? ? 最近在看 The Palace of Illusions，差不多跳著把主要情節過了一下，果然史詩什么的轉到女性視角就有很多地方不能看，又荒誕又殘忍。簡單地說，這本書是黑公主視角的摩訶婆羅多，cp是德羅波蒂×迦爾納，還是暗戀。我不是特別理解這個cp，但是印度人民好像挺喜歡的樣子。這本書里面能讀出很多史詩里面沒有或者有意無意忽略掉的東西，黑公主和猛光的感情寫得很好，感覺這個里面的猛光跟13版的形象還蠻接近的，比較溫和干凈的那種大男孩吧，所以他殺德羅納的時候爆發了我感覺特別難受，戰爭是真的會摧毀很多美好的東西。束發姐姐一出場就是束發哥哥，但是也超級帥。強硬版的貢蒂雖然不討人喜歡，但是意外地豐滿，比一般作品里面滿滿母愛的那個形象更像個真人。五子單在感情這方面真挺那啥的（怖軍除外，怖軍是個好男人，堅戰最后扳回來了一點，但總體上我實在是沒辦法給他們說什么好話），客氣一點說真是一群自我中心、無可救藥的男性沙文主義者。

? ? 讀得最難受的是五子共妻那一段，好久沒有看書看到胃不舒服了。每次和下一個丈夫在一起就會變成處女的情節，史詩里面就是那么一說，但是這里面寫出來就顯得特別讓人難受，真的是又荒誕又殘忍有惡心又冷酷。女人真的就像一種財產或者貨物一樣被對待。德羅波蒂吐槽說：我的父親和我未來的丈夫在討論我的選擇，但是他們只想到這些行為會對他們自己有什么益處——或是害處。黑公主還說給女人的那些賜福都是站在男人的立場上的，其實女人根本就不想要，然而也沒有人會費心問她們的想法，比如貢蒂那個。

? ? 黑公主自己講共妻的那一段原文貼在下面了，晚點有精神的時候再試著翻譯吧……

Vyasa?sent?a?prompt?verdict:?I?was?to?be?married?to?all?five?brothers.?My?father?was?not?to?distress?himself?about?how?this?would?affect?his?reputation.?This?never-before-seen?marital?arrangement?would?make?him?more?famous?than?a?heap?of?battle?victories.?If?people?asked?uncomfortable?questions,?he?could?blame?it?on?the?gods,?who?had?ordained?it?lifetimes?ago.

To?keep?me?chaste?and?foster?harmony?in?the?Pandava?household,?Vyasa?designed?a?special?code?of?marital?conduct?for?us.?I?would?be?wife?to?each?brother?for?a?year?at?a?time,?from?oldest?to?youngest,?consecutively.?During?that?year,?the?other?brothers?were?to?keep?their?eyes?lowered?when?speaking?to?me.?(Better?if?they?didn't?speak?at?all.)?They?were?not?to?touch?me,?not?even?the?tips?of?my?fingers.?If?they?intruded?upon?our?privacy?when?my?husband?and?I?were?together,?they?were?to?be?banished?for?a?year?from?the?household.?In?a?postscript?he?added?that?he?would?give?me?a?boon?to?balance?the?one?that?had?landed?me?with?five?spouses.?Each?time?I?went?to?a?new?brother,?I'd?be?a?virgin?again.

I?can't?say?I?was?surprised?by?Vyasa's?verdict.?(Hadn't?his?spirits?threatened?me?with?such?a?fate?years?ago?)?But?now?that?it?was?to?become?an?imminent?reality,?I?was?surprised?at?how?angry?it?made?me?feel—and?how?helpless.?Though?Dhai?Ma?tried?to?console?me?by?saying?that?finally?I?had?the?freedom?men?had?had?for?centuries,?my?situation?was?very?different?from?that?of?a?man?with?several?wives.?Unlike?him,?I?had?no?choice?as?to?whom?I?slept?with,?and?when.?Like?a?communal?drinking?cup,?I?would?be?passed?from?hand?to?hand?whether?I?wanted?it?or?not.

Nor?was?I?particularly?delighted?by?the?virginity?boon,?which?seemed?designed?more?for?my?husbands'?benefit?than?mine.?That?seemed?to?be?the?nature?of?boons?given?to?women—they?were?handed?to?us?like?presents?we?hadn't?quite?wanted.?(Had?Kunti?felt?the?same?way?when?she?was?told?that?the?gods?would?be?happy?to?impregnate?her??For?a?moment,?sympathy?twinged?through?me.?Then?it?was?lost?beneath?a?surge?of?resentment.?If?it?weren't?for?her,?I?wouldn't?be?in?this?miserable?situation.)

If?the?sage?had?cared?to?inquire,?I'd?have?requested?the?gift?of?forgetting,?so?that?when?I?went?to?each?brother?I'd?be?free?of?the?memory?of?the?previous?one.?And?along?with?that,?I'd?have?requested?that?Arjun?be?my?first?husband.?He?was?the?only?one?of?the?Pandavas?I?felt?I?could?have?fallen?in?love?with.?If?he?had?loved?me?back,?I?might?have?been?able?to?push?aside?my?regrets?about?Karna?and?find?some?semblance?of?happiness.