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希臘神話:KING MIDAS-邁達(dá)斯王

所屬教程:英語寓言

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2018年08月08日

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1
It happened one day that Silenus,who was the oldest of the satyrsand was now very feeble,became lost in the vineyards of King Midas. The peasants found him wandering helplessly about,scarcely able to walk,and brought him to the king.
Long ago,when the mother of Bacchus had died,and when Mercury had brought the infant Bacchus to this mountain and put him in the care of the nymphs,Silenus had acted as nurse and teacher to the little wine-god. Now that Silenus had grown old,Bacchus in turn took care of him. So King Midas sent the peasants to carry the satyr safely to Bacchus.
In return for this kindness,Bacchus promised to grant whatever King Midas might ask. King Midas knew well enough what he most desired. In those days,kings had treasuriesin their palaces,that is, safe places where they could lay away valuable things. The treasury of King Midas contained a vast collection of rich jewels,vesselsof silver and gold,chests of gold coins,and other things that he considered precious.
When Midas was a very little child,he used to watch the antsrunning back and forth over the sand near his father's palace. It seemed to him that the ant-hillwas like another palace,and that the ants were working very hard carrying in treasure;for they came running to the ant-hill from all directions,carrying little white bundles. Midas made up his mind,then,that when he grew up,he would work very hard and gather treasure together.
Now that he was a man,and the king,nothing gave him more pleasure than to add to the collection in his treasury. He was continually devising ways of exchanging or selling various things,or contriving some new tax for the people to pay,and turning all into gold or silver. In fact,he had gathered treasure together so industriously,and for so many years,that he had begun to think that the bright yellow gold in his chests was the most beautiful and the most precious thing in the world.
So when Bacchus offered him anything that he might ask for, King Midas's first thought was of his treasury,and he asked that whatever he touched might be turned into gold. His wish was granted.
King Midas was hardly able to believe in his good fortune. He thought himself the luckiest of men.
At the time his wish was granted he happened to stand under an oaktree,and the first thing he did was to raise his hand and touch one of its branches. Immediately the branch became the richest gold,with all the little acorns as perfect as ever. He laughed triumphantly at that,and then he touched a small stone,which lay on the ground. This became a solid gold nugget. Then he picked an apple from a tree,and held a beautiful,bright,gold apple in his hand. Oh,there was no doubt about it. King Midas really had the Golden Touch! He thought it too good to be true. After this he touched the lilies that bordered the walk. They turned from pure white to bright yellow,but bent their heads lower than ever,as if they were ashamedof the change that the touch of King Midas had wrought in them.
Before turning any more things into gold,the king sat down at the little table which his slaves had brought out into the court. The parched corn was fresh and crisp,and the grapes juicyand sweet. But when he tasted a grape from one of the lusciousclusters,it became a hard ball of gold in his mouth. This was very unpleasant. He laid the gold ball on the table and tried the parched wheat,but only to have his mouth filled with hard yellow metal. Feeling as if he were choking,he took a sip of water,and at the touch of his lips even this became liquidgold.
Then all his bright treasures began to look ugly to him,and his heart grew as heavy as if that,too,were turning to gold.
That night King Midas lay down under a gorgeousgolden counterpane,with his head upon a pillow of solid gold;but he could not rest,sleep would not come to him. As he lay there,he began to fear that his queen,his little children,and all his kind friends,might be changed to hard,golden statues.
This would be more deplorablethan anything else that had resulted from his foolish wish. Poor Midas saw now that riches were not the most desirable of all things. He was cured forever of his love of gold. The instant it was daylight he rushed to Bacchus,and implored the god to take back his fatal gift.
"""Ah,""said Bacchus,smiling,""so you have gold enough,at last. Very well. If you are sure that you do not wish to change anything more into that metal,go and bathe in the spring where the River Pactolus rises. The pure water of that spring will wash away the Golden Touch."" "
King Midas gladly obeyed,and became as free from the Golden Touch as when he was a boy watching the ants. But the strange magic was imparted to the waters of the spring,and to this day the river Pactolus has golden sands.
2
After his strange experiencewith the Golden Touch,King Midas did not care for the things in his treasure chests any more,but left them to the dust and the spiders,and went out into the fields,and followed Pan.
Pan was the god of the flocks,the friend of shepherds and country folk. He lived in a cave,which was in a mountain not far from the palace of Midas. He was sometimes seen,playing on his pipe,or dancing with the forest nymphs. He had horns and legs like a goat,and furry,pointed ears.
Pan was a sunny,careless,happy-go-lucky kind of god,and when he sat playing on his pipe-which he himself had made-the music came bubblingforth in such a jollyway that it set the nymphs to dancing,and the birds to singing.
When King Midas heard Pan's pipe,he used to forget that he was a king,or that he had any cares whatever. He was content to feel the warmth of the sun,and breathe the sweet air of the mountain.
One day Pan boasted to the nymphs,in a joking way,that the music of his pipe was better than that of Apollo's lyre. The nymphs laughed,and said that he and Apollo ought to play together,with Tmolus,the god of the mountain,for the judge. Pan said that he was ready to try his skill against Apollo's. Tmolus consented to be the judge.So a day was appointed for the contest.
Apollo came with his lyre. He had a laurel crown on his head, and wore a rich purple robe which swept the ground. His lyre,which was a beautiful instrument,was made of gold,and was inlaid with ivory and precious stones. This made Pan's pipe,which consisted of seven pieces of a hollow reedlightly joined together,look very simple and rustic.
Both Apollo and Pan began to play. Tmolus turned toward Apollo to listen,and all his trees turned with him. Before they had played long,the mountain-god stopped Pan,saying,"You must know that your simple pipe cannot compare with Apollo's wonderful lyre."
Pan took this in good part;he knew that the contest had been only a joke. While the nymphs and the shepherds made light of the decision against their friend,Midas,who could not appreciate the lyre,but who was just suited by the music of the pipe,jumped up and cried out,"This is unjust! Pan's music is better than that of Apollo!"
At this,all but Apollo laughed. He was angry. He looked severely at the ears of Midas,which must have heard so crudely. All at once King Midas felt his ears growing long and furry. He clapped his hands over them and rushed to a spring nearby,where he could see himself. His ears had been changed into those of an ass.
So Midas was punished by the gods a second time for his foolishness. He was very much ashamed of those long,furry ears,and always after that wore a great,purple turbanto hide them.
One day,when the court-barber was cutting Midas's hair,he discovered the King's secret,and was so much astonished that he dropped his shearson the floor with a great clatter. He knew he might lose his head if he should tell what he had seen. So he said not a word to any mortal soul;but one day,to relieve his mind,he went to a lonely place,dug a hole in the ground,and whispered what he had seen to the earth. Then he put the soil back,and so buriedthe secret.
But after a secret has once been told,it is not so easy to hide it. After about a year,some reeds grew up in that place. When the south wind blew,they whispered together all day,and told one another that, under his turban,King Midas had asses' ears. And so the secret was spreadabroad.






1
某一天,森林之神當(dāng)中最年老、而且已相當(dāng)虛弱的賽利納斯,偶然在邁達(dá)斯王的葡萄園里迷路了。農(nóng)夫們發(fā)現(xiàn)他無助地四處游蕩,幾乎無力行走,就帶他去見國王。
在很久很久以前,當(dāng)巴可斯的母親去世時,麥可瑞將還是嬰兒的巴可斯送到這座山上來,讓女神們扶養(yǎng)他,由賽利納斯負(fù)責(zé)擔(dān)任這位小酒神的保護(hù)人和老師。賽利納斯如今年老了,該輪到巴可斯來照顧他。因此,邁達(dá)斯王命令百姓們把這位森林之神安全地送到巴可斯那里。
為了答謝這番好意,巴可斯愿意答應(yīng)邁達(dá)斯王所要求的任何東西。邁達(dá)斯王相當(dāng)明白自己最想要的是什么,在那個時代,國王所居住的宮殿,就是收藏貴重物品的安全地方。邁達(dá)斯王的寶藏中藏有大量搜集來的價值不菲的寶石、金銀器皿、數(shù)箱金幣、以及其他他認(rèn)為貴重的物品。
邁達(dá)斯王在小的時候,經(jīng)常注視螞蟻群在他父親宮殿附近的沙土上來回地跑。對他而言,那蟻丘也是另一座宮殿,螞蟻們正努力地搬運寶物,因為它們扛著白色的小包裹,從四面八方匯入蟻丘。那時候,邁達(dá)斯王決定長大后要努力地搜集寶物。
他已經(jīng)長大了,而且是一國之君,沒有比增加他寶庫的收藏更能讓他快樂了。他不斷地想出交換或轉(zhuǎn)賣各種物品的方法,或想辦法讓人民繳納新的稅款,還把各種東西都變成金子或銀子。事實上,由于他經(jīng)年累月努力聚集寶物,他開始以為他自己箱子里的發(fā)光的黃金是世界上最美麗的、也是最珍貴的東西。
所以當(dāng)巴可斯告訴他,不論要求什么都愿意幫他實現(xiàn)時,邁達(dá)斯王最先想到的是他的寶庫。他希望自己的手碰到的東西都變成黃金,巴可斯幫他實現(xiàn)了愿望。
邁達(dá)斯王幾乎無法相信他的好運氣,他覺得自己真是一個最幸運的人。
他的愿望實現(xiàn)時,他正巧站在橡樹下,他做的第一件事就是舉起手去觸碰一根樹枝。那樹枝連小橡子都變成了金子。他看到這般情景時便得意地大笑,接著又去觸摸地上的小石子,小石子又變成了毫無瑕疵的金塊。隨后他由樹上摘下一顆蘋果,瞬間,手上握著的便是一顆美麗、閃耀的金蘋果。噢,看來是不容懷疑的,邁達(dá)斯王確實具有點金術(shù)的神力!這實在太美妙了,以至于他無法相信這是真的。后來,他摸著在路旁的百合花,百合花由純白色變?yōu)轷r艷的金黃色。可是它們的頭垂得更低,好像它們因邁達(dá)斯王的觸摸而發(fā)生的變化感到羞恥似的。
在還沒有把更多東西變成金子之前,國王坐在奴隸們搬進(jìn)宮殿的小餐桌前。桌子上擺著新鮮、香脆的烤面餅,葡萄多汁甜美。然而,當(dāng)他從一串香甜的葡萄中摘下一粒想嘗嘗時,那葡萄立即在他口中化作一粒堅硬的金球,這讓他非常不高興。他把那粒金球放在餐桌上,又嘗試吃烤好的面餅,可是,那些面餅也在他的嘴里變成了堅硬的黃色金屬。這讓他覺得仿佛快要窒息了,他連忙喝一口水,但水一碰到他的嘴唇,也轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)橐簯B(tài)的黃金。
從此以后,他開始覺得所有的燦爛寶物都很討厭,甚至連他的心臟也好像變成金子似的沉重起來。
那晚,邁達(dá)斯王躺在美麗的金被子下睡覺,把頭靠在堅硬的金枕上。但是他片刻也不能休息,一點睡意也沒有。他一邊睡覺,一邊開始擔(dān)憂他的王后和孩子們,以及他親愛的朋友們,說不定他們也會變成堅硬的金塑像。
這件事比從他的愚蠢愿望所產(chǎn)生的任何其他結(jié)果還要悲慘!可憐的邁達(dá)斯王現(xiàn)在終于覺悟,富有絕不是最讓人渴望的。他的嗜金病被徹底地治愈了,天一亮,他立刻趕往巴可斯的住所,懇求神收回這要命的禮物。
"""哦!""巴可斯笑嘻嘻地說:""那么!你終于擁有足夠的黃金啦!那太好了。你如果真的不希望把更多的東西變成黃金的話,就前去貝克都勒斯河的源頭,以泉水洗澡。那純凈的泉水可以洗去點金術(shù)的魔力。"""
邁達(dá)斯王高高興興地遵照執(zhí)行了,因此得到了解脫,變得如同兒時觀看螞蟻時那樣自由。然而那種神奇的魔力卻傳給了泉水,所以現(xiàn)今貝克都勒斯河里仍然有金沙。
2
邁達(dá)斯王有過點金術(shù)那樣神奇的經(jīng)驗后,已經(jīng)不在乎自己寶箱內(nèi)的東西,便聽任它落滿塵埃和蜘蛛網(wǎng),并走向野外去追隨牧羊神潘神。
潘神是羊群的神,也是牧羊人與鄉(xiāng)下人的朋友。他住在洞穴里,而那個洞穴就在離邁達(dá)斯王的宮殿不遠(yuǎn)的山中。人們有時會看到他吹奏短笛,或者和森林女神跳舞。他長著山羊那樣的角和蹄,還有毛茸茸的尖耳朵。
潘神是一個活潑、漫不經(jīng)心、無憂無慮的神,當(dāng)他坐下來吹奏自己親手制作的笛子時,音樂就快樂地潺潺流淌,它使女神們跳舞,鳥兒們歌唱。
邁達(dá)斯王一聽到潘神的笛聲,就忘記自己是國王,以及他所憂心的事情。他滿意地感受到太陽的溫暖,呼吸著山中新鮮的空氣。
有一天,潘神和女神們開著玩笑,夸自己用笛子吹奏的音樂要比阿波羅的豎琴彈奏的樂曲還要悅耳。女神們大笑,說他應(yīng)當(dāng)和阿波羅一同演奏,讓山神茲默拉斯來裁決。潘神回答說他已準(zhǔn)備試試自己的技能,和阿波羅一決高下。茲默拉斯同意當(dāng)裁判,于是就選定某天進(jìn)行比賽。
阿波羅帶來了他的豎琴,他頭上戴著月桂枝編的花冠,身上穿著拖地的華麗紫衣。他那美麗的樂器--豎琴,是用金子打造的,并鑲有象牙與寶石。這使得僅用七支空心蘆葦制成的潘神的笛子,相形之下顯得非常簡單且粗俗。
阿波羅和潘神開始奏樂。茲默拉斯為了傾聽而面向阿波羅那邊,他的樹木也全都跟他一起把頭轉(zhuǎn)向那邊。他們彈奏沒有多久,山神就阻止潘神說:"你應(yīng)該知道你簡單的短笛是無法和阿波羅優(yōu)美的豎琴相比的。"
潘神欣然接受,他明白這場競賽只是個玩笑。當(dāng)女神和牧羊人們迅速地做了對他們的朋友不利的決定時,不懂欣賞豎琴,又偏愛笛子音樂的邁達(dá)斯王跳起來,并大聲抗議:"這樣不公平!潘神的音樂比阿波羅的優(yōu)美!"
聽見這句話,在場的除了阿波羅,全都哄然大笑。阿波羅非常生氣,他嚴(yán)厲地盯著只聽過粗俗音樂的邁達(dá)斯王的耳朵。邁達(dá)斯王突然覺得他的耳朵變長了,而且毛茸茸的。他用雙手捂住耳朵,跑到附近的泉水旁,在那里他看到自己的耳朵變成了驢耳朵。
于是邁達(dá)斯王再一次因自己的愚蠢而遭到眾神的處罰。而那長又多毛的耳朵令他羞愧不已、無地自容。從此以后,他為了遮住那雙耳朵,總是戴著一條紫色的大頭巾。
有一天宮廷的理發(fā)師在替邁達(dá)斯王理發(fā)時發(fā)覺了國王的秘密。他大吃一驚,剪刀都掉落到地板上了,發(fā)出很大的聲音。他知道如果把看見的情形說出來,或許會因此丟了腦袋。所以他不敢向任何人透露半句話,不過,有一天為了緩解心中的負(fù)擔(dān),他來到荒蕪的地方在地上挖了一個洞,把自己所看到的對著洞口傾訴。然后再把洞填平,以為從此秘密就埋葬了。
但是,秘密一旦被說出來,想要再隱瞞就困難了。大約一年以后,數(shù)株蘆葦從那個地方長出來。每當(dāng)南風(fēng)吹來時,那些蘆葦整日竊竊私語,互相告訴對方,邁達(dá)斯王的頭巾下有對驢耳朵。這個秘密因此也被傳播開來了。
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