美国学生世界历史(英汉双语)
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12 犹太诸王

就在荷马沿着希腊的大街小巷吟唱着他那些美妙诗歌的几个世纪之前,犹太人中也有一位伟大的国王,正在哈兰吟唱着另外的奇妙诗歌。这位国王叫作大卫,可他并不是出生于帝王世家。他原来只是扫罗王手下军队里的一名牧童。下面说的,就是他无意之中当上了国王的过程。

你们应当都还记得,起初犹太人是没有国王的;但他们希望拥立一位国王,于是最后便有了国王扫罗。

大卫曾经杀死了巨人哥利亚。我们之所以都很喜欢《圣经》上的这个故事,是因为看到小个子巧妙地打败那些赫赫有名的、恃强凌弱的大块头恶棍,我们都会觉得很高兴。

此时,扫罗王有个女儿,她爱上了这个勇敢、健壮、年轻且杀死了哥利亚的大卫。于是,最后两人便结成了夫妇。

扫罗死后,大卫便成了国王;他也是犹太人历史上最伟大的一位国王。尽管扫罗当了国王,但他还是住在帐篷里,而不是住在宫殿里;而且,他甚至也没有建造一座属于自己的都城。

最后,大卫征服了哈兰一座叫作耶路撒冷的城市,并让此地成了犹太人的首都。

David was not only a brave warrior and a great king;he wrote beautiful songs as well.

The blind poet Homer sang of his fairy-tale gods. The great King David sang of his one God.

These songs are the Psalms,which are still read and sung in churches and synagogues.

Nowadays even a popular song is popular for only a few months,but the songs that David wrote almost three thousand years ago are still popular today!The Twenty-third Psalm,which starts,“The Lord is my shepherd,”is one of the most beautiful and a good one to learn by heart. David likens himself to a sheep and his Lord to a good shepherd,who tenderly looks out for the comfort and safety of his sheep.

David's son was named Solomon,and when David died Solomon became king.

If a good fairy had asked you what you would rather have than anything in the world,I wonder what you would have chosen. When Solomon became king,God is said to have appeared to him in a dream and asked him what he would rather have than anything else in the world.Instead of saying he wanted to be made rich or powerful,Solomon asked to be made wise,and God said He would make him the wisest man that ever lived.Here is a story that shows how wise he was.

Once upon a time two women came to Solomon with a baby,and each woman said the baby was her own child. Solomon called for a sword and said,“Cut the baby in two,and give each a half.”One of the women cried out to give the baby to the other rather than do this,and Solomon then knew who was the real mother and ordered the baby to be given to her.

大卫不仅是一位勇敢的武士、一位伟大的国王,而且还写出了许多美妙的诗篇哩。

盲人诗人荷马歌颂的,都是神话传说中的众神。而伟大的大卫王所歌颂的,却是他那个唯一的上帝。

这些诗篇,被称为“赞美诗”;如今,人们在教堂和犹太会堂里仍然会诵读和吟唱它们。

现在,即便是一首流行歌曲,也只会流行几个月之久;而大卫在差不多三千年前所作的这些颂歌,却一直流行到了今天呢!第二十三首赞美诗开篇即写道:“耶和华是我的牧者。”它是最优美、最好的赞美诗之一,值得我们用心去铭记。大卫把自己比作一只绵羊,而把他的上帝比作一位好的牧羊人,在细心地守护着自己所牧羊群的舒适与安全。

大卫的儿子叫作所罗门;大卫死后,所罗门便继承了王位。

假如有位好心的仙女问你们,在这个世界上你们最想要的是什么,我可不知道你们究竟会选择什么东西。所罗门当上国王之后,据说他梦见了上帝,上帝问他在这个世界上最想要的是什么。所罗门没有请求上帝让他变得富有或者变得有权有势,而是希望上帝让他变得聪明而有智慧;于是,上帝说,他会让所罗门变成世界上最聪明的人。下面这个故事,便说明了所罗门究竟有多聪明。

有一次,两位妇女带着一个小宝宝来到所罗门面前,两人都说这个小宝宝是自己的孩子。所罗门叫人拿来了一把剑,说:“把小宝宝劈成两半,一人各得一

Solomon built a magnificent temple made of cedar-wood,from the famous forest of Lebanon,and of marble and gold and studded with jewels. Then he built himself a wonderful palace,which was so gorgeous and splendid that people came from all over the world to see it.The Bible tells us just how large this temple and palace were,not in feet but in cubits.A cubit was the distance from a man's elbow to the end of his middle finger,which is about one foot and a half.

The queen of Sheba,among others,came a long distance across Arabia to hear the wise sayings of Solomon and see his palace and the temple he had built.

Although the palace and temple were considered extraordinarily magnificent at that time,you must remember that this was a thousand years before Christ.

Solomon's temple and palace have disappeared long since. But his wise sayings are preserved in many languages and read by many people all around the world.There are thousands of buildings now in the world that would make his palace,if still standing,look like a child's toy house.But no one has ever been able to say any better the things he said.Do you think you could?Suppose you try.Here are some of them.They are called proverbs.

A soft answer turneth away wrath;

but grievous words stir up anger.

What's that mean?

A good name is rather to be chosen than great

半。”其中一名妇女大哭起来,宁愿把孩子给另一名妇女,也不愿把孩子劈死;于是,所罗门便明白了谁才是孩子的亲生母亲,下令把孩子交给了她。

所罗门用从著名的黎巴嫩森林中采伐来的香柏木,大理石、黄金和宝石,建造了一座宏伟壮丽的神庙。然后,他又给自己建造了一所神奇的宫殿;这座宫殿金碧辉煌,蔚为壮观,世界各地的人都纷纷前来一睹风采。《圣经》中说到那座神庙和那所宫殿有多大时,用的度量单位竟然不是英尺,而是肘尺呢。一肘尺就是从一个人的肘部到其中指指尖的距离,相当于一点五英尺左右。

在前来参观的人当中,有一位是示巴女王;她不远千里,穿过了阿拉伯半岛,为的就是去聆听所罗门的至理名言,并且一睹他所建造的神庙和宫殿。

尽管所罗门的宫殿和神庙在当时被世人认为辉煌无比,但你们必须记住,那时毕竟还是公元前1000年啊。

所罗门建造的神庙和宫殿,很久以前就已经不复存在了。不过他说的那些至理名言却被译成了多种语言保存至今,并被世界各地的许多人所诵读。假如他的那座宫殿依然存在的话,那么如今世界上的成千上万座高楼大厦,都会让他的宫殿看上

riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold.

What's that mean?

Let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth.

What's that mean?

Solomon was the last great king the Jews ever had. After he died the Jewish nation gradually broke up and then came back together again.Then,six hundred years later it finally went to pieces and,for about two thousand years,the Jewish people were without a king,without a capital,and without a country of their own,though they are found in many other countries of the world.Then at last they formed a new country,a country called Israel.Israel is in the land that used to be called Canaan.

去像是小朋友用玩具搭成的房屋似的。可是,迄今为止却没有人能够说出比他更有智慧的话语呢。你们觉得,自己能够说出比所罗门的至理名言更有智慧的话语吗?你们不妨来试一试。下面就是所罗门说过的一些话。这些话语,叫作“箴言”。

回答柔和,使怒消退;

言语暴戾,触动怒气。

这句话是什么意思呢?

美名胜过大财,

恩宠强如金银。

这句话是什么意思呢?

要别人夸奖你,不可用口自夸。

这句话又是什么意思呢?

所罗门是犹太人历史上最后一位伟大的国王。他死后,犹太民族逐渐开始了合久又分、分久又合的过程。接下来,六百年之后,犹太民族最终分崩离析了。并且,在差不多两千年的时间里,虽说犹太民族遍布世界各地,但他们既无国王和首都,也没有自己的国家。最后,他们才建立了一个新的国家,一个叫作“以色列”的国家。如今的以色列,就处于过去被称作“哈兰”的那片土地上。