Prometheus was happy to be of service5 to man. He taught people how to make their own tools and how to build homes for themselves. He taught them how to plant and grow their own food, and how to use animals to make their work easier. He even taught them how to make music and how to paint. But without fire, life on earth was very difficult. Food had to be eaten raw; houses could not be kept warm. Tools had to be of stone , because there was no fire for working metal.

　　Athena , daughter of Zeus, had been watching over6 Prometheus and had helped him in his work. Now, because Prometheus was kind and wanted man to be comfortable on earth, he called upon Athena to help him get fire from Mount Olympus. She knew that Zeus was away and promised to lead Prometheus to Mount Olympus by a secret path . . .

　　Just as he arrived Apollo came back from his day’s journey in his chariot7 of the sun. Prometheus lit a torch from the chariot and put the fire in a hollow stalk that he concealed under his cloak. Then he stole away without being seen by any of the gods, and brought his fire to earth.

　　When Prometheus lit the first campfire on earth, the people were afraid of it. But they trusted him, and so they came closer and closer and enjoyed the fire’s pleasant warmth and beautiful glow.

　　Prometheus knew that he would not have much time before Zeus discovered that he had been disobedient. But he also knew that, powerful as Zeus was, once a god had given a gift it could not be taken away. So he quickly taught the mortals how to use the gift of fire.

　　閱讀自測

　　Ⅰ. Fill in each blank with word or phrase in the p as sage :

　　1. Zeus told Prometheus to teach the _______( 人類) anything they needed to know in order to live .

　　2. Prometheus was so happy to _______( 幫助) to man that he taught people how to make their own tools and how to build homes for themselves.

　　3. Athena , daughter of Zeus, had been _______( 監督) Prometheus and had helped him in his work.

　　4. Prometheus knew that he would not have much time before Zeus discovered that he had been _____( 違命) .

　　Ⅱ. Question : When the first campfire was lit on earth, how did human react to it?

　　參考答案

　　Ⅰ. 1. mortals 2. be of service 3 . watching over 4. disobedient

　　Ⅱ. When the first campfire was lit on earth, the people were afraid of it. As they trusted Prometheus, they came closer and closer and enjoyed the fire’s pleasant warmth and beautiful glow.

　　參考譯文

　　偷來火種的巨人———普羅米修斯

　　宙斯讓普羅米修斯傳授了人類生存所必需的一切知識。普羅米修斯還必須教人類藝 術, 這樣人們就可以建造漂亮的廟宇來向諸神表達敬意了。事實上, 只有一件事情他不能教 人類。

　　“ 除了火種, 你可以送給人類任何禮物, ”宙斯說,“ 火種僅為神靈所有, 必須保存在奧 林匹斯山上。”

　　普羅米修斯很樂意幫助人類。他教人類如何制造工具和建造房屋, 教他們怎樣種植莊 稼及利用牲畜減輕勞動負擔。他甚至還教人類如何創作音樂與繪畫。但是沒有火, 人間的 生活異常艱辛。人們吃的是生食, 住的房屋也不保暖。因為沒有火燒制金屬工具, 人們只 能用石頭做的工具。

　　宙斯的女兒雅典娜一直都在監督并在工作中幫助普羅米修斯。由于普羅米修斯很善 良, 而且很想讓人類在世間生活得舒適一些, 他就求雅典娜幫他從奧林匹斯山上取來火種。 雅典娜知道宙斯不在, 就答應帶普羅米修斯從一條秘密小道上了奧林匹斯山⋯ ⋯

　　普羅米修斯剛剛到達山上, 阿波羅就行完一天的旅程, 駕著太陽戰車歸來了。普羅米 修斯從戰車上點燃一把火炬, 將火種放進藏在他的披風下面的空心的筒狀物里面。就這 樣, 誰也沒有看到普羅米修斯悄悄地偷走了火種并將其帶到了人間。 當普羅米修斯點燃人間的第一堆篝火之時, 人類感到害怕。由于信任普羅米修斯, 他 們漸漸靠近了火堆, 感受著篝火帶來的宜人暖意, 觀賞著美麗的火焰。 普羅米修斯知道, 宙斯很快就會發現他違抗了命令。可他同樣明白, 盡管宙斯威力無 邊, 可一旦一件禮物送了出去是不可能收回的。于是, 他很快教會了人類如何使用火種。