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有很多关于罗马海神尼普顿的故事。据说尼普顿是最慷慨的神之一。 一天，一位住在海边的妇女来到海滩，唱起赞美海神的歌。最后，海神浮出水面，问她想得到什么。 “我想要一头牛。”妇女说。 立刻有一头牛站在她身边。妇女高兴极了。她开始唱另一首歌。唱完之后，又有一头牛出现在她身边。 妇女接着唱，每当她停下来换口气的时候,海滩上就会多出一头牛。海滩很小，牛越来越多，沙滩越来越挤。 最终,沙滩上只留下她的容身之处。 然而，妇女并不满足。她脚下有一块大石头。她认为，如果把石头挪走的话，就会有地方再放一头牛。于是，她举起石头，用尽全力把它扔到海里去了。 不幸的是，这时尼普顿正要浮出水面为自己的信徒赐福，在他一怒之下，带着所有的牛返回海里去了。 The Dissatisfied Devotee Many tales are told about Neptune the Roman god of the sea. Neptune was said to be one of the most generous of the gods. One day a woman who lived close to the sea went down to the beach and began singing songs in his praise. Finally the god came to the surface and asked her what she wanted. “I want a cow.” said the woman. The next moment there was a cow standing beside her. The woman was thrilled. She began singing another song. At the end of it there was another cow beside her. The woman went on singing and ev¬ery time she stopped for breath there would be another cow on the beach. The beach was small and so as the number of cows started growing it started getting crowded. Finally there was just enough room for her to stand. Yet the woman was not satisfied. There was a large rock at her feet. She felt that if she removed the rock there would be place for one more cow there. So she picked it up and summoning all her strength heaved it into the sea. Unfortunately for her, Neptune himself was coming to the surface at that moment to bestow his blessings on his devotee. The rock hit him on the head. The god was so an¬gry he dived back into the waters taking with him all the cows he had given the woman. |
