【英文原著类】Lazarillo of Tormes(托姆斯的拉托里罗).pdf

THE LIFE OF LAZARILLO OF TORMES, HIS FORTUNES AND MISFORTUNES AS
TOLD BY HIMSELF
Lazarillo of Tormes
Edited and Translated by Robert S. Rudder
With a Sequel by Juan de Luna
Translated by Robert S. Rudder with Carmen
Criado de Rodriguez Puertolas
1
THE LIFE OF LAZARILLO OF TORMES, HIS FORTUNES AND MISFORTUNES AS
TOLD BY HIMSELF
INTRODUCTION
_Lazarillo of Tormes_ appeared in sixteenth-century Spain like a
breath of fresh air among hundreds of insipidly sentimental novels of
chivalry. With so many works full of knights who were manly and brave
enough to fight any adversary, but prone to e weak in the knees
when they saw their fair lady nearby, was it any wonder that Lazarillo,
whose only goal was to fill a realistically hungry stomach, should go
straight to the hearts of all Spain. The little novel sold enough copies for
three different editions to be issued in 1554, and then was quickly
translated into several languages. It initiated a new genre of writing called
the "picaresque."
It seems certain that other editions, or at least other manuscripts, of
_Lazarillo_ were circulating previously, but the earliest we know of were
the three published in 1554. One of these was printed at Burgos, another at
Antwerp, and the third at Alcala de Henares. They all differ somewhat in
language, but it is the one from Alcala de Henares that departs most
radically from the other two. It adds some episodes, not in the other
editions, which were probably written by a second author.
Because _Lazarillo_ was so critical of the clergy, it was put on the
Index Purgatorius in 1559 and further editions were prohibited inside
Spain. Then, in 1573, an abridged version was printed that omitted
Chapters four and five, along with other items displeasing to a watchful
Inquisition; later additional episodes were suppressed. This mutilated
version was reprinted until the eenth century, when Spain finally
allowed its people to read plete work once again.