In mythological ancient Greece, soaring above Crete on wings made from wax and feathers,
在古希腊神话中，用蜡与羽毛做的翅膀飞越克里特的
Icarus, the son of Daedalus, defied the laws of both man and nature.
代达罗斯之子伊卡洛斯，藐视了人类与自然法则。
Ignoring the warnings of his father, he rose higher and higher.
他无视父亲的警告，飞向高空。
To witnesses on the ground, he looked like a god, and as he peered down from above, he felt like one, too.
在看到他的人的眼中，他像神一样，他向下俯视的时候，也觉得自己如神一般。
But, in mythological ancient Greece,
但是，在古希腊神话中，
the line that separated god from man was absolute and the punishment for mortals who attempted to cross it was severe.
人与神之间界线分明，试图越界的凡人会受到严厉的惩罚。
Such was the case for Icarus and Daedalus.
伊卡洛斯和代达罗斯就是一个例子。
Years before Icarus was born,
在伊卡洛斯出生前多年，
his father Daedalus was highly regarded as a genius inventor, craftsman, and sculptor in his homeland of Athens.
他的父亲代达罗斯在他的家乡雅典，被尊为天才创造家、工匠和雕刻家。
He invented carpentry and all the tools used for it.
他发明了木工手艺和其需要的工具。
He designed the first bathhouse and the first dance floor.
他设计了世界上第一个浴室和第一个舞池。
He made sculptures so lifelike that Hercules mistook them for actual men.
他雕刻的雕塑让人栩栩如生，让大力神误以为那是个真人。
Though skilled and celebrated, Daedalus was egotistical and jealous.
尽管代达罗斯技术高明且声誉卓著，但是他却是一个自我主义又善妒的人。
Worried that his nephew was a more skillful craftsman, Daedalus murdered him.
代达罗斯担心他的外甥比他更出色，于是代达罗斯杀害了他。
As punishment, Daedalus was banished from Athens and made his way to Crete.
作为惩罚，代达罗斯被驱逐出雅典，前往克里特岛。
Preceded by his storied reputation, Daedalus was welcomed with open arms by Crete's King Minos.
出于他以前显赫的名声，代达罗斯受到了国王米诺斯的欢迎。
There, acting as the palace technical advisor, Daedalus continued to push the boundaries.
在那里，他成为了宫廷技术顾问，代达罗斯做着不断地突破。
For the king's children, he made mechanically animated toys that seemed alive.
他为国王的孩子们制造了一个个活灵活现的机械玩具。
He invented the ship's sail and mast, which gave humans control over the wind.
他发明了船帆和桅杆，使人们能够操纵风。

With every creation, Daedalus challenged human limitations that had so far kept mortals separate from gods,
他的每一个发明都缩短了人与神之间的距离，
until finally, he broke right through.
直到最后，他直接穿过了那条界线。
King Minos's wife, Pasiphae, had been cursed by the god Poseidon to fall in love with the king's prized bull.
米诺斯国王的妻子帕西淮，被海神波塞冬诅咒，与国王的公牛坠入爱河。
Under this spell, she asked Daedalus to help her seduce it.
在法术的影响下，她请求代达罗斯帮助她勾引公牛。
With characteristic audacity, he agreed.
出于代达罗斯大胆的性格，他应允了。
Daedalus constructed a hollow wooden cow so realistic that it fooled the bull.
他造了一个空心的木牛以假乱真，公牛被他造的木牛所愚弄。
With Pasiphae hiding inside Daedalus's creation, she conceived and gave birth to the half-human half-bull minotaur.
帕西淮藏在木牛里，她怀孕并生下了一个人身牛头怪。
This, of course, enraged the king who blamed Daedalus for enabling such a horrible perversion of natural law.
当然这激怒了国王，他指责代达罗斯扭曲了自然法则。
As punishment, Daedalus was forced to construct an inescapable labyrinth beneath the palace for the minotaur.
代达罗斯被迫在牛头人身怪的宫殿下建造一个无法逃脱的迷宫作为惩罚。
When it was finished, Minos then imprisoned Daedalus and his only son Icarus within the top of the tallest tower on the island
完工之后，米诺斯国王在岛上最高的塔里关押了代达罗斯和他的独子伊卡洛斯，
where they were to remain for the rest of their lives.
并打算让他们在那度过余生。
But Daedalus was still a genius inventor.
但是代达罗斯依旧还是一个天才发明家。
While observing the birds that circled his prison, the means for escape became clear.
在囚牢里观察周围的鸟的时候，他找到了逃脱的办法。
He and Icarus would fly away from their prison as only birds or gods could do.
他和伊卡洛斯能够飞出监狱，像只有鸟和神能做到的那样。
Using feathers from the flocks that perched on the tower, and the wax from candles,
用在塔上栖息的鸟群的羽毛和蜡烛的蜡，
Daedalus constructed two pairs of giant wings.
代达罗斯造了两对巨大的羽翼。
As he strapped the wings to his son Icarus, he gave a warning:
在他给他的儿子伊卡洛斯绑上翅膀的时候，代达罗斯警告了他：
flying too near the ocean would dampen the wings and make them too heavy to use.
你如果飞得太低，羽翼会碰到海水，羽翼沾湿了就会变得过于沉重。
Flying too near the sun, the heat would melt the wax and the wings would disintegrate.
要是飞得太接近太阳，翅膀上的蜡就会融化，翅膀就会碎裂。
In either case, they surely would die.
不论是在哪种情况下，他们都会死。
Therefore, the key to their escape would be in keeping to the middle.
因此，逃脱的关键在于保持在半空中飞行。
With the instructions clear, both men leapt from the tower.
在指令清晰以后，二人从塔上跃下。
They were the first mortals ever to fly.
他们是世上首个能够飞翔的凡人。
While Daedalus stayed carefully to the midway course,
当代达罗斯小心翼翼在半空中飞行的时候，
Icarus was overwhelmed with the ecstasy of flight and overcome with the feeling of divine power that came with it.
伊卡洛斯因为能够飞行而感到狂喜，且被自己有如上帝一般的力量的感觉所压倒。
Daedalus could only watch in horror as Icarus ascended higher and higher, powerless to change his son's dire fate.
代达罗斯只能恐惧地看着伊卡洛斯越飞越高，却无法改变他可悲的命运。
When the heat from the sun melted the wax on his wings, Icarus fell from the sky.
当太阳的热量融化他翅膀上的蜡时，伊卡洛斯从高空坠落。
Just as Daedalus had many times ignored the consequences of defying the natural laws of mortal men in the service of his ego,
就像代达罗斯屡次无视违抗自然法则的后果，
Icarus was also carried away by his own hubris.
伊卡洛斯也被他的傲慢自大冲昏头脑。
In the end, both men paid for their departure from the path of moderation dearly,
最后，二人都为自己的行为付出了代价，
Icarus with his life and Daedalus with his regret.
伊卡洛斯的代价是他的生命，而代达罗斯的代价是永恒的懊悔。