7 The Living Visit the Dead

CHAPTER 7 The Living Visit the Dead "My men were quiet and serious as we boarded our ship," Odysseus said. "Circe, that great and clever goddess, sent us a fair wind. We reached the River Styx with no problems. We were at the edge of Hades by nightfall. It was the entrance to a frightful place where no living men were meant to go. "Almost as soon as we arrived, the ghosts came. Young brides and bachelors, old men worn out from work, brave men and fellow soldiers who had been lost in battle, and many more. My men were shaking and

奥德修斯说：“当我们上船时，我的手下安静而严肃。” “喀耳刻，那位伟大而聪明的女神，给我们送来了顺风。 我们顺利到达了冥河。 夜幕降临时，我们已经到了哈迪斯的边缘。 这是一个可怕的地方的入口，任何人都不应该去那里。 “我们刚到，鬼就来了。 年轻的新娘和单身汉，因工作而疲惫不堪的老人，勇敢的男人和在战斗中牺牲的战友，等等。 我的人都在发抖

covering their eyes. Some of them were crying. They did not want to visit with the dead. Neither did I. But it was part of our journey. We pushed on. "We began to arrange some gifts we had brought for the spirits. The ghosts tried to grab our gifts, but I would not let them. I needed some answers first. "One of the first ghosts who came close to us was Agamemnon, my old friend from the Trojan War," Odysseus said. "He told me that when he returned to Sparta after the war, his wife had married another man. She and her new husband had killed him upon his return. "I was devastated to hear of my friend's sad end. Agamemnon warned me that I could not trust my wife, Penelope. His advice was not to tell anyone I was coming home. He suggested I show up suddenly, unannounced,

遮住眼睛。他们中的一些人在哭。 他们不想去探望死者。 我也不知道，但这是我们旅程的一部分。 我们继续前进。“我们开始安排我们给幽灵带来的一些礼物。 鬼魂想抢走我们的礼物，但我不让。 我需要一些答案。 “最早接近我们的鬼魂之一是阿伽门农，我在特洛伊战争中的老朋友，”奥德修斯说。 “他告诉我，当他战后回到斯巴达时，他的妻子已经嫁给了另一个男人。 她和她的新婚丈夫在他回来时杀了他。 “听到我朋友悲惨的结局，我非常震惊。 阿伽门农警告我不能相信我的妻子佩内洛普。 他的建议是不要告诉任何人我要回家。 他建议我突然出现，不打招呼，

to see if she has been true to me. "Next appeared the ghost I had especially come to see, the prophet Teiresias. He carried a golden staff in his hand. I asked him when and how we could get back to Ithaca. Teiresias told me our trip home would be hard. Poseidon still felt much bitterness toward me for blinding his son. The sea god was trying to make my journey difficult. "Teiresias then mentioned that we would need to travel past the island of the Sun God. We would still get home if we could behave ourselves while we were there. It was important that we leave his beautiful flocks of sheep and cattle alone. If we could do that, the rest of our trip home would be smooth. We just had to make sure we didn't touch the Sun God's animals. "Teiresias knew many things about me. He also told me about Penelope's suitors at my

看看她对我是否忠诚。 “接下来出现的是我特别想见的鬼魂，先知提瑞西亚斯。 他手里拿着一根金手杖。 我问他什么时候，怎样才能回到伊萨卡岛。 泰瑞西亚斯告诉我，我们回家的路会很艰难。 波塞冬仍然对我弄瞎他儿子的眼睛耿耿于怀。 海神想让我的旅程变得困难。 然后提瑞西亚斯提到，我们需要经过太阳神之岛。 如果我们在那里能规矩点的话，我们还是会回家的。 重要的是，我们不要打扰他那群美丽的牛羊。 如果我们能做到这一点，剩下的回家之旅就会很顺利。 我们只要确保不碰太阳神的动物就行。 “泰蕾西亚斯知道我的很多事情。 他还告诉我佩内洛普的追求者

home in Ithaca. When he said this, my face became hot and anger filled my body. Teiresias noticed, and told me I would get my revenge." Odysseus bowed his head. This next part of the story was hard to tell. "After I spoke with Teiresias," he said, "the ghosts came out to greet us. A parade of all the people I had

我在伊萨卡的家。当他说这话时，我的脸变得热起来，愤怒充满了我的身体。 泰蕾西阿斯注意到了，告诉我一定要报仇。” 奥德修斯低下了头。故事的下一部分很难讲。 “我和泰瑞西阿斯谈过之后，”他说，“鬼魂出来迎接我们。 我所有人的游行

known passed in front of me. Each of my men experienced the same thing. The ghosts of their friends, family, and foes swirled around each of them, wanting to speak. For me, the brave soldiers who fought and died beside me in Troy came to shake my hand. Of course I could not grip them since they were ghosts. "It was hardest for me to see my dear mother, who was alive when I left Ithaca for battle. I never got to say my last good-byes to her. She told me that she had died of sadness waiting for me to come home to Ithaca. I was heartbroken, and tried to hug her. But of course, she was a ghost. So my arms passed right through her. It was like hugging the air. "Some of the ghosts were being punished for the wrongs they had committed during their lives," Odysseus said, trembling. "It was horrible to watch. The ghost of a man named Tantalus stood in a beautiful freshwater lake.

他从我面前走过。 我的每个手下都经历了同样的事情。 他们的朋友、家人和敌人的鬼魂围着他们每个人打转，想要说话。 对我来说，那些在特洛伊与我并肩作战和牺牲的勇敢的士兵来和我握手。 我当然抓不住他们，因为他们是鬼。 “见到我亲爱的母亲对我来说是最难的，当我离开伊萨卡岛参加战斗时，她还活着。 我还没来得及跟她说最后的再见。 她告诉我，她在等待我回到伊萨卡岛的家中时，因悲伤而死。 我很伤心，想要拥抱她。 当然，她是个鬼魂。 于是我的手臂穿过了她。 就像拥抱空气一样。 奥德修斯颤抖着说：“有些鬼魂是在为他们生前所犯的错误而受到惩罚。” “看得太恐怖了。 一个名叫坦塔罗斯的人的鬼魂站在一个美丽的淡水湖里。

Above his head hung branches full of fruits— pears, pomegranates, apples, sweet figs, and juicy olives. Yet Tantalus will be hungry and thirsty forever. For each time he reached up to grab the fruits, the wind tossed them out of his grasp. And whenever he bent down to take a drink, the water dropped out of his reach. "And I saw another ghost," Odysseus added, "named Sisyphus. His punishment was to roll a big stone up to the top of a hill. Whenever he was almost at the top, the stone would slip from his hands and roll back down the mountain. This happened over and over again. I saw the look of failure in his eyes. "After a while," Odysseus concluded, "I couldn't take any more. I had to get out of Hades. No wonder most mortals are not allowed to go there. I bid Teiresias farewell and thanked him for his wise advice. My men

他头顶上挂满了果实的树枝——梨子、石榴、苹果、甜无花果和多汁的橄榄。 然而坦塔罗斯将永远又饥又渴。 因为每次他伸手去抓水果时，风都把它们从他手中吹走。 每当他弯腰喝水时，水就掉到他够不着的地方。 “我还看到了另一个鬼魂，”奥德修斯补充道，“名叫西西弗斯。 他的惩罚是把一块大石头滚到山顶上。 每当他快要到达山顶时，石头就会从他手中滑落，滚下山去。 这种情况一次又一次地发生。 我看到了他眼中失败的神情。 “过了一会儿，”奥德修斯总结道，“我再也受不了了。 我必须离开哈迪斯。 难怪大多数凡人都不允许去那里。 我向泰瑞西亚斯告别，感谢他的明智建议。 我的人