word单词分类（16WordKnowledge词汇知识）

Have you ever watched the Disney movie “Pirates of the Caribbean：On Stranger Tides”? If so, you must have been impressed by the beautiful mermaids （美人鱼）who lured（诱惑）the sailors with their enchanting（迷人的） voices.

你看过迪士尼的电影《加勒比海盗4：惊涛怪浪》吗？如果看过，那你一定对片中用迷人的歌声诱惑海员的美人鱼印象深刻吧？

However, such a depiction（描绘）of mermaids（美人鱼）as dangerous creatures is likely to be an adaptation from the Greek myth of the Sirens.

然而，这种将美人鱼描绘成危险生物的情节很可能是对希腊神话中塞壬故事的改编。

Mer, in English, means ocean, so “the mer sisters” refers to all the female creatures living in the ocean, such as the gorgons, the sirens and the mermaids.

在英语中，mer的意思是“海洋”，因此“海洋姐妹”就是指那些生活在海里的雌性生物，例如：戈耳戈、塞壬和美人鱼。

The myths of the mer sisters reflect ancient people’s fear in the hidden dangers in the unexplored sea.

有关海洋姐妹的神话反映了古代人民对海洋中潜在危险的恐惧

If the gorgons and the sirens were both terrifying creatures from Greek and Roman mythology, the mermaids were more benevolent（慈善的）beings seen in European or many other cultures.

如果说戈耳戈和塞壬姐妹是来自希腊罗马神话中可怕的海妖，那么美人鱼则是欧洲或其他文化中更加温和的生物。

Of the many mythological stories on mermaids, the most famous one must be The Little Mermaid, a fairy tale by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen.

关于美人鱼最著名的故事当属丹麦作家安徒生的童话《小美人鱼》。

In Chinese mythology, mermaids lived in the South Sea. They spent days weaving（编织）a beautiful water-proof cloth called Dragon Yarn（纱）, which would then be sold on the market, the mirage that mortal（凡人） people see.

在中国神话中，美人鱼生活在南海，她们夜以继日地编织一种美丽的防水布料“蛟绡纱”，然后把它们拿到集市上去卖，而那个集市便是凡人看到的“海市蜃楼”。

As you can see, mermaids are often portrayed（描绘，扮演） as lonely and emotional girls who have great curiosity about life on land.

可见，美人鱼的形象常常是孤独而敏感的少女，她们对于陆地生活充满了好奇。

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