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希腊神话:PROMETHEUS-普罗米修斯

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2018年07月26日

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  There once lived a race of huge giants called Titans. These giants were fierce,turbulent,and lawless-always fighting among themselves and against Jupiter,the king of the gods.
  One of the Titans,whose name was Prometheus,was wiser than the rest. He often thought about what would be likely to happen in the future.
  One day,Prometheus said to his brother Titans,"What is the use of wasting so much strength? In the end,wisdom and forethoughtwill win. If we are going to fight against the gods,let us choose a leader and stop quarrellingamong ourselves."
  The Titans answered him by a showerof great rocks and uprooted trees.
  Prometheus,after escapingunhurt,said to his younger brother,"Come,Epimetheus,we can do nothing among these Titans. If they keep on,they will tear the earth to pieces. Let us go and help Jupiter to overcome them."
  Epimetheus agreed to this,and the two brothers went over to Jupiter,who called the gods together and began a terrible battle. The Titans tore up enormous bouldersand castthem at the gods,while Jupiter hurledhis thunderbolts and his lightings in all directions. Soon the sky was a sheet of flame,the sea boiled,the earth trembled,and the forests took fire and began to burn.
  At last the gods-partly by the help of the wise counsel  of Prometheus-conquered  the Titans,took them to the ends of the earth,and imprisoned them in a deep underground cavern. Neptune, the sea-god,made strong bronze gates with heavy boltsand barsto keep the giants down,while Jupiter sent Briareus and his brothers, three giants with fifty heads and a hundred hands each,to stand guard over them.
  All but one of the Titans who had fought against the gods were imprisoned in this cavern. This one who was not shut in with the others was Atlas,whose enormous strength was greater than that of his brothers,while his dispositionwas less quarrelsome. He was made to stand and hold up the sky on his head and hands.
  As the Titans could now make no more trouble, there was comparativepeace and quiet on the earth. Nevertheless,Jupiter said that,although the men who remained on the earth were not so strong as the Titans,they were a foolish and wicked race. He declared that he would destroy them-sweep them away,and have done with them, forever.
  When their king said this,none of the gods dared to say a word in defence of mankind. But Prometheus,the Titan,who was earth-born himself,and loved these men of the earth,begged Jupiter so earnestlyto spare them,that Jupiter consented to do so.
  At this time,men lived in dark,gloomy  caves. Their friend, Prometheus,taught them to build simple houses,which were much more comfortable  than the caves had been. This was a great step forward,but men needed more help yet from the Titan. The beasts in the forests and the great birds that built their nests on the rocks were strong;but men were weak. The lion had sharp claws and teeth;the eagle had wings;the turtle had a hard shell;but man,although he stood upright with his face toward the stars,had no weapon with which he could defend himself.
  Prometheus said that man should have Jupiter's wonderful flower of fire,which shoneso brightly in the sky. So he took a hollowreed, went up to Olympus,stole the red flower of fire,and brought it down to earth in his reed.
  After this,all the other creatures were afraid of man,for this red flower had made him stronger than them. Man dug iron out of the earth,and by the help of his new fire made weapons that were sharper than the lion's teeth;he tamedthe wild cattle by the fear of it,yokedthem together,and taught them how to draw the plough;he sharpened strong stakes,hardening them in its heat,and set them around his house as a defence from his enemies;he did many other things besides with the red flower that Prometheus had made to blossomat the end of the reed.
  Jupiter,sitting on his throne,saw with alarm how strong man was becoming. One day he discovered the theft of his shining red flower, and knew that Prometheus was the thief. He was greatly displeased at this act.
  "Prometheus loves man too well,"said he. "He shall be punished."Then he called his two slaves,Strength and Force,and told them to take Prometheus and bind him fast to a great rock in the lonely Caucasian Mountains. At the same time he ordered Vulcan,the lame smith-god,to rivet the Titan's chains-in a cunning way that only Vulcan knew.
  There Prometheus hung on the rock for hundreds of years. The sun shone on him pitilessly ,by day-only the kindly night gave him shade. He heard the rushing wings of the sea-gulls as they came to feed their young who cried from the rocks below. The sea-nymphs floated up to his rock to give him their pity. A vulture,cruel as the king of the gods,came daily and tore him with its claws and beak.
  But this frightful punishment did not last forever. Prometheus himself knew that some day he should be set free,and this knowledge made him strong to endure.
  At last the time came when Jupiter's thronewas in danger,and Prometheus,pitying his enemy,told him a secret which helped him to make everything safe again. After this,Jupiter sent Hercules to shoot the vulture and to break the Titan's chains. So Prometheus was set free.





  曾经有一个叫泰坦的巨人部族。那些巨人们非常凶猛、爱闹事、而且无法无天--总是和自己的同伴、乃至众神之王朱庇特争斗。
  泰坦族中有个名叫普罗米修斯的巨人,他比其他巨人聪明多了。他常常担心将来可能会有什么事发生。
  有一天,普罗米修斯对自己的巨人兄弟们说:"如此浪费力气有什么用呢?最后还是有智慧且深谋远虑者得胜呀!若想和众神争斗,我们应该选出首领而且停止我们之间的争吵。"
  泰坦族人用雨点般的巨石和连根拔起的树木作为对他的回答。
  普罗米修斯避开这些伤害对他弟弟说:"嘿,埃庇米修斯,我们在泰坦族里什么事也做不了!如果他们再这样下去,会把这地球搞得支离破碎的。我们找朱庇特去,帮他来征服这些巨人。"
  埃庇米修斯赞成他的意见,于是兄弟俩去找朱庇特,朱庇特就召集众神发动了一场激烈的战争。泰坦族人抱起巨石,向众神投去。朱庇特则向四面八方投出霹雳闪电。天空很快烟火弥漫;海上波涛汹涌;天摇地动;森林开始燃烧起来。
  最后众神终于征服了泰坦族--部分归功于普罗米修斯聪明的建议--把他们带到大地的尽头,监禁在深深的地下洞穴中。为了关押这些巨人,海神波塞冬铸造了坚固的青铜大门,门上还有沉重的门闩。朱庇特还派遣普拉阿里亚斯三兄弟,就是各有五十个头和一百只手的三个巨人来看守他们。
  与众神打斗的泰坦族除了一人之外,全部被监禁在这个洞穴里,这个巨人就是阿特拉斯。他比他的兄弟们力气大多了,可是他天性不太喜欢争吵。众神派他用头和双手撑起天空。
  泰坦族已经无法再制造麻烦了,地面上总算有了相对的和平与安宁。尽管如此,朱庇特却说,留在地面上的人类虽然不如泰坦族强大,却是既愚蠢又可恶的种族。他宣布他要摧毁人类--清除他们,让他们永远消失。
  听到朱庇特的话,众神都不敢为人类辩护了。然而,泰坦族的普罗米修斯是在人间长大的,所以很爱世人,他非常诚恳地请求朱庇特宽恕他们,朱庇特不得不答应了他的请求。
  当时的人类居住在黑暗、阴暗的洞穴中。他们的朋友普罗米修斯教他们盖简单的房子,那比从前的洞穴舒适多了。这可算是前进了一大步。但是,人类还有许多需要这个巨人帮忙的地方:森林里的野兽或在岩石上筑巢的巨鸟都很强悍,而人类却很弱小;狮子有锐利的钩爪及牙齿;老鹰长有翅膀;海龟有坚硬的甲壳。只有人类,即使可以直立,可以仰望星空,却没有任何武器能用来自卫。
  普罗米修斯对人类说,他可以使他们得到朱庇特那些在天空中闪闪发光的美丽火花。于是他摘下空心的芦苇,攀上奥林匹斯山盗取那红色的火花,放入他的芦苇杆中,将它带到地面上。
  从此以后,其他的动物全都惧怕人类了,因为这红色的火,使人类比动物更强大。人类从土中挖掘出铁矿,借助火的力量,铸造出比狮子的牙齿更锐利的武器;凭借火的威力,人类驯服野牛给它们套上牛轭,教它们拖犁;用火烘烤削尖的木桩,使其变得坚硬,并把它们插在房屋周围,以防备敌人的攻击。人类利用普罗米修斯让芦苇末梢开着的那朵红花,做成了更多的事情。
  朱庇特坐在自己的王位上,看见人类变得如此强壮,着实吓了一跳!有一天,他发现自己那朵绚烂的红花被偷走了,而普罗米修斯就是那个小偷。他对普罗米修斯的这一行为非常生气。
  "普罗米修斯太爱人类了!"朱庇特说。"他必须受到惩罚。"因此他命令名叫"体力"和"势力"的两个奴隶,去捉拿普罗米修斯,将他紧紧地捆绑在荒凉的高加索山脉中的大岩石上。同时又指使瘸腿的冶铁之神伍尔坎,用铁链锁住普罗米修斯--因为只有伍尔坎才能够制造巧妙的锁链。
  普罗米修斯被绑在那块岩石上几百年。白天,太阳无情地照射着他--唯有好心的夜晚给他阴凉。他能听到海鸥去喂食岩石下面啼叫的雏鸟时振动翅膀的声音。海里的女妖们浮上水面来到岩石边安慰他。和众神之王一样残忍的兀鹰每天飞来,用它的钩爪和尖喙不断地撕扯他。
  但是这种残酷的惩罚并不会永无休止。普罗米修斯知道自己终有一天会得到自由,因此他坚强地忍耐着。
  这一天终于来临了,当朱庇特的王位岌岌不保的时候,普罗米修斯同情他而教给他一个秘诀,使得一切转危为安。事后,朱庇特派遣赫拉克勒斯去杀死兀鹰,并毁坏锁链。于是普罗米修斯自由了。
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