外国武术练习者介绍龙（Loong）的知识

　　作者使用 Loong 来代表中国的龙，文章写得很溜。有些概念涉及武术，我没有看懂，译文可能有误。我贴出了原文，供大家参考。我先使用谷歌翻译译成中文，然后进行了局部的调整。

Loong is not a Dragon

By Ted Mancuso, Oct.8, 2010

龙不是杜拉根兽（dragon）
作者：Ted Mancuso，2010年10月8日

Ever notice that in some heated arguments the other side wants you to be very precise about what they said but is not too careful repeating what you said. In fact they are often downright sloppy. Of course if you are in that mood where only your side counts you consider their concern over accuracy childish quibbling.

　　我很早就发现，在一些激烈的争论中，对方希望你对他们所说的话理解得非常准确，但在复述你所说的话时，却粗枝大叶。事实上，他们往往是彻头彻尾的不负责任。当然，如果你处于那种只考虑你的一方的情绪中，你会认为他们对准确性的担忧是幼稚的狡辩。

I remember this condescending wave washing over me when one of my favorite Kung Fu instructors would say, every chance he got, that the Chinese Loong was not a dragon. He finally said it enough times for me to wonder if there might be something there.

　　我最喜欢的一位功夫教练一有机会就说中国龙不是杜拉根兽（dragon），每次都好像有一种奔腾而下的浪潮席卷了我。我至今还记得这种感觉。他终于说了足够多的次数，让我意识到这里面可能的确有点什么东西。

At first glance we can at least confirm a few superficial differences. The Chinese Dragon which I will hereafter call the Loong, controls forces of nature such as rain, the rivers, the sea, all other kinds of a water. The Loong helps -- as opposed to fries -- heroes, and allows gods and demigods to ride on its back at times. It stands as a symbol of inspired power.

　　乍一看，我们至少可以确认一些表面上的差异。中国龙（我以后称之为 Loong）控制着自然的力量，如雨水、河流、海洋，以及所有其它种类的水。龙帮助英雄，而不是喷火攻击英雄，它有时允许神和半神骑在它的背上。它是被激发出来的力量的象征。

The Loong showed up in China over 6000 years ago. As late as 1987 new artifacts, like the oldest portrayal of Loong in China, were being unearthed. This incredibly early design of the ancient creature is a now known as China's "First Dragon".

　　六千多年前，龙出现在中国。最古老的龙的堆塑直到 1987年才被发掘出来。这一令人难以置信的早期龙作品现在被称为中国的“第一龙”。

The Loong's connection to water is marvelous and completely unlike the Western version. Not only does it oversee rivers and other bodies of water but rain comes at its command and clouds issue with its every breath.

　　龙与水的联系是奇妙的，完全不同于杜拉根兽。它不仅监督河流和其它水体，而且雨水随它的命令而来，云层随着它的呼吸而起。

Loong also comes in a bunch of varieties not found in the western equivalent. Loong with scales are called Jiao Loong. If they are hornless it is known as the Chi Loong, but with horns we call it the Qiu Loong. The exact features of the ever- changing Loong are also somewhat disputed. Some claim he has a horse head, a snake’s tail. Some add deer horns, ox ears, camel’s head, rabbit eyes, snake’s neck, fish scales, tiger paws, and eagle claws. All this may result, as its often did in ancient Greece, from compromising with the Loong image worshipped by different tribes. As China assimilated more and more groups, one of its strong points was a cosmopolitan attitude that easily adapted to the many versions of legend and myth.

　　龙也有许多西方同类产品杜拉根兽中没有的品种。有鳞的龙叫 Jiao Loong。如果它们没有角，它被称为 Chi Loong，但有角我们称之为 Qu Loong。不断变化的龙的确切特征也有些争议。有人声称他有一个马头，一条蛇的尾巴。有的加上鹿角、牛耳、骆驼头、兔眼、蛇颈、鱼鳞、虎爪、鹰爪。这一切都可能像古希腊经常发生的那样，是与不同部落所崇拜的龙的式样妥协的结果。随着中国同化越来越多的部落，龙的强项之一是易于适应多种版本的传说和神话的世界主义态度。

...... .

The Dragon is, in general, an evil creature in Western cultures. He fought St. George, destroyed villages, loaned his name to Dracula ("Dragon", in Romanian) and generally caused problems for knights and peasants. Some Chinese Loong were also troublesome, using water rather than fire to savage the landscape. One surly Loong caused catastrophic flooding before the Chinese folk heroine Nuwa defeated him. But generally the Loong is seen as a beneficent creature in the East. In fact the diversity of view might be because the Loong is positive in the East that some Westerners see it as an evil creature.

　　一般来说，杜拉根兽是西方文化中的邪恶生物。它与圣乔治作战，摧毁了村庄，将自己的名字借给了 Dracula（德古拉，历史上最有名的吸血鬼，罗马尼亚语中的“dragon”），并且通常给骑士和农民带来麻烦。一些中国龙也很麻烦，用水而不是火来破坏自然景观。在中国民间女英雄女娲打败他之前，一条粗野的龙引发了灾难性的洪水。但总的来说，龙在东方被视为一种仁慈的生物。事实上，观点的多样性可能是因为龙在东方是积极的，而一些西方人认为它是一种邪恶的生物。

　　【注：谷歌翻译把 dragon 译为罗马尼亚语后得到的是 balaur。】

...... .

A number of Asian sources like the Miao and the Bai people contend that the Loong gave rise to the entire human race. They have some beautiful and complex legends as to how this came about.

　　苗族和白族等许多亚洲消息来源认为，龙创造了整个人类。关于这是如何发生的，他们有一些美丽而复杂的传说。

The Loong and Tiger are each, respectively, the most powerful animals of their domain which is why they are paired in Kung Fu history. The Loong, though it sleeps in wells, is a sky or Heaven animal. The Tiger, who hides in caves, is an Earth creature. When the Loong was lazy and neglected its responsibility of bringing rain to people, some villagers would carry tiger bones to the local well and toss them in. Loong and Tiger always quarrel so this would irritate and energize the Loong to get on with the precipitation.

　　龙和虎分别是它们各自族类中最强大的动物，这就是为什么它们在功夫的历史上总是在一起。龙虽然睡在井里，但它是天空或天堂的动物。藏在山洞里的老虎是地球生物。当龙懒惰，疏忽了给人们带来雨水的责任时，一些村民会把虎骨带到当地的井里扔进去。龙和老虎总是吵架，这样做就会激怒龙并使龙开始降雨。

Looked at from this perspective you can see how different the dragon and the Loong are. Its associations in the realm of martial arts are also special. For instance the Loong represents curvature and its movements should demonstrate a distinctive curve through the length of the body. Loong ride on clouds and therefore are visible only momentarily like a whale breaking surface.

　　从这个角度来看，你可以看到杜拉根兽和龙有多么不同。它在武术领域的联想也很特别。例如，龙代表曲率，它的运动应该通过身体的长度表现出独特的曲线。龙骑在云层上，因此只能像鲸鱼偶尔冲破海面一样短暂可见。

This ability to appear and disappear associates the Loong with human consciousness itself, like the thoughts generated in the mind out of nothingness. Loong thereby achieves a mysterious ability to act with surprising adaptability and randomness. A strategic move that defeats the enemy without even fighting him would be a very Loong-like method, defeating the opponent's consciousness as well as his material strength. By the same token Loong also correlates to "visualization" practices such as Golden Bells and other meditations.

　　这种时隐时现的能力将龙与人类意识本身联系起来，就像头脑中从虚无中产生的想法一样。龙因此获得了一种神秘的能力，以惊人的适应性和随机性行事。不战而屈人之兵的战略举措，是一种非常类似于龙的方法，击败对手的意识以及他的物质力量。同样的道理，龙也与“金钟”和其他冥想等“可视化”实践相关。

We can see that the shape, intent and soul of Loong's movement distinguish it from what most people term a "dragon" just as authentic, cultural Kung Fu movement completely separates it from modern, gymnastic, media-inspired performance of martial arts.

　　我们可以看到，龙的动作的形态、意图和灵魂将它与大多数人所说的“龙”（实际上是杜拉根兽）区分开来，就像真实的、文化的功夫动作完全将它自己与现代的、体操的、受到媒体鼓励的技击表演区分开来。

　　原文网址：https://www.plumpub.com/kaimen/2010/a-loong-is-not-a-dragon/

　　有意思的是，作者把“八卦掌”也音译了，可见外国人并不厌恶音译的中文，也不存在看得懂看不懂的问题。这个网站还把“开着的门”（The Open Gate）音译成了 KaiMen，作为网页的标题。可见外国人也喜欢“崇洋媚外”。

（黄佶汉译，编辑，配图，2022年1月24日）

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