The people of India, like people almost everywhere, wanted to rule themselves. 印度人，像几乎所有国家的人一样，想自己统治自己。

So finally the English said they would give up India and turn the country completely over to the Indians. 最终英国人说他们愿意放弃印度，把国家完全交给印度人民。

This pleased the people of India but there was one trouble with the plan. 印度人听了很高兴，但是计划中却出现了一个问题。

Most of the people of India believed in a religion called the Hindu religion but a great many others were Mohammedans. 大多数印度人信仰印度教，但是还有许多人信奉伊斯兰教。

These two religions didn't mix very well. The Hindus wanted India to remain one big country when it became independent. 两大宗教不能和平相处。印度教徒希望印度独立时依然是完整的大国，

The Mohammedans didn't want one big country for they knew then the Hindus would do most of the ruling as there were more Hindus in India than Mohammedans. 但是伊斯兰教徒不希望这样，因为他们知道那样的话印度教徒就会把这个国家的统治权掌握在自己手里，因为在印度印度教徒的人数比伊斯兰教徒多，

The Mohammedans wanted the country split into separate Mohammedan and Hindu countries. 他们希望印度分成两个独立的国家——伊斯兰教国家和印度教国家，

Then the Mohammedans could have a country of their own and not have to be part of a Hindu country. 这样，伊斯兰教徒就能有自己的国家，而不必成为印度教国家的一部分。

They almost went to war about it but finally both sides agreed to make two countries out of India, 双方几乎要为之开战，最后，双方达成协议，从印度分出两个国家，

a Mohammedan country to be called Pakistan and a Hindu country to keep the name of India. 伊斯兰教国家将称为“巴基斯坦”，印度教国家继续保持“印度”这个名字。

Now the Mohammedans lived mostly on the western and on the eastern sides of India and the Hindus lived mostly in the middle. 但是，伊斯兰教徒大多数居住在印度的东西两边，而印度教徒大多数居住在中间。

So Pakistan became a new country with two separate parts, an eastern part and a western part with the new country of India in between. 于是，巴基斯坦成为一个新国家，就由互不相连的两个部分组成，而印度这个新国家就在这两部分之间。

For Pakistan it must be something like living in a house with the kitchen on one side of the street and the living room on the other side. 基斯坦有点像一所房子，厨房在马路的一边，而起居室却在另一边。

But it seems to work. Both India and Pakistan are members of the British Commonwealth of Nations. 但这似乎还行得通。