世界小史 第32章:齊阿普斯

Only rarely in the course of all that time did people turn against this strict conformity.

在這整個(gè)漫長的時(shí)期中人們只對(duì)這種嚴(yán)格的老一套反對(duì)過兩次。

Once was shortly after the reign of King Cheops, about 2,100 BC, when the people tried to change everything.

一次，是在國王齊阿普斯之后不久，大約在公元前2100年，臣民們?cè)?jīng)試圖改變一切。

They rose up in rebellion against the pharaoh, killed his ministers, and dragged the mummies from their tombs.

他們起來反抗法老，打死他的監(jiān)管人員并把木乃伊從墓穴里拉走。

'Those who formerly didn't even own sandals now hold treasures, and those who once wore precious robes go about in rags,' the ancient papyrus tells us.

"從前連便鞋也沒有的人，現(xiàn)在有了珍寶;從前穿漂亮衣服的人，現(xiàn)在衣衫襤褸，" 一卷古老的莎草紙這樣記述。

The land is turning like a potter's wheel.

國家像一個(gè)陶工轉(zhuǎn)盤那樣旋轉(zhuǎn)。

But it did not last long, and soon everything was as strict as before. If not more so.

但是這種情況持續(xù)得不是很久，不久便又一切照舊，也許法老的統(tǒng)治比先前更殘酷。

On another occasion it was the pharaoh himself who tried to change everything.

第二次是一位法老自己試圖改變一切。

Akhenaton was a remarkable man who lived around 1,370 BC.

這個(gè)法老叫阿肯納頓，他生活在公元前1370年左右，是個(gè)怪人。

He had no time for the Egyptian religion, with its many gods and its mysterious rituals.

他覺得埃及人的信仰連同其許多的神和那些神秘的習(xí)俗都不足信。

'There is only one God,' he taught his people, 'and that is the Sun, through whose rays all is created and all sustained. To Him alone you must pray. '

" 只有一位神，"他這樣教導(dǎo)他的民眾，"這就是太陽，太陽的光芒創(chuàng)造一切并維護(hù)一切。你們只可以向太陽祈禱。"