He was a giant son of Vulcan.   Geryon had a herd of man-eating cattle which were captured by Hercules.   Cacus stole some of the cattle from Hercules and dragged them backwards into his cave, hoping to elude discovery in that way.   He had thought that their hoofprints would suggest that the cattle had gone in the opposite direction.   But Hercules heard the cattle lowing and came to kill Cacus. 

[解說]

1.      “He was a giant son of Vulcan”：他是 Vulcan  的巨人兒子。

2.      “Geryon had a herd of man-eating cattle”： Geryon 有ㄧ群會吃人的牛。 Geryon 是有翅膀又三頭三體的妖怪  (a winged, three-headed, three-bodied monster)。

3.      “which were captured by Hercules”：那些 (牛) 被 Hercules 捕獲。

4.      “Cacus stole some of the cattle from Hercules”： Cacus 從 Hercules 那裡偷走那些牛當中的幾隻。 注意：cattle 單複同形。

5.      “and dragged them backwards into his cave”：而往後把牠們拉入他的洞穴。

6.      “hoping to elude discovery in that way”：希望以那種方法規避被發現。 在此hoping =  and hoped。 “elude”：規避。

     注意： “elude discovery”有「規避發現」或「規避被發現」之意，就像 “His robbery” 有「他搶劫」或「他被搶劫」之意。英文的名詞常常看不出主動或被動，因此要由下下文來判斷。

7.      “He had thought that their hoofprints would suggest that the cattle had gone in the opposite direction”：他想過牠們的蹄印會提示說那些牛已從相反的方向走了。 “hoofprint”：蹄印。 “suggest”：提示。

8.      “But Hercules heard the cattle lowing and came to kill Cacus”：但 Hercules 聽到牛在叫，於是來殺 Cacus。 “low, lowed, lowing”：牛 (鳴) 叫。 

[複習填充]

Cacus was a g      son of Vulcan.  Geryon had a h    of man-       cattle which were c       by Hercules.  Cacus stole some of the cattle        Hercules and dragged them b         into his cave, hoping to e       discovery in that way.  He had thought that their h            would s          that the cattle had gone in the opposite direction.  But Hercules heard the cattle l          and came to kill Cacus.

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