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1、【国外文学】Tanglewood TalesTHE MINOTAURIn the old city of Tr?zene, at the foot of a lofty mountain, there lived, a very long time ago, a little boy named Theseus. His grandfather, King Pittheus, was the sovereign of that country, and was reckoned a very wise man; so that Theseus, being brought up in the
2、royal palace, and being naturally a bright lad, could hardly fail of profiting by the old kings instructions. His mothers name was ?thra. As for his father, the boy had never seen him. But, from his earliest remembrance, ?thra used to go with little Theseus into a wood, and sit down upon a moss-grow
3、n rock, which was deeply sunken into the earth. Here she often talked with her son about his father, and said that he was called ?geus, and that he was a great king, and ruled over Attica, and dwelt at Athens, which was as famous a city as any in the world. Theseus was very fond of hearing about Kin
4、g ?geus, and often asked his good mother ?thra why he did not come and live with them at Tr?zene.Ah, my dear son, answered ?thra, with a sigh, a monarch has his people to take care of. The men and women over whom he rules are in the place of children to him; and he can seldom spare time to love his
5、own children as other parents do. Your father will never be able to leave his kingdom for the sake of seeing his little boy.Well, but, dear mother, asked the boy, why cannot I go to this famous city of Athens, and tell King ?geus that I am his son?That may happen by and by, said ?thra. Be patient, a
6、nd we shall see. You are not yet big and strong enough to set out on such an errand.And how soon shall I be strong enough? Theseus persisted in inquiring.You are but a tiny boy as yet, replied his mother. See if you can lift this rock on which we are sitting?The little fellow had a great opinion of
7、his own strength. So, grasping the rough protuberances of the rock, he tugged and toiled amain, and got himself quite out of breath, without being able to stir the heavy stone. It seemed rooted into the ground. No wonder he could not move it; for it would have taken all the force of a very strong ma
8、n to lift it out of its earthy bed.He tugged and toiled amain.His mother stood looking on, with a sad kind of a smile on her lips and in her eyes, to see the zealous and yet puny efforts of her little boy. She could not help being sorrowful at finding him already so impatient to begin his adventures
9、 in the world.You see how it is, my dear Theseus, said she. You must possess far more strength than now before I can trust you to go to Athens, and tell King ?geus that you are his son. But when you can lift this rock, and show me what is hidden beneath it, I promise you my permission to depart.Ofte
10、n and often, after this, did Theseus ask his mother whether it was yet time for him to go to Athens; and still his mother pointed to the rock, and told him that for years to come, he could not be strong enough to move it. And again and again the rosy-cheeked and curly-headed boy would tug and strain
11、 at the huge mass of stone, striving, child as he was, to do what a giant could hardly have done without taking both of his great hands to the task. Meanwhile the rock seemed to be sinking farther and farther into the ground. The moss grew over it thicker and thicker, until at last it looked almost
12、like a soft green seat, with only a few gray knobs of granite peeping out. The overhanging trees, also, shed their brown leaves upon it, as often as the autumn came; and at its base grew ferns and wild flowers, some of which crept quite over its surface. To all appearance, the rock was as firmly fas
13、tened as any other portion of the earths substance.But, difficult as the matter looked, Theseus was now growing up to be such a vigorous youth, that, in his own opinion, the time would quickly come when he might hope to get the upper hand of this ponderous lump of stone.Mother, I do believe it has s
14、tarted! cried he, after one of his attempts. The earth around it is certainly a little cracked!No, no, child! his mother hastily answered. It is not possible you can have moved it, such a boy as you still are! Nor would she be convinced, although Theseus showed her the place where he fancied that th
15、e stem of a flower had been partly uprooted by the movement of the rock. But ?thra sighed, and looked disquieted; for, no doubt, she began to be conscious that her son was no longer a child, and that, in a little while hence, she must send him forth among the perils and troubles of the world.It was
16、not more than a year afterwards when they were again sitting on the moss-covered stone. ?thra had once more told him the oft-repeated story of his father, and how gladly he would receive Theseus at his stately palace, and how he would present him to his courtiers and the people, and tell them that h
17、ere was the heir of his dominions. The eyes of Theseus glowed with enthusiasm, and he would hardly sit still to hear his mother speak.Dear mother ?thra, he exclaimed, I never felt half so strong as now! I am no longer a child, nor a boy, nor a mere youth. I feel myself a man! It is now time to make
18、one earnest trial to remove the stone.Ah, my dearest Theseus, replied his mother, not yet! not yet!Yes, mother, said he, resolutely, the time has come.Then Theseus bent himself in good earnest to the task, and strained every sinew, with manly strength and resolution. He put his whole brave heart int
19、o the effort. He wrestled with the big and sluggish stone, as if it had been a living enemy. He heaved, he lifted, he resolved now to succeed, or else perish there, and let the rock be his monument forever! ?thra stood gazing at him, and clasped her hands, partly with a mothers pride, and partly wit
20、h a mothers sorrow. The great rock stirred! Yes, it was raised slowly from the bedded moss and earth, uprooting the shrubs and flowers along with it, and was turned upon its side. Theseus had conquered!While taking breath, he looked joyfully at his mother, and she smiled upon him through her tears.Y
21、es, Theseus, she said, the time has come and you must stay no longer at my side! See what King ?geus, your royal father, left for you, beneath the stone, when he lifted it in his mighty arms, and laid it on the spot whence you have now removed it.Theseus looked, and saw that the rock had been placed
22、 over another slab of stone, containing a cavity within it; so that it somewhat resembled a roughly-made chest or coffer, of which the upper mass had served as the lid. Within the cavity lay a sword, with a golden hilt, and a pair of sandals.That was your fathers sword, said ?thra, and those were hi
23、s sandals. When he went to be king of Athens, he bade me treat you as a child until you should prove yourself a man by lifting this heavy stone. That task being accomplished, you are to put on his sandals, in order to follow in your fathers footsteps, and to gird on his sword, so that you may fight
24、giants and dragons, as King ?geus did in his youth.I will set out for Athens this very day! cried Theseus.But his mother persuaded him to stay a day or two longer, while she got ready some necessary articles for the journey. When his grandfather, the wise King Pittheus, heard that Theseus intended t
25、o present himself at his fathers palace, he earnestly advised him to get on board of a vessel, and go by sea; because he might thus arrive within fifteen miles of Athens, without either fatigue or danger.The roads are very bad by land, quoth the venerable king; and they are terribly infested with ro
26、bbers and monsters. A mere lad, like Theseus, is not fit to be trusted on such a perilous journey, all by himself. No, no; let him go by sea!But when Theseus heard of robbers and monsters, he pricked up his ears, and was so much the more eager to take the road along which they were to be met with. O
27、n the third day, therefore, he bade a respectful farewell to his grandfather, thanking him for all his kindness; and, after affectionately embracing his mother, he set forth, with a good many of her tears glistening on his cheeks, and some, if the truth must be told, that had gushed out of his own e
28、yes. But he let the sun and wind dry them, and walked stoutly on, playing with the golden hilt of his sword, and taking very manly strides in his fathers sandals.I can tell you only a few of the adventures that befell Theseus on the road to Athens. It is enough to say, that he quite cleared that par
29、t of the country of the robbers, about whom King Pittheus had been so much alarmed. One of these bad people was named Procrustes; and he was indeed a terrible fellow, and had an ugly way of making fun of the poor travellers who happened to fall into his clutches. In his cavern he had a bed, on which
30、, with great pretence of hospitality, he invited his guests to lie down; but if they happened to be shorter than the bed, this wicked villain stretched them out by main force; or, if they were too tall, he lopped off their heads or feet, and laughed at what he had done, as an excellent joke. Thus, h
31、owever weary a man might be he never liked to lie in the bed of Procrustes. Another of these robbers, named Scinis, must likewise have been a very great scoundrel. He was in the habit of flinging his victims off a high cliff into the sea; and, in order to give him exactly his deserts, Theseus tossed
32、 him off the very same place. But if you will believe me, the sea would not pollute itself by receiving such a bad person into its bosom, neither would the earth, having once got rid of him, consent to take him back; so that, between the cliff and the sea, Scinis stuck fast in the air, which was for
33、ced to bear the burden of his naughtiness.After these memorable deeds, Theseus heard of an enormous sow, which ran wild, and was the terror of all the farmers round about; and, as he did not consider himself above doing any good thing that came in his way, he killed this monstrous creature, and gave
34、 the carcass to the poor people for bacon. The great sow had been an awful beast, while ramping about the woods and fields, but was a pleasant object enough when cut up into joints, and smoking on I know not how many dinner tables.Thus, by the time he reached his journeys end, Theseus had done many
35、valiant feats with his fathers golden-hilted sword, and had gained the renown of being one of the bravest young men of the day. His fame travelled faster than he did, and reached Athens before him. As he entered the city, he heard the inhabitants talking at the street corners, and saying that Hercul
36、es was brave, and Jason too, and Castor and Pollux likewise, but that Theseus, the son of their own king, would turn out as great a hero as the best of them. Theseus took longer strides on hearing this, and fancied himself sure of a magnificent reception at his fathers court, since he came thither w
37、ith Fame to blow her trumpet before him, and cry to King ?geus, Behold your son!He little suspected, innocent youth that he was, that here, in this very Athens, where his father reigned, a greater danger awaited him than any which he had encountered on the road. Yet this was the truth. You must unde
38、rstand that the father of Theseus, though not very old in years, was almost worn out with the cares of government, and had thus grown aged before his time. His nephews, not expecting him to live a very great while, intended to get all the power of the kingdom into their own hands. But when they hear
39、d that Theseus had arrived in Athens, and learned what a gallant young man he was, they saw that he would not be at all the kind of person to let them steal away his fathers crown and sceptre, which ought to be his own by right of inheritance. Thus these bad-hearted nephews of King ?geus, who were t
40、he own cousins of Theseus, at once became his enemies. A still more dangerous enemy was Medea, the wicked enchantress; for she was now the kings wife, and wanted to give the kingdom to her son Medus, instead of letting it be given to the son of ?thra, whom she hated.It so happened that the kings nep
41、hews met Theseus, and found out who he was, just as he reached the entrance of the royal palace. With all their evil designs against him, they pretended to be their cousins best friends, and expressed great joy at making his acquaintance. They proposed to him that he should come into the kings prese
42、nce as a stranger, in order to try whether ?geus would discoverin the young mans features any likeness either to himselfor his mother ?thra, and thus recognize him for a son. Theseus consented; for he fancied that his father would know him in a moment, by the love that was in his heart. But, while h
43、e waited at the door, the nephews ran and told King ?geus that a young man had arrived in Athens who, to their certain knowledge, intended to put him to death, and get possession of his royal crown.And he is now waiting for admission to your majestys presence, added they.Aha! cried the old king, on
44、hearing this. Why, he must be a very wicked young fellow indeed! Pray, what would you advise me to do with him?In reply to this question, the wicked Medea put in her word. As I have already told you, she was a famous enchantress. According to some stories, she was in the habit of boiling old people
45、in a large caldron, under pretence of making them young again; but King ?geus, I suppose, did not fancy such an uncomfortable way of growing young, or perhaps was contented to be old, and therefore would never let himself be popped into the caldron. If there were time to spare from more important ma
46、tters, I should be glad to tell you of Medeas fiery chariot, drawn by winged dragons, in which the enchantress used often to take an airing among the clouds. This chariot, in fact, was the vehicle that first brought her to Athens, where she had done nothing but mischief ever since her arrival. But t
47、hese and many other wonders must be left untold; and it is enough to say, that Medea, amongst a thousand other bad things, knew how to prepare a poison, that was instantly fatal to whomsoever might so much as touch it with his lips.So, when the king asked what he should do with Theseus, this naughty
48、 woman had an answer ready at her tongues end.Leave that to me, please your majesty, she replied. Only admit this evil-minded young man to your presence, treat him civilly, and invite him to drink a goblet of wine. Your majesty is well aware that I sometimes amuse myself with distilling very powerfu
49、l medicines. Here is one of them in this small phial. As to what it is made of, that is one of my secrets of state. Do but let me put a single drop into the goblet, and let the young man taste it; and I will answer for it, he shall quite lay aside the bad designs with which he comes hither.As she said this, Medea smiled; but, for all her smiling face, she meant nothing less than to poison the poor innocent The