The Vanishing Hitchhiker at Fifty-Five
The Vanishing Hitchhiker at Fifty-Five
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五十五岁消失的搭车客
DOI：
10.2307/1500246
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发表时间：
1998
期刊：
影响因子：
0.2
通讯作者：
G. Bennett
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
G. Bennett
简介消失的搭车人的传说几乎不需要介绍。核心故事是关于一个旅行者谁提供了一个骑一个看似行人，却发现他的乘客已经消失得无影无踪。后来的调查显示，乘客是一个超自然的实体，而不是一个活生生的人。这本杂志（当时的加州民俗季刊）的第一期刊登了两位年轻人类学家关于这个故事的文章（比尔兹利和汉基，1942）。在下一卷中，第二个研究继续了讨论，并更新了一些想法（Beardsley和Hankey，1943）。这些报纸立即引起了当时一位著名民俗学家的注意（琼斯1944 a），而且，最近，传说已收到相当大的关注，这导致了许多有用的见解（例如，参见：Luomala 1972; Wilson 1975; Fish 1976; Mitchell 1976; Langlois 1978;班尼特1984; Goss 1984; Shenhar 1985; Glazer 1987; Dumerchat 1990; Nicolaisen 1990）。事实上，《消失的搭车客》可能已经成为最常被收集和广泛讨论的现代故事。尽管如此，比尔兹利和汉基的原始工作，以及被任何当代传说的第一个完整的长度研究之一，仍然是也许是最完整的民俗检查消失的搭便车。l本论文回顾了原来的文章，根据目前的信息有关的传说，并建议现代阅读的一个共同的变种。《加州民俗季刊》的文章比尔兹利和汉基的研究是基于从美国60个不同地点收集的79个消失的搭车旅行者故事的语料库。作者最初的目的是将传说与现实生活中的事件联系起来。当失败时，他们试图发现“原始”故事。由于他们在更古老的传统中找不到明显的相似之处，他们得出结论，这是一个全新的，是过去20年左右的产物：“一个故事，在任何意义上都不是从过时的文化中幸存下来的，而是作为当代故事的一个完全成熟的代表”（比尔兹利和汉基，1943：16）。虽然他们无法从美国以外的地方收集版本，但他们承认，他们“在所谓的文明世界的任何地方找到这个故事都不会感到惊讶”（同上，17）。然而，由于他们收集到的大多数版本“在1939年之前就被叙述者听到了”，而且这些事件应该发生在一段时间之前，他们判断这个故事正在消亡：“虽然偶尔还在讲述，但它不再是一个重要的、活生生的故事”（同上，22）。通过分析他们的故事语料库，他们发现了四个他们认为非常不同的变体。在版本A模式的故事中（49个例子），鬼被一个司机提供了一个车程，给了一个地址，然后消失了。司机按照他得到的地址打电话，却被告知他的乘客已经死了好几年了。在版本B故事（9个例子）中，旅行者提供一个载具给一个老妇人，她在从车上消失之前发出警告或预言。旅行者后来收到消息说她已经死了一段时间。在C版本（11个例子）中，一个年轻人在舞会上遇到一个女孩，并开车送她回家;她要求在墓地放下并消失;他后来发现她已经死了，这是由一些个人财产被留在她的坟墓上证实的。在D版本（6个例子）中，一位提着篮子的神秘老太太被邀请搭车，然后消失了;后来旅行者发现他们已经给了夏威夷女神Pelee一程（参见Beardsley和Hankey 1942）。除了这75个可分类的文本外，它们还有一些混合类型。他们认为A版故事可能是“最接近原始故事”的（Beardsley and Hankey 1943：25）。版本B文本似乎仅限于中西部，并且可以追溯到一个非常特定的时间（1933年，芝加哥百年博览会的那一年），所以他们得出结论，他们可能“与标准的搭便车者相距一个街区”（Beardsley and Hankey 1942：312）。…
INTRODUCTION The legend of the Vanishing Hitchhiker hardly needs an introduction. The core story concerns a traveller who offers a ride to a vulnerable-looking pedestrian, only to find his passenger has disappeared without trace. Later investigations reveal that the passenger was a supernatural entity, not a living human being at all. The very first issue of this journal (then California Folklore Quarterly) carried an article on this story written by two young anthropologists (Beardsley and Hankey 1942). It was followed in the next volume by a second study which continued the discussion and updated some of the ideas (Beardsley and Hankey 1943). The papers attracted the immediate notice of one of the leading folklorists of the day (Jones 1944a), and, of late, the legend has received considerable attention which has resulted in many useful insights (see, for example: Luomala 1972; Wilson 1975; Fish 1976; Mitchell 1976; Langlois 1978; Bennett 1984; Goss 1984; Shenhar 1985; Glazer 1987; Dumerchat 1990; Nicolaisen 1990). Indeed, the Vanishing Hitchhiker has become perhaps the most frequently collected and widely discussed modern story. Nevertheless, Beardsley and Hankey's original work, as well as being one of the first full-length studies of any contemporary legend, remains perhaps the most complete folkloric examination of the Vanishing Hitchhiker.l The present essay reviews the original articles in the light of current information about the legend, and suggests modern readings of a common variant. VANISHING HITCHHIKER STUDIES The California Folklore Quarterly Articles Beardsley and Hankey's studies were based on a corpus of 79 Vanishing Hitchhiker stories collected from 60 different locations in the United States. The authors' initial aim was to link the legend with a real-life incident. When that failed, they tried to discover the "original" story. As they could find no obvious analogue in older traditions, they concluded that it was completely new, a product of the previous twenty years or so: "a story that is in no sense a survival from an outdated culture, but stands as a fully-fledged representative of the contemporary tale" (Beardsley and Hankey 1943:16) . Though they were not able to collect versions from outside the US, they confessed that they "would not be surprised to find the story in any part of the so-called civilized world" (ibid., 17). However, as most versions they had collected "had been heard by narrators before 1939" and the incidents were supposed to have happened some time ago, they judged that the story was dying out: "Though still told occasionally, it is no longer a vital, living tale" (ibid., 22). By analysing their corpus of stories they discovered four variants they thought were quite distinct. In stories of the Version A pattern (49 examples), the ghost is offered a ride by a motorist, gives an address and disappears. The motorist calls at the address he has been given, only to be told his passenger has been dead a number of years. In Version B stories (9 examples) the travellers(s) offer a ride to an old woman who issues a warning or prophecy before disappearing from the vehicle. The traveller(s) later receive information that she has been dead some time. In Version C (11 examples), a young man meets a girl at a dance and offers her a ride home; she asks to be put down at a cemetery and disappears; he later finds she is dead and this is confirmed by some personal possession being left on her grave. In Version D (6 examples) a mysterious old lady carrying a basket is offered a ride and disappears; later the traveller(s) discover that they have given a ride to the Hawaiian Goddess Pelee (see Beardsley and Hankey 1942). As well as these 75 classifiable texts, they had a number of mixed types. They judged that Version A stories were probably "the closest to the original story" (Beardsley and Hankey 1943:25). Version B texts seemed to be limited to the Mid-West and dated to a very specific time (1933, the year of the Chicago Centennial Fair), so they concluded they might be "a block apart from the standard hitchhiker" (Beardsley and Hankey 1942:312). …