Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 Marcus dove to the ground, his chin smacking the hard stone. He braced himself for the crushing blow of thousands of pounds of marble hitting him. He heard a terrible crash! But he felt nothing. He peeled open his eyes and peered around. To his amazement, the broken statue was just behind him. It must have sailed right over him. Marcus whispered a thank-you to the gods. Poor Achilles had lost his head, which was now rolling slowly in the street. Marcus could practically hear the warrior's deathly cries.

马库斯扑倒在地，下巴撞在坚硬的石头上。 数千磅的大理石砸向他，他打起精神来承受沉重的打击。 他听到一声可怕的撞击声!但是他什么也感觉不到。 他睁开眼睛向四周张望。 令他吃惊的是，那座破碎的雕像就在他身后。 肯定是从他头上飞过的。 马库斯低声向诸神道谢。 可怜的阿喀琉斯失去了他的头，现在正在街上慢慢地滚动。 马库斯几乎能听到战士临死前的哭声。

But Marcus himself was in one piece, and the earth had stopped shaking. Marcus pulled himself up. He put his hand to his chin, and it came away streaked with blood. Otherwise he was unhurt. A humpbacked street vendor came up to him. "Don't even think about stealing those apples," he barked, reaching down and snatching two apples that had escaped from his baskets. "I wouldn't," Marcus said, spotting a third hidden behind the fountain. He should give it to the man, he knew. But just the thought of the juicy apple made his stomach flip with joy. Festus fed his slaves nothing but watery gruel and old cheese. The fruit seller didn't spot it, and Marcus said nothing. "That giant beast must be restless," said the man, spitting on one of the apples and rubbing it against his rough tunic. "Giant?" Marcus asked. "Everyone knows that's why the earth is shaking," the man replied, looking at Marcus as though he must be stupid not to know this. "There's a great beast living under the mountain.

但马库斯自己安然无恙，大地也停止了震动。 马库斯爬了起来。他把手放在下巴上，手拿开时沾满了鲜血。 除此之外，他没有受伤。一个驼背的街头小贩向他走来。 “想都别想偷那些苹果。”他吼道，伸手抓了两个从篮子里逃出来的苹果。 “我不会，”马库斯说，他发现了第三个藏在喷泉后面的人。 他知道，他应该把它交给那个人。 但一想到这个多汁的苹果，他的胃就高兴得翻腾起来。 非斯都只给他的奴隶吃稀粥和陈乳酪。 卖水果的没发现，马库斯也没说什么。 “那只巨兽一定是焦躁不安，”那人说着，朝其中一个苹果吐了口唾沫，在自己粗糙的外衣上擦了擦。 “巨人?”马库斯问道。“每个人都知道这就是地球震动的原因，”那人回答，看着马库斯，好像他不知道这一点一定是愚蠢的。 “山下住着一头巨兽。

Every few years it wakes up and the city shakes. Then it goes to sleep again." Marcus thought of his father — Tata. Talk of monsters and magic always made Tata shake his head. Tata said it was only natural that people would make up stories or blame the gods for what they couldn't understand — wild storms and killing fevers, dead crops and mad dogs. But science always held the answer, Tata believed, if you looked hard enough. Marcus didn't say this now. It wasn't right for a slave to correct the opinion of a free man, even if the man was just a poor fruit seller. What amazed Marcus was that people in Pompeii just accepted these tremors, shrugging them off as they would a rainstorm. Even now, shoppers were already back to haggling for bargains. The fruit seller turned away and Marcus grabbed the hidden apple, slipping it into his pocket. He picked up the heavy laundry sack and threw it onto his back with a sigh. Festus wouldn't care if a monster really had come stomping through Pompeii. Marcus had better get back to

每隔几年它就会苏醒，城市就会震动。 然后它又睡着了。” 马库斯想起了他的父亲——塔塔。 谈到怪物和魔法，塔塔总是摇头。 塔塔说，人们很自然地会编造故事，或者把他们无法理解的事情——暴风雨、致人死亡的发烧、死庄稼和疯狗——归咎于神灵。 但塔塔相信，如果你足够努力，科学总会给出答案。 马库斯现在没这么说。 一个奴隶纠正一个自由人的观点是不对的，即使这个自由人只是一个贫穷的水果小贩。 令马库斯惊讶的是，庞贝城的人们只是接受了这些震动，就像对待暴风雨一样耸耸肩。 即使是现在，消费者也已经重新开始讨价还价了。 卖水果的人转过身去，马库斯抓起藏起来的苹果，塞进了自己的口袋。 他拿起沉重的洗衣袋，叹了口气，扔到背上。 非斯都不会在乎庞贝是否真的有怪物来过。 马库斯最好回去了

his master's villa soon, or he'd be greeted with a beating. He was turning to leave when he noticed an old woman sitting in the street, dazed. The shaking must have knocked her down. Passersby stepped around her as if she were a heap of trash. Marcus ignored the woman; there were beggars everywhere, after all. But she looked so miserable. With a sigh, he once again dropped the laundry sack. He went to the woman, crouching down next to her. She was a beggar, it seemed, her tunic stained and tattered, her bare feet crusted with sores. She scowled at him. "Scat, thief!" "I wasn't going to steal anything," Marcus said. He should have ignored the hag like everyone else did. But then the woman's face softened. She studied Marcus with her catlike green eyes. She was very old, with sagging cheeks and deep wrinkles. But Marcus could imagine that a long time ago she might have been pretty. "What do you want, then?" she asked.

快去他主人的别墅，不然他会被揍一顿的。 他正要转身离开，这时他注意到一个老妇人坐在街上，神情恍惚。 一定是摇晃把她撞倒了。 路人绕过她，仿佛她是一堆垃圾。 马库斯没有理睬那个女人;毕竟到处都是乞丐。 但她看起来很痛苦。 他叹了口气，又一次放下了洗衣袋。 他走向那个女人，蹲在她身边。 她看起来像个乞丐，她的外衣又脏又破，光着的脚上满是疮。 她怒视着他。“嘘,小偷!”“我没打算偷任何东西，”马库斯说。 他应该像其他人一样忽略那个妖婆。 但随后那女人的脸色变得柔和了。 她用猫一般的绿眼睛打量着马库斯。 她很老了，双颊下垂，皱纹很深。 但马库斯可以想象，很久以前她可能很漂亮。 “那么你想要什么?”她问。

Almost without thinking, he reached into his pocket and took out the apple. "Here," he said. She looked hungrier than he was. The woman took the apple in one of her gnarled hands. "Help me up, please." Marcus held her arms as she got to her feet, and stood with her as she steadied herself. And then she suddenly grabbed his hand, gripping it with surprising strength. "Be careful, kind boy," she whispered. "I have seen the signs. Terrible doom is coming for the

他几乎不假思索地把手伸进口袋，拿出了苹果。 “给你，”他说。她看上去比他更饿。 那女人用一只粗糙的手接过苹果。 “请扶我起来。”马库斯扶着她的胳膊，让她站起来，让她站稳。 然后她突然抓住他的手，以惊人的力量抓住它。 “小心点，善良的孩子，”她低声说。 “我已经看到了迹象。可怕的厄运即将降临

people of Pompeii." She leaned so close that he smelled the strange spices on her breath. "When hope is lost, follow the hand of Mercury." She stepped back. "Do you understand?" Marcus had no idea what she meant. All over Pompeii there were statues of the powerful messenger god, with his winged sandals and helmet. But what did that matter to him? "I understand," he lied. Now he just wanted to get away from her. "The end is coming," she said, finally letting go of his hand. "This world will burn!"

庞贝人。”她靠得很近，他闻到了她呼吸中奇怪的香料味。 "失去希望时，跟随墨丘利之手" 她往后退了一步。“你明白吗?”马库斯不明白她的意思。 庞贝城到处都是这位强大的信使神的雕像，他穿着带翼的凉鞋和头盔。 但这跟他有什么关系? “我明白，”他撒了个谎。现在他只想离开她。 “末日来了，”她说，终于放开了他的手。 “这个世界将被烧毁!”