One of the things a rajah likes best to do is to hunt tigers. 猎虎是印度邦主最喜欢做的事情之一。

The tiger—a huge, orange-colored cat with black stripes—is a fearful creature. 老虎——一种橘黄色的，长着黑色条纹的大型猫科动物——是非常可怕的动物。

He lives in the jungles of India, and when he is hungry he raids villages and kills domestic animals and people. 老虎生活在印度丛林中，饥饿时，会袭击村庄，咬死家畜甚至人。

A rajah going forth to a tiger hunt takes good care that he is in no danger. 邦主前去猎虎时非常小心，要确保自己绝对安全。

He and a party of friends, with hundreds of servants, go out into the jungle and climb to a safe place in a tree where a platform has been built. 邦主和他的一帮朋友，带着几百个仆人，离开住处，进入丛林，爬到树上一个安全的地方，那里早已搭建好一个平台。

The servants then go through the jungle beating pans and drums and anything that will make a noise, 接着仆人们深入丛林，敲盆击鼓以及敲打任何可以发出噪音的东西，

keeping up a terrific din to scare the tiger along toward the rajah and his party of friends. 持续发出可怕的嘈杂声，吓得老虎朝着国王和他的朋友方向跑去。

When he comes within range they fire upon him from above. 当老虎进入射程，国王和他的朋友就从平台上向它射击，

They then take his skin home to cover the floors or walls of the rajah's palace. 并把猎杀后的老虎带回去装饰宫殿的地板或者墙面。

There are over a hundred different religions in India but, as I told you in the last chapter, most of the people are Hindus. 在印度有一百多种以上不同的宗教，但是，在上一章我就介绍过，大部分印度人都信仰印度教。

A Hindu believes his spirit comes back into this World in the shape of an animal or of another person. 印度教徒相信人死后灵魂会回到这个世界，变成一种动物或者另一个人。

That is one reason why useful or good animals are treated well. 这就是为什么有用的或有益的动物会受到善待。

A Hindu thinks that if he is good he will, when he dies, suddenly, in a twinkling, be born again—rich or in the shape of a good animal; 印度教徒认为，如果他是个好人，那么在他死后的一瞬间，就会投胎成为一个富人，或者成为了一只有益的动物；

if he has been bad, he will, when he returns, be poor or in the shape of a bad animal. 如果他是个坏人，转世时他就会变成穷人，或者成为有害的动物。

When I look into the kindly eyes of my dog who wags his tail, puts out his paw, and whines "m-m-m," 当我的狗摇着尾巴，伸出爪子，呜呜呜地叫，

I can almost believe as the Hindu does that some human being, perhaps a rajah, is in his dog body. 我看着它友好的眼神时，我几乎就像印度教徒那样，相信某个人也许是个邦主就在这狗的身体里。

On the west side of India is a big city called Bombay, but Bombay does not look much different from any other large city in Europe. 在印度西海岸有个大城市叫孟买，孟买看上去和欧洲任何一个大城市没有多大区别，

The buildings look much like the buildings in London or New York. 城市建筑很像伦敦、纽约的建筑。

But if you travel north from Bombay for about two days you will come to a town with two buildings like none other in the World. 但是，如果你从孟买往北走两天，就会来到一个城镇，那儿有两栋建筑物，和世界上其他任何建筑物都不一样。

This town is called Agra. 这个小镇叫阿格拉。

One building is a tomb, the other is a mosque. 其中一座建筑物是一座陵墓，另一座是清真寺。

The tomb was built by a Mohammedan prince for one of his four wives who was his favorite. 陵墓是一位伊斯兰教王子给他四位妻子中最喜爱的一位建造的，

It is called the Taj Mahal, and some think it the most beautiful building in the World. 叫泰姬陵，有些人认为这是世界上最美的建筑。