Ancient Greek Myths - 47 Tithonus

Tithonus

Every day，when Helios drove his wonderful horses andhis fiery carriage across the sky，it was Aurora who opened the gates of pearl and drew back the dark curtains of the night；for Aurora was the goddess of the dawn .She was so beautiful that the whole sky became pink with pleasure  when she appeared in the east．

On the earth lived a man called Tithonus，who loved Aurora so well that he never failed to leave his bed while it was still dark，to watch for her coming．Aurora loved Tithonus too，and one day she flew to the king of the gods，and begged of him that Tithonus might be given a cup of magic liquid ，and so becomeliving forever．

Zeus allowed this request， and Aurora took Tithonus up to Mount Olympus to live in her golden house.

The goddess had forgotten to ask that Tithonus might never grow old．Therefore，the time came when gray hairs could beseen among his golden curls . Aurora was kind to him in spite of this，and continued to give him beautiful clothes，and to feed him on the food of the gods．Still， Tithonus grew older and older，and in time，after several hundred years，he was so old thathe could not move at all．Little was left of him but his voice ，and even that had grown high and thin． Then he was so weakthat he had to be shut up in a room，for safekeeping．Aurorafelt so sorry to see him become weaker and weaker in this way that she changed him into a little insect，and sent him down to the earth again，where men called him the grasshopper．

Very glad to be free and active once more，Tithonus jumped about in the fields all day，chirping happily to Aurora.

47 泰索尼斯

 

每天赫利阿斯驾着他的神马和红马车走过天空时，也就是欧洛拉撩起夜晚的黑幕打开珍珠般雪白大门的时间，欧洛拉是晨曦女神。她很美丽，所以她在东方出现时，整个天空都发出可爱的粉红色的光芒。

地球上有个叫泰索尼斯的凡人，他很爱欧洛拉，所以天还没有亮时他就起床，以免错过看她的来临。欧洛拉也爱泰索尼斯，所以一天她去见众神之王要求赐给泰索尼斯一杯神祗的甘液让他能永远活着。

宙斯答应了她的要求，欧洛拉就带泰索尼斯到奥林波斯山上她的金屋生活。

这位女神忘记要求让泰索尼斯永远年轻。所以时间到了，他金黄的卷发中可以看到白头发了。虽然这样，欧洛拉还是对他很好，给他穿漂亮的衣服，吃神祗的食物。可是泰索尼斯还是一直老下去，几百年以后他已经老得无法行动了。甚至他仅剩的声音也变得又高又尖。他身体很虚弱，以致为了安全必须把他锁在房间内。欧洛拉着他身体那样虚弱很难过，就把他变成一只小虫送到地球上，人类叫他蚱蜢。

泰索尼斯很高兴能再自由行动，就整天在田野里乱跳，同时很愉快地对欧洛拉叫着。