Aurora， the goddess of the dawn， falling in love with Tithonus， a handsome mortal man. She realized that her beloved Tithonus was bound to age and die. So she begged Zeus to grant her lover immortal life.
Zeus was a jealous god who was prone to acts of deception in order to seduce beautiful godnesses and mortals， and he was not pleased with Aurora’s infatuation with Tithonus. He made Tithonus immortal， but did not make him eternal youth.
Aurora took Tithonus up to Mount Olympus to live in her golden house. Tithonus， however， was doomed to grow old but never die. The time came when gray hairs could be seen among his golden curls . Aurora was kind to him in spite of this and continued to give him beautiful clothes，and to feed him on the food of the gods. Still， Tithonus grew older and older， and in time， after several hundred years， he was so old that he could not move at all. Little was left of him but his voice， and even that had grown high and thin. Then he was so weak that he had to be shut up in a room， for safekeeping. Aurora felt so sorry to see him become weaker and weaker in this way that she changed him into a little insect， and sent him down to the earth again， where men called him the grasshopper.
Very glad to be free and active once more， Tithonus jumped about in the fields all day， chirping happily to Aurora.
37. 泰索尼斯
欧洛拉是黎明女神，她爱上了英俊潇洒的凡人——泰索尼斯。她意识到她深爱的泰索尼斯一定会变老并死去。所以她乞求宙斯同意给予他永生。
宙斯是一位爱嫉妒的神，平常为了勾引漂亮的女神和凡人，宙斯常使用欺骗的行为，而欧洛拉对泰索尼斯的迷恋让他顿生醋意，他让泰索尼斯获得了永生，但是没有让他永远年轻。
欧洛拉带泰索尼斯到奥林匹斯山上她的金屋生活。但是，泰索尼斯注定会变老，但会一直活着。当他金黄的卷发中可以看到白头发了的时候，他开始变老了。尽管这样，欧洛拉还是对他很好，给他穿漂亮的衣服，吃神祇中神仙们吃的食物。可是泰索尼斯还是一直老下去，几百年以后他已经老得无法行动了，甚至他仅剩的声音也变得又高又尖。他身体很虚弱，以致为了安全起见必须把他锁在房间内。欧洛拉看着他那日益虚弱的身体很难过，就把他变成一只小虫，把他又送回了凡间，人类叫他蚱蜢。
泰索尼斯很高兴能再自由行动，整天在田野里乱跳，同时很愉快地对欧洛拉唧唧地叫。
单词短语透视
1.
dawn [dn] n. 黎明；破晓；拂晓
例句
It’s almost dawn.天差不多要亮了。
2.
beloved [b‘lvd] adj. 深爱的；亲爱的例句
He wrote a sonnet to his beloved.他写了一首十四行诗，献给他心爱的人。
3.be bound to一定会……
例句
The weather is bound to get better tomorrow.明天天气一定会变好。
4.
grant [grɑnt] v. 同意给予或允许（所求）例句
They granted him permission to go.
他们准许他去。
5.
immortal [’mtl] adj. 不朽的；永世的例句
The soul is immortal.灵魂不灭。
6.be prone to易于某事物； 很可能做某事
例句
He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见，他就容易发脾气。
7.
deception [d‘sepn] n. 欺骗
例句
He obtained our trust by deception.
他靠欺骗获取了我们的信任。
8.
seduce [s’djus] v. 引诱
例句
He’s trying to seduce his secretary.
他竭力勾引他的秘书。
9.
infatuation [n，fu‘en] n. 迷恋例句
His infatuation with her lasted six months.他对她迷恋了半年。
10.
eternal [’tnl] adj. 永久的；永恒的；不朽的例句
He is， as it were， an eternal boy.
他好像是个永远年轻的小伙子。
11.be doomed to注定要……
例句
The plan was doomed to failure.
该计划注定要失败。
12.
curl[kl] n. 卷曲；卷发
例句
The lovely boy has beautiful blonde curls.这个可爱的小男孩长着漂亮的金黄色卷发。
13.in spite of尽管；不管，不顾
例句
In spite of the bad weather， we went fishing.
我们不顾恶劣的天气而去钓鱼。
14.
feed [fid] v. 给（人或动物）食物；喂
例句
Have the pigs been fed yet
猪已喂过了吗
15.
insect [‘nsekt] n. 昆虫；虫子
例句
She stamped on the insect and killed it.
她踩死了一只虫子。
16.
grasshopper [’grɑshp（r）] n. 蚂蚱；蚱蜢例句
The grasshopper was cold and hungry.
那只蚱蜢又冷又饿。
17.
chirp [tp] v. 作唧唧声
例句
At night the crickets chirp in the woods.
夜里蟋蟀在林中唧唧地叫。
38. Thisbe
Pyramus and Thisbe lived in Babylonia and from the time they were young， were neighbors. They played together daily as children and fell in love as they grew older. Although being neighbors， their families were hostile to one another. The lovers， who lived next door to each other， were forbidden by their parents to see or speak to each other by building a wall between the two houses. Moved by the young lovers， the god of love， Aphrodite decided to give them help. One day， to the joyful surprise of the pair， there appeared in the wall a tiny crack through which they could speak to each other in a low voice and even exchange sweet kisses. They loved each other so deeply that the lovers decided to elope.
Pyramus and Thisbe agreed to meet at night under a mulberry tree outside the city. Thisbe arrived first， wearing a veil over her face. When she heard a lion roar， she ran away in fear， dropping her veil. The lioness， whose jaws were bloody， found the veil and tore it up. Shortly afterwards， Pyramus appeared. He saw the beast’s footprints， found Thisbe’s bloodied， torn veil but could not see Thisbe. It seemed all too clear that Thisbe had been devoured by the lion. He drew his sword and stabbed himself. Thisbe then returned to find Pyramus dying， and she used his sword to commit suicide.
38. 桑斯比
皮瑞摩斯和桑斯比住在巴比伦王国，从小时候起，他们就是邻居。孩时，他们每日在一起玩耍，日久生情，长大后两人就坠入了情网。尽管是邻居，但是两个家庭的关系不是很好，他们的父母在两座房子之间建了一堵围墙来禁止近在咫尺的两位恋人见面和说话。为他们的爱情所感动，爱神阿芙洛狄忒决定帮助他们。一天，这对恋人惊奇地发现墙上出现了一道裂缝，通过它，他们能够低声细语倾诉爱情，甚至甜蜜地互相亲吻。他们是如此深爱对方，于是两人决定私奔。
皮瑞摩斯和桑斯比相约于晚上城外林中一株桑树下会面。桑斯比脸上带着面纱，先到达。她听到狮子的声音，害怕地跑开了，面纱落地。血盆大口的狮子发现了面纱，把它撕破。而后不久，皮瑞摩斯出现了，他看到野兽的脚印及桑斯比被撕破的染上血的面纱，却不见桑斯比的踪影，似乎很明显桑斯比已经被狮子吞掉了。他拔出剑，刺向了自己。桑斯比返回来的时候发现皮瑞摩斯奄奄一息，她用同一把剑自杀了。
单词短语透视
1.
neighbor [‘neb（r）] n. 邻人；邻居例句
Turn your radio down， or you’ll wake the neighbors.把收音机的声音调小些， 不然会把邻居吵醒。
2.
daily [‘del] adv. 每日
例句
The bakery serves us with fresh bread daily.
面包店每天都给我们提供新鲜面包。
3.
hostile [’hstal] adj. 含敌意的；极不友好的例句
I don’t know why she is hostile to me.
我不知道她为什么对我抱有敌意。
4.
forbid [f‘bd] v. 禁止，不准，不许（某人）做某事例句
I can’t forbid you seeing that man again.
我无法禁止你再和那个男人来往。
5.decide to do sth.决定做某事
例句
She decide to rent out a room to get extra income.
她为获得额外收入决定租出一个房间。
6.
joyful [‘dfl] adj. 令人高兴的
例句
Our graduation was such a joyful event.
我们毕业是件很高兴的事。
7.
appear [’p（r）] v. 出现；显现；呈现例句
A ship appeared on the horizon.
船出现在水平线上。
8.
crack [krn. 裂缝
例句
Don’t go skating today， there are dangerous cracks in the ice.
今天别去溜冰了，冰上有裂缝很危险。
9.
exchange [ks‘tend] v. 交换；互换例句
He exchanged the blue jumper for a red one.他把蓝毛衣换成了红的。
10.
elope [’lup] v. 私奔
例句