Odyssey 24 看見年邁的父親

Odyssey 24. 205-301

下面場景轉到Odysseus走道田莊探視年邁的父親。這田莊是Laertes親手打造，旁邊還有住屋、棚舍，所以老人家可以遠離城市生活。但是，Odysseus並不打算馬上和父親相擁相認，他想看看父親是不是還認得他，所以Odysseus走進父親的果園，遠遠地看父親孤零零一人，川著骯髒的衣服，衣服全是補丁，帶著牛皮護腿，頭戴羊皮帽。站在一棵梨樹下，Odysseus望著年老的父親，不禁悲從中來，淚潸潸：

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0135%3Abook%3D24%3Acard%3D232

ὣς εἰπὼν δμώεσσιν ἀρήϊα τεύχε᾽ ἔδωκεν.

οἱ μὲν ἔπειτα δόμονδε θοῶς κίον, αὐτὰρ Ὀδυσσεὺς

ἆσσον ἴεν πολυκάρπου ἀλωῆς πειρητίζων.

οὐδ᾽ εὗρεν Δολίον, μέγαν ὄρχατον ἐσκαταβαίνων,

οὐδέ τινα δμώων οὐδ᾽ υἱῶν: ἀλλ᾽ ἄρα τοί γε

αἱμασιὰς λέξοντες ἀλωῆς ἔμμεναι ἕρκος

ᾤχοντ᾽, αὐτὰρ ὁ τοῖσι γέρων ὁδὸν ἡγεμόνευε.

τὸν δ᾽ οἶον πατέρ᾽ εὗρεν ἐϋκτιμένῃ ἐν ἀλωῇ,

λιστρεύοντα φυτόν: ῥυπόωντα δὲ ἕστο χιτῶνα

ῥαπτὸν ἀεικέλιον, περὶ δὲ κνήμῃσι βοείας

κνημῖδας ῥαπτὰς δέδετο, γραπτῦς ἀλεείνων,

χειρῖδάς τ᾽ ἐπὶ χερσὶ βάτων ἕνεκ᾽: αὐτὰρ ὕπερθεν

αἰγείην κυνέην κεφαλῇ ἔχε, πένθος ἀέξων.

τὸν δ᾽ ὡς οὖν ἐνόησε πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς

γήραϊ τειρόμενον, μέγα δὲ φρεσὶ πένθος ἔχοντα,

στὰς ἄρ᾽ ὑπὸ βλωθρὴν ὄγχνην κατὰ δάκρυον εἶβε.

(Odyssey 24. 219-234)

γηράσκω grow old

βλωθρός tall

ὄγχνη pear-tree, Pirus communis

http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odyssey24.htm

Odysseus spoke,

then gave his battle weapons to his servants.

They quickly went inside the house. Then Odysseus,   

walking out to test his father, came up beside

the fruitful vineyard and from there continued down

to the extensive orchard, where he failed to find

Dolius or any sons of his father’s slaves.

They’d gone off to gather large rocks for the wall

around the vineyard, with the old man in the lead.

In the well-established vineyard he found his father.

He was digging round a plant, all by himself,

dressed in a filthy, shabby, patched-up tunic.

Around his legs he’d tied shin pads stitched from ox-hide

to protect himself from scratches, and on his hands  

he had on gloves, since there were thistles in that spot.

On his head he wore a goatskin hat. In these clothes

he was dealing with his grief. When lord Odysseus,

who had endured so much, saw him worn down with age

and carrying so much heavy sorrow in his heart,

he stood under a tall pear tree and shed a tear...

第244-248行會在提到Laertes的果園除了梨樹，還有無花果、葡萄、橄欖、和蔬菜等等。雖然，離家二十年的Odysseus看見這幕很感傷，但是我也看見，老年的Laertes在自己的田地與果園中，自得其樂，至少，還有體力忙著田裡的事。

       父與子的故事，特別是闊別後重逢的一幕，在《舊約》有一些例子，最有名的就是Jacob and Joseph (Gen. 37.34)。英文中的sackcloth and ashes的典故源自《舊約》。老人家穿著破爛，表示哀悼而兒子已死。這裡有點出荷馬史詩和近東地區古文化的相似之處。

下面資料出處: https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionary-of-bible-themes/6742-sackcloth-ashes sackcloth and ashes Sackcloth is a coarse, black cloth made from goat’s hair that was worn together with the burnt ashes of wood as a sign of mourning for personal and national disaster, as a sign of repentance and at times of prayer for deliverance. Sackcloth and ashes worn as a sign of mourning for the dead By Jacob for Joseph Ge 37:34 By David, Joab and the people for Abner See also 2Sa 3:31 Sackcloth and ashes worn as a sign of mourning for personal or national disaster Job 16:15; Job 42:6 See also Est 4:1; La 2:10; Joel 1:8 Sackcloth and ashes worn as a sign of repentance for sin By Ahab 1Ki 21:27 By David and the elders See also 1Ch 21:16 By the Israelites Ne 9:1 By the Ninevites and their king See also Jnh 3:5-9 Even the animals were to wear sackcloth. By others Isa 15:3; Jer 49:3; Eze 27:31; Mt 11:21 pp Lk 10:13 Sackcloth and ashes worn at times of prayer for deliverance By Hezekiah and his companions 2Ki 19:1-2 By Daniel Da 9:3 Sackcloth was worn in many different ways See also 1Ki 20:31; 2Ki 6:30; Isa 3:24; Isa 58:5; Joel 1:13 Sackcloth used figuratively Isa 50:3

Odysseus又編一個故事騙父親，但終究父子要相認，Odysseus 說出實情，但是愛說謊的人，實在令人難以相信，Laertes要他拿出具體證據說明，Odysseus舉兩個例子，一個是腳傷，一個是果園的果樹數目，13棵梨子樹，10棵蘋果樹，和40 棵無花果樹，還有50棵葡萄藤：

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0135%3Abook%3D24%3Acard%3D1

οὐλὴν μὲν πρῶτον τήνδε φράσαι ὀφθαλμοῖσι,

τὴν ἐν Παρνησῷ μ᾽ ἔλασεν σῦς λευκῷ ὀδόντι

οἰχόμενον: σὺ δέ με προΐεις καὶ πότνια μήτηρ

ἐς πατέρ᾽ Αὐτόλυκον μητρὸς φίλον, ὄφρ᾽ ἂν ἑλοίμην

δῶρα, τὰ δεῦρο μολών μοι ὑπέσχετο καὶ κατένευσεν.

εἰ δ᾽ ἄγε τοι καὶ δένδρε᾽ ἐϋκτιμένην κατ᾽ ἀλωὴν

εἴπω, ἅ μοί ποτ᾽ ἔδωκας, ἐγὼ δ᾽ ᾔτεόν σε ἕκαστα

παιδνὸς ἐών, κατὰ κῆπον ἐπισπόμενος: διὰ δ᾽ αὐτῶν

ἱκνεύμεσθα, σὺ δ᾽ ὠνόμασας καὶ ἔειπες ἕκαστα.

ὄγχνας μοι δῶκας τρισκαίδεκα καὶ δέκα μηλέας,

συκέας τεσσαράκοντ᾽: ὄρχους δέ μοι ὧδ᾽ ὀνόμηνας

δώσειν πεντήκοντα, διατρύγιος δὲ ἕκαστος

ἤην: ἔνθα δ᾽ ἀνὰ σταφυλαὶ παντοῖαι ἔασιν—

ὁππότε δὴ Διὸς ὧραι ἐπιβρίσειαν ὕπερθεν.

http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odyssey24.htm

“First, let your eyes inspect this scar—a boar

inflicted that on me with its white tusk,

when I went to Parnassus, sent there

by you and by my honourable mother,

to her cherished father, Autolycus,

so I could get the gifts he’d promised me,

what he’d agreed to give when he was here.

Come, I’ll tell you the trees you gave me once

in the well-established vineyard—back then

I was a child following you in the yard,

and I asked about each one. It was here—we walked by these very trees. You named them

and described them to me. You offered me

thirteen pear trees and ten apple trees

along with forty fig trees. In the same way,

you said you’d give me fifty rows of vines,

bearing all sorts of different types of grapes,

when Zeus’ seasons load their tops with fruit.

這裡的蘋果樹: μηλέα apple-tree, Pyrus malus，From Latin pirus (“pear tree”) + mālus (“apple tree”)，和梨是同科同屬。

下面圖片資料來源: http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Mythology/Laertes.html