童步少儿英语教材      节选自The Book of Knowledge      翻译并改编:京John酱

 

Myths, legends, epic tales and heros
神话、传说、史诗和英雄

 

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Myths and legends existed in civilizations all over the world for thousands of years before writing was developed, They were told as entertainment by professional poets trained to remember long works and perform them.

神话和传说，比文字发明还要早好几千年，就在全世界的各种文明中出现了。这些神话传说是由职业诗人口述，这些诗人经过训练，能背诵长篇巨著并演绎这些神话传说，供人们消遣。 

 

Myth from the Middle East are the oldest recorded mythology in the world, dating from 2500 BC.

来自中东的神话有历史上记载的最古老的神话传说，可以追溯到公元前2500年。

 

 

The babylnian creation myth

巴比伦创世神话

 

The babylonian creation myth grew from the Sumerian creation myth. It is called the Enuma Elish.

巴比伦创世神话源于苏美尔创世神话，叫《埃努玛·埃利什》。

 

Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation myth, was written in a launguage called cuneiform on seven clay tablets discovered by archaeologists excavating Nineveh in AD 1845, It grew out of the Sumerian creation myth. The Sumerians of Mesopotamia are famous for their ziggurats - massive stepped temples of mud-bricks that were built around 2100 BC.

 

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Cuneiform on seven clay tablets
7泥板上的楔形文字

《埃努玛·埃利什》，巴比伦创世神话，是用一种楔形文字刻写在七泥板上的，这些七泥板是考古学家在公元1845年，发掘尼尼微（古代亚述的首都）遗址时发现的，它源于苏美尔创时神话。美索不达米亚（亚洲西南部）的苏美尔人以建造金字神塔著称--这些神庙用泥砖堆砌，有大量的台阶，建造于公元前2100年左右。

 

Chinese creation myth -- Panku
中国的创世神话--盘古开天地

 

One Chinse creation myth says that in the beginning, the Universe is an egg containing chaos. The first being - a dwarf-like creature called Panku pushed open the egg. The chaos separated to form the Earth and Sky.

 

Epic tales and heros

史诗和英雄

 

An epic tale is an adventure story in the form of a long poem that follows the brave deeds of human heros as they struggle against magical dangers. Most epic poems were passed on by the oral tradition before they were written down.

（英雄）史诗是一种采用长诗形式的历险故事，史诗跟踪记录了英雄人物和各种艰难困苦做斗争的英勇事迹。大多数的史诗在用文字记录前都是口头传诵和流传下来。 

 

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Many heros of myths legends and epic poems possess superhuman powers and are helped by gods or spirits. They usually possess at least one magical weapon or object with magical properties.

很多神话传说和史诗中的英雄都有超人的力量，并有神或精灵辅佐。 通常他们都拥有至少一件神奇的武器或神物。

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Greek epic poems

希腊史诗

 
 

The most famous greek epic poems are the Iliad and the Odyssey. Some historian think these were written by a blind man called Homer around 750 BC. Others think they were composed gradually in the oral tradition by several poets.

最著名的希腊史诗是《伊利亚特》和《奥德赛》，一些历史学家认为这两部神话是由一个叫荷马的盲人在公元前750撰写的。不过也有学者认为这两部史诗是由多个诗人将口头流传很久的故事慢慢搜集整理出来的。 

 

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A replica of the wooden horse in Turkey
土耳其的木马仿制品

 

The Illiad --《伊利亚特》

The Illiad tells the story of a ten-year war between the ancient Greeks and the Trojans. The Trojan War ended when Greek warriors secretly entered the city of Troy by hiding inside a huge wooden horse.

《伊里亚特》讲述的是古代希腊和特洛伊之间长达10年的战争。特洛伊战争以希腊军队藏身于一个巨大的木马潜入特洛伊城（赢得战争））而结束。

 

The greatest Greek warrior in the Illiad is Achilles. He was protected by divine armour - except for a small spot on his heel, which is where he finally received his death wound.

《伊里亚特》中最伟大的希腊战士是阿基里斯。 阿基里斯除了他的脚后跟之外，都有神甲护身，不过正是脚后跟最后让他受到了致命伤。

 

The Odyssey--《奥德赛》 

 

The Odyssey is an adventure story that follows the Greek hero Odysseus, after the Trojan War, on his long and difficult sea voyage home.

《奥德赛》追踪记录了特洛伊战争后，希腊英雄奥德修斯从海上返回家乡而经历的漫长而艰难的历程。

 

Odysseus and his men have to face many magical dangers on their journey, including monsters and giants.

奥德修斯和他的士兵一路遭遇和很多危难，包括野兽和巨人。

 

By the time Odysseus finally reaches his palace in Ithaca, he has been away for 20 years. Disguised as a beggar, only his faithful dog recognizes and greets him, and his dog then dies content.

当他终于回到他在伊萨卡岛的王宫时，距离他离开家乡已经有20年之久。这时的他像一个乞丐，只有他的忠实的狗认出他欢迎他，他的狗见到主人回来后就安详的死去了。

 

 

Virgil's The Aeneid -- 维吉尔的《埃涅阿斯纪》

 

Virgil was the well-educated son of a farmer. The Roman Emperor,Augustus Caesar, became his patron. Virgil wrote the Aeneid and based it on the Greek epics the Illiad and the Odyssey. It explains how the gods instructed Aenuas to leave Troy and found a Roman dynasty.

维吉尔是一个受过良好教育的农民的儿子。罗马皇帝奥古斯塔恺撒成为他的保护人。维吉尔参考希腊史诗《伊里亚特》和《奥德赛》撰写了《埃涅阿斯纪》。这部史诗讲述的是诸神如何指挥埃涅阿斯离开特洛伊，找到罗马王朝的。

 

 

 

 

Appendix（附录）-1

《埃努玛·埃利什》的创世之说

 

The Enuma Elish says that in the beginning the Universe was made of salt waters (Mother Tiamat), sweet waters (Father Apsu), and a mist (their son Mummu).

《埃努玛·埃利什》讲述的是开世之初， 宇宙是由咸水之渊（混沌母神提亚玛特）、甜水之渊（父神阿卜苏）和一团薄雾（他们的儿子）形成的。

 

The waters gave birth to new young rebellious gods who overthrew Apsu and Mummu.

水孕育了年轻的悖逆诸神，他们推翻了阿卜苏和牧牧（的统治)。

 

Tiamat and her followers were conquered by a male Babylonian god, Marduk, in a bottle of powerful magic.

提亚玛特和她追随者被一个叫做马杜克的男性巴比伦神俘虏，关押在一个魔瓶里。

 

The Babylonians pictured Marduk with four eyes and four ears, so he could see and hear everything. Fire spurted from his mouth and haloes blazed from his head.

巴比伦人把马杜克描绘成有4只眼睛和4只耳朵，他能看到、听见发生的任何事情。他口吐火焰、头放光芒。

 

Marduk became the new ruler. He made Tiamat's body into the earth and sky. He appointed gods to rule the heavens, the earth and the air in between.

马杜克成为新的统治者。他把提亚玛特的身体化作天和地。他任命诸神统治天、地和天地间的空气。

 

 Appendix（附录）-2

罗慕路斯和雷穆斯

 

The Story of Romulus and Remus tells how twin boys grew up to build the foundations of the mighty city of Rome.

 

罗慕路斯和雷穆斯的故事讲述的是一对双胞胎男孩如何长大建立了罗马城的基础。他们不是由人类母亲抚养长大，而是由一只母狼喂养。

 

Built in 753 BC, the city's roots go back to the legend of twin brothers Romulus and Remus. As babies the twin brothers were cast out by their evil great-uncle, who had stolen the king's crown from their grandfather.who were raised by a she-wolf instead of a human mother.

罗马始建于公元前753年，最早要追溯到双胞胎兄弟罗莫路和勒莫的传奇故事。当他们还是婴儿时，他们就被邪恶的叔祖父丢弃，他的叔祖父偷走了他们祖父的皇冠。他们不是由母亲抚养长大，而是由一只母狼喂养。

 

Appendix（附录）-3

世界著名史诗

公元前8世纪：
荷马的伊利亚特 (希腊神话)
荷马的奥德赛 (希腊神话)
公元前1世纪：维吉尔的埃涅阿斯纪 (古罗马史诗)

9世纪：
贝奥武甫 (英格兰史诗)
萨逊的大卫 (亚美尼亚史诗)

10世纪：

菲尔多西的列王纪 (波斯史诗) Shahnameh，Kings

11世纪：

罗兰之歌 (法兰西史诗)

12世纪：
熙德之歌 (西班牙史诗)
伊戈尔出征记 (俄罗斯史诗)
绍·鲁斯塔维里的虎皮武士 (格鲁吉亚史诗)

13世纪：
爱达 (北欧神话)
萨迦 (北欧史诗)
尼伯龙根之歌 (日耳曼民间传说)
格萨尔王传 (西藏史诗)

14世纪：但丁的神曲