《耶利歌》扭曲灵魂！

II

所有的请愿者都是心甘情愿的，没有人会胁迫威*或是动用武力，至少在他们签字献出自己的躯体之前是

这样。然而，一旦变形开始，他们或者会改变初衷。事实上，大多数的请愿者后来都乞求阿冈尼司帝斯不

要再继续为他们进行变形手术了，他们宁愿放弃将要得到的力量去死。当阿冈尼司帝斯用解剖刀和火把为

他们实施那恐怖的变形手术时，请愿者们呻吟着对他说这个过程实在是太痛苦了。但是，在阿冈尼司帝斯

游历世界的漫长岁月里，他只允许一个请愿者在改变心意之后平静地死去。那个人就是犹大。除此以外，

他从来对人们的抱怨充耳不闻，日以继夜地进行手术，一个部分完成伤口痊愈后他就立即回来做另一部分

。
When a Supplicant presents him or herself there is never coercion．There is never violence，

at least until the Supplicant has signed over his or her flesh．Then yes，there may be some

second thoughts，once the work begins．The truth is that on many occasions a Supplicant has

begged to die rather than continue to be ‘empowered’ by Agonistes．It hurts too much，they

tell him，as his scalpels and his torches work their terrible surgery upon him．But in all

the time he has been wandering the world Agonistes has only ever granted the comfort of

death to one Supplicant who changed his mind．That man was Judas Iscariot．The rest he works

on despite their complaints，sometimes for days and nights，coming back to his labours when

a piece of flesh has healed and he can begin on the next part of surgery．

有时候，阿冈尼司帝斯也会在手术时为那些受刑人提供一些小小的安慰来补偿他们所受的痛苦。比如说，

他会为他们歌唱，据说他会唱世界上所有的催眠曲，无论何种语言的摇篮曲或童谣他都会唱，他用歌声来

安慰这些痛苦中的男男女女。
There are some minor compensations for all this pain，which Agonistes will sometimes offer

his Supplicants as he works．He will sing to them，for instance，and it is said that he

knows every lullaby written，in every language of the world; songs of the cradle and the

breast，to soothe the men and women he is remaking in the image of their terror．

如果阿冈尼司帝斯因为某些原因特别怜悯某个请愿者时，他甚至会用最锋利的手术刀从自己的大腿内侧或

内嘴唇上切下最柔软的一条肌肉喂进那受刑人的口中。传说阿冈尼司帝斯的肉是世界上最细嫩可口、最具

有安抚作用的食物。只要放小小一条阿冈尼司帝斯的肉在请愿者的舌尖上就能使他（她）忘却所承受的一

切痛苦，变得仿佛进入天堂一般安详。
And，if for some reason he feels particularly sympathetic to the Supplicant，Agonistes may

even give his victim a piece of his own flesh to eat: just a sliver，cut with one of his

finest scalpels，from the tender flesh of his upper thigh，or inner lip．According to legend

，there is no food more comforting，more exquisite，than the flesh of Agonistes．The merest

sliver of it upon the tongue of the Supplicant will make him or her forget all the horrors

they are enduring，and deliver them to a place of paradisiacal calm．

然后，一旦他的主顾们平静下来，阿冈尼司帝斯就开始继续完成他的工作：切割、缝合、烧灼、扭曲、重

新整形……
Then – once his client is soothed – Agonistes continues his work，cutting，infibulating，

searing，cauterizing，stretching，twisting，reconfiguring．

有时他会带面镜子给他的请愿者们，让他们看看手术的进展情况；有时他则会宣称要给他们一个惊喜，工

作完成之前不会给他们看到自己的容貌，任凭他们在痛苦中想象自己将变成什么样子。
Sometimes he will bring a mirror to show his Supplicants what he has so far created．

Sometimes he will announce that he wants the results to be a surprise; and so the Supplicant

is left to imagine，through the haze of pain，what Agonistes is turning them into．