3 Heracles

CHAPTER 3 Heracles Heracles was the strongest man who ever lived. His father was the god Zeus and his mother was a human. When he was just a baby, two poisonous snakes slithered into Heracles's crib. But was he scared? Heracles was not. Instead, he grabbed each snake with a chubby fist. He tossed them out the window. Then he laughed and giggled in his crib. Everyone knew that Heracles was bound for great things. And everyone loved him, except for Hera, queen of the gods.

赫拉克勒斯是有史以来最强壮的人。 他的父亲是宙斯神，母亲是人类。 当他还是个婴儿的时候，两条毒蛇爬进了赫拉克勒斯的婴儿床。 但他害怕吗？赫拉克勒斯却没有。 相反，他用胖乎乎的拳头抓住了每一条蛇。 他把它们扔出了窗外。 然后他在他的婴儿床上咯咯地笑。 每个人都知道赫拉克勒斯注定要成就大事。 所有人都爱他，除了众神之后赫拉。

When Heracles was a grown man, Hera decided to throw trouble his way. She convinced her cousin King Eurystheus to send Heracles on a quest to complete impossible tasks. Heracles would have to prove that he was the strongest man in the world. He could not turn the king down. His pride was too great. Heracles agreed to the quest. Hera's hope was that Heracles would not be able to complete the tasks. "First, you must kill the lion of Nemea. It is a beast that no weapons can wound," the king told Heracles. "As you wish, King," Heracles said. Heracles hunted down the great lion. He strangled the beast with his bare hands. Then he returned to the kingdom. "What is my next task?" asked Heracles. "You must kill the nine-headed Hydra," said the king.

赫拉克勒斯长大成人后，赫拉决定给他找麻烦。 她说服她的堂兄欧律斯透斯国王派赫拉克勒斯去完成不可能完成的任务。 赫拉克勒斯必须证明他是世界上最强壮的人。 他无法拒绝国王的请求。 他太骄傲了。赫拉克勒斯答应了。 赫拉希望赫拉克勒斯不能完成这些任务。 “首先，你必须杀死涅米亚的狮子。 这是一种没有武器可以伤害的野兽，”国王告诉赫拉克勒斯。 “如您所愿，国王。”赫拉克勒斯说。 赫拉克勒斯追捕了那头大狮子。 他赤手空拳勒死了那头野兽。 然后他回到了王国。 “我的下一个任务是什么？”赫拉克勒斯问。 “你必须杀死九头蛇。”国王说。

"As you wish, King," said Heracles. Killing the Hydra was a most difficult job. It was also very dangerous. One of the Hydra's heads was immortal and could never die. But the other eight heads were worse. If one was chopped off, two more grew back in its place! Each of its nine mouths spewed deadly, poisonous breath. But Heracles set out for the adventure anyway. His strength and smarts were endless. Along the journey, Heracles figured out a way to kill the nine-headed Hydra. After a long and harsh voyage to the lake of Lerna, Heracles met the terrible Hydra. True to legend, it breathed terrible poison. Its nine heads darted and snapped at Heracles. But the strongest man alive was prepared. Heracles cut off each of the Hydra's nine heads with a mighty sword. He buried the immortal head under the earth

“如您所愿，国王。”赫拉克勒斯说。 杀死九头蛇是最困难的工作。 这也是非常危险的。 九头蛇的一个头是永生不死的。 但其他八个正面的情况更糟。 如果一个被砍掉了，另两个又会长出来！它的九张嘴都吐出致命的毒气。 但赫拉克勒斯还是出发去冒险了。 他的力量和智慧是无穷的。 在旅途中，赫拉克勒斯想出了一个杀死九头蛇的方法。 经过漫长而艰苦的航行到达勒纳湖后，赫拉克勒斯遇到了可怕的九头蛇。 正如传说所言，它会吐出可怕的毒药。 它的九个头向赫拉克勒斯猛冲过来。 但最强壮的人已经做好了准备。 赫拉克勒斯用一把强大的剑砍下了九头蛇的每一个头。 他把不朽的头颅埋在地下

and covered it with a heavy rock. Then he sealed each headless neck with a hot iron poker. This prevented the Hydra from growing any heads back. When Heracles returned to the king, he asked, "Have I proven myself worthy yet?" "No. Not yet. Next you must tame the wild white deer with golden horns. Bring her to me. She lives in the forest of Artemis, the goddess of hunting," the king demanded. It took Heracles a year to find the white deer. It ran faster than any other creature. This made it almost impossible to capture. But of course, Heracles was able to do it. Under his hand, the wild deer became meek. As requested, he brought the deer back to the king. "Here is your white deer," Heracles said to the king. "I have tamed it. It is gentle as can be." "Now bring me the great boar from

然后用一块大石头盖住了它。 然后他用热铁拨火钳封住每个无头的脖子。 这就阻止了九头蛇长出任何脑袋。 当赫拉克勒斯回到国王面前时，他问道：“我证明了自己的价值吗？”“没有。 还没有。接下来你必须驯服长着金角的野生白鹿。 带她来见我。她住在狩猎女神阿尔忒弥斯的森林里，”国王问道。 赫拉克勒斯花了一年的时间才找到那只白鹿。 它比其他任何生物都跑得快。 这使得它几乎不可能被捕获。 当然，赫拉克勒斯做到了。 在他的手下，野鹿变得温顺了。 按照国王的要求，他把鹿带回给国王。 “这是你的白鹿，”赫拉克勒斯对国王说。 “我已经驯服了它。这是最温和的了。” “现在把那头野猪给我带来。

Mount Erymanthos," the king commanded. Heracles went out to perform this task. He went up to the mountain and searched for the beast. Once he found the boar, Heracles chased it up the mountain. He was able to drive the beast into the deep snow at the top of the mountain. There he trapped the creature and brought it back to the king. But the king was not done giving Heracles missions. Hera made the king continue Heracles's quest. There were to be twelve tasks in all. Each one was equally difficult, or humiliating, or painful. Each time Heracles set out to complete a task, he was successful. The last part of the quest was the worst of all. "Bring me Cerberus, the three-headed dog from Hades. I want him brought to me alive. Then you will have finally proven yourself to be the strongest man in the world," the king

伊利曼索斯山。”国王命令道。 赫拉克勒斯出去执行这项任务。 他就上山去找那兽。 赫拉克勒斯一找到野猪，就把它追上了山。 他成功地把野兽赶进了山顶的厚雪里。 在那里，他把怪物困住，带回给国王。 但是国王还没有给赫拉克勒斯完成任务。 赫拉让国王继续赫拉克勒斯的任务。 一共有十二项任务。 每一次都同样困难，或者羞辱，或者痛苦。 每次赫拉克勒斯着手完成一项任务，他都是成功的。 探索的最后一部分是最糟糕的。 “给我带来刻耳伯勒斯，那只来自冥府的三头狗。 我要他活着给我。 然后你将最终证明你是世界上最强壮的人，”国王说

said. Heracles bravely went down into the underworld. No mortal ever dared to go there. The trip was horrible. It was difficult for a person to enter and exit the underworld alive. The gods Athena and Hermes helped Heracles travel safely. When Heracles arrived at the entrance to Hades's lair, he could barely see anything. But he heard a growl in the darkness. It sounded like three growls in one. This must be Cerberus, Heracles thought. He began to speak to the god of the underworld. He knew that Hades would be standing close to his three-headed dog. "Hades, hear me. I am Heracles, sent by King Eurystheus. I must bring him your dog, Cerberus, in order to be released from my horrible quest. Will you allow it?" Heracles called into the darkness.

说。赫拉克勒斯勇敢地下到地下世界。 没有一个凡人敢去那里。 这次旅行糟透了。一个人要活着进出阴间是很困难的。 雅典娜神和赫尔墨斯神帮助赫拉克勒斯安全旅行。 当赫拉克勒斯到达哈迪斯巢穴的入口时，他几乎什么也看不见。 但他听到黑暗中有一声咆哮。 听起来像是三声咆哮。 这一定是刻耳伯勒斯，赫拉克勒斯想。 他开始与冥界之神对话。 他知道哈迪斯就站在他的三头狗旁边。 “哈迪斯，听我说。我是赫拉克勒斯，欧律斯透斯国王派来的。 我必须把你的狗，刻耳柏洛斯带给他，这样我才能摆脱我可怕的任务。 你会允许吗？”赫拉克勒斯对着黑暗喊道。