简易英语读物《希腊神话-Greek-Mythology》-1.-Pandora’s-Box-潘多拉的盒子.docx

简易英语读物希腊神话-Greek Mythology-（1） Pandoras Box 潘多拉的盒子一个偶尔的机会，搜索发现网络音乐程序酷我音乐中有英文版Greek Mythology专辑可以收听和下载。本专辑共34集，每集约3-13分钟。全部用最通俗易懂的的英文写成、真人配音，讲述了34个流行的希腊神话故事，引人入胜，特别适合喜欢历史和英语的青少年收听学习。对有一定英语水平的中老年人，也是不错的学习希腊神话典故的素材。本专辑的英文文字系本人收听记录（参考了新浪博客精卫填海的一些素材），并翻译为中文。供喜爱希腊神话和英语爱好分享。Pandoras BoxWhen the gods created the earth, they made it a perfect place for man. Each of the gods gave man a gift, such as strength, intelligence, and skills, and they filled the earth with everything that man needed to live happily. Fruit tree grew everywhere, and beautiful flowers gave out a delicious drink called nectar that gave people energy. No people needed to work or hunt, and people never grew old or sick or died.The only thing that the gods did not give man was fire. This they kept for themselves. They feared that giving man fire would make him as powerful as the gods and would cause him to destroy the many wonderful things that the gods had put on earth.One day, the Titan named Prometheus stole some fire from heaven and gave it to man. Though man knew that fire was the possession of the gods, they still accepted Prometheus gift. Zeus was very angry at this and decided to punish man. He called on Hephaestus, the gods of metal and fire, and asked him to build a woman out of stone. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, modeled for the statue so that it would be beautiful. When it was finished, Athena breathed life into the cold stone and it came alive. Then each of the gods gave the woman a gift. Aphrodite taught her how to dance and how to attract any man without even having to look at him. Athena gave her great wisdom. Apollo taught her how to play many musical instruments, and the Muses taught her how to sing. Hermes taught her how to speak wonderful lies that made other people happy. The last gift was given to her by Hera, Zeus wife, and this was curiosity. The gods then named her Pandora, which means, “All-gifted” and placed her down on earth with all the common men.Zeus went down to earth with Pandora and gave her one last gift. It was a beautiful box, closed with a heavy lock. He then gave Pandora the key to box and told her that she must never open it, or let anybody open it for any reason.After a short time, one of Prometheus brothers, Epimetheus met Pandora and fell deeply in love with her. Sheloved him as well and returned with him to his small village. They lived there together happily because life was easy and there were no troubles. The people of the village spent their days dancing and singing in the warm sunshine. Plenty of food grows on the trees and clean water ran through the rivers. Also, since nobody ever grew or became ill, there was no way to die or lose a friend, family member, or a lover. Everyones life on earth was perfect. Though Pandora was happy living with Epimetheus, she could not forget the box that Zeus had given her. This was because Hera had given her the gift of curiosity, and each dayPandoras curiosity grew bigger and bigger inside her. But she followed Zeus order and put the box in a corner of their home where she would not have to look at it. She then told Epimetheus not to ever touch it or move it.One night, after a few years in the village, Pandora woke up in the middle of the night and walked into the room where the box was. The moonlight was shining in through the window, and it made the box look bright and wonderful. The box itself was not fancy or special. It was just a common box with a large lock on the front. Pandora reached into her pocket and felt the key inside for she had kept the key theresince Zeus had given it to her. The key felt warm in her hand and sent excitement through her body.Her curiosity grew and grew as she walked closer and closer to the box, but then she remembered Zeuss words and turned away.She got back into her bed with Epimetheus, but was no able to sleep. She kept thinking about the box and wondering what was inside. Finally, Pandora got up and went to the room where the box sat. She carriedthe box outside into the garden, dug a deep hole in the middle of a group of flowers, and placed the box inside. She looks down at it one last time before covering it with the earth. She then took several large stones and piled them on top of the hole. She was tired from her work and returned to bed to sleep with Epimetheus. As she slept, she had a dream about the box. In her dream, the box was bright and beautiful, and it softly whispered her name over and over again, Pandora.Pandora. it said. Then she took the key out of her pocket and carefully inserted it into the lock. As she turned the key, the box became even brighter and more beautiful. When she opened the top, she was amazed because the box was filled with the most beautiful jewels that she had ever seen! These were her gift from Zeus! But why wasnt she supposed to open it? With those jewels,she and Epimetheus could live like a King and Queen! She awoke from her dream and sat up in bed. It was still dark, and Epimetheus was in sleep at her side. She jumped out of her bed and ran out to her garden.Her hands quickly pushed away the rocks that sat over the hole. She moved the heavy rocks so quickly that her hands began to bleed, but she didnt notice because there was not yet pain or suffering in the world. She dug into the earth and didnt stop until she felt the top of the box. Grasping the box with excitement, she pulled it out of the hole and placed it on the earth beside her. Almost without realizing it, she put her hand into her pocket and pulled out the key.For a short moment, Pandora looked at the key laying in her hand. The metal was cold, and Pandora had never felt cold before. Unable to stop what she had begun; Pandora put the key into the lock. The felling of cold ran through her body quickly, but she ignored it. She opened the lock and threw the top of the box open.Suddenly a thick, black smoke poured out of the box and came into her eyes. She felt something that she had never felt before: it was pain. She could not see clearly and began to cry. When her vision returned, she looked down to see thousands of tiny monsters escaping from the box. They were running and flying out of the box in all directions, spreading out into the world. She grabbed one of the monsters in her hand, and it bit one of her fingers. She immediately became ill from the bite, and her body fell down onto the box, causing its top to close. She lay on the ground with the box in her arms breathing heavily and feeling the sickness that the monsters had given her filled her body.After a minute, she heard a small voice cry out, Please open the lid of the box. Pandora listened to the voice and worried that it was just another little monster trying to trick her. Why should I let you out, “she cried,” Ive already caused so much damage!Please let me out of the box, said the voice. “Im not like the others, I can help to fix what you have done; I can reduce the pain and suffering of mankind. “With her last bit of strength, Pandora opened the top then fell back down onto the earth. A small, golden light then appeared before her. When Pandora looked at it, she saw that it was a small woman with a pair of wings. The tiny woman came down to Pandoras face and kissed her lightly on the nose. Suddenly, Pandoras suffering lessened, and she had the strength to sit up again.The tiny woman hung in the air before her face, “Im called Hope, she said. “Im the last thing in the box. Through your curiosity, you have released many terrible forces into the world. Each of these forces has a name: Old Age, Sickness, Misery, Selfishness, Greed, and Ugliness. The people of earth will no longer live easy lives, but Im the Hope that will give them the strength to fight this force. I wish that I could do more, butthat is the best that can be done. Then Hope flew away and a golden light followed her. From that day on, people began to get sick, grow old, and die. But they would always have Hope to help them. This was the punishment of Zeus upon men for taking fire from the gods.潘多拉的盒子上帝创造地球时，地球是非常完美，适合人居住的地方。每个神送给人类一件礼物：力量、智慧和技能，他们使地球充满了一切人类幸福生活所需的东西。水果树变得无处不在，美丽的花朵分泌美味的饮料，称为给人能量的花蜜。人们不需要工作或狩猎。人不长病，不会变老或死亡。神唯一并没有给人的火种。他们把火种留给自己。他们担心给人火会使人类像上帝一样强大，会造成他破坏神给予地球的许多美妙的事情。一天，一个泰坦巨人名叫普罗米修斯从从天上盗了火，送给人类。虽然人知道火是神灵的财产，他们还接受了普罗米修斯的礼物。宙斯非常生气，决定惩罚人。他召来了金属和火的神赫淮斯托斯，让他打造一个石头女人，以爱神阿芙洛狄特为模特，美艳无敌。当它完工时，雅典娜对着冰冷的石头吹了一口气，变成了一个活人。然后每个神送给这个女人一件礼物。阿芙洛狄特教她如何跳舞，如何迷惑男人，甚至不用去看他。雅典娜赐予她大智慧。阿波罗教她如何演奏多种乐器，缪斯教她如何唱歌。赫耳墨斯教她如何说美好的谎言，如何取悦。最后的礼物是赫拉-宙斯的妻子送给她的，叫做好奇心。众神然后命名其为潘多拉，多才之意，放她下到凡间，与普通男人作伴。宙斯与潘多拉一起来到人间并送给她一个的最后礼物。它是一个漂亮的盒子，上面挂着一把大锁。他然后交给潘多拉开盒子的钥匙，并告诉她，她永远不能打开它，或让任何人以任何理由打开它。不久，潘多拉遇到了普罗米修斯的兄弟之一埃庇墨透斯，他深深地坠入了情网。潘多拉也爱他，跟他回到他的小村庄。他们那里在一起幸福地生活，因为生活很惬意，没有烦恼。村里的人们在温暖的阳光下跳舞和唱歌。充足的食物长在树上，干净的水穿过河流。此外，由于没有人变老或生病，没有死亡或失去朋友、 家人或情人。地球上的每一个人的生命是完美的。虽然潘多拉与厄庇墨透斯快乐地生活着。她忘不了宙斯给了她的盒子。这是因为赫拉给了她礼物-好奇心，日复一日，潘多拉的好奇心越来越强。但她遵守宙斯的命令，把盒子放在她们的家一个角落，不去看它。她然后告诉厄庇墨透斯也不要摸它，或移动。这样，过了许多年。一天晚上，潘多拉半夜醒来，走进放盒子的房间。明媚的月光透过窗户，这让盒子看起来明亮而奇妙。箱子本身不花哨，也不特别。只是一个普通的盒和上了大锁。潘多拉把手伸进她的口袋里，摸到宙斯给她的钥匙。手一摸到钥匙，就传来一阵温暖和兴奋。越走近盒子，她的好奇心就越强。但她想起了宙斯的话，转身而去。她回到她和厄庇墨透斯的床，但睡不着。她一直在想这个盒子，想知道里面到底有什么。最后，潘多拉起身来到的放盒子的房间。她带着盒子来到花园、 在花丛中挖了一个深洞,把盒子放进去。她最后看了盒子一眼，用土把洞覆盖。她然后拿了几个大石头，堆到洞口上方。她觉得累了，回到床上与厄庇墨透斯继续睡。在睡梦中，那箱子如此的明亮和美丽，并小声地呼唤她的名字，一遍又一遍，潘多拉.，潘多拉.。然后她从她的口袋里掏出钥匙，并小心地将它插入锁，转动钥匙。盒子变得更明亮、 更美丽。当她打开盒盖时，她很惊讶地发现盒子中充满了她从没有见过的最美丽的珠宝 ！这些是来自宙斯的礼物 ！但是她为什么不打开它呢？有了这些珠宝，她和厄庇墨透斯就可以过着国王和王后一样的生活 ！她从梦中醒来，在床上坐了起来。外面仍然漆黑一片，厄庇墨透斯沉睡在她的身边。她从她的床上跳起来，跑到花园里。她的手迅速推开堆在埋盒子的土上面的岩石，她动作很快，她的双手开始流血，不过她没注意到，因为那时候世界