The Great Wall of China.
中國的長城.
1. Like a snake, it winds across China. From its starting point below sea level, it climbs west for nearly 1500 miles. This is the Great Wall of China. It is one of the engineering wonders of the world. Yet it was built 2200 years ago.
1、它似一條巨龍蜿蜒穿過中國的大地。它從低于海平面的起點向西爬行了1500英里。這就是中國的長城。長城是世界建筑奇跡之一。它修建于2200年以前。
2. The story of the Great Wall is the story of Emperor Chin Shih-huang, who thought of it. And- it is the story of millions of Chinese who worked—and died''—to build it.
2、長城的故事就是秦始皇的故事，是他想出了修筑長城的主意。長城的故事還是數(shù)百萬中國人民的故事。他們?yōu)榱诵拗L城辛勤勞作，又為它死去。
3. In 246 B.C., Chin, at the age of 13, became king of one of the many states in China. The states were warring with each other, the rulers fighting for power. Chin was ambitious. He set out to bind the states into an empire—his empire. By 221 B.C. he had succeeded.
3、公元前246年，當(dāng)時年僅13歲的贏政成了中國國家中的一個國君。這些國家當(dāng)時正在互相征戰(zhàn)，各統(tǒng)治者為了權(quán)力而相互討伐。贏政野心勃勃。他開始了大業(yè)，要把這些國家統(tǒng)一為一個帝國—他的帝國。公元前221年時，他已完成了統(tǒng)一大業(yè)。
4. Emperor Chin knew that the men he had defeated would want to overthrow him. So he brought 120,000 of the richest and most powerful to his capital. In a sense, they were prisoners. But Chin built palaces for them just like those they had left. They lived in glory as lord of his court.
4、秦始皇明白那些被他打敗的人們一定要想推翻他，所以他把其中12萬最富有、最有權(quán)勢的人遷徙到他的首都。從某種意義上來說，這些人成了囚犯。但是秦始皇為他們修建了宮殿，同他們原來住的宮殿一樣華麗。這些人以秦朝廷貴族的身份過著顯赫的生活。
5. The emperor''s own palace was the largest and richest of all. It had thousands of rooms and separate apartments for the emperor''s wives, some of the most beautiful women in the empire.
5、秦始皇自己的宮殿是所有宮殿中最宏偉、最奢侈的。它有成千上萬個房間和單宮別院。供皇帝的嬪妃們居住。她們是從最美麗的婦女中選出來的。
6. Even with all this wealth, Chin lived in fear. Always present was the danger from the north. For 500 years northern barbarians had raided the farms of the Chinese. The raids of the savage horsemen were sudden—and they were terrible.
6、即使擁有如此巨大的財富，秦始皇仍生活在恐懼之中。來自北方的危險不斷威脅著秦帝國。500年來，北方的野蠻人不斷搶掠中國的農(nóng)業(yè)區(qū)。野蠻的胡騎常閃電般長驅(qū)直入，進行極其兇殘的掠奪。英文原文中稱秦始皇為Chin，是因為外國人對中國事情知道太少所致。
7. Chin could think of only one way to stop the raids. That was a giant wall. It had to be so big that no horseman could jump over it or ride around it. So the Great Wall was begun.
7、秦始皇只能想出一個辦法阻擋他們的搶掠，那就是修一道巨大的城墻。城墻必須又高又長使胡騎既跳不過去又繞不過去。就這樣，長城的修建開始了。
8. To build the Wall, Chin needed millions of workers. Almost no able-bodied person in China escaped the call to work. Men who had never held a tool in their hands were sent to the stone pits. Murderers and thieves were made to work—the Wall became the empire''s jail. Cruel masters with whips kept the workers on the job. And those who got sick were left to die.
8、修筑長城需要幾百萬的勞工。當(dāng)時中國的體格健全的人都奉召去服勞役，幾乎沒有一個人能幸免，一些從來手里沒有拿過工具的人被送到采石場。殺人犯和強盜被強迫干活—修筑長城的工地成了帝國的監(jiān)獄。殘酷的監(jiān)工官員揮舞著鞭子逼迫工人不得停歇地勞作。有病的人無人過問，只得等死。
9. The Wall began at the Gulf of Chihli. From there the workers cut out two trenches, 25 feet apart. They laid stone squares and bricks in the trenches to a height of 20 feet. The stones and bricks became the sides of the Wall. The space between was then filled with earth and paved with bricks. The top of the Wall became a roadway for horses （wide enough for two of today''s automobiles）. Then the workers built up the sides of the Wall even higher.
9、長城始于渤海灣。人們在那里劈出兩個25英尺寬的塹溝，塹溝里砌了20英尺高的方塊石和磚。這些石和磚，構(gòu)成長城的側(cè)面。在兩壁之間的空間填土，并在上面鋪磚。長城上面成了可行馬匹的路面（寬到足以容兩部現(xiàn)代的汽車并列）。然后民工把城墻的側(cè)面修得高出路面。
10. Over the first 300 miles the workers did not find a level stretch for weeks at a time. Up the steep hills they dragged the heavy stone, their backs bearing the blows of the masters'' whips. With little to eat and only rotting bits of cloth to wear, many became sick and died. Families of the workers sent messengers with food and clothes. But few messengers reached the Wall. They were afraid they, too, would be made to work.
10、在前一段300英里的修建中，民工們幾個月找不到一段平坦的地段。他們背上挨著監(jiān)工的鞭子，身后拖著沉重的石頭，爬上陡峭的山坡。他們食不裹腹，衣衫襤褸，許多人都病死了。民工的家庭派人去送食品和衣物，可是能到達長城的很少。他們害怕自己也會被逼著去干活。
11. West of Peking, the builders struck sticky clay. Here they chained heavy logs and dragged them into place to make a mold for the Wall. In between the rows of logs they dumped the soil. A long line of workers, each carrying two baskets of earth hung from a bamboo pole, filled the roadway. Others packed it down. As each stretch was finished, they hauled down the wooden mold and moved on. The Wall stood, made only of hard-packed clay.
11、在北京西邊，修筑者們遇到了粘土。他們在這里用鏈條拴住沉重的原木，然后把它們拉到適當(dāng)?shù)奈恢卯?dāng)城墻的模子。他們在兩行原木中間倒進泥土。一長列的民工每個人都用竹扁擔(dān)擔(dān)著兩筐土擠在路上走著。別的民工把土砸實。填起了一段城墻以后，民工們就把木模拉下來，再移向前方。這一段的長城聳立著，僅僅是用夯實的粘土修建的。
12. Every 200 yards or so, towers 35 to 40 feet high were built. Here soldiers with bows and arrows were left to defend the Wall. About every mile, block-houses were built to house the soldiers who guarded it.
12、每隔200碼左右就修建起一座高35至40英尺的敵臺。士兵們帶著弓箭留駐在這里保衛(wèi)長城。大約每隔一英里，修起一處供守墻士兵居住的碉堡。
13. Month after month, year after year, the Wall progressed. It swept in daring curves, climbed mountains, dropped into valleys, leaped rivers. Work on the Wall stopped at a 200-foot cliff hanging over a foaming white river.
13、月復(fù)一月，年復(fù)一年，長城延伸著。它劃著雄偉的弧線，爬上崇山峻嶺，墜入深澗峽谷，跨過河流。長城終于竣工了，終端雄踞在一處高達200英尺的懸崖之上，俯瞰著下面白浪滔滔的河流。
14. How long did it take to build the Wall? No one can tell for sure. It is known that Chin used millions of workers. Also he made use of many miles of walls already built. So it is possible that the job may have taken only 18 years.
14、修建長城用了多長時間呢?沒有人能確切地回答這個問題。人們只知道贏政動用了幾百萬民工。他還利用了以前已修建的許多英里長的城墻。所以長城的修建很可能僅用了18年的時間。
15. Engineers say that the Great Wall is one of the greatest works of man. And for a long while, it did its job. It kept out the wild horsemen of the north for more than 1400 years.
15、工程師們說長城是人類最偉大的工程之一。在相當(dāng)長的時期內(nèi)，長城起到了保衛(wèi)邊疆、抵御敵人的作用。它阻止了北方胡騎入侵達1400年之久。
16. The Wall we see today is not wholly that of Emperor Chin. It was worked on in later years, mostly between 1380 and 1644. Parts of it are in good condition. Other parts, nearly covered by sand, rise only a few feet above the desert. Yet the Great Wall still stands. Here is a lasting record of one man''s desire for power—and the work of unknown millions.
16、我們今天看到的長城已經(jīng)不完全是秦始皇修的長城了。秦始皇之后，長城又被增修過。主要是在1380年到1644年之間。長城有些部分仍完好。其它部分幾乎已被沙土掩埋了，僅僅高出沙漠地面幾英尺。然而長城仍然屹立著。它是一個人的權(quán)力欲望的永存的記錄，也是幾百萬勞動者的血汗的永存的記錄。
