The tragic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice - Brendan Pelsue

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

It was the perfect wedding, the guests thought.

客人心想，這是一場完美的婚禮。

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

新郎是奧菲斯， 最偉大的詩人和音樂家。

The bride Eurydice, a wood nymph.

新娘則是尤麗狄絲， 森林中的女仙。

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

大家都看得出來， 他們真正且深深相愛著。

Suddenly, Eurydice stumbled, then fell to the ground.

尤麗狄絲突然間就跌倒在地上。

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

當奧菲斯來到她身邊時， 她已經死了，

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

咬了她的蛇快速穿過草中逃離。

Following Eurydice’s funeral,

在尤麗狄絲的葬禮之後，

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

奧菲斯只感到人類世界 無法容納的莫大悲慟，

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

因此他決定要前往亡者之地，

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

從來沒有生物能從那裡回來，

但他要去救他的摯愛。

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

當奧菲斯到達了地獄之門， 他開始彈起了他的七弦豎琴。

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

這音樂太美了，讓賽伯拉斯， 也就是看守亡者的三頭地獄犬，

lay down as Orpheus passed.

趴在地上讓奧菲斯通過。

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

擺渡人凱倫帶死去的靈魂 渡過冥河並向他們收費，

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

他也深受這音樂感動， 免費帶奧菲斯渡河。

When Orpheus entered the palace of Hades and Persephone,

當奧菲斯進入冥王黑帝斯

和冥后普西芬妮的宮殿，

the king and queen of the dead,

he began to sing.

他便開始唱歌。

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

他唱出他對尤麗狄絲的愛， 並說她太早被帶走。

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

和所有的生物一樣， 她要永遠住在

dwelled in the land of the dead for all eternity,

死者之地的那一天將會來臨，

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

所以黑帝斯能不能 允許她在地球上多待幾年？

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

奧菲斯唱完之後， 整個地獄靜止不動。

Sisyphus no longer rolled his rock up the hill.

西西佛斯不再 把他的巨石推上山丘。

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

坦達羅斯不再試著去喝 他不被允許喝的水。

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

甚至是邪惡的復仇女神 三姐妹也哭泣了。

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

黑帝斯和普西芬妮同意了 奧菲斯的請求，但有一個條件。

As he climbed back out of the underworld,

在他爬出地獄時，

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

他不能轉身看尤麗狄絲 是否跟在他身後。

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

如果他看了，她就得返回 亡者之地，永遠不能離開。

Orpheus began to climb.

奧菲斯開始攀爬。

With each step,

每多爬一步，

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

他就更擔心尤麗狄絲 是否在他身後。

He heard nothing— where were her footsteps?

他沒聽見任何聲音—— 她的腳步聲呢？

Finally, just before he stepped out of the underworld

最後，就在他要踏出地獄

and into the bright light of day,

回到陽光之下時，

he gave into temptation.

他向誘惑屈服了。

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

奧菲斯嘗試回到地獄， 但被拒絕進入。

Separated from Eurydice,

奧菲斯與尤麗狄絲分離後，

Orpheus swore never to love another woman again.

發誓絕對不會再愛上別的女人。

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

他坐在小樹林中，唱著情人的歌。

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

包括俊秀的男孩加尼米德， 宙斯指定他為神斟酒。

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

還有麥拉，因愛上了 她的父親而被懲罰，

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

還有畢馬龍，用象牙 雕刻出他理想中的女人，

then prayed to Venus until she came to life.

然後向維納斯祈禱，直到她活過來。

還有維納斯自己，

And there was Venus herself,

whose beautiful Adonis was killed by a wild boar.

她所愛的美男子 阿多尼斯被野豬殺死。

It was as if Orpheus’s own love and loss

彷彿奧菲斯自己的愛與失去

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

讓他能看穿各地人與神的心。

For some, however, poetry was not enough.

然而對於一些人來說，詩並不足夠。

A group of wild women called the Maenads

有一個狂野女人的 群體，叫做邁那得，

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

她們無法忍受一個能把愛 唱得如此美麗的詩人

would not love them.

竟然不愛她們。

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

她們的忌妒使她們瘋狂， 她們摧毀了可憐的奧菲斯。

The birds, nature’s singers, mourned Orpheus,

鳥兒，也就是大自然的歌手， 為奧菲斯哀悼，

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

潺潺作聲來譜寫 音樂的小河也為他哀悼。

世界已經失去了兩個偉大的人。

The world had lost two great souls.

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

奧菲斯和尤麗狄絲對彼此的愛 太深，以致於當他們分開時，

Orpheus had understood the pain and joys of lovers everywhere,

奧菲斯能夠了解全天下 愛人的痛苦和喜悅，

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

一種新的藝術形式， 情詩，因此誕生了。

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

雖然世界在哭泣，

但奧菲斯和他的另一半 在地獄裡找到了寧靜。

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

至今，在地獄裡，

他還是會和尤麗狄絲 在冥河的河岸散步。

Sometimes, they stroll side by side;

有時，他們會肩併肩地散步，

sometimes, she is in front;

有時，她走在前面；

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

有時，他帶頭，想要轉身 看看她的時候，就轉身看看她。