Chapter 9

9  Philomela

 

King Pandion of Athens had two daughters，Procne and Philomela．When Athens was threatened by the wild men，King Tereus of Thrace came to its help．Out of gratitude  King Pandion offered Tereus either of his daughters in marriage and the Thracian king chose Procne as wife． For yearsthey lived in Thrace and had one son，Itylus by name．Then Procne became homesick and longed to see her dear sister Philomela．At her repeated requests Tereus sailed to Athens tofetch Philomela．On the way back his evil heart took flame at the sight of  Philomela  who was then in her beauty of maidenhood．He seized and carried her away by force，cut out her tongue and imprisoned her in a lonely hut in the woods．To Procne he lied，saying that Philomela was dead．Philomela stayed in prison for ayear，where she had woven her painful story into the web of a robe ．Then she managed to send the robe to her sister． As soon as she received the web Procne came over to the woods and to reher sister away from the keepers．

Back at the palace, the two women，hot for paying  back ，killed little Itylus and served him up to his father ． When Tereus learned of the terrible truth he grasped his sword and chased the sisters into the woods． There the gods turned Procne into a swallow，Philomela a nightingale and Tereus a hoopoe ．

 
9 菲勒美拉

 

雅典国王潘底翁有两个女儿，普鲁丝妮和菲勒美拉。当雅典受到蛮人的威胁时，色雷斯国王泰诺斯伸出了援助之手。出于感激，国王潘底翁让泰诺斯从自己的女儿中任选一位作他妻子。泰诺斯选择了普鲁丝妮。他们在色雷斯生活了许多年，并且生了一个儿子，名叫意大拉斯。由于远离故土，普鲁丝妮患了思乡病，她非常想见亲爱的妹妹菲勒美拉。在她的一再要求下，泰诺斯乘船去雅典接菲勒美拉来与她姐姐团聚。在返回的途中，看到菲勒美拉浑身散发出的青春和美丽，泰诺斯非常嫉妒，顿生歹意。他强行带走了菲勒美拉，并割去了她的舌头，将她关在森林中一个偏僻的小茅屋里。在普鲁丝妮面前，他撒谎说菲勒美拉已经死了。菲勒美拉被囚禁了整整一年。在囚禁期间，她将痛苦的经历编织成了一件长袍；然后，她想方设法让长袍落到她姐姐的手中。普鲁丝妮一收到那件长袍就来到了森林，将她妹妹救了出来。

回到宫殿后，姐妹俩急于复仇，杀死了小意大拉斯，并派人将尸体送到他父亲那里。国王泰诺斯得知事情真相后，提起剑来把姐妹两人赶到森林里。在林中，众神将普鲁丝妮变为一只麻雀，将菲勒美拉变为一只夜莺，而将泰诺斯变成了一只戴胜科鸟。