世界小史 第172期:狮子坑

 　　The walls were painted with simple pictures inspired by Bible stories: pictures of Daniel in the Lion's Den¹,

　　墙上画着极简单的圣经故事图画。但以理（四大先知之一，《旧约》中有《但以理书》一篇）在狮子坑里，

　　of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the Burning Fiery² Furnace, or Moses Striking Water from the Rock, which were there to remind Christians³ of the power of God and the Life Everlasting⁴.

　　三个男人在火炉里，或者摩西击石取水。这些图画让基督徒们记住上帝的威力和永生：

　　In these underground passages Christians gathered together at night to discuss Christ's teachings,

　　夜晚，基督徒们在那里，在这些地下通道里聚会并讨论耶稣的学说，

　　to share the Lord's Supper and give each other encouragement when a new persecution⁵ threatened.

　　分发圣餐，在眼看要遭受新的迫害时互相鼓励。

　　And in the course of the next century, despite all the persecution,

　　尽管遭受种种迫害，在以后的一个世纪里，

　　more and more men and women throughout the empire came to believe in the Good News and were ready to bear, for its sake, the suffering Christ had endured.

　　在整个帝国却有越来越多的人信仰福音并为了它而甘愿忍受基督忍受过的一切苦难。

　　Christians were not the only ones to experience the severity of Roman rule for things were no better for the Jews.

　　当时不仅基督徒不得不身受罗马统治者的迫害，犹太人的日子也不好过。

　　A few years after Nero's reign⁶ a revolt against the Romans broke out in Jerusalem. The Jews wanted their freedom.

　　在尼禄之后的不多几年，耶路撒冷爆发了一场反对罗马人的起义，犹太人终于想获得自由了。

1 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

2 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

3 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

4 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。

5 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

6 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。