纪录片《文明》 第29期 创世纪的第二个瞬间（29）

So the Nabataeans started as navigators and pilots, if you like,

为了这种珍货 纳巴泰人

for this precious cargo¹,

首先开始担任向导

went on to be full-service providers,

然后提供全方位的服务

and then thought, "Well,

后来他们又想

why don't we trade it ourselves directly?"

"为什么我们不自己直接开展贸易呢"

Pretty soon they were monopolists of the incense² trade,

很快他们便垄断了熏香贸易

the emperors of aromatics³.

成了芳香之王

But a civilisation⁴ here was inconceivable

但如果没有一种比乳香更宝贵的东西

without the one thing more precious than frankincense -

此地就无法孕育文明

water.

水

The Nabataeans engineered systems

纳巴泰人设计了能够

to trap the rains which came in winter

收集冬天雨水的系统

and their desert hydraulics made this place not so much rose red,

他们的沙漠水利工程让这里不再红似旱漠

as bright green.

而是青如绿洲

A garden city of fountains, swimming pools,

带有喷泉 游泳池的花园城市

groves⁵ and orchards⁶.

还有树林和果园

And the water which made all that possible

是水让那一切成为了可能

also made it possible to feed a city of 30,000 people,

也是水滋养了一座三万人口的城市

many of whom were immigrants from all over the region.

许多人都来自各个不同的地方

There were Egyptians and Syrians

埃及人 叙利亚人

and Judeans and Greeks and Romans,

犹太人 希腊人 罗马人

and they were all coming to Petra

他们都来到佩特拉

to enjoy what the Persians called a pairi daiza,

欣赏波斯人口中的"天堂公园"

a pleasure resort, a little bit of heaven on Earth.

也就是度假胜地 有点"人间天堂"的意思

1 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

2 incense   

v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气

参考例句：

• This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
• In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。

3 aromatics   

n.芳香植物( aromatic的名词复数 )；芳香剂，芳香药物

参考例句：

• The simplest member of the aromatics series is benzene. 芳香烃系列中最简单的一个化合物是苯。 来自辞典例句
• Its hydrogenation activity in aromatics saturation and ring opening activity were investigated. 芳烃加氢饱和及开环反应是一种提高柴油十六烷值的有效途径。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 groves   

树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields. 朝阳宁静地照耀着已经发黄的树丛和还是一片绿色的田地。
• The trees grew more and more in groves and dotted with old yews. 那里的树木越来越多地长成了一簇簇的小丛林，还点缀着几棵老紫杉树。

6 orchards   

（通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They turned the hills into orchards and plains into granaries. 他们把山坡变成了果园，把平地变成了粮仓。
• Some of the new planted apple orchards have also begun to bear. 有些新开的苹果园也开始结苹果了。