He was king of Elis.   He had three thousand oxen and the stables had not been cleared out for thirty years.   Hercules was asked to cleanse the stalls in a single day, as the fifth of his Twelve Labors.   He solved the task by diverting two rivers and made them flow through the stables in a great flood.  The Augean stables were thus cleaned in no time. 

[解說]

1.      “He was king of Elis”：他是 Elis  的國王。

2.      “He had three thousand oxen and the stables had not been cleared out for thirty years”：他有三千隻牛，而牛舍已經有三十年沒有清理了。 “oxen” 為 ox 之複數，在此等於 cattle (牛隻)。 “stable”：馬廄、畜舍。 注意：stable 當形容詞時，為「穩定的」。 “clear out”：清理。

3.      “Hercules was asked to cleanse the stalls in a single day”： Hercules 被要求去清理那些牛舍以一天的時間。 cleanse =  clean  =  clear out (清理)。 stall =  stable (畜舍)。 stall 另可指「攤位」。

4.      “as the fifth of his Twelve Labors”：當作他十二種勞役的第五項。Hercules 發瘋而殺死妻兒。為了 “expiate his crime” (贖他的罪)，他去服侍 Eurystheus 十二年，而 Eurystheus 令他做「十二勞役」(Twelve Labors)。

5.      “He solved the task by diverting two rivers”：他解決這個任務藉由引導兩條河流。  “divert”：引導、使轉向。

6.      “and made them flow through the stables in a great flood”：而使它們形成一個大洪水流經那些牛舍。

7.      “The Augean stables were thus cleaned in no time”：那些歐吉爾斯的牛舍於是立刻被清理乾淨。 “in no time” =  very soon (很快、立刻)。 

[複習填充]

Augeas was king of Elis.  He had three thousand      and the stables had not been         out for thirty years.  Hercules was asked to       se  the     lls  in a single day, as the fifth of his Twelve L       .  He s         the task by d         two rivers and made them flow through the stables in a great f        .  The Augean stables were thus cleaned in       time.