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希臘神話:ARACHNE-阿拉克尼

所屬教程:英語(yǔ)寓言

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2018年07月31日

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Arachne lived in a small village on the shores of the Mediterranean. Her parents were very poor. While her mother was busy cooking the simple meals for the family,or working in the fields, Arachne used to spinall day long.
Her wheel made a steady whirring like the buzzing of some insect. She grew so skilful from constant practice that the threads she drew out were almost as fine as the mists that rose from the sea nearby. The neighbours used to hint,sometimes,that such fine-spunthreads were rather useless,and that it might be better if Arachne would help her mother more and spin less.
One day Arachne's father,who was a fisherman,came home with his baskets full of little shellfish,which were of a bright crimsonor purplecolour. He thought the colour of the little fish so pretty that he tried the experiment of dyeingArachne's wools with them. The result was the most vivid hue that had ever been seen in any kind of woven fabric. This was the colour which was afterward called Tyrian purple,-or sometimes it was called royal purple,because kings liked to wear it.
After this,Arachne's tapestries always showed some touch of the new colour. They now found a ready sale,and,in fact,soon became famous.
Arachne's family changed their little cottage for a much larger house. Her mother did not have to work in the fields any more,nor was her father any longer obliged to go out in his boat to catch fish.
Arachne herself became as famous as her tapestries. She heard admiring words on every side,and I am sorry to say that her head was a little turned by them. When,as often happened,people praised the beautiful colour that had been produced by the little shellfish,she did not tell how her father had helped her,but took all the credit to herself.
While she was weaving,a group of people often stood behind her loom,watching the pictures grow. One day she overheard someone say that even the great goddess,Minerva,the patron goddess of spinning and weaving,could not weave more beautiful tapestries than this plain fisherman's daughter. This was a very foolish thing to say, but Arachne thought it was true. She heard another say that Arachne wove so beautifully that she must have been taught by Minerva herself.
Now,the truth is,that Minerva had taught Arachne. It was Minerva who had sent the little shellfish to those coasts;and,although she never allowed herself to be seen,she often stood behind the girl and guided her shuttle.
But Arachne,never having seen the goddess,thought she owed everything to herself alone,and began to boast ofher skill. One day she said,"It has been said that I can weave quite as well,if not better, than the goddess,Minerva. I should like to have a weaving match with her,and then it would be seen which could do best."
These wickedwords had hardly left Arachne's mouth before she heard the sound of a crutchon the floor. Turning to look behind her, she saw a feebleold woman in a rusty gray cloak. The woman's eyes were as gray as her cloak,and strangely bright and clear for one so old. She leaned heavily on her crutch,and when she spoke,her voice was crackedand weak.
"""I am many years older than you,""she said. ""Take my advice. Ask Minerva's pardon for your ungratefulwords. If you are truly sorry,she will forgive you."""
Now Arachne had never been very respectful to old persons, particularly when they wore rusty cloaks,and she was very angry at being reprovedby this one.
"""Don't advise me,""she said,""go and advise your own children. I shall say and do what I please."""
At this an angry light came into the old woman's gray eyes;her crutch suddenly changed to a shining lance;she dropped her cloak;and there stood the goddess herself.
Arachne's face grew very red,and then very white,but she would not ask Minerva's pardon even then. Instead,she said that she was ready for the weaving match.
So two weaving frames were brought in,and attached to one of the beamsoverhead. Then Minerva and foolish Arachne stood side by side,and each began to weave a piece of tapestry.
As Minerva wove,her tapestry began to show pictures of mortals who had been foolhardy and boastful,like Arachne,and who had been punished by the gods. It was meant for a kindly warning to Arachne.
But Arachne would not heed the warning. She wove into her tapestry pictures representing certain foolish things that the gods of Olympus had done.
This was very disrespectful ,and it is no wonder that when Arachne's tapestrywas finished,Minerva tore it to pieces.
Arachne was frightened now,but it was too late. Minerva suddenly struckher on the forehead with her shuttle. Then Arachne shrank to a little creatureno larger than one's thumb.
"""Since you think yourself so very skilful in spinning and weaving,""said Minerva,""you shall do nothing else but spin and weave all your life."""
Upon this Arachne,in her new shape,ran quickly into the first dark corner she could find. She was now obliged to earn her living by spinning webs of exceeding fineness,in which she caught many flies, just as her father had caught fish in his nets. She was called the Spinner.
The children of this first little spinner have become very numerous;but their old name of spinner has been changed to that of spider. Their delicate webs,which are as mist-like as any of Arachne's weaving, often cover the grass on a morning when the day is to be fine.





阿拉克尼住在地中海沿岸的一個(gè)小村里。她的雙親非常貧窮。當(dāng)她的母親忙著為家人準(zhǔn)備簡(jiǎn)單的食物,或在田里耕種時(shí),阿拉克尼整天都在紡線。
她的紡車(chē)發(fā)出很規(guī)律的旋轉(zhuǎn)聲,猶如某種昆蟲(chóng)嗡嗡的叫聲。由于她不斷地紡線,技術(shù)已到了爐火純青的地步,而她紡出來(lái)的紗,幾乎像附近海上升起的薄霧那般精致。有時(shí),鄰居們會(huì)諷刺她說(shuō):"紡出那么精致的線有什么用呢?倒不如多幫幫母親的忙,少紡點(diǎn)線。"
有一天,阿拉克尼以捕魚(yú)為生的父親,抱著滿滿一籃子的小貝類(lèi)回來(lái),有鮮紅色的,有紫色的。他覺(jué)得那種小貝類(lèi)相當(dāng)漂亮,因此想試著用來(lái)給阿拉克尼的毛線染色。結(jié)果染出了所有的織物中從未見(jiàn)過(guò)的最艷麗的色彩。最后這種色彩被稱(chēng)做"推羅紫"--因?yàn)閲?guó)王們非常喜歡穿這種顏色的衣服,所以也叫"國(guó)王紫"。
此后,阿拉克尼所織的織錦上總帶著幾分這種新穎的色彩,這種織錦很快就能賣(mài)完,因此它們不久以后就變得名聲大振了。
阿拉克尼的家人把他們的小屋子翻修成大房子。她的母親已經(jīng)不需要再到田里干活,她的父親也不必坐船出海捕魚(yú)了。
阿拉克尼本人變得和她所織的織錦同樣有名了。她聽(tīng)到了來(lái)自四面八方的贊美聲。但遺憾的是,她的態(tài)度因此變得有點(diǎn)狂妄。每次當(dāng)人們夸獎(jiǎng)她能用小貝類(lèi)染出如此美麗的顏色來(lái)時(shí),她不提父親對(duì)她的幫助,而將所有的功勞歸于自己。
在她織布的時(shí)候,常有一群人站在織布機(jī)后面,觀賞即將完成的圖案。有一天,她聽(tīng)見(jiàn)有人說(shuō):"即使是偉大的紡織女神密涅瓦,也無(wú)法織出比這個(gè)普通的漁夫女兒所織的更華麗的織錦來(lái)了。"說(shuō)這樣的話實(shí)在太愚蠢了,可是阿拉克尼卻把它當(dāng)真。她也聽(tīng)到另一個(gè)人說(shuō):"阿拉克尼能織出如此美麗的織物,一定是密涅瓦本人教她的。"
事實(shí)上,就是密涅瓦教阿拉克尼的。而送那些小貝類(lèi)到海邊的也正是密涅瓦。她雖然不曾出現(xiàn),卻經(jīng)常站在這個(gè)女孩的背后,指導(dǎo)她操作梭子。
但是,阿拉克尼從來(lái)沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)這位女神,因此認(rèn)為她所做的一切全是靠自己,甚至開(kāi)始吹噓自己的紡織技術(shù)。有一天她還說(shuō):"人家說(shuō)就算我不比女神密涅瓦更擅長(zhǎng)織布,至少可以說(shuō)和她織得一樣好。我好想和女神比賽織布。如此一來(lái),就能夠看出誰(shuí)織得最棒了。"
阿拉克尼剛說(shuō)出這句不知好歹的話,就聽(tīng)見(jiàn)地板上傳來(lái)拐杖搗地的聲音。她回過(guò)頭一看,發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)穿著陳舊灰色外套的孱弱老太婆,她的眼睛和外套一樣是灰色的,不過(guò)盡管是上了年紀(jì),眼睛卻不可思議地明亮清澈。她重重地拄著拐杖,說(shuō)話的聲音低沉又粗啞,并且很微弱。
"""我比你老多了,""她說(shuō):""聽(tīng)我的忠告,請(qǐng)求密涅瓦原諒你說(shuō)了忘恩負(fù)義的話。你如果真心懺悔,密涅瓦一定會(huì)原諒你的。"""
阿拉克尼一向?qū)先?,尤其?duì)穿著陳舊外套的老人非常不尊敬。因此,她對(duì)這個(gè)老太婆的教訓(xùn)十分不滿。
"""別教訓(xùn)我!""她回答:""回去管教你自己的孩子們。我要說(shuō)我想說(shuō)的話,做我愛(ài)做的事。"""
聽(tīng)了這句話之后,老太婆的灰色眼睛發(fā)出憤怒的光芒,她的拐杖忽然變成一支閃閃發(fā)光的長(zhǎng)矛。她脫下外套,女神本人就站在那里了。
阿拉克尼滿臉通紅,接著轉(zhuǎn)為蒼白。然而,到了這個(gè)地步,她還是不肯請(qǐng)求密涅瓦的原諒。相反,她說(shuō)已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好要和密涅瓦比賽織布了。
于是,兩臺(tái)織布機(jī)被搬來(lái)了,在上頭安裝了一條桁木。然后密涅瓦和愚蠢的阿拉克尼兩人并肩站著,開(kāi)始各織一塊織錦。
隨著織布機(jī)的操作,密涅瓦開(kāi)始織出像阿拉克尼那樣魯莽、傲慢而被眾神處罰的人們的圖案,這是對(duì)阿拉克尼善意的警告。
可是,阿拉克尼并不去理會(huì)那警告。她在她的織錦上織出諷刺奧林匹斯山的眾神所做的蠢事的圖案。
這太無(wú)禮了,難怪阿拉克尼的織錦完成時(shí),密涅瓦會(huì)把它撕得粉碎。
這回阿拉克尼嚇壞了,但是已經(jīng)太遲了。密涅瓦出其不意地拿起梭子敲她的前額。于是,阿拉克尼縮成了和人的拇指一般大的小生物。
"""既然你以為自己很擅長(zhǎng)紡織,""密涅瓦說(shuō),""那么我就讓你的一生什么事都不用做,只去紡紗織布。"""
于是,變了形狀的阿拉克尼,趕緊往她所能找到第一個(gè)黑暗的角落奔過(guò)去。這下她非得要靠織出極纖細(xì)的網(wǎng),捕捉許多蒼蠅過(guò)日子了,就像她的父親用網(wǎng)來(lái)捕魚(yú)似的。人們叫她"織娘"。
這只最早的小織娘繁殖出了許多后代。但是它們?cè)?quot;織娘"的名字,如今卻變成了"蜘蛛"。它們經(jīng)常在晴朗的清晨,把所紡出可與阿拉克尼的任何織物媲美的薄霧般的蜘蛛網(wǎng),覆蓋在草地上。
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