Original Text & Translation原文与译文
山海經·海外北經 · Shan Hai Jing · Wikisource
共工之臣曰相柳氏，九首，以食于九山。相柳之所抵，厥為澤谿。禹殺相柳，其血腥，不可以樹五穀種。禹厥之，三仞三沮，乃以為眾帝之臺。在昆侖之北，柔利之東。相柳者，九首人面，蛇身而青。
The minister of Gonggong was named Xiangliu Shi; he had nine heads and fed upon nine mountains. Wherever Xiangliu came, that place became marsh and creek. Yu slew Xiangliu; his blood was rank and foul, and no seeds of the five grains could be planted there. Yu excavated the soil, yet three times it sank down; thereupon he made of it the Terraces of the Many Thearchs. It lies north of Kunlun and east of Rouli. Xiangliu had nine heads with human faces, and a serpent body that was blue-green.
山海經·大荒北經 · Shan Hai Jing · Wikisource
共工臣名曰相繇，九首蛇身，自環，食于九土。其所歍所尼，即為源澤，不辛乃苦，百獸莫能處。禹湮洪水，殺相繇，其血腥臭，不可生榖；其地多水，不可居也。
The minister of Gonggong was named Xiangyao; he had nine heads and a serpent body, coiled around itself, and fed upon nine territories. Wherever he spat or rested became marshes and springs, smelling acrid or bitter, so that no beasts could dwell there. When Yu quelled the floodwaters, he slew Xiangyao; his blood was rank and reeking, unable to grow grain; the land was flooded with water and uninhabitable.
Comparing the Books典籍对比
The Shan Hai Jing portrays Xiangliu (or Xiangyao) as an apocalyptic serpentine minister of Gonggong whose venomous breath and tainted blood poisoned both soil and water, requiring the civilizing might of Yu the Great to conquer his blight and consecrate the spoiled earth into the sacred Terraces of the Thearchs.
