9 Fantastic Creatures Monsters Mermaids and Wild Men

CHAPTER 1 Animals and Creatures WHY DID PEOPLE IMAGINE SO MANY STRANGE CREATURES? A long, long time ago, people didn't have books or the Internet to help them understand their world. They told stories, often about animals. These stories helped people understand their world. Sometimes the animals in stories were different than in real life. People imagined strange creatures that weren't real. We call them mythical creatures. The Ancient Greeks, for example, imagined the Hydra. It killed people. It was like a giant water snake with many heads. If you cut one head off, two came back in its place. The Aztecs in Mexico believed in a mythical creature— a snake with feathers that lived in the sky. It was a symbol of new life. Real animals can be symbols, too. People are afraid of snakes because they're dangerous. So adults often tell children stories about snakes. In the stories snakes are a symbol of bad things, things that adults want children to be afraid of. In some places, people think some birds are symbols of bad luck. Tortoises in China are good luck. Black cats are bad luck in some places and good luck in others. Why? Maybe because people tell different stories in different places.

第一章动物和生物为什么人们会想象出这么多奇怪的生物？ 很久很久以前，人们没有书籍或互联网来帮助他们了解他们的世界。 他们讲故事，通常是关于动物的。 这些故事帮助人们了解他们的世界。 有时故事里的动物和现实生活中的不一样。 人们想象出一些不真实的奇怪生物。 我们称它们为神话生物。 例如，古希腊人想象了九头蛇。 它会杀人。它就像一条长着许多头的巨大水蛇。 如果你砍掉一个头，会有两个长出来。 墨西哥的阿兹特克人相信有一种神秘的生物——一条长着羽毛的蛇生活在天空中。 它是新生活的象征。 真实的动物也可以成为象征。 人们害怕蛇，因为它们很危险。 所以大人经常给孩子们讲关于蛇的故事。 在故事中，蛇是坏事的象征，是大人希望孩子们害怕的东西。 在一些地方，人们认为一些鸟是厄运的象征。 乌龟在中国是好运的象征。 黑猫在一些地方代表坏运气，在另一些地方代表好运。 为什么?也许是因为人们在不同的地方讲不同的故事。

CHAPTER 2 Wild Men STRANGE CREATURES LIKE US? In 1924, a man called Albert Ostman is on vacation in a forest in Canada. One night, he wakes up in his sleeping bag. He can't get out. Somebody's carrying him! After two hours, they stop. Albert looks out of the bag. He sees a family: father, mother, boy, and girl. They are very tall and hairy, different from normal people! They do nothing bad to Albert, but he can't leave for days. At last, when they aren't looking, he runs! Is Albert's story true? Maybe not. Or maybe he really saw a family of bigfoot! Albert only told his story 30 years later when he heard other stories like it. Many people today say they saw a bigfoot. But nobody caught one to show to other people. They say a bigfoot is very tall— two or three meters. It has a lot of hair on its body. In the west of the USA, there were other stories of "wild men" with long hair on their bodies. Stiyaha were wild men that came at night and took children. Skoocooms were cannibals— they ate other people! And there were other wild men that only took people's fish. Today, all these American wild men are called bigfoot.

第二章野人像我们这样的奇怪生物？ 1924年，一个叫阿尔伯特·奥斯特曼的人在加拿大的森林里度假。 一天晚上，他在睡袋里醒来。 他出不去了。有人在抬他！两个小时后，他们停下来。 艾伯特从包里往外看。 他看到一个家庭：父亲、母亲、男孩和女孩。 他们又高又多毛，跟正常人不一样！他们没有对艾伯特做什么坏事，但他几天不能离开。 最后，当他们不注意的时候，他跑了！艾伯特的故事是真的吗？ 也许不是。或者他真的看到了一群大脚怪！30年后，当阿尔伯特听到其他类似的故事时，他才讲述了自己的故事。 现在很多人说他们看到了大脚怪。 但是没有人抓到一只给别人看。 他们说大脚怪很高，有两到三米高。 它身上有很多毛。 在美国西部，还有其他关于身上长着长发的“野人”的故事。 士提雅哈是野人，夜间来掳掠孩童。 斯库库姆是食人族——他们吃别人！还有一些野蛮人只吃别人的鱼。 今天，所有这些美洲野人都被称为大脚怪。

There are stories of wild men in many countries. In the Himalayas, they say there's a creature called the yeti or "the wild man of the snows." Some people say they saw one, but other people think it was only a bear. Fifty years ago, many people in the Himalayas believed in yetis, but not now. But today, some people visit the Himalayas to try to find one. In Japan, there are stories of a creature like a short man, called the Hibagon. It has black hair on its body, but white hands and feet. Why do people in very different places believe in the same kind of wild men? Maybe it's because there are animals that are like people. For example, there are bears in the mountains of North America and the Himalayas. And in Borneo, there is the orangutan. This animal is sometimes called "the old man of the forest." And gorillas in Africa are like big people with a lot of hair. So maybe orangutans and other animals are behind the stories of wild men.

许多国家都有野人的故事。 在喜马拉雅山脉，人们说有一种生物叫雪人，意思是“雪地里的野人”。 有些人说他们看到了一只，但其他人认为那只是一只熊。 五十年前，喜马拉雅山的许多人相信雪人的存在，但现在不相信了。 但今天，有些人来到喜马拉雅山脉，试图找到一只。 在日本，有一种类似矮个子的生物的故事，叫做Hibagon。 它身上有黑色的毛，但手和脚是白色的。 为什么不同地方的人都相信同一种野人呢？ 也许是因为有些动物和人一样。 例如，在北美和喜马拉雅山的山上有熊。 在婆罗洲，有猩猩。 这种动物有时被称为“森林老人”。 非洲的大猩猩就像长着很多毛的大个子。 所以也许猩猩和其他动物是野人故事的幕后黑手。

CHAPTER 3 Monsters and Mermaids THERE ARE LOTS OF STORIES ABOUT STRANGE SEA CREATURES. Hundreds of years ago, people didn't know much about the world. They made maps of the parts they knew. But on their maps, there were white, empty places. On those places, they wrote, "Here, there are monsters." People looked at the maps and said, "Monsters? It must be true. It's on the map." But not everything on a map or in a book is true. Sailors always liked to tell people interesting stories when they got home from the sea. Often, the stories weren't true. But sometimes, sailors really saw strange things and didn't understand them. Then their stories were half true. Sailors told stories about mermaids and people believed them. We all know mermaids from books and movies. Mermaids are half woman, half fish. Today, we know mermaids aren't real. The sailors saw sea animals called manatees and thought they were mermaids. There are stories about mermaids in many different countries. One of the most famous is Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. She wants to be a woman with legs because she loves a man.

有许多关于奇怪的海洋生物的故事。 几百年前，人们对世界知之甚少。 他们把他们知道的地方绘制成地图。 但在他们的地图上，有白色的、空旷的地方。 在这些地方，他们写着：“这里，有怪物。” 人们看着地图说：“怪物？ 这一定是真的。它在地图上。” 但并非地图上或书上的一切都是真实的。 水手们从海上回家后总是喜欢给人们讲有趣的故事。 通常，这些故事都不是真的。 但有时，水手们真的看到了奇怪的东西，却不理解它们。 那么他们的故事就有一半是真的。 水手们讲美人鱼的故事，人们也相信了。 我们都从书和电影中了解美人鱼。 美人鱼一半是女人，一半是鱼。 今天，我们知道美人鱼不是真的。 水手们看到一种叫做海牛的海洋动物，以为它们是美人鱼。 许多国家都有关于美人鱼的故事。 其中最著名的是安徒生的《小美人鱼》。 她想成为有腿的女人，因为她爱一个男人。

A long time ago, sailors from Norway told stories of krakens. Krakens were giant sea monsters with many arms. The sailors said krakens could eat men and even fight big boats! Today, we think krakens were really giant squids. These animals usually live at the bottom of the sea, but they sometimes come up. Whales eat them there are pictures of this on the Internet. So giant squids fight whales. When they see a big boat, they can think it's a whale and fight it! Some people today believe there's a real water monster— the Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie. The story began in 1933. Two people from London, Mr. and Mrs. Spicer, visited Loch Ness, a lake in Scotland. They said they saw the monster. After that, a lot of people came. Some wanted to kill the monster. Some took pictures. You can see one here. Is it really a monster? Today, some people believe Nessie is real, maybe a kind of dinosaur. Others don't. What do you think?

很久以前，挪威的水手讲述了海怪的故事。 海怪是有许多手臂的巨大海怪。 水手们说海怪能吃人，甚至能打大船！今天，我们认为海妖其实是巨大的鱿鱼。 这些动物通常生活在海底，但有时也会浮上来。 鲸鱼吃它们，网上有这样的图片。 所以巨型乌贼和鲸鱼战斗。 当他们看到一艘大船时，他们可以认为这是一条鲸鱼，并与之搏斗！今天有些人相信真的有水怪——尼斯湖水怪或尼斯湖水怪。 故事开始于1933年。来自伦敦的斯派塞先生和夫人参观了苏格兰的尼斯湖。 他们说他们看到了怪物。 在那之后，来了很多人。 有些人想杀死怪物。 一些人拍照留念。你可以在这里看到一个。 它真的是个怪物吗？今天，有些人相信尼斯湖水怪是真的，也许是一种恐龙。 别人不喜欢。你觉得呢？

CHAPTER 4 Dragons! MYTHICAL CREATURES OR REAL DINOSAURS? Dragon stories began in different places. The first came from China and Europe. But Chinese and European dragons were very different. In Europe, ancient dragons were like snakes with wings. But a few hundred years ago, people started to imagine them with legs. European dragons usually did bad things, like kill people. Because kings wanted their people to be afraid of them, they used dragons as their symbol. The national symbol of Wales is a red dragon. People love stories about dragons. In many of these stories, people kill bad dragons. Beowulf is an English story from a thousand years ago. In the story, Beowulf wants a dragon's gold. He and his men fight the dragon. Beowulf kills it, but then he dies. The Hobbit is a story from 1937. It also has a dragon, and the dragon also has gold. Bilbo, the hobbit, takes a gold cup from the dragon. It gets angry and tries to kill people in the town. Like Beowulf, someone kills the dragon to take its gold.

第4章龙！神话中的生物还是真实的恐龙？ 龙的故事开始于不同的地方。 第一个来自中国和欧洲。 但是中国的龙和欧洲的龙非常不同。 在欧洲，古代的龙就像长着翅膀的蛇。 但几百年前，人们开始想象他们有腿。 欧洲龙通常会做坏事，比如杀人。 因为国王想让他们的人民害怕他们，所以他们用龙作为他们的象征。 威尔士的国家象征是一条红龙。 人们喜欢龙的故事。 在许多这样的故事中，人们杀死了坏龙。 贝奥武夫是一个一千多年前的英国故事。 在这个故事中，贝奥武夫想要龙的金子。 他和他的手下与恶龙作战。 贝奥武夫杀死了它，但随后他死了。 《霍比特人》是1937年的故事。 它也有一条龙，龙也有金子。 霍比特人比尔博从巨龙手中接过金杯。 它生气了，试图杀死镇上的人。 就像贝奥武夫一样，有人杀死了龙，拿走了它的金子。