39_Desperate Times

Hermes stormed back into the banquet room. “ Oops, ” Brody said. " I guess my plan to lose during the Games isn’t going to work. ” He felt terrible. He’d wanted to find a way to help Heracles. Instead Brody had just made things worse for everyone. “ What are we going to do now?” Julia asked. Markos shook his head. “ I don’t know. Because if Brody proves to Hermes that he’s doing his best by winning one or more events—” “ Then Heracles will end up in Tartarus, ” Julia finished grimly.

赫耳墨斯冲进宴会厅。“哎呀，”布罗迪说。 "我想我在奥运会期间失利的计划是行不通的。”他觉得很糟糕。 他想找到帮助赫拉克勒斯的方法。然而，布罗迪只是让每个人的情况变得更糟。 “我们现在要做什么？”茱莉亚问。 马科斯摇了摇头。“我不知道。因为如果布罗迪向赫尔墨斯证明，他正在通过赢得一场或多场比赛而竭尽全力——” “然后赫拉克勒斯将在塔尔塔罗斯结束。“茱莉亚冷冷的总结到。

" There’s still just one obvious solution, ” she added. “ Heracles has to win everything. ” “ But Julia, ” Markos started to argue, “ if Hermes thinks Brody isn’t doing his best—” “ Hermes won’t think that, ” Julia said. “ Not if we can stop the other gods from sabotaging Heracles. ” ” If Heracles gets to compete fairly, without any interference from the gods, nobody will be surprised if he wins every event. ” “ Hey! ” Brody protested. “ I might win something! ” Then he thought for a second, remembering some of the amazing things he’d seen Heracles do.

"仍然有一个简单的解决方案，”她补充道。“赫拉克勒斯必须赢得一切。” “但朱莉娅，”马库斯开始争辩，“如果赫耳墨斯认为布罗迪没有尽到最大努力——” “赫耳墨斯不会这么想的，”茱莉亚说。“如果我们能阻止其他神破坏赫拉克勒斯，那就不行了。” “如果赫拉克勒斯能够公平竞争，不受众神的干扰，那么如果他赢得每一项比赛，没有人会感到惊讶。” “嘿！”布罗迪表示抗议。“我可能会赢得一些项目！” 然后他想了想，想起了赫拉克勒斯所做的一些惊人的事情。

“ Actually, never mind. I guess you’re right. ” “ So if Brody comes in second in some of the games, Hermes will believe he’s doing his best, ” Julia went on. “ That way Heracles will be safe from Tartarus, and Hermes probably won’t even care if we go back through the rift right away. ” “ What if Zeus decides to kill me or make me his slave?” Brody said. “ That was part of the deal, remember?” “ Don’t worry too much about that, ” Markos said. “ I think Julia is right. "

“事实上，没关系。我想你是对的。” “所以，如果布罗迪在一些比赛中获得第二，赫耳墨斯会相信他已经尽力了。”茱莉亚继续说道。 “这样一来，赫拉克勒斯就不会受到塔尔塔罗斯的伤害，而赫耳墨斯可能根本不在乎我们是否会立即穿越裂缝。” “如果宙斯决定杀了我或者让我做他的奴隶呢？”布罗迪说。“那是打赌的一部分，记得吗？” “不要太担心这一点，”马库斯说。“我认为朱莉娅是对的。"

" If Heracles wins all the events in the Games, Zeus will be busy bragging and strutting around. He won’t pay any attention to you. ” “ We need to talk to Heracles and Iphicles, ” Julia said. “ We have to tell them what’s going on and ask Iphicles to help us. ” Then she looked at Markos. “ For now, I have another problem—I have to find another water jar so I can bring home some water. ” Julia and Markos headed toward the fountain. Brody followed them, feeling uneasy. What if Hermes decided Brody hadn’t tried hard enough? What if the messenger god refused to let them leave? And how were they supposed to stop the other gods from interfering with Heracles during the Games?

"如果赫拉克勒斯在奥运会上赢得了所有的比赛，宙斯将忙于吹嘘和炫耀。他不会理会你的。” “我们需要和赫拉克勒斯和伊菲克勒斯谈谈。"茱莉亚说到 “我们必须告诉他们发生了什么，并请伊菲克勒斯帮助我们。”然后她看着马库斯。 ”现在，我还有另一个问题——我必须找到另一个水罐，这样我才能带一些水回家。” 茱莉亚和马科斯朝喷泉走去，布罗迪跟着他们，感到不安。 如果赫尔墨斯认为布罗迪不够努力怎么办？如果信使神拒绝让他们离开呢？ 在奥运会期间，他们应该如何阻止其他神灵干扰赫拉克勒斯？

Finally Brody decided to stop worrying about all that stuff. Julia and Markos were smart—they’d figure everything out. Brody just had to hold up his end of the deal. That meant getting some sleep so he could train hard tomorrow! “ Your boxing technique could still use some work, boy, ” Hermes said the next morning. “ Let’s find you a sparring partner. ” Brody glanced around the gymnasium.

最后布罗迪决定不再担心这些事情。朱莉娅和马库斯很聪明，他们能把一切都弄清楚。 布罗迪只是不得不承受住比赛结束所带来的的后果。这意味着要睡个觉，这样他明天才能好好训练！ “你的拳击技术仍然需要一些锻炼，孩子，”第二天早上赫耳墨斯说。“我们给你找个陪练吧。” 布罗迪扫视了一下体育馆。

Almost all the gods he’d ever seen were there today, along with their champions. Heracles was nearby, tossing a javelin under Zeus’ watchful eye. “ Heracles doesn’t look too busy, ” Brody said. “ Should I ask him to spar with me?” Hermes smiled with approval. “ Trying to show me you’re sorry by boxing with the toughest competitor out there, eh? I like it. “ ” Go ahead—I’ll be right there. I just need to discuss something with Caerus. ” Brody hurried over to Zeus and bowed. “ Uh, hi, sir. I was wondering if your champion would spar with me for a while. ”

几乎所有他见过的神都在那里，还有他们的参赛选手。 赫拉克勒斯就在附近，在宙斯的注视下投掷标枪。 “赫拉克勒斯看起来不太忙，”布罗迪说。“我应该让他和我练一下吗？” 赫耳墨斯赞许地笑了笑。 “试图通过与最强悍的对手拳击向我表明你的愧疚，是吗？我喜欢它。“ “去吧，我马上就到。我只需要和凯鲁斯讨论一下。” 布罗迪急忙走向宙斯鞠躬。“嗯，嗨，先生。我想知道你的冠军是否会和我打一段时间。”