Aztecs 远古的回响 -- Aztecs帝国 2

When the Spanish conquistadors first saw the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, it was so beautiful. They thought they were dreaming. They called it the Venice of the Americas. At the height of the Aztec empire in 1519 the Spaniards landed on the Gulf¹ Coast of Mexico. Having heard about the fabulous² riches of the Aztecs, they'd come to make their fortunes. After 12 weeks of marching they found the Aztec capital. It was built entirely³ on water, and with over 200,000 inhabitants was one of the largest cities in all the world. Mexico City was built on the site of Tenochitilan. An area on the outskirts⁴ of today's capital, still gives a flavor of what it might have been like. This region still supplies the city with flowers, just as it did 500 years ago for the rituals in the Aztec capital. It was these rituals which so shocked the Spaniards.

We saw the men being dragged up the steps to be sacrificed. The priests laid them down on their backs and cutting open their chests, drew out their palpitating hearts which they offered to the idols⁵ before them. Then, they flung the bodies down the steps.

Interpreting the cultures of Mexico's past has been a lifetime study for novelist Carlos Fuentes.

The whole conception of the world of the Aztecs is so alien to our modern sense of the world that we can only guess, we can only hint. The Aztec regime, to put it in a nutshell, was a regime at odds⁶ with itself.

How could the Aztecs create a beautiful city with such violence at its heart? To investigate the contradiction, it's necessary to go back to the time when the Aztecs first arrived in the valley of Mexico.

The original nomadic⁷ tribe of native Americans lived in the north of what is now Mexico. A tribal⁸ prophecy told them to journey south and build a city where they saw an eagle landing on a cactus⁹. According to their history it was here in this inhospitable swampland that the prophecy came true.

conquistador: n. 征服者征服者，尤指16世纪入侵墨西哥、中美洲或秘鲁的印第安的西班牙士兵
palpitate: v. (心)悸动
regime: n. 政权
nomadic: a. 游牧的
cactus: n. [植]仙人掌

1 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。

2 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

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 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

5 idols   

偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像

参考例句：

• The genii will give evidence against those who have worshipped idols. 魔怪将提供证据来反对那些崇拜偶像的人。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• Teenagers are very sequacious and they often emulate the behavior of their idols. 青少年非常盲从，经常模仿他们的偶像的行为。

6 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

7 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

8 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

9 cactus   

n.仙人掌

参考例句：

• It was the first year that the cactus had produced flowers.这是这棵仙人掌第一年开花。
• The giant cactus is the vegetable skycraper.高大的仙人掌是植物界巨人。