18世紀愛爾蘭文學家綏夫特(Jonathan Swift)所著的《格理弗遊記》(Gulliver's Travels),是一部家喻戶曉的文學作品,綏夫特化身為小說主角「格理弗」,因各種奇遇而到小人國、大人國、飛島國和慧駰國冒險的故事,由於廣被世界各種語言所翻譯,稱它為世界文學中的經典之作,實至名歸。晚清時期的中國,是一個吸納西方知識、器物與文學的時代,《格理弗遊記》也被亞洲的中國文人們所注意、翻譯。但《格理弗遊記》的影響,並非僅限於門戶漸開放的中國,1895年日本領有臺灣後,臺灣文學在異國文化、政治的相互交織,以及傳統與現代不斷地磨合下,逐漸建立起屬於自我的獨特風貌,翻閱日治時期臺灣的報紙,抑或是臺灣傳統知識份子所寫的詩、文、小說,不難發現受到殖民統治下的臺灣,其文化特色是多元繽紛,內容更是豐富有趣,表現出臺灣對於外界知識的好奇與吸收,以及欲成為世界一環的積極心。透過本文對「小人國記」與「大人國記」在臺譯文的探討,將可發現譯者如何翻譯/改寫出一個符合臺灣閱讀者習性的西方小說。而無論是「小人」或是「大人」登上臺灣後,絕非僅是供以娛樂的遊記,而是其背後更帶有如上所述、身處殖民語境下濃厚的諷寓、啓蒙寓義。是故,這兩篇小說被譯寫到臺灣時所產生的各項問題,將是研究日治時期臺灣通俗小說時,不可忽視的問題面向。
The novel Gulliver's Travels written by Irish writer Jonathan Swift in 18^(th) century is a household literature. With a first-person narrative, Lemuel Gulliver's adventures in Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa and Houyhnhnms reflect Jonathan Swift's personal life experiences. Since this masterpiece has been translated into many languages, it is definitely the classic of World literature. During the late Qing Dynasty in China, it was the time when western knowledge, implements, and literature were highly and intensively introduced into the eastern world. Gulliver's Travels also drew Chinese literati's attention and was translated then. This novel didn't just make a great impact on China with an open door policy at that time. After Japan occupied Taiwan in 1895, with the intertexture of exotic cultures, politics, traditions and modernity, Taiwan culture has gradually built up its own style and features. Through browsing through newspapers in Taiwan during Japanese colonial period or reading poems, articles, novels written by Taiwan traditional intellectuals, we can find the diversity in Taiwan culture. What's more, the contents were substantial and interesting enough to show the Taiwan intellects' curiosity and absorbency toward external knowledge and eagerness of being part of the world. The article aims at discussing the Taiwan version of translations of "Lilliput" and "Brobdingnag". We would discover how the western novel was translated or adapted to conform to Taiwan people's tastes for reading. Either "Lilliput" or "Brobdingnag" was not merely the travel for entertaining readers as it was brought into Taiwan. It was the satire, enlightening meaning lying behind these travels that counted in the surroundings of Japanese colonial period. Thus, the problems generated by Taiwan version of translations will be unavoidable once we start to study Taiwan popular novels in Japanese colonial period.