He was son of Zeus and Maia, the god of good luck and
wealth, the patron of merchants and thieves, the messenger and herald of
the gods, and the conductor of the souls of the dead to Hades. He was a
precocious prodigy. By noon of the day he was born, he had left his
cradle and created the lyre by using the shell of a tortoise. The same
day he drove off fifty cows belonging to his half brother Apollo. He
was often presented as a young man wearing winged sandals and a
broad-brimmed hat and bearing the caduceus. He was called Mercury by
Romans.
[解說]
1.
“He was son of Zeus and Maia, the god of good luck and wealth”: 他是 Zeus 和
Maia 之子,幸運與財富之神。Maia
(美雅)
是美麗的豐饒女神。
2.
“the patron of merchants and thieves, the messenger and herald of
the gods”: 商人與盜賊之恩主,眾神之使者與先驅。
“patron”:
保護者,恩公。 “messenger”:
報信者,使者。
“herald”: 通報員,先驅,先鋒。
3.
“and the conductor of the souls of the dead to Hades”:
也是死者靈魂到達地獄的引導者。
“conductor”: 指揮,引導者。
4.
“He was a precocious prodigy”:
他是早熟的奇才。
5.
“By noon of the day he was born, he had left his cradle”:
到了他出生那天的中午之前,他已經離開他的搖籃。
6.
“and created the lyre by using the shell of a tortoise”:
而且用龜殼創造了七弦琴。
“tortoise”是一般烏龜,“turtle”
則為海龜。
7.
“The same day he drove off fifty cows belonging to his half
brother Apollo”: 同一天他趕走屬於他「半兄」(即同父異母之哥哥)
Apollo 的五十隻牛。
8.
“He was often presented as a young man wearing winged sandals and
a broad-brimmed hat”:
他常被描繪為一個年輕人,穿著有翼的拖鞋,戴一頂寬邊的帽子。 “sandals”:
拖鞋。
9.
“and bearing the caduceus”:
而拿著手杖。 “the
caduceus”: 那
(有兩蛇兩翼的)
手杖。
[複習填充]
Hermes was son of Zeus and Maia, the god of good luck
and w_____, the p_____ of merchants and thieves, the messenger and
h_____ of the gods, and the con______ of the souls of the dead to
Hades. He was a precocious p_____. By noon of the day he was born, he
had left his c_____ and created the lyre by using the shell of a
t______. The same day he drove off fifty cows belonging to his _____
brother Apollo. He was often presented as a young man wearing winged
s______ and a broad-brimmed hat and bearing the caduceus. He was called
Mercury by Romans.
.