Chapter 20

20  Endymion

 

End ymion was a handsome young shepherd who kept his flocks of sheep on Mt Latmos，Asia  Minor ．Living in aquiet，lovely valley，he lived a perfectly peaceful life．Sometimes when his sheep grazed happily on some rich grass around，he would lie down on the meadow and sleep soundly，completely free from worldly griefs and cares．

One clear，bright night，as Artemis drove her carriageacross the heavens，her eyes chanced upon a beautiful  youth sleeping in the peaceful valley below．Her heart beat with love and admiration．She came down from her moon carriage and gave a quick but passionate kiss on his face．Even the sleepy End ymion was fascinated at the sight of the fair maiden as heopened his eyes．But the vision disappeared so soon that he regarded the whole scene as a dream．Every night Artemis floated down to steal a kiss from the lips of the sleeping shepherd untilher occasional carelessness of  duty  caused the suspicion of Zeus．The father of gods and men decided to remove the earthlytemptation to the goddess forever．He called for Endymion on to him and ordered him to choose between death in any form and everlasting youth in perpetual dreamy  sleep ．The shepherdchose the latter，and he still slept on Mt Latmos，with the moon goddess sadly visiting and kissing him every night．

20 恩底弥翁

 

恩底弥翁是位风度翩翩的青年牧羊人，他在小亚细亚的拉塔莫斯山牧羊。他住在一幽静明媚的山谷中，过着无忧无虑的日子。有时，当羊群在四周茂盛的草地上逍遥自在地吃草时，他就在草地上沉睡，丝毫不受人世间悲伤与忧虑的侵扰。

一个皓月当空的夜晚，当阿尔特弥斯驾着马车穿越天空时，无意中看到一位漂亮青年正在下面静谧的山谷中睡觉。她芳心荡漾，对他充满爱慕之情。她从月亮马车中滑翔而下，匆忙而深情地偷吻了一下他的脸，甚至当熟睡中的恩底弥翁睁开双眼看到仙女时，也有点神魂颠倒。但眼前的一切很快消失，以致他误认为这是一场梦幻。每天夜间，阿尔特弥斯都从空中飘下偷吻熟睡中的牧羊人。然而女神偶尔一次的失职引起了主神宙斯的注意。众神与人类之父决定永远清除人间对女神的诱惑。他将恩底弥翁召到身边令他作出选择：任何形式的死亡；或者在永远的梦幻中青春永在。牧羊人选择了后者。他仍睡在拉塔莫斯山上。每晚月亮女神怀着悲哀的心情看望他，吻他。