美国学生人类历史第38期:爱琴海(1)

 　　Chapter 12

　　第十二章

　　The Aegean sea

　　爱琴海

　　The people of the Aegean Sea Carried the Civilisation¹ of old Asia into the wilderness² of Europe

　　爱琴海的人民将亚洲的古老文明带到了蛮荒的欧洲

　　When Heinrich Schliemann was a little boy his father told him the story of Troy. He liked that story better than anything else he had ever heard and he made up his mind, that as soon as he was big enough to leave home, he would travel to Greece and "find Troy." That he was the son of a poor country parson in a Mecklenburg village did not bother him. He knew that he would need money but he decided³ to gather a fortune first and do the digging afterwards. As a matter of fact, he managed to get a large fortune within a very short time, and as soon as he had enough money to equip an expedition, he went to the northwest corner of Asia Minor⁴, where he supposed that Troy had been situated⁵.

　　当海因里希·谢尔曼还是个小孩子的时候，他父亲给他讲了特洛伊的故事。这些故事深深的迷住了他。他从此立下志愿，一旦自己长大，能够离家远行的时候，他将前往希腊去"寻找特洛伊"。尽管谢尔曼的父亲只是梅克伦堡村的一个贫寒的乡村牧师，可这并未使他放弃理想。他知道寻找特洛伊花费不菲，所以决定先挣一笔钱，然后再进行考古挖掘。事实上，他在很短时间内积攒了一大笔财富，足以装备一支探险队。于是，他启程前往自己认为的特洛伊城旧址，小亚细亚的西北海岸。

　　In that particular nook of old Asia Minor, stood a high mound⁶ covered with grainfields. According to tradition it had been the home of Priamus the king of Troy. Schliemann, whose enthusiasm was somewhat greater than his knowledge, wasted no time in preliminary explorations. At once he began to dig. And he dug with such zeal⁷ and such speed that his trench⁸ went straight through the heart of the city for which he was looking and carried him to the ruins of another buried town which was at least a thousand years older than the Troy of which Homer had written.

　　在小亚细亚的那块角落里，坐落着一座长满谷物的高丘。据当地的传说，普里阿摩斯王的特洛伊城便埋藏在下面。此时，谢尔曼高涨的情绪超越了他的考古知识，他马上着手挖掘。其热情之高，挖掘速度之快，使他与自己梦寐以求的城市失之交 臂。他的壕沟径直穿越了特洛伊城的中心，将他带到了深埋地下的另一座城市的废墟。这座城市比荷马描写的特洛伊城至少要古老1000年。

1 civilisation   

n.文明，文化，开化，教化

参考例句：

• Energy and ideas are the twin bases of our civilisation.能源和思想是我们文明的两大基石。
• This opera is one of the cultural totems of Western civilisation.这部歌剧是西方文明的文化标志物之一。

2 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

5 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

6 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

7 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。

8 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。