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雙語+MP3|美國學生世界地理53 產(chǎn)生《一千零一夜》的國家

所屬教程:希利爾:美國學生文史經(jīng)典套裝

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2018年08月18日

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https://online2.tingclass.net/lesson/shi0529/10000/10122/美國學生世界地理-53.mp3
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     HAVE you ever been thirsty-really thirsty? Very few people in our country ever have. Have you ever gone for more than one whole day without a drink of water? Some people have gone without food for days and even weeks, but no one ever has gone without water for as long as a week. Suppose that you lived in a country where there is not a single river nor lake in the whole land, where it seldom, if ever, rains, where there is practically no water to drink and even less for washing-a country that is almost surrounded by water, but water you can't drink because it is salt-a country that is a desert except for a little fringe around the edge and damp spots here and there. That country is Arabia, the home of the Arab people. How can any one live there? The answer is that people can only live along the edges or in those few spots where there is water. These spots are called oases. Dates are bread and butter, meat and dessert to an Arab. Dates grow on palm-trees, so the Arabs plant palm-trees in deep holes in order that their roots may be far down where the ground is a little damp. The well-to-do Arab has a camel, because that is the only animal that can stand hardships such as lack of food and water for any length of time; also, he has a few goats or sheep and a horse. The Arab horses are small but they are swift runners. Some say they are the finest in the World, and many of our race-horses have come from Arab stock.

     The Arabs are very much like all boys and girls in one particular-they love to listen to good stories, especially at night. They can't get enough of them. Once upon a time there was a king in the old days long ago when kings could put to death whomsoever they wished. This king had a wife whom he was going to put to death the next morning, but she told him a bedtime story which so interested him he wanted to hear another. So, on condition that he would spare her life one more day, she promised to tell him another story the next night. And again, day after day, he postponed putting her to death in order that he might hear another story at night. This she kept on doing for one thousand nights and one night more for good measure until the king could no longer live without her stories, so his queen was saved. Some of the most famous of these stories have been translated into English. They are called the "Arabian Nights."

     Arabia was the birthplace of Mohammed, the man who started the Mohammedan religion. Mohammed was born in a place called Mecca about six hundred years after Christ was born. Mohammed thought he was called by God to be His messenger. His wife and friends believed in him, but his neighbors did not, so they ran him out of Mecca. He fled to the next town, Medina, where he preached to the people, and before long there were millions who followed him and obeyed his teachings, and now to-day there are about one third as many people who believe in Mohammed as believe in Christ. Mohammedans think Mecca is the center of the World. Jerusalem is one of their holy cities, but Mecca is their holiest of holies. Medina, which means simply "The City," is second only to Mecca in holiness. The Mohammedans think that one prayer said at Medina is worth a thousand prayers said anywhere else, so Mohammedans send long distances to have prayers said for them in Medina.

     The Mohammedans have commandments as the Christians do. We have ten; they have four or more. One of their commandments is to pray five times a day; another is to give a present to every beggar who asks-it doesn't matter how little-it may be less than a penny; a third is to fast for a month each year-that's something like Lent; and a fourth is to make a trip to Mecca some time during their lives. Such a trip is called a pilgrimage, and every Mohammedan, no matter where or how far off he lives, hopes to make a pilgrimage to Mecca some time before he dies. A great Mohammedan king named Aaron the Just once made the trip from Bagdad to Mecca-hundreds of miles-all the way on foot, but as he was a king, the whole way was covered with carpet for him to walk on!

     Have you ever seen a "shooting-star" in the sky? Most shooting-stars usually burn up before they reach the ground, but some do not. At Mecca there is a mosque and inside this mosque is a black stone called The Kaaba. The Mohammedans say this stone was sent down from heaven, and that may be true, for it is probably a shooting-star that fell to the ground before it burned up. The Mohammedans think, if they kiss this stone, all their sins are forgiven and they will go to Heaven and have a high place there when they die. They say this stone was once white, but it has been turned black by all the sins that have gone into it from the countless kisses of Mohammedans. A railroad one thousand miles long has been built from Damascus to Medina, and there is now a bus line from Medina to Mecca, but this railroad and bus are only for pilgrims, for none but Mohammedans are allowed in either city-Mecca or Medina.

     I have told you of a White Sea and a Black Sea. Here is a Red Sea. It is a long, narrow sea bordering Arabia. I don't know why it's called Red, unless it is because it's red hot, for I have been there, and the water is as blue as the Mediterranean. There is a little strip of land that used to separate the Red Sea from the Mediterranean, but men have dug a canal through this strip of land so that ships may pass from the one sea to the other. This strip of land is the Isthmus of Suez and the canal across it is called the Suez Canal.

     The Suez Canal is one of the most important canals ever dug. It is important because, before it was dug, this little isthmus that tied together the two big continents of Africa and Asia, barred the way to ships and they had to go all the way round Africa to get to the east side of the World. It is a water gateway to the east part of the World and England owns it.
     The driest city in the World is at the lower end of the Red Sea. It is called Aden. Aden is often called the Gibraltar of the East, for the English own Aden too, and they hold on to it even though it is so dry, because then they can say who shall or shall not pass through the Red Sea. Three gateways for ships between the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans-Gibraltar, Suez, Aden-and England owns all three!

     There are no springs nor lakes nor rivers at Aden, and often it does not rain there for years, so the people cannot get drinking-water in any of the usual ways. But the English have found a way. They boil the sea water to get the salt out of it and store it in huge tanks so that they have plenty of fresh water all the time.
     You may never have heard of Arabia till now, yet you write Arabic every day of your life, for all the figures we use are Arabic-1, 2, 3, 4, 5. There are only ten figures, as you know, but with those ten figures you can make any number from one to a billion, or more.
     Arabia seems far away-a dry and desolate land that could have no connection with us-and yet if there had been no Arabia we should have no figures and no "Arabian Nights."






     你感到口渴過嗎--真的很渴的那種感覺?在我們國家很少有人感到口很渴。你有沒有過了一整天還沒有喝水?有些人可以堅持幾天、甚至幾個星期都不吃食物,但是沒有人可以一個星期都不喝水。設想一下你生活在一個沒有任何河流和湖泊、也幾乎從不下雨的國家,那里連喝的水都沒有,別說洗澡了--那又是一個幾乎完全被水包圍著的國家,但水不能喝是因為水是咸的--整個國家,除了邊界一小部分地區(qū),以及一些零星分散的較濕潤地區(qū),其他全是沙漠。這個國家就是阿拉伯,就是阿拉伯人的家鄉(xiāng)。那里怎么會有人生活呢?答案是人們只能生活在沙漠邊緣,或者少數(shù)一些有水的地方。這些地方叫做綠洲。對阿拉伯人來說,海棗就是面包和黃油,是肉和甜點。海棗長在椰棗樹上,所以阿拉伯人將椰棗樹種在很深的坑里,這樣它的根就可以向下延伸到有點潮濕的土壤中。富裕的阿拉伯人,家里會有一只駱駝,因為只有駱駝才能長時間忍受缺水少食那樣惡劣環(huán)境。此外,他還有一些山羊或綿羊,還有一匹馬。阿拉伯馬體型小但跑起來卻很快。有人說它們是世界上最優(yōu)良的馬,很多賽馬用的馬就來自阿拉伯。

     阿拉伯人在某個方面非常像孩子--就是很喜歡聽好聽的故事,尤其是在晚上。好故事他們再聽也聽不膩。在很久以前的古代,國王可以任意處死他不喜歡的人。有這樣一位國王,打算第二天早上處死他的妻子,但是國王的妻子在臨睡前給他講了一個非常好聽的故事,國王聽完后還想聽一個。于是,國王的妻子答應第二天晚上再給他講一個故事,只要國王讓她多活一天。于是,為了能在晚上再聽一個故事,一天又一天,國王一再推遲妻子的死期。就這樣,國王的妻子連續(xù)說了一千零一個夜晚的故事,直到國王感到不聽她講故事就無法活下去,于是皇后得救了。其中一些最著名的故事被翻譯成英語,這些故事被稱作"一千零一夜"。
     阿拉伯是創(chuàng)立了伊斯蘭教的穆罕默德的誕生地。耶穌誕生后約六百年,穆罕默德出生在一個叫麥加的地方。穆罕默德認為上帝召喚他做使者。他的妻子和朋友都很相信他,但他的鄰居卻不相信他,于是把他趕出了麥加。穆罕默德逃到了另一個城鎮(zhèn)麥地那。在那里,他向人們布道,不久以后,就有千千萬萬的人追隨他,遵從他的教誨。如今,全世界伊斯蘭教徒總?cè)藬?shù)大約是基督徒總?cè)藬?shù)的三分之一。伊斯蘭教徒認為麥加是世界的中心,耶路撒冷是他們的圣地之一,而麥加則是所有圣地中最神圣的。麥地那,在阿拉伯語中,意思就是"城市",是僅次于麥加的第二大圣地。伊斯蘭教徒認為在麥地那做一次祈禱相當于在別的地方做一千次祈禱。于是,遠離麥地那的伊斯蘭教徒就派人前往麥地那,在那里替自己祈禱。

     和基督教一樣,伊斯蘭教也有戒律?;浇逃惺畻l戒律,伊斯蘭教至少有四條戒律,其中之一是每天要祈禱五次;另一條戒律是遇到任何乞討的乞丐,都要給東西--東西再小都沒關(guān)系--哪怕價值不到一便士;其三是每年齋戒一個月--有點像基督教的大齋;第四是在有生之年要去一次麥加,這樣的旅程叫做"朝圣"。每個伊斯蘭教徒,無論住在哪里,也無論住得離麥加有多遠,都希望在去世前能去一趟麥加參加朝圣。有一位偉大的伊斯蘭教國王名叫"正直亞倫",曾經(jīng)從巴格達到麥加朝圣--幾百英里的路程--他全都步行!但是,由于他是國王,他所要走的路上都鋪上了地毯。
     你見過天上的流星嗎?大多數(shù)流星還沒有墜落到地面就燒掉了,但有一些掉到地上。在麥加有一個清真寺,寺里有一塊黑色的石頭叫做克爾白。伊斯蘭教徒稱這塊石頭是天上送下來的。那可能是真的,因為它可能是一顆還沒燒盡之前就落到地面的流星。伊斯蘭教徒認為只要他們親吻這塊石頭,他們所有的罪過都會得到寬恕,死后就能升上天堂,還可以在那里占到一個很高的位置。他們說這塊石頭原為白色,但是后經(jīng)千萬教徒親吻,吸收了他們所有的罪過而變成黑色。從大馬士革到麥地那已建起了一條長達1000英里的鐵路,還有一條公路從麥地那通往麥加。但是,鐵路和公路都只對朝圣者開放,因為只有伊斯蘭教徒才被允許居住在這兩個城市--麥加或麥地那。

     我介紹過白海和黑海,現(xiàn)在要講紅海了,它是與阿拉伯毗連的一個狹長的海。我不知道為什么它叫紅海,因為我去過那里,那兒的海水與地中海一樣藍。有一小塊狹長的陸地以前將紅海和地中海隔開,但是人們在這塊陸地上開鑿了一條運河,這樣輪船就可以從一個海航行到另一個海了。這塊陸地叫蘇伊士地峽,通過它的運河就叫蘇伊士運河。
     蘇伊士運河是世界上最重要的運河之一。之所以重要是因為運河開通之前,這個連接了亞非兩大陸的小小地峽卻堵住了船只航行的路,船只不得不繞過整個非洲才能到達世界的東邊。這是通向世界東方的水上通道,現(xiàn)在歸英國所有。
     世界上最干燥的城市在紅海南端,叫亞丁。亞丁常被稱作"東方的直布羅陀",也歸英國所有。即使亞丁這么干燥,英國也緊緊控制這個地方,因為有了亞丁,英國就能決定誰可以從紅海經(jīng)過,誰不可以。在大西洋和印度洋之間,有三條水上通道供船只通行--直布羅陀、蘇伊士、亞丁--全都歸英國所有!

     亞丁沒有泉水,沒有湖泊,也沒有河流,常常幾年都不下雨。因此人們不能以通常的方法得到飲用水。但是英國人發(fā)明了一個方法。他們把海水煮沸,將鹽提取出來,然后將水儲存在一個大罐子里,這樣人們就能隨時有很多淡水喝了。
     在這之前,你可能從未聽說過阿拉伯。但一生中的每一天,你都在寫阿拉伯語。我們所用的所有數(shù)字都是阿拉伯數(shù)字--1、2、3、4、5。你知道,只有從0到9十個數(shù)目字,但是用這十個數(shù)目字,我們就能寫出從一至億中的數(shù)字,或更大的數(shù)字。
     阿拉伯似乎很遙遠--一個干燥而荒涼的國度,原本可能與我們一點聯(lián)系都沒有,但是如果沒有阿拉伯,我們就沒有數(shù)目字,也沒有《一千零一夜》故事集了。
    

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