The Sleeper of R'lyeh.

拉萊耶的沉睡者，

The Slumbering One.

長眠者。

Great Cthulhu.

偉大的克蘇魯。

Chances are very likely that at some point in your life

你很有可能在你人生中的某個時間點

you've seen a depiction of Cthulhu or heard a reference to him.

看過或聽過有關克蘇魯的描述。

The great green Ancient One is BY FAR the most famous entity in the Cthulhu mythos

這位偉大的綠色古老神祇是克蘇魯神話到目前為止最有名的角色

and thus a fitting starting point for our series.

因此適合作為本系列的開頭。

We're gonna take a look at the literary history of Cthulhu

我們會看看文學作品中敘述的克蘇魯歷史

as well as give a brief description of his mythological background within the mythos universe.

並簡要介紹他在神話世界中的神話背景。

First, a note on pronunciation:

首先，關於發音的部分

Lovecraft himself gave several different pronunciations of the creature's name throughout his life,

洛夫克拉夫特在他人生中的不同時期給了這個生物許多不同的讀音方法，

including "Kllulluh", with a heavy guttural first syllable,

包括"Kllulluh"，在第一音節發重喉音，

the most common pronunciation, however, is "Ka-thulu", popular as much later after Lovecraft's death.

最常見的讀法卻反而是"Ka-thulu"，這讀法在他過世後才變得普及。

The truth of the matter is, this is an alien name and to be spoken in an alien tongue,

而真實情況是，這是個外星人的名稱 必須用外星人的發聲器官來唸，

so no answer is truly right.

所以並沒有正確的答案。

Since "Ka-thulu" is the most common pronunciation, that is what I will continue to use.

既然"Ka-thulu"是最普遍的讀法，我在接下來的內容會使用這個讀法。

Contrary to popular belief,

和大多數人的認知相反，

Cthulhu is only ever featured in a single story by Howard Philips Lovecraft,

克蘇魯只在霍華德·菲利普·洛夫克拉夫特(Howard Philips Lovecraft)的一篇作品中出現過，

"The Call of Cthulhu", published in 1928.

出版於1928年的"克蘇魯的呼喚(The Call of Cthulhu)"。

Lovecraft very rarely showcased any of the Ancient Beings, including Great Cthulhu, in his stories,

洛夫克拉夫特很少在他的作品中展示出包含克蘇魯在內的古老神祇，

so "The Call of Cthulhu" is a bit of a special case.

所以"克蘇魯的呼喚"是個特殊的例子。

The story, in typical Lovecraftian fashion, is told through various letters, manuscripts, and conversations.

整個故事是個典型的洛夫克拉夫特式風格，是以信件、手稿和談話所構成。

The climax of the story is the terrifying account of a sailor directly encountering Cthulhu

整個故事的高潮點是一個水手直接遭遇到了克蘇魯的可怕經歷，

as the Great Old One emerges from his home in sunken R'lyeh.

這名舊日支配者(Great Old One)當時正從沉沒的拉萊耶城中出現。

Cthulhu's name was mentioned in a few others of Lovecraft's stories and letters,

克蘇魯的名字也在洛夫克拉夫特的少數其他故事和信件中被提到，

but it was other writers that really ran with the concept of Cthulhu and R'lyeh.

但真正將克蘇魯和拉萊耶的概念發揚光大的卻是其他的作家。

Writers such as August Derleth, Robert Bloch, Charles Stross, Neil Gaiman and many, many others

像是奧古斯特·德雷斯(August Derleth)、羅伯特·布洛奇(Robert Bloch)、查爾斯·斯特羅斯(Charles Stross)、尼爾·蓋曼(Neil Gaiman)和許許多多其他的作家

have taken Lovecraft's foundations and brought Cthulhu to many different locales and situations,

都採用了洛夫克拉夫特的基礎，並將克蘇魯帶到了許多不同的地方和情境之中，

from ancient past to modern day.

從遠古到現代都有。

You can easily find collections of books with just stories featuring Cthulhu.

你可以輕易地找到許多描述克蘇魯的書籍。

As for Cthulhu's backstory within the mythos, let me make one thing clear:

關於克蘇魯在神話之中的背景部分，讓我澄清一件事情:

The concept of "canon" doesn't carry much weight within the mythos.

在克蘇魯神話之中並沒有所謂的"創作法則"的概念。

Many different writers have given wildly varying accounts of Cthulhu, his thoughts and intentions,

許多不同的作家給了克蘇魯截然不同的描述，他的想法、企圖，

or lack thereof,

或是沒有，

and his history.

和他的歷史。

What I am going to present to you for Cthulhu's story

我所要展現給你們的克蘇魯的故事

is common info that I have available to me,

是我所能得到的普遍資訊，

but feel free to believe or make up whatever you want.

但，去相信或呈現你所想要的，不要受到拘束。

After all, that's what Lovecraft did,

畢竟，這正是洛夫克拉夫特所做的事，

and he fully encouraged others to do the same.

他十分鼓勵其他人做相同的事。

Cthulhu was likely born on the planet Vhoorl, located in the "twenty-third nebula".

克蘇魯可能出生於第二十三星雲(twenty-third nebula)上的沃羅(Vhoorl)星上，

His father is Nug,

他的父親是努格(Nug)，

his grandparents Yog-Sothoth and Shub-NIggurath,

他的祖父母是猶格·索托斯(Yog-Sothoth)和莎布·尼古拉絲(Shub-NIggurath)，

and his great-grandfather is Azathoth himself.

而他的曾祖父則是阿撒托斯(Azathoth)本人。

At some point he travelled to the binary star of Xoth,

在某個時間點，他旅行到了雙星上的索斯星(Xoth)，

where he mated and produced the Great Older Ones known as Ghatanothoa, Ythogtha, and Zoth-Ommog.

在那裏他遇到了他的伴侶並生下了加塔諾索亞(Ghatanothoa)、伊索格達(Ythogtha)和佐斯·奧莫格(Zoth-Ommog)等舊日支配者。

Cthulhu and his children travelled then to Saturn, followed by Earth,

克蘇魯和他的子嗣們旅行到了土星，接著抵達了地球，

along with a species know as the "Star Spawn of Cthulhu".

跟著他們旅行的還有"克蘇魯的星之眷族"。

It is unclear where the Star Spawn originated from,

我們不確定星之眷族起源於何處，

but it's possible that the shape-shifting aliens worshipped Great Cthulhu and changed their form

但很可能這些能改變自身型態的外星人崇拜克蘇魯並且改變他們的身形

to resemble the deity.

成接近他們的神的樣子。

Regardless, the alien group landed on a continent in the Pacific Ocean...

無論如何，這一個外星團體降落在太平洋上的大陸，

... and they built the great stone city of R'lyeh,

並建造了偉大的石城拉萊耶，

made from strange green stones and pieced together in ways that are foreign to any human design.

這座城使用了奇怪的綠色石頭而且建造模式不同於任何人類的設計。

Upon their arrival, the aliens received immediate resistance from another species known as

一抵達時，他們就遭遇了許多種族立即的抵抗，

"The Elder Things",

像是"遠古者(The Elder Things)"，

who had lived on the planet for millenia.

他們已經在地球居住了千年之久。

The Elder Things were no strangers to war - which we'll cover in a different video -

遠古者並不是戰爭的外行人--我們會在接下來的影片中討論--

but eventually the two groups came to an agreement and the planet was shared for the time being.

但最終這兩個團體達成了停戰協議並長期的瓜分了這顆星球。

Cthulhu and his spawn enjoyed the freedom of the planet Earth,

克蘇魯和他的星之眷族享受著地球的自由，

but at some point Cthulhu went into a deep hibernation within R'lyeh.

但在某個時間點，克蘇魯在拉萊耶城之中突然進入了深度的沉眠。

The reasons for this are unclear.

發生的原因還不清楚。

During his hibernation, humanity evolved on Earth,

在這沉眠過程中，在地球上演化出了人類，

and Cthulhu often communicated with individuals through dreams, slowly creating the Cult of Cthulhu.

克蘇魯透過夢境和個人溝通，逐漸地建立了克蘇魯教團

Disaster eventually struck the corpse city of R'lyeh though, sinking the city, Cthulhu

災變最終襲擊了被毀滅的城市拉萊耶，將整座城市、克蘇魯、

and much of the continent into the ocean.

和大半的陸塊都沉入了海底。

Reasons for this disaster vary,

災變發生的原因，

from changes in the moon or stars,

從月亮或星象的改變、

to an attack by other ancient aliens,

到其他外星種族的攻擊、

or even a secret weapon from The Elder Things.

或甚至是遠古者的祕密武器的攻擊。

Regardless though, Cthulhu and his spawn were trapped under the ocean and left with little to do other than wait.

不論如何，克蘇魯和他的星之眷族被困在了深海底下，除了等待沒多少事能做。

R'lyeh has risen out of the ocean at various times,

拉萊耶已經從海洋中升起過多次，

but never for very long.

但從來沒能持續長久。

The Cult of Cthulhu has continued to grow throughout the ages,

隨著時代的演進，克蘇魯教團也繼續茁壯，

and as they meet in secrecy, they chant of the day when R'lyeh will rise permanently out of the ocean...

在他們的秘密集會中，他們會吟詠拉萊耶從海中永久升起之時，

...and Dread Cthulhu will retake the world.

恐怖的克蘇魯將會接管整個世界。

As mentioned,

就像前面提到的，

Cthulhu is by far the most popular entity from the entire Cthulhu mythos,

克蘇魯是目前為止整個克蘇魯神話內最知名的角色，

to the point where the entire fictional universe is named after him.

到了整個神話體系都以他為名的程度。

Lovecraft himself however favored the term "Yog-Sothory" to refer to the collection of entities and artifacts.

雖然洛夫克拉夫特個人偏好"猶格·索托斯宇宙(Yog-Sothory)"來代稱整個實體和創造物的總合。

I offer two main reasons to why Cthulhu is so well-known in popular culture.

我列出了兩個克蘇魯為何會在現今流行文化中如此受歡迎的主要理由。

First and foremost is Cthulhu's image itself.

首先而且是最重要的，就是克蘇魯的形象。

Cthulhu is instantly recognizable in the grand majority of artistic depictions of him

克蘇魯能在大多數描繪他的藝術作品中被立即的辨認出來，

because it's a very concrete form.

因為他有著非常具體的形象。

He's almost always depicted as vaguely anthropoidal, with an octopus head, a mass of tentacles in his face

他幾乎總是被描繪成一個隱約的人形模樣，有著章魚的頭部和臉上的許多觸手、

claws, wings...

爪子、翅膀、

and a lot of green.

和非常多的綠色。

Other entities in the Cthulhu mythos tend to be a bit harder to describe,

其他克蘇魯神話中的實體在描述上就有這麼一點困難，

and vary from writer to writer.

並且因作家的描寫而異。

Yog-Sothoth, Shub-Niggurath, and Azathoth are often described as just masses of bubbles, tentacles,

猶格·索托斯(Yog-Sothoth)、莎布·尼古拉絲(Shub-NIggurath)和阿撒托斯(Azathoth)總是被描述成一團泡泡、觸手、

flesh, mouth, teeth and other vague appendages.

肉塊、嘴巴、牙齒和其他模糊的附屬肢體的集合。

When you look at an image of Cthulhu,

當你看著克蘇魯的圖片時，

you generally know exactly what you're looking at.

你一定能立即辨認出他。

This has helped a lot with recognition, but it also helps that Cthulhu is often well-regarded for his image.

這在辨認上幫了很大的忙，但同時也助於克蘇魯因為他的形象而受到好評。

Whether the depiction is meant to be cool or scary or adorable, Cthulhu can cover a lot of ground.

不論對他的描述是冷酷的、恐怖的或是可愛的，克蘇魯都能有所涵蓋。

Secondly, Cthulhu represents a very real and tangible fear.

第二，克蘇魯象徵著真實而且有形的恐懼。

Lovecraft was inspired by his own fear of water and the ocean when he created Cthulhu,

洛夫克拉夫特在創造克蘇魯時受到了他自身對水和海洋的恐懼所啟發，

and it's a fairly common fear amongst people.

這在人們之中也是相當普遍的恐懼。

Sure, pondering on our existence and place within the grand scheme in the cosmos can certainly be scary,

的確，思考著我們自身的存在和在宇宙龐大構想中的位置是可怕的，

but the dark depths of water are something that for a lot of people is a much closer, realer fear.

但是幽深的水底對大多數人來說是更貼近自身、更真實的恐懼。

Combining the unknown aspect of the deep ocean with the monstrosity of a giant alien slumbering beneath us,

結合了對深海的未知和在我們世界之下沉睡的巨型外星人的怪異，

is definitely a very effective way to get into peoples' heads.

這肯定能非常有效的進入人們的腦中。

A smaller reason perhaps is a bit of a snowball effect,

另一個比較小的原因可能是有點滾雪球效應的影響，

because of the other two reasons.

因為以上兩個原因。

Cthulhu has been featured in many, many different types of media,

克蘇魯已經出現在了許多不同形式的媒體作品，

from books...

從書籍、

... to films...

到電影、

... to video games...

到電玩、

... to board games...

到版圖遊戲(board games)

...and across the internet in many different forms.

和許許多多網路上的不同形式。

Cthulhu has become a firm part of popular culture,

克蘇魯已經成為了現代流行文化中不可或缺的一部分，

and many peoples' first interaction with the Cthulhu mythos involved The Slumbering One Himself.

許多人第一次接觸到克蘇魯神話即是透過這位沉眠的神祇。

The "Call of Cthulhu" RPG has been a big part of spreading Cthulhu and the mythos across the world,

"克蘇魯的呼喚"的RPG遊戲在傳播克蘇魯神話時也起了非常大的作用，

and very often when people ask which story they should read to be introduced to the Cthulhu mythos,

當人們被問起該由哪個故事來介紹克蘇魯神話時，

the answer is "The Call of Cthulhu".

答案正是"克蘇魯的呼喚"。

Cthulhu is a very important part of the mythos,

克蘇魯在這神話體系中是非常重要的一部分，

but he's certainly not the most interesting part of it.

但他當然不會是最有趣的一個部分。

We'll be getting to more creatures and deities within the mythos in other videos.

我們會在其他的影片中介紹更多克蘇魯神話中的生物和他們的細節。

I hope this video has been possibly entertaining, possibly informative,

我希望這個影片內容是有趣並內容豐富的，

and I'll see you fine folks next time.

我們下次再見。