人类的故事;英汉对照

　　我十二三岁的时候，一位让我爱上书画的叔叔许诺，要带我参加一次难忘的探险活动。我将和他一起，登上鹿特丹古老的圣劳伦斯塔顶。
　　就这样，在一个晴朗的日子里，教堂司事拿着和圣彼得那把一样大的钥匙，打开一扇神秘之门。他说：“当你们回来想出来的时候，就按一下铃。”伴随锈迹斑斑、破烂老化的铰链发出的一阵刺耳的吱吱声，他把我们和闹市的嘈杂声隔离开来，把我们锁进了一个充满新奇体验的世界。
　　这是我有生以来次感受听得见的寂静。爬完段楼梯时，我对于自己有限的自然知识又有了一个新的发现一一可触摸到的黑暗。一根火柴给我们照亮了上去的路。我们爬到上面一层，然后又一层。直到后我已数不清是第几层，但还是接着往上爬。突然，我们看到一片亮光。这一层与教堂的屋顶一样高，做储藏室使用。这里存放着一个寄托神圣信仰的废弃物件，它表面覆盖着厚厚的灰尘。许多年前，城中的良民抛弃了这个信仰。对我们的祖先来说，这些物件曾经意味着生与死，如今却沦落为废物。勤劳的老鼠在精雕细刻的神像里建造自己的窝，一贯谨慎的蜘蛛也在一位和蔼圣徒伸开的手臂间忙碌。

　　亨德里克·威廉·房龙(1882—1944)，荷裔美国作家和历史学家．他擅长用轻巧俏皮的文字撰写历史、文化、文明和科学等方面的通俗著作，一生出版了三十多种著作，单枪匹马将人类各方面的历史几乎全都复述一遍．其代表作《宽容》、《人类的故事》、《圣经的故事》、《房龙地理》、《发明的故事》、《太平洋的故事》、《人类的艺术》、《伦勃朗的人生苦旅》等，几乎本本畅销，影响了几代人．
　　房龙的作品基本围绕人类生存发展的本质问题，向人类的无知和偏见挑战，将知识和真理普及为人所共知的常识．
　　郁达夫曾说，房龙的笔有一种魅力，枯燥无味的科学常识经他那么一写，无论人人小孩，读他书的人都觉得娓娓忘倦了。

 

目　录

FOREWORD

1THESETTINGOFTHESTAGE

2OUREARLIESTANCESTORS

3PREHISTORICMAN

4HIEROGLYPHICS

5THENILEVALLEY

6THESTORYOFEGYPT

7MESOPOTAMIA

8THESUMERIANS

9MOSES

10THEPH NICIANS

11THEINDO-EUROPEANS

12THE GEANSEA

13THEGREEKS

14THEGREEKCITIES

15GREEKSELF-GOVERNMENT

16GREEKLIFE

17THEGREEKTHEATRE

18THEPERSIANWARS

19ATHENSvs.SPARTA

20ALEXANDERTHEGREAT

21ASUMMARY

22ROMEANDCARTHAGE

23THERISEOFROME

24THEROMANEMPIRE

25JOSHUAOFNAZARETH

26THEFALLOFROME

27RISEOFTHECHURCH

28MOHAMMED

29CHARLEMAGNE

30THENORSEMEN

31FEUDALISM

32CHIVALRY

33POPEvs.EMPEROR

34THECRUSADES

35THEMEDI VALCITY

36MEDIVALSELF-GOVERNMENT

37THEMEDIVALWORLD

38MEDIVALTRADE

39THERENAISSANCE

40THEAGEOFEXPRESSION

41THEGREATDISCOVERIES

42BUDDHAANDCONFUCIUS

43THEREFORMATION

44RELIGIOUSWARFARE

45THEENGLISHREVOLUTION

46THEBALANCEOFPOWER

47THERISEOFRUSSIA

48RUSSIAvs.SWEDEN

49THERISEOFPRUSSIA

50THEMERCANTILESYSTEM

51THEAMERICANREVOLUTION

52THEFRENCHREVOLUTION

53NAPOLEON

54THEHOLYALLIANCE

55THEGREATREACTION

56NATIONALINDEPENDENCE

57THEAGEOFTHEENGINE

58THESOCIALREVOLUTION

59EMANCIPATION

60THEAGEOFSCIENCE

61ART

62COLONIALEXPANSIONANDWAR

63ANEWWORLD

64ASITEVERSHALLBE

前言

1　舞台布景

2　我们早的祖先

3　史前人类

4　象形文字

5　尼罗河谷

6　埃及的故事

7　两河流域

8　苏美尔人

9　摩西

10　腓尼基人

11　印欧人

12　爱琴海

13　希腊人

14　古希腊城市

15　古希腊自治

16　古希腊生活

17　古希腊戏剧

18　波斯战争

19　雅典与斯巴达的对峙

20　亚历山大大帝

21　小结

22　罗马和迦太基

23　罗马的崛起

24　罗马帝国

25　拿撒勒的约书亚

26　罗马的衰亡

 

1THESETTINGOFTHESTAGE

Weliveundertheshadowofagiganticquestionmark.

Whoarewe?

Wheredowecomefrom?

Whitherarewebound?

Slowly,butwithpersistentcourage,wehavebeenpushingthisquestionmarkfurtherandfurthertowardsthatdistantline,beyondthehorizon,wherewehopetofindouranswer.

Wehavenotgoneveryfar.

Westillknowverylittlebutwehavereachedthepointwhere(withafairdegreeofaccuracy),wecanguessatmanythings.

InthischapterIshalltellyoubow(accordingtoourbestbelief)thestagewassetforthefirstappearanceofman.

Ifwerepresentthetimeduringwhichithasbeenpossibleforanimallifetoexistuponourplanetbyalineofthislength,thenthetinylinejustbelowindicatestheageduringwhichman(oracreaturemoreorlessresemblingman)hasliveduponthisearth.

Manwasthelasttocomebutthefirsttousehisbrainforthepurposeofconqueringtheforcesofnature.Thatisthereasonwhywearegoingtostudyhim,ratherthancatsordogsorhorsesoranyoftheotheranimals,who,allintheirownway,haveaveryinterestinghistoricaldevelopmentbehindthem.

Inthebeginning,theplanetuponwhichwelivewas(asfaraswenowknow)alargeballofflamingmatter,atinycloudofsmokeintheendlessoceanofspace.Gradually,inthecourseofmillionsofyears,thesurfaceburneditselfout,andwascoveredwithathinlayerofrocks.Upontheselifelessrockstheraindescendedinendlesstorrents,wearingoutthehardgraniteandcarryingthedusttothevalleysthatlayhiddenbetweenthehighcliffsofthesteamingearth.

Finallythehourcamewhenthesunbrokethroughthecloudsandsawhowthislittleplanetwascoveredwithafewsmallpuddleswhichweretodevelopintothemightyoceansoftheeasternandwesternhemispheres.

Thenonedaythegreatwonderhappened.Whathadbeendead,gavebirthtolife.

Thefirstlivingcellfloateduponthewatersofthesea.

Formillionsofyearsitdriftedaimlesslywiththecurrents.Butduringallthattimeitwasdevelopingcertainhabitsthatitmightsurvivemoreeasilyupontheinhospitableearth.Someofthesecellswerehappiestinthedarkdepthsofthelakesandthepools.Theytookrootinthelimysedimentswhichhadbeencarrieddownfromthetopsofthehillsandtheybecameplants.Otherspreferredtomoveaboutandtheygrewstrangejointedlegs,likescorpionsandbegantocrawlalongthebottomoftheseaamidsttheplantsandthepalegreenthingsthatlookedlikejelly-fishes.Stillothers(coveredwithscales)dependeduponaswimmingmotiontogofromplacetoplaceintheirsearchforfood,andgraduallytheypopulatedtheoceanwithmyriadsoffishes.

Meanwhiletheplantshadincreasedinnumberandtheyhadtosearchfornewdwellingplaces.Therewasnomoreroomforthematthebottomofthesea.Reluctantlytheyleftthewaterandmadeanewhomeinthemarshesandonthemudbanksthatlayatthefootofthemountains.Twiceadaythetidesoftheoceancoveredthemwiththeirbrine.Fortherestofthetime,theplantsmadethebestoftheiruncomfortablesituationandtriedtosurviveinthethinairwhichsurroundedthesurfaceoftheplanet.Aftercenturiesoftraining,theylearnedhowtoliveascomfortablyintheairastheyhaddoneinthewater.Theyincreasedinsizeandbecameshrubsandtreesandatlasttheylearnedhowtogrowlovelyflowerswhichattractedtheattentionofthebusybigbumble-beesandthebirdswhocarriedtheseedsfarandwideuntilthewholeearthhadbecomecoveredwithgreenpastures,orlaydarkundertheshadowofthebigtrees.

Butsomeofthefishestoohadbeguntoleavethesea,andtheyhadlearnedhowtobreathewithlungsaswellaswithgills.Wecallsuchcreaturesamphibious,whichmeansthattheyareabletolivewithequaleaseonthelandandinthewater.Thefirstfrogwhocrossesyourpathcantellyouallaboutthepleasuresofthedoubleexistenceoftheamphibian.

Onceoutsideofthewater,theseanimalsgraduallyadaptedthemselvesmoreandmoretolifeonland.Somebecamereptiles(creatureswhocrawllikelizards)andtheysharedthesilenceoftheforestswiththeinsects.Thattheymightmovefasterthroughthesoftsoil,theyimprovedupontheirlegsandtheirsizeincreaseduntiltheworldwaspopulatedwithgiganticforms(whichthehand-booksofbiologylistunderthenamesofIchthyosaurusandMegalosaurusandBrontosaurus)whogrewtobethirtytofortyfeetlongandwhocouldhaveplayedwithelephantsasafullgrowncatplayswithherkittens.

Someofthemembersofthisreptilianfamilybegantoliveinthetopsofthetrees,whichwerethenoftenmorethanahundredfeethigh.Theynolongerneededtheirlegsforthepurposeofwalking,butitwasnecessaryforthemtomovequicklyfrombranchtobranch.Andsotheychangedapartoftheirskinintoasortofparachute,whichstretchedbetweenthesidesoftheirbodiesandthesmalltoesoftheirfore-feet,andgraduallytheycoveredthisskinnyparachutewithfeathersandmadetheirtailsintoasteeringgearandflewfromtreetotreeanddevelopedintotruebirds.

Thenastrangethinghappened.Allthegiganticreptilesdieswithinashorttime.Wedonotknowthereason.Perhapsitwasduetoasuddenchangeinclimate.Perhapstheyhadgrownsolargethattheycouldneitherswimnorwalknorcrawl,andtheystarvedtodeathwithinsightbutnotwithinreachofthebigfernsandtrees.Whateverthecause,themillion-year-oldworld-empireofthebigreptileswasover.

Theworldnowbegantobeoccupiedbyverydifferentcreatures.Theywerethedescendantsofthereptilesbuttheywerequiteunlikethesebecausetheyfedtheiryoungfromthe“mamm”orthebreastsofthemother.Whereforemodernsciencecallstheseanimals“mammals.”Theyhadshedthescalesofthefish.Theydidnotadoptthefeathersofthebird,buttheycoveredtheirbodieswithhair.Themammalshoweverdevelopedotherhabitswhichgavetheirraceagreatadvantageovertheotheranimals.Thefemaleofthespeciescarriedtheeggsoftheyounginsideherbodyuntiltheywerehatchedandwhileallotherlivingbeings,uptothattime,hadlefttheirchildrenexposedtothedangersofcoldandheat,andtheattacksofwildbeasts,themammalskepttheiryoungwiththemforalongtimeandshelteredthemwhiletheywerestilltoweaktofighttheirenemies.Inthiswaytheyoungmammalsweregivenamuchbetterchancetosurvive,becausetheylearnedmanythingsfromtheirmothers,asyouwillknowifyouhaveeverwatchedacatteachingherkittenstotakecareofthemselvesandhowtowashtheirfacesandhowtocatchmice.

ButofthesemammalsIneednottellyoumuchforyouknowthemwell.Theysurroundyouonallsides.Theyareyourdailycompanionsinthestreetsandinyourhome,andyoucanseeyourlessfamiliarcousinsbehindthebars