欧美文化博览 文化博览:犹太人的故事(9)

At precisely¹ the same time, that Jerusalem was being purified by the Babylonian exiles.

在同一时间, 耶路撒冷由巴比伦流亡者所净化。

Here in the very gentile world of Upper Egypt, exiles are living a Jewish life of a very different kind.

在上层埃及的世界,流亡者们过着犹太人截然不同的生活。

This is Aswan, where the Nile once plunged² over the first cataract³.

这里是阿斯旺,尼罗河曾经在这里汇入到第一条大瀑布中。

Here on an island called Elephantine, stood a fortress⁴ town guarding the frontier between Egypt and Nubia to the south.

同样在这里有一座叫做艾里提恩的小岛,而要塞城镇守卫着埃及和南方努比亚之间的边疆。

Since the 7th century BC, it had been manned by Judean mercenaries who lived on the island along with their families.

自公元前7世纪以来,它一直由岛上同家人住在一起的犹太人雇佣兵把守。

A century later, when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and carried its elite⁵ into exile, some of the ordinary people finding themselves abandoned, made their way south, an exodus⁶ in reverse.

一个世纪后巴比伦人毁灭耶路撒冷,让其精英流亡海外,一些普通人发现自己遭到遗弃,于是反过来来到南方。

That was one great formative moment when the Israelites became Jews and that of course was the exodus from Egypt and the Nile ran through that story like a silver thread.

这是以色列人成为犹太人伟大的时刻,当然是来自埃及的《出埃及记》和尼罗河起到了穿针引线的作用。

That destiny had begun when pharoah's daughter had found the baby Moses in the river and taken him back to be brought up as the prince of Egypt at court.

命运始于法老的女儿发现在河里的婴儿摩西,将带他回作为埃及王子养大。

When that prince had turned liberator⁷, his God had turned the Nile to blood in an effort to persuade pharoah to let the Israelites go.

而当王子变为解放者, 为了说服法老让以色列人离开他的神明已经将尼罗河染成血色。

1 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

2 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

3 cataract   

n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障

参考例句：

• He is an elderly gentleman who had had a cataract operation.他是一位曾经动过白内障手术的老人。
• The way is blocked by the tall cataract.高悬的大瀑布挡住了去路。

4 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

5 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

6 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

7 liberator   

解放者

参考例句：

• The best integrated turf quality was recorded in Ram I、Midnight、America、Connie、Liberator, which could be adopted in Shanxi. RamI、Midnight、America、Connie、Liberator综合质量表现均衡且分值较高，是山西省推广应用的重点品种。
• It is the story of a new world that became a friend and liberator of the old. 这是一部新世界的发展史，是一部后浪推前浪的历史。