The myth of the stolen eyeballs - Nathan D. Horowitz

翻译人员: Yidai Song 校对人员: Lark Yu

Deep in the Amazon rainforest in the river Nea’ocoyá,

根据锡耶科比族的神话传说，

lived, according to Siekopai legend,

在亚马孙雨林深处的 尼亚奥科亚河中，

a school of particularly big and tasty fish.

生活着一群尤为肥美的鱼。

When the rains came and the water rose, the fish appeared,

每当雨落水涨，鱼纷纷跃出水面，

swimming away as the waters fell again.

但随着水位下降，又顺势游走。

The villagers along the river reveled in this occasional bounty—

沿岸村民贪恋于 这偶然的不劳而获——

and wanted more.

想要索取更多。

They followed them upriver deep into the jungle

他们跟随鱼群溯流而上深入丛林，

to a lagoon that thundered with the sound of flapping fish.

来到一片环礁湖， 湖中鱼儿欢跳雀跃声不绝于耳。

The whole village set up camp by the lagoon,

整个村庄据湖安营扎寨，

bringing barbasco, a poison they would put in the water to stun the fish.

他们带来了巴巴可鱼毒草， 一种可以放到水中迷晕鱼群的毒药。

Meanwhile, their young shaman took a walk.

这时， 他们年轻的萨满出去散步，

He sensed he might not be completely alone.

感觉到也许自己并非独自一人。

Then, he came to a monse tree humming so loudly

他来到一棵 monse 树下， 大声吼叫，

he could hear it even above the thunder of the fish.

他能听到其中巨响甚至 盖过了湖中鱼群的欢跳雀跃声，

With that, he was sure: spirits lived here.

这让他坚信：有妖精居住于此。

Back at camp, he warned his people these fish had an owner.

返回营地后，他警告族人 这些鱼群有主人，

He would find the owner.

而他会找到鱼群的主人。

Until he returned, no one should fish.

返回之前，禁止捕捞。

He went to the humming tree.

他去往响声不断的那棵树下，

Inside was a hollow as big as a house, full of busy weavers.

树干中空，犹如一座大房子， 其中满是忙碌的编制工。

Their chief invited him in,

织工首领邀请他进来，

explaining that the juicy little siripia fruits were ripening,

并告知有种叫 siripia 的 多汁果实快熟了，

and they were weaving baskets to collect them.

而他们正在编织篮子方便采摘。

Though they looked and acted like people,

尽管他们的容貌、举止 与人类并无二致，

the shaman knew they were juri, or air goblins,

但萨满知道他们是 Juri， 也就是空气妖精，

who could fly and control the winds.

他们可以飞行并且控制风向。

They taught him how to weave.

妖精们教他如何编织，

Before the shaman left,

在萨满临走之前，

the goblin chief whispered some cryptic instructions in his ear.

首领向他耳语了一些神秘指示，

Finally, he told him to tie a pineapple shoot outside a hollow log

最后，让他把菠萝枝 绑在空心的木头外，

and sleep inside that night.

并且当晚睡在木头里面。

Back at camp, the villagers were fishing with barbasco poison, cooking, and eating.

返回营地，村民们依然在 用毒草捕鱼、烹饪并享用美食，

Only the shaman’s little sister refrained.

唯独萨满的妹妹没有参与。

Then, everyone else fell into a deep sleep.

接着，所有人都陷入了沉睡，

The shaman and his sister yelled and shook them,

萨满和妹妹冲他们大喊， 试图将他们摇醒，

but they wouldn’t wake.

却未能成功。

It was getting dark, so the shaman and his sister

天色渐晚，萨满和妹妹，

tied the pineapple sprout outside the hollow log and crawled inside.

把菠萝枝绑到了空心木外面， 并爬了进去。

A strong wind rose— the mark of the air goblins.

一阵强风袭来—— 这是空气妖精来临的标志，

It broke branches and brought down trees.

大风吹断了树枝， 将树木连根拔起，

Caymans, boas and jaguars roared.

短吻鳄、蟒蛇、美洲狮开始咆哮，

The water began to rise.

河水开始上涨，

The fish flopped off the drying racks and swam away.

被晾晒的鱼从晒架上掉下来， 趁机游走了，

The pineapple sprout turned into a dog.

绑在木头外的菠萝枝芽 变成了一条狗，

All night it barked, keeping the jungle creatures away from the fallen tree.

狂吠了一整夜，让丛林里中的野兽 远离这棵倒下大树。

When dawn broke, the flood receded.

等到黎明破晓之时， 洪水终于消退，

The fish were gone, and most of the people were, too:

湖中的鱼群消失了， 许多村民也不见了踪影：

the jungle animals had devoured them.

他们早已被丛林里的野兽吞食，

Only the shaman’s relatives survived.

只有萨满的亲戚得以幸存。

When his family turned toward him,

而当他们转过头来看他时，

the shaman realized what the goblins meant when they said the fruits were ripening:

萨满突然明白了妖精口中 快要熟了的果实是什么意思：

they weren’t really collecting siripia fruits at all,

他们并不是要 采摘 siripia 果实，

but human eyes.

而是要收集人类的眼球。

The shaman’s older sister called him over,

萨满的姐姐唤他过来，

trying to touch his face with her long, sharp nails.

试图用她又长又尖的指甲 摸索他的脸，

He backed away and, remembering the goblin chief’s instructions,

萨满不禁向后退缩， 并想起了妖精首领的指示，

threw palm seeds at her face.

冲她的脸撒了些棕榈籽，

The seeds became eyes.

种子变成了眼睛，

But then she transformed into a white-lipped peccary and ran away—

但姐姐却变成了一头 白唇野猪转身逃走了——

still alive, but no longer human.

她虽然还活着， 但已失去了人的模样。

The shaman and his little sister’s whole community was gone.

萨满和妹妹的族群已彻底灭绝。

They went to live with another village,

他们前往另外一个村庄生活，

where he taught everyone to weave baskets, as the air goblins had taught him.

并在那里教村民们如何编织篮子， 就像空气妖精之前教他的那样。

But he couldn’t forget the last of the goblin chief’s words,

但他一直忘不了 妖精首领最后的告诫，

which told him how to get revenge.

那就是如何替族人报仇。

He returned to the air goblins’ home carrying chili peppers wrapped in leaves.

萨满带着树叶包裹的红辣椒， 回到了空气妖精的住处，

As the goblins watched through their peepholes,

妖精们从猫眼里偷偷窥视他，

the shaman made a fire and put the chili peppers on it.

萨满先是生火， 后把红辣椒加了进去，

The fire began to smoke the tree out.

浓烟逐渐灌满了树洞，

The goblins who had eaten people’s eyes died.

吃人眼球的妖精们都被烟熏死了。

Those who hadn’t were light enough to fly away.

而那些没有吃眼球的妖精， 凭借着轻盈的体态，统统飞走了。

So the goblins, like the humans, paid a steep price.

至此，妖精和人类 都付出了沉重的代价，

But they also lived to tell the tale, like the shaman.

但他们当中的一些人，比如萨满， 幸存了下来，让这个故事得以口耳相传。

In Siekopai legend, where the spirit and human worlds meet,

在锡耶科比族神话中， 当人类与妖精的世界碰撞，

there are no clear victors,

孰胜孰负，无从分辨，

and even death is an opportunity for renewal.

甚至死亡 都是某种意义上的新生。