5-3 叶尼佳种马的传说

The Legend of Yennenga Stallion

　　

The story dates back to the beginning of the 12th century in the Mossi's¹ Dagomba Kingdom corresponding to² the northern part of modern Ghana. Its capital was Gambaga. The King of Dagomba was called Nedega. Dagomba was a wealthy state and naturally its prosperity attracted the attention of neighbouring people, especially Malinkes, who lived further south. Nedega's soldiers were brave and almost always won in any show of force. The King's daughter, Yannenga, always helped him win the battles.

 

　　Yennenga was a beautiful young woman. Everyone loved her. She was also an extraordinary horse woman. She rode horses much better than her brothers, and even better than the kingdom's warriors². She was also a brave warrior¹, adept³ at³ using javelins⁴, spears and bows.

 

　　Yennenga was so precious to her people that her father refused to let her marry a decision which made Yennenga sad. She felt she could not complain to her father directly. So she planted a field with wheat. In a few months, the crop grew but Yennenga let it rot. She would not harvest it. Her father was very surprised and asked her for an explanation. "You see father," she said, "you are letting me rot like the wheat in this field." King Nedega was very upset and ordered that she be locked up.

 

　　But Yennenga had friends among the King's guards. One night, one of the king's horsemen helped her escape from the prison. Both rode long into the night and were later attacked by Malinkes warriors. Yennenga and her benefactor⁵⁵ routed⁶ their attackers but the horseman paid for the victory with his life. Yennenga was now alone in the middle of the forest, far, far away from Gambaga.

 

　　Bravely she decided⁷ to ride further north. At one point in the journey she had to cross a river. Braving strong currents she and her horse managed to negotiate⁸⁷ the river. She was exhausted⁹ from the effort and lay on the back of her horse when she saw a house. It belonged to Riale, a famous elephant hunter. Riale fell in love with Yennenga straight away. In time they had a son who came to be called Ouedraogo (male horse), a name used quite commonly by the Burkinabe now. It is shared by one of Burkina Faso's most celebrated¹⁰ film makers¹¹, Idrissa Ouedraogo, who won the Yennenga prize in 1991 with a film called Tilai.

 

　　Yennenga is also known as the mother of the Mossi people. Today in Ouagadougou where the current king of the Mossis lives, one can see Yennenga's statues at many places. A square and an avenue are also named after the lady warrior.

 

注释:

1.Mossi [5mC:si:] n. 莫西人（大多居住在非洲的布基纳法索）

2.correspond to 相当，相类似

3.be adept at sth. 善于……，擅长……

4.javelin⁴ [5dVAvlin] n.（打猎或作战用的）投枪，（田径运动中用的）标枪

5.benefactor [5benifAktE] n. 恩人，施主，赞助人

6.rout⁶ [raut] vt. 击溃，打垮

7.negotiate [ni5^EuFieit] vt.〈口〉顺利通过，成功地越过

 

叶尼佳种马的传说

 

故事发生在12世纪初期莫西人统治的达戈姆巴王国，也就是现在加纳的北部地区。达戈姆巴王国的首都是甘巴加，国王名叫内德加。这是一个富有的国家；它的繁荣自然引起了邻国人的注意，尤其是住在遥远南方的马林克人。内德加的士兵勇猛善战，几乎战无不胜。国王的女儿叶尼佳总是为父亲打胜仗助一臂之力。

叶尼佳年轻貌美，每个人都喜爱她。她还是个杰出的骑手，骑术远超过她的兄弟们，甚至比王国的武士还要好。她同样也是一名勇敢的武士，擅长使用投枪、矛和弓。

由于叶尼佳对于她的人民来说太珍贵了，他的父亲因此不许她出嫁。这个决定令叶尼佳非常难过。她觉得自己不能直接向父亲抱怨，所以就种了一块麦田。几个月后，庄稼长成了，但叶尼佳却让它们熟烂在地里，她不愿收割这些庄稼。父亲非常惊讶，向她询问缘由。她说：“父亲你看，你正在让我枯萎，就像田里的麦子。”内德加国王非常不高兴，便下令把她关起来。

然而，在国王的守卫中，有一些是叶尼佳的朋友。一天晚上，国王的一名骑士帮助她逃离了监狱。他们两个在漫长的夜路上骑行，后来遭到马林克武士的袭击。叶尼佳和她的恩人一起击退了袭击者，但骑士却为此付出了生命。此时，她独自一人在森林中，离甘巴加很远，很远。

她勇敢地决定继续朝北骑。在路上，有一处她必须要过一条河。她不畏湍急的水流，终于和自己的马一起渡过了这条河。精疲力竭的叶尼佳躺在马背上，这时，她看到了一间房子。这间房是一个有名的猎象人里亚尔的。他与叶尼佳一见倾心，坠入爱河。后来，他们有了一个儿子，取名叫韦德拉奥果（意为公马），这个名字现在被布基纳法索人普遍使用。布基纳法索最著名的电影制片人之一伊德里萨•韦德拉奥果就是用的这个名字，他凭借影片《蒂莱》获得1991年的叶尼佳奖。

叶尼佳还被认为是莫西人之母。今天，在当今的莫西国王所在的瓦加杜古，人们可以在很多地方看到叶尼佳的雕像。有一个广场和一条大街也是以这位巾帼武士的名字命名的。

 

1 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

2 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

3 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

4 javelin   

n.标枪，投枪

参考例句：

• She achieved a throw of sixty metres in the javelin event.在掷标枪项目中，她掷了60米远。
• The coach taught us how to launch a javelin.教练教我们投标枪。

5 benefactor   

n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人

参考例句：

• The chieftain of that country is disguised as a benefactor this time. 那个国家的首领这一次伪装出一副施恩者的姿态。
• The first thing I did, was to recompense my original benefactor, my good old captain. 我所做的第一件事, 就是报答我那最初的恩人, 那位好心的老船长。

6 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 negotiate   

v.洽谈，协商，谈判，顺利通过，成功越过

参考例句：

• I'll negotiate with their coach on the date of the match.我将与他们的教练磋商比赛的日期问题。
• I managed to negotiate successfully with the authorities.我设法同当局进行了成功的协商。

9 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

10 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

11 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》