普罗米修斯

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(热的),but there was no way. People couldn't go out of their houses, they could only stay at home.

Prometheus(普罗米修斯)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(睡觉).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(发生)，he was very angry(生气). He decided (决定) to punish(惩罚)Prometheus. Prometheus was nailed(被钉牢)to a big stone(石头). Zeus let an eagle(鹰)peck at (啄) his liver(肝脏).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(生长),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?

这是一个关于火的故事。

很久很久以前，世界上没有火。人们喝的是冷水，吃的是冷的和没有煮过的食物。冬天，天气非常冷，一些孩子、老人和妇女都生了病。他们需要喝热的东西，吃热的东西，但是他们无法弄到火。人们不能出门，他们只能在自己家里呆着。

普罗米修斯为人善良。看到这种状况，他想帮帮人们。他知道宙斯有火，他也知道宙斯不愿意把火给人们，而且知道他把火放在秘密的地方。普罗米修斯想啊想啊，但是，他不知道怎么样才能从宙斯处弄到火。

最后，普罗米修斯打算从宙斯处偷火。他去找宙斯，宙斯正在睡觉，普罗米修斯取了火走出了他的房子。普罗米修斯使劲地跑，他跑到人们那儿去，把火交给了他们。

宙斯知道这件事情以后，他很生气，决定惩罚普罗米修斯。普罗米修斯被钉在一块大石头上。宙斯让鹰啄他的肝脏。普罗米修斯被钉在石头上，他身上没有穿衣服，身体非常强壮。鹰开始啄他的肝脏，嗜他的血。每当鹰啄一次普罗米修斯的肝脏，肝脏就会长好如初；然后鹰又啄，肝脏又再次长好，一次又一次次，鹰不停地啄，普罗米修斯痛苦地受着煎熬。他的脸因为痛苦而发红，但是，他昂着头，怒目圆睁，直直地站着。

宙斯问他：“你错了吗？你把火交给人们，你必须受到惩罚。”普罗米修斯回答说：“不，我认为我没有错。我虽然遭受痛苦，但是人们有了火。”宙斯说：“好，你将被钉在石头上一直为他们遭受痛苦。鹰会一直啄你的肝。”只要人们能比过去过得好，所有这些都没有关系。”

普罗米修斯被钉在石头上受了30，000年的苦，直到有一天大力神路过此地射死了这只鹰才解救了普罗米修斯。