Now, as they talked on, a dog that lay there lifted up his muzzle, pricked his ears . . . It was Argos, long-enduring Odysseus’ dog he trained as a puppy once, but little joy he got since all too soon he shipped to sacred Troy. In the old days young hunters loved to set him coursing after the wild goats and deer and hares. But now with his master gone he lay there, castaway, on piles of dung from mules and cattle, heaps collecting out before the gates till Odysseus’ serving-men could cart it off to manure the king’s estates. Infested with ticks, half-dead from neglect, here lay the hound, old Argos.

…

Ah, but he’s run out of luck now, poor fellow . . .his master’s dead and gone, so far from home, and the heartless women tend him not at all. Slaves, with their lords no longer there to crack the whip, lose all zest to perform their duties well. Zeus, the Old Thunderer, robs a man of half his virtue the day the yoke clamps down around his neck.”

With that he entered the well-constructed palace, strode through the halls and joined the proud suitors. But the dark shadow of death closed down on Argos’ eyes the instant he saw Odysseus, twenty years away.

奧德修斯掌權(quán)時(shí)偷拔，如此威風(fēng)堂堂的獵犬Argos绕辖，現(xiàn)在卻耳朵耷拉，虱蠅滿身宁炫，奄奄一息地趴在糞堆污泥上土砂。進(jìn)了自家門州既，才剛剛假裝著向Eumaeus贊嘆自己家就是與眾不同時(shí)，卻看到自己的愛犬如今成了這般模樣萝映，心善的奧德修斯也會(huì)于心不忍吧吴叶。

主人掌權(quán)（crack the whip），則百般討好序臂；失意落魄晤郑，則放任自流∶澈辏虎落平陽被犬欺也就罷了造寝，但在自家成了這樣，和善的奧德修斯會(huì)不會(huì)感到一絲心寒和怒火呢?

但就算有吭练，經(jīng)歷了百轉(zhuǎn)千折的英雄也絕不流露半分诫龙。

With that he flung his beggar’s sack across his shoulders— torn and tattered, slung from a fraying rope. Eumaeus gave him a staff that met his needs. Then the two moved out, leaving behind them dogs and herdsmen to stay and guard the farm. And so the servant led his master toward the city, looking for all the world like an old and broken beggar hunched on a stick, his body wrapped in shameful rags …

在外人看來自己衣衫襤褸，軟弱無能鲫咽，就連自己以前熟悉的王宮大臣的兒子也要來戲謔他一番签赃，但就算有人伸出腳想讓他出糗谷异，自己內(nèi)心依然堅(jiān)定，浩然正氣锦聊，屹立不倒歹嘹！

Here Dolius’ son, Melanthius, crossed their path…As soon as he saw them there he broke into a flood of brutal, foul abuse that made Odysseus’ blood boil.“Look!”—he sneered—”one scum nosing another scum along, dirt finds dirt by the will of god—it never fails! Wild, reckless taunts—and just as he passed Odysseus the idiot lurched out with a heel and kicked his hip, but he couldn’t knock the beggar off the path, he stood his ground so staunchly. Odysseus was torn …

既然自己已經(jīng)踏進(jìn)了自家門，絕不半途而廢孔庭，再大的侮辱曲折都受過尺上，不管再經(jīng)歷什么，自己的家由自己來整頓圆到！