He was an ill-starred great hunter.  While hunting, he had the misfortune to come upon Artemis, the goddess of chastity, as she was bathing in the forest.  She changed him into a stag, and he was hunted and torn to pieces by his own hounds. 

[解說]

1.      “He was an ill-starred great hunter”：「他是個星運不佳的(倒楣的)大獵人。」 “ill-starred” =  unlucky (運氣不好的)。

2.      “While hunting”= “While he was hunting”(當他在打獵時)。英文 “while…”子句中之主詞與be動詞常可省略。他例：“He typed while (he was) listening to music”(他邊打字邊聽音樂)。

3.      “he had the misfortune to come upon Artemis”：「他不幸遇見Artemis」。 “have the misfortune to …”是「不幸」之慣用語。他例： “She had the misfortune to lose the ring” = “Unfortunately she lost the ring”(她不幸丟了戒指)。比較： “I have the pleasure to see him in person”(我高興親自看見他)。 “come upon” = “meet unexpectedly” (不期而遇)。

4.      “Artemis, the goddess of chastity”：「Artemis，貞潔的女神」。英文常用逗點(comma) 來引接同位語，他例： “She fell in love with Henry, the banker”(她愛上Henry這位銀行家)。“chastity” (貞潔) 之形容詞為 “chaste”。

5.      “as she was bathing in the forest”：「當她在林中沐浴時」。英文 “as…”之子句，有「當…時」或「因為 …」之意。 “bathing”來自 “bathe” ，其名詞為 “bath”。

6.      “she changed him into a stag”(她把他變成鹿)。注意： “stag”是「雄鹿」，= “hart”； “doe”或 “hind”則為「母鹿」。“stag”也常指「純男人聚會的」活動，如“stag night”(「男人夜」的活動)。

7.      “and he was hunted and torn to pieces by his own hounds”：「然後他被自己獵狗追捕而撕成碎片」。 “torn to pieces” (撕成碎片) =“torn into pieces”。同樣的， “change water into ice”也可說成 “change water to ice”。 “hounds” = hunting dogs (獵狗)。

8.      這段話說到 Actaeon 的不幸。倒楣的他看到貞潔的女神在洗澡，竟被化成鹿而活活被獵死。Artemis 本身是女獵人 (huntress)，她的貞潔也未免太殘忍了。 

[複習填充]

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