Once， Pan， the god of shepherds， challenged Apollo to a musical duel. Pan insisted his flute of reeds could produce a more beautiful melody than Apollo’s harp. The two agreed on a contest，with judges. One of the judges was King Midas.
After hearing the two melodies， all but one of the judges chose Apollo as the winner. The one judge， King Midas， preferred Pan’s tune.
Furious that anyone could prefer a reedy pipe to his musical lyre， Apollo cooed， “I see the problem. It’s your ears. They are too small to hear properly. Let me fix that for you.”
King Midas felt his ears quivering. His ears sprang out， and out， and ended in the large furry ears of an ass. King Midas was horrified. He grabbed his ears. “Pan， help me！” he cried. But Pan， with a quick nervous glance at Apollo， turned his back.
Midas was shamed of his ears. He tried to hide his ears by wearing a variety of huge hats， heavy helmets， and bulky scarves. The only person who saw his ears was his barber. King Midas made his barber promise he would never tell a soul.
His barber kept his word. But keeping such a huge secret to himself was driving him crazy. Finally， the barber went up a mountain and almost to the edge of a cliff. He dug a hole in the midst of some reeds. He looked about to make sure no one was near. Then， he whispered into the hole， “King Midas has the ears of an ass！” Having gotten his secret off his chest， he felt much better. He returned home.
Unfortunately， the barber had dug right into a piece of Echo. Pieces of Echo were scattered all over the mountainous kingdom. Thus， a piece of Echo， whispered over and over， “King’s the ass’ ears， King’s the ass’ ears”.
Sound travels well in the mountains， even whispers. It was not long before the entire kingdom knew the king’s secret. Finally， the barber was killed by the angry king.
42. 驴耳朵
有一次，牧羊之神潘向阿波罗发出挑战，要求进行音乐决斗。潘坚持认为他的芦苗会比阿波罗的竖琴发出的曲调更优美。两位神同意进行比赛，同时会有裁判，其中有国王美戴斯。
在听完两首曲子后，所有的裁判都选中阿波罗为赢家，除了一个人，这个裁判美戴斯更喜欢潘的曲子。
某人居然喜欢芦苗而不是他的竖琴，阿波罗大发雷霆，他轻柔地说，“我明白问题所在了，是你的耳朵有问题，它们太小了，不能听清楚，让我为你解决这个问题吧。”
美戴斯感觉到自己的耳朵在抖动。他的耳朵冒出来了，一直冒，最后长成了驴的毛皮大耳朵。国王美戴斯很害怕，他抓住自己的耳朵，“潘，快救我啊！”他哭着喊道。但是潘紧张地瞄了阿波罗一眼，拒绝帮助他。
美戴斯为自己的耳朵感到羞愧，他千方百计把自己的耳朵藏起来，他戴各种各样的大帽子，重重的头盔和大大的围巾。唯一看到过他耳朵的人就是他的理发师。国王让理发师发誓不告诉任何人这个秘密。
他的理发师遵守着诺言，但是保守这个秘密使他抓狂，最后，理发师爬上一座山，几乎到了悬崖边，在一些芦苇中间，他挖了一个洞。他环顾四周，确认附近没有任何人，然后轻轻地对洞口说：“美戴斯国王长着一对驴耳朵！”把秘密说出来后，他轻松多了，回到了家里。
不幸是，理发师挖的洞，有一片厄科（回声）的灵魂。厄科的灵魂散布在整个山地王国里。所以，这一片厄科的灵魂一遍又一遍地低声说，“国王有一对驴耳朵，国王有一对驴耳朵”。
此声音在山谷里面传开来，哪怕是悄悄话。不久后整个王国都知道了国王的秘密。最后，生气的国王杀掉了理发师。
单词短语透视
1.challenge sb. to a duel向某人挑战要求决斗例句
The knight challenged his rival to a duel.
那位骑士向敌手提出决斗的挑战。
2.
insist [n‘sst] v. 坚持说，固执地声称（尤指别人反对或不信时）例句
She kept insisting that she was innocent.她坚持说她是清白的。
3.
flute [flut] n. 长笛
例句
Can you play the flute
你会吹长笛吗
4.
melody [’meld] n. 旋律；曲子；曲调例句
He played a delightful melody on his flute.他用笛子吹奏了欢快的曲调。
5.
harp [hɑp] n. 竖琴
例句
He played an Irish melody on the harp.
他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。
6.
contest [kn‘test] n. 比赛；竞赛
例句
This football match is an unequal contest.
这场足球赛是一场实力悬殊的比赛。
7.
judge [dd] n. 裁判员；仲裁人；评判例句
The judges’ decision is very important.裁判的决定很重要。
8.
tune [tjun] n. 曲调，曲子（尤指有明显旋律的）
例句
He gave us a tune on his fiddle.
他用小提琴给我们奏了一个曲子。
9.
furious [‘fjurs] adj. 满腔愤怒的；大发雷霆的
例句
She was absolutely furious at his behaviour.她对他的行为大发雷霆。
10.
coo [ku] v. 柔声地说
例句
“It will be all right， “she cooed soothingly.
“就会好起来的，”她轻柔地安慰说。
11.
quiver [’kwv（r）] v.（使某事物）轻微颤动，抖动例句
The moth quivered its wings.
蛾子抖动着翅膀。
12.
horrify [‘hrfa] v. 使（某人）恐惧或受惊吓；使震惊例句
We were horrified by what we saw.
我们看到后很害怕。
13.
grab [grv. 抢；抓；抢夺
例句
He grabbed my collar and pulled me towards him.
他抓住我的领子把我拉到他面前。
14.
bulky [’blk] adj. 庞大的，巨大的，过大的例句
The bulky figure of Jones makes him difficult to move.
琼斯的庞大身躯使得他难以移动。
15.
barber [‘bɑb（r）] n. （给男子剪发和刮胡子的）理发师例句
I’m going to the barber’s to get my hair cut.我要去理发店理发。
16.keep one’s word信守诺言；履行诺言
例句
The best way to keep one’s word is not to give it.履行诺言的最好方法就是不给诺言。
17.
drive [drav] v. 使或逼（某人）处与某种状态或做某事例句
His attitude drove me crazy.
他的态度使我抓狂！
18.
cliff [klf] n. 峭壁，悬崖（尤指在海边的）例句
He was hounded to the cliff.
他被追逼到了悬崖边上。
19.
chest [test] n. 胸部
例句
What size are you round the chest
你的胸围是多少
20.
scatter [‘sk（r）] v. 散布
例句
Small villages scatter at the foot of the mountain.
村庄零零落落地散布在山脚下。
43. Actaeon
Actaeon， the son of King Cadmus， was a young man fond of the hunt and of spending his time haunting the forests， searching for game.
One hot day， Actaeon and his friends were hunting with hounds on the forest. Around noon， Actaeon decided that they had hunted enough for the day and went wandering in search of shade， becoming separated from his companions. By mischance， he came upon Artemis and her maidens， bathing in a mountain stream. Furious that a man had seen her naked and afraid that he would boast about what he had seen， Artemis cast water on Actaeon while uttering a curse. Immediately， antlers began to sprout from the boy’s head and， bit by bit， he was transformed into a stag.
In terror and confusion， the young man fled into the forest. When he stopped and saw his reflection in a stream， he groaned aloud but could not speak a word of his distress. As Actaeon stood there， wondering if he could go home in his transformed state， or stay in the forest， he was spotted by his own hounds.
Unable to recognize their master， the pack of hunting hounds surrounded him and attacked without mercy. Alerted by their excited barking， Actaeon’s companions came running up eagerly and urged on the hounds to make the kill. As the young man cried out in a voice that was not human but was like nothing an ordinary stag could have uttered， he suffered the horrible irony of hearing his friends calling his name， and asking why he wasn’t here to witness this magnificent kill. Actaeon’s hounds pounced upon their master and tore him apart， thus ending the life of the unlucky man. And Artemis had her revenge.