Bk XXI:359-403 紙莎草作的繩纜

 第二十一卷結束，是大家熟知的一幕：真正的主人Odysseus一出手，弓拉開了，而且，過真一箭穿過12個鐵斧的心。每每大家看影片到這幕，都嘖嘖稱奇，真是太神奇了。只是，總覺得《奧德賽》最後幾卷真是拖拖拉拉，速度太慢，讀到這兒，很多趣味都跑掉了。

我並不特別欣賞Odysseus在這兒的表現，反倒是兩個僕人的幫忙，更吸引人。第一個是豬倌出來拿彎弓，還被眾聲喧嘩嚇一跳，馬上把彎弓放在地上。此刻，Telemachus大聲威脅他，他才又拿起。這一幕，顯出豬倌在這家裏的為難處境，還有Telemachus對待僕人的態度欠佳。

第二個出場僕人是 Philoetius，他按照Odysseus的吩咐，把所有可以逃亡的大門都關起來，更重要的是，他還用綁船的繩纜繫緊門。這種繩纜應該是靠海維生的人家常見的設備，這裡特別強調這繩纜適用紙莎草編成的。

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0135%3Abook%3D21%3Acard%3D354

σιγῇ δ᾽ ἐξ οἴκοιο Φιλοίτιος ἆλτο θύραζε,

κλήϊσεν δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἔπειτα θύρας εὐερκέος αὐλῆς.

κεῖτο δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ αἰθούσῃ ὅπλον νεὸς ἀμφιελίσσης

βύβλινον, ᾧ ῥ᾽ ἐπέδησε θύρας, ἐς δ᾽ ἤϊεν αὐτός:

ἕζετ᾽ ἔπειτ᾽ ἐπὶ δίφρον ἰών, ἔνθεν περ ἀνέστη,

εἰσορόων Ὀδυσῆα. ὁ δ᾽ ἤδη τόξον ἐνώμα

πάντη ἀναστρωφῶν, πειρώμενος ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα,

μὴ κέρα ἶπες ἔδοιεν ἀποιχομένοιο ἄνακτος.

(Odyssey 21. 388-95)

http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odyssey21.htm

And Philoetius, without a word, slipped outside

and locked the courtyard gates inside the sturdy walls.

A cable from a curved ship was lying there,  

under the portico, made of papyrus fibres.

With that he lashed the gates, then went inside,

sat down again on the seat where he’d got up,

and observed Odysseus, who already had the bow.

He was turning it this way and that, testing it

in different ways to see if, while its lord was gone,  

worms had nibbled on the horns.

βύβλινος: made of βύβλος

βύβλος the Egyptian papyrus, Cyperus Papyrus

Kingdom:        Plantae (unranked):     Angiosperms (unranked):     Monocots (unranked):     Commelinids Order:     Poales Family:   Cyperaceae Genus:     Cyperus Species:  C. papyrus