46_The Long Run

From her seat in the stadium, Julia watched Poseidon stride over to Zeus. “ Congratulations, brother, ” Poseidon said in his deep voice. “ It seems your champion remains undefeated. ” “ Indeed. ” Zeus puffed out his chest and grinned. “ And he’ll stay that way—mark my words. ” Hera narrowed her eyes. “ We shall see, husband, ” she said. Her voice was cold and angry. “ The Games aren’t over yet. ” “ That’s right. ” Demeter was standing nearby with a mysterious smile on her face. She stroked the sheaf of wheat she was holding. “ Beware, Zeus. Anything can happen in the next few events. ”

茱莉亚在体育场的座位上看着波塞冬大步走向宙斯。 “祝贺你，兄弟，”波塞冬用低沉的声音说道。“看来你的选手依然不败。” “的确如此。”宙斯鼓起胸膛，咧嘴一笑。“他会一直这样，记住我的话。” 赫拉眯起眼睛。“我们拭目以待，丈夫，”她说，她的声音冰冷而愤怒。“奥运会还没有结束。” “没错。”德米特站在附近，脸上带着神秘的微笑。 她抚摸着手中的那捆小麦。“当心，宙斯。在接下来的几天里，任何事情都可能发生。”

Julia kept her eyes on Demeter for a moment. The dolichos was the next event. It was the longest footrace, taking runners out of the stadium and through the surrounding hills. Then, sticking to the plan that she and the others had made last night, Julia got up. She picked up the sack at her feet and headed for an exit. She was careful to slip behind the gods so they wouldn’t spot her carrying something. She especially didn’t want Hermes to notice her.

朱莉娅盯着德梅特看了一会儿，长跑是下一个比赛。 这是一场最长的赛跑，带着选手们走出体育场，穿过周围的山丘。 然后，按照她和其他人昨晚制定的计划，茱莉亚站了起来。 她拿起脚下的麻袋，朝出口走去。她小心翼翼地溜到众神后面，以免他们发现她拿着什么东西。 她特别不希望赫尔墨斯注意到她。

“ Julia. ” Suddenly feeling a hand on her arm, Julia froze. But it was only Iphicles. “ Are you sure you want to do this?” he whispered, casting a look at the gods. “ Maybe I should go instead. It’s safer. ” “ Thanks, Iphicles, but no. ” Julia shook her head. “ Zeus might notice you’re gone. ” Iphicles grimaced. “ That’s unlikely. Must I remind you that Zeus notices almost nothing except my brother?” “ True, ” Julia said. “ But we should play it safe. “

“茱莉亚。”突然感觉到有一只手放在她的手臂上，茱莉亚僵住了。但那只是伊菲克勒斯。 “您确定要这样做吗？”他低声说，看了看众神。“也许我应该去。这样更安全。” “谢谢，伊菲克勒斯，但不用。”茱莉亚摇了摇头。“宙斯可能会注意到你走了。” 伊菲克勒斯做了个鬼脸。“这不太可能。我必须提醒你，除了我哥哥，宙斯几乎什么都没注意到吗？” “没错，”茱莉亚说。“但我们应该谨慎行事。”

” And we all agreed last night that no one would notice if I left the Games. ” Iphicles still looked concerned. “ I’ll be fine, ” Julia added in a whisper. She lifted the sack slightly. “ Don’t worry, I can do this. I’m just glad we realized in time that Demeter had changed her original plan. ” ” I thought she was going to make the wheat sticky. ” Julia suddenly remembered how she’d seen Iphicles the night before in the moonlight. “ Oh, and speaking of last night, I saw you and . . . ” Just then Hermes glanced over at the two of them.

“我们昨晚都同意，如果我离开奥运会，没有人会注意到。” 伊菲克勒斯看起来仍然很担心。 “我会没事的，”茱莉亚低声补充道。她轻轻地提起袋子。 “别担心，我能行。我很高兴我们及时意识到德梅特改变了她最初的计划。” “我以为她会把小麦粘起来。” 朱莉娅突然想起前一天晚上在月光下看到伊菲克勒斯的情景。 “哦，说到昨晚，我看到你和……”就在这时，赫耳墨斯瞥了他们两个一眼。

“ Never mind, ” Julia said quickly. “ I have to get out of here! ” Iphicles nodded and Julia continued on toward the exit. As soon as she was outside the stadium, she felt a little safer. She glanced at the marked track, which wound its way through the city and into the hills. Julia started jogging along the track. The sack was heavy, and Julia wasn’t used to running in sandals. Within a few minutes, she was out of breath and had a stitch in her side. “ How does Brody do it?” she muttered, shifting the sack to her other side. Luckily she hadn’t bumped into anyone yet.

“别介意，”茱莉亚很快说道。“我必须离开这里！” 伊菲克勒斯点了点头，茱莉亚继续向出口走去。 她一走出体育场，就觉得有点安全了。她瞥了一眼那条有标记的小路，它蜿蜒穿过城市，进入山丘。 茱莉亚开始沿着跑道慢跑。袋子很重，茱莉亚不习惯穿凉鞋跑步。 不到几分钟，她就上气不接下气，侧边肋部突感疼痛;。 “布罗迪是怎么做到的？”她喃喃自语，把袋子移到另一边。 幸运的是，她还没有碰到任何人。

She knew she looked strange carrying a mysterious bundle. Soon Julia stopped, leaned over, and rested her hands on her knees to catch her breath. But she didn’t dare stop for long. The runners would be coming soon. And if Julia hadn’t reached the right spot by then, Heracles would have little chance of finishing the race. So she picked up the sack and started jogging again, ignoring her racing heart and sweaty forehead. She ran out of town and up a series of hills. Finally she spotted a hill with a crooked tree near the top. She was almost there now.

她知道她背着一个神秘的包袱看起来很奇怪。 很快，茱莉亚停下来，俯身，双手放在膝盖上喘口气。 但她不敢停留太久，跑步者很快就要来了。 如果朱莉娅当时没有到达正确的位置，赫拉克勒斯几乎没有机会完成比赛。 于是，她拿起麻袋，又开始慢跑，忽略了心跳加速和额头出汗。她跑出城，爬过了几座山。 最后，她发现了一座山顶附近有一棵歪树的小山，她现在就快到了。