世界小史 第22章:胡夫金字塔

One such pharaoh was King Cheops, who lived in about 2,500 BC.

就有這樣一位名叫齊阿普斯的法老，他生活在于公元前2500年。

He summoned all his subjects to help construct his tomb.

他就曾下令讓他所有的臣仆建造他的墳?zāi)埂?/p>

He wanted a building like a mountain, and he got it.

他想要一座像山一樣的建筑物，他擁有了它。

You can still see it today.

你今天仍然能看見(jiàn)它。

It's the Great Pyramid of Cheops.

這就是著名的胡夫金字塔。

You may have seen pictures of it, but you still won't be able to imagine how big it is.

也許你已經(jīng)看見(jiàn)過(guò)這座金字塔的圖片了，但是它有多大，這你無(wú)法想象。

A cathedral would fit comfortably inside.

它容納得下任何一座大教堂。

Clambering up its huge stone blocks is like scaling a mountain peak.

從它的巨大的石塊上攀登上去，就像登上山頂。

And yet it was human beings who piled those gigantic stones on top of each other.

可是這些巨大的石塊是人一塊一塊地搬運(yùn)上去，一塊挨著一塊壘起來(lái)的。

They had no machines in those days - rollers and pulleys at most.

當(dāng)時(shí)他們還沒(méi)有機(jī)器--至多只有滾軸和滑輪。

They had to pull and shove every single block by hand.

他們拉推每一塊石塊都得用手。

Just think of it, in the heat of Africa!

你想象一下吧，在炎熱的非洲!

In this way, it seems, for 30 years, some hundred thousand people toiled for the pharaoh, whenever they weren't working in the fields.

幾十萬(wàn)人就這樣在農(nóng)閑的月份里為法老接連辛苦勞作了30年。

And when they grew tired, the king's overseer was sure to drive them on with his hippopotamus-skin whip,

他們干累了，法老的監(jiān)工就用河馬皮做的鞭子驅(qū)使他們繼續(xù)干活,

as they dragged and heaved those immense loads, all for their king's tomb.

他們就是這樣扛拉并抬起這些巨大的石塊，全都是為了建造他們國(guó)王的墳?zāi)埂?/p>