书城外语我的第一本英语百科全书
18307400000131

第131章 关系句型(45)

Apollo became angry about this. He tried to prevent this. While Orion was swimming across the ocean, Apollo persuaded his sister to shoot the black dot on the surface of the far sea. Artemis shot it successfully. Artemis’s eyesight was not as good as his. She didn’t know what the black dot was. When she examined what she had shot, Orion, the black dot, has already died.

35. 阿尔忒弥斯

阿尔忒弥斯是宙斯和勒托的女儿,阿波罗的孪生姐姐,她是月亮女神与狩猎女神,罗马神话中称之为狄安娜。

传说,阿尔忒弥斯比她弟弟阿波罗早生一天,她妈妈在奥提伽岛将她生下来,出生后立马帮她妈妈越过海峡来到提洛岛,在这里她妈妈生下了阿波罗。这个神话能解释阿尔忒弥斯为何会被视为孩子出生的守护神和孕妇的保护者。

据说几乎没有男人跟阿尔忒弥斯有友好关系,她生命中最重要的这类关系应该是和她弟弟之间的关系。他们俩之间很亲密,很少有男人让阿波罗感觉姐姐对他的爱有威胁,但是当俄里翁走进她生命时,她第一次坠入了情网,这使得她弟弟心情很不爽。

俄里翁是海神波塞冬之子,尽管他很擅长游泳,但他喜欢在陆地打猎。英俊而强壮的俄里翁爱上了狩猎女神,甚至向她求婚。

阿波罗对此很生气,他试图阻止该事发生。当俄里翁在海里游泳的时候,阿波罗说服他姐姐去射远在海面上的一个小黑点。阿尔忒弥斯成功地射中了它。她的视力没弟弟的好,不知道那个小黑点是什么。当她确认射中的小黑点是俄里翁时,他已经死掉了。

单词短语透视

1.

legend [‘lednd] n. 传奇;传说

例句

He is the hero of an old legend.

他是一个古老传说中的英雄。

2.

immediately [’midtl] adv. 立刻;马上;当即

例句

She answered almost immediately.

她几乎当下就答应了。

3.

strait [stret] n. (常以复数表示单数意义,尤用于专有名称)海峡例句

We passed through the Strait of Magellan.我们穿过了麦哲伦海峡。

4.

deliver [d‘lv(r)] v. 生(小孩儿)例句

She was delivered of a healthy boy.

她生了一个健康的男孩儿。

5.

consider [kn’sd(r)] v. 认为;视某人/某事物为

例句

He will be considered a weak leader.

他会被认为是个软弱无能的领导人。

6.

protector [pr‘tekt(r)] n. 保护者例句

They were very grateful to their kind protector.

他们十分感激好心的保护者。

7.

insecure [,ns’kju(r)] adj. 信心不足的,不稳定的;不可靠的例句

She feels very insecure about her marriage.她对自己的婚姻缺乏信心。

8.

affection [‘fekn] n. 喜爱;爱

例句

He felt great affection for his sister.

他很疼他的妹妹。

9.

romantically [ru’mkl] adj. 浪漫地例句

They’re not romantically involved.

他们并没有堕入情网。

10.

propose [pr‘puz] v. 求婚

例句

He was trying to decide whether he should propose to her.

他反复思量是否该向她求婚。

11.

persuade sb.to do sth.说服或劝说某人做

某事

例句

You try and persuade her to come out with us.

你去试试劝她跟我们一起出去吧。

12.

dot [dt] n. 点状物;少量,微量,一点儿例句

The island was just a dot on the horizon.

该岛只是海天交接处的一个黑点。

神话背后的习语

to be a Diana 表示终身不嫁;独身

阿尔忒弥斯, 罗马人称之为狄安娜。她身材修长、匀称,相貌美丽,又是处女的保护神,所以她的名字常成为“贞洁处女”的同义词。据说,她有很多求婚者,自从俄里翁被她射死后,她不愿结婚,宣称自己特别热爱自由,愿意与森林中的仙女们永远生活在一起。因此,在英语中,to be a Diana 可用来表示“终身不嫁”。

例如

Tina wants to be a Diana, and never dates with a man.

缇娜想终身不嫁,从不和男人约会。

Since she is still a Diana, I believe she has made up her mind to lead apes in the hell.既然她至今单身,我相信她一定会拿定主意终身不嫁了。

36. Atlas and Perseus

Perseus was a son of Zeus. One day, on his way back to Seriphos, after he killed Medusa, Perseus arrived at Atlas’ land. Atlas was a giant, son of the Titan Lapetos and Prometheus’ brother. In this land there were thousands of flocks of sheep and cows. The earth was green and there were thousands of trees. In this garden there was an apple tree whose leaves and apples were golden. There was a prophecy that said that one day one of Zeus’ sons would steal the apples. That’s why Atlas had built a wall around the garden where this tree was.

Perseus stopped there and asked Atlas if he would let him sleep for the night because he was really tired. He explained to him that he was Zeus’ son and that he had killed Medusa. Atlas became upset. He called Perseus a liar and he told him to get out of his land. He was getting ready to chase the hero away.

Perseus realized that he can not fight with the giant. But Atlas denied him and called him a liar. This made him so angry that he pulled Medusa’s head out of his pouch. Immediately, the giant became a stone. His beard and hair became forests. His arms and shoulders became cliffs. His head became a summit, and his bones became rocks. Each part increased till he became a mountain that the ancient Greeks believed he holds the sky and the stars upon his shoulders.

36. 阿特拉斯和珀尔修斯

珀尔修斯是宙斯的儿子。一天,杀死墨杜萨后,在回塞里佛斯的路上,他到达了阿特拉斯的地盘。阿特拉斯是一位巨人,泰坦族伊阿佩托斯的儿子,普罗米修斯的兄弟。他这片地盘上有成千上万的羊群和牛群,土地绿油油的,种植着许多果树。在这个果园里,种植着一棵苹果树,它的树叶和果实都是金色的。有预言曾说,宙斯的一个儿子某天会来偷走这些金苹果,这就是阿特拉斯为何在这棵树生长的果园的周围砌墙将之围起来的原因。

珀尔修斯停下来,问阿特拉斯是否允许他在此留宿一夜,因为他实在太累了。他向阿特拉斯表明他是宙斯的儿子,并且杀掉了墨杜萨。阿特拉斯变得很忐忑,他叫珀尔修斯说谎者,并让他滚出自己的地盘,他正打算把这位英雄赶走。

珀尔修斯意识到他不是这位巨人的对手。但是阿特拉斯否决了他,而且叫他说谎者,这使得他非常生气,便从口袋里掏出墨杜萨的头颅。巨人立刻变成了石头,他的胡须和头发变成树林;双臂和肩膀变成了峭壁;头成了山顶;骨头成了岩石。他身体的每个部分都不断膨胀,终于成了一座大山,古希腊人认为是他用他的肩膀顶住了天体和星空。

单词短语透视

1.arrive at到达,抵达(指较小的地方)

例句

We arrived at the airport one hour early.我们提前一个钟头到达机场。

2.flocks of(同一种的羊或鸟的)一群

例句

They raised a flock of sheep.

他们养着一群羊。

3.

prophecy [‘prfs] n. 预言

例句

Her prophecy was proved to be correct.她的预言都已实现。

4.

liar [’la(r)] n. 说谎者(尤指经常性的)例句

They called him a good liar.

他们把他说成是一个高明的说谎者。

5.chase… away赶走……;驱逐……

例句

They used fire to chase away wild animals.他们用火赶走了野兽。

6.

pouch [paut] n. (放在衣袋里或连在腰带上的)小袋(尤指皮制的)

例句

The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.

这老汉总是随身带著烟袋。

神话背后的习语

accomplishment of Perseus

珀尔修斯的业绩;辉煌的成就、杰出的

贡献。

在古希腊神话中,珀尔修斯(Perseus)是传说中的英雄。根据神示,长大成人的珀尔修斯将会推翻国王外祖父的统治并把他杀死,外祖父非常恐惧,就把他们母子二人装进一只大箱子扔进大海。箱子被冲到一座小岛上,岛上的国王波吕得克忒斯(Polydectes)涎于珀尔修斯的母亲,开始狂热地追求她,但受到奇异般长大成人的珀尔修斯的阻挠,国王为了支走他,就鼓动珀尔修斯去取蛇发女怪黑杜莎(Medusa)的头,渴望冒险和建功立业的珀尔修斯毅然踏上征途。

蛇发女怪黑杜莎面目狰狞,凡是看见她的人就会顷刻变成石头。在智慧女神雅典娜(Athena)和神使赫耳墨斯(Hermes)的帮助下,珀尔修斯成功割下了黑杜莎的头。由此,accomplishment of Perseus表示“辉煌的成就、杰出的贡献”。

归途中,珀尔修斯救下了埃塞俄比亚公主安德洛墨达(Andromeda),并娶她为妻。珀尔修斯带着妻子去找母亲,发现母亲为躲避波吕得克忒斯的迫害而躲在一座破旧的神庙里,珀尔修斯就让波吕得克忒斯看黑杜莎的头颅,把他变成了石头。

在完成了自己的业绩(accomplishment)后,珀尔修斯带着母亲、妻子去见外祖父。外祖父害怕神示会应验,就躲到了外地。不久,珀尔修斯因外出路过某地,恰逢当地举办体育竞技大会,珀尔修斯前去参加,在掷铁饼时,不慎将一老者打死,此人正是珀尔修斯的外祖父!神示应验。

例如

For a novelist, that’s quite an accomplishment of Perseus.对于一位小说家来说,那是非常杰出的成就。

You can never look for the accomplishment of Perseus from a man like that.你永远也不要指望他那样的人能成就大事。

37. Tithonus