The myth of Narcissus and Echo - Iseult Gillespie

譯者: Camila Lin 審譯者: Helen Chang

Hera, queen of the gods, was on the edge of her throne.

眾神之后赫拉站在她的王座邊。

A mountain nymph named Echo, renowned for her charm and chatter,

山之仙女艾可（Echo，迴聲） 因魅力和多話出名，

was regaling her with a sensational story.

而她正在用美妙的故事取悅赫拉。

But what Hera didn’t know was that Echo was merely distracting her

但赫拉不知道艾可只是想以此絆住她，

while her husband, Zeus,

因為她的丈夫宙斯

was frolicking about with the other nymphs.

正在和其他仙女一同嬉戲。

Unfortunately for Echo, Zeus got sloppy, and Hera realized what was going on.

但對艾可來說，不幸的事情發生了： 宙斯變得粗心，赫拉發現了真相。

Enraged by Echo’s duplicity—

她因艾可欺騙自己憤怒不已，

and powerless to stop her husband’s adultery—

也因為無力阻止她丈夫通姦而憤怒，

Hera decided to silence the nymph for good.

因此赫拉決定永遠剝奪艾可的聲音。

From then on, Echo could no longer enrapture listeners with her stories;

之後，艾可再也無法用故事吸引聽眾，

she could only repeat the last words another said.

她只能複誦其他人講的最後幾個字。

As her conversations became dull and her company undesirable,

在她的應答變得沉悶， 她的陪伴讓人討厭後，

Echo grew dispirited.

艾可變得毫無生氣。

One day, while Echo was drifting through the woods,

某一天，當艾可正在森林中漫遊時，

she spotted a young man hunting deer.

她看見一個正在獵鹿的年輕人。

It was Narcissus, the stunningly beautiful son of a river god and water nymph.

那是英俊絕倫的納西瑟斯， 河神與水之仙女的兒子。

After his birth, a seer had given his mother a cryptic prophecy:

在他誕生後，一位先知告訴他母親 一個曖昧的預言：

Narcissus would live a long life— but only if he never really knew himself.

如果納西瑟斯永遠不瞭解真正的自己， 那他就能安享晚年。

No one was sure exactly what to make of this.

但沒人知道應該怎麼解讀這個預言。

And, in the meantime, Narcissus grew into a proud youth.

而這時的納西瑟斯， 已經成了驕傲的年輕人。

His good looks attracted many admirers.

他的英俊外貌吸引了無數追求者。

But he preferred to amble through life on his own

但他卻想過獨身生活，

and left a trail of broken hearts in his wake.

走到哪兒，就讓人的心碎到哪兒。

Seeing Narcissus there, Echo was filled with longing.

看見納西瑟斯後，艾可心中充滿渴望。

Unable to initiate a conversation, she walked after him.

因為無法開啟對話， 她只能默默跟在他後面。

Soon, Narcissus heard a rustle, and called out,

但沒過多久，納西瑟斯就聽見 一陣沙沙聲，因此叫道：

“Who goes there? Who are you?”

「誰在那裏？你是誰？」

Echo revealed herself, but only repeated the word “you,”

艾可乖乖現形， 但只複誦「你」當作回答。

making her tone as endearing as possible as she went to hold him.

她盡可能讓語氣甜美， 同時走過去抱住他。

Agitated, Narcissus said, “Let me go, I can’t stay.”

納西瑟斯不自在地說： 「放開我，我不能留在這裡。」

Echo could only counter with a plea for him to do so.

艾可只能以手勢請求他留下。

Freeing himself from her embrace, Narcissus snapped,

但納西瑟斯掙脫她的懷抱，厲聲說：

“I’d rather die than have you love me!”

「我寧願去死也不要妳的愛！」

To which Echo could only cry, “Love me... love me.”

艾可只能哭著回答：「愛我，愛我。」

Narcissus told Echo once more to leave him alone,

納西瑟斯又說了一遍「別再跟著我」，

then faded from her gaze.

就消失在她的視線之外。

Echo wandered to a cave.

艾可走進一座山洞。

And gradually, her heart grew heavy and her body frail

她的心逐漸沉重，而身體日漸虛弱，

until all that was left of her was her voice,

最後只剩下她的聲音，

which the wind carried to vast, empty places.

被風帶到空曠無人的地方。

Forever after, it could be heard reverberating through hollow caves

之後，在空曠的山洞中 或是空無一人的空地，

and rebounding across lonely clearings.

都能聽見微小的回聲。

But this wasn’t even the first time heartbreak over Narcissus

但這不是第一個因納西瑟斯的拒絕

had proven fatal.

而發生的悲慘結局。

A young man named Ameinias had also been cruelly rejected by Narcissus.

一個名為亞美尼亞的青年， 也被納西瑟斯冷酷回絕。

Before his death, he prayed to Nemesis, the goddess of revenge,

在死前，他向復仇女神涅墨西斯祈禱，

that Narcissus would also one day know the pain of love.

希望納西瑟斯有一天會明白愛的痛苦。

She heard Ameinias’ pleas and, upon witnessing Echo’s fate,

復仇女神聽見了他的禱告， 也看見了艾可的結局，

decided that it would be the final affront.

決定讓艾可成為最後一個犧牲者。

It was time for retribution.

到了納西瑟斯還債的時候了。

So, Nemesis set Narcissus towards a clear, glassy pool.

所以，復仇女神引導納西瑟斯來到 清澈如鏡的水池邊，

As he bent towards the water to drink,

在他彎身喝水時，

he caught sight of a hauntingly beautiful young man.

他看見一個美貌絕倫的年輕人。

Never before had Narcissus seen himself with such clarity.

在此之前，納西瑟斯從未 這麼清楚地看過自己的臉。

He spent the day acquainting himself with every glinting angle and glowing curl

他花了一整天，以各種角度 看自己的臉龐及捲髮，

then passed the evening gazing at his reflection by moonlight

用整個晚上在月光下看自己的倒影，

and sleeping with his fingers grazing the water.

睡覺時也用手指碰觸水面。

Days wore on, and Narcissus never parted from his one true love.

日子一天天地過去， 納西瑟斯從未離開他心愛的倒影。

When he reached out, his double reached for him;

當他伸出手，他的倒影也會伸手碰他；

and when he leaned in to bestow a kiss, he also tilted his face.

在他俯身親吻倒影時， 倒影也會偏過臉去。

But when he tried to hold the bewitching figure, it disappeared.

但在他想抱住他迷人的身影時， 倒影就會消失。

At last, Narcissus knew the agony of unrequited love.

最後納西瑟斯明白了愛而不得的痛苦。

Eating and drinking nothing, Narcissus too wasted away.

他不吃不喝，最後也離開人世。

His neck ached from bending over the lake, and his legs became rooted to the grass.

他的脖子因長久低頭看著湖面而酸痛， 他的腳生根在草地上。

When the wood nymphs finally passed by,

在森之仙女經過時，

all that was left of him was a white and yellow flower

他已成了一朵外白內黃的花，

bending towards its reflection.

彎身看著自己水面的倒影。

From then on, it was known as narcissus.

從那時開始，這種花就被 稱為納西瑟斯（水仙）。