评论
打印
7、The Sibylline Books
西卜林书
Roman Mythology
罗马神话
The concept of an oracle—someone with the divine sight that lets them see into the future—is a very old one that has roots in all mythologies. The most famous oracle is the Oracle of Delphi, but perhaps you might not have heard of the famous Roman oracular tomes known as the Sibylline Books. The legend of the Sibylline books starts as such—when Tarquinus Superbus was the head of Rome, a mysterious old woman tried to sell him nine rolls of prophecy. Tarquinus, being particularly stingy for a Roman emperor, declined and she then burned three of them. He then said no again to her offer of six, and she promptly burned three more and offered the final three at the exact same price as the original nine. Tarquinus, somehow thinking this was a good deal, finally bought them on advice from his augurs, or the Roman bird-priests.
神谕——某些具有神性的人关于未来的预言，是一个非常古老，在所有神话中都存在的概念。最有名的神谕大概是特尔斐神谕了，但是你可能没有听说过著名的罗马神谕大典——西卜林书。西卜林书的传说是这样开头的：Tarquinus Superbus（罗马王政时期末代国王，公元前509年被驱逐）在位期间，一个神秘的老妇想要卖给他九卷预言。Tarquinus是一个非常吝啬的罗马国王，因而拒绝了她的请求。她随后烧掉了其中的三卷，然后想将剩下的六卷卖给他，结果又被Tarquinus拒绝了。最后，她又烧掉了三卷，然后提出将剩下的最后三卷以和当初九卷相同的价格卖给他。Tarquinus不知为何认为这个买卖很划算，在他的占卜师的建议下，他终于买下了最后的三卷
Upon the scrolls were written prophecies to lead Rome throughout the ages, and all were written in Greek hexameter. Whenever Rome was in crisis, the Sibylline Books were consulted. So, where are these books now? Most of them were burned or lost as the ages went by. No one doubts that Rome was a little too trusting when it came to oracles, but perhaps these books had something else that made them special.
在这些卷轴上，书写着在未来岁月中指引罗马前程的预言，它们都是用希腊六韵格诗的形式写成的。每当国家陷入危机，罗马人都会翻阅西卜林书以寻求对策之道。不过，现在这些书下落何处？它们中的大多数都被烧掉，或者随着岁月而消失了。大家都认为，罗马人在神谕方面有点太过于轻信了，但是也许在当时这些书还有些不为人知的地方让它们显得如此特别。
