PART IV HOW THESEUS FELL BY HIS PRIDE

 But that fair Ariadne never came to Athens with her husband.  Some say that Theseus left her sleeping on Naxos among the Cyclades; and that Dionusos the wine-king found her, and took her up into the sky, as you shall see some day in a painting of old Titian’s—one of the most glorious pictures upon earth.  And some say that Dionusos drove away Theseus, and took Ariadne from him by force: but however that may be, in his haste or in his grief, Theseus forgot to put up the white sail.  Now Ægeus his father sat and watched on Sunium day after day, and strained his old eyes across the sea to see the ship afar.  And when he saw the black sail, and not the white one, he gave up Theseus for dead, and in his grief he fell into the sea, and died; so it is called the Ægean to this day.

 

And now Theseus was king of Athens, and he guarded it and ruled it well.

 

For he killed the bull of Marathon, which had killed Androgeos, Minos’ son; and he drove back the famous Amazons, the warlike women of the East, when they came from Asia, and conquered all Hellas, and broke into Athens itself.  But Theseus stopped them there, and conquered them, and took Hippolute their queen to be his wife.  Then he went out to fight against the Lapithai, and Peirithoos their famous king: but when the two heroes came face to face they loved each other, and embraced, and became noble friends; so that the friendship of Theseus and Peirithoos is a proverb even now.  And he gathered (so the Athenians say) all the boroughs¹ of the land together, and knit them into one strong people, while before they were all parted and weak: and many another wise thing he did, so that his people honoured him after he was dead, for many a hundred years, as the father of their freedom and their laws.  And six hundred years after his death, in the famous fight at Marathon, men said that they saw the ghost of Theseus, with his mighty² brazen³ club, fighting in the van of battle against the invading Persians, for the country which he loved.  And twenty years after Marathon his bones (they say) were found in Scuros, an isle⁴ beyond the sea; and they were bigger than the bones of mortal man.  So the Athenians brought them home in triumph; and all the people came out to welcome them; and they built over them a noble temple, and adorned⁵ it with sculptures and paintings in which we are told all the noble deeds of Theseus, and the Centaurs⁶, and the Lapithai, and the Amazons; and the ruins of it are standing⁷ still.

 

But why did they find his bones in Scuros?  Why did he not die in peace at Athens, and sleep by his father’s side?  Because after his triumph he grew proud, and broke the laws of God and man.  And one thing worst of all he did, which brought him to his grave with sorrow.  For he went down (they say beneath the earth) with that bold Peirithoos his friend to help him to carry off Persephone, the queen of the world below.  But Peirithoos was killed miserably⁸, in the dark fire-kingdoms under ground; and Theseus was chained to a rock in everlasting⁹ pain.  And there he sat for years, till Heracles the mighty came down to bring up the three-headed dog who sits at Pluto’s gate.  So Heracles loosed him from his chain, and brought him up to the light once more.

 

But when he came back his people had forgotten him, and Castor and Polydeuces, the sons of the wondrous¹⁰ Swan, had invaded his land, and carried off his mother Aithra for a slave, in revenge for a grievous wrong.

 

So the fair land of Athens was wasted, and another king ruled it, who drove out Theseus shamefully¹¹, and he fled across the sea to Scuros.  And there he lived in sadness, in the house of Lucomedes the king, till Lucomedes killed him by treachery, and there was an end of all his labours.

 

So it is still, my children, and so it will be to the end.  In those old Greeks, and in us also, all strength and virtue¹² come from God.  But if men grow proud and self-willed, and misuse¹³ God’s fair gifts, He lets them go their own ways, and fall pitifully, that the glory may be His alone.  God help us all, and give us wisdom, and courage to do noble deeds! but God keep pride from us when we have done them, lest we fall, and come to shame!

 

 

1 boroughs   

（尤指大伦敦的）行政区( borough的名词复数 )； 议会中有代表的市镇

参考例句：

• London is made up of 32 boroughs. 伦敦由三十二个行政区组成。
• Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City. 布鲁克林区是纽约市的五个行政区之一。

2 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

3 brazen   

adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的

参考例句：

• The brazen woman laughed loudly at the judge who sentenced her.那无耻的女子冲着给她判刑的法官高声大笑。
• Some people prefer to brazen a thing out rather than admit defeat.有的人不愿承认失败，而是宁肯厚着脸皮干下去。

4 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

5 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

6 centaurs   

n.（希腊神话中）半人半马怪物( centaur的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Centaurs – marauders does not have penalty when shooting into support. 半人马掠夺者在支援射击时不受惩罚。 来自互联网
• Centaurs burn this, observing the fumes and flames to refine the results of their stargazing (OP27). 人马用烧鼠尾草产生的火焰和烟雾来提炼他们观星的结果（凤凰社，第27章）。 来自互联网

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 miserably   

adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地

参考例句：

• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。

10 wondrous   

adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地

参考例句：

• The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
• We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。

11 shamefully   

可耻地； 丢脸地； 不体面地； 羞耻地

参考例句：

• He misused his dog shamefully. 他可耻地虐待自己的狗。
• They have served me shamefully for a long time. 长期以来，他们待我很坏。

12 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

13 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。