第 2 节
作者:天马行空      更新:2021-02-21 12:20      字数:9322
  In shameful bonds the linked adamant locks。
  For now new steersmen take the helm
  Olympian; now with little thought
  Of right; on strange; new laws Zeus stablisheth his realm;
  Bringing the mighty ones of old to naught。
  PROMETHEUS
  Oh that he had conveyed me
  'Neath earth; 'neath hell that swalloweth up the dead;
  In Tartarus; illimitably vast
  With adamantine fetters bound me fast…
  There his fierce anger on me visited;
  Where never mocking laughter could upbraid me
  Of God or aught beside!
  But now a wretch enskied;
  A far…seen vane;
  All they that hate me triumph in my pain。
  CHORUS
  Who of the Gods is there so pitiless
  That he can triumph in thy sore distress?
  Who doth not inly groan
  With every pang of thine save Zeus alone?
  But he is ever wroth; not to be bent
  From his resolved intent
  The sons of heaven to subjugate;
  Nor shall he cease until his heart be satiate;
  Or one a way devise
  To hurl him from the throne where he doth monarchize。
  PROMETHEUS
  Yea; of a surety…though he do me wrong;
  Loading my limbs with fetters strong…
  The president
  Of heaven's high parliament
  Shall need me yet to show
  What new conspiracy with privy blow
  Attempts his sceptre and his kingly seat。
  Neither shall words with all persuasion sweet;
  Not though his tongue drop honey; cheat
  Nor charm my knowledge from me; nor dures
  Of menace dire; fear of more grievous pains;
  Unseal my lips; till he have loosed these chains;
  And granted for these injuries redress。
  CHORUS
  High is the heart of thee;
  Thy will no whit by bitter woes unstrung;
  And all too free
  The licence of thy bold; unshackled tongue。
  But fear hath roused my soul with piercing cry!
  And for thy fate my heart misgives me! I
  Tremble to know when through the breakers' roar
  Thy keel shall touch again the friendly shore;
  For not by prayer to Zeus is access won;
  An unpersuadable heart hath Cronos' son。
  PROMETHEUS
  I know the heart of Zeus is hard; that he hath tied
  Justice to his side;
  But he shall be full gentle thus assuaged;
  And; the implacable wrath wherewith he raged
  Smoothed quite away; nor he nor I
  Be loth to seal a bond of peace and amity。
  CHORUS
  All that thou hast to tell I pray unfold;
  That we may hear at large upon what count
  Zeus took thee and with bitter wrong affronts:
  Instruct us; if the telling hurt thee not。
  PROMETHEUS
  These things are sorrowful for me to speak;
  Yet silence too is sorrow: all ways woe!
  When first the Blessed Ones were filled with wrath
  And there arose division in their midst;
  These instant to hurl Cronos from his throne
  That Zeus might be their king; and these; adverse;
  Contending that he ne'er should rule the Gods;
  Then I; wise counsel urging to persuade
  The Titans; sons of Ouranos and Chthon;
  Prevailed not: but; all indirect essays
  Despising; they by the strong hand; effortless;
  Yet by main force…supposed that they might seize
  Supremacy。 But me my mother Themis
  And Gaia; one form called by many names;
  Not once alone with voice oracular
  Had prophesied how power should be disposed…
  That not by strength neither by violence
  The mighty should be mastered; but by guile。
  Which things by me set forth at large; they scorned;
  Nor graced my motion with the least regard。
  Then; of all ways that offered; I judged best;
  Taking my mother with me; to support;
  No backward friend; the not less cordial Zeus。
  And by my politic counsel Tartarus;
  The bottomless and black; old Cronos hides
  With his confederates。 So helped by me;
  The tyrant of the Gods; such service rendered
  With ignominious chastisement requites。
  But 'tis a common malady of power
  Tyrannical never to trust a friend。
  And now; what ye inquired; for what arraigned
  He shamefully entreats me; ye shall know。
  When first upon his high; paternal throne
  He took his seat; forthwith to divers Gods
  Divers good gifts he gave; and parcelled out
  His empire; but of miserable men
  Recked not at all; rather it was his wish
  To wipe out man and rear another race:
  And these designs none contravened but me。
  I risked the bord attempt; and saved mankind
  From stark destruction and the road to hell。
  Therefore with this sore penance am I bowed;
  Grievous to suffer; pitiful to see。
  But; for compassion shown to man; such fate
  I no wise earned; rather in wrath's despite
  Am I to be reformed; and made a show
  Of infamy to Zeus。
  CHORUS
  He hath a heart
  Of iron; hewn out of unfeeling rock
  Is he; Prometheus; whom thy sufferings
  Rouse not to wrath。 Would I had ne'er beheld them;
  For verily the sight hath wrung my heart。
  PROMETHEUS
  Yea; to my friends a woeful sight am I。
  CHORUS
  Hast not more boldly in aught else transgressed?
  PROMETHEUS
  I took from man expectancy of death。
  CHORUS
  What medicine found'st thou for this malady?
  PROMETHEUS
  I planted blind hope in the heart of him。
  CHORUS
  A mighty boon thou gavest there to man。
  PROMETHEUS
  Moreover; I conferred the gift of fire。
  CHORUS
  And have frail mortals now the flame…bright fire?
  PROMETHEUS
  Yea; and shall master many arts thereby。
  CHORUS
  And Zeus with such misfeasance charging thee…
  PROMETHEUS
  Torments me with extremity of woe。
  CHORUS
  And is no end in prospect of thy pains?
  PROMETHEUS
  None; save when he shall choose to make an end。
  CHORUS
  How should he choose? What hope is thine? Dost thou
  Not see that thou hast erred? But how thou erredst
  Small pleasure were to me to tell; to the
  Exceeding sorrow。 Let it go then: rather
  Seek thou for some deliverance from thy woes。
  PROMETHEUS
  He who stands free with an untrammelled foot
  Is quick to counsel and exhort a friend
  In trouble。 But all these things I know well。
  Of my free will; my own free will; I erred;
  And freely do I here acknowledge it。
  Freeing mankind myself have durance found。
  Natheless; I looked not for sentence so dread;
  High on this precipice to droop and pine;
  Having no neighbour but the desolate crags。
  And now lament no more the ills I suffer;
  But come to earth and an attentive ear
  Lend to the things that shall befall hereafter。
  Harken; oh harken; suffer as I suffer!
  Who knows; who knows; but on some scatheless head;
  Another's yet for the like woes reserved;
  The wandering doom will presently alight?
  CHORUS
  Prometheus; we have heard thy call:
  Not on deaf cars these awful accents fall。
  Lo! lightly leaving at thy words
  My flying car
  And holy air; the pathway of great birds;
  I long to tread this land of peak and scar;
  And certify myself by tidings sure
  Of all thou hast endured and must endure。
  While the winged chariot of the OCEANIDES comes
  to ground their father OCEANUS enters; riding on a monster。
  OCEANUS
  Now have I traversed the unending plain
  And unto thee; Prometheus; am I come;
  Guiding this winghd monster with no rein;
  Nor any bit; but mind's firm masterdom。
  And know that for thy grief my heart is sore;
  The bond of kind; methinks; constraineth me;
  Nor is there any I would honour more;
  Apart from kinship; than I reverence thee。
  And thou shalt learn that I speak verity:
  Mine is no smooth; false tongue; for do but show
  How I can serve thee; grieved and outraged thus;
  Thou ne'er shalt say thou hast; come weal; come woe;
  A friend more faithful than Oceanus。
  PROMETHEUS
  How now? Who greets me? What! Art thou too come
  To gaze upon my woes? How could'st thou leave
  The stream that bears thy name; thine antres arched
  With native rock; to visit earth that breeds
  The massy iron in her womb? Com'st thou
  To be spectator of my evil lot
  And fellow sympathizer with my woes?
  Behold; a thing indeed to gaze upon
  The friend of Zeus; co…stablisher of his rule;
  See; by this sentence with what pains I am bowed I
  OCEANUS
  Prometheus; all too plainly I behold:
  And for the best would counsel thee: albeit
  Thy brain is subtle。 Learn to know thy heart;
  And; as the times; so let thy manners change;
  For by the law of change a new God rules。
  But; if these bitter; savage; sharp…set words
  Thou ventest; it may be; though he sit throned
  Far off and high above thee; Zeus will hear;
  And then thy present multitu