中文系对外汉语专业外文文献翻译--禁忌的起源(编辑修改稿)

中文系对外汉语专业外文文献翻译--禁忌的起源(编辑修改稿)内容摘要：

n people generally—from the powerful mana (magical influence) of chiefs and priests。 (c) providing against the dangers incurred by handling or ing in contact with corpses, by eating certain food, etc.。 (d) guarding the chief acts of life—births, initiation, marriage and sexual functions—against interference。 (e) securing human beings against the wrath or power of gods and spirits。 3 (f) securing unborn infants and young children, who stand in a specially sympathetic relation with their parents, from the consequence of certain actions, and more especially from the munication of qualities supposed to be derived from certain foods. 2. Taboos are imposed in order to secure against thieves the property of an individual, his fields, tools, etc.” Other parts of the article may be summarized as follows. Originally the punishment for the violation of a taboo was probably left to an inner, automatic arrangement. The violated taboo avenged itself. Wherever the taboo was related to ideas of gods and demons an automatic punishment was expected from the power of the godhead. In other cases, probably as a result of a further development of the idea, society took over the punishment of the offender, whose action has endangered his panions. Thus man‟s first systems of punishment are also connected with taboo. “The violation of a taboo makes the offender himself taboo.” The author goes on to say that certain dangers resulting from the violation of a taboo may be exercised through acts of penance and ceremonies of purification. A peculiar power inherent in persons and ghosts, which can be transmitted from them to inanimate objects is regarded as the source of the taboo. This part of the article reads as follows: “Persons or things which are regarded as taboo may be pared to objects charged with 8 electricity。 they are the seat of tremendous power which is transmissible by contact, and may be liberated with destructive effect if the organisms which provoke its discharge are too weak to resist it。 the result of a violation of a taboo depends partly on the strength of the magical influence inherent in the taboo object or person, partly on the strength of the opposing mana of the violator of the taboo. Thus, kings and chiefs are possessed of great power, and it is death for their subjects to address them directly。 but a minister or other person of greater mana than mon, can approach them unharmed, and can in turn be approached by their inferiors without risk…. So, too, indirect taboos depend for their strength on the mana of him who opposes them。 if it is a chief or a priest, they are more powerful than those imposed by a mon person.” The fact that a taboo is transmissible has surely given rise to the effort of removing it through expiatory ceremonies. The author states that there are permanent and temporary taboos. The former prise priest and chiefs as well as the dead and everything that has belonged to them. Temporary taboos attach themselves to certain conditions such as menstruation and childbed, the status of the warrior before and after the expedition, the activities of fishing and of the chase, and similar activities. A general taboo may also be imposed upon a large district like an ecclesiastical interdict, and may then last for years. If I judge my readers‟ impressions correctly I dare say that after hearing all that was said about taboo they are far from knowing what to understand by it and where to store it in their minds. This is surely due to the insufficient information I have given and to the omission of all discussions concerning the relation of taboo to superstition, to belief in the soul, and to religion. On the other hand, I fear that a more detailed description of what is known about taboo would be still more confusing。 I can therefore assure the reader that the state of affairs is really far from clear. We may say, however, that we deal with a series of restrictions which these primitive races impose upon themselves。 this and that is forbidden without any apparent reason。 nor does it occur to them to question this matter, for they subject themselves to these restrictions as a matter of course and are convinced that any transgression will be punished automatically in the most severe manner. There are reliable reports that innocent transgressions of such prohibitions have actually been punished automatically. For instance, the innocent offender who had eaten from a forbidden animal became deeply depressed, expected his death and then actually。