The Odyssey: The Full Journey · chapter 6 of 10
The Monster and the Whirlpool
怪物和漩涡
Between a six-headed monster and a whirlpool, Odysseus must make a terrible choice. Then hungry sailors break the one rule that matters, and a storm comes.
Read what you hear
- The Sailor 奥德修斯，你看！左边的山上有很多黑黑的洞，右边的水在转圈，转得好快！
Àodéxiūsī, nǐ kàn! Zuǒbiān de shānshàng yǒu hěn duō hēihēide dòng, yòubiān de shuǐ zài zhuànquān, zhuǎn de hǎo kuài!
Odysseus, look! There are lots of caves on the hill to the left, and the water on the right is spinning around!
- Odysseus 右边是漩涡，它能把整条船吞下去。我们靠左边走，离它越远越好。
Yòubiān shì xuánwō, tā néng bǎ zhěngtiáo chuán tūnxiàqù. Wǒmen kào zuǒbiān zǒu, lí tā yuè yuǎn yuè hǎo.
The right side is a whirlpool. It can swallow the whole ship. We'll stay to the left.
- The Sailor 可是左边有怪物啊！你不是说，山上住着一个很可怕的怪物吗？
Kěshì zuǒbiān yǒu guàiwù a! Nǐ búshì shuō, shānshàng zhù zhe yí gè hěn kěpà de guàiwù ma?
But there's a monster on the left!
Chapter 6 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.
- Odysseus 我知道。怪物会抓走几个人，可是漩涡会带走所有的人。
Wǒ zhīdào. Guàiwù huì zhuāzǒu jǐ gè rén, kěshì xuánwō huì dàizǒu suǒyǒu de rén.
I know. The monster will snatch a few men, but the whirlpool would take everyone.
- The Sailor 我不喜欢这样的话……我们为什么不能都活着？
Wǒ bù xǐhuān zhèyàng de huà… wǒmen wèishénme bùnéng dōu huózhe?
I don't like hearing that... why can't we all live?
- Odysseus 我也想。所有人听着，头低下，用力划！我们一定要快！
Wǒ yě xiǎng. Suǒyǒu rén tīng zhe, tóu dīxià, yònglì huá! Wǒmen yídìng yào kuài!
I wish that too. Everyone, listen! Heads down, row hard!
- Narrator 船从山下过去了。水手们回头一看，少了六个朋友。
Chuán cóng shānxià guòqù le. Shuǐshǒumen huítóu yí kàn, shǎo le liù gè péngyǒu.
The ship passed below the hill. The sailors looked back, and six friends were missing.
- The Sailor 他们……刚才还在我旁边划船，还在跟我说话……
Tāmen… gāngcái hái zài wǒ pángbiān huáchuán, hái zài gēn wǒ shuōhuà…
They... they were rowing right next to me just now...
- Odysseus 我永远不会忘记他们。可是我们不能停下来，我们还要往前走。
Wǒ yǒngyuǎn búhuì wàngjì tāmen. Kěshì wǒmen bùnéng tíngxiàlái, wǒmen hái yào wǎngqián zǒu.
I will never forget them. But we have to keep going.
- The Sailor 前面有陆地！还有牛！山上有好多好多牛！我们可以吃饭了！
Qiánmiàn yǒu lùdì! Hái yǒu niú! Shānshàng yǒu hǎoduō hǎoduō niú! Wǒmen kěyǐ chīfàn le!
Land ahead! And cattle! So many cattle!
- Odysseus 这是太阳神的岛。特瑞西阿斯说过，无论多饿，都不要碰这里的牛。
Zhè shì tàiyángshén de dǎo. Tèruìxī'āsī shuō guò, wúlùn duō è, dōu búyào pèng zhèlǐ de niú.
This is the island of the sun god. Tiresias said not to touch the cattle here.
- The Crew 我们好饿！我们已经饿了好几天，船上什么吃的也没有了！
Wǒmen hǎo è! Wǒmen yǐjīng è le hǎo jǐ tiān, chuánshàng shénme chī de yě méiyǒu le!
We're so hungry! There's nothing left to eat on the ship!
- Odysseus 我们不上岸，继续往前走。回家的路还很长。
Wǒmen bú shàng'àn, jìxù wǎngqián zǒu. Huíjiā de lù hái hěn zhǎng.
We won't land. We'll keep sailing.
- The Crew 你不累，我们累！你想一个人走，就自己走吧！我们要休息！
Nǐ bú lèi, wǒmen lèi! Nǐ xiǎng yí gè rén zǒu, jiù zìjǐ zǒu ba! Wǒmen yào xiūxī!
You may not be tired, but we are! If you want to go alone, go by yourself!
- Odysseus 好吧。可是你们要发誓，绝对不碰这些牛。
Hǎo ba. Kěshì nǐmen yào fāshì, juéduì bú pèng zhèxiē niú.
Fine. But you must swear you will never touch these cattle.
- The Crew 我们发誓！发誓！
Wǒmen fāshì! Fāshì!
We swear! We swear!
- Narrator 大风不停地吹，他们在岛上住了一个月，船上的食物都吃完了。
Dàfēng bùtíng de chuī, tāmen zài dǎoshàng zhù le yí gè yuè, chuánshàng de shíwù dōu chī wán le.
The wind would not stop blowing. They stayed on the island for a month, and all the food on the ship was gone.
- Odysseus 我去山上祈祷，请神给我们一条路。你们在这儿等，记住，不要碰牛！
Wǒ qù shānshàng qídǎo, qǐng shén gěi wǒmen yì tiáo lù. Nǐmen zài zhèr děng, jìzhù, búyào pèng niú!
I'm going up the hill to pray for the gods to show us a way. You wait here, and remember, don't touch the cattle!
- The Crew 他走了。牛这么多，我们吃一头，太阳神不会发现的。
Tā zǒu le. Niú zhème duō, wǒmen chī yì tóu, tàiyángshén búhuì fāxiàn de.
He's gone. There are so many cattle, the sun god won't notice if we eat just one.
- The Sailor 我不吃！我要等奥德修斯回来！你们会后悔的！
Wǒ bùchī! Wǒ yào děng Àodéxiūsī huílái! Nǐmen huì hòuhuǐ de!
I won't eat! I'll wait for Odysseus to come back!
- The Crew 那你就看着我们吃吧！
Nà nǐ jiù kànzhe wǒmen chī ba!
Then just watch us eat!
- Odysseus 什么味道？这是烤牛肉的味道！你们……你们做了什么？！
Shénme wèidào? Zhè shì kǎo niúròu de wèidào! Nǐmen… nǐmen zuò le shénme?!
What's that smell? What... what have you done?!
- The Crew 我们只吃了一头……我们真的只吃了一头！我们太饿了！
Wǒmen zhǐ chī le yì tóu… wǒmen zhēnde zhǐ chī le yì tóu! Wǒmen tài è le!
We only ate one...
- The Sailor 天黑了……风来了！好大的风！奥德修斯，抓住我！
Tiānhēi le… fēng lái le! Hǎo dà de fēng! Àodéxiūsī, zhuāzhù wǒ!
It's getting dark... the wind is here! Odysseus, hold on to me!
- Odysseus 抓住船板！千万别放手！
Zhuāzhù chuánbǎn! Qiānwànbié fàngshǒu!
Grab the planks! Don't let go, whatever happens!
- The Sailor 奥德修斯！我……我抓不住了！你一定要回家！
Àodéxiūsī! Wǒ… wǒ zhuābúzhù le! Nǐ yídìng yào huíjiā!
Odysseus! I... I can't hold on!
- Narrator 大风把船打碎了。水手们都不见了，只有奥德修斯，抱着一块木板。
Dàfēng bǎ chuán dǎsuì le. Shuǐshǒumen dōu bújiàn le, zhǐyǒu Àodéxiūsī, bào zhe yí kuài mùbǎn.
The wind smashed the ship apart. The sailors were gone. Only Odysseus was left, clinging to a plank.
- Odysseus 朋友们……都不在了。只剩我一个人……我还能回家吗？
Péngyǒumen… dōu búzài le. Zhǐ shèng wǒ yí gè rén… wǒ hái néng huíjiā ma?
My friends... are all gone. Alone... should I still go home?
- Odysseus 沙子……是沙子！
Shāzi… shì shāzi!
Sand... it's sand!
- Calypso 别动，可怜的人。你在我的岛上了，哪儿也不用去了。
Biédòng, kělián de rén. Nǐ zài wǒ de dǎoshàng le, nǎr yě búyòng qù le.
Don't move, poor man. You are on my island now, and you won't need to go anywhere.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why does Odysseus steer the ship close to the monster's side?
“右边是漩涡，它能把整条船吞下去。我们靠左边走”
- What does the ship lose passing the monster?
“水手们回头一看，少了六个朋友。”
- What promise do the crew make to Odysseus on the sun god's island?
“你们要发誓，绝对不碰这些牛。”……“我们发誓！发誓！”
- What do the hungry crew do while Odysseus is praying on the hill?
“我们吃一头，太阳神不会发现的。”
- Who is left after the storm?
“只有奥德修斯，抱着一块木板。”