世界小史 第91期:文字

 　　Their task was to perform sacrifices to the gods and look after the temples, and, as in Egypt, they were in charge of sacred knowledge.

　　他们的职责是照管给神灵的祭献品和神庙，就像在埃及那样，他们负责神圣的事情。

　　They had to learn all the chants and prayers off by heart so that they were preserved and handed down, unchanged.

　　他们必须背诵赞歌和祈祷文，以便将它们保存下来，不变地流传下去。

　　They did this for more than 1,000 years until the texts were finally written down.

　　一千多年来他们一直这样做，直到它们最终用文字被记述下来。

　　A tiny part of the population was excluded¹ from any caste.

　　其中一小部分人不属于任何种姓。

　　They were pariahs² – people who were given the dirtiest and most unpleasant tasks.

　　他们是贱民——人们让他们干最脏最累的活儿。

　　Not even members of the lowest castes could associate with them – their very touch was thought to be defiling³.

　　即使是下等种姓的人也不可以和他们呆在一起。据说人只要一接触他们就会变脏，So they became known as the 'untouchables'.

　　所以他们叫做“不可接触的人”。

　　They weren't allowed to fetch water from the streams that other Indians used, and had to make sure that their shadow never touched another person,他们不可以和别的印度人从同一条小河中取水，而且必须留神别让哪怕是自己身体的影子落在另一个印度人身上，because even that was thought to be defiling.

　　因为甚至他们的影子也被认为是会把人弄赃的。

　　People can be very cruel.

　　人类竟然能够如此残忍。

 

1 excluded   

v.排除，不包括在内( exclude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cost of borrowing has been excluded from the inflation figures. 通胀数字未包括借贷成本。
• The court excluded the confession wrongly obtained by the police. 法院排除了警方通过不正当方法获得的供词作为证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 pariahs   

n.被社会遗弃者( pariah的名词复数 )；贱民

参考例句：

• Despite the trading frenzy, Fannie and Freddie have become pariahs. 尽管他们仍旧被疯狂的交易着，但是两房已经沦为末流。 来自互联网
• This effect remains until the Pariahs are eliminated. 直到贱民的这一个效果残余物被除去。 来自互联网

3 defiling   

v.玷污( defile的现在分词 )；污染；弄脏；纵列行进

参考例句：

• Why, to put such a phantasmagoria on the table would be defiling the whole flat. 是啊，在桌上摆这么一个妖形怪状的东西，就把整个住宅都弄得乌烟瘴气了！” 来自互联网