Niobe
尼奥比

Niobe，the queen of Thebes，had indeed good reason to beproud of her herself ． —
尼奥比，底比斯的女王，确实有理由为自己感到骄傲。 —

Both her father and mother were gods．Her husband was a capable and outstanding musician． —
她的父母都是神祇。她的丈夫是一位有才华且杰出的音乐家。 —

And she was both wealthy and powerful．But what madeher the happiest lady in the world was her fourteen children，seven manly sons and seven beautiful daughters． —
她既富有又强大。但让她成为世界上最幸福的女士的是她的十四个孩子，七个健壮的儿子和七个美丽的女儿。 —

They were allso strong and fair that the whole world looked upon them with admiration．
他们都如此强壮美丽，整个世界都在仰视他们。

It happened at the time that every spring the Theban womengathered at the temple of Leto to offer flowers at the altars of the great mother． —
就在这期间，每年春天底比斯的女人们都聚集在莱托神庙，向伟大的母神的祭坛献花。 —

She had given birth to two grand children，Apollo and Artemis． —
她生了两个伟大的孙子，阿波罗和阿尔忒弥斯。 —

Her women showed a great deal of loyaltyand respect to her．This made Niobe jealous and angry． —
她的女人们对她表现出极大的忠诚和尊重。这让尼奥比嫉妒并愤怒。 —

Whenthe nuns of Leto called the women again to the sacred place ofthe mistress of Zeus one spring，Niobe decided to put an end to the foolish act forever． —
当莱托的修女们在一个春天再次召集女人们前往宙斯的主母的圣地时，尼奥比决定永远结束这愚蠢的行为。 —

In her pretty flowing robe she came to the women and blamed the crowd for their mad faith in a goddess． —
她披着漂亮的长袍来到女人们面前责备人群对女神的狂信。 —

They had never seen this goddess．Niobe declared herselfnobler and greater，and demanded to be admired in place of Leto，who，she said，was no more than a poor mother of twochildren． —
他们从未见过这位女神。尼奥比宣称自己更高贵更伟大，并要求取代莱托被景仰，她说，莱托不过是两个孩子的可怜母亲。 —

The frightened women were loyal to the queen，and left the sacred place in silence． —
受惊的女人们忠于女王，并默默地离开了圣地。 —

Leto was neglected．
莱托被忽视了。

Standing on top of a hill overlooking Thebes ，Leto saw allthis and was ready to pay back． —
站在俯瞰底比斯的山丘上，莱托看到这一切，准备报复。 —

She found out Apollo and Artemis and told them the story． —
她找到了阿波罗和阿尔忒弥斯并告诉了他们这个故事。 —

Before long，the impatient Apollo arrived outside Thebes in hidden clouds． —
不久后，急躁的阿波罗隐匿在云层中来到底比斯城外。 —

The seven sonsof Niobe were playing on the ground，two riding horses and two wrestling while the other princes happily stood by． —
尼俄贝的七个儿子正在地上玩耍，其中两人骑马，另外两人搏斗，而其他王子们则欢乐地站在一旁。 —

Appllo heldout his bow．One by one the princes fell under his accurateshooting． —
阿波罗手持弓箭。一个接一个的王子在他精准的射击下倒下。 —

Even the youngest，who prayed for mercy，was not spared．
即使年纪最小的也不被宽恕，祈求宽恕的他也被射杀。

Niobe was greatly changed．She was all sorrow and grief，but her rude spirit was not put down． —
尼俄贝变得悲伤和悲痛，但她的蛮横精神并未被压倒。 —

She came to the dead bodies of her sons with her daughters and let out a torrent of impolite words at Leto and her children． —
她和女儿们走到儿子的尸体前，对莱托和她的孩子们破口大骂。 —

This time it was Artemls’ turn to draw her bowstring ． —
这次是阿尔忒弥斯拉满弓发箭。 —

Almost in a twinkling of an eye all the seven lively daughters fell，turning in their blood，and soon stopped to breathe． —
几乎眨眼之间，七个活泼的女儿纷纷倒下，趴在自己的血泊中，很快停止了呼吸。 —

Nio be became numb of feeling ．She sat among the fourteen dead bodies，motionless，her eyes blank，her tears rolling down her cold face． —
尼俄贝变得麻木。她沉默地坐在十四具尸体之间，眼神空洞，眼泪顺着她冰冷的脸颊滚落。 —

Her bitter anger had turned her into a stone！ —
她痛苦的愤怒把她变成了一块石头！ —

Later，a gust of wind swept her to her homeland in Asia，where she could still be seen sitting on top of ahill，tears of bitterness streaming out of her strong eyes．
后来，一阵风将她席卷回她的祖国亚洲，在那里她可以看到她坐在山顶上，眼泪苦涩地从她坚毅的眼中流淌出来。