Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 Marcus had barely blinked and the woman was gone, swallowed by the crowd. He felt a stab of fear as he thought of what she had said. Was she a witch who could predict the future? A priestess who could hear the whispers of the gods? Marcus thought again of his father. Tata would know what was happening here. A wave of sadness crashed over him. If only Tata were with him now! He could picture his father so clearly — his gentle blue eyes glinting through a mop of golden

马库斯眼睛还没眨一下，那女人就消失了，被人群吞没了。 想到她所说的话，他感到一阵恐惧。 她是一个能预知未来的女巫吗? 一个能听到众神低语的女祭司? 马库斯又想起了他的父亲。 塔塔会知道这里发生了什么。 一阵悲伤袭上他的心头。 要是塔塔现在和他在一起就好了!他能如此清晰地想象父亲的模样——他那双温柔的蓝眼睛透过金色的拖把闪闪发光

hair. Tata was born in Germania, a kingdom just beyond the northern boundaries of this vast Roman Empire. When Tata was just ten years old, Roman soldiers had invaded his village. Marcus's father was soon captured, sold to slave traders, and marched hundreds of miles in chains to the empire's capital city of Rome. But Tata was lucky. He was bought by a kind man, a writer and scientist named Linus Selius. He taught Tata to read and write in Latin, the language of the empire. He took Tata on research trips to faraway lands, teaching him all he knew about the natural world. Soon, Tata was helping Linus research his books and coming up with theories of his own. The years passed. Tata married Marcus's mother, who died when Marcus was just a baby. Marcus grew up helping Tata in Linus's library, one of the finest in Rome. Tata was always trying to get Marcus interested in studying nature, reading him his latest theories and dragging him on long walks through the hills above Rome.

的头发。塔塔出生在日耳曼尼亚，一个在庞大的罗马帝国北部边界之外的王国。 在塔塔十岁的时候，罗马士兵入侵了他的村庄。 马库斯的父亲很快被俘虏，卖给了奴隶贩子，带着镣铐走了几百英里来到帝国的首都罗马。 但塔塔很幸运。他被一个善良的人买走了，他是作家兼科学家，名叫莱纳斯·塞利乌斯。 他教塔塔用帝国的语言拉丁语读写。 他带着塔塔去遥远的地方做研究，教给他他所知道的关于自然世界的一切。 很快，塔塔开始帮助莱纳斯研究他的书，并提出他自己的理论。 几年过去了。塔塔娶了马库斯的母亲，马库斯小时候母亲就去世了。 马库斯是在罗马最好的图书馆之一莱纳斯的图书馆里帮助塔塔长大的。 塔塔总是试图让马库斯对研究自然产生兴趣，给他读自己最新的理论，拖着他在罗马上空的山上散步。

But it was the ancient Greek stories written centuries before that Marcus loved most, especially the tales of the great heroes like Odysseus and Hercules. How Marcus had loved his happy life with Tata! But then, two months ago, Linus Selius had died in a fever that swept through Rome. In a blink, Marcus's entire world crumbled. Marcus and Tata became the property of Linus's nephew, the brutal Festus Julius. Linus himself had always despised Festus, and the nephew wasted no time destroying his uncle's happy home. Within two days, Tata was sold. Marcus was loaded onto a donkey cart and brought here to Pompeii, a two-day trip from Rome. He was now one of ten slaves working endless days in Festus's enormous villa, one of the grandest homes in Pompeii. Where was Tata? He could be anywhere in the vast Roman Empire by now, from the rocky cliffs of Britannia to the deserts of Africa. His thoughts carried Marcus far away, until a blaring trumpet yanked him back. "It's the gladiator parade!" an old man cried out with excitement. "It's the fighters who will appear

但马库斯最喜欢的是几个世纪前写的古希腊故事，尤其是奥德修斯和赫拉克勒斯等伟大英雄的故事。 马库斯多么热爱他在塔塔的幸福生活啊!但两个月前，莱纳斯·塞利乌斯死于一场席卷罗马的高烧。 一眨眼，马库斯的整个世界崩塌了。 马库斯和塔塔成了莱纳斯的侄子，残暴的非斯都·朱利叶斯的财产。 利纳斯本人一直鄙视非斯都，这个侄子毫不犹豫地破坏了他叔叔幸福的家庭。 不到两天，塔塔就被卖掉了。 马库斯被装上一辆驴车，从罗马来到庞贝，需要两天的时间。 他现在是十个奴隶之一，在庞贝最宏伟的房子之一，费斯都的大别墅里无休止地工作。 塔塔在哪里?他现在可能在庞大的罗马帝国的任何地方，从不列颠尼亚的岩石悬崖到非洲的沙漠。 他的思绪把马库斯带到了很远的地方，直到一声刺耳的小号把他拉了回来。 “这是角斗士游行!”一位老人激动地喊道。 “战士们将会出现

tomorrow!" People jammed the sidewalks, so Marcus could not get through. Now he had no choice but to put down the laundry sack and wait. Two men on white horses led the parade, their riders waving bright flags. A band of horn players followed, and then acrobats and jugglers, and finally, a stout man with a leering smile. He was the lanista — the owner of these gladiators. The lanista waved at the crowd, proud as an emperor. Owning gladiators was a dirty business; no respectable person would do it. But the lanista had grown rich on the blood of his gladiators, and he held his head high.

明天!”人行道上挤满了人，所以马库斯无法通过。 现在他别无选择，只能放下洗衣袋等着。 两个骑着白马的男人走在队伍的前面，他们的骑手挥舞着鲜艳的旗帜。 一群吹号的人跟在后面，接着是杂技演员和杂耍演员，最后是一个带着斜眼微笑的壮汉。 他是这些角斗士的主人。 拉尼斯塔向人群挥手，骄傲得像个皇帝。 拥有角斗士是一件肮脏的事情;没有一个受人尊敬的人会这么做。 但这位拉尼斯塔靠他的角斗士的鲜血发家致富，所以他昂着头。

And then there was Cyclops, led by two young women in bright robes who were throwing rose petals.

然后是独眼巨人，由两个穿着鲜艳长袍的年轻女子带领，她们正在扔玫瑰花瓣。

"There he is!" a woman in the crowd shrieked, pointing at the muscled brute. The champion wore a gleaming bronze helmet. His massive shield matched the armor strapped to his bulging legs and arms. A leather patch hid his blind eye. Scars covered his face. Marcus had heard terrifying stories about this man — that he had jaws like a tiger's, that his battle cry was like a panther's scream, that he could snap a man's neck with one hand. The crowd cheered and hooted as Cyclops passed. But people stood silently as the next four men walked by. These were the wretched souls who would be thrown into the arena with Cyclops tomorrow. None of them had a chance against Cyclops. By tomorrow afternoon, they'd all be dead. Marcus couldn't bear to watch them. But then he caught sight of the last man in line. Marcus froze, staring. The man was tall, with golden hair streaming out of his bronze helmet. He walked slowly, with

“他在那儿!”人群中的一个女人指着这个肌肉发达的畜生尖叫道。 冠军戴着一顶闪闪发光的青铜头盔。 他那巨大的盾牌与绑在他隆起的腿和手臂上的盔甲相匹配。 一块皮罩遮住了他那只失明的眼睛。 伤疤布满了他的脸。马库斯听过关于这个人的可怕故事——他的下巴像老虎一样，他的战斗叫声像豹子的尖叫，他可以用一只手扭断一个人的脖子。 当独眼巨人经过时，人群欢呼雀跃。 但当接下来的四个人走过时，人们默默地站着。 这些可怜的灵魂明天将和独眼巨人一起被扔进竞技场。 他们都没机会打败独眼巨人。 到明天下午，他们就都死了。 马库斯看不下去了。 但就在这时，他看到了队伍里的最后一个人。 马库斯呆呆地看着。那人身材高大，金色的头发从他的青铜头盔上垂下来。 他慢慢地走着