英语晨读：金色的羊毛

 　　King Athamus of northern Greece had two children, Phrixus and Helle. After he left his first wife and mar¹ ried Ino, a wicked woman, the two children received all the cruel treatment that a stepmother could devise. At one time the kingdom was ruined by a famine. Ino persuaded her credulous² husband into believing that his son, Phrixus, was the actual cause of the disaster, and should be sacrificed to Zeus to endit. The poor boy was then placed on the altar and was about tobe knifed when a ram³ with golden fleece was sent down by thegods and carried off the two children on its back. As they flew over the strait that divides Asia from Europe, Helle, faint at the vast expanse of water below , fell into the sea and was drowned. Thus the sea of Helle, Hellespont, became the ancient name of the strip of water. Her brother kept on and arrived in Colchis on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. There he sacrificed the ram to Zeus and gave its golden fleece to King Aeetes, who nailed it on a sacred tree and put a sleepless⁴ dragon in charge .

　　希腊北部国王阿塔玛斯有两个孩子, 法瑞克斯和赫勒。当国王离开第一个妻子和一个名叫伊诺的坏女人结婚后, 两个孩子受到后母残忍虐待, 整个王国也受到毁灭性瘟疫的侵袭。伊诺在爱轻信的丈夫耳边进谗言, 终于使国王相信: 他的儿子法瑞克斯是这次灾害的罪魁祸首, 并要将他献给宙斯以结束瘟疫。可怜的孩子被推上了祭坛, 将要被处死。正在此时, 上帝派了一只浑身上下长着金色羊毛的公羊来将两个孩子驮在背上带走了。当他们飞过隔开欧洲和亚洲的海峡时, 赫勒由于看到浩瀚的海洋而头晕目眩, 最终掉进大海淹死了。这片海洋古时候的名称叫赫勒之海, 赫勒拉旁海峡便由此而来。金色公羊驮着法瑞克斯继续向前飞去, 来到了黑海东岸的科尔契斯。在那里, 法瑞克斯将公羊献给了宙斯; 而将金羊毛送给了埃厄忒斯国王。国王将羊毛钉在一棵圣树上, 并派了一条不睡觉的龙负责看护。

1 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

2 credulous   

adj.轻信的，易信的

参考例句：

• You must be credulous if she fooled you with that story.连她那种话都能把你骗倒，你一定是太容易相信别人了。
• Credulous attitude will only make you take anything for granted.轻信的态度只会使你想当然。

3 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

4 sleepless   

adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的

参考例句：

• The situation gave her many sleepless nights.这种情况害她一连好多天睡不好觉。
• One evening I heard a tale that rendered me sleepless for nights.一天晚上，我听说了一个传闻，把我搞得一连几夜都不能入睡。