宗教文學的魅力 Why Religious Literature Endures 聖徒文學的魅力 Why Saints' Lives Were Written

題目一：宗教文學的魅力 Why Religious Literature Endures

Whatever one's own beliefs may be, it is hard to deny that religious literature, from the Psalms to the Bhagavad Gita, has given human language some of its most enduring forms, for texts meant to be chanted, memorized and argued over for centuries must be shaped with a care that few secular writings ever receive, which is why even readers who reject their doctrines continue to borrow their images and rhythms.

1. 結構破解

Whatever one's own beliefs may be,

it is hard to deny

that religious literature, from the Psalms to the Bhagavad Gita,

has given human language some of its most enduring forms,

for texts meant to be chanted, memorized and argued over for centuries

must be shaped with a care

that few secular writings ever receive,

which is why even readers who reject their doctrines

continue to borrow their images and rhythms.

2. 分解為短句

One's beliefs may be anything.（讓步）

It is hard to deny something.（主句骨架）

Religious literature has given human language some forms.

The literature ranges from the Psalms to the Bhagavad Gita.

The forms are among its most enduring.

Some texts are meant to be chanted, memorized and argued over.

They are used this way for centuries.

They must be shaped with care.

Few secular writings ever receive such care.

Some readers reject the doctrines.

They still continue to borrow the images and rhythms.

3. 參考譯文

無論一個人自己的信仰為何，都很難否認宗教文學，從《詩篇》到《薄伽梵歌》，賦予了人類語言一些最持久的形式。因為那些要被吟誦、背誦並爭論數百年的文本，必須以世俗作品少有的用心來打造。這也是為何連拒絕其教義的讀者，仍持續借用其意象與節奏。

4. 組合寫作練習（請勿看例句，嘗試將短句組回原長句）

5. 補充說明

句型創新：以 Whatever ... may be 的讓步子句開頭，主句用「it is hard to deny that」的形式主詞句型；中段以 for 補充理由，並用 meant to be chanted ... 的被動不定詞片語拉長主詞；最後以 which is why 收束。

單字：

enduring：「持久的」；chant：「吟誦」

memorize：「背誦」；secular：「世俗的」

doctrine：「教義」；rhythm：「節奏」

文法提醒：

Whatever one's own beliefs may be 是讓步子句，may 表「可能」，語序是 whatever + 主詞 + may be。

it 是形式主詞，真正的內容是 that 子句；religious literature 後的 from ... to ... 是插入語，不影響主詞與動詞 has given 的一致。

texts meant to be chanted 的 meant 是過去分詞，修飾 texts；to be chanted, memorized and argued over 三個過去分詞要平行，argued over 的介系詞 over 不可省。

a care that few secular writings ever receive 中 that 作 receive 的受詞；few 表「幾乎沒有」，帶否定意味，ever 放在動詞前。

which is why 的 which 指前面整件事，even readers who reject ... 的 who 修飾 readers，動詞 continue 與複數主詞一致。

舉例：《詩篇》以平行對句寫成，節奏分明，便於吟唱與記誦；1611 年的英王詹姆斯欽定本聖經影響深遠，「the skin of my teeth」等說法就出自其中的〈約伯記〉；《薄伽梵歌》則以王子阿周那與克里希那的對話，討論責任與行動，至今仍被廣泛閱讀與引用。

一點提醒：宗教文學的文學價值與信仰價值不一定相同，讀者可以只從文學角度欣賞，本句因此特別用 even readers who reject their doctrines，說明影響不限於信徒。

題目二：聖徒文學的魅力 Why Saints' Lives Were Written

Seldom do the lives of the saints read like ordinary biographies, for hagiographers, writing to inspire rather than to inform, arranged miracles, trials and holy deaths into patterns that readers were expected to admire and imitate, with the result that modern historians, though wary of such accounts, have learned to read them not as records of fact but as evidence of what a community once longed to believe.

1. 結構破解

Seldom do the lives of the saints

read like ordinary biographies,

for hagiographers,

writing to inspire rather than to inform,

arranged miracles, trials and holy deaths into patterns

that readers were expected to admire and imitate,

with the result that modern historians,

though wary of such accounts,

have learned to read them

not as records of fact

but as evidence of what a community once longed to believe.

2. 分解為短句

The lives of the saints seldom read like ordinary biographies.（倒裝主句）

Hagiographers arranged miracles, trials and holy deaths into patterns.（理由）

They wrote to inspire.

They did not write to inform.

Readers were expected to admire the patterns.

Readers were expected to imitate them.

Modern historians are wary of such accounts.

They have learned to read the accounts in a new way.

They do not read them as records of fact.

They read them as evidence.

A community once longed to believe something.

3. 參考譯文

聖徒的生平很少讀起來像一般傳記，因為聖徒傳作者寫作是為了啟發而非提供資訊，他們把神蹟、考驗與神聖的死亡編排成讀者被期待去欽佩與效法的模式。結果是，現代歷史學者雖對這類記述抱持戒心，卻學會不把它們當成事實紀錄，而是當成某個群體當年渴望相信什麼的證據。

4. 組合寫作練習（請勿看例句，嘗試將短句組回原長句）

5. 補充說明

句型創新：以否定副詞 Seldom 置於句首，引發主詞與助動詞倒裝（do the lives ... read）；中段用 writing to inspire rather than to inform 的分詞構句作插入語；後段以 though wary of such accounts 的省略讓步子句，搭配 not as A but as B 的對比，最後用 what 名詞子句收尾。

單字：

hagiographer：「聖徒傳作者」；saint：「聖徒」

miracle：「神蹟」；trial：「考驗、磨難」

wary of：「對……存戒心」；evidence：「證據」

文法提醒：

Seldom 等否定副詞放句首時要倒裝，形式是 Seldom + do/does + 主詞 + 原形動詞，所以是 do the lives ... read，而非 the lives ... read。

for 在此作連接詞，表「因為」，前面要有逗號，語氣比 because 更書面。

writing to inspire rather than to inform 是分詞構句，主詞與主句相同（hagiographers）；rather than 前後的 to inspire 與 to inform 要平行。

patterns that readers were expected to admire and imitate 中 that 作 admire 與 imitate 的受詞，were expected to 是被動式。

though wary of such accounts 是省略了 they are 的讓步子句，主詞與主句相同（modern historians）。

not as records of fact but as evidence of what ... 的兩個 as 結構平行；what a community once longed to believe 是名詞子句，作 of 的受詞，longed to believe 的受詞就是 what。

舉例：亞他那修所寫的《聖安東尼傳》（四世紀）描寫隱修士抵抗誘惑的生活，成為後世隱修生活的範本；十三世紀雅各·德·佛拉金的《黃金傳說》收集大量聖徒故事，在中世紀歐洲流傳極廣，也為藝術與文學提供大量題材。

一點提醒：hagiography 在現代英語中有時也指「過度美化人物的傳記」，帶有貶義；而歷史學者對聖徒傳的看法也不一，有人更重視其史料價值，有人更重視其宗教功能，本句因此用 learned to read ... not as ... but as ... 呈現一種常見的解讀方式。