散文:Cupid and Psyche(1) 丘比特和普賽克(1)
Psyche在希臘神話中是人類靈魂的化身，她是一個(gè)非常漂亮的姑娘，以至于至高無(wú)上的神Venus都對(duì)她產(chǎn)生了嫉妒。Venus叫她的兒子Cupid去使Psyche愛上一個(gè)魔鬼，沒(méi)想到Cupid卻對(duì)她一見鐘情……
Once there was a king who had three daughters. Psyche was the youngest and most beautiful. She was so beautiful that the people in her land began to neglect Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, to worship Psyche instead. Venus became jealous and eventually so angry that she sought revenge. Venus went to her son, Cupid, and asked him to make Psyche fall in love with a hideous monster.
* neglect：“忽視”、“忽略”的意思。Psyche長(zhǎng)的太漂亮了，以至于人們開始忽視愛神Venus的美貌，轉(zhuǎn)而崇拜Psyche了。這使得Venus非常嫉妒，從而想設(shè)法(sought，原形是seek)報(bào)復(fù)她。
* hideous：“極丑的”、“令人生厭的”等意思。Venus真是妒心太重了，竟然要求她的兒子Cupid幫忙，讓Psyche愛上一個(gè)丑陋無(wú)比的怪物。傳說(shuō)中，Cupid有一種箭，他向任何人射一支，都會(huì)使這個(gè)人暈倒，等他醒來(lái)時(shí)，就會(huì)愛上所看到的第一個(gè)人。所以要Psyche愛上一個(gè)魔鬼是很容易的。
Cupid agreed but upon setting his eyes on Psyche, he fell in love with her. He was unable to carry out his mother's wishes. Meanwhile, Psyche's father, the king, was trying to marry her off with her sisters. Unfortunately, no one wanted to marry Psyche because she was too beautiful. The king was very upset, and consulted Apollo 's oracle. The Oracle told him to leave Psyche on a mountainside where a serpent would take her away.
* consult：“請(qǐng)教”、“咨詢”的意思。
* oracle：“神諭”。Psyche太漂亮了，以至于沒(méi)人敢娶她，她的父親急得去請(qǐng)教Apollo 的神諭。女孩子長(zhǎng)的太漂亮了原來(lái)也嫁不出去，嗬!
* serpent：“毒蛇”。Serpent也指“魔鬼”、“撒旦”等，在基督教《創(chuàng)世紀(jì)》中就有一段，描述魔鬼變成毒蛇引誘夏娃，從而使她和亞當(dāng)偷吃了禁果。
On the mountain, Psyche waited patiently in despair. She sat and sat, but the serpent never came for her. Instead, Zephyr, the most gentle of winds, carried her away. In the morning, Psyche awoke. She looked around her and saw a castle. Intrigued, she wandered toward it. As she got closer, Psyche noticed that the palace was empty.
* intrigue：intrigue除了表示“陰謀”外，還有“引起……好奇心”、“迷住”的意思。Psyche的好奇心很大，這次她交了好運(yùn)，進(jìn)了一個(gè)金碧輝煌的宮殿。而后來(lái)，她的好奇心卻差點(diǎn)使她永睡不起。
Psyche neared the threshold and was surprised to hear voices calling her name. She entered the palace and listened as the voices directed her about her new home.
"We are your servants. Everything you see around you is yours."
* threshold：“門檻”的意思。
Psyche had everything she had ever wanted, but something was missing, or rather someone. As evening neared, the voices told Psyche that her husband would be returning. He came to her in total darkness, but she wasn't afraid. Psyche knew that he couldn't be a monster.
