世界小史 第25章:信仰
英语课
And yet the most important part of the Egyptians' strange religion was their belief that,
但埃及人的奇怪宗教中最重要之处却是他们的信仰：
although a man's soul left his body when he died, for some reason the soul went on needingthat body,
虽然人一死人的灵魂就离开躯体，但是因为某些原因灵魂还会继续需要躯体，
and would suffer if it crumbled 1 into dust.
如果他们从前的肉体在死后化做泥土，那么他们的灵魂便不可能得到安宁。
So they invented a very ingenious way of preserving the bodies of the dead.
所以他们发明了一种独特的方式保存死人的肉体。
They rubbed them with ointments 2 and the juices of certain plants, and bandaged them withlong strips of cloth, so that they wouldn't decay.
他们用油膏和某些植物的汁水擦拭尸体并在其周身裹上长布条，从而它们不会腐烂。
A body preserved in this manner is called a mummy.
用这种方式保存的尸体被称之为木乃伊。
And today, after thousands of years, these mummies are still intact.
今天，好几千年之后，这些木乃伊仍还没被毁坏。
A mummy was placed in a coffin 3 made of wood, the wooden coffin in one of stone,
一具木乃伊被放进一具木棺，把木棺放进一具石棺埋起来，
and the stone one buried, not in the earth, but in a tomb that was chiselled 4 out of the rock.
不是把石棺埋入土中，而是将其放进一座岩洞墓穴。
If you were rich and powerful like King Cheops, 'Son of the Sun', a whole stone mountain wouldbe made for your tomb.
如果你像"太阳之子"即国王齐阿普斯那样富有、有权势，人们会垒一整座石山作为你的墓穴。
Deep inside, the mummy would be safe - or so they thought!
在石山内部深处，木乃伊一定不会受损--大概他们是这么想的！
But the mighty 5 king's efforts were in vain: his pyramid is empty.
但这位强大的国王的辛劳都是枉然：他的金字塔是空的。
但埃及人的奇怪宗教中最重要之处却是他们的信仰：
although a man's soul left his body when he died, for some reason the soul went on needingthat body,
虽然人一死人的灵魂就离开躯体，但是因为某些原因灵魂还会继续需要躯体，
and would suffer if it crumbled 1 into dust.
如果他们从前的肉体在死后化做泥土，那么他们的灵魂便不可能得到安宁。
So they invented a very ingenious way of preserving the bodies of the dead.
所以他们发明了一种独特的方式保存死人的肉体。
They rubbed them with ointments 2 and the juices of certain plants, and bandaged them withlong strips of cloth, so that they wouldn't decay.
他们用油膏和某些植物的汁水擦拭尸体并在其周身裹上长布条，从而它们不会腐烂。
A body preserved in this manner is called a mummy.
用这种方式保存的尸体被称之为木乃伊。
And today, after thousands of years, these mummies are still intact.
今天，好几千年之后，这些木乃伊仍还没被毁坏。
A mummy was placed in a coffin 3 made of wood, the wooden coffin in one of stone,
一具木乃伊被放进一具木棺，把木棺放进一具石棺埋起来，
and the stone one buried, not in the earth, but in a tomb that was chiselled 4 out of the rock.
不是把石棺埋入土中，而是将其放进一座岩洞墓穴。
If you were rich and powerful like King Cheops, 'Son of the Sun', a whole stone mountain wouldbe made for your tomb.
如果你像"太阳之子"即国王齐阿普斯那样富有、有权势，人们会垒一整座石山作为你的墓穴。
Deep inside, the mummy would be safe - or so they thought!
在石山内部深处，木乃伊一定不会受损--大概他们是这么想的！
But the mighty 5 king's efforts were in vain: his pyramid is empty.
但这位强大的国王的辛劳都是枉然：他的金字塔是空的。
（把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏
- He crumbled the bread in his fingers. 他用手指把面包捻碎。
- Our hopes crumbled when the business went bankrupt. 商行破产了，我们的希望也破灭了。
n.软膏( ointment的名词复数 )；扫兴的人；煞风景的事物；药膏
- The firm has been dispensing ointments. 本公司配制药膏。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Antibiotic ointments are useful for concurrent bacterial infections. 抗菌素软膏对伴发的细菌感染是有用的。 来自辞典例句
n.棺材，灵柩
- When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
- The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。
adj.凿过的，凿光的； （文章等）精心雕琢的v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的过去式 )
- A name was chiselled into the stone. 石头上刻着一个人名。
- He chiselled a hole in the door to fit a new lock. 他在门上凿了一个孔，以便装一把新锁。 来自《简明英汉词典》