2016年4月17日功课

MESOPOTAMIA

美索不达米亚

MESOPOTAMIA -- THE SECOND CENTRE OF EASTERN CIVILISATION.

美索不达米亚——东方文明的第二中心。

I AM going to take you to the top of the highest pyramid and I am going to ask that you imagine yourself possessed of the eyes of a hawk. Way, way off, in the distance, far beyond the yellow sands of the desert, you will see something green and shimmering. It is a valley situated between two rivers. It is the Paradise of the Old Testament. It is the land of mystery and wonder which the Greeks called Mesopotamia -- the ``country between the rivers. ''

我将带你登上最高的金字塔，和我一起想象你拥有一双雄鹰的眼睛。飞过遥远的距离，远离那满是黄沙的沙漠之后，你将看到一些绿色的善良的东西。那是一个坐落在两条河中间的河谷。那就是《旧约全书》中的天堂。那是一片充满神秘和奇迹的土地，希腊人称之为美索不达米亚——即“河流中间的国家”。

2016年4月18日功课

The names of the two rivers are the Euphrates (which the Babylonians called the Purattu) and the Tigris (which was known as the Diklat). They begin their course amidst the snows of the mountains of Armenia where Noah's Ark found a resting place and slowly they flow through the southern plain until they reach the muddy banks of the Persian gulf. They perform a very useful service. They turn the arid regions of western Asia into a fertile garden.

这两条河的名字分别叫做幼发拉底河（巴比伦人叫做普热土）和底格里斯河（也被称作迪克特）。它们起源于亚美尼亚的雪山之间，诺亚方舟在那里找到栖息的地方。两河缓慢的流过北方的平原，直到波斯湾泥泞的堤岸。两河提供了非常有用的服务，把西亚这片荒芜之地变成了肥沃的花园。

2016年4月19日功课

The valley of the Nile had attracted people because it had offered them food upon fairly easy terms. The ``land between the rivers'' was popular for the same reason. It was a country full of promise and both the inhabitants of the northern mountains and the tribes which roamed through the southern deserts tried to claim this territory as their own and most exclusive possession. The constant rivalry between the mountaineers and the desert-nomads led to endless warfare. Only the strongest and the bravest could hope to survive and that will explain why Mesopotamia became the home of a very strong race of men who were capable of creating a civilisation which was in every respect as important as that of Egypt.

尼罗河河谷吸引人，因为她能非常方便的给人们提供食物。“两河流域因”因为同样的原因受人欢迎。她是一个充满希望的国度，所以无论是北方山区的居民还是南方沙漠里的游荡部落都想宣称这片土地为自己专属的财富。山民与沙漠游民持续的争夺演变成无休止的战争。只有最强壮和最英勇的人才有希望生存下去，这就能解释为什么美索不达米亚能成为一个十分强大民族的故乡，这里的人们能创造一种文明能在各方面与埃及相媲美。