神奇的织工

神奇的织工

The Wonderful Weaver

一、经线

I. THE WARP.

希腊曾经有个年轻姑娘，名字叫阿拉克涅。她的脸色虽然苍白却很好看，眼睛又大又蓝，金黄色的长发十分漂亮。

There was a young girl in Greece whose name was Arachne. Her face was pale but fair, and her eyes were big and blue, and her hair was long and like gold.

从早到午，她只想坐在阳光下纺纱；从中午到晚上，她只想坐在树荫里织布。

All that she cared to do from morn till noon was to sit in the sun and spin; and all that she cared to do from noon till night was to sit in the shade and weave.

她在织布机上织出来的东西，真是又精致又美丽啊！

And oh, how fine and fair were the things which she wove in her loom!

亚麻、羊毛、蚕丝——她样样都会用。经过她那双巧手织出来的布，又薄、又软、又光亮，全世界的人都赶来看。

Flax, wool, silk—she worked with them all; and when they came from her hands, the cloth which she had made of them was so thin and soft and bright that men came from all parts of the world to see it.

人们都说，这么稀奇的布料绝不可能是用亚麻、羊毛或蚕丝做成的，经线一定是灿烂的阳光，纬线一定是闪光的金线。

And they said that cloth so rare could not be made of flax, or wool, or silk, but that the warp was of rays of sunlight and the woof was of threads of gold.

日复一日，姑娘坐在阳光下纺纱，坐在树荫下织布，她得意地说：“全世界都没有像我这么细的纱线，全世界也没有像我这么柔软光滑的布料，更没有这么光亮稀奇的丝绸。”

Then as, day by day, the girl sat in the sun and span, or sat in the shade and wove, she said: “In all the world there is no yarn so fine as mine, and in all the world there is no cloth so soft and smooth, nor silk so bright and rare.”

有人问她：“是谁教你把纱纺得这么好、把布织得这么漂亮的？”

“Who taught you to spin and weave so well?” some one asked.

她说：“没有人教过我。我只是坐在阳光下和树荫里，自己学会的；从来没有人指点过我。”

“No one taught me,” she said. “I learned how to do it as I sat in the sun and the shade; but no one showed me.”

“可是，也许是天空女王雅典娜教了你，而你不知道呢。”

“But it may be that Athena, the queen of the air, taught you, and you did not know it.”

“天空女王雅典娜？呸！”阿拉克涅说，“她怎么可能教得了我？她能纺出这样一束束的好纱吗？她能织出我这样的布吗？我真想看她试一试。我还能教她一两招呢。”

“Athena, the queen of the air? Bah!” said Arachne. “How could she teach me? Can she spin such skeins of yarn as these? Can she weave goods like mine? I should like to see her try. I can teach her a thing or two.”

她抬起头，看到门前站着一位身材高大的女人，披着一件长长的斗篷。那女人的容貌很美，神情却非常严厉，灰色的大眼睛犀利明亮，盯得阿拉克涅都不敢抬头看她。

She looked up and saw in the doorway a tall woman wrapped in a long cloak. Her face was fair to see, but stern, oh, so stern! and her gray eyes were so sharp and bright that Arachne could not meet her gaze.

女人说：“阿拉克涅，我就是天空女王雅典娜。我听到了你的大话。你现在还敢说，我没有教过你怎么纺纱织布吗？”

“Arachne,” said the woman, “I am Athena, the queen of the air, and I have heard your boast. Do you still mean to say that I have not taught you how to spin and weave?”