In a typical hero's journey, the protagonist sets out on an adventure,
在典型的英雄探险故事里，主人公踏上历险旅程，
undergoes great change, and returns in triumph to their point of origin.
经历巨变，最后荣归故里。
But in the Irish genre of myth known as Eachtraí, the journey to the other world ends in a point of no return.
但在爱尔兰神话故事中，英雄前往另一个世界却有去无回。
While there are many different versions of the otherworld in Irish mythology,
虽然在爱尔兰神话中对于另一个世界有不同说法，
the most well-known example occurs in the story of Oisín.
但最著名的仍要数奥辛的冒险故事。
Oisín was the son of Fionn mac Cumhaill, the leader of a group of pagan warriors known as the Fianna.
奥辛是费奥纳骑士团的首领芬恩·麦克库尔的儿子。
As Oisín rode with his companions one day, he was visited by the immortal princess Niamh.
某天，奥辛与同伴骑马同行，遇到了仙子妮奥芙。
The two fell instantly in love and Niamh put Oisín onto her white horse and rode with him to the edge of the Irish sea.
二人一见钟情，妮奥芙让奥辛骑上自己的白马一同来到爱尔兰海边。
As they made for the horizon, the riders sunk into a golden haze.
二人向地平线前进，消失在一片金色的雾霭中。
They came to the shores of the gleaming kingdom called Tír na nóg.
他们来到光芒四射的提尔纳诺国。
This was the home of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the people who ruled Ancient Ireland long before Oisín's time.
这里是统治古爱尔兰的达努之族的故乡，这段历史远早于奥辛所处的时代。
From the point of his arrival, Oisín's every need was met.
奥辛刚来到此地，他的需求便被一应满足。
He married Niamh in a grand ceremony and was welcomed into her family.
他与妮奥芙举行了盛大的婚礼，受到她家族的欢迎和接纳。
When he wished to hear music, his ears filled with bewitching tones.
当奥辛想要听音乐时，他的耳中便响起迷人的旋律。
When he hungered, golden plates appeared laden with fragrant food.
当他感到饥饿时，盛满喷香食物的金色盘子就会出现。
He admired scenes of great beauty, and colors that he had no name for.
他喜爱这美丽至极的景色，还有叫不出名字的缤纷色彩。
All around him, the land and the people existed in a state of unmoving perfection.
在他身边，大地和人们始终处于一种完美状态。
But what Oisín didn't know was that Tír na nóg was the land of youth, in which time stood still and the people never aged.
但奥辛并不知道提尔纳诺是青春之地，在这里，时间静止，人不会老去。

In his new home, Oisín continued to hunt and explore as he had in Ireland.
在这里，奥辛与之前在爱尔兰一样继续打猎和探险。
But in the land of youth, he possessed a strange, new invincibility.
但在青春之地，他会拥有一股新涌现出的力量。
At the end of each day of adventuring, Oisín's wounds magically healed themselves as he slept in Niamh's arms.
在每天结束冒险后，奥辛在妮奥芙怀中睡觉时，他的伤口会奇迹般自愈。
Although glory and pleasure came easily to Oisín in the land of youth,
虽然在青春之地获得荣耀与愉悦易如反掌，
he missed the Fianna and the adventures they had in Ireland.
但奥辛思念费奥纳骑士团和在爱尔兰的历险。
After three years in Tír na nóg, he was struck by a deep yearning for home.
在提尔纳诺度过三年后，他思乡情切，决定启程回家。
Before he embarked on his journey back,
在他踏上归途之前，
Niamh warned him that he must not alight from his horse to touch the earth with his own feet.
妮奥芙警告奥辛不可下马，也不可用脚接触大地。
When Oisín reached the shores of Ireland, it felt as if a shadow had fallen over the world.
当奥辛到达爱尔兰海边，他看到世界仿佛笼罩在阴影之中。
On the hill where his father's palace lay, he saw only a ruin strewn with weeds.
在他父亲宫殿曾经坐落的山上，他只看到野草丛生的废墟。
His calls for his friends and family echoed from derelict walls.
他呼唤朋友和家人，只听到残垣断壁处的回声。
Horrified, Oisín rode until he came upon a group of peasants working in the fields.
奥辛感到恐惧，他骑马前行，直至遇上在种地的农民们。
They were struggling to remove a boulder from their land,
他们正在奋力搬地里的一块大石，
and forgetting Niamh's warning, Oisín leapt from his horse and rolled it away with his superhuman strength.
此时，奥辛忘记了妮奥芙的警告，从马上一跃而下，用他超乎常人的力量将石头扔到一边。
The crowd's cheers soon turned into shrieks.
但农民们的欢呼很快变成了尖叫。
In place of the youth was an old man whose beard swept the ground and whose legs buckled under him.
因为这个年轻人迅速变成了一个老人，胡须垂地，双腿变形。
He cried out for Finn and the Fianna, but the people only recognized these names from the distant past of 300 years before.
他大喊着芬恩和费奥纳，但人们只知道这是存在于三百多年前的名字。
Time had betrayed Oisín and his return to mortal lands had aged him irreversibly.
时间背叛了奥辛，他重返凡人之地，自己却不可逆转地衰老。
Throughout Irish folklore, sightings of the land of youth have been reported in the depths of wells,
在爱尔兰民间故事中，很多人声称在深井中见过青春之地，
on the brink of the horizon, or in the gloom of caves.
在地平线尽头见过青春之地，在黑暗的洞穴中见过青春之地。
But those who know the tale of Oisín tell of another vision,
但了解奥辛故事的人们在讲述另一个版本，
that of a shining princess carried upon the distant waves by a white horse, still hoping for the return of her doomed love.
在遥远的海浪上，一位闪耀光芒的公主骑着白马，依然盼望着她一生挚爱的归来。