Pandora　潘多拉_英语美文

Pandora　潘多拉

文章来源：未知文章作者：enread 发布时间：2024-03-21 07:17 字体： [大中小]　进入论坛

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Pandora　潘多拉

◎ Anonymous¹

After the stealing of fire, Zeus became increasingly unkind to men. One day he ordered his son

Hephaestus to build an image of a beautiful maiden² 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 decided³ 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 was busy with teaching men the art of living, Prometheus had left a big cask in the

care of Epimetheus. He had warned his brother not to open the lid. Pandora was a curious woman.

She had been feeling very disappointed that her husband did not allow her to take a look at the

contents of the cask. One day，when Epimetheus was out，she lifted the lid and out it came unrest

and war, plague and sickness，theft and violence， grief sorrow, and all the other evils. The human

world was hence to experience these evils. Only hope stayed within the mouth of the jar and never

flew out. So men always have hope within their hearts.

偷窃天火之后，宙斯对人类的敌意与日俱增。一天，他命令儿子赫菲斯托斯用黏土塑造

一尊美丽绝伦的少女像，并请众神赠与她不同的礼物。其中，雅典娜赐与她华丽的衣裳，赫

耳墨斯赠与她说谎的能力。世上的第一个女人就是这位迷人的年轻女郎，因为她从每位神灵

那里都得到了一样对男人有害的礼物，因此宙斯称她为潘多拉。

宙斯决定把她作为礼物送给世间的男子。于是信使赫耳墨斯将她带给普罗米修斯的弟弟

厄庇米修斯。她的美让所有人一见倾心。厄庇米修斯兴高采烈地把她迎入屋内。普罗米修斯

警告过他：不得接受宙斯的任何馈赠，而他已将之忘在脑后。这对夫妻有过一段幸福的生

活，但不久灾难却降临人间。

当普罗米修斯忙于教导人们生存之道时，他把一个桶托付给厄庇米修斯。他警告过他的

弟弟不要打开桶盖。潘多拉好奇心强。她的丈夫不允许她看桶中之物，这使她感到十分失

望。一天，趁厄庇墨米修外出时，她掀起了桶盖，而从桶里跑出的是动荡、战争、瘟疫、疾

病、偷盗、暴力、悲伤、忧虑，以及所有其他的不幸。人类世界就此开始经历这所有的厄

运。只有希望仍旧被关在桶口，永远跑不出来。所以，人们总是把希望藏于心中。

阅读小课堂

潘多拉（Pandora，也译作潘朵拉），希腊神话中火神赫菲斯托斯用粘土做成的地上的第

一个女人，作为对普罗米修斯盗火的惩罚送给人类的第一个女人。众神亦加入使她拥有更诱

人的魅力。潘多拉的神话源远流长，以不同的版本出现，并从不同的角度诠释。然而，在所

有的文学版本，此神话作为自然神学以解释世界上罪恶的存在。

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收听单词发音

1 anonymous
adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的
参考例句：
Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。 The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

2 maiden
n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的
参考例句：
The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。 The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

3 decided
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。 There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。