纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 060基尔瓦陶器碎片（7）

 

All this trade made Kilwa very rich, but it changed it in more than material ways, because this was a trade with a distinct and unusual annual rhythm. Because the ocean winds blow north-east for one half of the year and southwest for the other, merchants from the Gulf¹ and India usually had to spend months waiting for the wind home. And in these months they inevitably² mixed closely with the local African community, and transformed it. In due course, thanks to these Arab traders, the coastal³ towns were converted to Islam, and Arabic and Persian words were absorbed into the local Bantu language to create a new lingua franca - Swahili. The result was a remarkable⁴ cultural community running through the coastal cities from Somalia to Tanzania, from Mogadishu to Kilwa - a kind of Swahili strip, if you like, Islamic in faith and cosmopolitan⁵ in outlook. But the core of Swahili culture remains⁶ unquestionably African. As the historian Bertrum Mapunda explains:

"We know that when these immigrants came to East Africa they came here because there were attractions here. And one of the attractions was trade. It was because of these local people who had attracted them, that the Swahili culture later on was born. So it's not true to say that this is something which was bought from outside, when we know that there were local people here who had contributed the starting point, and from there, then people from outside came and were interested."

贸易让基尔瓦富裕起来，但它所带来的并不仅仅是物质上的改变。因为海上东北风与西南风各有半年，贸易通常以年为单位进行，来自波斯湾和印度的商人常常要滞留数月才能等到归途的顺风。在这些日子里，他们不可避免地与当地人密切接触并逐渐影响对方。由于阿拉伯商人的潜移默化，从某一时刻起，这些海滨城市开始信仰伊斯兰教，当地的班图语吸收了阿拉伯语和波斯语的词汇，产生了一种新的通用语斯瓦希里语。从索马里到坦桑尼亚，从摩加迪沙到基尔瓦，这些海滨城市组成了一条斯瓦希里文化带，居民都信仰伊斯兰教，外表也是内外合璧。但毫无疑问，非洲文化仍然是斯瓦希里的文化核心。历史学教授马彭达解释道：

我们知道，人们移民东非的一大诱因便是贸易。当地居民吸引了外来移民，之后才有斯瓦希里文化的诞生。它并非“舶来品”，而是当地居民奠定下基础，外来人口再渐次加入。

 

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 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

3 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

4 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

5 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。