普羅米修斯

Prometheus

This is a story about fire(火)。

People had no fire at that time. They drank cold(冷的)water， ate cold and uncooked（生的）food. In winter(冬天)， it was so cold that some children and old people were ill. They wanted to eat and drink something hot(熱的)，but there was no way. People couldn't go out of their houses， they could only stay at home.

Prometheus(普羅米修斯)was very kind to people. He thought he would help them. He knew Zeus(宙斯)had fire， but he also knew well that Zeus wouldn't give them the fire and that he kept it in secret. Prometheus thought hard， but he couldn't find a way to get the fire.

At last(最后)， Prometheus decided to steal(偷)the fire from Zeus .He went to Zeus when Zeus was sleeping(睡覺).Prometheus looked for the fire everywhere. As soon as (一……就)he got the fire， he went out of Zeus?room， Prometheus ran quickly to the people and gave the fire to them.

Exercises:

1. Tell us something about Prometheus.

2. Why couldn’t people have hot water and hot food in winter?

3. What was Prometheus going to do?

4. Did the people get the fire or not?

5. Do you think Prometheus was right or wrong? Why?

When Zeus learned(得知) what had happened(發(fā)生)，he was very angry(生氣). He decided (決定) to punish(懲罰)Prometheus. Prometheus was nailed(被釘牢)to a big stone(石頭). Zeus let an eagle(鷹)peck at (啄) his liver(肝臟).Prometheus was nailed to the stone without clothes .He was very strong. The eagle began to bite(咬)his liver， it was hungry for Prometheus?Blood(血).Every time， when the eagle bit(bite-it)Prometheus?liver， the liver grew(生長)，then， the eagle bit again ，the liver grew again……The eagle didn’t stop biting， Prometheus suffered(受罪)a lot. His face went red because of the suffering ， but he held his head high with his eyes open and round .He kept standing.

Zeus asked him， Are you wrong? You gave fire to the people， you must be punished.?

Prometheus answered， “No， I don’t think so. I’m suffering， but people have fire now.?Zeus said， “Well， you shall be nailed to the stone and suffer for them all the time， the eagle shall bite your liver all the time.”If the people can live a better life than before， it doesn’t matter at all.?Prometheus was nailed and suffered for 30，000years till(直到) one day when the god of Might（大力神）passed by there. He Shot(shoot-hot) the eagle and freed Prometheus.

Exercises:

1. How did Zeus punish Prometheus?

2. What did Zeus say to Prometheus?

3. What did Prometheus answer?

4. Was Prometheus afraid of the punishment?

5. What do you learn from Prometheus?

這是一個關(guān)于火的故事。

很久很久以前，世界上沒有火。人們喝的是冷水，吃的是冷的和沒有煮過的食物。冬天，天氣非常冷，一些孩子、老人和婦女都生了病。他們需要喝熱的東西，吃熱的東西，但是他們無法弄到火。人們不能出門，他們只能在自己家里呆著。

普羅米修斯為人善良。看到這種狀況，他想幫幫人們。他知道宙斯有火，他也知道宙斯不愿意把火給人們，而且知道他把火放在秘密的地方。普羅米修斯想啊想啊，但是，他不知道怎么樣才能從宙斯處弄到火。

最后，普羅米修斯打算從宙斯處偷火。他去找宙斯，宙斯正在睡覺，普羅米修斯取了火走出了他的房子。普羅米修斯使勁地跑，他跑到人們那兒去，把火交給了他們。

宙斯知道這件事情以后，他很生氣，決定懲罰普羅米修斯。普羅米修斯被釘在一塊大石頭上。宙斯讓鷹啄他的肝臟。普羅米修斯被釘在石頭上，他身上沒有穿衣服，身體非常強(qiáng)壯。鷹開始啄他的肝臟，嗜他的血。每當(dāng)鷹啄一次普羅米修斯的肝臟，肝臟就會長好如初；然后鷹又啄，肝臟又再次長好，一次又一次次，鷹不停地啄，普羅米修斯痛苦地受著煎熬。他的臉因為痛苦而發(fā)紅，但是，他昂著頭，怒目圓睜，直直地站著。

宙斯問他：“你錯了嗎？你把火交給人們，你必須受到懲罰。”普羅米修斯回答說：“不，我認(rèn)為我沒有錯。