017 虫雨

旁白 neutral

Two hours later Brody had moved on from practicing for the hoplitodromos race to practicing for the wrestling event again

两小时后，布罗迪从练习重装步兵赛跑转而再次练习摔跤项目。

旁白 neutral

Brody hadn't wrestled much, but he wasn't worried

布罗迪没怎么摔过跤，但他并不担心。

旁白 neutral

Today he was practicing against Demeter's champion, a tall, thin youth with a big nose

今天他和德墨忒尔的冠军对练，一个高个子、瘦削、大鼻子的青年。

旁白 neutral

" Got you!" Brody cried as he pinned the other athlete for the third time in a row

“抓住你了！”布罗迪喊道，同时他连续第三次压制了对手。

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Demeter's champion gritted his teeth." Never mind," he said

德墨忒尔的冠军咬紧牙关。“没关系，”他说。

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" I may not be the best at wrestling. But I'll beat you at boxing every time!"

“我可能不擅长摔跤。但我每次都能在拳击上打败你！”

旁白 neutral

Brody let him go and stood up." Boxing?" he said to Hermes." Do I have to do that?"

布罗迪放开他，站了起来。“拳击？”他对赫尔墨斯说。“我必须参加那个吗？”

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" Of course," Hermes said." We'll practice that tomorrow

“当然，”赫尔墨斯说。“我们明天练习那个。”

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I've already started setting up some sparring partners for you."

我已经开始为你安排一些陪练了。”

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Before Brody could say anything else, a loud buzzing sound filled the gymnasium

布罗迪还没来得及说别的，一阵响亮的嗡嗡声充满了体育馆。

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" What's that?" Julia exclaimed

“那是什么？”茱莉亚惊呼。

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Markos covered his head." Look out above!"

马科斯抱住头。“小心上面！”

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Brody glanced up just in time to see a huge black cloud descending on the gymnasium

布罗迪及时抬头，正好看见一大片黑云向体育馆压来。

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When it got closer, he saw that it was actually a swarm of large insects

等它靠近，他才看清那其实是一大群巨型昆虫。

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" Gross!" Brody covered his head as the first insects hit him." What are those things?"

“恶心！”第一批虫子撞到身上，布罗迪连忙护住头。“那是什么东西？”

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" Cicadas." Hermes sounded disgusted." Apollo! Did you have something to do with this?"

“是蝉。”赫尔墨斯的声音透着厌恶。“阿波罗！这事和你有关系吗？”

旁白 neutral

Apollo was standing nearby, grinning as the other gods' champions raced for cover from the rain of singing insects

阿波罗站在不远处，咧嘴笑着，看其他神祇的冠军们纷纷躲避这阵鸣虫雨。

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Meanwhile Apollo's own champion continued to jog around the track, untouched by the cicadas

与此同时，阿波罗自己的冠军却继续在跑道上慢跑，丝毫未受蝉群影响。

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" What makes you think I had anything to do with this?" Apollo asked, still grinning

“你怎么会认为这事和我有关？”阿波罗问道，仍然咧嘴笑着。

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Cicadas were pelting every inch of Brody's head and body. One even crawled into his mouth

蝉群噼里啪啦地砸在布罗迪全身上下。有一只甚至爬进了他嘴里。

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" Yuck!" he exclaimed, spitting it out and then running to join Julia and Markos, who were huddled beneath the shelter of an overhang

"呃！"他大叫一声，吐了出来，然后跑向正挤在屋檐下躲避的茱莉亚和马科斯。

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" Enough, brother!" Artemis stepped forward, frowning. Ignoring the insects raining down on her, she lifted her bow." Feathered friends, help us!"

"够了，哥哥！"阿尔忒弥斯皱着眉头走上前。她不顾纷纷落下的虫子，举起了弓。"长羽毛的朋友们，帮帮我们！"

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A loud, piercing shriek seemed to tear the sky in two

一声响亮、刺耳的尖叫仿佛要把天空撕裂成两半。

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A moment later something scurried into the gymnasium

片刻之后，有什么东西窜进了体育馆。

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" What's that?" Brody asked, peering through the veil of cicadas

"那是什么？"布罗迪透过蝉幕看去，问道。

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" It looks like a bird," Markos said." It's eating the cicadas!"

"看起来像只鸟，"马科斯说，"它在吃蝉！"

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" It's a guinea fowl," Julia explained." My neighbors used to raise them

"那是一只珍珠鸡，"茱莉亚解释说，"我的邻居们以前养过。

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They're really noisy. And they'll eat anything."

它们非常吵。而且什么都吃。"

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" Look!" Markos pointed." Here come more of them!"

"看！"马科斯指过去。"又来了更多！"

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Dozens of guinea fowl were running or flying into view

几十只珍珠鸡正跑着或飞着进入视野。

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They immediately began gobbling up the cicadas. Some of them let out sharp cries as they fed

它们立刻开始大口吞食蝉。有些鸡边吃边发出尖锐的叫声。

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" This is ridiculous!" Ares marched over to Apollo and Artemis, cicadas crunching beneath his feet

“太荒唐了！” 阿瑞斯大步走向阿波罗和阿尔忒弥斯，蝉在他脚下嘎吱作响。

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" How can any of us train under these conditions?"

“这种条件下，我们谁能训练啊？”

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" Sorry." Apollo shrugged, not looking sorry at all

“抱歉。” 阿波罗耸耸肩，脸上毫无歉意。

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" I was just testing out a little trick I might try on the mighty Alcides."

“我只是在试个小把戏，打算用在强大的阿尔喀德斯身上。”

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" Hmm." Ares suddenly looked much less angry

“嗯。” 阿瑞斯顿时看起来消气了不少。

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" Now that you mention it, I have a few things in mind for Zeus' mighty champion as well."

“既然你提起来了，我也为宙斯那位强大的冠军准备了一些招数。”

旁白 neutral

He raised his spear to his own head just as his red hair burst into flame

他把长矛举到自己头顶，就在这时，他的红发猛地燃起火焰。

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He lit his spear, and then twirled it, shooting fire at the cicadas

他点燃长矛，然后旋转矛身，向蝉群喷射火焰。

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A guinea fowl let out a squawk as a spark just missed its head

一只珍珠鸡发出一声尖叫，一点火星险些砸中它的脑袋。

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" Maybe we should get out of here." Julia sounded nervous." Things are getting a little dangerous."

“我们最好离开这儿。”朱莉娅声音紧张，“情况变得有点危险了。”

旁白 neutral

Hermes sighed." I suppose we won't get anything done until the others have had their fun," he said." Besides, it's almost dinnertime. Let's go."

赫尔墨斯叹了口气。“我看等其他几位闹够了，咱们也干不成什么事了，”他说。“再说，快到晚饭时间了。咱们走吧。”

旁白 neutral

They headed back to Markos' house

他们返回马科斯的家。

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" Are the other gods really going to sabotage Alcides, like they said?" Julia asked Hermes

“其他神真的会像他们说的那样，去给阿尔喀德斯捣乱吗？”朱莉娅问赫尔墨斯。

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He looked surprised." Of course! What a silly question, girl."

他一脸惊讶。“当然！这问题真傻，姑娘。”

旁白 neutral

Brody frowned." But the Olympics are supposed to be about who's the best athlete," he said

布罗迪皱起眉头。“可奥运会比的应该是谁是最优秀的运动员，”他说。

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" How can you figure that out when you're all trying to cheat all the time?"

“你们一直想法子作弊，这怎么可能搞清楚呢？”

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He was afraid that Hermes might get mad at his question

他有点怕赫尔墨斯会对他的问题发火。

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Instead, the god laughed." Oh, you mortals! You're always getting worked up about things like that."

没想到，这位神却笑了。“唉，你们这些凡人！总是为这种事大惊小怪的。”

旁白 neutral

He patted Brody on the head." Don't worry about it. It's not as if any of this matters, after all."

他拍拍布罗迪的头。“别担心。反正，这些事儿又不是什么大不了的。”

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" What do you mean?" Julia asked." I thought the Olympic Games were super important

“你这话是什么意思？”朱莉娅问道，“我一直以为奥林匹克运动会超级重要。

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Don't the games help to keep peace among all the Greek cities? And honor Zeus and the other gods?"

难道运动会不是为了维护希腊各城邦之间的和平，向宙斯和其他诸神表达敬意吗？”

旁白 neutral

Hermes pointed to a dog chasing a rat along a path

赫尔墨斯指向路边一条正在追逐老鼠的狗。

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" To those creatures, their game is important," he said

“对那些生灵来说，它们的游戏很重要，”他说。

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" To you mortals, the Games are important. To us?" He shrugged again

“对你们凡人来说，运动会很重要。但对我们来说？”他又耸了耸肩。

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" The Games are amusing, yes. They bring us pride and a chance to brag, certainly. But important?" He laughed loudly

“运动会很好玩，没错。它确实带给我们荣耀，给了我们炫耀的机会。但要说它重要？”他大声笑了起来。

旁白 neutral

Brody was still thinking about what Hermes had said when the family finished dinner that evening

那天晚上，一家人吃完晚饭时，布罗迪还在琢磨赫尔墨斯说过的话。

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He waited until he, Julia, and Markos were alone in the courtyard

他一直等到院子里只剩下他、朱莉娅和马科斯三个人。

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" So what did Hermes mean earlier?" he asked Julia and Markos." Doesn't he care about the Olympics?"

“那么，赫尔墨斯之前的话到底是什么意思？”他问朱莉娅和马科斯，“他难道不在乎奥运会吗？”

旁白 neutral

" I told you before," Markos said." The gods are different from mortals. We are playthings to them — pets, like that dog we saw."

“我以前跟你说过，”马科斯说，“神和凡人不一样。我们只是他们的玩物——就像我们看到的那条狗一样，是宠物。”

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Julia frowned." I don't even think they see us the way we see dogs or other pets," she said

朱莉娅皱起眉头。“我觉得他们看我们，甚至不像我们看狗或者其他宠物那样，”她说。

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" We're more like ants to them. They make us race each other, and then they pull our legs off or stomp on us for fun!"

“我们对他们来说，更像是蚂蚁。他们让我们相互竞赛，然后就为了好玩，扯掉我们的腿，或者踩扁我们！”

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" You're lucky you're Hermes' champion, Brody," Markos said

“你很幸运是赫尔墨斯的冠军，布罗迪，”马科斯说。

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" What are you talking about?" Julia blurted out

“你在说什么啊？”朱莉娅脱口而出。

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" Hermes might not ever let us ever return home!"

“赫尔墨斯可能永远都不会让我们回家了！”

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" That's true," Markos admitted with a grim expression

“这倒是真的，”马科斯坦承，表情阴郁。

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" But I hate to think of what might happen to Hera's hero if he fails to defeat Alcides

“但我真不敢想象，如果赫拉的英雄没法打败阿尔喀德斯，他会落得什么下场。

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Or what could happen to Alcides himself if he disappoints Zeus."

或者是阿尔喀德斯他自己，要是让宙斯失望了，又会怎样。”

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" Hmm..." Brody hadn't realized that some of the gods could be so cruel

“嗯……”布罗迪之前没意识到，有些神竟然能如此残忍。

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" Well, it sounds as if Alcides might not even make it to the Olympics," he pointed out

“好吧，听起来阿尔喀德斯说不定连奥运会都参加不了，”他指出。

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" I mean, every god out there is going to try to take him down, right?"

“我的意思是，其他所有的神都会来给他使绊子，对吧？”

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" Except Athena and Zeus," Julia said." Okay, maybe you're right, Markos. Maybe it could be worse."

“除了雅典娜和宙斯，”朱莉娅说，“好吧，也许你说得对，马科斯。也许情况还真可能更糟。”