The tragic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice - Brendan Pelsue

翻译人员: Chien Yet Chong 校对人员: Sylvia He

“拨动琴弦唱出低徊婉转的旋律， 引得心如铁石的普路托泪湿双颊，

让地狱把爱情所求许与他。” ——约翰·弥尔顿，《沉思颂》

It was the perfect wedding, the guests thought.

客人们觉得，这是一个完美的婚礼。

The groom was Orpheus, the greatest of all poets and musicians.

新郎是俄耳甫斯， 最伟大的诗人和音乐家。

The bride Eurydice, a wood nymph.

新娘是宁芙仙女欧律狄克, 任何人都能看出这对情侣深爱着彼此。

Anyone could tell the couple was truly and deeply in love.

Suddenly, Eurydice stumbled, then fell to the ground.

突然，欧律狄克 踉跄一下，摔倒在地。

By the time Orpheus reached her side, she was dead,

俄耳甫斯赶到她身边时，她已经死了。 而咬她的蛇则从草丛中溜走。

and the snake that had bitten her was slithering away through the grass.

Following Eurydice’s funeral,

在欧律狄克的葬礼之后，

Orpheus was overcome with a grief the human world could not contain,

俄耳甫斯被无边的悲伤淹没，

and so he decided he would journey to the land of the dead,

所以他决定启程前往

a place from which no living creature had ever returned, to rescue his beloved.

任何生物都一去不返的冥界， 去拯救他心爱的人。

When Orpheus reached the gates of the underworld, he began to strum his lyre.

当俄耳甫斯抵达冥界的入口时， 他开始弹起了他的竖琴。

The music was so beautiful that Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guards the dead,

他弹奏的音乐如此动听，以致 看守死人的三头犬，克尔柏洛斯，

lay down as Orpheus passed.

也在俄耳甫斯经过时入眠。

Charon, the ferry captain who charged dead souls to cross the River Styx,

有偿帮助亡灵渡过 冥河的船长卡戎，

was so moved by the music that he brought Orpheus across free of charge.

被俄耳甫斯的音乐所感动， 他免费让俄耳甫斯渡过了冥河。

When Orpheus entered the palace of Hades and Persephone,

当俄耳甫斯进入冥王哈德斯

the king and queen of the dead,

和冥后珀耳塞福涅的宫殿时，

he began to sing.

他开始唱歌。

He sang of his love for Eurydice, and said she had been taken away too soon.

他唱着他对欧律狄克的爱， 诉说她太早被带离人间。

The day would come when she, like all living creatures,

总有一天她， 如同其他生物，

dwelled in the land of the dead for all eternity,

将永远居住在冥界，

so couldn’t Hades grant her just a few more years on Earth?

难道哈德斯不能 让她在人间多活几年吗？

In the moment after Orpheus finished, all hell stood still.

在俄耳甫斯的歌声终止时， 整个冥界霎时停顿了。

Sisyphus no longer rolled his rock up the hill.

西西弗斯不再把巨石 推上山坡，

Tantalus did not reach for the water he would never be allowed to drink.

坦塔洛斯不再把手伸向那 永远无法取得的水源。

Even the Furies, the demonic goddesses of vengeance, wept.

就连凶恶的复仇女神 孚里埃也掉下眼泪。

Hades and Persephone granted Orpheus’s plea, but on one condition.

冥王和冥后应允了 俄耳甫斯的请求，但有个条件。

As he climbed back out of the underworld,

当他爬出冥界时，

he must not turn around to see if Eurydice was following behind him.

一定不能回头去看欧律狄克 是否跟在后面。

If he did, she would return to the land of the dead forever.

如果他回头望，欧律狄克就会 永远地回到冥界。

Orpheus began to climb.

俄耳甫斯开始攀爬。

With each step,

每前进一步，

he worried more and more about whether Eurydice was behind him.

他都更加担心欧律狄克 是否在身后跟着他。

He heard nothing— where were her footsteps?

他什么也没听到—— 欧律狄克的脚步声在哪儿？

Finally, just before he stepped out of the underworld

最后，在他就要完全踏出冥界

and into the bright light of day,

并步入阳光时，

he gave into temptation.

他向诱惑投降了。

Orpheus tried to return to the underworld, but was refused entry.

俄耳甫斯想重回冥界， 却被拒之门外。

Separated from Eurydice,

和欧律狄克永远阴阳相隔，

Orpheus swore never to love another woman again.

让俄耳甫斯发誓不再 爱上另外一个女人。

Instead, he sat in a grove of trees and sang songs of lovers.

反之，他坐在树林间， 唱着有关爱人的情歌。

There was Ganymede, the beautiful boy who Zeus made drink-bearer to the gods.

他歌颂被宙斯恩赐为诸神斟酒 的俊美少年加倪墨得斯，

There was Myrrah, who loved her father and was punished for it,

他也歌颂因为爱上 其父亲而被神灵处罚的密拉，

and Pygmalion, who sculpted his ideal woman out of ivory,

还有用象牙雕刻出梦中情人

then prayed to Venus until she came to life.

然后向维纳斯祈祷直到 雕像变成真人的皮格马利翁，

And there was Venus herself,

最后则有

whose beautiful Adonis was killed by a wild boar.

其俊美的情人阿多尼斯 不幸被野猪杀害的维纳斯本人。

It was as if Orpheus’s own love and loss

俄耳甫斯自身的爱以及伤痛

had allowed him to see into the hearts of gods and people everywhere.

似乎让他能够看透诸神 以及各处凡人的心境。

For some, however, poetry was not enough.

但对一些人来说，诗词并不够。

A group of wild women called the Maenads

一群叫迈那得斯的女野人

could not bear the thought that a poet who sang so beautifully of love

无法接受一位把情歌 唱得如此动听，

would not love them.

却又拒绝爱上她们的诗人。

Their jealousy drove them to a frenzy and they destroyed poor Orpheus.

嫉妒使她们发疯， 摧毁了可怜的俄耳甫斯。

The birds, nature’s singers, mourned Orpheus,

作为大自然的歌唱家， 各种鸟儿为俄耳甫斯哀悼，

as did the rivers, who made music as they babbled.

用潺潺流水谱曲的河流 也加入了它们。

世界失去了两位伟大的人物。

The world had lost two great souls.

Orpheus and Eurydice had loved each other so deeply that when they were separated,

俄耳甫斯和欧律狄克如此深切地相爱， 以致当他们阴阳分离时，

Orpheus had understood the pain and joys of lovers everywhere,

俄耳甫斯明白了所有情侣 的痛苦与欢乐，

and a new art form, the love poem, was born.

造就了爱情诗这种全新的艺术。

While the world wept, Orpheus found peace, and his other half, in the underworld.

当世界为他们默哀时，俄耳甫斯却 跟他的另一半已在冥界安息。

There, to this day, he walks with Eurydice along the banks of the River Styx.

直到今天，他跟欧律狄克 依然在冥河畔漫步。

Sometimes, they stroll side by side;

有时，他们俩并肩行走；

sometimes, she is in front;

有时，欧律狄克在前头；

and sometimes, he takes the lead, turning to look back at her as often as he likes.

而有时，俄耳甫斯带头， 并能够随心所欲地回望欧律狄克。