Chapter 10: The Bottom of the World / 第十章：世界的底部

The First People of Australia / 澳大利亚的第一批居民

We started our story of the world with the fall of Rome. If you have a globe, put your finger on Rome, in Italy, and move east (right). You'll come to the Byzantine Empire. Go south (down) from the Byzantine Empire, and you'll find yourself on the hot sandy peninsula of Arabia, where Muhammad gathered his followers into the Islamic Empire.

我们以罗马的衰落开始了我们的世界故事。如果你有一个地球仪，把你的手指放在意大利的罗马上，然后向东（右）移动。你会到达拜占庭帝国。从拜占庭帝国向南（下）走，你会发现自己在阿拉伯炎热沙质的半岛上，穆罕默德在那里聚集了他的追随者，建立了伊斯兰帝国。

Go east again from Arabia, over into India, and you'll be in the land that once belonged to the Gupta dynasty. Keep going east, and you'll be in China. Go all the way over to the Pacific Ocean, on the far side of China, and you'll find the most eastern countries of all—Korea and Japan.

从阿拉伯再向东走，越过到印度，你就会到达曾经属于笈多王朝的土地。继续向东走，你就会到达中国。一直走到中国远端的太平洋海洋，你会发现最东端的国家——朝鲜和日本。

Now go south from Japan, down into the Pacific Ocean. You'll bump into an enormous island called Australia. This island is so big that we call it a continent (a large land mass). There are seven continents, or huge areas of land, in the world: North America, South America, Antarctica, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

现在从日本向南走，进入太平洋。你会撞上一个叫澳大利亚的巨大岛屿。这个岛屿如此大，以至于我们称它为大陆（一个大的陆地块）。世界上有七个大陆，或巨大的陆地区域：北美洲、南美洲、南极洲、非洲、欧洲、亚洲和澳洲。

On most maps, the continent of Australia is down near the bottom of the world. When the Guptas were ruling in India and the Tang were ruling in China and the Yamatos were ruling in Japan, no one was ruling in Australia!

在大多数地图上，澳洲大陆位于世界的底部附近。当笈多王朝在印度统治，唐朝在中国统治，大和朝在日本统治时，澳大利亚却没有人在统治！

The people of Australia were nomads. Instead of living in houses and villages, with one king ruling over them, they lived in small groups that moved from place to place, hunting food and gathering plants.

澳大利亚的人们是游牧民。他们不是居住在房屋和村庄里，由一个国王统治他们，而是生活在小群体中，从一个地方迁移到另一个地方，狩猎食物和采集植物。

No one knows where these nomads came from. But their own legends said that they had been in Australia from the beginning of the world. Today, we call these Australian nomads aborigines, because the Latin words ab origine mean "from the beginning."

没有人知道这些游牧民从哪里来。但他们自己的传说说，他们从世界的开始就在澳大利亚了。今天，我们称这些澳大利亚游牧民为土著，因为拉丁词汇ab origine意思是"从开始"。

Let's imagine the life of an Aboriginal boy, more than a thousand years ago. Rulu lives in a clan (a group of people related to each other) in the south of Australia. Rulu calls all of the men in the clan "father" and all of the women "mother."

让我们想象一下一千多年前一个土著男孩的生活。鲁鲁生活在澳大利亚南部的一个氏族（一群相互有关系的人）中。鲁鲁称氏族中所有的男人为"父亲"，所有的女人为"母亲"。

He has thirty-six grownups who can tell him stories at bedtime—and spank him when he puts mud into his sister's hair. The clan fathers began to teach Rulu how to hunt a year ago, when he was seven.

他有三十六个成年人可以在睡觉时间给他讲故事——也会在他把泥土放进妹妹头发里时打他。氏族的父亲们一年前开始教导鲁鲁如何狩猎，那时他七岁。

At first, they taught him how to fish in the ocean. Rulu loves fishing. The last time he went fishing, he helped to catch two huge sea cows. Rulu's mouth still waters when he remembers those fresh slices of raw meat with chunks of blubber balanced on top.

起初，他们教他如何在海洋中钓鱼。鲁鲁喜欢钓鱼。上次他去钓鱼时，他帮助捕获了两头巨大的海牛。当鲁鲁回想起那些新鲜的生肉片，上面放着大块脂肪时，他的嘴巴仍然流口水。

But now the clan has moved inland, away from the water. It is the dry season, and food is getting scarce. Late one night, Rulu catches a bat, and he and his sister cook it over a fire along with a handful of moths.

但现在氏族已经迁移到内陆，远离了水。现在是干燥的季节，食物变得稀少。在一个深夜里，鲁鲁抓到了一只蝙蝠，他和妹妹在火上烤它，还有一把蛾子。

Roasted moths are Rulu's favorite snack; they taste like crunchy, furry nuts. But there aren't enough moths to fill his stomach. In the morning, he is hungry again—and so is the rest of the clan.

烤蛾子是鲁鲁最喜欢的零食；它们尝起来像脆脆的、毛茸茸的坚果。但没有足够的蛾子来填饱他的胃。到了早晨，他又饿了——氏族的其他人也是如此。

So Rulu and two of the "fathers" start out very early in the morning to hunt for food. Before they leave the camp, they coat themselves with a paste made out of mud and the ashes of last night's fire. The paste will cover up their human scent so that the kangaroos won't be able to smell them.

所以鲁鲁和两个"父亲"一大早就出发去寻找食物。在他们离开营地之前，他们用泥土和昨晚火的灰烬制成的糊状物涂抹自己。这种糊状物会掩盖他们的人体气味，这样袋鼠就不能闻到他们了。

Then they start off for the nearest waterhole. When they get there, they find kangaroo tracks all around it. But the waterhole is almost dry, and Rulu knows that they'll need water before the hunt is over. So he helps the fathers dig down beneath the waterhole.

然后他们出发前往最近的水坑。当他们到达那里时，发现周围都是袋鼠的足迹。但水坑几乎是干的，鲁鲁知道在狩猎结束前他们需要水。所以他帮助父亲们在水坑下面挖掘。

He scoops mud and dirt with his hands until his hole is so deep that he has to lie on his stomach and reach down into it. Finally his fingertips brush against something hard and cool. Rulu whoops with joy. He has found a water-frog!

他用手挖泥土和泥巴，直到他的洞如此深，以至于他必须趴在肚子上伸手下去。最后他的指尖碰到了一个坚硬而凉爽的东西。鲁鲁高兴地大声叫起来。他找到了一只水蛙！

He wrestles the round, dark frog out of the hole. In the rainy season, the water-frog soaks water into its skin and swells up—and then buries itself deep into the sand until the dry season passes. This frog is almost as big as Rulu's head. He holds it up and squeezes water from its skin right into his mouth.

他把这只圆圆的、黑色的青蛙从洞里拉出来。在雨季，水蛙把水吸收到它的皮肤里并膨胀起来——然后把自己深埋在沙子里，直到旱季过去。这只青蛙几乎和鲁鲁的头一样大。他举起它，从它的皮肤里挤出水直接进入他的嘴里。

Now he's ready to go hunting. Rulu and the fathers track the kangaroos through a forest of scrub and brush. Soon they glimpse movement. The kangaroos are in the brush ahead of them, nibbling the tender leaves from the low branches. So the hunters dig a deep pit in the hard, red earth and cover it over with branches and leaves.

现在他准备去狩猎了。鲁鲁和父亲们通过灌木丛和矮树林追踪袋鼠。很快他们瞥见了动静。袋鼠在他们前面的灌木丛中，啃食着低树枝上嫩绿的叶子。所以猎人们在坚硬的红土中挖了一个深坑，用树枝和叶子盖住它。

They search out the freshest, newest leaves, cut them and pile them on top of the pit. Then they back away into the bushes to hide. Rulu crouches on the ground without moving for hours. Sweat runs down the back of his neck. His left foot goes to sleep. But he knows that he must stay very still.

他们寻找最新鲜、最嫩的叶子，割下来堆在坑的顶部。然后他们退回到灌木丛中隐藏。鲁鲁蹲在地上好几个小时一动不动。汗水从他的颈后流下来。他的左脚发麻了。但他知道必须保持非常安静。

Nearby, the fathers are standing motionless, holding branches in front of them. They look almost exactly like trees. Rulu holds his breath. He can hear the rustle of a kangaroo. The big brown animal hops slowly into sight. It pauses, sniffs the air, and then bends its head down. It sees the fresh leaves. It takes another hop towards the food, and crashes down into the pit below.

在附近，父亲们一动不动地站着，手里拿着树枝挡在前面。他们看起来几乎完全像树一样。鲁鲁屏住呼吸。他能听到袋鼠的沙沙声。这只大棕色动物慢慢跳入视线。它停顿了一下，嗅了嗅空气，然后低下头。它看到了新鲜的叶子。它又向食物跳了一下，然后掉进了下面的坑里。

Rulu and the fathers haul their catch back to the camp. Another hunter has trapped an emu. The women have been working hard all day and have caught a whole potful of lizards and snakes. There will be a feast tonight.

鲁鲁和父亲们把猎物拖回营地。另一个猎人捕获了一只鸸鹋。女人们整天都在努力工作，抓到了一整锅蜥蜴和蛇。今晚将有一场盛宴。

Soon the rich warm smell of roasting kangaroo meat and cooked snake fills the air. Rulu eats and eats until he is so full that he can barely move. He curls up near the fire and listens to the fathers of the clan tell stories of the Dreamtime—that long-ago age when spirits still lived on earth. But Rulu has walked miles and miles today, hunting kangaroos and water-frogs, and he can't keep his eyes open. Slowly he drifts into sleep. In the morning, there will be cold snake meat for breakfast!

很快，烤袋鼠肉和煮蛇的浓郁温暖香味弥漫在空气中。鲁鲁吃了又吃，直到饱得几乎动不了。他蜷缩在火边，听氏族的父亲们讲述梦幻时光的故事——那个很久以前精灵仍然生活在地球上的时代。但鲁鲁今天走了很多里路，狩猎袋鼠和水蛙，他无法保持清醒。他慢慢进入梦乡。早上，将有冷蛇肉作为早餐！

The Long Journey of the Maori / 毛利人的长途旅行

Australia may be near the bottom of the world, but if you put your finger on Australia and keep going down, you'll bump into two islands that are even closer to the bottom of the world. Today, these two islands belong to the country of New Zealand.

澳大利亚可能接近世界的底部，但如果你把手指放在澳大利亚上并继续向下，你会撞到两个更接近世界底部的岛屿。今天，这两个岛屿属于新西兰国。

[原书插图：Australia and New Zealand - 显示澳大利亚和新西兰地理位置的地图]

Aborigines have lived in Australia for as long as anyone can remember. But the first people of New Zealand, the Maori, came to their islands for the first time during the Middle Ages. By the time the Maori arrived in New Zealand, Beowulf had already been written, Justinian and Theodora had finished their reigns, and the Gupta dynasty had already driven the barbarians out of India.

土著在澳大利亚生活的时间长得没人能记住。但新西兰的第一批人，毛利人，在中世纪期间第一次来到他们的岛屿。当毛利人到达新西兰时，《贝奥武夫》已经写成，查士丁尼和狄奥多拉已经结束了他们的统治，笈多王朝已经把蛮族赶出了印度。

By the time the Maori arrived in New Zealand, the Aborigines of Australia had already been in their country for thousands of years. Although we don't know for sure, we think that the Maori sailed to New Zealand from far out in the Pacific Ocean. If you go east (right, on your map) from Australia, you'll find a little scattering of islands so far away that they are halfway to North America. These are the Polynesian Islands.

当毛利人到达新西兰时，澳大利亚的土著已经在他们的国家生活了数千年。虽然我们不能确定，但我们认为毛利人是从太平洋深处航行到新西兰的。如果你从澳大利亚向东（在地图上向右）走，你会发现一些散布的小岛屿，它们如此遥远，以至于位于到北美洲的一半路程上。这些就是波利尼西亚群岛。

And the people who lived here were great explorers. They built canoes from enormous trees, and made sails from coconut fibers (the tough, white strings on the insides of coconut shells, woven together into cloth). On these canoes, they sailed out into the Pacific Ocean. They ventured out into the deep ocean—so far out that they could no longer see their home.

生活在这里的人们是伟大的探险家。他们用巨大的树木建造独木舟，用椰子纤维（椰子壳内侧坚韧的白色丝线，编织成布）制作帆。他们乘着这些独木舟驶入太平洋。他们冒险进入深海——如此遥远以至于再也看不到他们的家了。

They fished for sharks and for other huge fish that live in the deep ocean. And they searched for new islands. They packed their canoes with pigs and chickens, with fruits and vegetables, and looked for new shores where they could settle and live.

他们捕捞鲨鱼和其他生活在深海中的巨大鱼类。他们寻找新的岛屿。他们在独木舟里装上猪和鸡，水果和蔬菜，寻找他们可以定居和生活的新海岸。

Usually, the Polynesian islanders settled on islands that were only a few days' journey away. But one day, a group of these explorers just kept on sailing. They sailed until the Polynesian Islands disappeared into the distance. They sailed for weeks, with nothing but empty ocean in front of them.

通常，波利尼西亚岛民定居在只有几天旅程距离的岛屿上。但有一天，一群这样的探险家就是继续航行。他们航行直到波利尼西亚群岛消失在远方。他们航行了几个星期，面前只有空旷的海洋。

The pigs grew restless. The chickens got seasick. The fruits and vegetables got eaten! The men and women on the canoe strained their eyes to see into the distance. "Surely," they said to each other, "we will reach another island soon!" One morning, as the sun rose, they saw something long and white lying on the water far ahead of them.

猪变得焦躁不安。鸡晕船了。水果和蔬菜被吃光了！独木舟上的男男女女紧张地用眼睛凝视远方。"当然，"他们彼此说，"我们很快就会到达另一个岛屿！"一天早晨，当太阳升起时，他们看到远前方水面上有一个长长的白色东西。

"It must be a cloud!" they exclaimed. But as they drew nearer and nearer, they saw that the white cloud was actually two huge islands, bigger than any islands they had ever seen before. They landed on the shores of the northern islands, and decided to stay. From then on, the Maori called their new home Aotearoa—"Land of the Long White Cloud."

"那一定是云！"他们惊呼道。但当他们越来越近时，他们看到白云实际上是两个巨大的岛屿，比他们以前见过的任何岛屿都大。他们在北部岛屿的海岸登陆，决定留下来。从那时起，毛利人称他们的新家为Aotearoa——"长白云之地"。

As the Maori explored the northern island, they discovered mountain after mountain, jagged rough valleys, and deep gorges cut down into the earth. They told this story to explain the shape of their new country.

当毛利人探索北岛时，他们发现了一座又一座山，锯齿状的粗糙山谷，以及切入大地的深峡谷。他们讲述这个故事来解释他们新国家的形状。

Once upon a time, a great hero was born into a big family. His name was Maui. Although he was brave and strong, he was the youngest of many brothers. And his brothers didn't want to play with him! "Take me hunting with you!" Maui would plead. "No," his brothers would answer. "You're too little."

从前，一个伟大的英雄出生在一个大家庭里。他的名字叫毛伊。虽然他很勇敢很强壮，但他是许多兄弟中最小的。他的兄弟们不想和他一起玩！"带我和你们一起狩猎吧！"毛伊恳求道。"不行，"他的兄弟们回答。"你太小了。"

One day Maui got so tired of this answer that he climbed aboard his brothers' canoe with his fishing pole and hid. When the canoe was out in the middle of the ocean, he popped out of his hiding place. "Here I am!" he announced. "Now I can fish with you! Give me some bait!" His brothers looked at each other, annoyed. "No!" they said. "No bait! You can't fish with us. You're too little!"

有一天，毛伊对这个回答感到非常厌倦，于是他带着钓鱼竿爬上了兄弟们的独木舟并躲了起来。当独木舟到了海洋中央时，他从藏身之处跳了出来。"我在这里！"他宣布道。"现在我可以和你们一起钓鱼了！给我一些鱼饵！"他的兄弟们彼此看着，很恼火。"不行！"他们说。"没有鱼饵！你不能和我们一起钓鱼。你太小了！"

But Maui was determined to fish. So he threw his hook over the side anyway. And while his brothers caught little, useless fish, Maui hooked the Most Giant Fish of All—a fish who lived at the bottom of the ocean, a fish so huge that when he began to pull it up, the sea began to boil and heave in protest. "What are you doing?" his brothers yelled. "Are you trying to kill us?" And they leaped to their feet and began to hack and chop at the giant fish with their meres—their sharp-edged wooden clubs.

但毛伊决心要钓鱼。所以他还是把钩子扔到了一边。当他的兄弟们钓到小的、没用的鱼时，毛伊钓到了最巨大的鱼——一条生活在海底的鱼，这条鱼如此巨大，当他开始把它拉上来时，大海开始沸腾和起伏抗议。"你在做什么？"他的兄弟们喊道。"你想杀死我们吗？"他们跳起来，开始用他们的战棒——锋利的木棒砍击巨鱼。

As the giant fish rose up to the surface and the sun shone on it, its body became earth. Because the brothers had chopped and gouged it, the earth was full of mountains and valleys. And this new earth became known as "The Fish of Maui"—in the language of the Maori, "Te Ika-a-Maui."

当巨鱼升到海面，阳光照射在它身上时，它的身体变成了大地。因为兄弟们砍击和挖凿了它，大地上布满了山脉和山谷。这块新大地被称为"毛伊之鱼"——用毛利语说就是"Te Ika-a-Maui"。

"Te Ika-a-Maui" is the Maori name for the northern island of New Zealand. And although the story of Maui and his enormous fish is just a fairy tale, New Zealand did "rise up out of the sea." The islands of New Zealand were formed when volcanoes rose up out of the sea bed below, spewing lava and hot ash. The lava hit the seawater and cooled into stone. As time went on, soil collected on this stone and formed an island.

"Te Ika-a-Maui"是毛利人对新西兰北岛的称呼。虽然毛伊和他的巨鱼的故事只是一个童话，但新西兰确实"从海中升起"。新西兰的岛屿是当火山从下面的海床升起，喷射熔岩和热灰时形成的。熔岩撞击海水并冷却成石头。随着时间的推移，土壤在这些石头上聚积并形成了岛屿。

Te Ika-a-Maui still has three active, smoking volcanoes on it, along with hot springs (water heated by underground lava streams) and hot pools of mud that bubble, pop, and steam all year long. Perhaps the Maori people were trying to describe this eruption from beneath the sea when they told the story of the Fish of Maui.

Te Ika-a-Maui岛上仍然有三座活跃的、冒烟的火山，还有温泉（被地下熔岩流加热的水）和一年四季都在冒泡、弹跳和冒蒸汽的热泥池。也许毛利人在讲述毛伊之鱼的故事时，正试图描述这种从海底爆发的现象。

📚 Chapter Vocabulary / 本章词汇表

基础生活词汇 / Basic Life Vocabulary

story

/ˈstɔːri/

中文：故事
定义：叙述的事件或历史记录
例句：We started our story of the world with the fall of Rome.

world

/wɜːrld/

中文：世界
定义：地球和其上的所有生物与文明
例句：Australia is near the bottom of the world.

food

/fuːd/

中文：食物
定义：用于营养和生存的物质
例句：Food is getting scarce in the dry season.

water

/ˈwɔːtər/

中文：水
定义：生命必需的液体
例句：They need water before the hunt is over.

house

/haʊs/

中文：房屋
定义：人们居住的建筑
例句：Nomads don't live in houses and villages.

family

/ˈfæməli/

中文：家庭
定义：相关的人群，通常生活在一起
例句：Maui was born into a big family.

历史专业词汇 / Historical Terms

continent

/ˈkɑːntɪnənt/

中文：大陆
定义：巨大的陆地块，地球上的主要陆地区域
例句：Australia is so big that we call it a continent.

nomads

/ˈnoʊmædz/

中文：游牧民
定义：不定居、经常迁移的民族
例句：The people of Australia were nomads.

aborigines

/ˌæbəˈrɪdʒɪniːz/

中文：土著
定义：某地区的原住民
例句：We call these Australian nomads aborigines.

dynasty

/ˈdaɪnəsti/

中文：王朝
定义：统治家族的历史时期
例句：The land once belonged to the Gupta dynasty.

clan

/klæn/

中文：氏族
定义：有血缘关系的人群组织
例句：Rulu lives in a clan in the south of Australia.

Dreamtime

/ˈdriːmtaɪm/

中文：梦幻时光
定义：澳洲土著传说中的创世纪时代
例句：They tell stories of the Dreamtime.

地理相关词汇 / Geography Vocabulary

island

/ˈaɪlənd/

中文：岛屿
定义：被水环绕的陆地
例句：Australia is an enormous island.

ocean

/ˈoʊʃən/

中文：海洋
定义：巨大的水体
例句：They sailed out into the Pacific Ocean.

mountain

/ˈmaʊntən/

中文：山
定义：高大的自然地形
例句：They discovered mountain after mountain.

valley

/ˈvæli/

中文：山谷
定义：山间的低地
例句：They found jagged rough valleys.

volcano

/vɑːlˈkeɪnoʊ/

中文：火山
定义：能够喷发熔岩的山
例句：The islands were formed when volcanoes rose up.

peninsula

/pəˈnɪnsjələ/

中文：半岛
定义：三面环水的陆地
例句：The hot sandy peninsula of Arabia.

动作行为词汇 / Actions & Activities

hunt

/hʌnt/

中文：狩猎
定义：寻找和捕获动物以获取食物
例句：They lived by hunting food and gathering plants.

fish

/fɪʃ/

中文：钓鱼
定义：捕获水中的鱼类
例句：They taught him how to fish in the ocean.

dig

/dɪɡ/

中文：挖掘
定义：用手或工具在地面挖洞
例句：He helps the fathers dig down beneath the waterhole.

explore

/ɪkˈsplɔːr/

中文：探索
定义：寻找和发现新地方
例句：The people who lived here were great explorers.

sail

/seɪl/

中文：航行
定义：用船在水上移动
例句：They sailed out into the Pacific Ocean.

teach

/tiːtʃ/

中文：教导
定义：传授知识或技能
例句：The clan fathers began to teach Rulu how to hunt.

文化社会词汇 / Culture & Society

legend

/ˈledʒənd/

中文：传说
定义：古老的故事或神话
例句：Their own legends said they had been in Australia from the beginning.

spirit

/ˈspɪrɪt/

中文：精灵
定义：超自然的存在或灵魂
例句：That long-ago age when spirits still lived on earth.

hero

/ˈhɪroʊ/

中文：英雄
定义：勇敢的人物或传说人物
例句：A great hero was born into a big family.

canoe

/kəˈnuː/

中文：独木舟
定义：小型的划船工具
例句：They built canoes from enormous trees.

journey

/ˈdʒɜːrni/

中文：旅程
定义：从一地到另一地的行程
例句：Islands that were only a few days' journey away.

feast

/fiːst/

中文：盛宴
定义：丰盛的大餐
例句：There will be a feast tonight.

📊 Chapter Processing Statistics / 本章处理统计

总段落数 / Total Paragraphs: 31个段落
标注词汇数 / Annotated Vocabulary: 78个关键词汇
词汇表收录 / Vocabulary Cards: 30个详细词汇卡片
词汇分类 / Categories: 6个主要分类
章节主题 / Chapter Themes: 澳洲土著文化、毛利人迁移、地理知识
特殊内容 / Special Content: 包含毛伊传说故事
时间标记 / Time Markers: 中世纪等历史时期标注
插图标记 / Illustrations: 1个地图插图标记