Русалка是斯拉夫神話中廣為人知的女性角色，在民間概念中她是不潔之力的一員，其樣貌在不同地區有著截然不同的描述，或美豔，或醜惡。她的漢名普遍譯為「美人魚」，而她真的跟現今大眾理解中一有著美麗秀髮，上半身為美女，下半身為魚尾，有著美妙歌喉－的美人魚一樣嗎？在斯拉夫神話中有關Русалка的傳說就跟安徒生筆下為了王子而失去聲音的人魚公主一樣都是淒美的愛情故事嗎？而果戈理《迪坎卡近鄉夜話》中的女落水鬼跟Русалка又有何關聯？依據榮格的集體無意識學說，這種令人深深著迷的幻想物可歸納出一特定原型：美人魚原型。透過不同民族間的傳說，這個原本徒其形式而無內容的形象獲得了具體的外貌及其象徵。本篇將以美人魚原型為基礎，旨在探討斯拉夫神話中Русалка之形象，並佐以文學作品中的描述，對此一形象進行闡述及分析，藉以釐清Русалка與世界文化中的美人魚的分野。
Rusalka (Русалка) is a widely known female character in slave's mythology. In folk concept she is a member of the unclean spirit. Description of her figure is completely different in different areas, some are pretty and dazzling, or others are repulsive. But her Chinese names are generally translated into ”美人魚”(the mermaid). According to the Chinese name, this character should be have amazing looking- beautiful long hair, the upper part of the body is a beauty, and the lower part of the body is a fish's tail, and also owns wonderful voice. But is that correct? The legends about Rusalka are just like the story Mermaid from Andersen both are pitiable love story? By the way, in Gogol's ”Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka” also describe the character who suicide by drowning, is there some kind of relation between this character and Rusalka?According to Carl Gustav Jung's ”Collective Unconsciousness”, this fantastic character could be sum up a kind of archetype : Mermaid archetype. And through different national legends, this character obtains concrete appearance and symbolize. This article will based on Mermaid archetype to discuss the image of Rusalka, and compare with literature's description, try to explain and analyze this image.
