He read Homer over and over again, and longed to see all the beautiful places described by the poet.
此人反復閱讀荷馬史詩并矢志不移地想見到書上所描寫的那些美麗的地方,
If only he could hold in his hands, just once, the wonderful weapons with which these heroes fought.
要是他能親自用手拿一拿這些英雄們用來作戰(zhàn)的那些美妙的武器,哪怕一次。
And one day he did. For it turned out that all of it was true.
有一天他成功了。事實證明,這一切都真有其事,
Not in every detail,of course: the heroes named in the songs were no more real than the giants and witches1 in fairy tales.
當然不是歌中所說的一個個英雄都真有其人。他們跟童話里的巨人和女巫一樣并非真有其人。
But the world that Homer describes – the drinking cups, the weapons, the buildings and the ships,
但是荷馬所描述的情形:酒器和武器,房屋和船只;
the princes who were at the same time shepherds2, and the heroes who were also sea raiders – were not inventions.
王子們,他們同時也是牧羊童,英雄們,他們也是海盜——所有這一切都不是杜撰。
When Schliemann told people this they laughed at him.
當施利曼對人們說這話時,他們嘲笑他。
But he didn't give up.
但是他并沒有放棄。
He just kept putting money aside, so that one day he could go to Greece and see for himself.
他只是仍然省吃儉用,以便最后能去希臘。
And when he had finally raised enough money, he hired laborers3 and set about digging4 in search of all the cities mentioned in Homer.
當他攢足了錢時,他便雇來挖土工人,在荷馬史詩中提及的所有城市中進行挖掘。