洪水滔天，大地遍遭劫难。尧帝派有崇氏部落的首领鲧去治水。鲧临危受命，指挥大家筑坝挡水，但土石很快不够用了。鸱(chī)鸟和神龟带鲧到昆仑神山，窃取了天帝的宝贝息壤。有了神奇的息壤，洪水终于被制服了。可是好景不长，洪水又一次汹涌而来，把堤坝冲开了一个大口子，并造成了更大的水患。天帝本来对鲧擅自窃取息壤就心怀不满，便召来火神祝融去擒杀伯鲧。两人厮打到东海的羽山之滨，鲧劳累过度，被祝融捆绑在石柱上。鲧的精魂昏睡了三年，天帝命人拿宝刀去剖杀鲧。鲧的精魂被惊醒，一条小龙从他腹中蹦了出来，那是鲧的精魂孕育的孩子。

The flood waters threw the world into a frenzy. Emperor Yao sent Gun, the leader of Youchong Tribe to return order to the flood-stricken world. Gun stepped in, ordering the people to create a dam to stop the waters, but to no avail. Then a hawk and a sacred tortoise led Gun to the holy Kunlun Mountains, where they stole the precious magic dirt “Xirang belonging to the Lord of Heaven, finally ending the disastrous flood. But the good times did not last, and raging floods once again returned to wreak havoc. This time bursting a huge hole in the dam, causing even more severe flooding. Moreover, the Lord of Heaven was still fuming about the fact that Gun stole “Xirang”. He summoned the God of Fire Zhurong to kill Gun. The fight between Gun and the God of Fire escalated all the way to the East Sea. Gun grew weary, and was tied up to a pillar by Zhurong. His spirit slept for three years, and the Lord of Heaven ordered that Gun be executed with a sword. His spirit was then awakened when a small dragon jumped out of his belly. The son of Gun was born. The myth illustrates the Chinese ancestors’ fight against nature and their refusal to be cowed. Gun is also considered as the Prometheus of China.

高耸入云的昆仑山上，有一个孔穴天枢，那是绝地天通后进入天界的唯一通道。在神龟的指点下，鸱鸟猛然俯冲向一个深不可测的天井。天井周围地势险峻，树林里隐蔽着勇猛的天兵。鸱鸟扑扇着翅膀，引开了天兵。

In the cloudy Kunlun Mountains, there was a secret passage, the only one that connected heaven and earth. Under the direction of the sacred tortoise, the hawk swooped into an abysmal hole in the sky. The walls of this sky hole looked steep and covered the guards standing. Then the hawk flapped its wings attracting the guards away.

有了息壤，治水的速度大大加快。鸱鸟和神龟也来帮忙。说来神奇，鸱鸟啄取了一小块息壤，便马上长成了一座小丘。

With Xirang in hand, the flood control mission picked up pace. The hawk and sacred tortoise also pitched in to help. Mysteriously, the hawk was able to make a hill just with a tiny bit of Xirang.

洪水一下子把堤坝冲开了一个大大的口子，城郭也被冲毁了。水受到土堤石城的阻拦，来势转急，反而造成了更大的水患。

The flood waters created a massive hole in the dam they built, while the town walls were also destroyed. When the dam impeded the water which made it became more torrential, and eventually the flood created a more serious disaster.

锋利的刀锋刚触到鲧的肌肤，他的精魂便惊醒了，体内有一股力量集聚，似乎即将喷涌而出。

Just when the blade of the sharp sword came into contact with Gun's skin, his spirit was woken up from deep sleep with a rage of power, about to gush from his body.

天空中的狂风暴雨，大地上的怪兽凶禽，时时威胁着远古人类的生存。日复一日，伏羲观察日月星辰，大地万物，发现一切都周而复始，有着自己的规律。伏羲受一匹龙首神马脊背上黑白图案的启示，发明了八卦图。八卦图揭示了一个最根本的道理：虽然个别的事物有始有终，有盛有衰，但是阴阳化生、八气周流的宇宙运动却永不止息。该神话故事体现了远古初民以天地为师，对万物起源与规律不懈探求的精神。八卦被记入中国今存最古的经典《周易》，象征了中华初民最早的宇宙意识与生命意识。

In ancient times, raging storms and wild animals threatened the lives of people. Day after day, Fuxi discovered that everything has its own rule, and works as a cycle. Fuxi created the map of Bagua (the Eight Trigrams) enlightened by the black and white pattern on a dragonhead horse. The Eight Trigrams reveal the basic principle that, although an individual thing has a beginning and an end, grows and decays; the exchange between yin-yang (the two opposing forces) and the movement of the universe will never stop. The myth illustrates the spirit the Chinese ancestors learned from nature and their exploration and discoveries on the origin and rule of everything. The Eight Trigrams were written in the oldest classic masterpiece in China called The Book of Changes, which gathers the earliest records of universe consciousness and life awareness in ancient China.

就在这时，天空中传来昊天大神的声音：“你们是日月之精华，天地之骄子，一定能战胜困难，度过凶险！”

At that time, there was a voice from the Supreme Deity Haotian: "You are the essence of the sun and the moon, and the favored children of the heaven and the earth. You must be able to overcome any difficulty and get through the crisis."

雨终于停了。伏羲对女娲说：“我们一起去四处看看吧。”他们带着神勇的挚来到一片树林。连日暴雨，树上的野果子都烂了，人们只好挖些草根充饥。

At long last the rain stopped. Fuxi spoke to Nvwa:"Let's look around together." They went to a forest with the brave man whose name was Zhi. People dug the grass roots for food because the wild fruits had rotted after several rainstorms.

夜幕降临，山风裹着寒意袭来。不一会儿，大雨倾盆，浇灭了火种，人们冷得瑟瑟发抖。电闪雷鸣夹杂着深山老林里猛兽的嚎叫声，孩子们吓得躲在母亲怀里。

When darkness came, the chill winds blew. After a while, the heavy rains doused the fire and people began to shiver with cold. Thunder and lightning with the howls of beasts in the deep mountains and forests frightened the children to hide in arms of their mothers.

一天又一天，一月又一月。伏羲仰望天穹，观察太阳东升西落，月亮盈亏圆缺。他发现，一切都周而复始，永不止息。

Day after day, and month after month, Fuxi looked up at the sky and observed that the sun always rises up from the east and falls down to the west, while the moon waxes and wanes. He discovered that everything goes round and round, and never stops.

《山海经》

作者：徐客编著

出版社：现代出版社

馆藏地：静安区图书馆新闸路馆中文书刊外借室

索书号：K928.626/2236

简介：《山海经》是一部内容丰富、风貌奇特的古代佳作，堪称中国奇幻、魔幻文学的开山鼻祖。本书搜集了今人所能搜集到的几乎所有《山海经》图文版本，全面呈现这部中国上古时代集奇幻与瑰丽之大成的想象之作。