“You may give the mortals any gift except the gift offire . ”Said Zeus.“ Fire belongs to the gods only, andmust be kept on Mount Olympus4 . ”

　　Prometheus was happy to be of service5 to man. He taught people how to make their own toolsand how to build homes for themselves. He taught them how to plant and grow their own food,and how to use animals to make their work easier. He even taught them how to make musicand how to paint. But without fire, life on earth was very difficult. Food had to be eaten raw;houses could not be kept warm. Tools had to be of stone , because there was no fire forworking metal.

　　Athena , daughter of Zeus, had been watching over6 Prometheus and had helped him in hiswork. Now, because Prometheus was kind and wanted man to be comfortable on earth, hecalled upon Athena to help him get fire from Mount Olympus. She knew that Zeus was away andpromised to lead Prometheus to Mount Olympus by a secret path...

　　Just as he arrived Apollo came back from his day’s journey in his chariot7 of the sun.Prometheus lit a torch from the chariot and put the fire in a hollow stalk that he concealedunder his cloak. Then he stole away without being seen by any of the gods, and brought his fireto earth.

　　When Prometheus lit the first campfire on earth, the people were afraid of it. But they trustedhim, and so they came closer and closer and enjoyed the fire’s pleasant warmth and beautifulglow.

　　Prometheus knew that he would not have much time before Zeus discovered that he had beendisobedient. But he also knew that, powerful as Zeus was, once a god had given a gift it couldnot be taken away. So he quickly taught the mortals how to use the gift of fire.

　　閱讀自測

　　Ⅰ. Fill in each blank with word or phrase in the p as sage :

　　1. Zeus told Prometheus to teach the _______( 人類) anything they needed to know in order tolive .

　　2. Prometheus was so happy to _______( 幫助) to man that he taught people how to maketheir own tools and how to build homes for themselves.

　　3. Athena , daughter of Zeus, had been _______( 監督) Prometheus and had helped him in hiswork.

　　4. Prometheus knew that he would not have much time before Zeus discovered that he hadbeen _____( 違命) .

　　Ⅱ. Question : When the first campfire was lit on earth, how did human react to it?

　　參考答案

　　Ⅰ. 1. mortals 2. be of service 3 . watching over 4.disobedient

　　Ⅱ. When the first campfire was lit on earth, thepeople were afraid of it. As they trusted Prometheus,they came closer and closer and enjoyed the fire’spleasant warmth and beautiful glow.

　　參考譯文

　　偷來火種的巨人———普羅米修斯

　　宙斯讓普羅米修斯傳授了人類生存所必需的一切知識。普羅米修斯還必須教人類藝 術, 這樣人們就可以建造漂亮的廟宇來向諸神表達敬意了。事實上, 只有一件事情他不能教 人類。

　　“ 除了火種, 你可以送給人類任何禮物, ”宙斯說,“ 火種僅為神靈所有, 必須保存在奧 林匹斯山上。”

　　普羅米修斯很樂意幫助人類。他教人類如何制造工具和建造房屋, 教他們怎樣種植莊 稼及利用牲畜減輕勞動負擔。他甚至還教人類如何創作音樂與繪畫。但是沒有火, 人間的 生活異常艱辛。人們吃的是生食, 住的房屋也不保暖。因為沒有火燒制金屬工具, 人們只 能用石頭做的工具。

　　宙斯的女兒雅典娜一直都在監督并在工作中幫助普羅米修斯。由于普羅米修斯很善 良, 而且很想讓人類在世間生活得舒適一些, 他就求雅典娜幫他從奧林匹斯山上取來火種。 雅典娜知道宙斯不在, 就答應帶普羅米修斯從一條秘密小道上了奧林匹斯山。

　　普羅米修斯剛剛到達山上, 阿波羅就行完一天的旅程, 駕著太陽戰車歸來了。普羅米 修斯從戰車上點燃一把火炬, 將火種放進藏在他的披風下面的空心的筒狀物里面。就這 樣, 誰也沒有看到普羅米修斯悄悄地偷走了火種并將其帶到了人間。 當普羅米修斯點燃人間的第一堆篝火之時, 人類感到害怕。由于信任普羅米修斯, 他 們漸漸靠近了火堆, 感受著篝火帶來的宜人暖意, 觀賞著美麗的火焰。 普羅米修斯知道, 宙斯很快就會發現他違抗了命令。可他同樣明白, 盡管宙斯威力無 邊, 可一旦一件禮物送了出去是不可能收回的。于是, 他很快教會了人類如何使用火種。

　　閱讀導評

　　希臘神話中的普羅米修斯給人類送來了火種, 幫助人類縮短了向文明過渡的苦難斗爭 歷程, 他被賦予人性, 是人類的好朋友。然而, 這樣做的代價則是: 為了人類生存和幸福而 承受無盡的苦難, 可他心甘。就是因為這樣, 他漸漸被塑造成一種不屈不撓的英雄形象, 成 為那些為正義而斗爭的人們的偶像, 就連馬克思也這樣稱贊他,“普羅米修斯是哲學的日歷 中最高尚的圣者和殉道者。”

　　閱讀導釋

　　1. 在希臘神話中, 普羅米修斯因盜取天火予人觸怒宙斯而受罰, 被鎖在高加索山崖上, 遭神鷹折磨。神鷹天天來啄食他的肝臟, 而他的肝臟又總能重新長出來。雖然這種痛苦要持 續三萬年, 可是他堅定地面對苦難, 從來不在宙斯面前喪失勇氣。因此, 由Prometheus 所派生出來的形容詞Promethean 就用來指“ 賦予生命的, 勇于創造的, 富有反抗精神 的”。英國著名詩人雪萊( Shelley, 1792—1822) 的詩劇《解放了的普羅米修斯》(Prometheus Unbound) 就是取希臘神話中的這位神靈為原型的。另有一種說法: 今天, 在奧林匹 克運動會上點燃奧運圣火( Olympic flame) 的慣例也源于普羅米修斯為人類取火的神話。

　　2. 宙斯, 希臘神話中眾神之神, 相當于羅馬神話中的主神Jupiter。他是奧林匹斯山的山神 和人類之父, 主宰一切。下文中的Apollo ( 阿波羅) , 是宙斯之子, 掌管陽光、智慧、預言、 音樂、詩歌、醫藥, 也是男性美的代表。

　　3. 這里是指“ ( 終有一死的) 生物, 人類”, 與神靈相對而言。這個詞還可以作形容詞使用, 意思是“ 終有一死的, 世間的, 現世的”, 如: Remember that man is mortal. ( 記住人終有一 死。) mortal life ( 現世生活) 。

　　4. 奧林匹斯山。這是位于馬其頓和希臘東部的色薩利之間的一座高山。在希臘神話中, 負 責處理神靈事物的委員會的13 位成員就住在奧林匹斯山上。他們是: 眾神之父宙斯 ( Zeus) , 眾神之母赫拉( Hera) , 海神波塞冬(Poseidon) , 冥王哈得斯( Hades) , 太陽神及 音樂詩神阿波羅( Apollo) , 月亮和狩獵女神阿耳特彌斯(Artemis) , 智慧女神雅典娜 ( Athena) , 女灶神赫斯提( Hestia) , 戰神阿瑞斯( Ares) , 愛與美神阿佛洛狄特( Aphrodite) , 火神赫菲斯托斯( Hephaestus) , 掌管商業和發明事物的信使海爾墨斯( Hermes) 和 谷物與豐收女神得墨忒耳( Demeter) , 其中哈得斯和得墨忒爾各“ 執政”半年。

　　5. 該詞組作“ 幫助, 用處, 益處”解, 如: Can I be of any service to you? ( 我能幫什么忙嗎?) service 還可以用在詞組at one’s service 中, 表示“聽人吩咐, 任憑人使用”, 如: If you need any help, I am at yourservice. ( 如果你需要幫忙, 我當為你效勞。)

　　6. watch over 作“ 監督, 保護( 免受危害) , 照管”解, 如: The shepherd watches over his flock. ( 牧羊人照管他的羊群。) 和watch 連用的詞很多, 如: watchdog ( 看門狗) ; watch keeper ( 值班者, 放哨者) ;watchman ( 看守人, 警衛員) 。 7. 這個詞作“ 戰車”解。傳說, 太陽神阿波羅白天駕著用黃金和象牙制成的戰車, 給廣闊無 垠的大地帶來光明、生命和仁愛。黃昏時分, 他在遙遠的西海結束旅行, 然后乘上金船返 回東方的家中。這樣往返一回, 就形成了人間一天。