第 43 节
作者:水王      更新:2021-12-07 09:36      字数:9322
  where shall I find fifty bold youths; who will take each of them an oar of
  my   galley?     They   must    have    sturdy   arms   to  row;   and   brave    hearts  to
  encounter perils; or we shall never win the Golden Fleece。〃
  〃Go;〃 replied the oaken image; 〃go; summon all the heroes of Greece。〃
  And; in fact; considering what a great deed was to be done; could any
  advice be wiser than this which Jason received from the figure…head of his
  vessel? He lost no time in sending messengers to all the cities; and making
  known to the whole people of Greece; that Prince Jason; the son of King
  Jason; was going in quest of the Fleece of Gold; and that he desired the
  help of forty…nine of the bravest and strongest young men alive; to row his
  vessel and share his dangers。 And Jason himself would be the fiftieth。
  At   this   news;   the   adventurous   youths;   all   over  the   country;   began   to
  bestir themselves。 Some of them had already fought with giants; and slain
  dragons;   and   the   younger   ones;   who   had   not   yet   met   with   such   good
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  fortune; thought it a shame to have lived so long without getting astride of
  a   flying   serpent;   or   sticking   their   spears   into   a   Chimaera;   or;   at   least;
  thrusting their right arms down a monstrous lion's throat。 There was a fair
  prospect     that  they   would    meet    with   plenty   of   such   adventures     before
  finding the Golden Fleece。 As soon as they could furbish up their helmets
  and     shields;   therefore;    and   gird    on   their  trusty   swords;     they   came
  thronging   to   Iolchos;   and   clambered   on   board   the   new   galley。   Shaking
  hands with Jason; they assured him that they did not care a pin for their
  lives; but would help row the vessel to the remotest edge of the world; and
  as much farther as he might think it best to go。
  Many of these brave fellows had been educated by Chiron; the four…
  footed pedagogue; and were therefore old schoolmates of Jason; and knew
  him to be a lad of spirit。 The mighty Hercules; whose shoulders afterwards
  upheld the sky; was one of them。 And there were Castor and Pollux; the
  twin brothers; who were never accused of being chicken…hearted; although
  they had been hatched out of an egg; and Theseus; who was so renowned
  for   killing   the   Minotaur;   and   Lynceus;   with   his   wonderfully   sharp   eyes;
  which could see through a millstone; or look right down into the depths of
  the earth; and discover the treasures that were there; and Orpheus; the very
  best   of   harpers;   who   sang   and   played   upon   his   lyre   so   sweetly;   that   the
  brute beasts stood upon their hind legs; and capered merrily to the music。
  Yes; and at some of his more moving tunes; the rocks bestirred their moss…
  grown      bulk   out   of  the  ground;    and    a  grove   of   forest  trees   uprooted
  themselves; and;  nodding their  tops to one another;  performed a  country
  dance。
  One of the rowers was a beautiful young woman; named Atalanta。 who
  had been nursed among the mountains by a bear。 So light of foot was this
  fair   damsel;   that   she   could   step   from   one   foamy   crest   of   a   wave   to   the
  foamy crest of another; without wetting more than the sole of her sandal。
  She had grown up in a very wild way; and talked much about the rights of
  women; and loved hunting and war far better than her needle。 But in my
  opinion; the most remarkable of this famous company were two sons of
  the   North   Wind   (airy   youngsters;   and   of   rather   a   blustering   disposition)
  who had wings on their shoulders; and; in case of a calm; could puff out
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  their cheeks; and blow almost as fresh a breeze as their father。 I ought not
  to   forget   the   prophets   and   conjurors;  of   whom  there   were   several   in   the
  crew;  and   who   could   foretell   what   would   happen to…morrow   or   the   next
  day;   or   a   hundred   years   hence;   but   were   generally   quite   unconscious   of
  what was passing at the moment。
  Jason appointed Tiphys to be helmsman because he was a star…gazer;
  and   knew   the   points   of   the   compass。   Lynceus;   on   account   of   his   sharp
  sight; was stationed as a look…out in the prow; where he saw a whole day's
  sail ahead; but was rather apt to overlook things that lay directly under his
  nose。 If the sea only happened to be deep enough; however; Lynceus could
  tell you exactly what kind of rocks or sands were at the bottom of it; and
  he often cried out to his companions; that they were sailing over heaps of
  sunken     treasure;    which    yet  he   was   none   the   richer   for  beholding。    To
  confess the truth; few people believed him when he said it。
  Well! But when the Argonauts; as these fifty brave adventurers were
  called;   had   prepared   everything   for   the   voyage;   an   unforeseen   difficulty
  threatened to end it before it was begun。 The vessel; you must understand;
  was so long; and broad; and ponderous; that the united force of all the fifty
  was insufficient to shove her into the water。 Hercules; I suppose; had not
  grown to his full strength; else he might have set her afloat as easily as a
  little boy launches his boat upon a puddle。 But here were these fifty heroes;
  pushing; and   straining; and growing   red in the   face; without   making   the
  Argo start an inch。 At last; quite wearied out; they sat themselves down on
  the shore  exceedingly disconsolate;  and thinking   that the  vessel must be
  left to rot and fall in pieces; and that they must either swim across the sea
  or lose the Golden Fleece。
  All at once; Jason bethought himself of the galley's miraculous figure…
  head。
  〃O; daughter of the Talking Oak;〃 cried he; 〃how shall we set to work
  to get our vessel into the water?〃
  〃Seat   yourselves;〃   answered   the   image   (for   it   had   known   what   had
  ought to be done from the very first; and was only waiting for the question
  to be put);〃 seat yourselves; and handle your oars; and let Orpheus play
  upon his harp。〃
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  Immediately the fifty heroes got on board; and seizing their oars; held
  them perpendicularly in the air; while Orpheus (who liked such a task far
  better than rowing) swept his fingers across the harp。 At the first ringing
  note of the music; they felt the vessel stir。 Orpheus thrummed away briskly;
  and the galley slid at once into the sea; dipping her prow so deeply that the
  figure…head   drank   the   wave   with   its   marvelous   lips;   and   rising   again   as
  buoyant as a swan。 The rowers plied their fifty oars; the white foam boiled
  up before the prow;   the water gurgled   and   bubbled in   their  wake;   while
  Orpheus   continued   to   play   so   lively   a   strain   of   music;   that   the   vessel
  seemed   to   dance   over   the   billows   by   way   of   keeping   time   to   it。   Thus
  triumphantly   did   the Argo   sail   out   of   the   harbor;   amidst   the   huzzas   and
  good wishes of everybody except the wicked old Pelias; who stood on a
  promontory;   scowling   at   her;   and   wishing   that   he   could   blow  out   of   his
  lungs   the   tempest   of   wrath   that   was   in   his   heart;   and   so   sink   the   galley
  with   all   on   board。 When   they  had sailed   above   fifty   miles   over   the   sea;
  Lynceus happened to cast his sharp eyes behind; and said that there was
  this bad…hearted king; still perched upon the promontory; and scowling so
  gloomily   that   it   looked   like   a   black   thunder…cloud   in   that   quarter   of   the
  horizon。
  In   order    to  make    the   time   pass   away     more    pleasantly     during    the
  voyage; the heroes talked about the Golden Fleece。 It originally belonged;
  it   appears;   to   a   Boeotian   ram;   who   had   taken   on   his   back   two   children;
  when in danger of their lives; and fled with them over land and sea as far
  as Colchis。 One of the children; whose name was Helle; fell into the sea
  and was drowned。 But the other (a little boy; named Phrixus) was brought
  safe ashore by the faithful ram; who; however; was so exhausted that he
  immediately lay down and died。 In memory  of this good deed; and as   a
  token of his true heart; the fleece of the poor dead ram was miraculously
  changed to gold; and became one of the most beautiful objects ever seen
  on earth。 It was hung upon a tree in a sacred grove; where it had n