美国学生世界地理教材 第148期:众神之国(1)

 THE first book I ever read was Aesop's Fables¹. 我读过的最早一本书是《伊索寓言》。

Aesop was a slave who lived in a little country called Greece. 伊索曾经是一个奴隶，生活在一个叫“希腊”的小国。

Aesop the slave wrote such famous fables that his master set him free. 身为奴隶，伊索却写了很多著名的寓言故事，于是他的主人就给了他自由。

The book I read was in English, but the Fables were first written in Greek. 我读的那本书是英译本，但是《伊索寓言》最初是用希腊文写的。

Greece is so small that if I pointed² to it on the map down at the corner of Europe it would be entirely³ covered by the tip of my finger. 希腊是个很小的国家，在地图上，它位于欧洲下方一个角落里，如果我用手指着它，指尖就会把它完全盖住。

But small as it is, it was at one time the greatest country, its people were the greatest people, and its language the greatest language in the World. 但是，尽管很小，这个国家曾经有一个时期却是世界上最伟大的国家，希腊人民是世界上最伟大的民族，希腊语是世界上最伟大的语言。

When the rest of the people in Europe were ignorant savages⁴ the people in Greece were writing the greatest books, 当其他欧洲人还是愚昧无知的野蛮人的时候，希腊人正在创作世界上最伟大的著作，

building the most beautiful buildings, making the most beautiful statues, and teaching the most famous schools that have ever been. 建造最漂亮的建筑，制作最美丽的雕像，创办迄今为止最著名的学校。

There is one Book that was first written in Greek but is now printed in over eight hundred languages, 有一本书最初是用希腊文写的，现在这本书以800多种语言出版发行，

and more people have read it than any other book in the World. It's the Bible—the New Testament⁵ part. 是世界上拥有读者最多的一本书，这本书就是圣经——《新约》部分。

But the people of Greece didn't at first believe in the Bible or Christ. 然而，希腊人最初并不信奉《圣经》或基督。

They didn't believe in only one god but in many gods, who they said lived above the clouds on the top of a mountain called Olympus. 他们不相信只有一个神，而是相信有很多神。根据他们的说法，这些神居住在一座名叫“奥林匹斯山”山顶的云上。

The mountain is still there, but if you should climb to the top you wouldn't find any gods. 奥林匹斯山依然屹立在那儿，但是，如果你爬上山顶，就会发现根本没有神。

When the sun shone the Greeks said that the god Apollo was driving his golden chariot across the sky. 当太阳照耀大地的时候，希腊人说太阳神阿波罗正驾着他的金色双轮战车驶过天空；

When the rain fell they said another god, Jupiter, was watering the earth, and when the lightning flashed they said he was angry and throwing thunderbolts. 下雨时，他们说是另一位神，主神朱庇特，正在给地球浇水，当闪电划过天空的时候，他们说是因为他愤怒了而正在轰击雷霆。

1 fables   

n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说

参考例句：

• Some of Aesop's Fables are satires. 《伊索寓言》中有一些是讽刺作品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Little Mexican boys also breathe the American fables. 墨西哥族的小孩子对美国神话也都耳濡目染。 来自辞典例句

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

4 savages   

未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There're some savages living in the forest. 森林里居住着一些野人。
• That's an island inhabited by savages. 那是一个野蛮人居住的岛屿。

5 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。