5 Nereus and Proteus

Of all the small sea divinities Nereus and Proteus stood out as Peculiar sea-gods．Nereus，known as“the Old Man of the sea”，represented the pleasant aspect of ocean waters．He lived beneath the sea with his fifty lovely daughters，of whom the most famous were Amphritrite，Thetis，Galate a and Panope．It was Nereus who advised Heracles to seek Prometheus in the hero's search of the golden apples．

Proteus was Poseidon's herdsman. He was well known for two qualities：the gift of prophecy and the power to take various forms．At one time he was a lion with a curly wavy hairs；at another he appeared in the shape of a wild boar；and still another he stood a stately tree covered with rich leaves．When，after all these and many other changes，he failed to get rid of his questioner， the god offered detailed answers．

5 纳鲁斯和普鲁吐斯

在所有的小海神中，纳鲁斯和普鲁吐斯异常独特。纳鲁斯是人们熟知的“海中的老人”。他...

4 Prometheus

Prometheus was a Titan ．In the war between Zeus the giants he had stood on the side of the new Olympiangods．Out of the clay he made the first man，to whom Athena gave soul and holy breath．Prometheus spent a lot of time and energy in creating the gift of fire．And fire raised man above all animals ．Later，there held a joint meeting of gods and men．The meeting was to decide what part of burnt animals should begiven to gods and what to men．Prometheus cut up an ox and divided it into two parts：under the skin he placed the fresh，and under the fat he put the bones，for he knew the selfish Zeus loved fat． Zeus saw through the trick and felt displeased at the Prometheus' favor towards men．So in a masterful way he took away the gift of fire from mankind．However，Prometheus managed to steal fire from heaven and secretly brought it down tomen．Flying into an anger at this unjustified act of rebellion，Zeus let the other gods chain Prometheus to a rock o...

3 Apollo

Among the crowd of Olympian gods the one most widely admired was Apollo．He was the son of Zeus and Let to．According to Greek mythology，Leto was driven by Hera from land to land at last Poseidon took Pity on her and brought the island of Delos out of water for her to live on．There she gave birth to the twins ，Apollo and Artemis．

Apollo was me sun-god．He wore a purple robe．He usually sat in his bright eastern palace early in the morning and madeready to start his daily journey across the sky．During the day hed rove his carriage of gold and ivory ， and brought light， life and love to the great world below． Iate in the afternoon he came to the end of his journey in the far western sea and got on his golden boat to return to his eastern home．

Apollo was the god of music and poetry．He could stir up all feelings．These feelings are expressed in lofty songs．With his lyre of gold and the sweet accents of his godlike voice heled the cho...

2 Pandora

After the stealing of fire，Zeus became increasingly unkind to men．One day he ordered his son Hephaestus tobuild an image of a beautiful maiden out of clay．He then asked the gods and goddesses to award her with different kinds of gifts．Among others，Athena clothed her in an attractive coat and Hermes gave her the power of telling lies．A charming young lady，she was the first woman that ever lived．Zeus called her Pandora．Because she had received from each of the gods and goddesses a gift．The gift was harmful to men．

Zeus decided to send her down to men as a present．So Hermes them essenger brought her to Epimetheus，brother of Prometheus．The greatness of her beauty touched the hearts of all who looked upon her，and Epimetheus happily received her into his house．He had quite forgotten Pometheus' warning：never to accept anything from Zeus．The couple lived a happy life for some time．Then trouble came on to the human world．

When he...

1 The Olympin Gods

Between Macedon and Thessaly of eastern Greece there stood a high mountain．Its cloudy top rushed into the very heavens．On the top of the mountain， the home of the gods was bathed in brightness． At Olympus Zeus ruled as the father of gods and men． Zeus was not a crude ruler by any standards．All the gods listened to his final words，it was true．But Zeus made them all sit on a committee of twelve members，including six gods and six goddesses． The first in the Olympian crowd sat Zeus himself． He was the overlord of gods and men and the operator of the thunderbolt ．Next to him was Hera，his proud and greeneyed queen．Poseidon was ruler of the sea，And Hades，king of the lower world，had no seat in the committee．Apollo was the god of the sun，music and poetry，while his twinsister Artemis was the goddess of the moon and the chase． Athena was the goddess of wisdom and patroness of house holdarts．Hestin，the goddess of the family，represented hom...

"They beat me, Manolin," he said. "They truly beat me."

　　“它们把我打败了，马诺林，”他说。“它们确实把我打败了。”

　　"He didn‘t beat you. Not the fish."

　　“它没有打败你。那条...

When he sailed into the little harbour the lights of the Terrace were out and he knew everyone was in bed. The breeze had risen steadily and was blowing strongly now. It was quiet in the harbour though and he sailed up onto the little patch of shin...

He lay in the stern and steered and watched for the glow to come in the sky. I have half of him, he thought. Maybe I‘ll have the luck to bring the forward half in. I should have some luck. No, he said. You violated your luck when you went too far ...

The old man saw the brown fins coming along the wide trail the fish must make in the water. They were not even quartering on the scent. They were headed straight for the skiff swimming side by side.

　　老人看见两片褐色的鳍正顺着那鱼必然在...

They came. But they did not come as the Mako had come. One turned and went out of sight under the skiff and the old man could feel the skiff shake as he jerked and pulled on the fish. The other watched the old man with his slitted yellow eyes and t...