but I had no idea then that there were any such places with people living in them today. 但那时我并不知道世界上真有这些地方，而且今天还有人居住在那里，

But there are. We call the land where these places are Bible Land, because so much is told about them in the Bible. 但是，确实如此。我们现在把这些地方称为“《圣经》之地”，是因为在《圣经》里有很多关于这些地方的故事。

Bible Land is at the east end of the Mediterranean Sea. “《圣经》之地”位于地中海东侧，

The northern part of Bible Land is called Syria, the southern part is called the Holy Land, or Palestine. 其北部叫做叙利亚，南部叫做“圣地”或巴勒斯坦。

There are a great many cities in Syria and Palestine that were alive when Christ was born and are still living, 在叙利亚和巴勒斯坦有许多城市，在基督诞生之时充满了活力，现在这些城市仍充满活力；

and there are a great many places that are now dead—nothing left of them but ruins. 也有许多地方，现在死气沉沉了——只剩下一片废墟。

But there is a city mentioned in the Bible that was a thousand years old when Christ was born and yet is still very much alive. 但是，有一座在《圣经》里提到的城市，到基督诞生时，它已经有一千年的历史了，然而，现在仍然生机勃勃，

It is the oldest city. Its name is Damascus. 它是世界上最古老的城市，名字叫大马士革。

The main street in Damascus was called "Straight," because it was not quite as crooked as its other streets. 大马士革的主要街道被称作“直街”，因为它不像其他街道那样弯曲。

On both sides of Straight Street are shops, for Damascus was once the greatest shopping city in the East; the shops are called bazaars. 直街两侧的商店铺面鳞次栉比，因为大马士革曾经是东方最大的购物城市，这些商店叫做“街市”，

Some of the bazaars are not big enough to hold a piano. 有些街市很小，连一架钢琴都放不进去。

One department store in New York would hold all the bazaars in Damascus many times over. 纽约市的一家百货商店是大马士革所有街市的好几倍大。

In these bazaars the people of Damascus used to sell only things they made themselves. 在这些街市里，大马士革人只卖他们自己做的东西。

They sold gold and silver jewelry, rugs, shawls, swords, and silks, and they made everything by hand, for there was no machinery. 他们卖金银首饰、小地毯、披巾、刀剑，还有丝绸衣服，每件东西都是手工制作，因为那个时候还没有机器。

Now there is machinery to make all these things, but it is not in Damascus. 现在机器可以生产出所有这些东西，但不是在大马士革生产的。

Many of these things are now made by machinery in England and sent to Damascus to be sold. 现在这些东西中的许多都是在英国用机器生产的，然后再运到大马士革出售。