Chapter 50

Niobe

 

Niobe，the queen of Thebes，had indeed good reason to beproud of her herself ．Both her father and mother were gods．Her husband was a capable and outstanding musician．And she was both wealthy and powerful．But what madeher the happiest lady in the world was her fourteen children，seven manly sons and seven beautiful daughters．They were allso strong and fair that the whole world looked upon them with admiration．

It happened at the time that every spring the Theban womengathered at the temple of Leto to offer flowers at the altars of the great mother．She had given birth to two grand children，Apollo and Artemis．Her women showed a great deal of loyaltyand respect to her．This made Niobe jealous and angry．Whenthe nuns of Leto called the women again to the sacred place ofthe mistress of Zeus one spring，Niobe decided to put an end to the foolish act forever．In her pretty flowing robe she came to the women and blamed the crowd for their mad faith in a goddess．They had never seen this goddess．Niobe declared herselfnobler and greater，and  demanded to be admired in place of Leto，who，she said，was no more than a poor mother of twochildren．The frightened women were loyal to the queen，and left the sacred place in silence．Leto was neglected．

Standing on top of a hill overlooking Thebes ，Leto saw allthis and was ready to pay back．She found out Apollo and Artemis and told them the story．Before long，the impatient Apollo arrived outside Thebes in hidden clouds．The seven sonsof Niobe were playing on the ground，two riding horses and two wrestling while the other princes happily stood by．Appllo heldout his bow．One by one the princes fell under his accurateshooting．Even the youngest，who prayed for mercy，was not spared．

Niobe was greatly changed．She was all sorrow and grief，but her rude spirit was not put down．She came to the dead bodies of her sons with her daughters and let out a torrent of impolite words at Leto and her children．This time it was Artemls' turn to draw her bowstring ．Almost in a twinkling of an eye all the seven lively daughters fell，turning in their blood，and soon stopped to breathe．Nio be became numb of feeling ．She sat among the fourteen dead bodies，motionless，her eyes blank，her tears rolling down her cold face．Her bitter anger had turned her into a stone！Later，a gust of wind swept her to her homeland in Asia，where she could still be seen sitting on top of ahill，tears of bitterness streaming out of her strong eyes．

50 尼俄伯

 

底比斯王后尼俄伯的确该为自己感到骄傲。她的双亲都是神，她的丈夫是位无所不能出类拨萃的音乐家。她自己也是既有钱又有势。但真正使她成为世界上最幸福的女人的却是她那14个孩子，七位是拥有男子汉气概的小王子，七位是俏丽貌美的小公主。他们都是既强壮又俊俏，全世界都对他们赞不绝口。

故事是这样发生的。每年春天底比斯城的妇女都要聚集在雷托的庙宇，向这位伟大母亲的祭坛奉献鲜花。她哺育了两位高贵的儿女，阿波罗和阿耳特弥斯。妇女们都对她异常地忠诚和尊敬。这使尼俄伯妒忌不已，颇感愤怒。这年春天，当雷托庙里的尼姑再次召集妇女们前往这位宙斯夫人所居住过的圣地时，尼俄伯决定永远终止这种愚蠢的行径。她披着那件柔软耀眼的长袍，走向人群，责备他们对女神的狂妄崇拜。她们还从未见过这位女神呢。尼俄伯声称她自己比雷托更高贵更伟大；她命令人们应当尊敬她，而不是雷托。她说雷托不过是两个孩子的穷母亲而已。惊恐的人们出于对王后忠诚，都默默地离开了。雷托被撂到了一边。

雷托此时正站在山顶上俯视底比斯城，当她看到这一幕，她决心要“以牙还牙”。她找到阿波罗和阿耳特弥斯，将事情一五一十地告诉了他们。很快，性急的阿波罗借着云彩的掩护来到了底比斯城外。尼俄伯的七个小王子正在玩耍，两个在骑马，两个在摔跤，其余的笑嘻嘻地围在边上看。阿波罗抽出了弓箭。七位王子一个个地倒在他那百发百中的箭下，即使那位最小的王子，虽然他请求宽恕，也没能幸免。

尼俄伯变了许多。她万分的悲哀和伤心，但是她粗鲁的本性并没有消失。她带着七位公主来到王子们的尸体旁，滔滔不绝地痛骂着雷托和她的孩子。这次轮到了阿耳特弥斯特抽出了弓箭，一眨眼工夫，七个活泼可爱的公主都倒下了，在血泊中挣扎，很快就停止了呼吸。尼俄伯呆了。她一动不动地坐在14具尸体中间，目光漠然，泪水顺着她冰凉的脸庞往下流。她那悲痛欲绝的愤怒竟将她化作一块石头！后来，一阵风将她送回到她的家乡亚洲。至今人们仍能见到她坐在山顶上，凄凉的眼中流淌出痛苦的泪水。