Pranks

“ Look out! ” someone yelled. The voice sounded like Julia’s, but Brody wasn’t sure. He couldn’t take his eyes off the huge snake flying toward his face. Its mouth was wide open, and its fangs looked huge and razor-sharp. A sickly yellow liquid dripped from the pointy ends. Beside Brody, Apollo’s champion stood frozen in place, staring at the snakes with a terrified look on his face. Brody wasn’t afraid of snakes. He’d even kept one as a pet for a while until he’d forgotten to put the lid back on the tank and it had escaped.

“当心！”有人喊道。 声音听起来像茱莉亚的，但布罗迪不确定。他目不转睛地看着那条朝他脸上飞过来的大蛇。 它的嘴张得很大，獠牙看起来又大又锋利。一种让人恶心的的黄色液体从尖尖的末端滴下。 在布罗迪身边，阿波罗的冠军站在原地一动不动，神情惊恐的盯着蛇。 布罗迪不怕蛇。他甚至把一只当作宠物养了一段时间，直到他忘记把盖子放回油箱，它才逃走。

But he didn’t like the look of these snakes. Especially with that stuff dripping from the fangs. “ Duck! ” he yelled, leaping sideways and tackling the other athlete, who was still just standing there like a dope. Both boys tumbled to the ground. The snakes flew over them, hissing loudly. Then came the sound of loud, cackling laughter. As he sat up, Brody saw Ares striding toward them. “ It seems you did find a good champion, Hermes! ” Ares declared. “ You’re quick, boy. ” He bent down and clapped Brody on the back so hard that Brody almost fell over again.

但他不喜欢这些蛇的样子。尤其是那些从牙齿上滴落的东西。 “低下！”他大叫着，侧着身子跳过去，扑向另一名运动员，后者仍然像个笨蛋一样站在那里。 两个男孩都摔倒在地。蛇从它们身上飞过，发出巨大的嘶嘶声。 然后传来了一阵响亮、咯咯咯的笑声。当他坐起来时，布罗迪看到阿瑞斯大步走向他们。 “看来你确实找到了一个很好的冠军，赫尔墨斯！”阿瑞斯表示。“你速度很快，孩子。” 他弯下腰用力拍了拍布罗迪的背，布罗迪差点又摔倒了。

Brody stared at him for a second and then laughed. “ Thanks, dude, ” he said. “ That snake thing was cool. Can all you gods do stuff like that?” By then Hermes and Apollo had run over to the boys, along with Julia and Markos. “ Are you all right, Brody?” Markos asked, his face pale and anxious. “ That was close! ” “ Yes. ” Hermes scowled at Ares. “ A little too close. ” “ I’m fine. ” Brody jumped to his feet. “ No big deal. It was just a joke. ”

布罗迪盯着他看了一会儿，然后笑了。“谢了，伙计，”他说。“那蛇的事很酷。你们这些神都能做这样的事吗？” 这时，赫尔墨斯和阿波罗，以及茱莉亚和马库斯，已经跑到了孩子们身边。 “你没事吧，布罗迪？”马库斯问道，脸色苍白而焦急。“那太近了！” “是。”赫尔墨斯皱眉看着阿瑞斯。“有点太近了。” “我没事。”布罗迪跳了起来。“没什么大不了的。这只是个玩笑。”

“ A joke that could have killed you, ” Julia said. “ I’m guessing those snakes are venomous. ” “ Oh, they are, ” Ares said with a smirk. “ Extremely venomous. ” Brody shrugged. “ Okay. But they didn’t bite us. Like I said, no big deal. ” Apollo was glaring at Ares too. “ It might be a big deal if it happens again, ” he snapped. “ Is that a threat, sun god?” Suddenly Ares’ smile disappeared. He clenched his fists and stuck his face in the other god’s face. “ I don’t make threats, ” Apollo retorted, his eyes flashing with fury. “ I take action. ”

“一个可能会害死你的笑话，”茱莉亚说。“我猜那些蛇是有毒的。” “哦，是的，”阿瑞斯笑着说。“剧毒。” 布罗迪耸了耸肩。“好吧。但它们没有咬我们。就像我说的，没什么大不了的。” 阿波罗也怒视着阿瑞斯。“如果这种情况再次发生，可能会是一件大事，”他厉声说道。 “这是威胁吗，太阳神？”阿瑞斯的笑容突然消失了。他握紧拳头，把脸贴在对方的脸上。 “我不做威胁，”阿波罗反驳道，眼中闪烁着愤怒的光。“我会采取行动。”

“ Boys, boys. ” Artemis strolled over, looking amused by the gods’ bickering. “ You’re taking this far too seriously, ” she said. “ Shouldn’t we all be saving our best tricks for Zeus’ champion?” “ Don’t tell me what to do, sister, ” Apollo muttered. But he took a step back from Ares and looked less angry. As the gods continued bickering with each other, Julia pulled Brody away. “ No matter what the gods say, Alcides obviously isn’t their only target, ” she whispered. “ Markos told me the gods constantly try to sabotage each others’ champions. Now are you ready to escape? It’s not exactly safe for you. ”

“孩子们，孩子们。”阿尔忒弥斯走了过来，看起来像是被众神的争吵逗乐了。 “你们把这件事看得太严重了，”她说。“难道我们不应该把最好的一招留给宙斯的冠军吗？” “别告诉我该怎么做，姐姐，”阿波罗喃喃地说。但他从阿瑞斯身边退了一步，看起来没那么生气了。 当众神继续争吵时，茱莉亚把布罗迪拉开了。 “不管众神怎么说，阿尔西德斯显然不是他们唯一的目标，”她低声说道。 “马库斯告诉我，众神总是试图阻碍对方的冠军。现在你准备好逃跑了吗？这对你来说并不完全安全。”

Brody shook off her hand. “ Don’t be such a wimp, ” he said. “ Like I said, it was just a prank. My teammates and I do stuff like that all the time in the locker room. ” “ You throw deadly reptiles at each other?” Julia said sarcastically. Brody shrugged. “ Why is she making such a big deal about this?” he thought. He could handle a few pranks. If he couldn’t handle them, he’d never survive being on the football team back home!

布罗迪甩开了她的手。“别这么懦弱，”他说。 “就像我说的，这只是一个恶作剧。我和我的队友们在更衣室里总是这样做。” “你们互相扔致命的爬行动物？”茱莉亚讽刺地说。 布罗迪耸了耸肩。“她为什么要在这件事上大做文章？”他想。 他当然能应付几个恶作剧。如果他不能对付他们，他就永远无法在家乡的足球队生存！