The Odyssey: The Full Journey · chapter 10 of 10
The Great Bow
大弓
The suitors cannot bend Odysseus's great bow, so an old beggar asks for a turn. When the arrow flies, everyone learns who he is, and Penelope has one more question.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 第二天，大厅里放着十二个铁环，中间是那张大弓。客人们一个一个地走上去，想拉开它。
Dì'èrtiān, dàtīng lǐ fàng zhe shí'èr gè tiěhuán, zhōngjiān shì nà zhāng dàgōng. Kèrénmen yí gè yí gè de zǒushàng qù, xiǎng lākāi tā.
The next day, twelve iron rings stood in a row in the hall, and the great bow lay in the middle. The guests stepped up one by one and tried to bend it.
- Antinous 呃……这张弓……怎么这么硬？！我的手都红了！
È… zhè zhāng gōng… zěnme zhème yìng?! Wǒ de shǒu dōu hóng le!
Ugh... this bow... why is it so stiff?! My hands are all red!
- Antinous 谁把它做得这么硬？是不是有人在骗我们？
Shéi bǎ tā zuò de zhème yìng? Shì bú shì yǒu rén zài piàn wǒmen?
Who made it so stiff? Is somebody playing a trick on us?
Chapter 10 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of The Odyssey: The Full Journey is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller, The Odyssey, Robin Hood and Jiang Ziya Goes Fishing from start to finish.
- Telemachus 安提诺奥斯，弓没有骗你。你的脸比你的紫衣服还红。
Āntínuò'àosī, gōng méiyǒu piàn nǐ. Nǐ de liǎn bǐ nǐ de zǐ yīfú hái hóng.
Antinous, the bow isn't tricking you. Your face is redder than your purple tunic.
- Antinous 你闭嘴！你的父亲早就不在了，你什么也不是！
Nǐ bìzuǐ! Nǐ de fùqīn zǎojiù búzài le, nǐ shénme yě búshì!
Shut up! Your father is long gone, and you are nothing!
- Odysseus 各位，让我这个老乞丐也来试一试，好吗？
Gèwèi, ràng wǒ zhè gè lǎo qǐgài yě lái shì yí shì, hǎo ma?
Gentlemen, will you let this old beggar have a try too?
- Antinous 一个老乞丐？你连一杯酒都拿不稳，还想拉弓？
Yí gè lǎo qǐgài? Nǐ lián yì bēijiǔ dōu ná bù wěn, hái xiǎng lāgōng?
An old beggar? You can't even hold a cup of wine steady, and you want to pull a bow?
- Telemachus 安提诺奥斯，这是我父亲的家，在这里我说了算。老人家，请。
Āntínuò'àosī, zhè shì wǒ fùqīn de jiā, zài zhèlǐ wǒ shuō le suàn. Lǎorénjiā, qǐng.
Antinous, this is my father's house, and here I decide. Old man, please.
- Antinous 你……你这个小孩子！
Nǐ… nǐ zhè gè xiǎoháizi!
You... you little boy!
- Telemachus 我不是小孩子了。让他试一试。
Wǒ búshì xiǎoháizi le. Ràng tā shì yí shì.
I'm not a little boy anymore. Let him try.
- Odysseus 这张弓，二十年了。它还记得我的手。
Zhè zhāng gōng, èrshí nián le. Tā hái jìde wǒ de shǒu.
This bow, after twenty years. It still remembers my hand.
- Narrator 老乞丐轻轻一拉，就拉开了大弓。箭飞出去，穿过十二个铁环，一个也没有碰到。
Lǎo qǐgài qīngqīng yì lā, jiù lākāi le dàgōng. Jiàn fēichūqù, chuānguò shí'èr gè tiěhuán, yí gè yě méiyǒu pèngdào.
The old beggar gave one easy pull and strung the great bow. The arrow flew out and passed through all twelve rings without touching one.
- Antinous 这……这不可能！一个老乞丐！
Zhè… zhè bù kěnéng! Yí gè lǎo qǐgài!
This... this is impossible! A beggar!
- Odysseus 安提诺奥斯，你们在我家吃了那么多年的饭。我是奥德修斯，我回来了！
Āntínuò'àosī, nǐmen zài wǒjiā chī le nàme duō nián de fàn. Wǒ shì Àodéxiūsī, wǒ huílái le!
Antinous, you have eaten in my house for so many years. I am Odysseus, and I am back!
- Telemachus 爸爸！真的是你！我就知道，你一定会回来！
Bàba! Zhēnde shì nǐ! Wǒ jiù zhīdào, nǐ yídìng huì huílái!
Father! It really is you! I knew you would come back!
- Antinous 大王……对不起……我们只是……只是开个玩笑……
Dàwáng… duìbùqǐ… wǒmen zhǐshì… zhǐshì kāi gè wánxiào…
My lord... I'm sorry... we were only... only joking...
- Telemachus 爸爸，你看，你的儿子长大了，对不对？
Bàba, nǐ kàn, nǐ de érzi zhǎngdà le, duì bú duì?
Father, look, your son has grown up, hasn't he?
- Odysseus 长大了，比我想的还高。你妈妈一定会很高兴。
Zhǎngdà le, bǐ wǒ xiǎng de hái gāo. Nǐ māma yídìng huì hěn gāoxìng.
Grown up, and taller than I imagined. Your mother will be so happy.
- Odysseus 现在，你们全都出去！这个家，不是你们的家。
Xiànzài, nǐmen quándōu chūqù! Zhè gè jiā, búshì nǐmen de jiā.
Now, all of you, get out! This house is not yours.
- Penelope 有人说……你回来了？可是二十年了，你变了那么多。我怎么知道你是他？
Yǒu rén shuō… nǐ huílái le? Kěshì èrshí nián le, nǐ biàn le nàme duō. Wǒ zěnme zhīdào nǐ shì tā?
They say... you have come back? But it has been twenty years, and you have changed so much. How do I know it is you?
- Odysseus 你可以问我，佩涅洛佩。
Nǐ kěyǐ wèn wǒ, Pèinièluòpèi.
You can ask me, Penelope.
- Penelope 好。请你把我们的床搬到房间外面去。
Hǎo. Qǐng nǐ bǎ wǒmen de chuáng bān dào fángjiān wàimiàn qù.
All right. Please move our bed out of the room.
- Odysseus 搬床？不可能！那张床是用一棵活的橄榄树做的，我亲手做的，树根还在地里！
Bān chuáng? Bù kěnéng! Nà zhāng chuáng shì yòng yì kē huó de gǎnlǎnshù zuò de, wǒ qīnshǒu zuò de, shùgēn hái zài dìlǐ!
Move the bed? Impossible! That bed is built around a living olive tree. I made it with my own hands, and the roots are still in the ground!
- Penelope 你……你怎么会知道？
Nǐ… nǐ zěnme huì zhīdào?
You... how do you know that?
- Odysseus 这件事，只有我们两个人知道。
Zhèjiàn shì, zhǐyǒu wǒmen liǎng gè rén zhīdào.
Only the two of us know this.
- Penelope 是你……真的是你！
Shì nǐ… zhēnde shì nǐ!
It's you... it really is you!
- Odysseus 佩涅洛佩，我每一天都在想你。
Pèinièluòpèi, wǒ měi yì tiān dōu zài xiǎng nǐ.
Penelope, I thought of you every single day.
- Penelope 我每一天都在等你。我一直相信，你会回来。
Wǒ měi yì tiān dōu zài děng nǐ. Wǒ yìzhí xiāngxìn, nǐ huì huílái.
I waited for you every single day. I always believed you would come back.
- Odysseus 二十年，我错过了很多事。你老了一点，可是在我眼里，你还是那么美。
Èrshí nián, wǒ cuòguò le hěn duō shì. Nǐlǎo le yìdiǎn, kěshì zài wǒ yǎnlǐ, nǐ háishì nàme měi.
Twenty years, and I missed so much. You have grown a little older, but in my eyes you are as beautiful as ever.
- Penelope 你的嘴还是那么会说话！好了，别说了。
Nǐ de zuǐ háishì nàme huì shuōhuà! Hǎo le, bié shuō le.
You still have such a smooth tongue! All right, enough of that.
- Odysseus 我有很长很长的故事，要从一匹木马说起。
Wǒ yǒu hěn zhǎng hěn zhǎng de gùshì, yào cóng yì pǐ mùmǎ shuōqǐ.
I have a very, very long story, and it starts with a wooden horse.
- Penelope 那就从头说吧。我有一整夜的时间。
Nà jiù cóngtóu shuō ba. Wǒ yǒu yì zhěng yè de shíjiān.
Then tell it from the beginning. I have the whole night.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why can't Antinous string the bow?
“怎么这么硬？！”
- Who stands up for the beggar?
“这是我父亲的家，在这里我说了算。老人家，请。”
- What does the beggar do with the bow?
“箭飞出去，穿过十二个铁环，一个也没有碰到。”
- How does Penelope test that this man is really her husband?
“请你把我们的床搬到房间外面去。”
- Why can the bed not be moved?
“那张床是用一棵活的橄榄树做的，我亲手做的，树根还在地里！”