希腊神话故事 02

　　Orpheus and Eurydice(俄耳甫斯与欧律狄刻的生死恋)

       Orpheus was not just any ordinary man. He was theson of the god Apollo and the Muse 1 of music,Calliope.

His father gave him a magical 2 lyre when he was justa young boy and taught him to play sweet music upon it.

By the time he was a young man,he played his instrumentso perfectly 3 that the heart of every man,woman,and child filled with warmth 4 when they heard him.Even theanimals and plants listened to him.When the wild animals heard his music,they gathered around him in acircle;when the tree listened,their leaves grew faster;the flowers turned their heads toward 5 the sound;eventhe hard rock became softer when Orpheus played.

The gods themselves loved Orpeus' playing andsent abeautiful woman called Eurydice to him tobe his wife.Orpheus loved Eurydice more than anything inthe world,more than riches,more thanmusic,more than himself.But Orpheus and Eurydice's marriage was not a lucky one.Not long after their marriage,Eurydice was wanderingin the fields,singing,and dancing,when she wasseen by a lonely man called Aristaeus.Aristaeuswas amazed 6 with Eurydice's beauty and was determined 7 to have her.He followed her throughthe filled with fear and ran waay as fast asshe could.Because she was not watching whereshe was going,she stepped on a snake in thegrass.The snake bit her,and she died. When Orpheus found her body,he begged thegod's to let her live,but his cries were notheard.For days he cries were not heard.For dayshe cried beside her body ,not eating or sleeping.

Finadlly,Orpheus decided 8 to go down into Hades 'the land of the dead'and find his wife.

He asked Apollo led him where the entrance intoHades was,and Apollo led him to a cave on the side of a great clift.Smoke poured out of the mouth of the mouth of the side of a great sceamscould be heard from inside,but Orpheus' love forEurydice,and his determination to find her,wereso great that he was not afraid. He entered into the cave and instantly 9 thelight of the world outside disappared.Great crowds of ghosts surrouded him as he walked downthe long staircase 10 into the center of Hades.Theywhispered terrible words that Orpheus could notunderstand.A normal man would have been killed quickly on entering hades,but Orpheus had his lyre and playde such sweet music that the guardsof the underworld let him pass. After many hoours the stairs finally endedand Orpheus arrived in the center of Hades.The god of Hades sat in his great chair with his wife,and Orpheus bowed before them.Orpheus the began to play his lyre and sing:

"Great gods of the under-world,to whom all men must one day come,Please hear my words,for they are true and from my deepest heart.

I have not come to spy 11 on your secrets,or to tesr my stength against the monsters of this world.

I have come to find my wife,who was taken from me too early by thebite of a snake.

I have come here for love.

Love,the most powerful 12 of the gods of themenwho live on the earth,and,I believe,a powerful god here as well.

I beg you ,great gods who have the greateatpower,please return my wife to me and let her liveagain.

Please return my wife to me and let her live again.

All men will come to you in time,and Orpheus and Eurydice will both return toserve you.

But let her live again,just for the of a common life on earth,so that she can stand by my side.

If you will not do this,I cannot return alone;I will stay here in the under-world."As he sang these words and played his lyre,allthe ghosts of Hades cried great tears.Then for the first time,it is said,the King of Hades himself let a single tear fall from his eye.Orpheus moved quickly and caught the tear andheld it in hishand. The god then said,"You have moved my heart,Orpheus,and I will give you what you ask.You may take your wife out of Hades on one condition:You must walk up the stairs out ofHades and not turn back to look at her or this world.Not until you have arrived back in the world of the living can you turn around. If you wish to see your wife,just look into my tear thatyou now hold in your hand and you will see her,like in amirror,behind you." Orpeus began the long walk up the stairs,allthe while holding the god's single tear up in front of him to see him wife behind him.In thetear he saw Eurydice following behind him as best she could.Her foot still hurt from the snakebite,and she walked slowly and silebtly.The stairs were dark and gigh,and Eurydice often slippde because of her hurt foot.Each time sheslipped.Orpheus wished to run to her,but knew hecould not.They walked an hour,and a terrible thought appeared in Orpheus' head."What if Hadeshas tricked me into leaving the land of the dead,and Eurydice is not really behind me?” This thought became bigger and bigger insideof Orpheus'head,until he could not think of anything else.He called out to Eurudice,begging her to answer him,but heard no reply.In truth,Eurydice was calling to him loudly,but the dead made no sound to the living.Finally Orpheuscould not bear it any longer and took a quick look behind him. The moment he did this,many servants of Hades flew down and grasped Eurydice.

As they pulled her back into Hades,Orpheus ran upto her and grasped her hand.They touched each other one last time before she was pulled away. Eurydice looked at her hasband with deep loveand did not blame him for his impatience 13 for howcould she be angry at his desire to see her?"goodbye,my love,"she said,"a final goodbye."she then sissappeared into the darkness.

Suddenly Orpheus found himself back in the light of the world. The entaance to cave was covered with large rocks that he could not move.He begged the gods to let him back intoHades to try one more time,but he received noanswer.He sat at the cave entrance for threedays and nights,without food or water.He thenplayed his lyre and sang a song so sad thateverything that heard it felt that their heartwould braek.The wild animals could not bear tohear a song so sad and begged him to stop.Orpheusrefused,and the animals,crazy with sadness,attacked him and pulled him into hundredsof tiny pieces. His spirit,free from his body,fell happily into Hades where he sought out his Eurudice andheld her in his arms.They still walk together happily in Hades,his playing the arms.They stillwalk together happily in Hdes,his playing the lyre and her singing,and Orpheus may look at heras much as he wishes,wthout fear of her disappering from his arms.