The myth of Thor's journey to the land of giants - Scott A. Mellor

翻译人员: Carol Wang

Thor—son of Odin, god of thunder, and protector of mankind—

奥丁之子索尔是雷电之神， 也是人类的保护者，

struggled mightily against his greatest challenge yet: opening a bag of food.

正想方设法解开他遇到过的最大挑战： 打开一个装着食物袋子。

It’d all started when Thor,

故事是这样的，

索尔和他的飞毛腿人类侍从希亚费、 奸诈之神洛基一同出发，

along with his fleet-footed human servant Thjalfi and Loki, the trickster god,

set out on a journey to Jotunheim, land of the giants.

前往巨人国：约顿海姆。

Along the way, they’d met a giant named Skrymir,

途中，遇到名叫斯克里米尔的巨人，

who offered to accompany them and even carry their provisions in his bag.

斯克里米尔提出与他们同行，并主动 把索尔的行囊装进自己的袋子里背着。

But when they made camp, Skrymir dozed off

但当他们扎营休息时， 斯克里米尔睡着了，

and Thor couldn’t untie the sack.

索尔无法解开他的袋子。

Frustrated and hungry, Thor tried to wake the giant three times

沮丧饥饿的索尔 用雷神之锤猛击巨人头部三次，

by striking his head with his hammer Mjolnir as hard as he could.

试图叫醒他，

But each time, Skrymir thought it was only a falling acorn

但巨人每次都以为橡子掉到了头上，

and went back to sleep.

又重新睡去。

The next morning, Skrymir departed

第二天早上，斯克里米尔离开了，

and eventually, the travelers reached a massive fortress called Utgard.

索尔一行人终于抵达 一座叫乌特迦的巨大宫殿。

Inside the long hall, they met the king of giants, Utgard-Loki,

在长长的大厅中，他们见到了 巨人之王乌特迦 · 洛奇，

who greeted his guests with a challenge:

他向索尔一行发起了挑战：

each of them was to prove they were the best at some particular skill.

每人要证明自己是某项技能的最强者。

Loki went first, declaring himself the world’s fastest eater.

洛基第一个迎战， 称自己是世上吃得最快的人。

To test him, the king summoned his servant Logi

为了验证他说的话， 国王召来了侍从罗吉，

and the two were placed at either end of a long trough stuffed with food.

令二人站在装满食物的长条食槽两端，

Loki ate his way inward with blinding speed.

洛基沿着食槽飞快地吃着食物。

But when the contestants met in the center,

但当两位挑战者在中点相遇时，

洛基才发现，他的对手不仅吃掉了食物，

Loki saw that his adversary had not only eaten just as much food,

but also the bones and even the trough itself.

还吃掉了骨头，甚至把食槽也吃了。

Next was Thjalfi, who could outrun anything in the wild.

下一位挑战者是希亚费， 任何动物都跑不过他。

国王召来了轻盈缥缈的巨人修基，

The king summoned an ethereal-looking giant named Hugi,

who outraced Thjalfi easily.

他轻而易举跑赢了希亚费，

But the boy would not give up and demanded a rematch.

但希亚费不肯认输，要求再比一次。

This time, Thjalfi finished close behind

这次，希亚费仅以微小差距输掉，

and the king admitted he’d never seen a human run so fast.

就连国王也承认， 他从未见过速度如此快的人类。

Thjalfi tried a third time, running like his life depended on it,

希亚费又试了第三次，拼命奔跑，

but Hugi was even faster than before.

但是，修基的速度却比之前还要快。

Finally, it was Thor’s turn.

最终，轮到索尔挑战。

The king offered him a drinking horn,

国王给了他一个角形饮酒器，

saying all his men could drain it in two gulps.

说自己的手下两口就能喝干。

Thor raised it to his lips

索尔将酒举起到嘴边，

and drank the surprisingly cold and salty mead

喝到的是又凉又咸的蜂蜜酒，

in the longest gulp he could muster.

他深深地喝了一大口，

Then a second.

然后是第二口、

Then a third.

第三口，

But the level of the mead in the horn was only slightly lowered.

但是，酒却只少了一点点。

To test Thor’s renowned strength, the king offered a seemingly easy challenge:

为了测试索尔的力量， 国王提出了一个看似容易的挑战：

lift his pet cat off the ground.

从地上举起他的宠物猫。

But this cat was as tall as Thor.

但这只猫与索尔一样高，

Every time he tried to lift it, it arched its back,

每当索尔试图将它举起， 这只猫就会弓起背。

and straining with all his godly might, he only managed to lift one paw.

索尔竭尽全部神力， 却仅能举起一只猫爪。

Enraged, Thor demanded to wrestle any of the giants.

愤怒的索尔要求与任何一个巨人摔跤，

The king summoned the giants’ old nursemaid, Elli.

国王召来了巨人们的老保姆伊里。

Though the woman looked frail, Thor couldn’t overpower her

虽然老妇看上去十分虚弱， 索尔的力量却不及她，

and grew weaker the longer he struggled, until he was brought to one knee.

索尔挣扎地越久，就变得越虚弱， 最后竟然无力到单膝跪地。

The three companions prepared to leave, disappointed and humbled.

羞愧交加，三人打算离开。

But as the king escorted them out,

但国王在送他们出城堡时，

he revealed that nothing in the castle had been what it seemed.

坦言道，城堡中发生的一切 并非表面看上去的那样。

Loki lost the eating contest because his opponent Logi was wildfire itself,

洛基输掉吃饭比赛， 是因为他的对手罗吉是野火，

devouring everything in its path.

所到之处吞噬一切。

Thjalfi couldn’t outrun Hugi because Hugi was the embodiment of thought,

希亚费跑不赢修基， 因为修基是思想的化身，

always faster than action.

思想总是快过行动。

And even Thor couldn’t defeat Elli, or old age,

而伊里则是衰老的象征， 因衰老最终让所有人变得虚弱，

which weakens everyone eventually.

即使索尔也不例外。

As for the other challenges, they had also been illusions.

至于其他的挑战，也都是幻象：

The drinking horn was filled with the ocean,

饮酒的角杯里装的是海洋，

and Thor had drained enough to cause the tides.

索尔喝下去的量，足以掀起海上巨浪；

The cat was the serpent that encircles the world,

猫则是环绕地球的巨蛇，

and Thor’s efforts shifted the earth.

让索尔举起猫，就等于举起地球；

And Skrymir had been Utgard-Loki in disguise,

而巨人斯克里米尔， 是乌特迦 · 洛奇的化身，

deflecting Thor’s hammer-blows to form valleys in the surrounding mountains.

他将索尔的捶打力量 转移到周围的山中，形成了山谷。

The giant congratulated them on their prowess,

乌特迦祝贺他们的杰出才能，

which so frightened him he would never allow them in his land again.

但这力量让他生畏， 禁止他们再踏上这片土地。

Thor and his companions failed the challenges presented to them.

索尔和伙伴虽然挑战失败，

But in trying to achieve the impossible,

但在挑战不可能的过程中，

they’d pushed themselves harder than ever before

他们比以往任何时候更加努力，

and changed the world in ways no one had expected.

用别人想象不到的方式改变了世界。

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我们强烈推荐尼尔·盖曼 写的书：《北欧神话》，

里面有很多引入入胜的故事，

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