[希臘神話]海先得斯

Hyacinthus

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Hyacinthus was a beautiful Greek boy who was greatlyloved by Apollo，Apollo often laid aside his golden lyreand his arrows，and came down from Mount Olympus to Join Hyacinthus in his boyish games．The two were often busy all day long，following the huntingdogs over the mountains or setting fish nets in the river or playing at various games．

Their favourite exercise was the throwing of the discus ．The discus was a heavy metal plate about a foot across， whichwas thrown somewhat as the round ring is thrown．One dayApollo threw the discus first，and sent it whirling high up amongthe clouds for the god had great strength．It came down in afine，strong curve，and Hyacinthus ran to pick it up．Then as it fell on the hard earth，the discus bounded up again and struck the boy a cruel blow on his white forehead．

Apollo turned as pale as Hyacinthus，but he could not undo
what had been done．He could only hold his friend in hisarms，and see his head bend down like a lily on a broken stem ，while the purple blood from his wound was dropping down to the earth．

There was still one way by which Apollo could make Hyacinthus live，and this was to change him into a flower．So，quickly，before it was too late，he whispered over him certainwords the gods knew，and Hyacinthus became a purple flower，a flower of the colour of the blood that had flowed from his forehead．As the flower unfolded，it showed a strange mark on itspetals ，which looked like the Greek words meaning woe！woe！

Apollo never forgot his boy friend；but sang about him to the accompaniment of his wonderful lyre till the name of Hyacinthus was known and loved all over

海先得斯是阿波羅所深愛的一個希臘男孩。阿波羅時常放下金七絃琴和弓箭從奧林波斯山下來跟海先得斯玩孩童的遊戲。他們兩個經常跟着獵狗翻山越嶺，到河裏捕魚或者玩各式各樣的遊戲，天天忙得團團轉。

他們最喜歡的運動是擲鐵餅。鐵餅是一種直徑大約一英尺，用重金屬做的圓盤，用來像拋鐵環一樣的擲出去。一天，阿波羅先擲，因爲神都有很大的力氣，所以阿波羅一擲就擲到高聳的雲霧中去了。它循着一種美妙有力的曲線掉下來，海先得斯就跑去撿。可是它碰到堅硬的土地時，鐵餅彈了起來毫不仁慈地打在孩子雪白的額頭上。

阿波羅的臉色像海先得斯一樣蒼白，可是他沒有辦法挽回這已經發生的事情了。他只有把他的朋友抱在手臂裏，看着他的頭像一朵斷莖的百合花垂了下去而紫紅的血從傷口流出，也染污了土地。

還有一個阿波羅能使海先得斯活着的辦法就是把他變成一朵花。於是在還來得及的時候，阿波羅立刻口裏念着神熟悉的一種咒語，海先得斯變成了顏色像他前額流出的血一樣的一朵花。這種花開花時，花瓣上顯示一種奇特的記號，看起來好像是希臘文，意思是“傷心啊！”

阿波羅無法忘記這位小男孩朋友，就用他神奇的七絃琴伴奏歌頌海先得斯，直到他的名字爲全希臘所熟知喜愛。