Chapter 31 - The Mauryan Empire of India / 第三十一章 - 印度的孔雀王朝

When we read阅读/riːd/ about Egypt埃及/ˈiːdʒɪpt/, we learned that Egypt was divided分裂的/dɪˈvaɪdɪd/ into two parts—Lower下/ˈloʊər/ Egypt and Upper上/ˈʌpər/ Egypt. The Lower and Upper Egyptians fought战斗/fɔːt/ each other until King Narmer made them all into one country国家/ˈkʌntri/. After the Egyptians stopped fighting each other, Egypt grew to be rich富有的/rɪtʃ/ and strong强大的/strɔːŋ/.

When we read about the Akkadian阿卡德的/əˈkeɪdiən/ Empire, we learned that Sumer苏美尔/ˈsuːmər/ was full of lots of independent独立的/ˌɪndɪˈpendənt/ cities城市/ˈsɪtiz/. Each one had its own army军队/ˈɑːrmi/, its own king国王/kɪŋ/, and its own way of doing things. But Sargon萨尔贡/ˈsɑːrɡɒn/, the first great Akkadian king, united统一了/juˈnaɪtɪd/ all the cities into one empire帝国/ˈempaɪər/ with one king and one set of laws法律/lɔːz/.

Sargon and King Narmer did the same thing! They made people人们/ˈpiːpəl/ who were quarrelling争吵的/ˈkwɔːrəlɪŋ/ and fighting with each other be friends朋友/frends/ and allies盟友/ˈælaɪz/. We also read about two cities that refused拒绝/rɪˈfjuːzd/ to be allies. Two great Greek cities, Athens雅典/ˈæθɪnz/ and Sparta斯巴达/ˈspɑːrtə/, fought with each other for years and years, until both cities were weak虚弱的/wiːk/ and tired疲惫的/taɪərd/.

After Athens and Sparta were finished结束了/ˈfɪnɪʃt/ fighting each other, the Macedonians马其顿人/ˌmæsəˈdoʊniənz/ came down and conquered征服了/ˈkɑːŋkərd/ both cities! Athens and Sparta were too worn out to resist抵抗/rɪˈzɪst/. All of these countries国家/ˈkʌntriz/ were weak when they were divided, and strong when they were united. India印度/ˈɪndiə/ was no different不同的/ˈdɪfərənt/.

When the Aryans雅利安人/ˈɛriənz/ first settled定居/ˈsetəld/ in India, they built lots of different cities. The cities belonged属于/bɪˈlɔːŋd/ to many different small kingdoms王国/ˈkɪŋdəmz/. Each kingdom was independent, and the kings国王们/kɪŋz/ of these little kingdoms spent many years fighting each other. But one family家族/ˈfæməli/ of Indian kings wanted India to be a strong, unified统一的/ˈjuːnəˌfaɪd/ country.

They united the different Indian cities together into one empire—the Mauryan孔雀王朝的/ˈmɔːriən/ Empire. This empire covered覆盖了/ˈkʌvərd/ the whole northern北部的/ˈnɔːrðərn/ part of India. The most famous著名的/ˈfeɪməs/ Mauryan emperor皇帝/ˈempərər/ was named Asoka阿育王/əˈsoʊkə/. He became king around 268 BC/BCE. Asoka conquered cities through India in a war战争/wɔːr/ that killed thousands数千/ˈθaʊzəndz/ of people.

But when Asoka visited拜访了/ˈvɪzətəd/ the defeated被击败的/dɪˈfiːtəd/ cities after his great victories胜利/ˈvɪktəriz/, he saw the suffering痛苦/ˈsʌfərɪŋ/ that his soldiers士兵/ˈsoʊldʒərz/ had caused. "I will no longer fight战斗/faɪt/ with an army," he announced宣布/əˈnaʊnst/. "Instead, I will draw吸引/drɔː/ people into my empire through honesty诚实/ˈɑːnəsti/, truthfulness真诚/ˈtruːθfəlnəs/, and mercy仁慈/ˈmɜːrsi/."

"I will follow the teachings教导/ˈtiːtʃɪŋz/ of the Buddha佛陀/ˈbuːdə/ and give up violence暴力/ˈvaɪələns/ from now on!" Asoka carved these ideas on stone monuments纪念碑/ˈmɑːnjəmənts/ and pillars石柱/ˈpɪlərz/ and set them up all around his empire. We can still read阅读/riːd/ them today. He tried to reason讲道理/ˈriːzən/ with his subjects, rather than giving out strict, harsh严厉的/hɑːrʃ/ commands.

He tried to act kindly仁慈地/ˈkaɪndli/ and mercifully怜悯地/ˈmɜːrsəfəli/ to all his people. He had trees树木/triːz/ planted along the roads道路/roʊdz/, so that travelers旅行者/ˈtrævələrz/ could walk in the shade阴影/ʃeɪd/. He built hospitals医院/ˈhɑːspɪtəlz/ for sick people and for sick animals动物/ˈænəməlz/ as well. He even made laws法律/lɔːz/ to keep people from being cruel残忍的/kruːəl/ to animals.

And he became a vegetarian素食者/ˌvedʒəˈteriən/ (someone who doesn't eat meat肉/miːt/) so that no animals would be killed杀死/kɪld/ for his food. Asoka became famous for his ideas and for his just公正的/dʒʌst/, merciful rule统治/ruːl/.

King Asoka gave up fighting and stopped eating meat because of the teachings of the Buddha. Many of these teachings are written down in one of India's most famous著名的/ˈfeɪməs/ books书籍/bʊks/. It has a very long name—the Mahayana大乘/ˌmɑːhəˈjɑːnə/ Tripitaka. This book contains包含/kənˈteɪnz/ all sorts of writings著作/ˈraɪtɪŋz/, but some of the best-known writings are called the Jakata本生/ˈdʒɑːtəkə/ Tales.

According to legend传说/ˈledʒənd/, these tales were told by the Buddha to show the people of ancient古代的/ˈeɪnʃənt/ India how to live生活/lɪv/. The stories explain解释/ɪkˈspleɪn/ that goodness善良/ˈɡʊdnəs/, patience耐心/ˈpeɪʃəns/, mercy, honesty诚实/ˈɑːnəsti/, and friendship友谊/ˈfrendʃɪp/ will bring happiness快乐/ˈhæpɪnəs/.

One of these stories, called "The Hare兔子/her/," teaches that generosity慷慨/ˌdʒenəˈrɑːsəti/ will be rewarded奖赏/rɪˈwɔːrdɪd/. Here is how the story goes:

From up above, the god Sakka萨迦/ˈsækə/ heard the hare's promise承诺/ˈprɑːməs/. "Can this be true?" he said to himself. "Will this hare really be so generous and unselfish无私的/ʌnˈselfɪʃ/ as to give his own life生命/laɪf/? I will go down to the earth and see." So Sakka disguised伪装/dɪsˈɡaɪzd/ himself as a priest僧侣/priːst/ and went down to the earth.

He walked along the forest path. Soon he saw the monkey. "Monkey, monkey," he cried, "I am so hungry! Will you give me food?" "I could share分享/ʃer/ a mango or two," the monkey offered. "Thank you," said Sakka. "I'll come back for it tomorrow." Next he saw the jackal. "Jackal, jackal," he cried, "I am so hungry! Will you give me food?" "Well," the jackal said, "you can have one of my pieces of meat, and a drink喝/drɪŋk/ of my milk." "Thank you," said Sakka, "I'll come back for it tomorrow."

A little further along the way, he saw the otter. "Otter, otter," he cried, "I am so hungry! Will you give me food?" "You can have two or three of my fish," the otter suggested. "Thank you," said Sakka. "I'll come back for it tomorrow." Finally, Sakka met the hare. "Hare, hare," he said, "I am so hungry! Will you give me food?" "All I have is myself," said the hare, "but you are welcome欢迎/ˈwelkəm/ to eat me."

"But I am a follower追随者/ˈfɑːloʊər/ of the Buddha!" Sakka objected. "I cannot kill an animal for food!" "Then light a fire火/faɪər/," the hare said, "and I will jump into it myself. Then I will be roasted烤熟的/roʊstəd/ for you to eat—and you won't have to kill me." So Sakka built a fire. The hare shook himself, crouched down, and jumped into the flames火焰/fleɪmz/. But although the fire licked at his fur, he felt no heat热量/hiːt/.

"Why isn't this fire hot?" the hare asked. "It won't roast me so that you can eat!" "Because I am no priest," Sakka said. "I am the god Sakka, come down to earth to see whether you would be as generous as you promised. Now, good and generous hare, live happily快乐地/ˈhæpəli/ the rest of your life with my blessing祝福/ˈblesɪŋ/." And he made the hare a nest of soft grass, and returned to his place in the sky. The hare lived happily ever after, and when he died he was rewarded for his kindness善良/ˈkaɪndnəs/.