在埃及和美索不达米亚之间有一片土地，那里有深谷和肥沃的牧场。

There, for thousands of years, herdsmen tended their flocks.

好几千年之久，各游牧民族在那里牧放他们的畜群。

They planted vines and cereals, and in the evenings they sang songs, as country people do.

他们种植葡萄和粮食，到了晚上他们唱歌，就像现在乡间的人们那样。

But because it lay between those two countries, first it would be conquered and ruled by the Egyptians,

但因为它处于这两个国家之间，所以这块土地一度被埃及人，

and then the Babylonians would invade, so that the people who lived there were constantly being driven from one place to another.

后来又被巴比伦尼亚人占领和统治，而居住在那里的各部族则就反反复复地被臣服。

They built themselves towns and fortresses, to no avail.

他们也建造城镇和要塞，但无济于事。

They were still not strong enough to resist the mighty armies of their neighbors.

他们不够强大，不足以抵抗他们的左邻右舍的强大军队。

"That's all very sad, but I can't see what it has to do with history," you say, "for the same thing must have happened to thousands of small tribes."

“这是令人悲哀的，但我不明白它与历史有什么关系，”你说，“因为这样的小部落一定多得不计其数。”

And you're right.

你说得对。

But there was something special about this one, because, small and defenseless though they were,

但是这个民族却有某些特别的属性：

they didn't just become part of history, they made history–and by that I mean they shaped the course of all history to come.

它不仅因此而变成了历史，而且还自己创造了历史，虽然它很小很弱——我的意思是它参与决定了一切未来历史的命运。

And this special something was their religion.

这个特别的属性就是他们的宗教。