The tragic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice - Brendan Pelsue

Translator: Sylvia He Reviewer: 潘 可儿

「撥動琴弦唱出低迴婉轉嘅旋律 引得心如鐵石嘅普路托淚濕雙頰，

令地獄允許將愛情所求嘅配畀佢。」 ——《沉思頌》尊．彌爾頓

賓客都認為呢個係個完美嘅婚禮

It was the perfect wedding, the guests thought.

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

新郎奧費斯 係最偉大嘅詩人同音樂家

The bride Eurydice, a wood nymph.

新娘尤麗狄絲 係一個寧芙仙女

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

人人都知佢哋好相愛

Suddenly, Eurydice stumbled, then fell to the ground.

突然間，尤麗狄絲躀低落地

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

等奧費斯趕到時，佢已經過身

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

咬死佢嘅蛇喺草叢度滑走

Following Eurydice’s funeral,

尤麗狄絲嘅喪禮之後

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

奧費斯悲痛欲絕

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

決定去冇人可以翻生嘅地府度

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

救返佢嘅摯愛

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

喺地府門口，奧費斯彈起佢嘅豎琴

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

樂聲美妙到令門口嘅三頭犬 西柏萊斯瞓低

lay down as Orpheus passed.

畀奧費斯行過

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

喺冥河幫鬼魂擺渡嘅卡隆

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

亦俾奧費斯嘅音樂感動到 免費幫佢過河

When Orpheus entered the palace of Hades and Persephone,

奧費斯入到冥宮

the king and queen of the dead,

對著冥王同冥後唱歌

he began to sing.

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

傾訴佢對尤麗狄絲嘅愛念

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

佢話，尤麗狄絲走得太早

dwelled in the land of the dead for all eternity,

既然終有一日佢會好似萬物一樣 永遠留喺冥界

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

噉冥王可唔可以畀佢返生幾年？

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

奧費斯唱完之後，成個地獄一片肅靜

Sisyphus no longer rolled his rock up the hill.

西西佛斯冇繼續推石頭上山

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

坦達羅斯冇再想飲禁忌之水

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

甚至連復仇之神法利斯，都竟然開始喊

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

冥王同冥後同意奧費斯嘅要求 不過有個條件

As he climbed back out of the underworld,

喺佢離開冥界時

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

佢唔可以擰轉個頭來睇尤麗狄絲

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

唔係嘅話，尤麗狄絲將會永遠留喺冥界

Orpheus began to climb.

奧費斯開始爬

With each step,

每爬一步

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

佢都擔心一下 尤麗狄絲有冇真係跟喺後邊

He heard nothing— where were her footsteps?

佢咩都聽唔到 尤麗狄絲嘅腳步聲喺邊？

Finally, just before he stepped out of the underworld

最尾，喺奧費斯即刻要離開冥界時

and into the bright light of day,

離光明就差一步時

he gave into temptation.

佢卒之忍唔住擰頭

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

奧費斯再次返到地府時，食咗閉門羹

Separated from Eurydice,

失去尤麗狄絲之後

Orpheus swore never to love another woman again.

奧費斯發誓唔會再愛上任何女人

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

佢喺樹林度歌唱悲傷嘅愛情故事

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

有關於宙斯任命為伺酒神嘅 美少年加尼米德

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

有關於因為愛上父親而俾懲罰嘅麥拉

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

有關於將象牙雕成理想女人嘅皮格梅隆

then prayed to Venus until she came to life.

佢向維納斯祈禱 直到雕像成為真人

And there was Venus herself,

仲有同維納斯有關嘅︰

whose beautiful Adonis was killed by a wild boar.

佢寵愛嘅、俊美嘅阿多尼斯俾野豬殺死

It was as if Orpheus’s own love and loss

奧費斯嘅愛同喪失之痛

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

令佢見到凡人同神明嘅心

For some, however, poetry was not enough.

但係，詩歌滿足唔到所有人

A group of wild women called the Maenads

有群叫邁納德斯嘅癲女人

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

冇辦法接受 呢個歌頌美好愛情嘅詩人對佢哋嘅無情

would not love them.

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

佢哋嘅嫉妒使佢哋癲到殺咗奧費斯

The birds, nature’s singers, mourned Orpheus,

雀仔，大自然嘅歌唱者 為佢默哀

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

用水聲唱歌嘅河流都係咁

The world had lost two great souls.

呢個世界冇咗兩個偉大嘅靈魂

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

尤麗狄絲同奥費斯深深相愛

Orpheus had understood the pain and joys of lovers everywhere,

佢哋分離後 奥費斯明白咗愛嘅悲與喜

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

於是，情詩呢種新嘅藝術形式就誕生咗

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

世界喺度喊時，奥費斯感覺到平靜 佢同愛人喺冥界團聚

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

直到依家 佢都仲同尤麗狄絲喺冥河邊散步

Sometimes, they stroll side by side;

有時並排行

sometimes, she is in front;

有時尤麗狄絲行先

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

有時奥費斯行先 佢鍾意時不時擰轉頭去望尤麗狄絲