The Odyssey · chapter 10 of 29
The Stranger on the Path
路上的年轻人
On the path to Circe's stone house, Odysseus meets a young stranger who seems to know exactly what happened to his men.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 奥德修斯的朋友们变成了猪。他拿着剑，去救他们。
Àodéxiūsī de péngyoumen biànchéng le zhū. Tā názhe jiàn, qù jiù tāmen.
Odysseus's friends had turned into pigs. He took his sword and went to save them.
- Hermes 朋友，天快黑了。你去哪儿？
Péngyou, tiān kuài hēi le. Nǐ qù nǎr?
Friend, it's almost dark. Where are you going?
- Narrator 这个年轻人是神，叫赫尔墨斯。
Zhège niánqīngrén shì shén, jiào Hè'ěrmòsī.
This young man was a god, named Hermes.
Chapter 10 is part of SayMei Stories Unlimited ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Part 1 of The Odyssey (chapters 1–4) is free, and The Second Cup of Tea, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, The Kitchen God, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Chang'e and the Moon, Alice in Wonderland and Judge Dee's Cases are free from start to finish.
- Odysseus 我的人进了一座石头房子，就没有出来。
Wǒ de rén jìn le yí zuò shítou fángzi, jiù méiyǒu chūlai.
My men went into a stone house and never came out.
- Hermes 那是女神喀耳刻的家。你的人，现在是她的猪。
Nà shì nǚshén Kǎ'ěrkè de jiā. Nǐ de rén, xiànzài shì tā de zhū.
That's the home of the goddess Circe. Your men are her pigs now.
- Odysseus 猪？我的人……是猪？
Zhū? Wǒ de rén… shì zhū?
Pigs? My men... are pigs?
- Hermes 对。你进去，也会变成第二十三头猪。
Duì. Nǐ jìnqu, yě huì biànchéng dì èrshísān tóu zhū.
Yes. Go in there, and you'll turn into pig number twenty-three.
- Hermes 这花你拿着。根是黑的，花是白的。
Zhè huā nǐ názhe. Gēn shì hēi de, huā shì bái de.
Take this flower. Its root is black, and its flower is white.
- Hermes 有了它，她的酒就害不了你。
Yǒu le tā, tā de jiǔ jiù hài bu liǎo nǐ.
With it, her wine can't hurt you.
- Hermes 她碰你，你就拿出剑。再让她说：“我不会害你。”
Tā pèng nǐ, nǐ jiù náchū jiàn. Zài ràng tā shuō: “Wǒ bú huì hài nǐ.”
When she touches you, draw your sword. Then make her say, "I won't hurt you."
- Odysseus 谢谢您。我不想做第二十三头猪。
Xièxie nín. Wǒ bù xiǎng zuò dì èrshísān tóu zhū.
Thank you. I don't want to be pig number twenty-three.
- Odysseus 狼和狮子……欧律罗科斯说得对。
Láng hé shīzi… Ōulǜluókēsī shuō de duì.
Wolves and lions... Eurylochus was right.
- Circe 客人，请进！来，喝一碗酒，是甜的！
Kèrén, qǐng jìn! Lái, hē yì wǎn jiǔ, shì tián de!
Come in, stranger! Here, have a bowl of wine. It's sweet!
- Circe 喝完了？好。去吧，小猪！去找你的朋友们！
Hē wán le? Hǎo. Qù ba, xiǎo zhū! Qù zhǎo nǐ de péngyoumen!
All gone? Good. Off you go, little pig! Go find your friends!
- Odysseus 我不是小猪！
Wǒ bú shì xiǎo zhū!
I'm no little pig!
- Circe 别杀我！你怎么没变？
Bié shā wǒ! Nǐ zěnme méi biàn?
Don't kill me! Why didn't you change?
- Circe 你一定是奥德修斯！赫尔墨斯说过，你会来。
Nǐ yídìng shì Àodéxiūsī! Hè'ěrmòsī shuōguo, nǐ huì lái.
You must be Odysseus! Hermes said you would come.
- Odysseus 你先说你不会害我。再让我的人变回来！
Nǐ xiān shuō nǐ bú huì hài wǒ. Zài ràng wǒ de rén biàn huílai!
First, say you won't hurt me. Then change my men back!
- Circe 我不会害你。把剑放下吧，今天晚上留在我这儿。
Wǒ bú huì hài nǐ. Bǎ jiàn fàngxià ba, jīntiān wǎnshang liú zài wǒ zhèr.
I won't hurt you. Put down your sword, and stay here with me tonight.
- Narrator 猪又变成了人，比以前年轻，也比以前高。
Zhū yòu biànchéng le rén, bǐ yǐqián niánqīng, yě bǐ yǐqián gāo.
The pigs became men again, younger than before, and taller too.
- Narrator 第二天，船上的人也来了。
Dì èr tiān, chuán shang de rén yě lái le.
The next day, the men from the ship came too.
- Eurylochus 门口有狼，有狮子……我还是觉得不对。
Ménkǒu yǒu láng, yǒu shīzi… wǒ háishi juéde bú duì.
Wolves and lions at the door... I still feel something's wrong.
- The Crew 快进来！昨天是猪，今天吃肉！
Kuài jìnlai! Zuótiān shì zhū, jīntiān chī ròu!
Come in, quick! Yesterday we were pigs, today we eat meat!
- Narrator 一年过去了。
Yì nián guòqù le.
A year went by.
- The Crew 奥德修斯，我们想回家了！
Àodéxiūsī, wǒmen xiǎng huí jiā le!
Odysseus, we want to go home now!
- Circe 你们可以走。可是你要先去死人住的地方。
Nǐmen kěyǐ zǒu. Kěshì nǐ yào xiān qù sǐrén zhù de dìfang.
You may go. But first you must go to the land of the dead.
- Circe 去问特瑞西阿斯。他看不见，可是他知道回家的路。
Qù wèn Tèruìxī'āsī. Tā kàn bu jiàn, kěshì tā zhīdào huí jiā de lù.
Go and ask Tiresias. He's blind, but he knows the way home.
- The Crew 死人住的地方？我们回不了家了！
Sǐrén zhù de dìfang? Wǒmen huí bu liǎo jiā le!
The land of the dead? We'll never get home!
- Eurylochus 活着的人，谁坐船去过那儿？
Huózhe de rén, shéi zuò chuán qùguo nàr?
What living man has ever sailed there?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does Hermes say Odysseus's men are now?
“你的人，现在是她的猪”
- What does Hermes tell Odysseus to do when Circe touches him?
“她碰你，你就拿出剑”
- How does Circe know who Odysseus is?
“赫尔墨斯说过，你会来”
- What are Odysseus's men like when they turn back from pigs?
“比以前年轻，也比以前高”
- Where does Circe say Odysseus must go before he goes home?
“你要先去死人住的地方”