周丹

“Today someone stole my favorite pencil box. He also had my lunch money. I couldnt tell Mom and Dad because they would feel very bad and might think I lost it.” Rohan was upset and complained to his friend.

His friend said， “I am sure they will believe you， Rohan. Dont worry. They might buy you another one if you tell them what happened. I am sorry someone stole it. If only Pandora hadnt opened the box！”

Rohan gave a puzzled1 look to his friend.

“Let me tell you a Greek mythical2 story. Long time ago， Zeus the Greek God ordered Hephaestus to make him a beautiful daughter made out of clay3. Hephaestus created a beautiful girl called Pandora. When she grew older， Zeus sent Pandora to earth to marry a simple man Epimetheus， who was lonely. Now Zeus was mad at Prometheus who was Epimetheuss brother. To punish Prometheus， Zeus locked all the evil4 and diseases in a box and gave it to Pandora. He gave the key to Epimetheus and made him promise that it would never be opened. Zeus thought that Epimetheuss curiosity5 would get the better of him and either he or his brother will open the box.

“Pandora was a curious6 girl. She begged Epimetheus to give her the key so she could open the box. However， Epimetheus knew better and tried to convince Pandora to obey her fathers order. When Epimetheus had slept， Pandora stole the key and opened the box.

“Out of the box flew all the evil， jealousy7， deceit8. Before Pandora realized what she had done， it was too late and the world got all the bad things flew out. When Epimetheus woke up， he found Pandora sobbing9 who told him what happened. It is believed that Pandora unleashed10 all the evil things in the world because of her curiosity.”

“That is so bad！Why did she open the box？ If she hadnt I would still have my pencil box，” Rohan said disappointedly.

Rohans friend laughed and said， “She opened the box again to show her husband what she had done and out flew a small angel. Before she could shut the box it came to them and said ‘I am hope. So if we have evil things like lie， deceit and jealousy， we also have hope， Rohan. With that hope tell your parents the truth， they will believe you.”

Rohan smiled， hugged his friend and thanked him for the story. The next day he told his father what had happened and his father bought him a new pencil box.

“今天有人偷了我最喜歡的鉛筆盒，還有我的午餐錢。我不能告訴爸爸媽媽，因為他們會生氣，可能會認為是我弄丟的。”羅翰很沮喪，向他的朋友抱怨道。

他的朋友說：“我相信他們會相信你的，羅翰。別擔(dān)心，如果你告訴他們發(fā)生了什么事，他們可能會再給你買一個。很遺憾有人偷了它，如果潘多拉沒有打開盒子就好了！”

羅翰不解地看了看他的朋友。

“讓我給你講一個希臘神話故事。很久以前，希臘的神宙斯命令赫菲斯托斯用粘土為他做出一個漂亮的女兒。赫菲斯托斯創(chuàng)造了一個美麗的女孩叫潘多拉。當(dāng)潘多拉長大后，宙斯把她送到大地上，嫁給了一個孤獨的單身男人伊比米修斯。宙斯對伊比米修斯的哥哥普羅米修斯很生氣。為了懲罰普羅米修斯，宙斯把所有的邪惡和疾病都鎖在一個盒子里，交給了潘多拉。他把鑰匙給了伊比米修斯，讓他保證永遠不會打開它。宙斯認為伊比米修斯的好奇心會占上風(fēng)，他或者他的哥哥會打開這個盒子。

“潘多拉是個很好奇的女孩。她求伊比米修斯把鑰匙給她，好讓她打開盒子。然而伊比米修斯知道得更清楚，并試圖說服潘多拉服從她父親的命令。在伊比米修斯睡著的時候，潘多拉偷走了鑰匙，打開了盒子。

“所有的邪惡、嫉妒、欺騙都從盒子里飛了出來。在潘多拉意識到她做了些什么時，一切都已經(jīng)晚了，世界上所有的壞事都飛了出來。當(dāng)伊比米修斯醒來時，他發(fā)現(xiàn)潘多拉在哭泣，她告訴他發(fā)生了什么事。人們認為潘多拉因為她的好奇心而放出了世界上所有邪惡的東西?！?/p>

“太糟糕了！她為什么打開盒子？如果她沒有打開的話，我的鉛筆盒就會還在?！绷_翰失落地說。

羅翰的朋友大笑著說：“她再次打開盒子，讓丈夫看看她做了些什么，然后一個小天使飛了出來。她還沒來得及關(guān)上盒子，它就走到他們面前說：‘我是希望。所以，如果我們有謊言、欺騙、嫉妒等邪惡的東西，我們也有希望，羅翰。帶著這種希望，告訴你父母真相吧。他們會相信你的?！?/p>

羅翰笑了笑，擁抱了他的朋友，并感謝他講的故事。第二天，他告訴父親發(fā)生了什么事，而他父親給他買了一個新的鉛筆盒。

（英語原文選自：mocomi.com）

1. puzzled [■] adj. 困惑的;茫然的

2. mythical [■] adj. 神話的;虛構(gòu)的

3. clay [■] n. 粘土;泥土

4. evil [■] adj. 邪惡的

5. curiosity [■] n. 好奇，好奇心

6. curious [■] adj. 好奇的，有求知欲的

7. jealousy [■] n. 嫉妒;猜忌

8. deceit [■] n. 欺騙;謊言

9. sob [■] v. 啜泣，嗚咽

10. unleash [■] v. 發(fā)泄，釋放