The myth of King Midas and his golden touch - Iseult Gillespie

翻译人员: Riley WANG 校对人员: Chien Yet Chong

"金子未必都闪光..." — J.R.R 托尔金 《护戒使者》

With his harebrained schemes and asinine dealings with the gods,

因谋事草率 和在神面前的愚蠢表现，

King Midas ruled the ancient kingdom of Phrygia with an uneven hand.

在古老王国弗里吉亚 迈达斯并不是一位贤明君主。

He was known in Greek mythology as a rogue ruler

在希腊神话中 他以胡作非为而著称

whose antics bemused his people and distracted the gods.

他滑稽的行为 使民众不解，惹神明发笑。

Midas spent his days in a stupor of splendor,

迈达斯生活奢靡，终日酒醉，

spoiling himself and his beloved daughter and gorging himself on feasts and wine.

他放纵自己，溺爱女儿 在酒池肉林中享乐。

Unsurprisingly, he felt an affinity with Dionysus,

因此，他欣赏身为酒神、狂喜之神 和戏剧之神的狄俄尼索斯

god of wine, carnival, and performance.

也并不令人意外。

One day, Midas discovered a satyr

一天，迈达斯发现一个半羊人萨提尔

dozing in his rose garden and drunk on more than the scent of flowers.

在他的玫瑰花园中打盹，

显然令他沉醉的并非玫瑰香气。

Midas recognized the satyr as one of Dionysus’s followers

迈达斯认出这个萨提尔 是狄俄倪索斯的信徒之一，

and let him nurse his hangover at the palace.

于是便让他在 自己的宫殿里缓解宿醉。

Pleased with the king’s hospitality, Dionysus offered to grant him one wish.

狄俄倪索斯听后表示非常满意

并提出满足迈达斯一个愿望。

Midas cast a greedy eye over his surroundings.

迈达斯贪婪地瞥了一眼四周。

Despite the luxury in which he lived,

虽然他的生活已经十分豪华，

no amount of precious jewels, finest silk or splendid decor felt like enough.

但价值连城的珠宝、上好的丝绸 和华丽的装饰是怎么也不嫌多的。

His life, he thought, was lacking luster; what he needed was more gold.

他觉得自己的生活缺少光泽 他想要更多黄金。

The god sent the power to turn anything the king touched to gold

于是，酒神赐予他点金术，

能把任何触碰到的物体变成黄金。

surging through Midas.

Ecstatic, he turned to his possessions.

狂喜的迈达斯奔向自己的财产。

At his lightest touch, the palace walls transformed,

只需轻轻一碰， 宫殿墙壁面目一新、

stone statues shone,

石像金光灿灿、

and goblets glittered.

高脚杯闪闪发光。

He galloped through his home in a frenzy,

他疯狂地在家里奔跑，

handling each item until it took on a lustrous sheen.

触碰每一件物品 直至所有物品都光彩夺目。

Soon the palace heaved with gold,

很快，皇宫里一片金色，

and Midas’s delirious laughter echoed off the walls.

迈达斯欣喜若狂 大笑声在宫殿回荡。

Exhausted and hungry from his rampage,

这阵兴奋过后， 迈达斯又累又饿，

Midas picked up a bunch of grapes from his newly gilded fruit bowl.

他从镀金的水果碗里 拿起一串葡萄吃。

But he nearly shattered his teeth,

但这险些咯碎了他的牙，

for the fruit had turned to metal in his mouth.

因为这串葡萄 在他的嘴里变成了金子。

When he picked up a loaf of bread, the crumbs hardened in his hand.

当他拿起一条面包， 面包在手中变得坚硬无比。

Flinging himself onto his bed in frustration,

沮丧的他扑倒在床上，

Midas discovered his plush pillows had morphed into solid gold.

却发现松软的枕头 也变成了坚硬的黄金。

Hearing his cries of frustration, his daughter entered the room.

听到父亲难过的哭喊， 迈达斯的女儿走进房间。

But when Midas reached out to her,

但当迈达斯伸手碰到女儿时，

he saw with horror that he had frozen her into a golden statue.

他惊恐地发现 自己把女儿变成了黄金雕像。

Horrified at what he had done,

迈达斯吓坏了，

Midas begged the gods to rid him of his power.

他恳求神解除他的能力。

Taking pity on the foolish king,

狄俄倪索斯可怜这个蠢国王，

Dionysus told Midas to wash his hands in the River Pactolus.

便让他去帕克托罗斯河 清洗自己的双手。

When Midas reached into the river, the gold drained from his fingertips.

迈达斯在河水中洗手时， 黄金便从他的指尖流走。

Midas returned home to find his daughter alive

迈达斯回到家中 发现女儿重新活了过来，

and his palace back to normal, and he rejoiced.

宫殿也重回原貌， 他感到十分欣喜。

You’d think he would’ve learned his lesson,

你可能以为他会吸取教训，

but just a few weeks later, Midas blundered again,

但仅仅几周之后 迈达斯又一次酿成大错。

insulting the music and sun god Apollo when he declared Pan a greater musician.

他宣称潘神是更出色的音乐家，

但这是对音乐之神、 太阳神阿波罗的侮辱。

Apollo scornfully declared that the king must have the ears of an ass

阿波罗轻蔑地说 迈达斯一定是有一对驴耳朵

to make such a misjudgment, and transformed Midas accordingly.

才会做出这样错误的判断，

并且真的给了迈达斯一对驴耳朵。

Once again regretting his behavior,

迈达斯再一次 后悔自己的行为，

Midas kept his hairy ears hidden in public.

将毛茸茸的驴耳朵藏起来 不让民众看到。

They were seen only by his barber,

知道这件事的只有理发师。

who was sworn to secrecy during a very awkward grooming session.

在一次极为尴尬的理发中 他发誓绝不泄密。

The barber stifled his laughter and fought the desire to tell someone,

理发师忍着不笑 克制自己，不告诉其他人，

yet the secret consumed him.

但是他实在被秘密折磨地受不了。

One day, he walked outside the city and dug a hole in the ground.

某天，他在城外的地上挖了一个坑，

Plunging his head into the earth,

把自己的脑袋伸进坑里，

the desperate barber whispered, “Midas has ass’s ears.”

忍不住小声说 “迈达斯有一对驴耳朵。”

Soon after, a clump of reeds sprang up

不久之后， 在理发师埋藏秘密的那个坑里

in the spot where the barber had buried his words.

长出了一丛芦苇。

When the wind blew, they carried the echoes of his whisper through the breeze:

风吹过时，芦苇发出声音 随轻风飘荡：

"Midas has ass’s ears."

“迈达斯有一对驴耳朵。”

At the sound, donkeys in the fields raised their heads in recognition

田里的驴子听到这声音会抬起头，

and people chuckled to themselves at the follies of their king.

人们听到后则笑话国王的愚蠢。

With his golden touch and ass’s ears, Midas was not the most respected ruler.

因为点金术和驴耳朵， 迈达斯算不上是最受尊敬的统治者。

And where other leaders were honored through statues and temples,

对其他统治者 人民会修建雕像和庙宇以表尊敬，

his people remembered him a little differently:

相比之下 人们记住迈达斯的方式则有所不同：

in the depths of the glittering river and the rustle of the Phrygian wind.

答案就在那闪着金光的河水 和弗里吉亚风儿的沙沙声里。