简易英语读物《希腊神话-Greek Mythology》-10. Pygmalion's Statue

简易英语读物《希腊神话-Greek Mythology》

-(10)Pygmalion's Statue

0n the island of Cypruslived a man called Pygmalion.

Pygmalion was a sculptor,and many people said that he was the best sculptor in the world.

He made most of his money by making statues for the many temples on the shores of Cyprus.

He was a successful man and lived in one of the largest houses in his village, but he was alone.

All of the mothers of the island wanted to marry their daughters off to him, because he was both famous and rich.

The young women of the island would often visit Pygmalion's house and bring him gifts.

But Pygmalion was very particular.

He was never pleased with the women he met, and thought they were not beautifuland perfect enough for him.

All the young women on the island had tried to win him as a husband, but he rejected them all.

This made the women upset.

Why didn’t this man want to marry and start a family?

There wasn’t anything wrong with them？

One day, all the young women of Cyprus went to the temple of Aphrodite,the goddess of love, and prayed that Pygmalion would take a wife.

High up in heaven, Aphrodite heard their prayers and decided to answer their wishes.

One night after a hard day’s work,Pygmalion got into bed.

Moonlight came in through his window and filled the room with soft light. Suddenly he heard a voice, but could see no person.

It was the most beautiful voice he had ever heard.

"You have upset the women of this island, Pygmalion"，it said. Pygmalionjumped out of bed, and the goddess Aphrodite appeared before him.

She was tall and light seemed to come from inside her.

She was sobeautiful that Pygmalion could hardly breathe.

As he looked at her, His body felt like it was on fire.

He sat staring at the goddess before him and did not move or speak.

"The women of the island have prayed to me，they wish you to take a wife”.

“In answer to their prayer, I will make this sobut since you are a great artistand have always honored the gods; I will let you choose any woman you want”.“Any woman on this island shall be yours; you need only say her name". Pygmalion tried to speak, but his voice was not much louder than a whisperbecauseof his wonder at the goddess.

"I have no desire for a wife".

Aphrodite sat down on one knee and looked deep into his eyes.

As he looked into her eyes, he understood what true love was for the first time in hislife.

Then Aphrodite spoke again,

"You are being given a gift that no other man has had, Pygmalion”.

You may choose any woman,and she will be yours".

Pygmalion could not say "no" to the goddess,but he could not imagine taking a wifenow that he had seen the beauty of Aphrodite.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

"I will choose a wife," he said,"But first I wish to complete one last statue”.“When it is finished, I shall make my choice".

Aphrodite smiled and again, Pygmalion's heart felt like it was on fire.

"You may create your last statue, I will return when it is complete".

Aphrodite then turned to leave,but Pygmalion stopped her.

"Wait! Please, goddess, I wish that you model for my statue”.

“All the beautiful things in the world together are still not as beautiful as you”.“I want this last statue to be the greatest I have eve n made”.

“I wish it to be the most beautiful thing created by a man's hands".

Aphrodite was pleased to hear such sweet words and nodded her head.

"I will model for you, Pygmalion”.

“I will return here every night at this time until the statue is complete”.

“When it is finished,I will hear your choice for a wife."

Aphrodite then kissed Pygmalion’s forehead and disappeared.

Her kiss made his whole body feel warm.

When he turned around towards his bed, a single red rose lay on his pillow. Aphrodite returned the next evening as she had promised,and the two of them beganto work on the statue.

Pygmalion began by making small models of the goddess sitting before him. Night after night, Aphrodite came and more small models were made.

Soon there were one hundred models;each one was amazing and beautiful. There seemed to be a part of the goddess in every one of them.

The shape and expression of each one was perfect.

Aphrodite was very pleased with all of the models.

"I wish to give you a gift, Pygmalion", she said and disappeared.

Aphrodite first went to see Hephaestus, the god of metal,and asked him to make tools from the strongest metals that would always be sharp.

Having done this,she then flew to see the goddess of the earth, Gaia, and asked for the purest piece of rock that existed in any part of the world.

The earth goddess gave it to her and Aphrodite brought it to Pygmalion.

It was placed in the center of his house.

“You may now begin your last statue, Pygmalion", Aphrodite whispered in his ear.

“I shall return when it is finished".

The goddess then disappeared.

Once the goddess was gone, Pygmalion picked up his hammer and began working.

First he made a basic model of the statue by removing all of the unnecessary pieces ofrock.

Then he began working on the smaller pieces.

He worked all through the night, the hammer was like a part of his arm and every cuthe made was strong and true.

Even though every muscle in his body began to hurt, he kept working.

An entire week passed,during which Pygmalion only stopped working to eat and sleep for short periods.

After this week, the statue was finally done.

He stepped back and stared at his work to see if there were any places that needed to be improved.

There were none; his work was perfect.

He stood with his mouth open, unable to take his eyes off the beauty of the stonewoman he had made.

Her arms were reaching out, as if they were searching for a person to hold. She was not wearing any clothes, and her body was only covered by her extremely long hair.

When Pygmalion finally turned away from the statue, He saw Aphrodite standing there.

"It is truly beautiful, Pygmalion, I am very pleased”, she smiled.

"Now it is time that you chose a wife".

Pygmalion stepped forward, “I chose her, my statue".

He stepped up to the statue and put his arms around the rock.

"This woman is the only thing that I shall ever be able to love”.

“If I cannot have her in life, then l wishes to become rock as well,and stand in her arms for the rest of time ".

Pygmalion looked into the statue’s eyes and kissed the cold stone lips. Aphrodite’s heart was moved by his words.

She picked up the red rose that she had left her first night in Pygmalion's house andtouched it to the hair of the statue.

Suddenly, the lips of the statue became warm beneath Pygmalion’s,and the hard arms bent and held him.

What was once cold, hard stone was now warm flesh and blood!

Aphrodite had given him the love that he had chosen, thus fulfilling her promise.

"I have given you your wish”, Pygmalion.

“Before you stand your true love,a piece of your own work, your art”.

“Be good to each other and forever remember this gift I have given each of you", Aphrodite then smiled and disappeared.

Pygmalion stared at his new wife with eyes full of tears.

She smiled back at him with a smile just like Aphrodite’s.

译文与注释

皮格马利翁的雕塑

塞浦路斯岛住着一个叫皮格马利翁的人

皮格马利翁是一名雕塑家，很多人说他是世界上最好的雕塑家。

他为塞浦路斯的海岸上的许多寺庙制造雕像，赚了不少钱。

他是一个成功的男人，他住在他们村庄中一所大房子里，但他独身一人。

所有岛屿上的母亲都想要把自己的女儿嫁给他，因为他著名又富有。

该岛的年轻女性往往会造访皮格马利翁的房子并给他带来礼物。

皮格马利翁却非常独特。

他不满意与他见面的那些女性，且以为她们并不够完美，配不上他。

岛上的所有年轻女性曾试图赢得他的心，成为她的丈夫，但他一一婉拒。

这使得这些年轻女性很不高兴。

这个男人为什么不想结婚，不成家？

难道我们有什么毛病？

有一天，塞浦路斯岛上所有的年轻女性来到爱神阿芙洛狄特的神庙，祈祷皮格马利翁会娶一个妻子。

在高高的天上，阿芙洛狄特听见她们的祷告，并决定满足她们的愿望。

一天晚上，在一天辛苦工作后，皮格马利翁上床睡眠。

月光从他的窗户进来，房间里挤满了柔和的光线。

突然他听到一个声音，但看不到人。

这是他听过的最美丽的声音。

那个声音说："皮格马利翁，你已经惹恼了岛上的女性"。

皮格马利翁跳下了床，女神阿芙洛狄特出现在他面前。

她身材很高，身体散发出光芒。

她是如此的美丽，皮格马利翁几乎不能呼吸。

他看着她，身体感觉就像在火上一般。

他坐在那儿凝视在他面前女神，目瞪口呆。

"岛上的妇女向我祈祷，她们希望你能娶一个妻子”。

我答应了她们的祷告来到这里，因为你是一个伟大的艺术家，又敬畏神明，我会让你选择你想要任何的女人。

在这个岛上的任何女人随你挑选，你需要只说她的名字。

皮格马利翁试图说话，但他对女神美的惊叹，使得他的声音很低，像耳语一般。

"我还不想娶妻"。

阿芙洛狄特单膝跪坐下来，深望着他的眼睛。

他注视着她的眼睛，他一生中第一次明白什么是真爱。

然后阿芙洛狄特又说话了，

"你正被给予一个其他人得不到的礼物，皮格马利翁”。

“您可以选择任何一个女人，她将属于你"。

皮格马利翁不能对女神说"不"，但他不能想象娶个老婆，在看到了阿芙洛狄特这样美之后。

突然间，他有一个想法。

"我会选择一位妻子，"他说，"但首先要完成一个最后一个雕像”。

“当它完成后时，我会作出选择"。

阿芙洛狄特又笑了笑，皮格马利翁的心又一次燃烧起了。

"你可以雕塑你最后的雕像，完成这件作品后，我会回来”。

阿芙洛狄特然后转身离开，但皮格马利翁拦住了她。

“等一等！求求你，女神，“我希望你做我的雕像的模特”。

“世界上所有美丽的东西在一起都比不上你的美丽”。

“我希望我这最后一座雕像是我所有雕塑中最伟大的”。

“我希望它是由一个人的双手所能创建的最美丽的事物”。

阿芙洛狄特很高兴听到这种甜蜜的话语，她点点头。

"我将为做你的模特，皮格马利翁”。

“我每天晚上在这个时候就会到这里，直至完成这座雕像”。

“完成这件作品后，我会听你对妻子的选择"。

阿芙洛狄特在皮格马利翁的额头上吻了一下，然后消失了。

她的亲吻温暖了他的全身。

当他转过身，朝向他的床上时，他发现一支红玫瑰躺在他的枕头上。

阿芙洛狄特如她所承诺的那样，第二天晚上来到皮格马利翁这里，两人开始雕塑的工作。

皮格马利翁开始制作女神坐在他面前的小雕像。

夜复一夜，随着阿芙洛狄特的到了，皮格马利翁又制作了更多的小雕像。

很快就有一百多款女神的小雕塑；每一个都是多很神奇和美丽。

似乎每一个模型就像女神的一部分。

形状和表情完美无缺。

阿芙洛狄特非常满意这些雕像。

"我想要给你一份礼物，皮格马利翁"，她说完就消失了。

阿芙洛狄特先去看赫淮斯托斯-金属之神，让他用最强的金属制作最锋利的工具。

拿到这些工具后，她飞去见地母神-盖亚，向她要世界上最纯洁的岩石。

地母神把世界上最纯的岩石给了她，阿芙洛狄特把它带给皮格马利翁。

它被安放在他的房子的中心。

"你现在可以开始制作最后的雕像，皮格马利翁"，阿芙洛狄特在他耳边低语。

"当她完成之时，我会回来"，女神然后就消失了。

女神走了之后，皮格马利翁拿起他的锤子，开始工作。

首先，他凿去岩石那些不必要的岩石碎片，做成这座雕像的基本模型。

接着，他开始精细的工作。

他工作了一整夜，锤子就像他的手臂，每一下都是那样的有力和精确。

尽管他的身体的每一块肌肉开始感觉疼痛，他不停地工作。

整整一个星期过去了，其间皮格马利翁不停地工作，只在吃饭时和短暂的睡眠暂停一下。

一周以后，这座雕像终于做好了。

他后退几步，盯着他的工作，看看是否有任何需要改进的地方。

没有，他的作品太完美了。

他张着嘴巴，眼睛直盯盯地看着他所雕的美丽石头女人。

她的手臂伸出，仿佛要要寻找和拥抱一个人。

她浑身赤裸，长长的秀发遮盖着她的酮体。。

当皮格马利翁最后转过身来，却看到阿芙洛狄特站在那里。

"这实在太美了，皮格马利翁。我非常高兴”。她微笑着说。

"现在是你选择妻子的时候了"。

皮格马利翁往前走了几步，"我选择她，我的雕像”。

他走到这座雕像前，用双臂搂着岩石。

"这个女人是唯一我能所爱的”。

如果我在真实生活中不能拥有她，那么，我希望也变成石头，在她的怀里，度过余生"。

皮格马利翁望着这尊雕像的眼睛，亲吻她那冰冷的双唇。

阿芙洛狄特的心被他的话感动了。

她拿起她第一晚留在皮格马利翁的房子的红玫瑰，用红玫瑰触碰这座石头雕像的头发。

突然，这座雕像的嘴唇在皮格马利翁的亲吻下变的温暖，原先僵硬的手臂弯下了，抱着皮格马利翁。

原先坚硬的石头雕像变成有血有肉的鲜活躯体！

阿芙洛狄特给了他想要的的爱，从而实现了她的诺言。

"我已经满足了你的愿望，皮格马利翁”。

你的真爱、你自己的工作、你的艺术作品就站在你的身前”。

“相亲相爱，永远不会忘记我给你们每个人的礼物”。阿芙洛狄特笑了笑，然后会消失不见了。

皮格马利翁盯着新婚妻子，眼里噙满了泪水。

她嫣然一笑，就像阿芙洛狄特一样灿烂的微笑。

图皮格马利翁及其雕塑

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