The Odyssey · chapter 12 of 29
Circe and the Sirens
塞壬的歌
Odysseus has a promise to keep, and Circe has a warning for him: a song so sweet that no one who hears it ever gets home.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 天亮了。他们回到了女神喀耳刻的岛，在海边埋了埃尔佩诺。
Tiān liàng le. Tāmen huí dào le nǚshén Kǎ'ěrkè de dǎo, zài hǎibiān mái le Āi'ěrpèinuò.
At dawn they came back to the goddess Circe's island and buried Elpenor by the sea.
- Odysseus 埃尔佩诺，我们埋了你。你的桨也在这儿，你可以睡了。
Āi'ěrpèinuò, wǒmen mái le nǐ. Nǐ de jiǎng yě zài zhèr, nǐ kěyǐ shuì le.
Elpenor, we've buried you. Your oar is here too. You can rest now.
- Circe 天黑了，奥德修斯。你见到特瑞西阿斯了吗？
Tiān hēi le, Àodéxiūsī. Nǐ jiàndào Tèruìxī'āsī le ma?
Night has come, Odysseus. Did you see Tiresias?
Chapter 12 is part of SayMei Stories Unlimited ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapters 1–3 of The Odyssey are free, and The Second Cup of Tea, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, The Kitchen God, Little Red Riding Hood, The Ugly Duckling, Chang'e and the Moon, Alice in Wonderland and Judge Dee's Cases are free from start to finish.
- Odysseus 见到了。他喝了血，告诉了我回家的路。
Jiàndào le. Tā hē le xuè, gàosu le wǒ huí jiā de lù.
I did. He drank the blood and told me the way home.
- Circe 你再听我说。回家的路上，先有塞壬。
Nǐ zài tīng wǒ shuō. Huí jiā de lù shang, xiān yǒu Sàirén.
Now listen to me too. On your way home, first come the Sirens.
- Circe 她们两个坐在海边的草地上唱歌。
Tāmen liǎng gè zuò zài hǎibiān de cǎodì shang chànggē.
The two of them sit in a meadow by the sea and sing.
- Circe 听了她们的歌，人就回不了家了。
Tīng le tāmen de gē, rén jiù huí bu liǎo jiā le.
Anyone who hears their song never gets home.
- Circe 你的人，耳朵里要放蜡。
Nǐ de rén, ěrduo li yào fàng là.
Your men must put wax in their ears.
- Circe 你想听，就让他们把你绑在船中间的木头上。
Nǐ xiǎng tīng, jiù ràng tāmen bǎ nǐ bǎng zài chuán zhōngjiān de mùtou shang.
If you want to hear, have them tie you to the mast.
- Circe 然后，是两个怪物：斯库拉和卡律布狄斯。
Ránhòu, shì liǎng gè guàiwù: Sīkùlā hé Kǎlǜbùdísī.
After that come two monsters, Scylla and Charybdis.
- Circe 卡律布狄斯一天喝三次海里的水。斯库拉有六个头。
Kǎlǜbùdísī yì tiān hē sān cì hǎi li de shuǐ. Sīkùlā yǒu liù gè tóu.
Three times a day, Charybdis drinks down the sea. Scylla has six heads.
- Odysseus 我能用剑杀了斯库拉吗？
Wǒ néng yòng jiàn shā le Sīkùlā ma?
Can I kill Scylla with my sword?
- Circe 不能！她是怪物，不会死。
Bù néng! Tā shì guàiwù, bú huì sǐ.
No! She's a monster. She can't die.
- Circe 从她那边过去吧。少六个人，也比都死了好。
Cóng tā nàbiān guòqù ba. Shǎo liù gè rén, yě bǐ dōu sǐ le hǎo.
Go past on her side. Losing six men is better than losing everyone.
- Circe 还有，太阳神的牛，一头也别碰！
Hái yǒu, tàiyángshén de niú, yì tóu yě bié pèng!
And one more thing: don't touch a single one of the Sun god's cows!
- The Crew 今天早上没有风！海也不动了！
Jīntiān zǎoshang méiyǒu fēng! Hǎi yě bú dòng le!
There's no wind this morning! The sea has gone still!
- Odysseus 朋友们，前边有塞壬，她们的歌不能听！
Péngyoumen, qiánbian yǒu Sàirén, tāmen de gē bù néng tīng!
Friends, the Sirens are ahead. You must not hear their song!
- Odysseus 这是蜡，放进耳朵里。再把我绑在木头上。
Zhè shì là, fàngjìn ěrduo li. Zài bǎ wǒ bǎng zài mùtou shang.
Here's wax. Put it in your ears. Then tie me to the mast.
- Odysseus 我求你们放开我，你们就再绑一次！
Wǒ qiú nǐmen fàngkāi wǒ, nǐmen jiù zài bǎng yí cì!
If I beg you to untie me, tie me up again!
- The Crew 好！国王说什么，我们都听不见！
Hǎo! Guówáng shuō shénme, wǒmen dōu tīng bu jiàn!
Fine! Whatever the king says, we won't hear a word!
- The Sirens 奥德修斯，来吧！别走，听我们唱！
Àodéxiūsī, lái ba! Bié zǒu, tīng wǒmen chàng!
Odysseus, come! Don't go. Listen to us sing!
- The Sirens 谁坐船过这儿，都要听我们唱完再走。
Shéi zuò chuán guò zhèr, dōu yào tīng wǒmen chàng wán zài zǒu.
No one sails past here without hearing our whole song.
- The Sirens 特洛伊的事，我们都知道。我们什么都知道！
Tèluòyī de shì, wǒmen dōu zhīdào. Wǒmen shénme dōu zhīdào!
We know all about Troy. We know everything!
- Odysseus 放开我！我要去听她们唱！
Fàngkāi wǒ! Wǒ yào qù tīng tāmen chàng!
Untie me! I want to go and hear them sing!
- Eurylochus 什么？我听不见！再绑一次！
Shénme? Wǒ tīng bu jiàn! Zài bǎng yí cì!
What? I can't hear you! Tie him again!
- Narrator 欧律罗科斯和一个水手又绑了他一次。船开过去了。
Ōulǜluókēsī hé yí gè shuǐshǒu yòu bǎng le tā yí cì. Chuán kāi guòqù le.
Eurylochus and another sailor tied him up once more, and the ship sailed past.
- Eurylochus 蜡拿出来了……天哪，那是什么声音？
Là ná chūlai le… tiān na, nà shì shénme shēngyīn?
The wax is out... Heavens, what is that sound?
- The Crew 前边有烟！还有那么大的浪！
Qiánbian yǒu yān! Hái yǒu nàme dà de làng!
There's smoke ahead! And look how big those waves are!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What do they do for Elpenor back on Circe's island?
“在海边埋了埃尔佩诺”
- What does Circe say happens to anyone who hears the song of the Sirens?
“听了她们的歌，人就回不了家了”
- Why does Circe tell Odysseus to sail past on Scylla's side?
“少六个人，也比都死了好”
- What does Odysseus tell his men to do if he begs to be untied?
“我求你们放开我，你们就再绑一次”
- What do the men see ahead once the wax is out?
“前边有烟！还有那么大的浪”