The Companions of Ulysses

That great hero-wanderer Ulysses had been with his companions driven hither and thither at the will of the winds for ten years, never knowing what their ultimate fate was to be. At length they disembarked upon a shore where Circe, the daughter of Apollo, held her court. Receiving them she brewed a delicious but baneful liquor, which she made them drink. The result of this was that first they lost their reason, and a few moments after, their bodies took the forms and features of various animals; some unwieldy, some small. Ulysses alone, having the wisdom to withstand the temptation of the treacherous cup, escaped the metamorphosis.

那位伟大的漂泊英雄尤利西斯和他的伙伴们，曾被风浪 东飘西荡了整整十年，始终不知道自己最终的命运 会是怎样。终于，他们在一处海岸登陆，那里 正是阿波罗的女儿喀耳刻主持宫廷的地方。她接待了 他们，酿制了一种美味却害人的饮料，逼他们 喝下。结果是，他们先是失去了理智，过了 片刻，他们的身体便化作了各种动物的形貌和模样； 有的笨重，有的娇小。唯有尤利西斯凭着智慧，抵挡住了 那杯狡诈饮料的诱惑，逃过了这场 变形。

He, besides possessing wisdom, bore the look of a hero and had the gift of honeyed speech, so that it came about that the goddess herself imbibed a poison little different from her own; that is to say, she became enamoured of the hero and declared her love to him. Now was the time for Ulysses to profit by this turn of events, and he was too cunning to miss the opportunity, so he begged and obtained the boon that his friends should be restored to their natural shapes.

他不仅拥有智慧，还有一副英雄的仪表， 又生就一副如蜜般动听的口才，以至于最终 女神本人也饮下了一种与自己所酿的毒药相差无几的毒药； 也就是说，她爱上了这位英雄，并向他表白了爱意。 如今正是尤利西斯利用这一转机的时候，他 足够机敏，绝不会错失这个机会，于是他恳求并 获得了恩准，让他的朋友们恢复原本的模样。

"But will they be willing to accept their own forms again?" asked the nymph. "Go to them and make them the offer."

“可他们愿意重新变回自己原来的样子吗？”那位仙女 问道。“去问问他们吧，把这个提议告诉他们。”

Ulysses, glad and eager, ran to his Greeks and cried, "The poisoned cup has its remedy, and I come to offer it to you. Dear friends of mine, will you not be glad to have your manly forms again? Speak, for your speech is already restored."

尤利西斯又欢喜又急切地跑向他的希腊同伴们，喊道：“那杯毒药 是有解药的，我这就来把它献给你们。我亲爱的 朋友们，难道你们不愿意重新变回堂堂男子汉的模样吗？说话呀，你们的 言语已经恢复了。”

The lion was the first to reply. Making an effort to roar he said, "I, for one, am not such a fool. What! renounce all the great advantages that have just been given me? I have teeth. I have claws. I can pull to pieces anything that attacks me. I am, in fact, a king. Do you think it would suit me to become a citizen of Ithaca once more? Who knows but that you might make of me a common soldier again. Thank you; but I will remain as I am."

狮子第一个回答。它努力吼了一声，说道：“我 可不是那样的傻瓜。什么！放弃刚刚获得的这一切 巨大好处？我有牙齿。我有利爪。凡是攻击我的东西， 我都能把它撕成碎片。事实上，我如今是一位王者。你觉得 我还适合重新做伊萨卡的一介平民吗？谁知道你会不会 把我又变成一个普通士兵。多谢好意；可我 情愿保持现在这个样子。”

Ulysses, in sad surprise, turned to the bear. "Ah, brother! what form is this you have taken, you who used to be so handsome?"

尤利西斯又惊又难过，转向那头熊说：“唉，兄弟！你怎么 变成了这副模样，你从前明明那样英俊？”

"Well, really! I like that!" said the bear in his way. "What form is this? you ask. Why it is the form that a bear should have. Pray who instructed you that one form is more handsome than another? Is it your business to judge between us?

“哼，说得倒好！”熊用它自己的方式说道。“你问我这是 什么模样？告诉你吧，这正是一头熊该有的模样。请问 是谁教你说这一种形貌比另一种更英俊的？评判我们 彼此，难道是你的事吗？

I prefer to appeal to the sight of the gentler sex in our ursine race. Do I displease you? Then pass on. Go your ways and leave me to mine. I am free and content as I am, and I tell you frankly and flatly that I will not change my state."

我情愿把这事交给我们熊族里 温柔一辈的目光来评判。我这模样让你不快吗？那就请便吧。 你走你的路，让我过我的日子。我如今自由自在，心满意足， 我坦白告诉你，我绝不会改变现在的状态。”

The princely Greek then turned to a wolf with the same proposals, and risking a similar rebuff said: "Comrade, it overwhelms me that a sweet young shepherdess should be driven to complain to the echoing crags of the gluttonous appetite that impelled you to devour her sheep. Time was when you would have protected her sheepfold. In those days you led an honest life. Leave your lairs and become, instead of a wolf, an honest man again."

这位高贵的希腊人接着转向一只狼，提出了同样的 建议，也冒着被同样奚落一番的风险，说道：“伙计， 一想到有位温柔的年轻牧羊女，被你那贪婪的胃口 逼得只能向回声阵阵的悬崖哭诉，说你如何吞食了她的 羊群，我便深感痛心。曾几何时，你也曾守护过她的 羊圈。那时候你过着清白正直的生活。离开你的巢穴吧， 别再做一只狼，重新做回一个正直的人。”

"What is that?" answered the wolf. "I don't see your point. You come here treating me as though I were a carnivorous beast. But what are you, who are talking in this strain? Would not you and yours have eaten these sheep, which all the village is deploring, if I had not? Now say, on your oath, do you really think I should have loved slaughter any less if I had remained a man?

“你这是什么话？”狼答道。“我不明白你的意思。你跑到这儿来， 把我当成一头食肉的野兽看待。可你自己呢， 说着这种腔调的你，又算什么？倘若不是我，你和你的族人， 不也会把那些让全村人都在哀叹的羊吃掉吗？现在你说说， 凭你的良心起誓，倘若我仍旧是个人，我对杀戮的喜爱 真的会少一分吗？

For a mere word, you men are at times ready to strangle each other. Are you not, therefore, as wolves one to another? All things considered, I maintain as a matter of fact that, rascal for rascal, it is better to be a wolf than a man. I decline to make any change in my condition."

为了区区一句话，你们人类有时也 恨不得互相掐死对方。那么你们彼此之间，不也如同 豺狼一般吗？综合种种考虑，我坚持认为，坏蛋对坏蛋， 做一只狼总比做一个人来得好。我拒绝对自己的 处境做出任何改变。”

In this way did Ulysses go from one to another making the same representations and receiving from all, large and small alike, the same refusals. Liberty, unbridled lust of appetite, the ambushes of the woods, all these things were their supreme delight. They all renounced the glory attaching to great deeds.

就这样，尤利西斯从一个走到另一个，反复陈说 同样的道理，得到的却是所有动物——无论大小—— 同样的回绝。自由，放纵无度的食欲，林间的 埋伏，这一切才是它们至高无上的乐趣。它们全都放弃了 建立丰功伟绩所带来的荣耀。

They thought that in following their passions they were enjoying freedom, not seeing that they were but slaves to themselves.

它们以为，放纵自己的欲望便是享受 自由，却没有看清，自己不过是沦为了欲望的奴隶。