4 Dirty work

Chapter 4 Dirty work "That task took you a whole year!" laughed King Eurystheus. "For your next task, go and clean out the stables of King Augeas- in a single day." How hard can that be?

欧律斯透斯王笑道：“那件事花了你整整一年的时间！” “你的下一个任务，去把国王奥吉亚斯的马厩打扫干净——在一天之内。” 这能有多难？

King Augeas was delighted to see Hercules. "My stables are the filthiest in the land," he said. "Are you really going to clean them up in a single day?" Hercules was very confident. "I bet you I can do it," he boasted. "If you manage it, I'll give you a hundred of my cows," said Augeas.

国王奥吉阿斯见到赫拉克勒斯很高兴。 “我的马厩是全国最脏的，”他说。 “你真的打算在一天之内把它们清理干净吗？”赫拉克勒斯非常自信。 “我打赌我能做到，”他夸口说。 “如果你做到了，我就给你一百头牛，”奥吉亚斯说。

Inside the stables, piles of mucky manure towered high, and it smelled disgusting. But Hercules set to work with a shovel, smiling. After a hour, he stopped smiling. There was simply too much muck. Hercules rested on the shovel and looked through a window in the stables. Just outside, he saw a river.

马厩里，一堆堆肮脏的粪肥堆得高高的，散发出难闻的气味。 但赫拉克勒斯微笑着用铲子干活。 过了一个小时，他不再笑了。 实在是太脏了。 赫拉克勒斯坐在铁锹上，透过马厩的一扇窗户往外看。 就在外面，他看到一条河。

Hercules had an idea. Using the shovel, he knocked a big hole in the wall. Then he opened the doors. He began to dig a long ditch. By noon, it reached from the stables all the way to the river.

赫拉克勒斯有了一个主意。他用铲子在墙上敲了一个大洞。 然后他打开了门。他开始挖一条长沟。 到了中午，它从马厩一直延伸到河边。

Next, he found a massive boulder, and dropped it into the river. The water hit the boulder and ran off into the ditch. Soon, great floods of water swept through the stables, washing out all the muck in an instant. Augeas gasped in amazement.

接着，他找到一块巨石，把它扔进河里。 水打在巨石上，流进沟里。 很快，洪水席卷了马厩，瞬间冲走了所有的淤泥。 奥吉亚斯惊讶地倒吸了一口冷气。

Once again, Hercules went back to Tiryns triumphant. A whole herd of cows came with him. For a change, Eurystheus was looking happy. "You may have cleaned the stables," he said, "but it's not right to get paid for doing a task, even in cows. That task doesn't count!"

赫拉克勒斯再一次凯旋回到提林斯。 和他一起来的还有一大群牛。 不过，欧律斯透斯看起来很高兴。 “你可能打扫过马厩，”他说，“但做一件事就拿钱是不对的，即使是用牛来做。 那项任务不算！”