美人鱼的传说Storiesofmermaidshavebeentoldforcenturiebeitintheformoffolklore,legendsorfairytales.Imagesofthiscreaturehaveplaguedartistsandwritersintheireffortstobringtolifethemystery,beauty,and,yeeroticismofthemermaidtotheiraudiences.Somestillclaim,eventoday,thattheyexist.美人鱼的故事不管是在民间传说、传奇故事，还是在童话故事里，都已经流传了数百年。无数艺术家和作家都煞费苦心地通过艺术形象和文字向大众还原美人鱼之谜、美人鱼之美还有美人鱼的情挑一面（千真万确！）。直至今天，仍然有人声称世上有美人鱼。Themermaidandmermanlegendsbeginwiththeworshipofgodashavemanymythologies.Theearliestrepresentationsanddescriptionsofthesenowwell-knowncreaturescanbetracedbackasfarastheeighthcenturyBC,wheremerfolkgottheirbeginningsaspaganwaterdeitiesandsupernaturalfemalewaterbeings.如同众多神话一样，关于雌性和雄性美人鱼的传奇故事始于天神崇拜。对如今这一广为人知的生物的最早描述可以追溯到公元前八世纪，在那个时代，人们最开始视其为原始水神和具有超自然能力的雌性水怪。TheBabylonianswereknowntoworshipasea-godcalledOanneorEa.OanneswasreputedtohaverisenfromtheErythreanSeaandtaughttomantheartsandsciences.IntheLouvretodaycanbeseenaneighthcenturywall-scenedepictingOannesasamerman,withafish-liketailandtheupper-bodyofaman.古巴比伦人敬奉一个名为“奥尼斯”或“伊亚”的海神。据说，奥尼斯从厄立特里亚古海上升起，向人类传授艺术与科学知识。如今在卢浮宫里，人们还可以看到一幅创作于八世纪的壁画画中的奥尼斯是一条雄性人鱼，上身为人形，长着一条貌似鱼尾的尾巴。TheSyriansandthePhilistineswerealsoknowntohaveworshipedaSemiticmermaidmoon-goddess.TheSyrianscalledherAtargatiswhilethePhilistinesknewherasDerceto.Itisnotunusualorsurprisingthatthismoon-goddesswasdepictedasamermaidasthetidesebbedandflowedwiththemoonthenasitdoesnow,andthiswasincorporatedintothegod-likepersonificationsthatwefindintheirartandancientliterature.AtargatisisoneofthefirstrecordedmermaidandthelegendsaysthatherchildSemiramiswasanormalhumanand,becauseofthiAtargatiswasashamedandkilledherlover.Abandoningtheinfantshebecamewhollyafish.众所周知，叙利亚人和腓力斯人敬奉一位闪米特美人鱼月神。叙利亚人称她为“阿塔哥提斯”，而腓力斯人则把她叫作“得塞托”。潮水随着月亮的阴晴圆缺而涨退，古今皆如此，所以美人鱼被那个时代的人称为月神也很正常，不足为奇，而美人鱼也因这一点在古代腓力斯艺术创作和文学作品中被诠释为神的化身。阿塔哥提斯是最早被记载的美人鱼之一。传说称她的第一个孩子斯米拉米斯是一个普通人，她因此感到羞愧不已，先杀死了情人，后抛弃了还是婴儿的孩子，自己完完全全地变成了鱼形。InJapaneseandChineselegendstherewerenotonlymermaidsbutalsosea-dragonsanddragon-wives.TheJapanesemermaidknownasNingyowasdepictedasafishwithonlyahumanhead.PolynesianmythologyincludesacreatornamedVateawhowasdepictedashalf-humanandhalf-porpoise.日本和中国的传说故事里不仅有美人鱼，还有海龙王和龙母。日本的美人鱼叫“人鱼”，有着人头鱼身的形象。玻利尼西亚神话里则有一个名叫“维提”的半人半海豚形怪物。GreekandRomanmythologyisoftenplacedtogetherasthetwoareverysimilar,anditisintheliteraturefromtheseculturesthatonefindsthefirstliterarydescriptionofthemermaidand,indeed,mermen.PoseidonandNeptunewereoftendepictedashalf-manandhalf-fish,andHomermentionstheSirensduringthevoyageofOdysseualthoughhefailstogiveaphysicaldescription.因为古希腊和古罗马神话非常相似，因此人们常常把两者放在一起讨论。对于雌性美人鱼与雄性美人鱼的文字描述最早便出现在这两种文化的文学作品里。古希腊海神波塞冬和古罗马海神尼普顿常常被描述成半人半鱼的形象。...