathe. In real life, he can hardly find any happy factors, and he lingers in such contradictions and makes choices in pain every day, so poets often wander on the edge of insanity. In the poet's eyes, in the capitalist metropolis represented by Paris, there are all kinds of ugly and deformed strange phenomena, such as the poor, the blind, the abandoned by society, and even the ugly female corpse lying on the street ... All these have prompted the poet to ask again and again what kind of world this world is and what kind of life life life is. Therefore, in a double room, the room has become a symbol of the human world and the spiritual world, just like a dream. Suddenly, the room is full of "a carefully selected and extremely delicate fragrance mixed with mild humidity", which makes people feel "mysterious, quiet, peaceful and fragrant", which is really happy. Suddenly, "there was a terrible, heavy sound on the door, just like sleepwalking in hell", and the house became dirty, ugly and stuffy. The poet is yelling at us that the beauty in the real world is only a short moment, and it is often as unreal as a dream. The true nature of the real world is chaotic, narrow and disgusting, just like the generate voice on the clock hammer of time: "I am life, an unbearable and heartless life!" "

People living in this world are also infected with terrible diseases in this world. Everyone's monster described such a picture, "the sky above is open and gray, and the dusty desert is at the foot." No roads, no lawns, no ... I met many people, hunched forward. Each of them is carrying a huge monster. On the contrary, this monster is not a burden. On the contrary, it holds people tightly with strong and elastic muscles. It is worth noting that none of the travelers are angry with the fierce beasts lying on their backs and hanging around their necks. On the contrary, they all think this monster is a part of themselves. Obviously, in the eyes of poets, people in this world only care about their own lives. No one knows the direction and significance of this life, and no one cares about other people living in the same world, the same city or even the same family. Cold, cruel and fierce beasts are no longer monsters different from humans. It is gradually entering people's inner world and becoming a part of people's inner world. Such human beings are undoubtedly terrible and heartless.

The ugly and heartless world, indifferent and selfish people of the same kind, * * * created morbid individuals-poets and people like poets. Therefore, in The Bad Glass Man, The Madman and Venus, The Dog and the Perfume Bottle, contradictory, abnormal and even insane mental patients are constantly presented to readers. "Some people's habits are purely thinking and completely cowardly. However, sometimes, they will do some unusual behaviors driven by a mysterious force, and the speed is even beyond their reach. Even, "I have been the victim of this impulse and attack more than once, which makes me believe that naughty demons have slipped into our bodies and instructed us to carry out their absurd will without our consciousness" (Bad Glass Man).

However, when the poet suddenly wakes up from his dreamlike life, he will feel an indescribable loneliness that he has deeply experienced since he was a child, a sense of powerlessness and incompetence that he can't get affection, love and friendship. He thinks he is crazy, so out of place with the times he lives in, "ridiculous and dazzling", but he is still a person who is so eager to taste beauty, light and enthusiasm. All these contradictions and paradoxes forced him to curl up under the Venus stone statue and shout from the deepest part of his heart: "Goddess! Have pity on my sadness and fanaticism! " (Madman and Venus) It's a pity that Venus is heartless and didn't give him any response. So the poet regards life as a hospital, and his illness is one of the patients. There is no such thing as a cure for yourself. Neither Lisbon, which is composed of light and minerals, nor Rotterdam, which can rest while watching sports, nor the farthest place in the Baltic Sea, or even the other side of the earth, the North Pole, can make the poet's mind have the slightest wave. Finally, ("except anywhere in the world")

As the poet himself commented on the collection of prose poems "Melancholy in Paris": "In short, it is still" Flower of Evil ",but it is more free, delicate and spicy."

(Shi Lina)