A tour of the ancient Greek Underworld - Iseult Gillespie

翻译人员: Gia Hwang 校对人员: Carol Wang

Achilles, welcome!

阿喀琉斯，欢迎你！

I’m the Sibyl of Cumae, prophetess and avid reader of leaves.

我是库迈的西比拉女先知，酷爱读树叶。

To clarify, you were just slain in the Trojan War.

声明一下，你刚在特洛伊战争中战死，

Sorry about that.

我深感抱歉。

It’s normal to feel mixed emotions right now.

此时心情复杂很正常，

But you will be immortalized as one of the greatest warriors ever.

但你将作为有史以来 最伟大的战士之一永垂不朽，

And you’ll have endless distractions down here.

而且你在这里会有数不清尽的消遣。

So, pros and cons.

说一下冥府的优势和劣势：

It gets a bad rap, but the Underworld is actually a lovely place to “live.”

冥府声誉虽差， 其实却是“生活” 的好地方。

It boasts historic charm and eccentric neighbors with eternal ties to the area.

它充满历史魅力，有着与冥府 关系密切的古怪邻居们，

The community even has its own guard dog, Cerberus.

甚至有专属守卫犬塞伯拉斯（地狱犬）。

Heel, boy! Oh.

注意脚后跟，伙计！

Sorry, I know that’s a sensitive spot.

对不起，我知道那是你的死穴。

Anyway, with Cerberus, you get three for the price of one!

无论如何，地狱犬一条顶三条。

He’s just not a big fan of anyone leaving.

他只是阻止亡灵离开冥府，

And who would want to leave anyway?

有谁会想离开呢？

This is the Styx— it’s like the subterranean riviera.

这是怒河斯堤克斯，就像冥府的海岸线。

But you’ve been here before;

但你以前到过这里，

it was the source of your almost complete invulnerability, of course!

当然，正是它令你几乎刀枪不入！

The Underworld also features four other waterways:

冥府还有另外四条水道：

Acheron, the river of woe; Cocytus, river of wailing;

怨河阿刻戎、

悲河克塞特斯、

Lethe, river of oblivion;

遗忘河勒忒，

and Phlegethon, river of fire, a great source of natural light.

以及火河弗莱格桑，自然光的重要来源。

Now, on your left, you’ll see the Mourning Fields,

在你左边方向会看到哀悼场，

inhabited by souls tormented by love.

住着饱受爱情折磨的灵魂。

Quite an attractive place, really,

你未陷入无止境的断肠之苦时，

when you’re not in the throes of endless heartbreak.

这确实是诱人的地方。

And without further ado:

闲话少说，

Elysium, the Underworld’s exclusive VIP section—

这是至福乐土，冥府的专属贵宾区，

and your permanent home.

也是你的永久家园。

Here, you'll join the ranks of royalty and heroes.

你将加入贵族与英雄之列，

Cadmus over there once slayed a dragon!

那位是曾经杀过一条龙的卡德摩斯，

And Patroclus is around here somewhere, along with lots of other friends and foes.

而且（你的挚友）帕特洛克洛斯也在，

同在的还有许多其他朋友和敌人。

I'll let you two get reacquainted soon,

我会尽快让你俩重叙旧情，

but our tour wouldn’t be complete without a quick whirl

但如果不快速游览 冥府的地狱塔尔塔洛斯，

through the heart of Hades: Tartarus.

此行就不算完整。

Tisiphone here guards the portal.

提西福涅在此守卫着传送门，

She's one of the legendary Furies

她是传奇的复仇三女神之一，

and is particularly passionate about avenging murder.

特别热衷于谋杀报仇。

She never sleeps.

她从不睡觉，

So, if you need anything, just ask!

所以，如果想知道啥，你就问吧！

Tartarus is reserved for a select few who some might call

地狱塔耳塔罗斯是为少数人保留的，

the greatest sinners of all time.

有人称他们是史上大罪人。

Take Ixion.

以伊克西翁为例：

He was once a king.

他曾是国王，

When he didn’t pay his wedding dowry,

因没有支付结婚聘礼，

his father-in-law, Deioneus, stole his horses to get even.

岳父狄奥尼斯为此偷了他的马。

In retaliation, Ixion pitched Deioneus into a pit of fire.

作为报复，伊克西翁把他扔进了火坑。

Ixion was banished, but Zeus miraculously took pity on him,

伊克西翁被驱逐， 但宙斯奇迹般地怜悯于他，

and invited him to a Mount Olympian feast.

并邀请他参加奥林匹亚山盛宴。

There, however, it soon became clear that the disgraced king

但是，很快就发现这位不要脸的国王

was trying to seduce Zeus’s wife, Hera.

试图勾引宙斯的妻子赫拉。

So, Zeus contrived a trap:

因此，宙斯设计了一个陷阱：

a fluffy cloud that resembled Hera exactly.

一朵与赫拉完全相似的蓬松云彩。

When Zeus had proof of Ixion having his way with the cumulus,

宙斯拿到伊克西翁 对云朵伸咸猪手的证据后，

well, you could say it was all nimbus from there.

怒火中烧，

That landed Ixion on the flaming wheel.

伊克西翁被绑到了燃烧的轮子上。

Poor thing.

可怜的东西！

Oh, and don’t mind Tantalus here.

哦，没事，他叫坦达罗斯，

He was part of the first generation of mortals,

是第一代凡人中的一员，

enjoying privileges like dining with the gods.

享受与众神共进晚餐等特权。

Some say Tantalus stole ambrosia from Zeus,

有些人说坦达罗斯偷了宙斯的神酒，

others that he doubted the omniscience of the gods

另一些人说他怀疑众神的无所不知，

and cooked his own son into a stew to see if they would notice.

就把自己的儿子煮了给众神吃， 测试他们能否觉察到，

Naturally, they did.

当然，众神发觉了。

And as eternal punishment, when Tantalus reaches for food,

作为永恒的惩罚， 当坦达罗斯伸手去拿食物时，

the branches grow taller.

树枝会长得更高；

And when he stoops to quench his thirst, the water recedes.

而当他弯腰解渴时，水就会退去。

And here we have the Danaids.

这是达那伊得斯（达那俄斯的女儿们），

At their father’s order, they beheaded their husbands on their wedding night.

父亲命她们在新婚之夜 砍掉了自己丈夫的脑袋。

They must fill this basin with water.

她们则必须把这个盆装满水，

But, the trick is, their jars are cracked, so it always... just... leaks away.

但罐子裂了，水都漏了，永远灌不满。

Oh, but don’t worry! No leaky appliances for you.

哦，但别担心！不给你漏水的器具用。

Finally, our last stop on the tour is one of our loveliest vistas.

终于来到游览的最后一站， 是我们最美的景色之一。

From here, you can see the hill where Sisyphus pushes his boulder

从这里，你能看到西西弗斯

日复一日地推着巨石上山顶，

day after day,

only for it to roll back down again—

然后巨石又滚落下来 ——

all for trying to cheat death.

只因他试图欺骗死神。

As you can see, Achilles, the Underworld is full of exciting amenities.

阿喀琉斯，如你所见， 冥府充满了激动人心的设施。

Here, you don’t have to worry about brutal wars or painful cycles of revenge.

在这里，你不必担心残酷的战争 或痛苦的代代复仇，

You can finally just put your feet up and relax.

你终于可以好好休息、放松放松了。