012 侦查

旁白 neutral

The next day Julia and Markos went to the gymnasium to watch Brody's training, as usual

第二天，朱莉娅和马科斯像往常一样去了体育馆观看布罗迪的训练。

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" Wow, there are lots of gods here today," Julia said

“哇，今天这里的神真多，”朱莉娅说。

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Markos nodded." As the Games draw closer, the gods become quite focused on the competition

马科斯点点头。“随着比赛临近，众神对竞赛变得非常专注。”

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Only the most powerful gods have a real chance of winning, of course

当然，只有最强大的神才有真正的获胜机会。

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But the others don't want to make it easy for them!"

但其他神也不想让他们轻松取胜！”

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Julia looked at the field. She couldn't help worrying about whether Brody would be good enough to compete against all these other athletes

朱莉娅看向赛场。她不禁担心布罗迪是否足够优秀，能与所有这些其他运动员竞争。

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Still, she could tell that he was doing his best to train hard

不过，她能看出他在努力训练，竭尽全力。

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She watched Hermes hand Brody a discus and then gesture toward the course

她看到赫尔墨斯递给布罗迪一个铁饼，然后指向了赛道。

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As Julia followed the track of Brody's toss, she noticed Ares creeping along the edge of the field

当朱莉娅跟随布罗迪投掷的轨迹看去时，她注意到阿瑞斯正沿着场地边缘悄悄移动。

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" What's Ares doing?" she said

“阿瑞斯在做什么？”她说。

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Markos glanced at the god of war." Probably trying to sabotage another god's champion."

马科斯瞥了一眼战神。“八成是想给别的神的冠军选手背后使绊子。”

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" You mean like what Hera and Aphrodite tried to do to Brody?" Julia asked

“你是说像赫拉和阿佛洛狄忒之前想对布罗迪做的那样？”茱莉亚问道。

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" Do the gods do that kind of thing a lot?"

“众神经常做那种事吗？”

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" Of course," Markos replied." Ares has quite a rivalry with Apollo

“当然了，”马科斯回答。“阿瑞斯和阿波罗的竞争可激烈了。”

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He's not eager to have his sister Athena beat him in the Games either

他也不想让自己的姐姐雅典娜在赛会上赢过他。

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Oh, and I heard he recently quarreled with Hephaestus."

哦，我还听说他最近跟赫菲斯托斯吵了一架。”

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Julia shivered." The gods really can't be trusted, can they?" she said

茱莉亚打了个哆嗦。“众神真的不可信，对吧？”她说。

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" What if they keep trying to sabotage Brody?"

“要是他们不停地给布罗迪使坏怎么办？”

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" They probably will." Markos shrugged

“他们很可能会的。”马科斯耸了耸肩。

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" Then we should do something to help him." Julia stood up

“那我们就该做点什么来帮他。”茱莉亚站了起来。

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She was tired of sitting around watching Brody run and jump and throw things

她厌倦了干坐着看布罗迪跑啊、跳啊、扔东西。

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" Let's go spy on the other gods and their champions

“我们去偷看其他神和他们的冠军吧。

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Maybe we can figure out which ones are the biggest threat to Brody."

也许能弄清楚哪几个对布罗迪威胁最大。”

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Markos looked surprised, but he stood up too

马科斯一脸惊讶，但也站了起来。

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" That's a good idea. The gods usually can't help bragging about their tricks and plans

“这主意好。神们通常忍不住会吹嘘自己的花招和计划。

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If we listen carefully, we might be able to help Brody stay safe — and even win."

仔细偷听的话，说不定能帮布罗迪平平安安——甚至赢下比赛。”

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" Where are you two going?" Brody called out as Julia and Markos headed for an exit

“你俩要去哪儿？”茱莉亚和马科斯正要朝出口走，布罗迪喊道。

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Hermes looked over too

赫尔墨斯也看了过来。

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" We're, uh, going to the agora." Markos flushed

“我们，呃，去集市。”马科斯脸红了。

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" My mother asked me to get some extra eels for tonight's dinner."

“我妈叫我多买些鳗鱼，晚饭要用。”

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Hermes smacked his lips." Eels, eh?" he said

赫尔墨斯咂了咂嘴。“鳗鱼，嗯？”他说。

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" My favorite! Make sure you get plenty, boy

“我的最爱！小子，可得多买点啊。

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We'll meet you at the agora when we're finished here in case you need help carrying them."

我们这儿完事后，在集市碰头，免得你拿不动。”

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" How many eels does Hermes expect you to get?" Julia whispered as she and Markos hurried out

“赫尔墨斯指望你买多少条鳗鱼啊？”茱莉亚一边匆匆往外走，一边悄声说。

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" It doesn't matter," Markos said." I just made that up about my mother

“管他呢，”马科斯说，“我刚才只是拿我母亲当借口瞎编的。

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Let's go to the agora and see who's there."

咱们去集市看看谁在那儿吧。”

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A few minutes later, the two kids were wandering around the agora

几分钟后，两个孩子就在集市里逛了起来。

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As usual, it was crowded. A fabric merchant was placing a bolt of silk in front of his tent

像往常一样，集市上人头攒动。一个布商正在自己的帐篷前摆放一匹丝绸。

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Two farmers were arguing loudly over the price of a flock of honking geese

两个农夫正为了一群嘎嘎叫的鹅的价格大声争吵。

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Several small boys dodged through the crowd toward another stall

几个小男孩在人群中左躲右闪，跑向另一个摊位。

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There were only a few gods in view, including Hera

在视线里的神不多，其中就有赫拉。

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" Let's go closer," Julia whispered, nodding at the queen of the gods

“我们靠近些，”茱莉亚轻声说，朝那位天后点了点头。

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Julia and Markos moved toward Hera, who was talking to her champion, a muscular young man with a scar on his cheek

茱莉亚和马科斯向赫拉走去，她正和她的冠军说话，那是一个脸颊上有个疤、肌肉发达的青年。

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"... and you'll have to do much better at the long jump," the goddess was saying when Julia got close enough to hear

“……你在跳远上得表现得更好才行，”当茱莉亚走近能听见时，这位女神正说着。

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" Because my husband has been bragging that his champion once leaped across the Elpeus River at its widest point."

“因为我丈夫一直在吹嘘，说他的冠军曾一跃跳过厄尔皮斯河河面最宽的地方。”

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" Do you think that's true?" Julia whispered to Markos

“你觉得那是真的吗？”茱莉亚悄声问马科斯。

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" I don't know," Markos whispered back." Nobody in Olympia has seen Alcides."

“我不知道，”马科斯轻声回答。“奥林匹亚没人见过阿尔西德斯。”

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Julia noticed a pair of gods striding into the agora

茱莉亚注意到一对神大步走进了集市。

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" Look! Artemis and Apollo. Let's spy on them for a while!"

“看！是阿耳忒弥斯和阿波罗。我们去偷听一会他们说话吧！”

旁白 neutral

After eavesdropping on some of the gods, Julia was feeling more confident about Brody's chances in the Games

偷听了一些神祇的谈话后，茱莉亚对布罗迪在运动会上的机会更有信心了。

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She and Markos had also spoken to three or four mortal champions who happened to pass by

她和马科斯还和三四个碰巧路过的凡人冠军聊了聊。

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" It sounds like Brody actually has a good chance of beating most of the athletes in most of the events," Julia said

“听起来布罗迪在大多数项目里，其实都很有机会击败大部分选手。”茱莉亚说。

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" But I'm worried about two things."

“但我担心两件事。”

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" Alcides?" Markos guessed

“阿尔喀得斯？”马科斯猜道。

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" Of course," Julia replied." As you said, nobody will know what he's like until he shows up

“当然，”茱莉亚回答。“就像你说的，在他露面之前，没人知道他是什么样的人。”

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I'm also worried about the chariot race."

我还担心战车比赛。”

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" Why?" Markos asked." That event doesn't usually require much athletic ability."

“为什么？”马科斯问。“那个项目通常不太需要运动能力。”

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Julia frowned." It requires skill. And as far as I know, Brody has never even seen a horse up close

茱莉亚皱起眉头。“它需要技巧。而且据我所知，布罗迪甚至从没近距离见过马。”

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He might be terrible at driving them. I think I'll try to convince Hermes to — "

他可能很不擅长驾驭它们。我想试试说服赫尔墨斯——”

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A loud shout suddenly interrupted her. Suddenly everyone in the agora was turning around, peering in the same direction

一声大喊突然打断了她。广场上的每个人都立刻转过身，朝同一个方向望去。

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" What's going on?" Julia asked

“发生什么事了？”茱莉亚问。

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Markos stood on tiptoes, trying to see what everyone was looking at." Oh!" he said." It's Zeus."

马科斯踮起脚尖，想看大家在望什么。“哦！”他说。“是宙斯。”

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Just then an enormous figure leaped onto a dais in the center of the agora

就在这时，一个庞大的身影跳上了广场中央的讲台。

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Julia would have known that it was Zeus even if Markos hadn't said so

即使马科斯不说，茱莉亚也知道那是宙斯。

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Zeus looked just as she had imagined the king of the gods to look

宙斯的样子，完全符合她想象中众神之王的样子。

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He appeared huge and powerful, with a long gray beard

他显得高大威猛，留着长长的灰白胡须。

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" Attention, people of Olympia!" Zeus' voice boomed out over the agora." I have a very important announcement."

“奥林匹亚的人们，注意了！”宙斯洪亮的声音响彻广场。“我有一个非常重要的宣布。”

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The agora went silent except for the sounds of animals and birds

广场上安静下来，只能听见动物和鸟儿的声音。

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Out of the corner of her eye, Julia suddenly saw movement

茱莉亚眼角的余光突然瞥见有动静。

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Turning, she noticed Hermes pushing his way forward with Brody at his heels

她转过身，注意到赫尔墨斯正往前挤，布罗迪紧跟在他身后。

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They were staring up at Zeus just like everyone else

他们和其他人一样，都抬头盯着宙斯。

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" What is it, Zeus?" Hermes called out." Don't keep us in suspense."

“什么事，宙斯？”赫尔墨斯喊道。“别吊我们胃口了。”

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Zeus smiled." I know you've all been eagerly awaiting the chance to cast your eyes upon Alcides," he said

宙斯笑了笑。“我知道你们都一直热切地盼着能看一眼阿尔喀得斯，”他说。

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" Soon your wait will be over. Alcides — the most impressive mortal champion in all of Greece — arrives in Olympia in just two more days!"

“你们的等待很快就要结束了。阿尔喀得斯——全希腊最令人敬畏的凡人冠军——再過两天就抵达奥林匹亚！”