不和果 The Apple of Discord
The wedding of Peleus and the sea-goddess Thetis wereheld and all gods were invited．But the absence of one goddess was clearly noticeable．It was Erls，the goddess of discord．As she planted seeds of discord wherever she went，it was natural that her presence at the ceremony was not desirable．She had good reason to feel angry．So she decided to make fun ofthe group at the party．Eris slipped into the hall after the couple left and rolled on the floor a golden apple ，having the words，“For the fairest”．It caused a violent quarrel among the three goddesses，Hera，Athena and Aphrodite．Zeus found it advisable to send them before a shepherd boy on Mt Ida，Paris by name，for judge ment．Hermes，the messenger，took the apple in his hand and led the goddesses away．
Paris was son of Priam，king of Troy．As his mother dreamed at his birth that she was bearing a piece of burning wood，the babe was regarded as representing the destruction of the city itself．To save the kingdom from possible disaster，the parents had the helpless infant left on top of Mt Ida to die．However，he survived his ill fate ．Brought up by the herdsmen，he became a strong，handsome lad．He was secretly united with Oenone，a fair and faithful mountain fairy maiden．On this particular day，as he was taking care of his sheep on the mountainside，the youth was surprised to see four human beings standing before him．Hermes told him about his mission and left．The three holy beauties then competed with each other，showing themselves up before the shepherd．Hera promised to make himking of Asia．Athena undertook to help him get imperishablefame in war；whereas Aphrodite offered to secure for him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world．The primitive instinct of the boy thus moved，Aphrodite won the prize，and theother two goddesses left in anger and became deadly enemies ofTroy．
珀琉斯和海神忒提斯結婚時邀請了所有的神祗。但是，顯然有一位女神不在邀請之列，她就是厄里斯——不和女神。由于她在所到之處播撒不和之種，很自然，人們并不希望她出席婚宴。理所當然，厄里斯為此感到憤怒。她決定嘲弄宴會上的眾神。當新娘、新郎退場后，厄里斯偷偷溜進了大廳，向地上拋出了一個金蘋果，上書“獻給最美的人”。蘋果在赫拉，雅典娜和阿芙羅狄蒂三位女神間引起了激烈爭執(zhí)。宙斯明智地決定將她們送到愛達山上一位名叫帕里斯的牧童那里，讓他來判斷誰最美。海爾墨斯作為使者，手持金蘋果，領著三位女神出發(fā)了。
帕里斯是特洛伊國王皮安姆的兒子，由于他母親在他出生時夢到自己正手持一根燃燒的斷木，于是人們認為嬰兒會給城市帶來毀滅。為了挽救王朝，免受可能之災，國王及王后把孩子扔到了愛達山上。但是，孩子幸運地逃離了死亡。在牧人們的精心撫養(yǎng)下，孩子長得既強壯又英俊。他偷偷地與奧諾妮，一位漂亮忠誠的山神結了婚。那一天，帕里斯正在山腰照看他的羊群，他驚奇地發(fā)現(xiàn)四個人正在他面前。海爾墨斯給他布置了任務后離去了。三位美麗的女神立即互相爭吵起來，并且充分向牧童顯示自己的美貌。赫拉許諾要使他成為亞洲國王；雅典娜愿意幫助他在戰(zhàn)爭中得到不朽的榮譽；而阿芙羅狄蒂則答應他得到世上最美麗女人的愛。男孩原始的本性被激發(fā)了出來，阿芙羅狄蒂得到了金蘋果，而另兩位女神則怒氣沖沖地離去了，并成了特洛伊城最可怕的敵人。
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