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@ 51002 古埃及
A: 說到古埃及，你會想到什麼？
shuōdào gǔ Āijí, nǐ huì xiǎngdào shénme?
When someone mentions ''Ancient Egypt," what do you think of?
B: 當然是金字塔、木乃伊和獅身人面像了！你不會是想去埃及玩兒了吧？
dāngrán shì jīnzìtǎ、 mùnǎiyī hé shīshēnrénmiàn xiàngle! nǐ bùhuì shì xiǎngqù āijí wánr5 le ba?
Pyramids, mummies and and the Sphynx, of course！ Are you thinking of going on vacation in Egypt?
A: 嗯，有這個打算。古埃及的神祕早就吸引我了，真想去看看！
ng4, yǒu zhè ge dǎsuàn. gǔ Āijí de shénmì zǎo jiù xīyǐn wǒ le, zhēn xiǎng qù kànkan!
Well, I have thought about it. I was attracted early on to the mysteries of ancient Egypt. I'd really like to go take a look!
B: 哎，你說是古埃及文明開始得早，還是華夏文明開始得早啊？
ai, nǐ shuo shì gǔ āijí wénmíng kāishǐ de zǎo, hái shì huáxiàwénmíng kāishǐ de zǎo a?
Ah...which civilization do you think appeared first, Egyptian or Chinese?
A: 當然是古埃及文明早！金字塔4600多年前就有了！我們那時候還沒建立國家呢！從炎帝黃帝算起，也要晚個一兩千年吧。
dāngrán shì gǔ āijí wénmíng zǎo! jīnzìtǎ sìqiān liùbǎi duōnián qián jiù yǒu le! wǒmen nà shíhou hái méi jiànlì guójiā ne! cóng yándì huángdì suànqǐ, yě yào wǎn ge yīliǎngqiānnián ba.
Egypt, of course! The pyramids were around 4600 years ago! At that time China was not even a country! Taking the Yellow Emperor as the starting point, China was still about one to two thousand years later.
B: 嗯。古埃及人可真厲害！最大的金字塔有140多米高，用了200多萬塊巨石，那時候沒有起重機，你說，那些巨石是怎麼弄上去的？
ng4. gǔ āijí rén kě zhēn lìhai! zuìdà de jīnzìtǎ yǒu yībǎi sìshí duō mǐ gāo, yòng le èrbǎi duōwàn kuài jùshí, nà shíhou méiyǒu qǐzhòngjī, nǐ shuō, nàxiē jùshí shì zěnme nòng shàngqu de?
Hmm. The ancient Egyptians were really awesome! The tallest pyramid is 140 meters, and used 2 million huge pieces of stone. At that time there were no cranes. How do you think they got those stones up there?
A: “歷史之父”希羅多德說是百萬奴隸辛勤勞作30年的結果，大概跟我們修長城一樣。金字塔還有很多神祕之處，什麼地球和太陽的距離啊，建造的位置和角度啊，古埃及的建築水平，真是不可思議！
" lìshǐzhīfù” Xīluóduōdé shuō shì bǎiwàn núlì xīnqín láozuò sānshí nián de jiéguǒ, dàgài gēn wǒmen xiū chángchéng yíyàng. jīnzìtǎ hái yǒu hěn duō shénmì zhīchù, shénme dìqiú hé tàiyáng de jùlí a, jiànzào de wèizhi hé jiǎodù a, gǔ Āijí de jiànzhù shuǐpíng, zhēnshì bùkěsīyì!
Herodotus, ''the Father of History," says that it was the back-breaking work of a million slaves over a span of thirty years. That's about the same as our construction of the Great Wall of China.
B: 據說金字塔裡還發現了一種草紙，上面有古埃及文字。哎，我一直以為紙是我們東漢的蔡倫發明的，沒想到古埃及早就發明了紙。比我們早了近3000年！
jùshuō jīnzìtǎ lǐ hái fāxiàn le yīzhǒng cǎozhǐ, shàngmian yǒu gǔ Āijí wénzì. ai, wǒ yīzhí yǐwéi zhǐ shì wǒmen dōnghàn de Cài lún fāmíng de, méixiǎngdào gǔ Āijí zǎo jiù fāmíng le zhǐ. bǐ wǒmen zǎo le jìn sānqiān nián!
They say a kind of grass paper was discovered in the pyramids. It has Egyptian writing on it. Ah, I always thought paper was discovered by Cai Lun during China's Eastern Han dynasty. I had no idea that ancient Egypt had discovered paper so early. They had it 3000 years before us!
A: 還有木乃伊，四五千年前，古埃及人就會屍體防腐術了，他們的醫學知識真是不可想象！
hái yǒu mùnǎiyī, sìwǔqiānnián qián, gǔ āijí rén jiù huì shītīfángfǔshù le, tāmen de yīxuézhīshi zhēnshì bù kě xiǎngxiàng!
And then there are the mummies. Four to five thousand years ago, ancient Egyptians had embalming techniques. Their medical knowledge was really beyond belief!
B: 很可惜這麼偉大的文明有過中斷，現在只留下些陵墓和木乃伊。我們華夏文明雖然開始得晚些，但是很完整。就說長城吧，是在宇宙中唯一可以看到的地球上的建築。
hěn kěxī zhème wěidà de wénmíng yǒuguò zhōngduàn, xiànzài zhǐ liúxià xiē língmù hé mùnǎiyī. wǒmen huáxiàwénmíng suīrán kāishǐ de wǎn xiē, dànshì hěn wánzhěng. jiù shuō Chángchéng ba, shì zài yǔzhòu zhōng wéiyī kěyǐ kàndào de dìqiúshàng de jiànzhù.
What a shame that such a magnificent civilization broke off. The only things left now are tombs and mummies. Although Chinese civilization started a bit later, it was very complete. Let's just talk about the Great Wall. It's the only man-made structure on earth visible from outer space.
A: 嗯，我們中華文明是唯一一種一直傳承下來的文明。不過古埃及文明就是因為中斷過，才顯得更神祕！你想那個巨大的獅身人面像......
ng4, wǒmen zhōnghuáwénmíng shì wéiyī yīzhǒng yīzhí chuánchéng xiàlai de wénmíng. bùguò gǔ āijí wénmíng jiùshì yīnwèi zhōngduàn guò, cái xiǎnde gèng shénmì! nǐ xiǎng nàge jùdà de shīshēnrénmiànxiàng......
Ah, Chinese civilization is the only continuously handed-down civilization. But it's only because it broke off that ancient Egyptian civilization is so mysterious! Just think of that huge Sphynx statue.
B: 看把你激動的！你要是埃及人，也不會覺得埃及神祕了！要說陵墓建築，秦始皇兵馬俑也很不可思議！
kàn bǎ nǐ jīdòng de! nǐ yàoshì Āijí rén, yěbùhuì juéde Āijí shénmì le! yào shuō língmù jiànzhù, Qínshǐhuáng bīngmǎyǒng yě hěn bùkěsīyì!
Look how excited it's got you! If you were an Egyptian, you wouldn't think Egypt was so mysterious! If you want to talk about tombs, Qin Shihuang's terra cotta army is also pretty incredible!
A: 兵馬俑的氣勢我是領教過了。還真有意思，法老想通過金字塔變成太陽神，隔了2500多年的秦始皇卻想在另一個世界繼續統治他的千軍萬馬。對了，我還想去欣賞我們的石窟藝術和瓷器展覽。
bīngmǎyǒng de qìshì wǒ shì lǐngjiào guò le. hái zhēn yǒuyìsi, fǎlǎo xiǎng tōngguò jīnzìtǎ biànchéng tàiyángshén, gé le èrqiān wǔbǎi duō nián de qín shǐ huáng què xiǎng zài lìngyīgeshìjiè jìxù tǒngzhì tā de qiānjūnwànmǎ. duìle, wǒ hái xiǎng qù xīnshǎng wǒmen de shíkū yìshù hé cíqì zhǎnlǎn.
I have indeed experienced the grandeur of the terracotta army. Isn’t it funny that the pharaohs wanted to become Sun Gods by building pyramids, yet 2500 years later Qin ShiHuang wants to continue to rule his huge army in the another world. Oh yeah, I also want to visit the cave art and porcelain exhibition.
B: 你還是先去埃及吧！那兒才是最古老最神祕的地方！不瞞你說，我也很想去看看！
nǐ hái shì xiān qù Āijí ba! nàr5 cái shì zuì gǔlǎo zuì shénmì de dìfang! bùmánnǐshuō, wǒ yě hěn xiǎng qù kànkan!
You should check out Egypt first! That's the only really ancient and mysterious place! To tell you the truth, I'd like to have a look myself!
A: 那我們一起去探祕？
nà wǒmen yīqǐ qù tànmì?
Then how about we go explore it together.
Key Vocabulary
古埃及 gǔ Āijí ancient Egypt
金字塔 jīnzìtǎ pyramid
木乃伊 mùnǎiyī mummy
獅身人面像 shīshēnrénmiàn xiàng Sphynx
華夏文明 huáxiàwénmíng Chinese civilization
炎帝 Yándì Shen Nong
黃帝 Huángdì The Yellow Emperor
起重機 qǐzhòngjī crane
希羅多德 Xīluóduōdé Herodotus
不可思議 bùkěsīyì inconceivable
屍體防腐術 shītīfángfǔshù embalming method
中斷 zhōngduàn to break off
傳承 chuánchéng inherit
秦始皇兵馬俑 Qínshǐhuáng bīngmǎyǒng Qin Shihuang's Terracotta Army
領教 lǐngjiào much obliged
千軍萬馬 qiānjūnwànmǎ huge army
石窟 shíkū grotto
探祕 tànmì explore mysteries
Supplementary Vocabulary
法老 fǎlǎo Pharaoh
帝國 dìguó empire
陪葬 péizàng to be interred with the dead
尼羅河 Níluó Hé Nile River
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