【翻译】埃尔达精灵的风俗与社会准则（LAWS AND CUSTOMS AMONG THE ELDAR）
原作：J. R. R. Tolkien （摘自History of Middel-earth第十册 ”Morgoth’s Ring”）

（终于拿到书了，开始挖这个自己向往以久的坑^&^，一段一段翻，每段后面会把原文也放上^^；其实文中提到的很多很多内容，在过去的帖子，包括feanor对于精灵婚姻风俗的概略翻译，关于Finwe和Miriel婚姻离异的讨论，以及本人以前翻的精灵转生的文，性风俗的文中都已经或多或少的涉及和引用到了，所以看上去很有炒剩饭的感觉^^。）
一点点说明^^：
首先是这个标题，以前没看到原文是曾经随口翻译成“风俗与法律”，但看完原文后发现“法律”这个说法是不合适的。至少在本文里没有任何可供我们与当前社会的成文法联系起来的“法律”，而更多的只是指社会中比较固定成形的规矩，规定，惯例等等。所以最后为了避免误解，改成了目前这个翻译方法。
原文一共分五部分，分别是：
关于婚姻及其他相关问题
关于命名
关于死亡
关于重生
关于婚姻的离异（主要是指由Finwë和Míriel这个特例而引发的相关的讨论及最后决定）

老托的原作是由一份完整的手写稿和在此基础上略有改动但未完成的打字稿组成的。HOME10中收录的基本是打字稿，在未完成的最后一节改用手写稿补足。本文的写作时间大致是在二十世纪五十年代，其后老托对于本文中提到的一些概念还可能做过改动。至少就我所知，关于精灵转生的具体方式，就由本文中的重新作为婴儿诞生改为直接赋予一个与原先相同的肉体。等到翻译该段时还会再具体讨论这个问题。总之不要把这篇文里的每个字都当作金科玉律就行了^^
另外还有个可能会使人感觉困惑的小问题。从不少文字的叙述方式可以看出，这篇文有相当一部分是以一个与精灵有所接触的人类的从观察的角度写出的。事实上，本文的前两段就被老托明确标以“&AElig;lfwine's Preamble”字样，&AElig;lfwine是老托在其作品常常用到的一个叙事者，老托为他安排的身份是公元10世纪左右的一个盎格鲁撒克逊水手，因为偶尔航行到了Errssea岛而结识了不少精灵并为后世流传下了关于精灵的传说。但其他一些部分似乎又是以精灵的角度出发。考虑到这本来就不是一份非常完整的文，所以出现这些角度上的不一致也是有情可原吧^^<br>＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝<br>（第一节）关于婚姻及与此相关的问题
与人类相比，埃尔达精灵的身体生长较慢，而心智成熟的速度则更快。埃尔达精灵在一岁前就开始讲话，并同时开始学习走路和跳舞，他们的意志力很早就足以支配自己的身体活动了。但总的来说，人类和精灵的孩子在幼年时期的区别是很小的，一个人类的旁观者很容易将正在嬉戏的精灵孩子误认为是那些美丽而快乐的人类家庭的孩子。因为在这个年龄的精灵其肉体还不曾为灵魂所消耗，同时也未背上记忆的重负。
那个人类的旁观者同时也会感到讶异，他会发现这些孩子言辞的优美和动作的娴雅都与其小小的身材极不相称。从三岁末开始人类孩子的身材就会超过精灵，在他们飞快地长高长大的时候，精灵孩子依然留连于自己儿童时代的第一个春天中。而当人类孩子的身高已经长足时，与他们同龄的精灵在人类眼里看起来仍不超过七岁。埃尔达精灵直至出生后五十年才能在身高和体格上发育完全，有些精灵甚至需要大约一百年的时间。
大部分埃尔达精灵在刚过50岁的年轻时期就会成婚。他们的孩子不多，但都和父母很亲密。他们的家庭，或说家族，是以身心上爱与亲情的纽带紧密结为一体的，孩子也很少需要父母的监管和教育。一般家庭的孩子不会超过四个，而且这个数字随着时代的变迁越来越少。即使是在埃尔达精灵数量稀少并且急于壮大自己种族的远古时代，Fëanor作为七个儿子的父亲也因此相当的出名，在其后的历史记载中也没有能超过他的了。
埃尔达精灵一生只结一次婚，婚姻的基础通常是爱情或至少是出于双方的自愿。虽然从历史的记载中可以发现，一些居于中州的埃尔达精灵在后来的岁月中逐渐堕落，他们的心在笼罩于Arda世界阴影下变得黑暗，但即便在他们之中也极少听说过单纯出于欲望而结合的事例。
除了极少数际遇不幸或命运与众不同的精灵外，婚姻对于所有埃尔达精灵来说都是一生的必经之路，其过程通常是这样的：后来结为夫妇的一对精灵可能是在很年轻，甚至是在童年时代就已经相互选定了对方（这在和平时期是常有的事情）；但除非他们已到适婚年龄并急于成婚，双方的婚约通常要等待父母的同意。
在适当的时候，双方家族成员就会齐聚一堂并将婚约公之于众，订婚的男女互赠银戒作为信物。根据埃尔达精灵的法律，由订婚到正式成婚至少需要一年，而实际生活中的间隔往往更长。在这段时间里，双方可以通过公开退还戒指的方式解除婚约，被退还的戒指随即就会被融化销毁，不能再被用于其他的订婚仪式。尽管法律做出了如上规定，解除婚约的例子实际上是很少见的，因为埃尔达精灵在这样重大的选择上很少会轻率地犯错误。他们不会轻易被同族所欺骗，他们的意志是身体的绝对主宰，极少会为肉体的欲望而动摇，他们天生就是意志坚定并善于自我克制的。
尽管如此，在埃尔达精灵中缔结婚姻的愿望也并非总是能够得到满足，即便在Aman也是这样。爱并不一定能得到回报，多个精灵同时追求一个配偶的情况也时有出现。在福祉王国Aman，这是唯一会令精灵们哀伤的事情。对此Valar也感到非常困惑。一些Valar认为这要归罪于Arda世界的损毁，归罪于精灵苏醒时笼罩他们的黑暗阴影，（他们说）只有这才能为世界带来悲伤痛苦和混乱无序。另一些Valar则认为这一切源于爱本身，源于每个灵魂（fëa）的自由选择，而这一切对于Eru的孩子来说都还是个谜团。
婚约订立一年之后，订婚的男女就可以决定他们成婚的日期了。届时双方家族的成员将再次举办宴会为他们庆祝。在宴会的最后，订婚的伴侣会双双起立，由新娘的母亲和新郎的父亲将他们的双手握在一起并为他们送上祝福。过去还不曾有人类亲耳听到过这些庄严肃穆的祝福。据埃尔达精灵们说，在父母的祝福中，新娘的母亲和新郎的父亲将分别请求Varda和Manwë作为婚姻的见证人，同时他们还会提到Eru的名字（这在其他场合是非常少见的）。在这之后，新婚夫妇将取回各自的订婚银戒珍藏起来，然后互换一枚式样简单细巧的金戒，并佩戴在各自的右手食指上。
在Noldor精灵风俗中，新娘的母亲还将赠与新郎一件珠宝，通常是悬挂于项链或颈环上；而新郎的父亲也会赠与新娘一件类似的礼物。有时这些礼物在婚宴之前就已经送出了。（因此Galadriel送给Aragorn的礼物在某种意义上也是就是新娘家的赠礼和以及其后婚礼的定金，因为Galadriel担任了Arwen母亲的角色。）
但所有这些庆典和婚宴都并非婚姻成立所必须的仪式；它们只不过是一种充满家庭温情的形式，既用以表达父母对子女的关爱，同时也意味着这桩婚姻不仅是两个精灵的结合，也是两个家族的结合。真正使婚姻得以成立的是双方肉体的结合，并以此形成了夫妻双方的紧密的不可分割的纽带。虽说在和平幸福的年代里，拒绝举办婚礼会被认为是无礼和轻慢的举动，但无论在何时，两个未婚的精灵在没有任何仪式和见证人的情况下只经双方自由认可即成婚都会被承认是合法的;而这样的结合也同样是密不可分的。在最古老的年月中，或是在后来战争动乱、放逐流亡的时代里，这样的婚姻都很常见。
关于受孕和生育：精灵从受孕到生育需要一年的时间，因此受孕日和生日常常是在同一天或至少靠得很近，而精灵们在其一生中每年纪念的也都是受孕日。大部分精灵都是在春天出生的。可能有些人会认为，既然精灵的肉体（在人类看来）不会衰老，他们也就可以在有生之年的任何时候生儿育女。但实际上并非如此。埃尔达精灵同样是会衰老的，只是速度相当缓慢而已：他们的寿限就是Arda世界的寿限，对于人类来说这无疑是非常非常漫长，但也仍不能说是没有尽头，不能说不会衰老。 此外，精灵的肉体与灵魂的状态是保持一致的，岁月的重负连同思想和欲望的一切更迭，都压在了埃尔达的灵魂上，因此肉体的活力和气质是确实会改变的。 （U: 这句话是水水帮翻的^&^）这就是埃尔达精灵们所说的他们的灵魂正在消耗肉体的真实意义。他们还说，在Arda世界终结之前，所有的生活在大地上的精灵族就都将变成凡人肉眼所不能见的灵魂体了。如果他们希望被某些人类看到的话，他们会直接进入那些人的意念中。
埃尔达精灵们还说到，与人类相比，怀胎与生育的过程对于精灵父母身心上的消耗要大得多。也正是出于这个原因，埃尔达精灵的孩子数量不会很多，而且生孩子的时间一般都集中在自己的年轻时代。即便是那些受际遇或命运影响而晚婚的精灵，也都会在婚后不久就生孩子。在埃尔达精灵中，繁衍后代的愿望与其生育能力是没有什么区别的。毫无疑问，只要他们的愿望还未得到满足，他们的生育能力就依然能够成百上千年地维持下去；然而一旦他们亲身体验了繁衍后代的神奇力量后，欲望就很快消失，他们的注意力也会转向其他事物。爱的结合的确给精灵们带来极大的喜悦和享受，被他们称之为“儿女年代(days of the children)”的这一时期也将作为一生中最美好的回忆永远保留在他们的记忆中；但同时他们的天性中还有很多其他的追求等待他们去实现。
因此，尽管婚姻关系会永远维持下去，夫妻双方并不一定要时时刻刻住在一起。即便是不考虑黑暗年代中可能导致爱侣离散的种种不幸，丈夫和妻子也仍是在思想上和身体上都有着各自不同禀赋的独立的个体，即便是婚姻的结合也不会改变这一点。不过，对于所有的埃尔达精灵而言，如果在孩子尚未出生或仍幼小时夫妻就被迫分离会是件十分悲哀的事，出于这个原因，埃尔达精灵会尽量选择在和平幸福的年代养育子女。
就与生育无关的其他各方面来说，埃尔达精灵的neri和nissi（即男子与女子）都是平等的。只是（据精灵们自己说），女子在创造新事物方面的天赋基本都以生养和培育子女的方式表达了出来，因此其他方面的创造发明往往大多由男子完成。不过，在埃尔达精灵中并不存在什么只有男子或只有女子才有能力完成的事情。的确有一些差异源于男女天生在兴趣与爱好上的不同倾向，但其他一些则是由风俗传统形成的（这些差异也会因时因地、因种族的不同而不同）。举例来说，在所有的埃尔达精灵中，治疗术以及其他与疗伤养护有关的技巧与魔力，通常都是由女子来实行的；身背武器外出作战的事则交给男性。埃尔达精灵们认为即便是在完全合法和必要的情况下，杀戮生灵也会损害精灵的治愈力，因此女子擅长医术更多的是由于她们极少参与捕猎和战争，而非其自身性别决定的先天特殊能力。事实上，在拼死的防守战斗或是情况万分危急的时刻，女子一样会勇敢作战。而且，与人类相比，精灵男子和未生育前的女子在力量和速度上的差异要小得多。另一方面，精灵男子中也同样存在擅长治疗精通医术的神医，但他们平时就不会外出狩猎，而且非到最后关头不上战场。
我们可以再以诺多精灵为例看看其他方面。在诺多精灵中，做面包通常是妇女的专长，而且按照他们古老的法律，烘烤兰姆巴斯这件事只能由女性来完成。但其他菜肴的烹制和料理则基本是男性的职责，他们对此往往也乐在其中。女子们擅长的事情还包括：照料田地和花园；演奏乐器；纺线织布；设计并裁制各色衣物。在各种知识和学问中她们最感兴趣的是埃尔达精灵以及诺多家族的历史，并细心将所有家人和亲族晚辈的的往事保留在记忆中。男性则更加擅长各种手工艺，比如金属加工，石雕木刻，珠宝制作等等。他们是大部分音乐的谱曲者和乐器的设计制造者，同时又是诗人，语言的研究者和词汇的发明者。许多男子热爱森林并倾心于各种与大自然有关的学问，希望与在那里自由自在繁衍生息的各种种族结为朋友。但总的来说，所有以上这些事情，以及其他各类劳作、娱乐或是学问的研究，都可能于此时或彼时成为任何诺多精灵的兴趣所在，无论他们是男是女。
（第一部分完）

[ 本帖最后由 Ecthelion 于 2008-1-8 16:36 编辑 ]

            这个是第一部分的原文^^

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OF THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS AMONG THE ELDAR PERTAINING TO MARRIGE AND OTHER MATTERS RELATED THERETO: TOGETHER WITH THE STATURE OF FINWE AND MIRIEL AND THE DEBATE OF THE VALAR AT ITS MAKING

Ælfwine's Preamble

[The Elder grew in bodily form slower than Men, but in mind more swiftly. They learned to speak before they were one year old; and in the same time they learned to walk and to dance, for their wills came soon to the mastery of their bodies. Nonetheless there was less difference between the two Kindreds, Elves and Men, in early youth; and a man who watched elf-children at play might well have believed that they were the children of Men, of some fair and happy people. For in their early days of their spirit had not consumed them, and the burden of memory was still light upon them.

This same watcher might indeed have wondered at the small limbs and stature of these children, judging their age by their skill in words and grace in motion. For at the end of the third year mortal children began to outstrip the Elves, hastening on to a full stature while the Elves lingered in the first spring of childhood. Children of Men might reach their full height while Eldar of the same age were still in body like to mortals of no more than seven years. Not until the fiftieth year did the Eldar attain the stature and shape in which their lives would afterwards endure, and for some a hundred years would pass before they were full-grown]

The Eldar wedded for the most part in their youth and soon after their fiftieth year. They had few children, but these were very dear to them. Their families, or houses, were held together by love and a deep feeling for kinship in mind and body; and the children needed little governing or teaching. There were seldom more than four children in any house, and the number grew less as ages passed; but even in days of old, while the Eldar were still few and eager to increase their kind, Fëanor was still renowned as the father of seven sons, and the histories record none that surpassed him.

The Eldar wedded once only in life, and for love or at the least by free will upon either part. Even when in after days, as the histories reveal, many of the Eldar in Middle-earth became corrupted, and their hearts darkened by the shadow that lies upon Arda, seldom is any tale told of deeds of lust among them.

Marriage, save for rare ill chances or strange fates, was the natural course of life for all the Eldar. It took place in this way. Those who would afterwards become wedded might choose on another early in youth, even as children (and indeed this happened often in days of peace); but unless they desired soon to be married and were of fitting age, the betrothal awaited the judgement of the parents of either party.

In due time the betrothal was announced at a meeting of the two houses concerned, and the betrothed gave silver rings one to another. According to the laws of the Eldar this betrothal was bound them to stand for one year at least, and it often stood for longer. During this time it could be revoked by a public return of the rings, the rings then being molten and not again used for a betrothal. Such was the law; but the right of revoking was seldom used, for the Eldar do not err lightly in such choice. They are not easily deceived by their own kind; and their spirits being masters of their bodies, they are seldom swayed by the desires of the body only, but are by nature continent and steadfast.

Nonetheless among the Eldar, even in Aman, the desire for marriage was no always fulfilled. Love was not always returned; and more than one might desire one other for spouse. Concerning this, the only cause by which sorrow entered the bliss of Aman, the Valar were in doubt. Some held that it came from the marring of Arda, and from the Shadow under which the Eldar awoke; for thence only (they said) comes grief or disorder. Some held that it came of love itself, and of the freedom of each fëa, and was a mystery of the nature of the Children of Eru.

After betrothal it was the part of the betrothed to appoint the time of their wedding, when at least one year had passed. Then at a feast, again shared by the two houses, the marriage was celebrated. At the end of the feast the betrothed stood forth, and the mother of the bride and the father of the bridegroom joined hands of the pair and blessed them. For this blessing there was a solemn form, but no mortal has heard it; though the Eldar say that Varda was named in witness by the mother and Manwë by the father; and moreover that the name of Eru was spoken (as was seldom done at any other time). The betrothed then received back on from the other their silver rings (and treasured them); but they gave in exchange slender rings of gold, which were worn upon the index of the right hand.

Among the Noldor also it was a custom that bride’s mother should give to the bridegroom a jewel upon a chain or collar; and the bridegroom’s father should give a like gift to the bride. These gifts were sometimes given before the feast. (Thus the gift of Galadriel to Aragorn, since she was in place of Arwen’s mother, was in part a bridal gift and earnest of the wedding that was later accomplished.)

But these ceremonies were not rites necessary to marriage; they were only a gracious mode by which the love of the parents was manifested, and the union was recognized which would join not only the betrothed but their two houses together. It was the act of bodily union that achieved marriage, and after which the indissoluble bond was complete. In happy days and times of peace it was held ungracious and contemptuous of kin to forgo the ceremonies, but it was at all times lawful for any of the Eldar, both being unwed, to marry thus of free consent one to another without ceremony or witness (save blessings exchanged and the naming of the Name); and the union so joined was alike indissoluble. In days of old, in times of trouble, in flight and exile and wandering, such marriage were often made.

As for the begetting and bearing of children: a year passes between the begetting and the birth of an elf-child, so that the days of both are the same or nearly so, and it is the day of begetting that is remembered year by year. For the most part these days come in the Spring. It might be thought that, since the Eldar do not (as Men deem) grow old in body, they may bring forth children at any time in the ages of their lives. But this is not so. For the Eldar do indeed grow older, even if slowly: the limit of their lives is the life of Arda, which though long beyond the reckoning of Men is not endless, and ages also. Moreover their body and spirit are not separated but coherent. As the weight of the years, with all their changes of desire and thought, gathers upon the spirit of the Eldar, so do the impulses and moods of their bodies changes. This the Eldar mean when they speak of their spirits consuming them; and they say that ere Arda ends all the Eldalië on earth will have become as spirits invisible to mortal eyes, unless they will to be seen by some among Men into whose minds they may enter directly.

Also the Eldar say that in the begetting, and still more bearing of children, greater share and strength of their being, in mind and in body, goes forth than in the making of mortal children. For these reasons it came to pass that the Eldar brought forth few children; and also that their time of generation was in their youth or earlier life, unless strange and hard fates befell them. But at whatever age they married, their children were born within a short space of years after their wedding. For with regard to generation the power and the will are not among the Eldar distinguishable. Doubtless they would retain for many ages the power of generation, if the will and desire were not satisfied; but with the exercise of the power the desire soon ceases and the mind turns to other things. The union of love is indeed to them great delight and joy, and the “days of the children”, as they call them, remain in their memory as the most merry in life; but they have many other powers of body and of mind which their nature urges them to fulfill.

Thus, although the wedded remain so for ever, they do not necessarily dwell or house together at all times; for without considering the chances and separations of evil days, wife and husband, albeit united, remain persons individual having each gifts of mind and body that differ. Yet it would seem to any of the Eldar a grievous thing if a wedded pair were sundered during the bearing of a child, or while the first years of its childhood lasted. For which reason the Eldar would beget children only in days of happiness and peace if they could.

In all such things, not concerned with the bringing forth of children, the neri and nissi (that is, the men and women) of the Eldar are equal – unless it be in this (as they themselves say) that for the nissi the making of things new is for the most part shown in the forming of the children, so that invention and change is otherwise mostly brought about by the neri. There are, however, no matters with which among the Eldar only a nér can think or do, or others with which only a nís is concerned. There are indeed some differences between the natural inclinations of neri and nissi, and other differences that have been established by custom (varying in place and in time, and in the several races of the Eldar). For instance, the art of healing, and all that touches on the care of the body, are among all the Eldar most practiced by the nissi; whereas it was the elven-men who bore arms at need. And the Eldar deemed that the dealing of death, even when lawful or under necessity, diminished the power of healing, and that the virtue of the nissi in this matter was due rather to their abstaining of hunting or war than to any special power that went with their womenhood. Indeed in dire strait or desperate defense, the nissi fought valiantly, and there was less difference in strength and speed between elven-men and elven-women that had not borne child than is seen among mortals. On the other hand many elven-men were great healers and skilled in the lore of living bodies, though such men abstained from hunting, and went not to war until the last need.

As for other matters, we may speak of the customs of the Noldor (of whom most is known in Middle-earth). Among the Noldor it may be seen that the making of bread is done mostly by women; and the making of the lembas is by ancient law reserved to them. Yet the cooking and preparing of other food is generally a task and pleasure of men. The nissi are more often skilled in the tending of fields and gardens, in playing upon instruments of music, and in the spinning, weaving, fashioning, and adornment of all threads and cloths; and in matters of lore they love most the histories of the Eldar and of the house of the Noldor; and all matters of kinship and descent are held by them in memory. But the neri are more skilled as smiths and wrights, as carvers of wood and stone, and as jewellers. It is they for the most part who compose musics and make the instruments, or devise new ones; they are the chief poets and students of languages and inventors of words. Many of them delight in forestry and in the lore of the wild, seeking the friendship of all things that grow or live there in freedom. But all these things, and others matters of labour and play, or of deeper knowledge concerning being and the life of the World, may at different times be pursued by any among the Noldor, be they neri or nissi.

            这部分有好多我自己翻译的术语，可能不太合适^^
另外还有个看得我很迷糊的段落，如果哪位大人知道怎么翻的还请多多指教^^

关于命名

诺多精灵是这样给孩子起名字的。孩子一出生就要有一个名字，给孩子起第一个名字的权利归父亲所有，他也要负责将其通知孩子父母双方的亲戚。因此，这个名字就被称为“父名”(the father-name)，当孩子以后有了其他名字后，父名也永远要被置于最前面。此外，这个名字是不能更改的*，因为它本来就并非出于孩子自己的选择。

*注：除非构成该名称的某些部分由于语言的演变已经改变了其表达方式。（正如在本书其他地方可以发现的一样）埃尔达精灵的语言也绝非恒久不变的。

但每一个诺多精灵都依然有权利为自己起名（也许在这一点上，埃尔达精灵的其他种族有着不同的习俗）。因此，公开宣布父名的仪式称为“指名日”(Essecarmë or ‘Name-making’)；而若干年后还会有另一个被称之为“择名日”(Essecilmë or ‘Name-choosing’)的仪式。择名日的时间并不固定，因为只有当那孩子已经真正领会并掌握了语言文字所包涵的乐趣之后才能为自己取名，诺多精灵将这种属于每个精灵自身的，从语言文字的形式中获取的乐趣称之为“辞致(lámatyávë)”。在所有的埃尔达精灵中，诺多精灵是精通语言技巧最迅速的一族，但即便是他们，也很少能在七岁前就完整领悟到其自身的“辞致”，或是能够熟练地掌握语言结构运用语言技巧以将其“辞致” 充分发挥出来。因此，作为精灵表达这种个体特征*的形式，择名仪式通常是在精灵10岁末时才进行。

*注：精灵们认为“辞致（lámatyávë）”是其个体特征的一部分，并且其重要性还要超出诸如身材，肤色发色，外貌等其他特征。

在较早的时期，这种“选名(Chosen Name)，或称第二名，通常是其主人的自行设计的，并与当时语言的结构和用法相吻合，没有可供援引或借鉴的先例。到后来，在前人已经设计了大量名字的情况下，精灵们更多的是在现成的名字中挑选一个给自己用。虽然如此，他们也经常会在此基础上做一些小的改动。
（注：在手写稿的这部分有一个脚注说道：从历史上看，很少会发现有完全同名的精灵。因为不论是父名还是选名，都是力图表现某些个性特征的。同时，名字也常被认为是那些创造者的个人财产）

以上两种名字，父名和选名，都属于真名（ture name）而非别名，昵称或绰号。但父名是在正式场合公用的；而选名则仅供私下使用，尤其是当其未和父名连用时更是如此。这并不是说选名是精灵个人的秘密。诺多精灵认为，选名就好像戒指、酒杯、匕首或其他东西一样，是自己财产的一部分，他们可以借给亲戚朋友或和他们分享，但未经允许他人绝不能擅自使用。一个非家庭成员（父母或兄弟姐妹）如被允许称呼某个精灵的选名，就标志着他们的关系极其密切；而相应的，如果在未经允许的情况下使用，则是非常无礼并带有侮辱性质的表现**。

**注：精灵对选名的私密感与魔法或宗教上的禁忌无关，这与在某些可见于人类中情况并不相同。

尽管埃尔达精灵是在Arda世界之内是永生的，这并不意味着他们是一成不变的。经过一段时间后他们可能就会希望得到一个新名字+（见下一段注释），那时他们就会再为自己设计一个选名。但原先的名字并不会因此被废弃，而是与新名字一起作为诺多精灵“全称（full title）”的一部分而存在。在精灵全称中各个名字是按照其在一生中获得这些名字的时间先后来排列的。

＋注：埃尔达精灵们相信，除非是由于遭遇不幸肉体被毁，精灵们都将在其一生中涉猎各种各样的技巧和学识，实践并施展自己在各方面的才华，只是在先后顺序和最后达到的程度上存在差异而已。随着这种“思境（mind-mood或inwisti）”的变迁，他们的辞致也会随之产生变化。这种变化更多见于男子中，因为正如女子成长速度比男子略快一样，她们也更加稳定而不那么急于求变。（U:下面是这段附注的后半部分，也是最让我感到晕头转向的部分，很多地方甚至不知道自己是否理解正确，姑且翻译出来，希望各位大人参考原文，多多指正^^）【据埃尔达精灵们说，每个精灵个体中唯一不会产生变化的特征是两性的区别。因为他们认为对于任何一个个体来说，两性的区别不仅属于其肉体，也属于其意识。他们把这样的个体称之为essë（即“名”name），也称为erdë （即“个别体 Singularity”）。因此，那些在肉体死亡后又从曼多斯回来的精灵，也必将拥有和原先相同的性别和名字。】

精灵对选名的有意改动并不很频繁。除此之外埃尔达精灵还有一种名字的来源，并可能会给我们这些阅读精灵历史的人造成相当大的困惑。这种名字被称为Anessi，即赠名（given name）或附加名(added name)。最具重要性的赠名当属“母名(mother-name)”。母亲通常会根据自己的选择给孩子们赋予特殊的名字。在母名中最引人注目的是essi tercenyë，即“洞察之名（name of insight）”或称essi apacenyë，即“预见之名（name of foresight）”。母亲在孩子诞生时或其他一些重大时刻可能会为孩子取下一个名字，预示着这孩子未来一些独特的能力或际遇。这样的名字是相当具有权威性的，正式赋予的母名被视为真名的一部分。那些在真名中被直接置于父名之后的母名也和父名一样是可以公开使用的名字。

其他的各类赠名都不是真名，而且除非他自己在其后愿意采纳，这些名字一般都未得到被起名者本人的认可。此类别名绰号可以来自家族内外的任何人，通常是为了纪念某桩事迹、某个事件，或象征其某方面的特别之处。只有在广为使用的情况下，这类赠名才会被以如下形式置于全称的结尾处，比如：“某些人也称他为Telcontar”（即精灵语的Strider，也就是指Aragorn），或“有时以Mormacil这个名字而为人所知”（即“黑剑”，这是指Turin，不过在美钻书中，Turin的“黑剑”一名最后的形式是Mormegil）

虽然父名（以及那些有“择名日”习俗的精灵中的选名）永远都是精灵的真名和主要用名，并且是其全称中不可或缺的一部分，母亲赋予子女的“洞察之名amilessi tercenyë”也具有很高的地位，有时在家族内外被使用的广泛程度甚至会取代父名或选名。在精灵历史的早期，这种“洞察之名”较为多见，同时也比父名更加适合公开使用。因为在当时，男子的父名在习惯上依然是在其生父名字的基础上变化衍生而来的，比如Fëanor的父名Finwion（意为“Finwë之子“）和Curufinwë（意为“巧能的Finwë）；而女子的父名则相应的多由其母的名字变化产生。

在早期历史中可以找到很多著名的赠名。诺多精灵的第一代王Finwë最初将其长子命名为Finwion；稍后，当其子的才华开始显露时，Finwë又将其改为Curufinwë。但母亲Míriel在诞育其子之时给予他的洞察之名Fëanáro（火之魂）*才真正是他为时人及后人所熟知的名字（也有人说他后来为了纪念自己素未谋面的母亲，也将这个名字定为自己的选名了）。Teleri精灵的王Elwë以Sindicollo（灰袍）这一赠名而著称。在将其名辛达尔化后，他被称为Elu Thingol。尽管在其王国内Elu或Elu-thingol才是正确的称呼，Thingol仍是别人提到他时最常用的名字。

*注：不过这个名字后来最常见的形式是界乎昆雅式Fëanáro 和辛达式Faenor 之间Fëanor

（第二部分完）

第二部分的英文^^

OF NAMING

This is the manner in which the naming of children was achieved among the Nolodr. Soon after birth the child was named. It was the right of the father to devise this first name,(13) and he it was that announced it to the child’s kindred upon either side. It was called, therefore, the father-name, and it stood first, if other names were afterwards added. It remained unaltered,* for it lay not in the choice of the child.

*Save for such changes as might befall its spoken form in the passing of the long years; for (as is elsewhere told) even the tongues of the Eldar were subject to change.

But every child among the Noldor (in which poin, maybe, they deffered from the other Eldar) has also the right to name himself or herself. Now the first ceremony, the announcement of the father-name, was called the Essecarmë or ‘Name-making’. Later there was another ceremony called the Essecilmë or ‘Name-choosing’. This took place at no fixed date after the Essecarmë, but could not take place before the child was deemed ready and capable of lámatyávë, as the Noldor called it: that is, of individual pleasure in the sounds and forms of words. The Noldor were of all the Eldar the swiftest in acquiring word-mastery; but even among them few before at least the seventh year had become fully aware of their own individual lámatyávë, or had gained a complete mastery of the inherited language and its structure, so as express this tyávë skillfully within its limits. The Essecilmë, therefore the object of which was the expression of this personal characteristic,* usually took place at or about the end of the tenth year.

*This lámatyávë was held a mark of individuality, and more important indeed than others, such as stature, colour, and features of face.

In elder times the ‘Chosen Name’, or second name, was usually freshly devised, and though framed according to the structure of the language of the day, it often had no previous significance. In later ages, when there was a great abundance of names already in existence, it was more often selected from names already known. But even so some modification of the old name might be made.(14)

Now both these names, the father-name and the chosen name, were ‘ture names’, not nicknames; but the father-name was public, and the chosen name was private, especially when used alone. Private, not secret. The chosen names were regarded by the Noldor as part of their personal property, like (say) their rings, cups, or knives, or other possessions which they could lend, or share with kindred and friends, but which could not be taken without leave. The use of the chosen name, except by members of the same house (parents, sisters, and brothers), was a token of closest intimacy and love, when permitted. It was therefore, presumptuous or insulting to use it without permission.**(15)

**This sentiment had thus nothing to do with ‘magic’ or with taboos, such as are found among Men.

Since, however, the Eldar were by nature immortal within Arda, but were by no means changeless, after a time one might wish for a new name.+(16) He might then devise for himself a new chosen name. But this did not abrogate the former name, which remained part of the ‘full title’ of any Noldor: that is the sequence of all the names that had been acquired in the course of life.(17)

+The Eldar hold that, apart from ill chances and the destruction of their bodies, they may in the course of their years each exercise and enjoy all the varied talents of their kind, whether of skill or of lore, though in different order and in different degreeds. With such changes of ‘mind-mood’ or inwisti their lámatyávë might also change. But such changes or progressions were in fact seen more amongt the neri, for the nissi, even as they came sooner to maturity, remained then more steadfast and were less desious of change. [According to the Eldar, the only ‘character’ of any person that was not subject to change was the difference of sex. For this they held to belong not only to the body (hröa) but also to the mind (indo) equally: that is, to the person as a whole. This person or individual they often called essë (that is ‘name’), but it was also called erdë, or ‘singularity’. Those who returned from Mandos, therefore, after the death of their first body, returned always to the same name and to the same sex as formerly.]

These deliberate changes of chosen name were not frequent. There was another source of the variety of name borne by any one of the Eldar, which in the reading of their histories may to us seem bewildering. This was found in the Anessi: the given (or added) names. Of these the most important were the so-called ‘mother-names’.(18) Mothers often gave to their children special names of their own choosing. The most notable of these were the ‘names of insight’, essi tercenyë, or of ‘foresight’, apacenyë. In the hour of birth, or on some other occasion of moment, the mother might give a name to her child, indicating some foresight of its special fate.(19) These names had authority, and were regarded as true names when solemnly given, and were public not private if placed (as was sometimes done) immediately after the father-name.

All other ‘given names’ were not true names, and indeed might not be recognized by the person to whom they were applied, unless they were actually adopted or self-given. Names, or nicknames, of this kind might be given by anyone, not necessarily by members of the same house or kin, in memory of some deed, or event, or in token of some marked feature of body or mind. They were seldom included in the ‘full title’, but when they were, because of their wide use and fame, they were set at the end in some form such as this: ‘by some called Telcontar’ (that is Strider); or ‘sometimes known as Mormacil’ (that is Blacksword).

The amilessi tercenyë, or mother-names of insight, had a high position, and in general use sometimes replaced, both within the family and without, the father-name and chosen name, though the father-name (and the chosen name among those of the Eldar that had the custom of the essecilmë ) remained ever the true or primary name, and a necessary part of any ‘full title’. The ‘name of insight’ were more often given in the early days of the Eldar, and in that time they came more readily into public use, because it was then still the custom for the father-name of a son to be a modification of the father’s name (as Finwë / Curufinwë ) or a patronymic (as Finwion ‘son of Finwë’ ). The father-name of a daughter would likewise often be derived from the name of the mother.

            关于死亡及灵魂与肉体的分离

（U: 这一段中提到了精灵肉体的最终状态，即精灵肉体基本“隐没”，人类的肉眼再也看不到他们。虽然不知道达到这一状态需要多长时间，但我认为绝对不是在美钻或者魔戒故事中就会发生的事。美钻中曾经提过一个“上万个世纪”，这在水的翻译中可以找到，虽然不肯定那是确切的时间还是一个虚写的数字，但无疑这是一个极其漫长的过程。因此，在以下文字中，如果提到早期或者类似词语，在没有其他上下文表明其具体意义的情况下，我都认为是至少涵盖了魔戒故事之前的所有时期。

那么，文中的“现在”是个什么时候呢，如果结合第一部分开头那个生活于公元十世纪左右的叙事者Ælfwin的出现来考虑的话，那很有可能就是我们所处的这个时代了^^。所以也不妨这么认为，如今世上并非没有精灵，只不过是我们肉眼凡胎看不见他们罢了^^

另外，关于精灵的复活，将改称为“重生”，而不再采用转生的译法，因为这容易让人想到转世，从而产生复活后的精灵可以与原先那个有所不同的错觉。实际上老托在本文中提到这个概念时也一直用的是”rebirth”）

首先必须明白，在前文关于埃尔达精灵婚姻中所提及的种种，大都是这些精灵们在一个完好无损世界中所应走过的正常一生，而所指的也都是那些在和平安定的年代中尚未被腐化的精灵。然而，如前所述，没有任何生灵或事物能够完全避开笼罩在Arda世界之上的黑暗阴影(the Shadow，指Melkor的影响)，或能够全然不受其伤害，因而他们也就无法沿着其原本的生命之路毫无窒碍的走下去。在第一纪及人类对中洲的主宰到来前的诸时代中，曾有多个动荡不安的时期，悲伤与不幸伴随其间；而埃尔达精灵也和Arda世界其他生灵一样饱受死亡的折磨，唯一能够幸免的只有Valar。因为Valar呈现的形貌是其自身意识的产物，如果用精灵和人类来打比方的话，Valar现于人前的形态更接近于精灵或人类为自己选择的衣服，而非肉体。

精灵就其本质而言是应在Arda世界内永生不灭的。但如果一个灵魂无法自由选择，而是被动地寄居、依附于那个命里安排下的肉体，同时那个肉体又是由Arda的物质（或说Arda之体”flesh of Arda”）组成的，那么，面对着能够毁坏整个Arda世界的邪恶，灵魂与肉体间本应恒久不破的结合也必然变得脆弱。尽管它们结为一体，尽管对于精灵的生存来说它们缺一不可，灵魂和肉体依然是不同的；灵魂不会在任何外部力量的打击下碎裂或解体，但肉体却会受伤，甚至被完全摧毁。

一旦躯体被毁，或是因受重创而无法继续维系其健康，那么迟早它都会“死亡”：也就是说，对于灵魂来说这具躯体已经无法自在地使用、无法帮助其生存下去，继续栖息于其中只会是无法忍受的痛苦，于是灵魂便会离它而去。停止正常机能的身体各部分不再是一个协调的整体，最终将回归于Arda的物质之中。同时灵魂也就无家可归，且无法再为肉眼所见了。（不过，其他灵魂却可以清楚地感知到它的存在）

当本应永生的精灵们在已毁伤的Arda世界中的重重黑影下苏醒后，肉体的死亡和灵魂的无家可归也就很快就降临到他们头上。事实上，早期的精灵更加容易被杀，因为当时他们的躯体与人类的差异还没有现在这么大，灵魂对身体的支配也不够完全。(U:按照我的理解，从精灵苏醒到魔戒故事在内的所有被老托精心描述的历史时期，都应该被涵盖于这个“早期”之中，理由如开头所述)

当然，无论在哪个时代，精灵对于自身肉体的支配能力都要胜于任何人类。从一开始，精灵和人类的主要区别就在于他们灵魂的命运及本质的不同。精灵的灵魂是注定要在Arda世界内永生的，即便是肉体的死亡也无法令他们摆脱这一宿命。在肉体这“Arda的外衣”下，他们的灵魂有着极强的生命力，对这件“Arda的外衣”的支配能力也远超人类。哪怕是在最初的日子里，精灵的灵魂力量也能保护自己的肉体免受各种病痛的侵袭，并使创口更快地得到愈合，从而自种种对人类而言是致命的伤害下幸存下来。

随着时间的流逝，灵魂的支配力愈来愈强，同时也（象前面提到的那样）愈来愈消耗着他们的肉体。这个过程最终以人类口中所称的“隐没(fading)”而告终，肉体至此就仅仅是灵魂的一段记忆而已了，这样的结局已见于中洲多处，而这些精灵也的确成为了不会死亡不会受伤也再不会变化的存在。因而，我们越是往前回溯历史，就越是能找到更多古时精灵死亡的记录；在那时，埃尔达精灵的意识还依然年轻，力量还未被完全唤醒，而他们的死亡也和人类没有太大差别。（U: 在原文中本段大量使用一般现在时和现在完成时，而这个“现在”所处的时间，显然不是第一纪到第三纪中任何一个时间点了。）

那么那些无家可归的灵魂会怎么样呢？埃尔达精灵并非生来就知晓这一问题的答案。（据他们说）最初时，他们曾相信，或者说猜测，自己和其他生灵一样都终将“归于无有(enter into Nothing)”，就像一棵被砍倒或焚毁的树。而另有一些精灵的猜想则更为阴暗，他们认为自己死后会进入“夜之国度”（the Realm of Night），并被置于“夜之君主”(Lord of Night)的统治之下。这些观点其实都不过是来自精灵苏醒时就压迫于他们之上的黑暗阴影的灌输。而Valar亟望将精灵们带到Aman的光明之下，既是为了使他们免受损毁的Arda世界中的种种危难，也更是为了让他们摆脱心灵上的阴影。

精灵们是在到达Aman后才从曼威那里得知：在Arda世界内，自己的灵魂是不灭的，而自己也注定只能居于Arda世界之内直至其终结。因此，那些在世界的一次次毁伤中不幸离开肉体的灵魂也依然存在于同一时间和空间内(in Arda and in Time)。不过，在孤立的灵魂状态下，精灵能够更直接地接受Valar的指令。Valar在其灵魂脱离肉体的那一刻便会召唤他们离开生于斯亡于斯的土地，前往位于Valar国度中的“等候之殿”曼多斯(Halls of Waiting)。

如果他们愿意服从这召唤，那么就会面临不同的机遇。精灵的灵魂在等候之殿要渡过多长的时间，这部分由曼多斯之主审判官纳默(Námo)裁定，部分则由精灵自由决择。精灵们认为最幸运的就是能够在等待之后得到重生，这样他们在过往短暂的生命中由于种种悲哀与邪恶而遭受的伤害才可能得到治愈，从而焕然一新。

（第三部分完）

            第三部分的原文^^

OF DEATH AND THE SEVERANCE OF FËA AND HRÖA

It must be understood that what has yet been said concerning Eldarin marrige refers to its right course and nature in a world unmarred, or to the manners of those uncorrupted by the Shadow and to days of peace and order. But nothing, as has been said, utterly avoids the Shadow upon Arda or is wholly unmarred, so as to proceed unhindered upon its right course. In the Elder Days, and in the ages before the Dominion of Men, there were times of great trouble and many griefs and evil chances; and Death(24) afflicted all the Eldar, as it did all other living things in Arda save the Valar only; for the visible form of the Valar proceeds from their own will and with regard to their true being is to be likened rather to the chosen raiment of Elves and Men than to their bodies.

Now the Eldar are immortal within Arda according to their right nature. But if a fëa (or spirit) indwells in and coheres with a hröa (or bodily form) that is not of its own choice but ordained, and is made of the flesh or substance of Arda itself,(25) then the fortune of this union must be vulnerable by the evils that do hurt to Arda, even if that union be by nature and purpose permanent. For in spite of this union, which is of such a kind that according to unmarred nature no living person incarnate may be without a fëa, nor without a hröa, yet fëa and hröa are not the same things; and though the fëa cannot be broken or disintegrated by any violence from without, the hröa can be hurt and may be utterly destroyed.

If then the hröa be destroyed, or so hurt that it ceases to have health, sooner or later it ‘dies’. That is: it becomes painful for the fëa to dwell in it, being neither a help to life and will not a delight to use, so that the fëa departs from it, and its function being at an end its coherence is unloosed, and it returns again to the general orma of Arda.(26) Then the fëa is, as it were, houseless, and it becomes invisible to bodily eyes (though clearly perceptible by direct awareness to other fëar).

This destruction of the hröa, causing death or the unhousing of the fëa, was soon experienced by the immortal Eldar, when they awoke in the marred and overshadowed realm of Arda. Indeed in their earlier days death came more readily; for their bodies were then less different(27) from the bodies of Men, and the command of their spirits over their bodies less complete.

This command was, nonetheless, at all times greater than it has ever been among the Men. From their beginnings the chief difference between Elves and Men lay in the fate and nature of their spirits. The fëar of the Elves were destined to dwell in Arda for all the life of Arda, and the death of the flesh did not abrogate that destiny. Their fëar were tenacious therefore of life ‘in the raiment of Arda’, and far excelled the spirits of Men in power over that ‘raiment’, even from the first days(28) protecting their bodies from many ills and assaults (such as disease), and healing them swiftly of injuries, so that they recovered from wounds that would have proved fatal to Men.

As ages passed the dominance of their fëar ever increased, ‘consuming’ their bodies (as has been noted).(29) The end of this process is their ‘fading’, as Men have called it; for the body becomes at last, as it were, a mere memory held by the fëa; and that end has already been achieved in many regions of Middle-earth, so that the Elves are indeed deathless and may not be destroyed or changed.(30) Thus it is that the further we go back in the histories, the more often do we read of the death of the Elves of old; and in the days when the minds of the Eldalië were young and not yet fully awake death among them seemed to differ little from the death of Men.

What then happened to houseless fëa? The answer to this question the Elves did not know by nature. In their beginning (so they report) they believed, or guessed, that they ‘entered into Nothing’, and ended like other living things that they knew, even as a tree that was felled and burned. Others guessed more darkly that they passed into ‘the Realm of Night’ and into the power of the ‘Lord of Night’.(31) These opinions were plainly derived from the Shadow under which they awoke; and it was to deliver them from this shadow upon their minds, more even than from the danger of Arda marred, that the Valar desired to bring them to the light of Aman.

It was in Aman that they learned of Manwë that each fëa was imperishable within the life of Arda, and that its fate was to inhabit Arda to its end. Those fëar, therefore, that in the marring of Arda suffered unnaturally a divorce from their hröar remained still in Arda and in Time. But in this state they were open to the direct instruction and command of the Valar. As soon as they were disbodied they were summoned to leave the place of their life and death and go to the ‘Halls of Waiting’: Mandos, in the realm of the Valar.

If they obeyed this summons different opportunities lay before them.(32) The length of time that they dwelt in Waiting was partly at the will of Námo the Judge, lord of Mandos, partly at their own will. The happiest fortune, they deemed, was after the Waiting to be re-born, for so the evil and grief that they had suffered in the curtailment of the natural course might be redressed.

            我把你有点把握不准的地方重译了一下(第二部分中的),你看如何.
[According to the Eldar, the only ‘character’ of any person that was not subject to change was the difference of sex. For this they held to belong not only to the body (hröa) but also to the mind (indo) equally: that is, to the person as a whole. This person or individual they often called essë (that is ‘name’), but it was also called erdë, or ‘singularity’. Those who returned from Mandos, therefore, after the death of their first body, returned always to the same name and to the same sex as formerly.]据埃尔达人说,任何一个人永恒不变的就是不同的性别.因为这种性别差异不但存在于肉体,也同样存在于他们的灵魂之中.也就是说,它们共同构成了一个完整的人.这个人或个体的基本特性通常以冠名的形式表现出来.(我认为,singularity也是说某种带有人物特点或身份的称呼,不如德语中*** von ***,代表从某地来的某人一样) 于是,那些第一次肉体死亡后从曼多斯回来转生的精灵,实际上又回复了他们带有先前生命特点的姓名和性别.

            太谢谢kaythomas大人了，我觉得这样翻挺好的^&^，不过，我建议把其中所有的“人”用“精灵”代替，因为他们不是人了^^

可惜这帖子已经过了编辑期，我自己没有办法纠正了。

            在这里我看到有关精灵的转生
http://www.annalsofarda.dk/annals-of-arda/...isc-rebirth.htm

但最后一句我搞不懂
"And only so might the Eldar die, and then it was only for a while. There Mandos spake there doom, and there they waited in darkness, dreaming of their past deeds, until such time as he appointed when they might again be born into their children, and go forth to laugh and sing again."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

be born into their children该如何解释？？？

           

QUOTE

最初由 Papageno 发布 在这里我看到有关精灵的转生 http://www.annalsofarda.dk/annals-of-arda/...isc-rebirth.htm 但最后一句我搞不懂 "And only so might the Eldar die, and then it was only for a while. There Mandos spake there doom, and there they waited in darkness, dreaming of their past deeds, until such time as he appointed when they might again be born into their children, and go forth to laugh and sing again."   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ be born into their children该如何解释？？？

大人引的这段话在原文中注明是来自lt1，也就是Book of Lost Tales Part 1(HOME1)，我现在一时找不到这段话在原书中具体哪个位置，只好就着被那个链接里引到的两段说自己的理解了^^

在大人引的这段上面还有一句，也是同一出处：
“whereas the Eldar dwell till the Great End unless they be slain or waste in grief nor doth eld subdue their strength, except it may be in ten thousend centuries; and dying they are reborn in their children, so that their number minishes not, nor grows.”

从这里就可以看明白了，"their"指代的并非仅是那些死去的精灵，而是精灵这个整体。也就是说，死去的精灵以婴儿的形态复生，成为仍活着的精灵的儿女（而不是自己的儿女^^）。同时精灵这个群体的数量，则既不会减少也不会增加（their number minishes not, nor grows.)

不过，这个说法显然有不合逻辑的地方，lt1是托老最早的作品（记得是在一战时期写的），很多想法都只是雏形阶段。至少“精灵整体数量不会变多也不会变少”就很怪异，除非精灵刚刚苏醒时就有几万几十万^^

因此，在我翻译的这个LACE中，托老已经不再提及精灵的数量问题，而只是说那些死去的精灵会以婴儿的形态复生。

而到了HOME12中，托老进一步放弃了“以婴儿状态重生”这一说法，而改为直接赋予一个新的，与死前相同的肉体。

           

QUOTE

最初由 Ulyssia 发布 大人引的这段话在原文中注明是来自lt1，也就是Book of Lost Tales Part 1(HOME1)，我现在一时找不到这段话在原书中具体哪个位置，只好就着被那个链接里引到的两段说自己的理解了^^ 在大人引的这段上面还有一句，也是同一出处： “whereas the Eldar dwell till the Great End unless they be slain or waste in grief nor doth eld subdue their strength, except it may be in ten thousend centuries; and dying they are reborn in their children, so that their number minishes not, nor grows.” 从这里就可以看明白了，"their"指代的并非仅是那些死去的精灵，而是精灵这个整体。也就是说，死去的精灵以婴儿的形态复生，成为仍活着的精灵的儿女（而不是自己的儿女^^）。同时精灵这个群体的数量，则既不会减少也不会增加（their number minishes not, nor grows.) [/B]

谢谢,我就是被"他们的数量即不增加也不减少"再联系到 be born into their children弄糊涂的@_@