Grimm's Books

Reference: The Economist

There were two little boys who lived in a deep, dark forest. Their name was Grimm. Their father died, and their mother was poor. The mother's job was to slaughter pigs and their aunt castrated cocks with a knife. When the boy grew up Napoleon invaded and one brother traveled to war. He saw many devastated scenes, including villages burned, girls raped,d and piles of courses so big the villagers could not bury them.

有兩個小男孩住在一片深邃而黑暗的森林裡。他們的名字是格林。他們的父親去世了，母親很貧窮。母親的工作是屠宰豬，而他們的姑姑則用刀割去公雞的睪丸。當男孩們長大後，拿破崙入侵了，其中一個兄弟參加了戰爭。他目睹了許多毀滅性的場景，包括被燒毀的村莊、被強姦的女孩，以及堆積如山的屍體，村民們無法將它們埋葬。

【castrate】閹割（v.)

【devasted】被摧毀的（v.)

Among their works were "Snow White" and "Cinderella." Their narratives often reflected elements of their own lives. One such tale was titled "How Some Children Played at Slaughtering." In this dark story, one boy slits another's throat, while his brother drowns in the bathtub; their mother succumbs to guilt and hangs herself, and their father is overwhelmed by grief and dies.

他們的作品包括《白雪公主》和《灰姑娘》。他們的故事常常反映出他們自己生活中的元素。其中一個故事名為《一些孩子如何玩屠殺》。在這個黑暗的故事中，一個男孩割了另一個男孩的喉嚨，而他的兄弟則淹死在浴缸裡；他們的母親因愧疚而上吊自殺，父親則因悲傷而死去。

【narrative】故事（n.)

【slaughter】屠殺（v.)

【slit】撕裂（v.)

【succumb】受折磨（v.)

This narrative explores the nature of children's stories and what elements they should contain—whether they should be filled with sweetness and light or delve into darker themes. In the time of the Brothers Grimm, the answer leaned heavily towards the latter. These tales often depicted fathers abusing their daughters, Rapunzel becoming pregnant, and Little Red Riding Hood being tricked into bed (“My, how hairy you are, Granny!”) and assaulted. In a Swiss version of “Snow White,” the girl is labeled a “slut,” the seven dwarves are killed, and their home is set ablaze. Disney chose to omit such grim interpretations.

這個敘述探討了兒童故事的本質以及應該包含哪些元素——它們應該充滿甜美和光明，還是深入黑暗的主題。在格林兄弟的時代，答案明顯偏向後者。這些故事經常描繪父親虐待女兒、長髮公主懷孕，以及小紅帽被欺騙上床（「哎呀，奶奶，你怎麼這麼多毛！」）並遭到侵犯。在一個瑞士版本的《白雪公主》中，女孩被標籤為「蕩婦」，七個小矮人被殺，且他們的家被燒毀。迪士尼選擇忽略這些陰暗的詮釋。

【delve】鑽研;研究（v.)

【abuse】虐待（v.)

【assault】侵犯（v.)

【set ablaze】放火燒（v.)

【omit】忽略（v.)

【grim】陰鬱的（a.)

The debate is intense, driven in part by the high stakes—and the substantial sales involved. But the personal stakes are just as significant. Reading is a boldly independent act. It gives children their first taste of freedom from their parents' world. When you step into Narnia, Neverland, or Wonderland, you—like Lucy, Peter Pan, or Alice—venture there alone. What you encounter will leave a lasting imprint: you'll always remember what lies behind the wardrobe door (soft furs and tall firs), the consequences of eating Turkish delight (trouble), and the lesson about bottles labeled “DRINK ME” (don’t).

這場辯論非常激烈，部分原因是利害關係高漲以及涉及的可觀銷售。但個人層面的利害關係同樣重要。閱讀是一種大膽獨立的行為。它讓孩子們首次體驗到擺脫父母世界的自由。當你踏入納尼亞、夢幻島或仙境時，你——就像露西、彼得潘或愛麗絲——是獨自前往的。你所遇到的將留下深刻的印記：你會永遠記得衣櫃門後的景象（柔軟的毛皮和高大的冷杉）、吃土耳其糖的後果（麻煩），以及關於標有「喝我」的瓶子的教訓（不行）。

【stake】利害關係（n.)

【substantial】可觀的（n.)

【encounter】遇到（v.)

Martin Amis’s quip that he’d write a children’s book only after “a serious brain injury” reflects a long history of dismissing the genre. Before the 18th century, children’s literature was nonexistent. However, John Locke advocated for books tailored to guide children’s impressionable minds, ideally filled with animal pictures.

馬丁·艾米斯的玩笑說他只會在「嚴重腦損傷」後寫兒童書，反映了對這個類別長期以來的輕視。在18世紀之前，兒童文學幾乎不存在。然而，約翰·洛克主張應該有專門為引導孩子們易受影響的心智而設計的書籍，理想中應該充滿動物圖片。

【dimiss】輕視（v.)

【genre】類型（n.)

【advocate】呼籲;主張（v.)

【impressionable】（通常指年輕人）易受影響的（a.)

The 17th-century “New England Primer” marked a shift, offering illustrated alphabets and somber spelling guides like “Ho-li-ness” and “God-li-ness,” alongside grim warnings: “No Youth…From death is free.” Even lighter moments included words like “Drunk-en-ness” and “For-ni-ca-tion.”

17世紀的《新英格蘭啟蒙書》標誌著一個轉變，提供了插圖字母表和嚴肅的拼寫指南，如「聖潔」和「神聖」，同時還有陰沉的警告：「沒有青年……誰能逃脫死亡。」即使是較輕鬆的時刻也包括了「醉酒」和「通姦」等詞彙。

【alongside】與...一起（adv.)

【fornication】通姦（n.)

By contrast, the Grimms’ tales—with their brutal deaths and dark themes—felt almost playful, though their goal was preservation, not entertainment. As industrialization threatened Germany’s folklore, the Grimms sought to save its stories. Despite their scholarly intent, their collection became a children’s bestseller, drawing criticism for its grim tone and unsettling endings, like, “If they haven’t died, they’re still alive.” The Grimms defended the darkness, arguing that shielding children from harsh realities was like blindfolding them entirely.

相比之下，格林兄弟的故事——以其殘酷的死亡和黑暗的主題——聽起來幾乎顯得嬉戲，儘管他們的目標是保存，而非娛樂。隨著工業化威脅到德國的民間傳說，格林兄弟試圖拯救這些故事。儘管他們的學術意圖明確，他們的作品卻成為了兒童暢銷書，因其陰沉的語調和不安的結局而受到批評，例如「如果他們還沒死，那麼他們仍然活著。」格林兄弟為這種黑暗辯護，認為讓孩子們遠離殘酷現實就像完全蒙住他們的眼睛。

【brutal】殘酷的（n.)

【preservation】保存（n.)

【folklore】民間傳說（n.)

【sought】尋求（n.)seek的過去式

【scholary】學術性的（a.)

【unsettling】令人不安的（a.)

【shield】保護（v.)

【blindfold】矇住...的眼睛（v.)

Children’s literature appeals to both children and adults, as seen with “Harry Potter” and “How to Train Your Dragon.” Cressida Cowell notes that the best books resonate with both the child listening and the adult reading. Trends in children’s books often swing dramatically, followed by overcorrections. Recently, tensions around censorship have eased; attempts to ban books in the U.S. declined in early 2023. While modern stories are less grim than those of the Grimms, there’s growing demand for books that balance light and dark, offering both happy endings and challenges.

兒童文學同時吸引著孩子和成人，像是《哈利·波特》和《如何訓練你的龍》便是明證。克雷西達·考威爾指出，最好的書籍能夠引起聽故事的孩子和閱讀的成人的共鳴。兒童書籍的趨勢往往劇烈波動，隨之而來的是過度修正。最近，關於審查的緊張局勢有所緩解；2023年初，美國試圖禁止書籍的行為減少。雖然現代故事比格林兄弟的故事少了些陰沉，但對於能夠平衡光明與黑暗的書籍需求日益增長，這些書籍既提供快樂的結局，也帶來挑戰。

【appeal to】吸引（v.)

【resonate】引起共鳴（v.)

【swing】搖擺（v.)

【overcorrection】過度修正（n.)

【censorship】審查制度（n.)