1 Odysseus and Penelope

CHAPTER 1 Odysseus and Penelope Picture a man sitting on the shore of a beautiful island. The sand is white. The water and endless sky are a brilliant blue. At his side is a beautiful goddess, named Calypso. She loves him and wants him to stay with her forever on this island. Some men would be happy with this, but not this one. This man stares out onto the water. His heart is troubled, and his mind is very far away. This man is Odysseus. He is dreaming of a land very far away: Ithaca. It is his home,

第一章奥德修斯和佩内洛普想象一个人坐在一个美丽岛屿的岸边。 沙子是白色的。水和一望无际的天空是灿烂的蓝色。 在他身边的是一位美丽的女神，名叫卡里普索。 她爱他，想让他永远和她在这个岛上。 有些男人会很高兴的，但不是这个。 这个人凝视着水面。 他的心是烦恼的，他的思想是非常遥远的。 这个人就是奥德修斯。他梦想着一个非常遥远的地方：伊萨卡。 这是他的家，

where his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus, still live. He needs to find his way back to that place. He would do anything to be there again.

他的妻子佩内洛普和儿子特勒马科斯仍然住在那里。 他需要找到回到那个地方的路。 只要能再来一次，他愿意做任何事。

Penelope sat on her balcony at her beautiful home back in Ithaca. She stared out into the distance. It was a dark night. A vast ocean separated her from her husband, Odysseus. He had been gone for many years, fighting in the Trojan War. Even though the war had been over for ten years already, Odysseus still had not come home. Yet Penelope had hope that he was alive. She knew her husband was a great, strong man. He would return one day. He simply had to. In the meantime, Penelope had troubles of her own. It was true—Odysseus had been gone for a very long time. Many people in Ithaca thought he might be dead and that Penelope should find a new husband. Her trouble started slowly—at first just a couple of suitors arrived. Soon, though, her husband's house was full of suitors. Each man wanted Penelope to become his wife. These suitors were the sons of Ithaca's finest

佩内洛普坐在她位于伊萨卡的美丽家中的阳台上。 她凝视着远方。 那是一个漆黑的夜晚。浩瀚的海洋将她和她的丈夫奥德修斯隔开。 他去参加特洛伊战争已经很多年了。 尽管战争已经结束十年了，奥德修斯仍然没有回家。 然而佩内洛普还是希望他还活着。 她知道她的丈夫是一个伟大而强壮的男人。 他总有一天会回来的。他只是不得不这么做。 与此同时，佩内洛普也有自己的麻烦。 这是真的——奥德修斯已经离开很长时间了。 伊萨卡岛的许多人都认为他可能已经死了，佩内洛普应该找个新丈夫。 她的麻烦开始得很慢——起初只有几个追求者来了。 但很快，她丈夫的家里就挤满了追求者。 每个男人都希望佩内洛普成为自己的妻子。 这些求婚者都是伊萨卡最优秀的人的儿子

men. They were educated, athletic, and clever. Each of them hoped that Penelope would choose him as her husband. But Penelope decided she could not yet move on. She would not choose another husband. Penelope loved Odysseus too much. And anyway, she had a feeling her husband was still alive. The suitors quickly grew impatient and nasty. While Penelope stayed in her rooms upstairs, the suitors lounged around all day throughout Odysseus's enormous house. They only went home late at night and returned early every morning. The men made themselves quite at home. They relaxed on fine couches and ordered the servants to bring them food and drink. But Penelope was clever, too. She began to work on a big needlework project. She was making a great tapestry to hang on her wall,

男人。他们受过良好的教育，擅长运动，而且很聪明。 他们每个人都希望佩内洛普会选择他作为她的丈夫。 但佩内洛普认为她还不能继续。 她不会再选择别的丈夫。 佩内洛普太爱奥德修斯了。 总之，她觉得她丈夫还活着。 求婚者们很快就变得不耐烦和讨厌了。 当佩内洛普呆在楼上的房间里时，求婚者们整天在奥德修斯巨大的房子里闲逛。 他们只在深夜回家，每天早上很早就回来。 这些人感到很自在。 他们在漂亮的长沙发上休息，吩咐仆人给他们送食物和饮料。 但佩内洛普也很聪明。 她开始做一个大的针线活。 她正在做一幅大挂毯挂在墙上，

in honor of her husband. It contained threads of fancy gold and silver, deep blue and fiery red. Penelope sent word to the suitors. She would choose one of them to marry, she told them— as soon as she had sewn her last stitch. All day she sewed. This pleased the suitors and bought her more time. But at night she would sit by candlelight and secretly undo her stitches. On this night, Penelope sat on the balcony, taking out the stitches she had made that day. The winds that came off the ocean created a sad melody. She wept for Odysseus. She let her mind imagine what kind of beautiful tapestry she could make one day, and not have to undo, to honor her husband.

为了纪念她的丈夫。盒子里有华丽的金线、银线、深蓝线和火红线。 佩内洛普给追求者们捎了信。 她一缝完最后一针，就告诉他们，她要从他们中间挑一个结婚。 她整天都在缝纫。这让求婚者很高兴，为她赢得了更多的时间。 但到了晚上，她会坐在烛光下，偷偷地解开缝线。 那天晚上，佩内洛普坐在阳台上，把那天缝的针取出来。 从海上吹来的风奏出悲伤的旋律。 她为奥德修斯哭泣。她让自己想象有一天她可以织出一幅美丽的挂毯来纪念她的丈夫，而不必拆开。