美国学生人类历史第19期:尼罗河河谷(2)

 　　While man of the prehistoric¹ age had been obliged to spend sixteen hours out of every twenty-four gathering² food for himself and the members of his tribe,

　　史前人类通常要1天劳动16个小时，为自己的家人和部落成员寻找食物。

　　the Egyptian peasant or the inhabitant of the Egyptian city found himself possessed³ of a certain leisure.

　　可埃及的农民和城市居民却拥有一定的闲暇时间。

　　He used this spare time to make himself many things that were merely ornamental⁴ and not in the least bit useful.

　　他们把这些空余时间用于制作许多仅具装饰性而毫无实用价值的东西。

　　More than that. One day he discovered that his brain was capable of thinking all kinds of thoughts which had nothing to do with the problems of eating and sleeping and finding a home for the children.

　　不仅如此。有一天，他突然发现自己的脑子能用来想各式各样、希奇古怪的念头。这些念头与日常的吃饭啊、穿衣啊、睡觉啊、为小孩子找个住处啊都毫无关系。

　　The Egyptian began to speculate upon many strange problems that confronted him.

　　埃及人开始思考他们面临的很多奇怪的问题。

　　Where did the stars come from? Who made the noise of the thunder which frightened him so terribly?

　　是谁使尼罗河水规规矩矩的按时涨落，让日历可以据此制定出来？

　　Who made the River Nile rise with such regularity⁵ that it was possible to base the calendar upon the appearance and the disappearance⁶ of the annual floods?

　　尼罗河潮水的涨落有如此的规则，可以根据它定年历的，这是谁管的？

　　Who was he, himself, a strange little creature surrounded on all sides by death and sickness and yet happy and full of laughter?

　　还有他自己，一个被死亡和疾病团团包围，却同样能感受幸福与欢笑 的奇怪生物，又是谁呢？

　　He asked these many questions and certain people obligingly stepped forward to answer these inquiries⁷ to the best of their ability.

　　他问了许多这样的问题，有人则恳切地走上前来，尽其所能地加以解答。

　　The Egyptians called them "priests" and they became the guardians⁸ of his thoughts and gained great respect in the community.

　　古埃及人把这些负责解答问题的人称为“祭司”，他们是思想的守护者，倍受一般老百姓的尊重。

　　They were highly learned men who were entrusted⁹ with the sacred task of keeping the written records.

　　他们学识渊博，被委以用文字书写历史的神圣职务。

1 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

4 ornamental   

adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物

参考例句：

• The stream was dammed up to form ornamental lakes.溪流用水坝拦挡起来,形成了装饰性的湖泊。
• The ornamental ironwork lends a touch of elegance to the house.铁艺饰件为房子略添雅致。

5 regularity   

n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐

参考例句：

• The idea is to maintain the regularity of the heartbeat.问题就是要维持心跳的规律性。
• He exercised with a regularity that amazed us.他锻炼的规律程度令我们非常惊讶。

6 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

7 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

9 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》