第 13 节
作者:恐龙王      更新:2022-07-12 16:21      字数:9322
  breath Hector prayed him to take gold from Priam; and give back his body
  to   be   burned   in   Troy。   But   Achilles   said;   〃Hound!   would   that   I   could
  bring myself to carve and eat thy raw flesh; but dogs shall devour it; even
  if thy father offered me thy weight in gold。〃              With his last words Hector
  prophesied and said; 〃Remember me in the day when Paris shall slay thee
  in the Scaean gate。〃         Then his brave soul went to the land of the Dead;
  which the Greeks called Hades。 To that land Ulysses sailed while he was
  still a living man; as the story tells later。
  Then Achilles did a dreadful deed; he slit the feet of dead Hector from
  heel to ankle; and thrust thongs through; and bound him by the thongs to
  his chariot and trailed the body in the dust。            All the women of Troy who
  were on the walls raised a shriek; and Hector's wife; Andromache; heard
  the sound。      She had been in an inner room of her house; weaving a purple
  web;     and   embroidering      flowers    on  it;  and  she   was    calling  her   bower
  maidens to make ready a bath for Hector when he should come back tired
  from battle。      But when she heard the cry from the wall she trembled; and
  the shuttle  with which she was   weaving fell   from her  hands。                〃Surely  I
  heard the cry of my husband's mother;〃 she said; and she bade two of her
  maidens come with her to see why the people lamented。
  She ran swiftly; and reached the battlements; and thence she saw her
  dear   husband's   body   being   whirled   through   the   dust   towards   the   ships;
  behind the chariot of Achilles。           Then night came over her eyes and she
  fainted。     But   when   she   returned   to   herself   she   cried   out   that   now   none
  would defend her little boy; and other children would push him away from
  feasts; saying; 〃Out with you; no father of thine is at our table;〃 and his
  father; Hector; would lie naked at the ships; unclad; unburned; unlamented。
  To   be   unburned   and   unburied   was   thought   the   greatest   of   misfortunes;
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  because   the   dead   man   unburned   could   not   go   into   the   House   of   Hades;
  God of the Dead; but must always wander; alone and comfortless; in the
  dark borderland between the dead and the living。
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  THE CRUELTY OF ACHILLES;
  AND THE RANSOMING OF
  HECTOR
  When   Achilles   was   asleep   that   night   the   ghost   of   Patroclus   came;
  saying; 〃Why dost thou not burn and bury me? for the other shadows of
  dead men suffer me not to come near them; and lonely I wander along the
  dark dwelling of Hades。〃         Then Achilles awoke; and he sent men to cut
  down trees; and make a huge pile of fagots and logs。               On this they laid
  Patroclus; covered with white linen; and then they slew many cattle; and
  Achilles cut the throats of twelve Trojan prisoners of war; meaning to burn
  them  with   Patroclus   to do   him  honour。     This   was   a deed   of shame;   for
  Achilles   was   mad   with   sorrow   and   anger   for   the   death   of   his   friend。
  Then   they  drenched   with   wine   the  great   pile   of   wood;   which   was   thirty
  yards long and broad; and set fire to it; and the fire blazed all through the
  night    and  died   down    in  the  morning。    They     put  the  white   bones   of
  Patroclus in a golden casket; and laid it in the hut of Achilles; who said
  that; when he died; they must burn his body; and mix the ashes with the
  ashes of   his   friend;  and   build   over  it   a   chamber   of stone;   and   cover  the
  chamber with a great hill of earth; and set a pillar of stone above it。           This
  is one of the hills on the plain of Troy; but the pillar has fallen from the
  tomb; long ago。
  Then;   as   the   custom   was;   Achilles   held   gameschariot   races;   foot
  races; boxing; wrestling; and archeryin honour of Patroclus。 Ulysses won
  the prize for the foot race; and for the wrestling; so now his wound must
  have been healed。
  But Achilles still kept trailing Hector's dead body each day round the
  hill that had been raised for the tomb of Patroclus; till the Gods in heaven
  were angry; and bade Thetis tell her son that he must give back the dead
  body to Priam; and take ransom for it; and they sent a messenger to Priam
  to bid him redeem the body of his son。           It was terrible for Priam to have
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  to go and humble himself before Achilles; whose hands had been red with
  the blood of his sons; but he did not disobey the Gods。                   He opened his
  chests; and took out twenty…four beautiful embroidered changes of raiment;
  and    he   weighed     out  ten   heavy   bars;   or  talents;  of   gold;  and   chose    a
  beautiful golden cup; and he called nine of his sons; Paris; and Helenus;
  and Deiphobus; and the rest; saying; 〃Go; ye bad sons; my shame; would
  that Hector lived and all of you were dead!〃 for sorrow made him angry;
  〃go; and get ready for me a wain; and lay on it these treasures。〃                  So they
  harnessed   mules   to   the   wain;   and   placed   in   it   the   treasures;   and;   after
  praying; Priam drove through the night to the hut of Achilles。                 In he went;
  when   no   man   looked   for   him;   and   kneeled   to   Achilles;   and   kissed   his
  terrible death… dealing hands。          〃Have pity on me; and fear the Gods; and
  give   me   back   my   dead   son;〃   he   said;   〃and   remember   thine   own   father。
  Have pity on me; who have endured to do what no man born has ever done
  before; to kiss the hands that slew my sons。〃
  Then Achilles remembered his own father; far away; who now was old
  and   weak:     and   he   wept;   and   Priam   wept   with   him;   and   then   Achilles
  raised    Priam   from    his   knees   and   spoke    kindly   to  him;   admiring     how
  beautiful he still   was in his   old age;  and Priam himself  wondered at   the
  beauty of Achilles。        And Achilles thought how Priam had long been rich
  and happy; like his own father; Peleus; and now old age and weakness and
  sorrow were laid upon both of them; for Achilles knew that his own day of
  death was at hand; even at the doors。            So Achilles bade the women make
  ready   the   body   of   Hector   for   burial;   and   they   clothed   him   in   a   white
  mantle that Priam had brought; and laid him in the wain; and supper was
  made     ready;   and   Priam    and   Achilles    ate   and   drank   together;    and   the
  women spread a bed for Priam; who would not stay long; but stole away
  back to Troy while Achilles was asleep。
  All the women came out to meet him; and to lament for Hector。                    They
  carried the body into the house of Andromache and laid it on a bed; and
  the women gathered around; and each in turn sang her song over the great
  dead warrior。       His mother bewailed him; and his wife; and Helen of the
  fair hands; clad in dark mourning raiment; lifted up her white arms; and
  said:    〃Hector;   of   all   my   brethren   in   Troy   thou   wert   the   dearest;   since
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  Paris brought me hither。         Would that ere that day I had died!          For this is
  now the twentieth year since I came; and in all these twenty years never
  heard I a word from thee that was bitter and unkind; others might upbraid
  me; thy sisters or thy mother; for thy father was good to me as if he had
  been my own; but then thou wouldst restrain them that spoke evil by the
  courtesy of thy heart and thy gentle words。              Ah! woe for thee; and woe
  for me; whom all men shudder at; for there is now none in wide Troyland
  to be my friend like thee; my brother and my friend!〃
  So Helen lamented; but now was done all that men might do; a great
  pile   of   wood   was   raised;   and   Hector   was   burned;   and   his   ashes   were
  placed in a golden urn; in a dark chamber of stone; within a hollow hill。
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  HOW ULYSSES STOLE THE
  LUCK OF TROY
  After   Hector   was   buried;   the   siege   went   on   slowly;   as   it   had   done
  during the first nine years of the war。           The Greeks did