第 22 节
作者:恐龙王      更新:2022-07-12 16:21      字数:9322
  of the poison came upon him; and the Trojans carried him into their city;
  where  the physicians   tended him  all   night。         But he   never  slept;  and   lay
  tossing in agony till dawn; when he said:              〃There is but one hope。 Take
  me to OEnone; the nymph of Mount Ida!〃
  〃Then his friends laid Paris on a litter; and bore him up the steep path
  to Mount Ida。       Often had he climbed it swiftly; when he was young; and
  went to see the nymph who loved him; but for many a day he had not trod
  the path where he was now carried in great pain and fear; for the poison
  turned his blood to fire。       Little hope he had; for he knew how cruelly he
  had deserted OEnone; and he saw that all the birds which were disturbed
  in the wood flew away to the left hand; an omen of evil。
  At last the bearers reached the cave where the nymph OEnone lived;
  and they smelled the sweet fragrance of the cedar fire that burned on the
  floor of the cave; and they heard the nymph singing a melancholy song。
  Then Paris called to her in the voice which she had once loved to hear; and
  she grew very pale; and rose up; saying to herself; 〃The day has come for
  which I have prayed。         He is sore hurt; and has come to bid me heal his
  wound。〃      So she came and stood in the doorway of the dark cave; white
  against the darkness; and the bearers laid Paris on the litter at the feet of
  OEnone; and he stretched forth his hands to touch her knees; as was the
  manner of suppliants。        But she drew back and gathered her robe about her;
  that he might not touch it with his hands。
  Then he said:      〃Lady; despise me not; and hate me not; for my pain is
  more   than   I   can   bear。  Truly   it   was   by   no   will   of   mine   that   I   left   you
  lonely   here;    for   the  Fates  that   no  man   may    escape    led   me  to  Helen。
  Would   that   I   had   died   in   your   arms   before   I   saw  her   face! But   now   I
  beseech you in the name of the Gods; and for the memory of our love; that
  you will have pity on me and heal my hurt; and not refuse your grace and
  let me die here at your feet。〃
  Then OEnone answered scornfully:              〃Why have you come here to me?
  Surely   for   years   you   have   not   come   this   way;   where   the   path   was   once
  worn with your feet。        But long ago you left me lonely and lamenting; for
  the love of Helen of the fair hands。            Surely she is much more beautiful
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  than the love of your youth; and far more able to help you; for men say
  that she can never know old age and death。 Go home to Helen and let her
  take away your pain。〃
  Thus     OEnone     spoke;    and   went    within   the   cave;   where    she   threw
  herself   down   among   the   ashes   of   the   hearth   and   sobbed   for   anger   and
  sorrow。     In   a   little   while   she   rose   and   went   to   the   door   of   the   cave;
  thinking that Paris had not been borne away back to Troy; but she found
  him   not;   for   his   bearers   had   carried   him   by   another   path;   till   he   died
  beneath the boughs of the oak trees。            Then his bearers carried him swiftly
  down to Troy; where his mother bewailed him; and Helen sang over him
  as   she   had   sung   over   Hector;   remembering   many   things;   and   fearing   to
  think of what her own end might be。 But the Trojans hastily built a great
  pile of dry wood; and thereon laid the body of Paris and set fire to it; and
  the flame went up through the darkness; for now night had fallen。
  But OEnone was roaming in the dark woods; crying and calling after
  Paris; like a lioness whose cubs the hunters have carried away。 The moon
  rose to give her light; and the flame of the funeral fire shone against the
  sky; and then OEnone knew that Paris had died beautiful Parisand that
  the Trojans were burning his body on the plain at the foot of Mount Ida。
  Then she cried that now Paris was all her own; and that Helen had no more
  hold on him:        〃And though when he was living he left me; in death we
  shall not be divided;〃 she said; and she sped down the hill; and through the
  thickets where the wood nymphs were wailing for Paris; and she reached
  the   plain;   and;   covering   her   head   with   her   veil   like   a   bride;   she   rushed
  through the throng of Trojans。          She leaped upon the burning pile of wood;
  she clasped the body of Paris in her arms; and the flame of fire consumed
  the bridegroom  and   the   bride;   and   their   ashes   mingled。       No   man   could
  divide them any more; and the ashes were placed in a golden cup; within a
  chamber of stone; and the earth was mounded above them。                     On that grave
  the   wood   nymphs   planted   two   rose   trees;   and   their   branches   met   and
  plaited together。
  This was the end of Paris and OEnone。
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  HOW ULYSSES INVENTED THE
  DEVICE OF THE HORSE OF TREE
  After   Paris   died;   Helen   was   not   given   back   to   Menelaus。    We   are
  often told that only fear of the   anger of Paris had prevented the Trojans
  from surrendering Helen and making peace。                Now Paris could not terrify
  them;   yet   for   all   that   the   men   of   the   town   would   not   part   with   Helen;
  whether      because    she   was    so   beautiful;   or   because     they   thought    it
  dishonourable   to   yield   her   to   the   Greeks;   who   might   put   her   to   a   cruel
  death。    So Helen was taken by Deiphobus; the brother of Paris; to live in
  his own house; and Deiphobus was at this time the best warrior and the
  chief captain of the men of Troy。
  Meanwhile; the Greeks made an assault against the Trojan walls and
  fought     long   and   hardily;   but;  being   safe   behind    the  battlements;     and
  shooting   through   loopholes;   the   Trojans   drove   them   back   with   loss   of
  many   of   their   men。    It   was   in   vain   that   Philoctetes   shot   his   poisoned
  arrows;  they  fell   back   from  the   stone  walls;   or   stuck in   the   palisades   of
  wood   above   the   walls;   and     the   Greeks   who    tried   to  climb  over   were
  speared; or crushed with heavy stones。            When night fell; they retreated to
  the ships and held a council; and; as usual; they asked the advice of the
  prophet Calchas。        It was the business of Calchas to go about looking at
  birds;    and   taking   omens     from    what   he   saw    them    doing;   a  way    of
  prophesying which the Romans also used; and some savages do the same
  to this day。     Calchas said that yesterday he had seen a hawk pursuing a
  dove; which hid herself in a hole in a rocky cliff。              For a long while the
  hawk tried to find the hole; and follow the dove into it; but he could not
  reach her。     So he flew away for a short distance and hid himself; then the
  dove   fluttered   out   into   the   sunlight;   and   the   hawk   swooped   on   her   and
  killed her。
  The Greeks; said Calchas; ought to learn a lesson from the hawk; and
  take Troy by cunning; as by force they could do nothing。                  Then Ulysses
  stood up and described   a trick which   it is not   easy to understand。              The
  Greeks; he said; ought to make an enormous hollow horse of wood; and
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  place the bravest men in the horse。            Then all the rest of the Greeks should
  embark in their ships and sail to the Isle of Tenedos; and lie hidden behind
  the island。     The Trojans would then come out of the city; like the dove out
  of   her   hole   in   the   rock;   and   would   wander   about   the   Greek   camp;   and
  wonder why the great horse of tree had been made; and why it had been
  left behind。 Lest they should set fire to the horse; when they would soon
  have   found   out   the   warriors   hidden   in   it;   a   cunning   Greek;   whom   the
  Trojans did not know by sight; should be left in the camp or near it。                     He
  would   tell   the   Trojans   that   the   Greeks   had   given   up   all   hope   and   gone
  home; and   he was   to say  that they  feared the   Goddess Pallas   was   angry
  with them; because they had stolen her image that fell from heaven; and
  was   called   the   Luck   of   Troy。    To   soothe   Pallas   and   prevent   her   from
  sending great storms against the ships; the Trojans (so the man was to say)
  had built this wooden horse as an offering to the Goddess