Long long ago, there was a nymph[1] whose name was Echo. She liked talk very much, and she always repeated what she had just said.One day, she offended[2] her master, the great Hera by speaking rudely to her, she decided that echo should never use her voice again. But, since she was very fond of[3] last words, she could repeat the last words of others. Thus Echo was turned into[4] something like a parrot. Being very ashamed, she hid herself in the forest.
In the forest, Echo often saw a very hansome young man named Narcissus, who had golden yellow hair and sky-blue eyes which made him different from those dark greeces. She became admired of him and often looked at him from behind the trees.
Then one day, Narcissus went into the forest where Echo was hiding and lost touch with[5] his friends. As he was walking around, he heard something rustle among the leaves, he called out, "Who is it here?" "Here." Echo answered. "Come out." Shouted Narcissus. "Come out." Echo answered and came out from among the trees.Narcissus was surprised when he saw her, and he walked quikly away as he didn't know her.Echo was so sad that she never came out again. But her voice was still there in the forest, echoing and echoing for so many years the other people's last words.
很久很久以前,有一位叫艾蔻的女神,她非常喜歡講話并且常常重復(fù)剛剛說過的話。有一天,她因為說話不慎觸怒了她的上司——偉大的女神赫拉。赫拉決定不再讓她開口說話。但是,既然她喜歡說過的話的最后幾個字,赫拉就讓她只能重復(fù)別人說過的最后幾個字。這樣,艾蔻就和學(xué)舌的鸚鵡沒有多大區(qū)別了。艾蔻感到非常羞愧,就躲進了森林里。
在森林里,依可常常看到一個叫那西塞斯的英俊男子。他有著金黃色的頭發(fā)和湛藍的眼睛,使得他與那些深色皮膚的希臘人很不相同。艾蔻對他非常愛慕,常躲在樹后面看他。
有一天,那西塞斯進入了艾蔻藏身的森林,他和同伴走失了。正當(dāng)他在森林里轉(zhuǎn)悠時,聽到有樹葉間有沙沙的聲音,“誰在這里?”他叫道。 “這里。”艾蔻回答。 “出來。”那西塞斯又喊。 “出來。”艾蔻說著,從樹后跑了出來。 那西塞斯看到艾蔻后非常驚訝,但因為他不認(rèn)識她,就很快地走了。 艾蔻非常傷心,從此再也沒有出來過。但她的聲音仍然在森林中回響著,重復(fù)別人說過的話,年復(fù)一年。
注釋:
1.nymph: 在希臘神話中是女神的意思。具體來說,是指住在山、河、森林等地,以美少女姿態(tài)出現(xiàn)的仙女。
2.offend: 這個詞的意思很多,有“違法”、“犯法”、“冒犯”等。在這里的意思是“激怒”,Echo激怒了她的上司,受到懲罰是可想而知的了。不過把她變得只會鸚鵡學(xué)舌,這懲罰似乎太重了點。不管怎樣,我們生活中要小心一點,不要無端地去offend(激怒)別人啊。
3.be fond of: 表示“喜歡”、“喜愛”,但是它的程度要高于like,有點very like的意思。如果說she is fond of flowers,那么你可千萬別去碰她的花,否則她會對你生氣的。
4.我想每個人都知道change into 是“變成”的意思,今天我們講一個change的同義詞,turn into,自然也是“變成”的意思了。在神話中,如果一個人做了壞事,就會被變成動物或植物。例如:he was turned into a cat because he did something wrong.的意思就是“他因為做了壞事被變成一只貓。
5.lose touch with:與……失去聯(lián)系.和親人啊朋友啊失去聯(lián)系是一件讓人傷心的事,那么怎樣取得聯(lián)系呢?就要get in touch with(與……取得聯(lián)系)了,然后,你要注意保持聯(lián)系:to keep in touch with them.