047 近在咫尺

旁白 neutral

" Congratulations, dude," Brody said to Heracles." You've won every event so far."

“恭喜你啊，哥们儿，”布罗迪对赫拉克勒斯说，“到目前为止，你每场比赛都赢了。”

旁白 neutral

" Thank you." Heracles looked solemn

“谢谢。”赫拉克勒斯表情凝重。

旁白 neutral

" But I won't relax until the final event is complete — and you and Julia are safely through the time passage."

“但在最后一场比赛完成，并且你和茱莉亚安全通过时间通道之前，我是不会松懈的。”

旁白 neutral

" Yeah. Me neither," Brody agreed." I'm definitely ready to go home."

“是啊，我也是，”布罗迪赞同道，“我肯定准备好回家了。”

旁白 neutral

The athletes had just completed the boxing event

运动员们刚刚结束了拳击比赛。

旁白 neutral

There had been more pranks from the gods, of course, but Heracles had handled them without much trouble

当然，众神又搞了更多恶作剧，但赫拉克勒斯没费多大力气就应付过去了。

旁白 neutral

Now all that was left was the final race — the hoplitodromos

现在剩下的就只有最后一场赛跑了——重装步兵赛跑。

旁白 neutral

Brody wished Heracles luck and headed over to his armor. Hermes and Markos were waiting there

布罗迪祝赫拉克勒斯好运，然后走向自己的盔甲。赫尔墨斯和马科斯正在那里等着。

旁白 neutral

" You've performed well today, my boy," Hermes said cheerfully." I'm proud of you!"

“你今天表现很好，我的孩子，”赫尔墨斯高兴地说，“我为你感到骄傲！”

旁白 neutral

" You are?" Brody was relieved. He'd been pretty sure that Hermes was pleased with his performance, but it was still good to hear it

“是吗？”布罗迪松了口气。他之前就几乎可以确定赫尔墨斯对他的表现很满意，但亲耳听到还是让人高兴。

旁白 neutral

Especially since Brody had come in second or third in most of the events

尤其是因为布罗迪在大多数项目中都只拿了第二或第三名。

旁白 neutral

" Of course!" Hermes chuckled." You can't be blamed for failing to defeat the mighty Heracles

“当然！”赫尔墨斯轻笑道，“你没能打败强大的赫拉克勒斯，这不能怪你。

旁白 neutral

He's quite amazing, isn't he? I'm almost tempted to cheer for him myself in this final event."

他真的很了不起，不是吗？这最后一项比赛，我差点都想亲自为他加油了。”

旁白 neutral

Brody scowled as he put on his armor

布罗迪一边穿上盔甲，一边皱起了眉头。

旁白 neutral

He was a little annoyed by Hermes' remark

他对赫尔墨斯的话有点恼火。

旁白 neutral

After all, Brody was Hermes' champion, not Heracles. Didn't Hermes believe in Brody?

毕竟，布罗迪才是赫尔墨斯的冠军，不是赫拉克勒斯。难道赫尔墨斯不相信布罗迪吗？

旁白 neutral

" Heracles is very dominant," Markos said politely

“赫拉克勒斯优势很大，”马科斯礼貌地说道。

旁白 neutral

" Of course..." Hermes seemed to be thinking aloud

“当然……”赫尔墨斯若有所思地自言自语。

旁白 neutral

" If Zeus' champion sweeps the Games, then Zeus will be impossible to deal with." He shot a look at Brody

“如果宙斯的冠军横扫了运动会，那宙斯可就难对付了。”他瞥了布罗迪一眼。

旁白 neutral

" But if something happens to Heracles in this final race..." He winked mischievously

“但如果赫拉克勒斯在这最后一场赛跑中出点什么意外……”他顽皮地眨了眨眼。

旁白 neutral

" Well, I suppose in that case, they'd have to award the olive crown to you, my champion!"

“嗯，那样的话，我猜他们就得把橄榄冠颁给你了，我的冠军！”

旁白 neutral

" Oh." Brody hadn't thought about it that way

“哦。”布罗迪没想到那一层。

旁白 neutral

It would be fun to win, but he needed to make sure that Heracles came in first

赢了是挺有趣的，可他得确保赫拉克勒斯第一个到达终点。

旁白 neutral

Hermes' words alarmed Brody

赫尔墨斯的话让布罗迪警觉起来。

旁白 neutral

" There's no reason to worry," he told himself." Julia is a genius."

“没什么好担心的，”他对自己说，“茱莉亚是个天才。”

旁白 neutral

She had figured out what Aphrodite had planned for Heracles during the hoplitodromos

她已经弄清了阿佛洛狄忒在重装步兵赛跑中对赫拉克勒斯设下的计划。

旁白 neutral

She'd also figured out a plan to help Heracles avoid the prank

还想出了办法，帮赫拉克勒斯躲开那个恶作剧。

旁白 neutral

" So there's no danger," Brody thought." It's almost time to go home."

“所以不会有危险，”布罗迪想，“差不多该回家了。”

旁白 neutral

" Hold still, Brody," Markos said." I'll help you put on your shin guards."

“别动，布罗迪，”马克斯说，“我帮你戴上护胫。”

旁白 neutral

Hermes watched as Markos fixed the guards to Brody's legs and then handed the helmet to Brody

赫尔墨斯看着马克斯把护胫固定在布罗迪腿上，并把头盔递给他。

旁白 neutral

" You've performed well too, my boy," Hermes told Markos

“你表现得也很好，我的孩子，”赫尔墨斯对马科斯说。

旁白 neutral

" Your loyalty and hard work are a credit to your family."

“你的忠诚和勤奋为你的家庭增了光。”

旁白 neutral

" Thank you, Hermes," Markos said with a bow

“谢谢你，赫尔墨斯，”马科斯鞠了一躬说。

旁白 neutral

" It has been an honor to serve you."

“能为您效劳是我的荣幸。”

旁白 neutral

" Yes, I know," Hermes said." Still, I wish there were a way to thank you

“是的，我知道，”赫尔墨斯说。“不过，我还是希望能有办法感谢你。”

旁白 neutral

Perhaps I should declare your entire family to be henceforth under my patronage and protection."

“也许我该宣布，从今往后你的整个家族都归我庇护和保佑。”

旁白 neutral

Markos' eyes widened." You would do that?"

马科斯睁大了眼睛。“您愿意这么做？”

旁白 neutral

Athena happened to be walking by at that moment

那时雅典娜恰好从旁边走过。

旁白 neutral

She stopped and raised an eyebrow at Hermes

她停下脚步，对赫尔墨斯扬了扬眉毛。

旁白 neutral

" I would like to hear your answer too, Hermes," she said

“我也想听听你的回答，赫尔墨斯，”她说。

旁白 neutral

" You shouldn't promise such protection to mortals unless you mean to follow through with it."

“你不该对凡人许下这样的庇护承诺，除非你真打算说到做到。”

旁白 neutral

" Of course I mean to follow through with it." Hermes looked annoyed

“我当然打算说到做到。”赫尔墨斯看起来很恼火。

旁白 neutral

" I don't need a warning from you, Athena."

“我不需要你来警告我，雅典娜。”

旁白 neutral

Athena shrugged." Perhaps you do. It's not as if your word has always been good."

雅典娜耸耸肩。“也许你需要。你的诺言又不是一直都算数。”

旁白 neutral

" Well, my word is good this time!" Hermes declared with a frown

“好吧，这次我的诺言一定算数！”赫尔墨斯皱着眉头宣告道。

旁白 neutral

" From this day forward, upon my word, the family of Nikolaos shall be under my protection

“从今往后，以我的诺言为证，尼科拉奥斯一家将受到我的庇护。

旁白 neutral

May I be thrown out of Mount Olympus if I break this vow."

若违此誓，愿我被逐出奥林匹斯山。”

旁白 neutral

" It's official then." Athena looked approving." Good luck to your champion in the hoplitodromos, Hermes."

“那就正式了。”雅典娜看起来很满意。“祝你的英雄在重装步兵赛跑中好运，赫尔墨斯。”

旁白 neutral

She moved on. Hermes still looked annoyed, but Markos looked awed

她走开了。赫尔墨斯看起来仍然有些恼火，而马科斯则显得敬畏不已。

旁白 neutral

" This is incredible!" he whispered to Brody

“这太不可思议了！”他轻声对布罗迪说。

旁白 neutral

" Hermes won't dare break his vow to protect my family — not with Athena as a witness!"

“赫尔墨斯不敢违背保护我家人的誓言——有雅典娜作证呢！”

旁白 neutral

Before Brody could answer, Hermes handed him his shield

布罗迪还没来得及回答，赫尔墨斯就把盾牌递给了他。

旁白 neutral

" Get ready, boy," he said." And stay away from Heracles

“准备好，小子，”他说。“离赫拉克勒斯远点。

旁白 neutral

Hera might be planning some trouble, and I don't want you caught up in it."

赫拉可能在策划些麻烦事，我可不想你被卷进去。”

旁白 neutral

" Okay," Brody said. He hurried toward the starting line

“知道了。”布罗迪说完，就匆匆朝起跑线赶去。

旁白 neutral

Halfway there, he realized what Hermes had said

走到半路，他才回过味来赫尔墨斯的话。

旁白 neutral

" Huh?" Brody thought." We're expecting a prank from Aphrodite during this event, not Hera."

“嗯？”布罗迪心想。“我们提防的是阿佛洛狄忒在这场比赛中搞恶作剧，不是赫拉啊。”

旁白 neutral

Brody glanced around, suddenly in a panic. Where were Julia and Markos?

布罗迪环顾四周，突然慌了神。茱莉亚和马科斯去哪儿了？

旁白 neutral

Finally he spotted Iphicles in the crowd and waved him over

终于，他在人群中看到了伊菲克勒斯，便招手让他过来。

旁白 neutral

" What is it, Brody?" Iphicles seemed distracted

“什么事，布罗迪？”伊菲克勒斯似乎心不在焉。

旁白 neutral

" I must leave soon to prepare your escape."

“我得马上离开，去准备你逃跑的事。”

旁白 neutral

" I know," Brody said." But I just heard something weird about Hera..."

“我知道，”布罗迪说，“但我刚听说了一件关于赫拉的怪事……”

旁白 neutral

He told Iphicles what Hermes had said

他把赫尔墨斯的话告诉了伊菲克勒斯。

旁白 neutral

" I'll get word to my brother," Iphicles said." I'm sure he'll figure something out."

“我会传话给我哥哥的，”伊菲克勒斯说，“我相信他会想出办法的。”

旁白 neutral

" Thanks, dude," Brody said, relieved." See you after the race!"

“谢了，兄弟，”布罗迪松了口气说，“赛后见！”

旁白 neutral

He rushed on to the starting line

他赶紧跑到了起跑线。

旁白 neutral

" Go!" Agon shouted a few minutes later

几分钟后，“跑！”阿贡喊道。

旁白 neutral

Brody took off, clanking along the track in his heavy armor

布罗迪出发了，穿着沉重的盔甲，哐当哐当地沿着跑道跑。

旁白 neutral

As usual Heracles was already in the lead

和往常一样，赫拉克勒斯已经领先了。

旁白 neutral

Suddenly there was a clamor of chirping

突然，传来一阵叽叽喳喳的喧闹声。

旁白 neutral

A huge flock of sparrows swooped toward Heracles and mobbed him

一大群麻雀向赫拉克勒斯猛扑过去，把他团团围住。

旁白 neutral

Then Heracles' muscular arm emerged from the cloud of birds, tossing a large handful of grain onto the track

然后，赫拉克勒斯肌肉发达的手臂从鸟群中伸出来，把一大把谷物撒在了跑道上。

旁白 neutral

The birds eagerly dived for the grain

鸟儿们急切地向谷物俯冲下去。

旁白 neutral

" That was easy!" Brody thought gleefully as Heracles raced on

“太容易了！”看着赫拉克勒斯继续飞奔，布罗迪高兴地想。

旁白 neutral

Heracles had now foiled Aphrodite. And since Iphicles had promised to warn Heracles about —

赫拉克勒斯现在挫败了阿芙洛狄忒。而且既然伊菲克勒斯已经答应去提醒赫拉克勒斯——

旁白 neutral

Just then Hera stepped forward. She waved her hand — and a sea of pomegranates rolled across the track, right in front of Heracles!

就在这时，赫拉走上前来。她一挥手——成片的石榴滚过跑道，正好滚到赫拉克勒斯面前！

旁白 neutral

" Ahh!" Heracles cried as his foot hit one of the fruits

“啊！”赫拉克勒斯叫了一声，他的脚踩到了其中一个。

旁白 neutral

His heavy armor made it hard to balance, and he almost fell. More pomegranates were rolling toward him!

沉重的盔甲让他很难保持平衡，他差点摔倒。更多的石榴正朝他滚来！

旁白 neutral

Brody knew that Heracles couldn't see the fruit clearly because of his helmet

布罗迪知道，因为头盔的遮挡，赫拉克勒斯看不清那些果子。

旁白 neutral

But he had an idea." Hold on, dude!" he yelled

但他有了个主意。“撑住，兄弟！”他喊道。

旁白 neutral

Brody ripped off his helmet and tossed it aside, along with his shield

布罗迪猛地扯下头盔，连同盾牌一起扔到一边。

旁白 neutral

Hermes would be furious when he saw Brody disqualifying himself

赫尔墨斯要是看到布罗迪让自己失去比赛资格，会气疯的。

旁白 neutral

But that didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was making sure their plan worked

但这已经不重要了。唯一重要的是确保他们的计划成功。