The myth of Loki and the deadly mistletoe - Iseult Gillespie

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

Baldur— son of All Father Odin and Queen Frigg,

巴德爾——眾神之父奧丁 和皇后弗麗嘉的兒子，

husband of Nanna the Peaceful, and God of truth and light—

和平南娜的丈夫， 真相與光明之神——

was the gentlest and most beloved being in all of Asgard.

是全阿斯嘉最溫和也最受愛戴的神。

In his great hall of Breidablik,

在他的光明宮布列達布利克裡，

Baldur’s soothing presence eased his subject’s woes.

巴爾德讓人寬心的存在， 緩和了他臣民的悲傷。

But lately, he was plagued by troubles of his own.

但，最近，他自己也飽受問題所苦。

Every night, Baldur had gruesome visions foretelling his own imminent death.

每晚，巴爾德都有可怕的幻覺，

預言他的死亡即將到來。

Determined to protect her son from these grim prophecies,

皇后弗麗嘉下定決心 要保護她的兒子，

Queen Frigg travelled across the nine realms,

不讓這些殘酷的預言實現， 因此她行遍九界，

begging all living things not to harm Baldur.

乞求所有的生者不要傷害巴爾德。

Her grace moved each being she encountered.

她的美意感動了 每一個她遇到的存在。

Every animal and element, every plague and plant, every blade and bug

所有的動物及元素， 所有的瘟疫與植物，

所有的葉片與小蟲， 都樂意立下保證。

gladly gave their word.

Frigg returned to Breidablik, and threw a great feast to celebrate.

弗麗嘉返回光明宮， 辦了一場盛宴來慶祝。

Wine flowed freely, and soon the gods took turns testing Baldur’s immunity.

大家暢飲著葡萄酒，很快，

眾神便輪流測試巴爾德是否免疫。

Lurking in the corner, Loki rolled his eyes.

洛基躲在角落翻白眼。

The trickster god had never cared for Baldur the Bright,

惡作劇之神從來就不在乎 光明之神巴爾德，

and found his new gift profoundly irritating.

他的新禮物更是讓洛基非常惱火。

Surely there was a flaw in Frigg’s plan.

弗麗嘉的計畫一定會有瑕疵的。

Taking the form of an old woman,

洛基採用了老女人的裝扮，

Loki crept to Frigg’s side and feigned confusion.

悄悄到了弗麗嘉身邊，裝作很困惑。

Why were the gods attacking sweet Baldur, whom they all loved so dearly?

為什麼眾神要攻擊 他們敬愛且和藹的巴爾德？

Frigg told her of the oaths, but the old woman pressed on.

弗麗嘉告訴老女人關於誓言的事， 但老女人繼續逼迫。

Surely you didn’t receive a vow from everything, she asked.

老女人問，你肯定沒有 得到萬物的誓言吧。

Frigg shrugged.

弗麗嘉聳肩。

The only being she hadn’t visited was mistletoe.

她唯一沒有拜訪的就是槲寄生。

After all, what god could fear a trifling weed?

畢竟，哪有神會懼怕一棵小草？

At this, Loki dashed outside to find a sprig of mistletoe.

聽到此，洛基衝到外面， 去找一枝槲寄生。

When he returned, the festivities had grown even rowdier.

當他回來時，歡慶變得更喧鬧了。

But not every god was enjoying the party.

但並非所有的神都很享受這派對。

Baldur’s brother Hodur, who was blind and weapon-less, sat dejected.

巴爾德的兄弟霍爾德是盲者，

他沒有武器，沮喪地坐著。

Seeing his opportunity,

惡作劇之神看見了機會，

the trickster slyly offered Hodur a chance to participate.

狡猾地給霍爾德一個參與的機會。

Loki armed him with mistletoe, guided his aim towards his brother,

洛基把槲寄生交給他， 引導他瞄準他的兄弟，

and told Hodur to hurl with all his might.

並告訴霍爾德盡全力射箭。

The mistletoe pierced Baldur’s chest with deadly force.

槲寄生穿過了巴爾德的胸部， 力量大到足以致命。

The god’s light quickly flickered out, and despair swept over the crowd.

光明之神的光馬上就開始搖曳不定，

絕望在群眾間彌漫。

Within moments, the impact of Baldur’s death could be felt

很快的，九界都感受到了

巴爾德之死所帶來的衝擊。

across the nine realms.

But from the weeping masses, Hermod the Brave stepped forward.

但，勇敢的赫爾莫德 從哭泣的大眾中站出來。

The warrior god believed that with the help of Odin’s mighty steed,

這位善戰的神相信， 若有奧丁的萬能駿馬協助，

there was no plane he could not reach.

他便可以到達任何地方。

He would travel to halls of Hel herself, and bring Baldur home.

他要親自到冥界一趟， 將巴爾德帶回家。

The god rode for nine days and nine nights,

赫爾莫德騎了九天九夜，

past halls of corpses and over paths paved with bone.

穿過屍體的廳堂， 通過舖滿骨頭的路。

When he finally reached the Queen of the Underworld,

當赫爾莫德終於見到了 地底世界的皇后，

Hermod begged her to return Baldur to his family.

他請求她讓巴爾德回家。

Hel considered taking pity, but she wanted to know the extent of the gods’ mourning.

海拉在考慮發揮同情心，

但她想知道眾神的悲傷到什麼程度。

She agreed to relinquish Baldur’s soul—

她同意交出巴爾德的靈魂——

if Hermod could prove that every living thing wept at Baldur’s death.

如果赫爾莫德能證明所有生者

都在為巴爾德之死哭泣。

Hermod shot back to the land of the living.

赫爾莫德趕回生者的世界。

He met with every creature that Frigg visited earlier—

他去見了弗麗嘉先前 造訪過的所有生物——

all of which cried for Baldur and begged for his return.

這些生物全都在為巴爾德 哭泣並祈求他能回來。

Meanwhile, Loki watched Hermod’s mission with disdain.

同時，

洛基鄙視地看著 赫爾莫德執行這個任務。

He would not let his work be so easily undone,

他不會讓自己的努力輕易被反轉，

but if he interfered too boldly it might reveal his hand in Baldur’s murder.

但若他太冒失地干涉，

可能會洩露他與巴爾德的謀殺有關。

Disguising himself as a ferocious giant, he hid himself at Hermod’s final stop.

他把自己偽裝成兇殘的巨人，

躲在赫爾莫德的最終站。

When the warrior came,

當這位戰士到來時，

the howling wind and craggy rocks each declared their love for Baldur.

呼嘯的風和峻峭的岩石 都聲明它們對巴爾德的愛。

But the giant within spewed only contempt for the deceased.

但這位巨人只不屑地傾吐 對這名死者的輕視。

No matter how much Hermod begged, she would not shed a single tear.

不論赫爾莫德如何乞求，

她就是不肯流下一滴眼淚。

With his last hope dashed, the god began to mourn Baldur a second time.

最後一線希望破滅之後，

赫爾莫德開始二度為巴爾德哀悼。

But an echo from the cave rang out above his sobs.

但洞穴內的迴音大聲響起， 壓過了他的啜泣。

Loki’s twisted cackle was well-known to every Asgardian,

阿斯嘉沒有人不知道 洛基出名的咯咯笑聲，

and Hermod realized he’d been tricked.

赫爾莫德明白他被耍了。

As he leapt to accost the trickster,

當他立刻躍過去找這個惡作劇者時，

Loki took the form of a salmon and wriggled into the waterfall.

洛基變身成了鮭魚， 搖擺游進了瀑布。

His escape was guaranteed, until Thor arrived at the scene.

他肯定可以逃走，

直到索爾抵達現場。

Dragging Loki back to the cave, the gods bound him with a poisonous serpent.

兩位神把洛基拖回到洞穴內，

用有毒的大蛇將他束縛住。

Here, Loki would remain chained until the end of days—

洛基會一直被鏈在這裡，直到永遠，

the serpent dripping venom on his brow as punishment

大蛇會把毒液滴在 他的額頭上作為懲罰。

for dousing Asgard’s brightest light.

因為他讓阿斯嘉最明亮的光熄滅了。