2_Passing Through

Julia had no idea what was happening. She couldn’t hear anything but the rush of air around her. Then she landed on a hard marble floor. She stumbled forward, letting go of Brody’s arm. “ What’s going on?” Brody shouted. “ Hey! ” Julia looked around, too frightened to speak. They were in a square room with stone walls. A skylight overhead let in a beam of bright sunshine. Two young men stood in front of them. Both were tall and handsome and dressed in short robes. “ Chitons, ” Julia thought. She remembered learning that word in social studies class.

朱莉娅不知道发生了什么。她什么也听不见，只听到周围的气流。 然后她降落在一块坚硬的大理石地板上。她跌跌撞撞地向前走去，松开了布罗迪的胳膊。 “怎么回事？”布罗迪喊道。“嘿！” 茱莉亚环顾四周，吓得说不出话来。他们在一个有石墙的方形房间里。 头顶的天窗让一束明亮的阳光照射进来。两个年轻人站在他们面前。 两人都高大英俊，穿着短袍。 “古装，”茱莉亚想。她记得在社会研究课上学过那个词。

Chitons were simple garments worn by men and women in the ancient world. The classes about ancient Greece and Rome had been among Julia’s favorite parts of social studies last year. But why were these guys wearing chitons? What had happened to the high school? “ Where did the girl come from?” one guy asked. “ She wasn’t part of the plan. ” The young man’s face was so beautiful that it took Julia a moment to notice something odd. He had only a single lock of brown hair hanging over his forehead. The rest of his head was completely bald.

古装是古代男女穿着的简单服装。 去年，有关古希腊和罗马的课程一直是茱莉亚最喜欢的社会研究内容之一。 但为什么这些家伙都穿着古装呢？学校发生了什么事？ “那女孩是从哪里来的？”一个人问。“她不在计划中。” 这个年轻人的脸太漂亮了，朱莉娅花了一会儿才注意到一些奇怪的事情。 他的前额上只有一绺棕色的头发，他的头的其余部分完全秃了。

The second young man had curly blond hair and was as handsome as a movie star. He leaned forward and poked Julia. “ You, girl, ” he said. “ What are you doing here?” “ Ow! ” Julia yanked her arm away. “ Stop poking me. ” “ What’s going on?” Brody demanded again. “ Where are we?” “ Silence, mortal. ” The blond man frowned at his friend. “ The girl was a mistake. Let’s toss her back through. ” “ Are you certain you want to do that?” the bald guy said.

第二个年轻人留着卷曲的金发，和电影明星一样英俊。他向前倾去，捅了一下茱莉亚。 “你，女孩，”他说。“你在这里干什么？” “噢！”朱莉娅猛地拉开她的手臂。“别戳我了。” “怎么回事？”布罗迪再次问道。“我们在哪里？” “安静，凡人。”金发男子皱着眉头看着他的朋友。“那女孩是个错误，让我们把她扔回去吧。” “你确定要这么做吗？”秃子说。

“ Remember, this passage will close forever as soon as anyone passes back through it. ” “ I forgot about that. ” The blond guy looked annoyed. “ In that case, she’ll have to stay. “ " We might need the passage again if this doesn’t work out. ” He glanced at Brody and looked him up and down. “ Are we being kidnapped?” Julia blurted out, still trying to figure out what was happening. “ Who are you?” The blond guy chuckled. “ Do not be frightened, mortal. We won’t hurt you. Don’t you recognize me?“ “ I am Hermes, messenger of the gods and friend to mortals. ”

“记住，只要有人通过，这条通道就会永远关闭。” “我忘了。”金发男子看起来很生气。“那样的话，她就得留下来。” “如果这不奏效，我们可能需要再次通过。”他瞥了布罗迪一眼，上下打量着他。 “我们被绑架了吗？”朱莉娅脱口而出，仍然想弄清楚到底发生了什么。“你是谁？” 金发男子咯咯地笑了起来。“别害怕，凡人。我们不会伤害你的。你不认得我吗？” ”我是赫尔墨斯，众神的使者，凡人的朋友。”

“ Mortals? Gods?” Brody said. “ Huh?” Hermes held up a hand to silence him. “ And this is my friend Caerus, god of luck and opportunity. “ ” He saw the opportunity to help me humiliate Zeus by seeking a mortal champion in an unusual way. ” Hermes and Caerus both laughed heartily. Julia caught a glimpse of movement and looked down. Her eyes widened when she saw little golden wings on Hermes’ sandals. They were flapping gently. Could it be . . . ? “ I do have some influence over time and seasons, ” Caerus said, puffing out his chest proudly.

“凡人？上帝？”布罗迪说。“嗯？” 赫耳墨斯举起一只手让他安静下来。“这是我的朋友卡埃罗斯，幸运和机遇之神。” “他看到了机会，以一种不同寻常的方式寻求一个凡人选手，帮助我羞辱宙斯。” 赫耳墨斯和卡埃罗斯都开怀大笑。朱莉娅瞥见了动静，低头看了看。 当她看到赫耳墨斯凉鞋上的金色小翅膀时，她瞪大了眼睛。它们轻轻地拍打着，也许...？ “我确实对时间和季节有一些影响，”卡埃罗斯自豪地鼓起胸膛说道。

“ Not that Zeus would ever notice—he treats me like a demigod. He’ll never figure out that I helped Hermes defeat him with a champion from the future. ” “ What? This is stupid, ” Brody said loudly. “ Look, I’m tired of your dumb stories. Why did you really grab me and drag me in here?” “ It’s quite simple, my simple mortal friend, ” Hermes said. “ You see, the next Olympic Games will begin soon. ” “ The Olympics?” Julia echoed. Caerus nodded. “ And as usual, Zeus is already bragging about how his champion will easily defeat all others. ”

“宙斯不会注意到——他把我当作半神。他永远不会明白，我帮助赫尔墨斯击败了他，赢得了未来的冠军。” “什么？这太荒唐了，”布罗迪大声说道。 “听着，我厌倦了你那些愚蠢的故事。你为什么抓住我，把我拖到这里来？” “这很简单，我简单的凡人朋友，”赫尔墨斯说。“你看，下一届奥运会很快就要开始了。” “奥运会？”茱莉亚附和道。 卡埃罗斯点了点头。“和往常一样，宙斯已经在吹嘘他的选手将如何轻松击败所有其他人。”