The myth of Hercules: 12 labors in 8-bits - Alex Gendler

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

Hercules, son of Zeus and champion of humankind,

海克力斯，宙斯之子， 人類中的冠軍，

gazed in horror as he realized

眼中盡是恐懼，因為他發現，

he had just committed the most unspeakable crime imaginable.

他剛犯下了難以想像的可怕罪行。

The goddess Hera, who hated Hercules for being born of her husband’s adultery,

女神海拉很痛恨海克力士，

因為海克力士是 她的丈夫的私生子，

had stricken him with a temporary curse of madness.

海拉對他施加了短暫的發狂詛咒。

And his own family were the casualties.

他自己的家人成了受害者。

Consumed by grief, Hercules sought out the Oracle of Delphi,

因悲慟而憔悴，

海克力士去找了 德爾菲神廟的神諭者，

who told him the path to atonement lay with his cousin,

神諭者告訴他， 贖罪之路在於他的表親，

King Eurystheus of Tiryns, a favorite of Hera’s.

提端斯的尤里司修斯王， 他是海拉的最愛。

Eurystheus hoped to humiliate Hercules with ten impossible tasks

尤里司修斯想要用十項 不可能的任務來羞辱海克力士，

that pitted him against invincible monsters

讓他去對抗無敵的怪物

and unfathomable forces.

和深不可測的力量。

Instead, the king set the stage for an epic series of adventures

結果反而是為後來 為人所知的一系列史詩冒險

that would come to be known as the Labors of Hercules.

「海克力士英雄偉績」 設下了舞台。

The first labor was to slay the Nemean Lion,

第一項偉績是殺死涅墨亞獅子，

who kidnapped women and devoured warriors.

牠綁架女性，吞食戰士。

Its golden fur was impervious to arrows,

箭無法穿過牠的黃金皮毛，

but Hercules cornered the lion in its dark cave,

但海克力士把獅子困在 牠黑暗洞穴裡的角落，

stunned it with a club,

用棍棒將牠打昏，

and strangled it with his bare hands.

再徒手將牠勒死。

He found no tool sharp enough to skin the beast,

他找不到夠銳利的工具 來剝下這隻野獸的皮，

until the goddess Athena suggested using one of its own claws.

直到女神雅典娜 建議用牠自己的爪子。

Hercules returned to Tiryns wearing the lion’s hide,

海克力士回到提端斯， 身上披著那隻獅子的獸皮，

frightening King Eurystheus so much that he hid in a wine jar.

把尤里司修斯王嚇壞了， 躲到酒罈後面。

From then on, Hercules was ordered

從那之後，海克力士就被命令

to present his trophies at a safe distance.

在呈獻他的戰利品時， 要保持一段安全距離。

The second target was the Lernaean Hydra, a giant serpent with many heads.

第二個目標是勒拿九頭蛇，

牠是隻巨型的多頭大蛇。

Hercules fought fiercely,

海克力士無懼地戰鬥，

but every time he cut one head off, two more grew in its place.

但每當他斬下一個頭， 同一個地方就會再長出兩個頭來。

The battle was hopeless

這場仗沒有希望，

until his nephew Iolaus thought to cauterize the necks with fire,

直到他的姪子伊奧勞斯想到 可以用火去燒灼蛇的脖子，

keeping the heads from regrowing.

讓頭無法再長出來。

The dead serpent’s remains became the Hydra constellation.

大蛇死後的遺體變成了長蛇星座。

Instead of slaying a beast, Hercules next had to catch one, alive.

海克力士的下一個任務 不是要殺死野獸，而是要活捉。

The Ceryneian Hind was a female deer so fast it could outrun an arrow.

刻律涅牝鹿是一隻母鹿，

速度比箭還快。

Hercules tracked it for a year,

海克力士花了一年時間追蹤牠，

finally trapping it in the northern land of Hyperborea.

終於在極北之地 許珀耳玻瑞亞將牠困住。

The animal turned out to be sacred to Artemis, goddess of the hunt,

結果發現這隻鹿對於 狩獵女神阿緹密絲而言非常神聖，

and Hercules swore to return it.

海克力士發誓會歸還牠。

When Eurystheus saw the hind, he demanded to keep it instead,

尤里司修斯看到這隻鹿時 卻命令留下牠來，

but as soon as Hercules let go, the animal ran to its mistress.

但海克力士才一放手， 這隻鹿就跑向牠的女主人去了。

Thus, Hercules completed his task without breaking his promise.

因此，海克力士完成了這項任務，

也沒有破壞他的承諾。

The fourth mission was to capture the Erymanthian boar,

第四個任務是要捕捉 厄律曼托斯山的野豬，

which had ravaged many fields.

牠蹂躪了許多田地。

Advised by the wise centaur Chiron,

依據半人半馬凱隆的建議，

Hercules trapped it by chasing it into thick snow.

海克力士追趕牠到積雪 很厚的地方，將牠困住。

For the fifth task, there were no animals, just their leftovers.

第五個任務，沒有任何動物， 只有牠們留下的東西。

The stables where King Augeas kept his hundreds of divine cattle

奧吉亞斯王用來養 數百隻神聖小牛的畜舍

had not been maintained in ages.

長年都沒有維護。

Hercules promised to clean them in one day

海克力士保證會在 一天內清理乾淨，

if he could keep one-tenth of the livestock.

條件是十分之一的家畜要給他。

Augeas expected the hero to fail.

奧吉亞斯預期這位英雄會失敗。

Instead, Hercules dug massive trenches,

結果，海克力士反而 挖了巨大的溝渠，

rerouting two nearby rivers to flow through the stables

將兩條鄰近的河流 重新導向，流過畜舍，

until they were spotless.

直到畜舍毫無汙點為止。

Next came three more beastly foes,

接著是三個更野蠻的對手，

each requiring a clever strategy to defeat.

每個都需要用 聰明的策略才能打敗。

The carnivorous Stymphalian birds nested in an impenetrable swamp,

肉食性的斯廷法利斯湖怪鳥

在無法進入的沼澤中築巢，

but Hercules used Athena’s special rattle to frighten them into the air,

但海克力士用雅典娜的 特殊聲響把牠們嚇飛起來，

at which point he shot them down.

在那一刻把牠們射下來。

No mortal could stand before the Cretan bull’s mad rampage,

沒有人能夠在克里特 公牛的暴怒之下存活，

but a chokehold from behind did the trick.

但從背後鎖喉就能解決牠。

And the mad King Diomedes,

還有瘋狂的戴奧米迪斯王，

who had trained his horses to devour his guests,

他訓練他的馬去吞食他的客人，

got a taste of his own medicine

海克力士把他丟向他自己的馬廄，

when Hercules wrestled him into his own stables.

以其人之道還治其人之身。

The ensuing feast calmed the beasts enough for Hercules to bind their mouths.

接下來的饗宴讓野獸都安靜下來，

足以讓海克力士綁住牠們的嘴巴。

But the ninth labor involved someone more dangerous than any beast,

但第九項偉績的對象 比任何野獸都還要危險，

Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.

希波呂忒，亞馬遜人的女王。

Hercules was to retrieve the belt given to her by her father Ares, the god of war.

海克力士要取回她的父親

戰神阿瑞斯給予她的腰帶。

He sailed to the Amazon land of Themyscira prepared for battle,

他航行到天堂島 亞馬遜，準備作戰，

but the queen was so impressed with the hero and his exploits

但女王對於這位英雄 和他的功勛印象深刻，

that she gave the belt willingly.

自願把腰帶給了他。

For his tenth labor,

第十項偉績，

Hercules had to steal a herd of magical red cattle from Geryon,

海克力士必須要向革律翁 竊取一群魔法紅牛，

a giant with three heads and three bodies.

革律翁是個巨人， 有三個頭和三個身體。

On his way, Hercules was so annoyed by the Libyan desert heat

在路上，利比亞沙漠的酷熱 讓海克力士很煩惱，

that he shot an arrow at the Sun.

他把一支箭射向太陽。

The sun god Helios admired the hero’s strength

太陽神赫利俄很欣賞 這位英雄的力量，

and lent his chariot for the journey to the island of Erytheia.

把他的馬車借給海克力士， 讓他前往厄律忒亞島。

There, Hercules fought off Geryon’s herdsman

在那裡，海克力士 擊退了革律翁的牧人，

and his two-headed dog, before killing the giant himself.

以及他的雙頭犬， 然後才殺死了巨人本身。

That should have been the end.

應該就到此為止了。

But Eurystheus announced that two labors hadn’t counted:

但尤里司修斯宣稱 有兩項偉績不算數：

the Hydra, because Iolaus had helped Hercules kill it,

九頭蛇，因為伊奧勞斯 協助了海克力士殺掉牠，

and the stables, because he’d accepted payment.

還有畜舍，因為他收了報酬。

And so, the hero set about his eleventh task,

於是，這位英雄又去 執行第十一項任務，

obtaining golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides nymphs.

從赫斯帕里得斯女神的 花園取得金蘋果。

Hercules began by catching the Old Man of the Sea

海克力士一開始先去抓大海老人，

and holding the shape-shifting water-god until he revealed the garden’s location.

挾持這位能改變形體的海神， 直到他招出花園的所在。

Once there, the hero found the titan Atlas holding up the heavens.

到了那裡之後，這位英雄就發現 泰坦神阿特拉斯支撐著天。

Hercules offered to take his place if Atlas would retrieve the apples.

海克力士提議，若阿特拉斯能取回 蘋果，自己就去代替他的位置。

Atlas eagerly complied, but Hercules then tricked him into trading places again,

阿特拉斯很熱切接受了，但 海克力士又再次騙他交換位置，

escaping with apples in hand.

帶著蘋果逃走。

The twelfth and final task was to bring back Cerberus,

第十二個任務，也是最後一個， 是要把地獄犬帶回來，

the three-headed hound guarding the underworld.

牠是看守地獄的三頭獵犬。

Helped by Hermes and Athena, Hercules descended and met Hades himself.

在赫爾墨斯和雅典娜的協助下，

海克力士下地獄去見黑帝斯本人。

The lord of the dead allowed Hercules to take the beast

這位死者之王允許 海克力士帶走這頭野獸，

if he could do it without weapons,

條件是他不能使用武器，

which he achieved by grabbing all three of its heads at once.

海克力士一次抓住三個頭， 成功帶走地獄犬。

When he presented the hound to a horrified Eurystheus,

當他把這隻獵犬帶給 嚇壞的尤里司修斯時，

the king finally declared the hero’s service complete.

尤里司修斯終於宣佈 這位英雄的服務完成了。

After 12 years of toil,

在十二年的辛苦之後，

Hercules had redeemed the tragic deaths of his family

海克力士為他家人的 不幸死亡贖了罪，

and earned a place in the divine pantheon.

並在神聖的眾神之廟 賺得了一個位置。

But his victory held an even deeper importance.

但他的勝利還有更深刻的重要性。

In overcoming the chaotic and monstrous forces of the world,

透過克服世界上混亂 且可怕的力量，

the hero swept away what remained of the Titans’ primordial order,

這位英雄也掃除了 剩下的泰坦原始秩序，

reshaping it into one where humanity could thrive.

將它重塑成為人類 也能夠興盛的新秩序。

Through his labors,

透過他的偉績，

Hercules tamed the world’s madness by atoning for his own.

海克力士在為自己的瘋狂贖罪的 過程中，也馴服了世界的瘋狂。