美国学生世界地理教材 第187期:对面脚踩之地续(4)

 The Hindus do not bury those who die; they burn their bodies on bonfires. 印度教徒不埋葬死去的人，而是将尸体放在篝火上焚烧。

Those who die in Benares are burned on the steps that lead down to the river, 在贝拿勒斯，死去的人会被放在通向恒河的石阶上焚烧。

and so many are burned there that men make a regular business of selling wood for these funeral fires. 焚烧的尸体太多了，就有人做起了常规生意，专门出售火葬用的木柴。

The richer a man is, the bigger fire he can have when he dies; 一个人越富有，他死后焚烧的火堆就越大。

but often a man is so poor he has not left even enough money to pay for the few sticks of wood necessary to burn his body. 但是常有人穷得连火葬用的木头都买不起。

There are so many people in India that often there is not enough food to go around, 印度人口太多，常常没有足够的食物分配给每个人。

and though the poor people live on little but a few handfuls of rice a day, thousands upon thousands starve to death for lack of even this little food. 尽管穷人一天只需要几把米就可以活下去，但是成千上万的人还是因为缺少一点点粮食就饿死了。

The rajahs and well-to-do people look fat and well-fed, but the poor people are usually as thin as skeletons¹, 主和富人都长得肥头大耳，营养充足；而穷人通常是骨瘦如柴。

and as they often wear hardly any clothes, you can see every bone in their lean bodies. 因为穷人经常不穿什么衣服，你能看见他们瘦削身体上的根根骨头。

From rajahs with their millions' worth of jewels to the poor wretch² who dies without two sticks of wood to burn his body, that is the "opposite-feet" land. 从拥有价值百万珠宝的邦主，到穷得连火葬自己的两根木柴都没有的可怜人，这就是“对拓之地”。

South of India is an island called Ceylon, where men wear skirts and combs in their hair. 印度之南有个叫锡兰的岛，岛上的男人穿裙子，头发上插着梳子。

Much of our tea comes from there. Near Ceylon are the greatest pearl³ fisheries—greater even than those of the Persian Gulf⁴. 我们喝的茶很多产自那里，锡兰附近有世界上最大的珍珠渔业场——甚至比波斯湾的还要大。

Many of the rajahs' famous pearls⁵ have been found there, and even I have a black pearl that came from there. 印度邦主的许多著名的珍珠都产自那里。就连我也有一颗黑珍珠是产自那里。

It is supposed to bring good luck whether you wear it or whether you don't. I don't. 据说珍珠会带来好运，无论你戴不戴它。我不戴珍珠。

The Indians are famous magicians⁶, and at Colombo in Ceylon I saw some of their tricks. 印度人是著名的魔术师。在锡兰的科伦坡，我见过他们玩的一些戏法。

An Indian placed his wife in a basket, covered it with a shawl, stabbed through it in every direction, and then uncovered her alive and smiling. 一位印度人把他的妻子放在一个篮子里，盖上披肩，然后用剑从各个方向刺穿这个篮子，然后掀开披肩，他的妻子毫发无损，还向大家微笑呢。

I saw him put a seed in a flower-pot and while you watched it it grew to a plant. 我还看到他放了一粒种子在花盆里，当你看着的时候，它已经长成一株植物了。

How do they do such things? 他们是如何做到的呢？

You can only guess just as every one else does. 你只能像别人一样去猜测吧。

1 skeletons   

n.（建筑物等的）骨架( skeleton的名词复数 )；骨骼；梗概；骨瘦如柴的人（或动物）

参考例句：

• Only skeletons of buildings remained. 只剩下了建筑物的框架。 来自辞典例句
• It looks like six skeletons in front of that stone door! 在这石头门前看上去就象有六副骨骼！ 来自辞典例句

2 wretch   

n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人

参考例句：

• You are really an ungrateful wretch to complain instead of thanking him.你不但不谢他，还埋怨他，真不知好歹。
• The dead husband is not the dishonoured wretch they fancied him.死去的丈夫不是他们所想象的不光彩的坏蛋。

3 pearl   

n.珍珠，珍珠母

参考例句：

• He bought his girlfriend a pearl necklace.他给他女朋友买了一条珍珠项链。
• The crane and the mother-of-pearl fight to death.鹬蚌相争。

4 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

5 pearls   

n.珍珠( pearl的名词复数 )；珍品；人造珍珠；珠状物

参考例句：

• a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls 缠着珍珠的红宝石项链
• a string of pearls 一挂珍珠

6 magicians   

n.魔术师( magician的名词复数 )；巫师；术士；施妖术的人

参考例句：

• Like all magicians, he kept his secrets to himself. 象所有魔术师那样，他对此守口如瓶。 来自辞典例句
• The early priests were also doctors and magicians. 早期的僧侣又是医生又是巫士。 来自辞典例句