尼诺和忠狗——奥迪赛历险记

Odysseus  was one of the Greek kings who fought the great war against the city of Troy. He was not the strongest of the Greeks, but certainly the cleverest. For ten long years the Greeks fought the Trojans but could not win. Then Odysseus had a plan. He told the Greeks to build a great wooden horse and leave it in front of the city gates. Then the Greeks sailed away, but they didn't sail far.

The Trojans thought that the Greeks had given up and left the horse as a gift. Joyfully, they brought the horse into the city. But there were several Greek warriors inside the horse. When night came, they opened the city gates. The Greek fleet returned and the Greek army entered the city. Because of Odysseus' trick, the Greeks won the war.

But this was just the beginning of Odysseus' adventures. It took him ten more years to return to his home in Greece. He and his men met many dangers and setbacks. Finally, Odysseus had only one ship and a small crew left.

One morning, Odysseus and his companions saw a mysterious island. They needed food and drink, so they went ashore.

There were many grapes and sheep there. They found plenty to eat and drink.

Odysseus wanted to explore the island. Soon, he and his men found a cave. When they entered, they saw lambs and kids inside pens. They saw the skins and bones of animals lying around the cave. They saw firewood near a fireplace.

Suddenly, the men heard a sound like thunder. A herd of sheep were driven into the cave and a terrible giant followed behind them. He was taller than three men, and had one huge eye in the middle of his forehead. The giant rolled a huge rock in front of the entrance of the cave. Then he saw the Greeks. "Who are you?" he cried.

"Sir, we are Greeks returning from the Trojan War," answered Odysseus.

The giant gave no answer. Suddenly he grabbed two of the Greeks and threw them against the side of the cave, killing them instantly. He broke open their heads and ate their brains.

The Greeks cried out in horror and fear. They hid themselves in the rocks around the cave.

The giant ignored them. He milked his sheep and then went to sleep.

The men thought hard about how they could escape. Then Odysseus had a brilliant idea.

"Men," he said, "we have a lot of grapes with us. Let's make wine for the giant!" The men squeezed all the juice out of the grapes and left it to turn into wine.

The next morning the giant left the cave to graze his sheep. He closed the cave with the big rock. When he returned, he looked hungrily at the men.

Just then Odysseus cried, "Wine! Wine for the great giant!" Bravely, he walked up to the giant and offered him a bowl of wine. The giant drank it greedily. "More wine for the giant!" ordered Odysseus. The giant drank many bowls of wine. He became very drunk and finally fell asleep.

The giant had a long staff made of hard wood. Odysseus and his men stole it. They sharpened one end of it into a point. Then they climbed onto the chest of the giant and drove the point into the giant's one eye!

The giant roared in pain and clutched at his eye. He rolled on the ground in agony. He was blinded, but he did not die.

Some time later, he had to let his sheep out to feed. But he did not want the Greeks to escape. So he felt each animal as it left the cave.

Odysseus saw this. He and his companions took the biggest sheep. They crawled under them and hung onto them as they left the cave. The giant did not discover the men. And in that way Odysseus escaped the terrible giant.

奥迪赛是与特洛伊城作战的希腊国王之一。他不是希腊最强壮的人，但绝对是最聪明的。希腊人与特洛伊人交战了十几年，但从未获胜过。后来奥迪赛想到一个好主意，他叫希腊人建造一只大木马，并将它留在特洛伊城的城门前。后来希腊人就开船走了，但他们并没有走远。

特洛伊人认为希腊人放弃了攻城并留下木马当作礼物。他们兴高采烈地将木马移进城内。但是却有数十个希腊战士在木马内。当夜晚来临时，他们打开城门。希腊舰队折返，军队进入城内。由于奥迪赛的诡计，希腊人战胜了。

但是这只是奥迪赛一连串冒险的开端。他又花了十年才回到希腊的家。他和手下遇上许多危险和挫折。最后奥迪赛只剩下一条船和少数几名船员。

有一天早上，奥迪赛和他的同伴看到一座神秘岛。他们需要食物和饮料，所以他们就登岸了。

那儿有许多葡萄和羊。他们发现很多东西可吃喝。

奥迪赛想要查看这座岛。不久他和他的属下发现一个洞穴。当他们进去时，发现围栏内有一些小绵羊和小山羊。他们看见洞穴附近放着动物的毛皮和骨头。壁炉旁还有薪柴。

突然间，这些人听到如雷的声响。一群绵羊被赶进洞穴内，而且一个可怕的巨人跟在后头。他比三个人加起来的高度还高，他的额头中间还有一只大眼睛。那个巨人滚一块巨石到洞穴的入口。后来他看见这些希腊人。他大叫：『你们是谁？』

奥迪赛回答：『阁下，我们是从特洛伊战争回来的希腊人。』

那个巨人没有回答。突然间他抓住两个希腊人把他们扔到洞穴旁，立刻就杀了他们。他打破他们的头，吃他们的脑。

希腊人害怕地大叫。他们躲在洞穴四周的岩石中。

巨人对他们置之不理。他挤完羊奶就呼呼大睡了。

这些人苦思要怎幺逃走的对策。后来奥迪赛想到了一个高明的主意。

他说：『各位，我们有很多葡萄，我们给巨人做点酒！』手下们挤了很多葡萄汁并酿成酒。

隔天早上巨人离开洞穴带他的羊去吃草。他用大石块堵住洞穴口。当他回来时，他饥肠辘辘地看着这些人。

就在那时，奥迪赛大叫：『酒！给巨人酒喝！』他勇敢地走向前，端给巨人一碗酒。巨人贪婪地喝光。奥迪赛喝令：『再给巨人多一点酒！』巨人喝了好几碗的酒，喝得醉醺醺的，最后就睡着了。

巨人有一枝很长的硬木棍。奥迪赛和他的手下把它给偷了。他们把一端削得很尖，然后爬上巨人的胸膛。把尖锐的一端刺入巨人的一个眼睛中。

巨人痛得大吼，用手抓着他的眼睛。他痛苦地在地上打滚。他瞎了，但是他还没死。

没多久，他必须让他的羊出去吃草。但他也不想让希腊人逃走。所以当每只动物离开洞穴时，他就摸摸它们。

奥迪赛看到了这个情形，他和他的同伴就抓了那些最大只的羊。他们在羊离开洞穴时，爬到羊底下吊在它们身上。巨人并未发现这些人。就那样奥迪赛逃离了这个可怕的巨人。