A Comparative Study of the Themes between“Rip van Winkle” and Ancient Chinese Fables
Abstract
Washington Irving（1783-1859）is the first American author who achieved international reputation. He is named as the father of American literary. “Rip van Winkle” is one of the most famous short stories of Washington Irving. Like many ancient Chinese fables it is also a tale about “meeting fairies in the mountain”. Although they have similar plots, the themes are of great difference. The attitude towards life of Irving and Rip is positive. They care about politics and accept reformations. The marriage of Rip is also on the basis of reality. On the contrary, people in ancient Chinese fables hold a negative attitude towards life and politics. They are more conservative. And the love between human and fairies symbolizes the dream of perfect world. Those differences of themes are caused by different times and the differences of the thoughts between Puritanism and Taoism. Thus, we found the cultural discrepancies between America and China in similar literary works.
Key Words: “Rip van Winkle”; ancient Chinese fables; theme; Human; fairy
摘 要
華盛頓•歐文是第1位贏得國際聲望的美國作家，被稱為“美國文學之父”。《瑞普•凡•溫克爾》是華盛頓•歐文最有名的短篇小說之1，與許多古代的中國神話故事1樣，它講述的也是1個關於“入山遇仙”的故事傳說。在故事情節上，雖然2者有著很多相通之處，但他們的主題又有著明顯的差異。歐文與瑞普的生活態度是積極的，他們關注政治，樂於改變。瑞普的婚姻也是以現實為基礎的。而古代中國神話中的主人公卻截然不同。他們對生活與政治持否定態度，更加保守。故事中人類與仙人的愛情象徵了他們對完美世界的.追求。這些主題上的差異是由時代的不同及清教與道教思想的不同造成的。於是，在中美相似的文學作品中我們看見了2者間存在的文化差異。
關鍵詞：《瑞普•凡•溫克爾》、古代中國神話、主題、人類、仙人