專(zhuān)八閱讀：最差詩(shī)人詩(shī)集拍賣(mài)

　　A collection of 35 poems by William Topaz McGonagall, often referred to as the "world's worst poet" in the English language, has sold for $12,900 at an auction in Edinburgh.

　　The collection, self-published by McGonagall, was sold by Lyon & Turnbull auctioneers Friday, with the buyer choosing to remain anonymous.

　　The works, described as having poor vocabulary and bad rhyming, tackle topics from a theatre fire to Britain's imperial wars to women's suffrage.

　　In fact, the selling price outpaced that of a set of inscribed Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, which fetched about $12,100 at the same event.

　　McGonagall was a weaver in Dundee, Scotland who often recited his works on the street and tried to sell them. He was ridiculed during his lifetime, keeping an umbrella nearby for protection against hurled eggs and vegetables.

　　One of his poems attests to the routine derision he experienced:

　　"Every morning when I go out/The ignorant rabble they do shout/There goes Mad McGonagall!"

　　"Everyone knows him as the world's worst poet, but we are still talking about him today and he's attracted an international audience," said Alex Dove, books specialist at Lyon & Turnbull.

　　"He's appreciated because he's comedic."

　　McGonagall, who died in 1902, was always proud of his work, despite the bad reception. He even produced a short autobiography, two copies of which were created and are inscribed with this tribute: "dedicated to himself, knowing none greater."

　　His most infamous poem is called The Tay Bridge Disaster (1879), which recalled the tragedy in which 75 people died.

　　"So the train mov'd slowly along the Bridge of Tay/Until it was about midway/Then the central girders with a crash gave way/And down went the train and passengers into the Tay."

　　參考譯文

　　一本收有威廉•托帕茲•麥戈納格爾35首詩(shī)作的詩(shī)集日前在愛(ài)丁堡以12900美元被拍賣(mài)。麥戈納格爾常被稱作“世界最差英語(yǔ)詩(shī)人”。

　　這本由麥戈納格爾自己出版的詩(shī)集于上周五在“里昂和特恩布爾”拍賣(mài)行被一位不愿透露姓名的買(mǎi)主拍下。

　　麥戈納格爾的作品主要以一次劇院大火、英國(guó)帝國(guó)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)和婦女選舉權(quán)為創(chuàng)作題材，但他的詩(shī)作被認(rèn)為詞匯貧乏，缺乏韻律。

　　而如今這本詩(shī)集的拍賣(mài)價(jià)超過(guò)了有JK•羅琳親筆簽名的一套《哈利•波特》系列叢書(shū)，這套《哈利•波特》叢書(shū)在此次拍賣(mài)中以12100萬(wàn)美元的價(jià)格售出。

　　麥戈納格爾曾是蘇格蘭敦提市的一名紡織工人。他常在大街上朗誦并推銷(xiāo)自己的詩(shī)作。但他一生都遭到人們的嘲笑，為了擋住人們?cè)蚁蛩碾u蛋和蔬菜，他在住處附近撐了把傘。

　　他詩(shī)集中的一首作品真實(shí)反映了他當(dāng)時(shí)的處境：

　　“每天清晨我走出家門(mén)/迎接我的就是那些無(wú)知的嘲笑/麥戈納格爾，他要瘋了。”

　　“里昂和特恩布爾”拍賣(mài)行的圖書(shū)專(zhuān)家亞歷克斯•多弗說(shuō)：“人人都知道他是世界上最糟糕的詩(shī)人，但今天我們?nèi)栽谡務(wù)撍?，他引起了很多?guó)外讀者的興趣。”

　　“他之所以受到關(guān)注是因?yàn)樗脑?shī)作具有喜劇效果。”

　　麥戈納格爾于1902年去世。盡管他一生備受抨擊和嘲笑，但他一直以自己的作品為自豪。他還創(chuàng)作了一本短篇自傳，其中兩冊(cè)上的題詞為：“獻(xiàn)給他自己，一個(gè)偉大的詩(shī)人。”

　　麥戈納格爾最糟糕的一首詩(shī)作名為《泰橋的災(zāi)難》，這首詩(shī)歌回顧了1879年發(fā)生在泰橋上的一次災(zāi)難，當(dāng)時(shí)共有75人喪生。