The myth of Narcissus and Echo - Iseult Gillespie

翻译人员: Yanran Qsi 校对人员: Helen Chang

Hera, queen of the gods, was on the edge of her throne.

赫拉 众神之后 站在她的王座边缘

A mountain nymph named Echo, renowned for her charm and chatter,

一个山仙女 厄科（Echo，回声） 以她的魅力和爱讲话闻名

was regaling her with a sensational story.

正用一个绝妙的故事取悦赫拉

But what Hera didn’t know was that Echo was merely distracting her

但赫拉并不知道 厄科只是要让她分心

while her husband, Zeus,

此刻她的丈夫 宙斯

was frolicking about with the other nymphs.

正与其他仙女玩乐调情

Unfortunately for Echo, Zeus got sloppy, and Hera realized what was going on.

不幸的是 宙斯疏忽大意 赫拉意识到发生了什么

Enraged by Echo’s duplicity—

对于厄科的欺骗 赫拉勃然大怒

and powerless to stop her husband’s adultery—

又无力阻止她丈夫的通奸行为

Hera decided to silence the nymph for good.

赫拉决定 要让这名仙女永远沉默

From then on, Echo could no longer enrapture listeners with her stories;

从那时起 厄科再也无法 用她的故事为听众带来欢乐

she could only repeat the last words another said.

她只能重复他人讲话的最后几个词

As her conversations became dull and her company undesirable,

她的交谈枯燥无味 她的陪伴令人厌恶

Echo grew dispirited.

厄科愈发消沉

One day, while Echo was drifting through the woods,

一天 厄科在林间游荡

she spotted a young man hunting deer.

她发现一个年轻人在猎鹿

It was Narcissus, the stunningly beautiful son of a river god and water nymph.

是纳西索斯 河神与水仙女之子 面容俊美绝伦

After his birth, a seer had given his mother a cryptic prophecy:

在他出生之后 一位先知 曾给予其母一个神秘的预言：

Narcissus would live a long life— but only if he never really knew himself.

纳西索斯将会长寿 但前提是他从未真正认识过自己

No one was sure exactly what to make of this.

无人知晓这个预言到底为何意

And, in the meantime, Narcissus grew into a proud youth.

与此同时 纳西索斯 长成一名傲慢的少年

His good looks attracted many admirers.

他的俊美面容引来众多爱慕者

But he preferred to amble through life on his own

但他更喜欢独自浪荡一生

and left a trail of broken hearts in his wake.

并在身后留下一地破碎的心

Seeing Narcissus there, Echo was filled with longing.

看见纳西索斯 厄科心中充满渴望

Unable to initiate a conversation, she walked after him.

因为无法首先进行交谈 她便尾随着他

Soon, Narcissus heard a rustle, and called out,

很快 纳西索斯听见一声窸窣 喊道

“Who goes there? Who are you?”

“谁在哪里？你是谁？”

Echo revealed herself, but only repeated the word “you,”

厄科现身 但只能重复那一个词 “你”

making her tone as endearing as possible as she went to hold him.

她过去抱住他 尽可能使自己的声调惹人喜爱

Agitated, Narcissus said, “Let me go, I can’t stay.”

纳西索斯非常焦躁 他说 “放开我，我不能留下”

Echo could only counter with a plea for him to do so.

厄科只能以留下作为回应 来恳求他

Freeing himself from her embrace, Narcissus snapped,

纳西索斯从她的拥抱中挣脱 发怒道：

“I’d rather die than have you love me!”

“我宁愿死，也不要你来爱我！”

To which Echo could only cry, “Love me... love me.”

厄科只能哭喊道 ‘’爱我...爱我。”

Narcissus told Echo once more to leave him alone,

纳西索斯再次告诉厄科 离他远点

then faded from her gaze.

然后在她的凝视中消失

Echo wandered to a cave.

厄科走进一个山洞

And gradually, her heart grew heavy and her body frail

逐渐地 她的心脏愈发沉重 身体愈发虚弱

until all that was left of her was her voice,

直到唯有她的声音留存

which the wind carried to vast, empty places.

被风吹向广阔、空无之地

Forever after, it could be heard reverberating through hollow caves

之后永远 它在空虚的洞穴中回响

and rebounding across lonely clearings.

在孤独的森林空地间回荡

But this wasn’t even the first time heartbreak over Narcissus

但这甚至不是第一次 纳西索斯带来的心碎

had proven fatal.

被证明是致命的

A young man named Ameinias had also been cruelly rejected by Narcissus.

一个名叫阿弥尼俄斯的年轻人 也被纳西索斯残忍地拒绝了

Before his death, he prayed to Nemesis, the goddess of revenge,

临死之前 他向复仇女神涅墨西斯祈求

that Narcissus would also one day know the pain of love.

纳西索斯终有一天 也要品尝爱的痛苦

She heard Ameinias’ pleas and, upon witnessing Echo’s fate,

她听到阿弥尼俄斯的恳求 又见证了厄科的命运

decided that it would be the final affront.

决定这将是最后的侮辱

It was time for retribution.

报应的时刻到来

So, Nemesis set Narcissus towards a clear, glassy pool.

因此 复仇女神 引导纳西索斯走向一座池塘

水面光洁明净 宛若镜子

As he bent towards the water to drink,

在他向水面俯身喝水之时

he caught sight of a hauntingly beautiful young man.

他看见一个 美得令人魂牵梦萦的年轻男子

Never before had Narcissus seen himself with such clarity.

纳西索斯从未如此清晰地见过他自己

He spent the day acquainting himself with every glinting angle and glowing curl

他花了整整一天 熟悉每个闪光的角度和发亮的卷发

then passed the evening gazing at his reflection by moonlight

在月光下凝视自己的倒影 度过夜晚

and sleeping with his fingers grazing the water.

睡觉时手指还撩拨着水面

Days wore on, and Narcissus never parted from his one true love.

日子一天天流逝 纳西索斯从未与自己的真爱分开

When he reached out, his double reached for him;

当他伸出手去 倒影也向他伸过手来

and when he leaned in to bestow a kiss, he also tilted his face.

当他俯身献上一个吻 他也侧过脸来

But when he tried to hold the bewitching figure, it disappeared.

但当他试着拥抱 那令人沉醉的身形 它就消失了

At last, Narcissus knew the agony of unrequited love.

最终 纳西索斯知道了单相思的痛苦

Eating and drinking nothing, Narcissus too wasted away.

纳西索斯不吃不喝 也日渐消瘦

His neck ached from bending over the lake, and his legs became rooted to the grass.

他的脖颈因为弯腰向湖而疼痛 双腿也扎根草地

When the wood nymphs finally passed by,

当森林仙女最终经过时

all that was left of him was a white and yellow flower

他所剩的一切只有黄白的花

bending towards its reflection.

弯向它的倒影

From then on, it was known as narcissus.

从那时起 它被称为水仙