美国学生世界地理教材 第163期:丰饶之国(3)

 There is a town at the top of the Holy Land with a name like a boy's—Dan. “圣地”的顶端有一个小镇，镇的名字像一个男孩子的名字——但；

Down at the bottom of the Holy Land is another town called Beersheba; “圣地”的底端还有一个城镇，名叫别示巴。

so people often say "from Dan to Beersheba," meaning from top to bottom or from one end of something to the other. 于是人们常常说“从但到别示巴”，意思就是“从上到下”或“从一端到另一端”。

Between these two towns the distance is only one hundred and fifty miles and the distance across Palestine is only about fifty miles, 这两个城镇相距仅150英里，巴勒斯坦城东西相距大约只有50英里，

so that it would be possible now in one day to go in an automobile¹ up and down and across Palestine. 所以，现在如果乘汽车，一天之内就能够从北到南，从东到西，走遍整个巴勒斯坦。

There are two lakes in Palestine; one is in the north and one is in the south, 巴勒斯坦有两个湖，一个在北部，另一个在南部，

but both are called Seas. The one in the north is called the Sea of Galilee. 但是两个都称作“海”。北部的叫加利利海，

The one in the south is known as the Dead Sea, for nothing can live in it nor grow around it. 南部的叫死海，因为死海中没有生物可以生存，在死海的周围也不长任何生物。

The Sea of Galilee is where Christ walked on the water and where the miraculous² number of fish were caught. 加利利海是基督水上行走过的地方，这里盛产鱼。

Many of Christ's close friends were fishermen, and He asked them to help Him teach others, saying He would make them "fishers of men." 基督的好朋友中很多都是渔夫，基督请他们帮他布道，并说他要使他们“得人如得鱼”。

So a club of Galilee fishermen was started and they used a drawing of a fish as the sign of their society, 于是加利利海的渔夫组成一个社团，用一幅“鱼”的画作为社团的标志。

for, strangely enough, the first two letters of the Greek word for fish were Christ's initials³. 奇怪的是，希腊语“鱼”的单词的头两个字母是基督姓名的首字母。

As in Bible times, they still have sudden storms on the Sea of Galilee and a great many fish are still caught there. 就像《圣经》时代一样，现在加利利海仍然会突然发生暴风雨，那里的渔夫仍然能捕捉到很多很多的鱼。

Running from the Sea of Galilee into the Dead Sea is a zigzag⁴ river called the Jordan. 有一条蜿蜒曲折的河从加利利海流进死海，这条河叫做约旦河。

It was in the Jordan River that John the Baptist baptized Christ, 就是在约旦河，施洗者约翰给耶稣施洗。

and people go from all over the World to see the spot where this took place, and some to be baptized there themselves. 人们从世界各地来到这里，参观耶稣受洗的地方，有些人自己来这里受洗。

There is always a clergyman on hand, ready and waiting, to baptize those who come. 总有一位牧师在近旁，随时准备着为前来的人施洗。

1 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

2 miraculous   

adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的

参考例句：

• The wounded man made a miraculous recovery.伤员奇迹般地痊愈了。
• They won a miraculous victory over much stronger enemy.他们战胜了远比自己强大的敌人，赢得了非凡的胜利。

3 initials   

n.首字母，姓名

参考例句：

• a glass tankard with his initials etched on it 刻有他姓名首字母的玻璃大酒杯
• All the towels were personalized with their initials. 所有毛巾上都标有物主姓名的首字母。

4 zigzag   

n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行

参考例句：

• The lightning made a zigzag in the sky.闪电在天空划出一道Z字形。
• The path runs zigzag up the hill.小径向山顶蜿蜒盘旋。