The Twinned Version of Oedipus Rex
INTRODUCTION OF THE SOPHOCLES EDITION: The city of Tabaeus was beset by a plague. The people of Tabaeus appealed to King Oedipus for help. Oedipus, who had married Iocasta, the widow of King Laius, was the saviour of the people of Tabaeus from both natural and man-made disasters. Oedipus and his uncle Creon receive a hint from Apollo that the only way to save Thebes is to find the murderer of King Laius. Oedipus gradually learns of his past through conflicts with the prophets, Creon, and Ilcastel. The late King Laius had received a prophecy that he was destined to die at the hands of his and Ilcastea's own son. So they nailed the son's heels together and threw him away. The child was later adopted by the king of Corinthos. When he grew up, he received another prophecy that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. So he ran away from home, killed a passer-by at a crossroads, and married Ilcastea, who became King Oedipus.
The Weisles Version of the Twinned Version:
Let us first take a look at the bustling streets of Athens, the gathering place of thousands of words of wisdom. Philosophers will murmur to themselves as they pass, artists will suddenly stop and laugh, and a vagabond will lie in a corner, half asleep.
Naturally, he is the main character of our story. His name is no longer known, but everyone believes that he is a guy who lives his life in vain. This adjective means that he has no motivation or intention to change his life. But — who knows? Ouroboros continued to devour him. He was silent.
The vagabond wakes from an empty dream and finds a dying beggar lying beside him. Frightened, the vagabond tries to crawl away, but the beggar grabs him and gives him a piece of paper.
The beggar gasps weakly. "Please, please save Thebes."
The vagabond takes the paper in a panic and sees that it is a crude map. "Thebes? What city? "
The beggar gasps. "Please, go east, through the woods, and save our city."
Where did this beggar come from? Who knows? He brought a message and a commission to the tramp, which our tramp did not intend to accept, but a request must be accompanied by a help, as he realized after burying the beggar, which distressed him greatly, for at present it seemed that he must embark on a journey.
The tramp set off with a troubled heart. He followed the map and headed east. Sure enough, he arrived at a dense forest.
At this time, he found that there were two paths in front of him, but the map did not indicate which one to take. He hesitated for a moment and was about to flip a coin to decide, but a blind man suddenly rushed out and grabbed him.
The irascible old blind man roared at him, "Go back!"
The sudden appearance of Old Blind frightened the tramp. As Old Blind kept yelling "Go back!", the tramp suddenly realized that he seemed to have given up on things like the warm sun and lazy afternoon sleep and placed himself in an inexplicable environment. Under Old Blind's furious scolding, the tramp accepted Old Blind's suggestion and stepped on the way back. However, he didn't go far before encountering an even greater danger.
It was a beast, huge and terrifying. It roared and chased after the tramp without any explanation. The tramp ran into the forest in a panic and tripped over a protruding tree root.
He thought that he would be eaten by the beast, but it was not. The beast knelt before the tramp. Only then did he see that the beast had an arrow in its chest, and blood dripped onto the grass.
The beast suppressed its roar. "Brave warrior, who are you?"
The tramp was scared and curious. "I … I … Who are you?"
The heavily injured beast only left half a sentence. "I am …"
The poor tramp left the unknown beast and found himself lost in the forest. He could only barge his way out, hoping to find a way out. He did not know that the road signs of fate had been planted, and the roads and bridges had been paved. After he walked out of the forest, he saw a city in celebration.
As soon as the tramp entered the city, he was surrounded by a group of people and led to the noblewoman named Ilcastel.
Our tramp found himself in a strange situation. He was surrounded by people, and everyone was praising him. The beautiful noblewoman was smiling at him, and the tramp of humble origin could not help but kneel before her.
Ilcastel smiled beautifully. "I heard that you are the hero who saved our city, the great Oedipus?"
The tramp, who was overwhelmed by the pleasant surprise, answered vaguely, "Well, probably — yes."
Ilcastel smiled and bowed. "Rise, Oedipus. According to the agreement, the man who saved our city will be my husband. I cannot let my husband kneel before me."
The tramp humbly shrank back. "Well, well, madam, I think … our ages are not very suitable?"
Ilcastel ignored him. "And according to the agreement, you will be our king, King Oedipus!"
The tramp stood up and took the hand of the noblewoman. "Yes, my dear! I will be your king. "
The two hugged and received the salute of the people.
The lucky tramp, the great King Oedipus, suddenly had a large city, a beautiful wife, and endless wine, food, and leisure time. He felt that the God of Fate must have accidentally stepped on him. The only thing that annoyed him during these wonderful days was his brother-in-law, Creon, who was always urging him to investigate a case.
Creon found the tramp, who was eating and drinking, and said worriedly, "Oedipus, I guess you know that my brother-in-law, Laius, was murdered."
The tramp was intoxicated by the delicious food on the table. "Yes, I know."
Creon urged him. "Then when are you going to find out who the murderer is?"
The tramp had been carried away by the life of the past few days. "Creon, don't rush me. You have to find out the time, place, and people of the case before you come to me."
Creon suppressed his anger. "Do I need you to find out if I know? If we don't find out the truth, our city will suffer from the plague forever! "
The tramp spread out his hands to show his helplessness.
Creon said, "You! Eh, no, I don't know, but someone might. "
Creon soon brought Terrethias before the vagabond.
Aside: Tericias is already very old. Perhaps he is still an excellent prophet, but our main character feels that he has gone senile.
The tramp asked, "I heard that you were a prophet."
Tericias closed his eyes. "You don't have to speak. I know what you want to ask, great Oedipus!"
The tramp was completely confused.
Tericias seemed to be chanting. "You'd better not ask anymore. I don't want to expose my pain, and I don't want to expose yours."
The tramp was secretly shocked. His biggest secret was his name — he was not Oedipus. "Oh … okay …"
Tericias suddenly opened his eyes. "You are the murderer you are looking for!"
Both the tramp and Creon were surprised. "What?"
Tericias slowly closed his eyes again. "Hmph, perhaps you think I am stupid, but your parents know that I am a smart man."
"Oedipus," said Creon, shocked and angry. "So you are the prisoner!"
The tramp was stunned. He drove Tericias away and persuaded the angry Creon to leave. He returned to his palace alone.
The tramp paced around the palace. Although he had driven away Creon, who had loudly accused him of being a murderer, he knew that Creon would spread the news. What troubled him even more was that he could not prove this accusation, nor could he prove it.
At this moment, the old blind man rushed in and grabbed the tramp. "Go!" he urged loudly.
The tramp was stunned. He did not know why the blind man had suddenly appeared. "You! How did you get in? "
The old blind man's dirty face was extremely ferocious. "Leave! This is not a place for you to stay! "
The tramp was worried that the old blind man might be the only one who knew his true identity. He angrily beat the old blind man and drove him out. "You! Get out! This is my palace. I am King Oedipus! "
When Ilkast came up, the tramp was still in shock. He heard his wife say, "My king, I heard what happened today."
The tramp replied impatiently, "Yes, your brother is spreading the news that I am a murderer."
But Ilkast said, "I don't think that's true."
The tramp was touched and held his wife's hand. Although he did not love her, he was grateful for her trust. "Yes, my dear. Thank you for your trust."
Ilkast said, "To be honest, I heard something."
The tramp asked, "What is it?"
Ilkast giggled. "The person who killed my husband is definitely not the mighty and mighty you."
The tramp said, "Why are you so sure?"
Ilkast explained, "One of the servants who was killed with Laius came back alive. Although he was mad, according to him, the person who killed my husband was a barbarian like a beast."
The tramp remembered something. He finally understood what he did not hear in the forest. "A beast? Oh my god. "
Ilkast gently stroked her husband and comforted him. "Don't worry. I have sent someone to call him. He is now shepherding."
At this time, a well-behaved maid came in and said respectfully, "My king, my queen, we have a guest."
Ilkast asked, "Is it a mad shepherd?"
The maid bowed. "No, it is said that it is a messenger."
The tramp and Ilkast sat in the palace. Creon stood beside them. The messenger was brought in by a servant.
The messenger bowed to the king and queen and said with a pained expression: "Dear King Oedipus, Dear Queen, I'm sorry to bring you bad news."
What did the tramp know? He did not know anything. "Ah, what is it?"
The messenger said, "Your father, King Polypos of Cozhenthus, has died."
Ilkast covered her mouth in surprise. "Oh my god, this is terrible news!"
The tramp pretended to be sad. "Oh my god, my father! How did he die? "
Messenger: He died of illness. My king, you do not need to hide anymore. Please go back and preside over the funeral.
This informant from another city said many inexplicable things, including the prophecy that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother, and the fact that he was an abandoned child. All this made our vagabond tremble with fear, and he dealt with it carefully lest he should give himself away. He did not notice that his new wife was more frightened than he was.
With a pale face, Ilkast asked, "That informant, you said that the shepherd found Oedipus in the Cotellon Canyon?"
The messenger wiped his tears. "Yes, my queen."
Ilkast asked, "His heels were nailed together?"
The messenger said, "Yes, my queen."
Ilkast stood up, covered her mouth, and screamed, "Oh my god!" Then she rushed down, ignoring the others who tried to stop her.
The tramp did not know what to do. He sensed that something bad was happening, but he did not understand the connection. "What, what is going on?"
Creon, who did not know what was going on, had no choice but to follow the queen.
The messenger pointed to the tramp. "Perhaps the shepherd over there can confirm my words."
The messenger asked the shepherd who had just been brought up, "Hey, old man, you look crazy, but do you remember me?"
The shepherd smiled foolishly. "Hey, old man, I may be crazy, but I still remember you, old man."
The messenger said, "You once gave me a baby, remember?"
The Shepherd smiled and said, "Ah, that seems to be the case."
The messenger pointed out Oedipus to him. "Look," he said, "it is him, the new Oedipus King."
Hearing the name Oedipus, the shepherd panicked. "No, it's impossible. Don't tease a madman."
The messenger was afraid of being blamed by the king and quickly rebuked the shepherd. "Who says it's impossible? This child with nailed heels, Oedipus, was given to me by you."
The shepherd suddenly broke down. "Oh my god."
The tramp felt a headache coming on. "What are you arguing about? What's going on with that child? "
Creon rushed back, weeping, and said to the tramp, "Oedipus, my sister! She killed herself! What happened? "
The tramp was tongue-tied.
The shepherd cried in despair. "That child, this Oedipus, he is the child of Laius, the child of the queen."
Long, long ago, a prophet had said that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother, and now it had all come true. Oedipus had his eyes gouged out by Creon in front of his mother's corpse and was banished. At least, that was what fate had shown us.
It was another busy street. Some philosophers were mumbling to themselves as they passed. Some artists suddenly stopped and laughed. Another tramp was sunbathing in a corner when a blind man blocked his view.
The tramp said lazily, "Hey, blind man, you're blocking my sun."
The blind man said, "Who said it was your sun?"
The tramp said, "If I wasn't too lazy to move, you'd be lying down right now."
The blind man sat down beside the tramp. "I know you, Sophocles, the famous hoodlum."
The tramp grinned. "Hey."
The blind man smiled. "How about this? I'll tell you a story and buy you a comfortable afternoon."
The tramp said indifferently, "Go ahead."
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