英语：爱洛斯和普绪喀的爱情故事

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Beauty that brings misfortune Beauty is universally treasured, yet beauty might also bring great misfortune. 　　Once there were a king and his queen, who had three beautiful daughters. The youngest one, Psyche, is the most beautiful of the three daughters, and people see she were Aphrodite on earth — the goddess of beauty. Men from neighboring countries swarmed to enjoy the sight of her, but none treated her as someone to court1). Therefore, Psyche remains single, started feeling miserable, and began to hate her beauty. 　　Meanwhile, the goddess of beauty — Aphrodite disliked this at all, so she instructed her son — the god of love Eros to shoot his lead arrows against the girl, and thus make her fall in love with a worst specimen2) of the human race, who was not born in a noble family, with no wealth, intelligence, character, handsomeness, or courage. Apollo’s Oracle3) 　　In ancient Greece, people felt it necessary to consult the Oracle of Apollo when they were puzzled at their future. Therefore Psyche’s father went to Delphi4), and there he asked where he was to find a husband for his most beautiful daughter, and it declared that Psyche was to marry a horrible monster on the top of a mountain. 　　Then Eros came to Psyche’s home with his mother’s instructions. However, he was so attracted by her beauty that in a haste of fulfilling his task, he hurt himself with his golden arrow and fell hopelessly in love with her. 　　When the girl and her father determined to do as the Oracle instructed, and went to the foot a mountain, Zephyrus suddenly springing up, lifted her into a valley, and laid her gently on a bed starred with flowers. There she fell asleep, and when she awoke she walked into a nearby wood, and found a wonderfully built palace.

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Psyche’s Life on the Mountain

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　　When Psyche had walked among the many wonders treasured in this fabulous castle, a voice coming from nowhere told her that the castle was hers, and gently invited her to rest in the bedroom while she waited for her bath and the wedding banquet5). 　　When the banquet was over, she heard the gentle whisper of her unknown husband, as he was climbing into bed with her. But her husband left her, just before daybreak. And in this way night after night her husband paid her visit, without ever showing himself. 　　Meanwhile, Psyche's sisters started searching for her. When Psyche knew this, she cried to his husband that she would die unless she were allowed to see her sisters, her husband reluctantly6) agreed, though he knew that her sisters were wicked women. 　　Next day the Zephyrus brought Psyche's sisters to the castle. They started to feel miserably jealous as soon as they arrived and saw the wonderful home of Psyche. 　　And they conspired7) to trick Psyche and urged her to look at her husband, saying that her husband was really a hissing8) serpent9). Psyche, out of curiosity, determined to follow her sisters’ instructions, went back to her room, and when Eros was in his sound sleep, she raised the lamp… The Truth is Discovered 　　But there was no poisonous snake; the sweet and beautiful god of love was gently sleeping. 　　Examining his weapons, Psyche pulled an arrow, but carelessly pierced the skin. She fell in love with her husband. In a hurry she dropped a drop of oil on Eros’ shoulder and out of pain he flew away from the window. 　　Finding that she was already pregnant and deeply in love with Eros, Psyche regretted about her doings, so she came to Aphrodite for help. Aphrodite gave Psyche some impossible tasks. However, with the help of several gods, Psyche accomplished all the tasks. 　　Then Aphrodite gave Psyche the final task: to go to Queen Persephone in the Underworld and bring the beauty box back to Aphrodite. 　　Persephone gave her the beauty box but warned her not to open it. But as before Psyche could not retain her curiosity, also she wanted to take a tiny touch of the beauty, she opened the box, but out crept not beauty but truly Stygian10) sleep, and she falling to the ground, she lay like a corpse11). 　　Now Psyche would have slept for ever, had not Eros, now recovered from his sickness, come to shut the cloud of sleep up again in the box and roused Psyche with the harmless prick of an arrow (but artists prefer it to be kiss). Zeus was moved by the love between them and granted Psyche immortality, Aphrodite also forgave her, so they lived happily on Olympus. 带来厄运的美貌 　　美为全世界人所珍视，但是，美也可能带来厄运。 　　

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从前有一位国王和王后，他们有三个漂亮的女儿。最小的女儿普绪喀是最漂亮的，人们都说她是阿弗洛蒂狄——美神下凡。临国的男人也为了欣赏她的美蜂拥而至，但却没人把她当作可以追求的女孩。因此，普绪喀一直独身一人。她开始感到难过，并憎恨自己的美貌。 　　同时，美神阿弗洛蒂狄对此也很是不满，所以她命令儿子——爱神爱洛斯把他的箭射向这个女孩，让她爱上人间最差的一种人——他没有高贵的出身，没有钱财和智慧，既没个性也不英俊，甚至没有勇气。 阿波罗的神谕 　　在古希腊，当人们对未来感到迷茫的时候，会觉得应该请示阿波罗的神谕。于是普绪喀的父王动身去了德尔斐请示神谕，问自己最漂亮的女儿将嫁给什么样的丈夫，神谕宣称普绪喀将在一座山峰上嫁给一个可怕的怪物。 　　而爱洛斯也奉其母亲的命令来到了普绪喀的家。但是，他被女孩的美貌深深吸引，以至于在匆忙完成使命时，不小心让金箭划伤了自己，因而他无可救药地爱上了普绪喀。 当普绪喀和父亲决定遵循神谕的指示，来到一座山脚下时，突然西风之神平地而起，把普绪喀带到了山谷中，又轻轻地把她放在缀满鲜花的床上。这时，她陷入了沉睡中。醒来后，她走向附近的一片树林，发现了一座富丽堂皇的宫殿。 普绪喀生活在山顶 　　当普绪喀徜徉在这座富丽宫殿的种种奇幻中时，不知从何处传来一个声音，告诉她说，这座城堡将为她所有，并温柔地邀请她到卧室休息，等待沐浴更衣以及婚宴。 　　婚宴结束，她听到了从未谋面的丈夫轻声的呼唤，他来到了她的床上。但天亮之前，丈夫就离开了。就这样夜复一夜，丈夫来了又去，却从未以真面目示人。 　　与此同时，普绪喀的姐姐们开始寻找她。普绪喀知道后，哭着对丈夫说：如果见不到姐姐们，她就会死掉的。她丈夫尽管知道她的姐姐们是邪恶的女人，但最终还是很不情愿地同意了。 　　第二天，西风之神把普绪喀的两个姐姐带到了城堡中。她们看到普绪喀美丽的家之后，立刻开始异常嫉妒起她来。 　　她们开始密谋骗她，催促她看一眼她的丈夫，说她的丈夫实际上是嘶嘶吐信的大毒蛇。普绪喀出于好奇，决定听从姐姐们的建议，回到房间后，趁爱洛斯熟睡之际，她举起了灯…… 真相大白 　　但并没有什么毒蛇，那里沉睡的正是甜美的爱神。 　　在查看他的武器时，普绪喀抽出一支箭，但却不小心刺破了皮肤，从此爱上了丈夫。慌乱间，她将一滴灯油溅落到了爱洛斯的肩头，他痛得从窗户飞走了。 　　而普绪喀发现自己怀孕了，而且深爱着爱洛斯，因此非常后悔自己的所作所为，于是她找到阿弗洛蒂狄请求帮助。阿弗洛蒂狄给了普绪喀很多难以完成的任务。但是，在诸神的帮助下，普绪喀顺利完成了所有任务。 　　于是，阿弗洛蒂狄给了普绪喀最后一项任务：去地狱冥后那里把“美之盒”带回来给她。 　　冥后把盒子给她，但是警告她不要打开盒子。可是就像从前一样，普绪喀无法控制自己的好奇，她也想从盒子中获得一些美丽，于是她打开了盒子。但是，从盒子中飞出来的并非美丽而是睡神。她就这样倒在地上，像死尸般沉沉地睡去。 　　如果不是爱洛斯及时出现，也许普绪喀会一直沉睡。爱洛斯这时已经痊愈了，他把睡神重新关回盒子里，用他的箭尖轻轻戳醒了她(尽管艺术家更愿意把这个动作描述为一个吻)。宙斯被他们之间的爱感动，赐予普绪喀永生，美神也原谅了她，他们自此幸福地生活在奥林匹斯山上。

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与脖子有关的英语习惯用语

　　美国人在讲话和写文章的时候经常用一些和人体各部份有关系的成语或俗语。今天我们要给大家介绍的四个习惯用语就是和脖子neck有关的。 　　1 to stick your neck out 　　在任何情况下把脖子伸得太长都是既冒险又危险的。中国话里有“枪打出头鸟”的说法。在英文里就是：to stick your neck out。据说 to stick your neck out 这个说法来自于形容乌龟的处境。当乌龟的头缩在乌龟壳里的时候，一切都很安全。可是，一旦它们把头伸出来，那可就危险了。如今，to stick your neck out 为了某人或某件事冒风险，已经成为美国人在日常生活中常用的表达形式了。 　　例如：I think my boss is dead wrong about hiring his son-in-law, but I'm not going to stick my neck out and tell him! 　　我认为我的老板雇用他的女婿是绝对错误的，但是我才不去冒那风险去告诉他呐。 　　又如：I admire our congressman--he's one politician who's not afraid to stick his neck out and say what he really thinks, even if it costs him some votes. 　　我很钦佩我们的国会议员。他是一个敢于冒着风险说自己心里话的政治家尽管那样做会使他失去一些选票。 　　2 to break your neck 　　Break 这个字的意思是把什么东西弄断或打破。但是，to break your neck 的意思并不是指你的脖子真的断了。 To break your neck作为俗语是尽一切力量努力去做某件事的意思。 　　下面这位爸爸说的话就很清楚地告诉大家 to break your neck 这个俗语的用法：I wish Sam would study harder, because I am breaking my neck to scrape up the money to keep him in college. 　　我希望萨姆在念书方面再用功一些，因为我一直在想尽一切办法来凑足了钱好让他继续念大学。 　　下面这个例子中的这个修电视机的工人比较运气，碰到了一个好顾客。这位顾客对他说： 　　You don't have to break your neck fixing this TV set: I really don't need it next week. 　　你不必着急修这个电视机，我下星期并不需要它。 　3 pain in the neck 　　Pain 这个字大家都知道是痛的意思。Neck 是指脖子。但是，pain in the neck 并不是脖子痛的意思，pain in the neck 是说某人很讨厌。这个俗语非常普遍，你每天都可以听到美国人这么说: "He's a real pain in the neck." “那个人真讨厌。” 　　例如：I want to run and hide every time I see that woman come into my place. A real pain in the neck; she's always complaining about the food and the service. 　　每当我看到那个女人来到我饭馆的时候，我总是想拔腿就跑，到什么地方去躲起来。她可真是讨厌，老是抱怨不是饭菜不好，就是服务不好。 　　Pain in the neck 不是一定要针对别人说的，有时还可以用在自己身上。下面是一个很不高兴的爸爸在对儿子说话： 　　I don't want to be a pain in the neck, son, but I've reminded you a dozen times already to clean up your room. Better do it tonight, or you can't use the car this weekend. 　　儿子，我并不想让你讨厌，但是我已经提醒你几十次了，要你把房间整理干净。你还是今天晚上把房间打扫干净的好，否则，这个周末你就别想用汽车。 　　4 neck and neck 　　Neck and neck 是指比赛进行得很激烈，竞争双方不相上下。 Neck and neck 这个说法原先是来自比赛，如赛跑、赛马等。就拿赛马来说吧，有的时候两匹马齐头并进，很难分辨出那匹马在前头，那一匹在后头。在有的情况下，一匹马由于它的脖子比另一匹马先到终点而获胜，还有的时候甚至由于它的头，或它的鼻子先到而成了冠军。但是，neck and neck 现在也经常用在别的竞争方面，例如： 　　Right now, only a week from the election, the republicans and the democrats are running neck to neck and none of the experts can predict which party will win. 　　现在离开选举只有一个星期了，但是，共和党和民主党在竞选方面仍然不分上下，没有一个专家能预测到底那个党会在竞选中获胜。 　　Neck and neck 有时还可以用在其他场合，比如某档广播节目的播送： 　　I'm running neck and neck with the clock to see if I can finish on time. 　　这次节目的时间已经很紧了，我正在加紧播送，不知能不能在限定时间内播完这次节目。

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英语里各种亲戚的称谓

　　有位男士妙用表示大学学位的三个英文词讲了一则幽默：人生会经历的三个阶段：没结婚的时候是无忧无虑的bachelor(单身汉)；结婚以后得做主持家事的一家之主(master)；而一旦孩子出生，就变成了无微不至的大夫(doctor 即Ph. D.)。这三个英语词bachelor、master、doctor (Ph. D.) 原本的一层含义分别是“学士、硕士、博士”，这里转义一说，倒也能说得通，而且还挺传神。 　　报纸上有时候常会说起某人是个eligible bachelor，富有、家境好、且又是单身，即所谓的“ 钻石王老五”是也。“王老五”们找到意中人，准备跨入婚姻的殿堂之前，西方有习俗，在婚礼的前一天，准新郎得邀请一帮铁哥们开个bachelor party，尽情狂闹一番，因为第二天开始就得做中规中矩的尽责丈夫了。调皮、促狭一些的男友们有时会想出些歪点子，捉弄一下准新郎，以泄惋惜、妒忌、羡慕之情。 　　结婚以后，双方的immediate family(直系亲属)就都变成了对方的in-laws(姻亲)——father-in-law(岳父/公公)，mother-in-law(岳母/婆婆)，sister-in-law(姑子/姨子/嫂子/弟媳)，brother-in-law(内兄、弟/大伯子/小叔子/姐夫/妹夫)等等。 　　一看中英文的对照，就知道英语对亲属的称谓比起中文要简单得多。中文按年龄、男方还是女方的关系等等为亲属冠之以不同的称呼，而西方人似乎不太在乎这位亲戚是父亲这边的(on the father's side)还是母亲那边的(on the mother's side)，一视同仁，给一个称呼。 　　更有意思的是对distant relatives(远亲)的称呼。cousin一词不分男女，概括了所有“堂兄弟/姐妹；表兄弟/姐妹”。而 “侄子/外甥” 都是nephew；“侄女/外甥女”则都是 niece。不过，尽管英语中的称谓不如中文的分工细致, "Blood is thicker than water"(血浓于水)是东、西方人都认同的。 　　那么，既然英语的家庭关系词汇不难，我们来看看下面这段话，你是否能据此画出一张 family tree (家谱图)？ 　　Stephanie is the youngest in her family. Her elder brother Mark is married with a son Kevin. Her sister-in-law Rose used to go to the same high school with Stephanie. Her sister Kate married Thomas Hawkins last year and they've just had a baby daughter Millie. Stephanie adores her nephew and niece. Bart and Marie are Stephanie's cousins. They are children of Barbara and Peter. Aunt Barbara is the younger sister of Stephanie's father Gordon. Stephanie's mother Joy had a younger sister Liz who is divorced with a daughter Lily. Both grandparents on Stephanie's father's side have passed away. But her mother's parents Lucas and Nancy are living not far away from their house.

shuhaimin1

thank you very much