The Story of the Beginning

The people who lived long ago, in the far-off lands of the north, watched the wonderful things that happened out of doors every day, just as we do; but they did not know about the one loving God, who is the Father of all, who made them and the world, and rules it by his wise laws; so they thought there must be a great many unseen powers, living in the clouds, in the wind, in the storms, and the sunshine, and doing all those wonders that no man could do.

很久以前，住在遥远北方大地上的人们，同我们一样，每天都留意着户外发生的种种奇妙事物；可他们并不知道有一位慈爱的独一真神，是万物之父，创造了他们和这个世界，并以他智慧的律法来统治万物；于是他们便以为，一定有许许多多看不见的力量，居住在云彩里、风里、风暴里、阳光里，做着凡人无法做到的种种奇事。

And so those northern people, who were our own forefathers, came to believe in many gods—one for the sun, another for the thunder, another for the flowers, and so on.

于是那些北方的人们，也就是我们的祖先，便渐渐相信起许多神明来——一位掌管太阳，一位掌管雷电，一位掌管花朵，诸如此类。

In the long, dark winters, when the bright sun had gone away from them, these northmen had time to think many thoughts about the powers of frost, and wind, and storms, which they called giants, and they used to tell stories and sing songs about the short, bright summer, the thawing out of the streams and lakes, the coming of the birds and flowers.

在漫长而黑暗的冬日里，明亮的太阳离他们远去的时候，这些北方人便有了许多时间，去思索那些他们称之为巨人的霜雪与风暴的力量；他们还常常讲述故事、吟唱歌谣，歌颂那短暂而明媚的夏日，歌颂溪流湖泊解冻消融，歌颂候鸟与花朵的归来。

With great joy the people saw the bright sun-god, Baldur, come back to them in the spring, after the long darkness, and knew that they owed their lives to his friendly warmth and light.

人们满心欢喜地看着那明亮的太阳神巴尔德，在漫长的黑暗过后，于春日重新归来，他们深知，自己的性命全仰赖于他那友善的温暖与光辉。

As we read the stories, or myths, told by those people long ago, we can see that they were meant to tell about the world around us. At first the stories were told and sung from father to son—that is, from one generation to another; but later, when people learned how to write, these myths were written down, and kept with great love and care.

当我们读到那些古人所讲述的故事，也就是神话时，便能看出，这些故事原是为了讲述我们周围的这个世界。起初，这些故事是由父辈传给子辈口耳相传的——也就是一代传给一代；可后来，等人们学会了书写，这些神话便被记录了下来，被人们珍爱而细心地保存着。

This is the story they told of the Beginning. At first, before living creatures were in the world, it was all rough and without order. Far to the north it was very cold, for ice and snow were everywhere. Toward the south there was fire, and from the meeting of the fire and the cold a thick vapor was formed, from which sprang a huge giant. On looking about for some food, he saw a cow, who was also searching for something to eat. The ice tasted salt, and when the cow began to lick it, a head appeared, and at last the whole figure of a god stood before her.

以下便是他们讲述的关于“起初”的故事。最初，在世上还没有生灵之时，一切都混沌无序。极北之地十分寒冷，到处都是冰雪。而在南方，则有一片烈火，冰与火相遇之处，便升起一股浓厚的雾气，从中诞生了一个巨大的巨人。他四下寻找食物时，看见一头母牛，那母牛也正在觅食。那冰尝起来带着咸味，母牛开始舔舐它时，一颗头颅便渐渐显现出来，最后，一位神明的完整身形便立在了她面前。

From these two, the giant and the god, came the two great races of giants and gods, who were always enemies to each other. The giants were constantly trying to break into Asgard, the home of the gods, in the sky; the gods, on the other hand, watched and planned to keep out the giants, and to drive them back to their own stronghold, Utgard. Our world, where men and women lived, was between Utgard and Asgard; it was called Midgard, and around this Midgard world, under the ocean, was coiled a monstrous serpent, who grew so long that his tail grew down his throat. He was called the Midgard serpent.

正是从这两者——巨人与神明——之中，诞生了巨人族与神族这两大种族，他们彼此永远为敌。巨人们不断地想要闯入天上诸神的家园阿斯加德；而众神则一边严加防范，一边谋划着如何阻挡巨人，把他们赶回自己的老巢乌特加德。我们这个世人居住的世界，就位于乌特加德与阿斯加德之间，被称作米德加德；而在这米德加德世界的四周，大海之下，盘绕着一条巨大无比的蟒蛇，它长得如此之长，以至于尾巴都伸进了自己的喉咙里。它被称作米德加德巨蟒。

A wonderful tree, named "Yggdrasil," connected all the worlds. This great ash tree had its roots in Utgard, and the tops of its branches reached up so high as to overshadow Asgard. Its three main roots were watered by three fountains, and near one of them sat the wise giant Mimir, of whom we shall hear later. The Norns, three sisters, also lived at the roots of Yggdrasil, and were careful to see that it was watered every day.

有一棵神奇的大树，名叫“伊格德拉西尔”，把所有的世界都连接在了一起。这棵巨大的白蜡树，根扎在乌特加德，枝梢却高耸入云，遮蔽了整个阿斯加德。它的三条主根分别由三眼泉水浇灌，其中一眼泉水旁，坐着睿智的巨人密弥尔，我们稍后还会讲到他。诺伦三姐妹也住在伊格德拉西尔的根部，悉心照料，确保它每天都得到浇灌。

A little gray squirrel was always running up and down the tree, jerking his tail and hurrying to tell the news to every one along the way. He was so anxious to be the first one to carry the news, that many times he brought trouble to himself and to others, because he was not always careful to tell a story just as he had heard it, and often every one would have been happier if the squirrel had kept the story quite to himself.

一只灰色的小松鼠总是在树上跑上跑下，甩着尾巴，急匆匆地把消息传给沿途遇见的每一个人。它总是急于抢先传递消息，因而常常给自己和别人都惹来麻烦，因为它并不总是留心把故事讲得跟自己听来的一模一样，若是这只松鼠肯把故事留在自己肚子里，往往大家都会更加快乐。

The gods and goddesses, all together, were called the Aesir, and the chief and father of them all was Odin. His lofty throne rose high in the midst of Asgard, the sacred city, which the gods had built for their beautiful home.

众神与女神们，合称为阿萨神族，而他们所有人的首领与父亲便是奥丁。他那高耸的王座，矗立在阿斯加德——这座神圣之城——的正中央，那是众神为自己建造的美丽家园。

From Asgard, arching over and down to the lower world, was a rainbow bridge, called Bifröst—"the trembling bridge"; upon this the dwellers in Asgard could travel every day, all except the mighty Thor. His thunder chariot was too heavy for "the trembling bridge," so he had to go around a longer way.

从阿斯加德弯弯拱起，直通向下界，有一座彩虹桥，名叫比弗罗斯特——意为“颤动的桥”；阿斯加德的居民们每日都可以经由此桥出行，唯独强大的雷神托尔除外。他的雷霆战车太过沉重，压不得这座“颤动的桥”，所以他只得绕远路而行。

After the gods had made men and women, and had taught them to dwell on the earth, in the world of Midgard, Odin looked forth one morning from his heavenly seat, to see what further work was waiting for his helping hand.

众神造出男人与女人，教他们在米德加德世界的这片大地上安居之后，一天早晨，奥丁从他那天上的座位向下望去，想看看还有什么工作在等着他伸出援手。

He noticed, far away below him, a race of small beings, some of them busy, doing mischievous deeds, while others sat idle, doing nothing. Odin sent for all these little people to come to him, and when they had reached Asgard, and were admitted to his palace of Gladsheim, they entered the great judgment hall, where they found all the Aesir sitting, with Father Odin at their head.

他注意到，远远的下方，有一族小小的生灵，其中一些忙忙碌碌地做着捣蛋的勾当，另一些则闲坐着无所事事。奥丁便派人去把这些小人们都召来见他，等他们抵达阿斯加德，被引入他那格拉兹海姆宫殿之后，便走进了那间宏伟的审判大厅，只见阿萨神族全都端坐在那里，奥丁天父高踞于众神之首。

The little people waited in a crowd near the door, wondering what was going to happen to them, while Hermod, the messenger of the gods, ran to his master to say that they had come.

小人们挤在门边等候着，心中不知会有什么事情降临到自己头上，与此同时，众神的信使赫尔莫德跑去禀报他的主人，说他们已经到了。

Then the Allfather spoke to the little dwarfs about their evil deeds among men, and he told the naughtiest ones that they must go and live down underground, and look after the great furnace fire in the middle of the earth, to keep it always burning. Some must get coal to feed the fire, and others still were to have charge of the gold, and silver, and precious stones, under the rocks. Not one of these busy dwarfs must ever appear during the day; only by night might they venture to leave their tasks.

于是万神之父便对这些小矮人们，讲起了他们在人间所做下的种种恶行，并告诉那些最顽劣的矮人，他们必须去地下居住，看守大地深处那座巨大的熔炉之火，让它永远燃烧不熄。有些要去开采煤炭来供给炉火，还有些则要负责看管岩石之下的金子、银子与宝石。这些忙碌的矮人，谁也不得在白天露面，只有到了夜里，他们才可以离开自己的差事出来走动。

"And now," said Odin, turning to the idle ones, "what have you been doing?"

“那么，”奥丁转向那些闲散的人说道，“你们又都做了些什么呢？”

"We were doing nothing at all, so we could not have harmed any one, and we pray you to spare us!" cried they.

“我们什么都没做，所以也不可能伤害到任何人，求您饶恕我们吧！”他们喊道。

"Do you not know that those who sit idle when they should be doing good deserve punishment, too?" said Odin. "I shall put you in charge of all the trees and flowers, and shall send one of the Aesir to teach you, so that you may be doing some good in the world."

“难道你们不知道，那些本该行善却闲坐不动的人，也是要受罚的吗？”奥丁说道。“我要让你们去掌管所有的树木与花朵，还要派一位阿萨神族去教导你们，好让你们也能为这世上做些好事。”

Then the little elves went to work among the flowers, and Frey, the bright god of summer and sunshine, was a kind master to them. He taught them how to open the folded buds in the sunshine, to fill the honey cups, and lead the bees along the flower passages to find their food, to hatch the birds' eggs, and teach the little ones their songs, and then each night to fetch the water for dewdrops, to be hung on every leaf and blade of grass.

于是这些小精灵们便去为花朵劳作了，而弗雷——那明媚的夏日与阳光之神——待他们十分和善，成了他们仁慈的主人。他教他们如何在阳光下打开卷合的花苞，如何把蜜杯装满，如何引领蜜蜂沿着花间小径去寻找食物，如何孵化鸟蛋，教鸟雏们唱歌，还教他们每夜去取水来化作露珠，挂在每一片树叶与草叶之上。

When their work was finished, and the moon had risen, these busy elves and fairies enjoyed many a happy evening, dancing and frisking on the green by moonlight. And so our world of Midgard was filled with busy work and play.

活儿干完之后，等月亮升起，这些忙碌的小精灵与仙子们，便在月光下的草地上跳舞嬉戏，度过许多快乐的夜晚。就这样，我们的米德加德世界便充满了忙碌的劳作与欢愉的嬉戏。

Even now, in our time, the people in the lands of the north, and in Germany, have many old sayings and stories that have come down to them from the days long ago. There is a beautiful white flower in the north, which is called Baldur's Brow, because it is so pure and bright, like the face of the dear sun-god, Baldur; and in some places, when the farmers gather in their harvest of grain, they leave a little bunch of it standing in the field, for Father Odin's horse.

即便到了今天，在北方的土地上，以及德国，人们仍保留着许多流传自远古岁月的老话与故事。北方有一种美丽的白色花朵，被称作“巴尔德之眉”，因为它如此纯洁明亮，就像亲爱的太阳神巴尔德的容颜；在有些地方，农夫们收割谷物之时，会特意在田里留下一小束这样的花，献给奥丁天父的坐骑。

We have some English names to remind us of those old tales of our forefathers, for we have Tuesday named for Tyr, or Tiu, the brave god who gave his right hand to save his friends; Wednesday, or Wodensday, named for Odin; Thursday, for Thor, the thunder-god; and Friday, for either the goddess Frigga, or Freyja, or for Frey, the god of summer, who ruled the fairies.

我们英语中还留有一些名称，提醒着我们祖先讲述的那些古老传说，比如星期二得名于提尔，也就是提乌——那位为拯救朋友而献出自己右手的勇敢之神；星期三，或称沃登斯戴，得名于奥丁；星期四得名于雷神托尔；星期五则得名于女神弗丽嘉，或是弗蕾雅，又或是那位统领仙子的夏日之神弗雷。