The myth of Hercules: 12 labors in 8-bits - Alex Gendler

翻译人员: Riley WANG 校对人员: Liu Qi

Hercules, son of Zeus and champion of humankind,

宙斯之子，人类王者赫拉克勒斯

gazed in horror as he realized

惊恐地瞪大了双眼，

he had just committed the most unspeakable crime imaginable.

意识到自己刚刚犯下了 难以想象的可怕罪行。

The goddess Hera, who hated Hercules for being born of her husband’s adultery,

女神赫拉因痛恨赫拉克勒斯， 她丈夫的私生子，

had stricken him with a temporary curse of madness.

施法让他陷入短暂的癫狂状态，

And his own family were the casualties.

赫拉克勒斯的家人因此受害。

Consumed by grief, Hercules sought out the Oracle of Delphi,

赫拉克勒斯怀着悲痛 寻求德尔菲的神谕，

who told him the path to atonement lay with his cousin,

被指点了一条救赎之路——

即找到他的表兄，也是赫拉的宠信， 梯林斯的国王欧律斯透斯。

King Eurystheus of Tiryns, a favorite of Hera’s.

Eurystheus hoped to humiliate Hercules with ten impossible tasks

欧律斯透斯计划用十项 不可能完成的任务羞辱赫拉克勒斯，

that pitted him against invincible monsters

这些任务包含难以战胜的怪兽，

and unfathomable forces.

和深不可测的力量。

Instead, the king set the stage for an epic series of adventures

国王此举反而成就了 一系列史诗探险，

that would come to be known as the Labors of Hercules.

后来被称为赫拉克勒斯的伟业。

The first labor was to slay the Nemean Lion,

第一项任务是杀死涅墨亚的狮子，

who kidnapped women and devoured warriors.

这头狮子掳掠妇女，吞食战士，

Its golden fur was impervious to arrows,

连弓箭都无法穿透它的金色皮毛，

but Hercules cornered the lion in its dark cave,

但赫拉克勒斯将狮子 围困到黑暗的洞穴，

stunned it with a club,

用棍棒将其打晕，

and strangled it with his bare hands.

并徒手掐死了狮子。

He found no tool sharp enough to skin the beast,

他找不到可以剥狮子皮的锋利工具，

until the goddess Athena suggested using one of its own claws.

直到雅典娜建议他用狮爪剥下狮皮。

Hercules returned to Tiryns wearing the lion’s hide,

赫拉克勒斯穿着这张兽皮返回梯林斯，

frightening King Eurystheus so much that he hid in a wine jar.

吓得国王欧律斯透斯 躲到了红酒桶中。

From then on, Hercules was ordered

从那以后，赫拉克勒斯被要求

to present his trophies at a safe distance.

只能站在安全的距离展示他的战利品。

The second target was the Lernaean Hydra, a giant serpent with many heads.

第二个目标是水蛇海德拉， 一条长着多个脑袋的巨蟒。

Hercules fought fiercely,

赫拉克勒斯与之激烈地搏斗，

but every time he cut one head off, two more grew in its place.

但每当他砍掉一个蛇头， 原来的地方会重新长出两个头。

The battle was hopeless

战胜的希望渺茫，

until his nephew Iolaus thought to cauterize the necks with fire,

这时，赫拉克勒斯的侄子伊奥劳斯 提议用火来烧断蛇颈，

keeping the heads from regrowing.

阻止蛇头重新长出来。

The dead serpent’s remains became the Hydra constellation.

死掉的毒蛇尸体化为了长蛇座。

Instead of slaying a beast, Hercules next had to catch one, alive.

接下来的任务不是去杀猛兽， 而是要活捉牝鹿，

The Ceryneian Hind was a female deer so fast it could outrun an arrow.

刻律涅牝鹿是一种雌性鹿， 速度极快，可以躲过弓箭。

Hercules tracked it for a year,

赫拉克勒斯追踪了它一整年，

finally trapping it in the northern land of Hyperborea.

最终在亥帕波尼亚北部困住了它。

The animal turned out to be sacred to Artemis, goddess of the hunt,

这只牝鹿竟是狩猎女神 阿尔忒弥斯的坐骑，

and Hercules swore to return it.

赫拉克勒斯发誓一定会还回来。

When Eurystheus saw the hind, he demanded to keep it instead,

但欧律斯透斯一看到牝鹿， 便要求将其留为己用，

but as soon as Hercules let go, the animal ran to its mistress.

但是赫拉克勒斯刚一松手， 牝鹿便跑向了它的女主人。

Thus, Hercules completed his task without breaking his promise.

因此赫拉克勒斯既完成了任务， 也没有食言。

The fourth mission was to capture the Erymanthian boar,

第四项任务是 抓住厄律曼托斯的野猪，

which had ravaged many fields.

这头野猪践踏了许多田地。

Advised by the wise centaur Chiron,

赫拉克勒斯按照半人马喀戎的建议，

Hercules trapped it by chasing it into thick snow.

将野猪赶到积雪深厚的地方抓住了它。

For the fifth task, there were no animals, just their leftovers.

第五项任务不是动物， 而是动物的排泄物。

The stables where King Augeas kept his hundreds of divine cattle

国王奥吉亚斯的牛棚里 养着上百头神牛，

had not been maintained in ages.

数年来未曾打理，

Hercules promised to clean them in one day

赫拉克勒斯承诺在一天之内 将牛棚清洗完毕，

if he could keep one-tenth of the livestock.

条件是分给他十分之一的牛群。

Augeas expected the hero to fail.

奥吉亚斯认定赫拉克勒斯会失败。

Instead, Hercules dug massive trenches,

但是，赫拉克勒斯挖了 一条巨大的沟渠，

rerouting two nearby rivers to flow through the stables

将两条附近的河流引经牛棚，

until they were spotless.

直到将牛棚彻底冲洗干净。

Next came three more beastly foes,

接下来要面对的是 三个更加残忍的对手，

each requiring a clever strategy to defeat.

每一个都需要智谋来取胜。

The carnivorous Stymphalian birds nested in an impenetrable swamp,

斯廷法利斯怪鸟 巢居在深不可测的沼泽，

but Hercules used Athena’s special rattle to frighten them into the air,

赫拉克勒斯在雅典娜的帮助下 用特殊的声响惊飞鸟群，

at which point he shot them down.

之后瞄准飞起的鸟将其击落。

No mortal could stand before the Cretan bull’s mad rampage,

没有哪个凡人能挑战 疯狂肆虐的克里特公牛，

but a chokehold from behind did the trick.

但他从牛的背后 套住牛脖子制服了它。

And the mad King Diomedes,

接下来是疯王狄俄墨得斯，

who had trained his horses to devour his guests,

他训练食人马吃掉来宾，

got a taste of his own medicine

但最终却自食苦果。

when Hercules wrestled him into his own stables.

赫拉克勒斯把他扔到了马厩中，

The ensuing feast calmed the beasts enough for Hercules to bind their mouths.

食人马匹安静下来大快朵颐， 赫拉克勒斯借此机会绑住马嘴。

But the ninth labor involved someone more dangerous than any beast,

第九项任务涉及到 比任何野兽都更可怕的人，

Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.

亚马逊女王希波吕忒。

Hercules was to retrieve the belt given to her by her father Ares, the god of war.

赫拉克勒斯前去取回 女王之父战神阿瑞斯赠给她的腰带。

He sailed to the Amazon land of Themyscira prepared for battle,

他航行到特弥斯奇拉的 亚马逊准备战斗时，

but the queen was so impressed with the hero and his exploits

女王被赫拉克勒斯的英雄事迹打动，

that she gave the belt willingly.

自愿交出了腰带。

For his tenth labor,

到了第十项考验，

Hercules had to steal a herd of magical red cattle from Geryon,

赫拉克勒斯需要从革律翁那里 偷回一群赤色疯牛，

a giant with three heads and three bodies.

革律翁是拥有三个身体和 三个头的巨人。

On his way, Hercules was so annoyed by the Libyan desert heat

路途中，赫拉克勒斯被 利比亚沙漠的酷热折磨的心烦，

that he shot an arrow at the Sun.

于是便向太阳射了一箭。

The sun god Helios admired the hero’s strength

太阳神赫利俄斯欣赏这位英雄的力量，

and lent his chariot for the journey to the island of Erytheia.

把四马金车借给了他前往厄律忒亚岛。

There, Hercules fought off Geryon’s herdsman

赫拉克勒斯先与放牧人，

and his two-headed dog, before killing the giant himself.

还有双头猎狗搏斗， 最后杀死了巨人革律翁。

That should have been the end.

任务本应到此为止。

But Eurystheus announced that two labors hadn’t counted:

但欧律斯透斯宣布其中两项不算数：

the Hydra, because Iolaus had helped Hercules kill it,

一项是毒蛇海德拉， 因为伊奥劳斯帮助了赫拉克勒斯，

and the stables, because he’d accepted payment.

另一项是清洗牛棚， 因为他接受了赏赐。

And so, the hero set about his eleventh task,

于是这位英雄踏上旅程 完成第十一项任务——

obtaining golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides nymphs.

从赫斯帕里得斯仙女的花园中 摘取金苹果。

Hercules began by catching the Old Man of the Sea

赫拉克勒斯先是抓住了海神，

and holding the shape-shifting water-god until he revealed the garden’s location.

让这位能够改变水形态的神 说出花园的地点。

Once there, the hero found the titan Atlas holding up the heavens.

到达那里后，他发现 阿特拉斯巨人背负青天。

Hercules offered to take his place if Atlas would retrieve the apples.

他提议若阿特拉斯能够拿到金苹果， 他愿代替阿特拉斯的扛着青天。

Atlas eagerly complied, but Hercules then tricked him into trading places again,

阿特拉斯欣然同意，但赫拉克勒斯 之后又用计让他重新扛起青天，

escaping with apples in hand.

赫拉克勒斯拿着苹果逃跑了。

The twelfth and final task was to bring back Cerberus,

第十二项，也是最终一项任务是 把刻耳柏洛斯带回来。

the three-headed hound guarding the underworld.

这是一只守卫底地底世界的三头猎犬，

Helped by Hermes and Athena, Hercules descended and met Hades himself.

在赫尔墨斯和雅典娜的帮助下， 赫拉克勒斯见到了冥王哈德斯。

The lord of the dead allowed Hercules to take the beast

冥王允许赫拉克勒斯带走猎犬，

if he could do it without weapons,

前提是他不能使用武器，

which he achieved by grabbing all three of its heads at once.

赫拉克勒斯同时抓住 猎犬的三个脑袋，制服了它。

When he presented the hound to a horrified Eurystheus,

当他将猎犬呈现给欧律斯透斯国王时， 国王大为震惊，

the king finally declared the hero’s service complete.

并最终宣布赫拉克勒斯的任务 全部完成。

After 12 years of toil,

经过了12年的辛劳，

Hercules had redeemed the tragic deaths of his family

赫拉克勒斯从家族惨死的悲剧中 得到了救赎，

and earned a place in the divine pantheon.

并在万神庙中赢得了一席之地。

But his victory held an even deeper importance.

他的胜利还具有更深层次的意义，

In overcoming the chaotic and monstrous forces of the world,

在面对世界上混乱可怕的力量时，

the hero swept away what remained of the Titans’ primordial order,

这位英雄打破了神族的原始秩序，

reshaping it into one where humanity could thrive.

创造了让人类繁衍的秩序。

Through his labors,

通过这些任务，

Hercules tamed the world’s madness by atoning for his own.

赫拉克勒斯为自己赎了罪， 也训诫了世界上其他暴行。