The Different Ages of Man
In the Age of Gold, the world was first furnished with inhabitants. This was an age of innocence1 and happiness. Truth and right prevailed, thought not enforced by law, no was there any in authority to threaten or to punish. The earth brought forth2 all things necessary for man, without his labor3 in plowing4 or sowing. perpetual spring reigned5, flowers sprang up without seed, the rivers flowed with milk and wine, and yellow honey distilled6 from the oaks.
The Silver Age came next, inferior to the golden. Jupiter shortened the spring, and pided the year into seasons. Then, first, men suffered the extremes of heat and cold, and houses became necessary. Crops would no longer grow without planting. This was a race of manly7 men, but insolent8 and impious.
Next to the Age of Silver came that of brass10, more savage11 of temper and readier for the strife12 of arms, yet not altogether wicked.
last came the hardest age and worst, - of iron. Crime burst in like a flood; modesty14, truth, and honor fled. The gifts of the earth were put only to nefarious15 uses. Fraud, violence, war at home and abroad were rife13.
Jupiter, observing the condition of things, burned with anger, He summoned the gods to council. Jupiter set forth to the as百度竞价推广bly the frightful16 condition of the earth, and announced his intention of destroying its inhabitants, and providing a new race, unlike the present, which should be worthier17 of life and more reverent18 toward the gods. Fearing lest a conflagration19 might set Heaven itself on fire, he proceeded to drown the world. Speedily the race of mean and their possessions, were swept away by the deluge20.
Parnassus alone, of the mountains, overTOPped the waves, and there Deucalion, son the Prometheus, and his wife Pyrrha, daughter of Epimetheus, found refuge - he a just man and she a faithful worshiper of the gods. Jupiter, remembering the harmless lives and pious9 demeanor21 of this pair, caused the waters to recede22. Then Deucalion and Pyrrha, entering a temple defaced with slime, approached the enkindled altar and, falling prostrate23, prayed for guidance and aid. The oracle24 answered, Depart from the temple with head veiled and garments unbound, and cast behind you the bones of your mother. They heard the words with astonishment25. Pyrrha first broke silence:We cannot obey; we dare not profane26 the remains27 of our parents. They sought the woods. and revolved28 the oracle in their minds. At last Deucalion spoke29: Either my wit fails me or the command is one we may obey without impiety30. The earth is the great parent of all; the stones are her bones; these we may cast behind us; this, I think, the oracle means. They veiled their faces, unbound their garments, and , picking up stones, cast them behind them. The stones began to grow soft and to assume shape. By degrees they put on a rude re百度竞价推广blance to the human form . Those thrown by Deucalion became men; those by Pyrrha, women.
人类的每个年代
黄金年代，地球上刚开始有了居民。这是一个纯真无邪无邪和幸福的年代。真理和正义主宰所有，但不是靠法律的约束，也没什么权贵的恫吓和惩处。大家不需要耕种，所有生活必需全可仰给于大地。春季永在，不需要种子，地里也长出鲜花来；河里流的是奶和酒，与从橡树蒸馏而来的黄澄澄的蜜糖。
下面的是逊于黄金年代的白银年代。朱庇特缩短春季，把一年分为四季。于是大家第一尝到了酷暑严寒之苦，不能不找一个蔽身之所。要吃谷物就得耕作。这个时候的人类雄伟刚毅，但却骄横不虔。
白银年代之后就是青铜年代。大家的禀性愈加粗野，动辄就要大兴干戈，但还没达到十恶不赦的地步。
最后到了最棘手和最糟糕的年代－－－黑铁年代。罪恶象洪水一样泛滥成灾，谦虚、真理和尊严逃得不见踪影。大地的赐予全被用去造孽。欺诈、暴力、对内对外的战争四处猖獗。
朱庇特见到这样的情况怒不可遏。他召集众神商讨对策。在神祗大会上，朱庇特陈述了地球上不堪容忍的状况，并宣布了他要毁灭地上目前居民的意向，表示要另置新人。这种新人不同于现有些人，他们将更有存活的价值，对神祗也愈加敬重。朱庇特唯恐用火烧会危及天宫本身，就决定用洪水淹没地球，转瞬间洪水就把地球上的人和他们的财物席卷而去。
在所有些山峰中唯有帕尔纳索斯没被洪水的浪滔所淹没，普罗米修斯的独生子丢卡利翁和他的老婆皮拉－－－厄庇墨透斯的女儿－－－就躲到这个山峰上去。丢卡利翁为人正直，他的老婆则真诚敬神。朱庇特怜惜他们夫妻一生清白，品行端正，就斥令洪水退去。这个时候丢卡利翁和皮拉走进了一个溅满了泥浆的神庙里，在香火未燃的祭坛前，他两个俯身在地祈求神祗的引导和帮助。神谕指出说：裹起头，松开衣带，出庙去，一路走一路将你们妈妈的尸骨丢在身后。这话使他们惊愕不已。皮拉第一打破了沉寂：大家不可以照着这个神谕办事；大家不敢亵渎爸爸妈妈的尸骨。他们躲进树林，苦苦思索着神谕的意思。最后丢卡利翁说：要不就是我发了昏，要不就是大家不犯逆忤罪也能实行神谕。大地是万物之母，石头就是她的尸骨。大家可以往身后扔石头，我想神谕说的就是这个意思。他两个蒙住颜面，松开衣带，捡起石头朝身后扔去。这类石头开始变软，呈现形状，日渐地带上了略似于人的状貌。丢卡利翁扔的石头变成了男性，皮拉扔的则成了女性。
