She

亨利·哈格德CITIC Press2018

3.1

Word count: 177K words
Chapters: 29

Summary

She: A History of Adventure is one of the representative works of the British writer Henry Rider Haggard, and along with King Solomon's Mines it is regarded as one of his two most famous novels. The story unfolds from a letter left by a deceased friend and a mysterious ancient potsherd: Horace Holly, a professor at Cambridge, is entrusted by his old friend to raise the latter's adopted son, Leo Vincey. According to the deceased's wishes, Leo may open the mysterious iron chest only at the age of twenty-five and read the family secret recorded on the potsherd—that more than two thousand years earlier, his ancestor, the priest Kallikrates, eloped with an Egyptian princess, was shipwrecked in Africa, and was taken in by a mysterious tribe ruled by a white queen; the queen, whose love turned to hatred, killed his ancestor. To seek the truth, Holly and Leo, accompanied by their servant Job, venture deep into the African interior, cross a death zone, and survive a shipwreck, capture by natives, and numerous brushes with death before finally reaching the forgotten ancient city of Kôr, where they encounter Queen Ayesha—a figure of power, beauty, and cruelty worshipped by the locals as a deity, known to them as "She-who-must-be-obeyed." She claims to have lived for more than two thousand years, having gained immortality from the "Fire of Life" in a cavern, and to have guarded her lover's body while awaiting his reincarnation. When she meets Leo, who closely resembles his ancestor, the whole affair takes a startling turn. Blending adventure, mysticism, life and death, and reincarnation, the novel is hailed as one of the founding works of the "lost civilization" genre and has been adapted many times for film and television, profoundly influencing later fantasy and science fiction writing.

Editor's review

在很多读者心里，“失落文明探险”这套配方是电影和游戏教会的，其实它的源头之一正是哈格德。1887年问世的《她》把一个两千岁不死女王的传说安放在非洲腹地，让一支剑桥出身的探险队一路被风暴、土著与古老诅咒推着走，直到在古城深处与那个“不可违抗的她”正面相对。这一次中信的译本由张伊俐、王月、黄晓玲合作完成，译文顺畅，保留了维多利亚时代通俗小说特有的叙事腔调：叙述者霍利既书生气又爱自嘲，节奏在悬疑推进与异域风景铺陈之间来回切换，读起来毫不沉闷。值得留意的是这本书在中文世界的奇特命运：林纾最早把它译成《三千年艳尸记》，此后《长生术》《洞窟女王》《不可违抗的她》等译名不断，鲁迅、周作人、茅盾、钱锺书等人都曾在文字里与它相遇。也就是说，翻开它不只是读一个冒险故事，还能顺带看清一条西方奇幻进入中文阅读史的暗线。喜欢《所罗门王的宝藏》《失落的世界》，或者对“永生”“女性权力”“殖民时代的异域想象”这些话题感兴趣的读者，都能在这本不算厚的长篇里找到可读之处。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢《所罗门王的宝藏》《失落的世界》一类经典冒险小说的读者
对“失落文明”“永生”“轮回”等奇幻母题感兴趣的读者
想了解晚清以来外国通俗小说在中文世界传播脉络的文学爱好者
准备进入英文奇幻经典原著、希望先读一个可靠中文译本的读者

Not a good fit for

期待现代快节奏悬疑、对十九世纪叙事腔调耐心的读者
对殖民时代异域书写中的种族与性别观念较敏感、不愿读到此类内容的读者
只想要一部纯爱情小说或当代女性主义论著的读者

Reading tips

可以先读前言，了解陶片与家族诅咒的由来，再进入正文会更顺畅
留意叙述者霍利的视角与语气，这本书的趣味很大一部分来自他的自嘲与书生气
读到艾莎登场后不妨慢下来，她对“永生”和“爱”的论述是全书思想密度最高的部分
读完后可对照林纾译本《三千年艳尸记》或《不可违抗的她》等其他译本，比较译名与处理方式的差异

About the publisher

CITIC Press China · Founded in 1988

Founded in 1988 and affiliated with China CITIC Group, CITIC Press focuses on business and economics, social sciences, literature and children's books, with common categories covering social sciences, finance, literature, Eastern philosophy and literary appreciation. Its library holds 91 titles, including Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens trilogy, Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Wu Xiaobo's Thirty Years of Strife: Chinese Enterprises 1978–2008, Nelly Sachs's The Weight of Butterflies: Selected Poems of Nelly Sachs, as well as New Interpretations of the Analects and Chiang Hsun's lectures on Dream of the Red Chamber. Its authors and translators include Lin Junhong, Ba Shusong, Chen Li and Chang Fen-ling. Overall, the press introduces influential works in finance and social sciences while balancing classic translation and local appreciation in literature and Eastern philosophy, combining academic depth with accessible reading.

Preface
Chapter One: The Unexpected Visitor
Chapter Two: The Years Pass
Chapter Three: The Potsherd of Amenartas
Chapter Four: The Storm
Chapter Five: The Rock of the Heads
Chapter Six: The Early Rites
Chapter Seven: The Song of Ustane
Chapter Eight: The Feast and After
Chapter Nine: The Little Feet
Chapter Ten: Meditation
Chapter Eleven: The Great Plain of Kor
Chapter Twelve: “She”
Chapter Thirteen: Ayesha Unveiled
Chapter Fourteen: The Souls of the Dead
Chapter Fifteen: The Judgment of Ayesha
Chapter Sixteen: The Tomb of Kor
Chapter Seventeen: The Turning Point
Chapter Eighteen: “Go, Woman!”
Chapter Nineteen: “Bring Me a Black Goat!”
Chapter Twenty: Ayesha’s Victory
Chapter Twenty-One: The Wheel of Life and Death
Chapter Twenty-Two: Job’s Premonition
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Hall of Truth
Chapter Twenty-Four: Onto the Narrow Bridge
Chapter Twenty-Five: The Spirit of Life
Chapter Twenty-Six: Witnessing the Upheaval
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Leap
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Over the Mountain

FAQ

《她》讲的是一个爱情故事吗？

不完全是。小说主线是剑桥教授霍利与养子利奥远赴非洲探寻家族秘密的冒险，女王艾莎对利奥先祖跨越两千年的执念是推动情节的核心动力，但全书重心更偏向探险、神秘遗迹与“永生”命题的展开。

这本书和《所罗门王的宝藏》有关系吗？

两书出自同一位作者哈格德之手，都以非洲为背景、以探险为主线，常被并称为他的代表作，但故事与人物各自独立，不必按顺序阅读。

为什么这本书会有《三千年艳尸记》这样的旧译名？

林纾与曾宗巩在清末以《三千年艳尸记》为名译介此书，此后中译本又出现《长生术》《洞窟女王》《不可违抗的她》等名称，中信这一版恢复使用简洁的《她》。

读之前需要了解维多利亚时代的背景吗？

不必。故事本身自足，但若知道它写于十九世纪末英国殖民扩张的语境中，会更容易理解书中对“异域”与“文明”的想象方式，也能读出更多可讨论的层次。

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About the author

亨利·哈格德 Author

Henry Haggard was a British novelist of the Victorian era, known for his adventure fiction. His representative work, The Lost Treasure, belongs to the category of quality popular fiction; its plot revolves around treasure hunting and long-distance expeditions, with a tense atmosphere and brisk pacing that combine legendary romance with broad readability. Haggard was skilled at building suspense, placing his characters in unfamiliar and dangerous settings and driving the story forward through a succession of perilous episodes, so that readers remain eager to learn what happens next. Such works were widely popular in the late nineteenth century and left a lasting influence on later adventure writing. Public information about him is currently limited, and only one of his works is held in the collection, so this introduction is based mainly on the subject matter and style of The Lost Treasure.