Chapter 21 - The Mongols Devastate the East / 第二十一章 - 蒙古人横扫东方

Genghis Khan, Emperor of All Men / 成吉思汗，万人之皇

While Christian and Islamic armies were fighting with each other in the West, a different kind of battle was going on in the East.

当基督教和伊斯兰教的军队在西方战斗时，东方正在发生一种不同的战争。

The eastern kingdoms of China and Japan didn't have to worry about invading Muslim armies. But they did have to worry about the Mongols.

东方的王国中国和日本不必担心入侵的穆斯林军队。但他们确实要担心蒙古人。

The Mongols came from the wild, cold mountains north of China. They lived in felt tents which they took down each morning, leaving nothing but the ashes from their campfires behind.

蒙古人来自中国北方荒野、寒冷的山脉。他们居住在毡制帐篷里，每天早晨都会拆掉帐篷，只留下篝火的灰烬。

They were nomads who swept over the countryside, conquering and killing. The bone-chilling cold of the north didn't stop them; they wore furs and leather and rubbed their skin with grease to keep the wind away.

他们是游牧民，席卷整个乡村，征服和杀戮。北方刺骨的寒冷并不能阻止他们；他们穿着毛皮和皮革，在皮肤上涂抹油脂来抵御风寒。

They never settled down and grew crops; instead they ate foxes, rabbits, and other small wild creatures. But they could go without food for days at a time. If they were in danger of starving, they would open the veins of their horses, drink some blood, and then close the vein and ride on.

他们从不定居种植庄稼；相反，他们吃狐狸、兔子和其他小型野生生物。但他们可以连续几天没有食物。如果面临挨饿的危险，他们会切开马的血管，喝一些血，然后封闭血管继续骑行。

The Mongol tribes raided Chinese villages on the northern edge of China. They killed merchants and stole their goods. But they never tried to invade China itself—until Genghis Khan became their leader.

蒙古部落袭击中国北部边缘的中国村庄。他们杀死商人并偷窃他们的货物。但他们从未试图入侵中国本土——直到成吉思汗成为他们的领袖。

Genghis Khan was born around 1167, into a small Mongol tribe called the Yakka. His father was the Yakka chieftain, or khan. But the Yakka was only one of many Mongol clans. And the Mongols fought with each other as often as they fought with the Chinese.

成吉思汗大约出生于1167年，出身于一个叫也客部的小蒙古部落。他的父亲是也客部的族长，即汗。但也客部只是众多蒙古氏族中的一个。蒙古人彼此战斗的频率与他们与中国人战斗的频率一样高。

Genghis Khan had a better idea. He thought that the Mongols should all join together and attack China. Just on the other side of the Great Wall lay the rich Chinese city of Beijing, where people lived in warm houses, heated by fires, with soft beds, plenty of food, and bags of gold.

成吉思汗有一个更好的想法。他认为蒙古人应该全部联合起来攻击中国。就在长城的另一边是富裕的中国城市北京，那里的人们住在温暖的房屋里，有火焰加热，有柔软的床铺，充足的食物，还有一袋袋黄金。

Genghis Khan wanted to conquer this rich city. But first he had to convince all the Mongol tribes to follow him. When his father died, Genghis became leader of the Yakka. He set out at once to conquer the other Mongol clans as well.

成吉思汗想要征服这座富裕的城市。但首先他必须说服所有蒙古部落跟随他。当他的父亲死亡后，成吉思汗成为也客部的领袖。他立即着手征服其他蒙古氏族。

He fought savagely against them, forcing their leaders to swear allegiance to him. He promised, "Anyone who doesn't follow me will be killed. I will flatten his tent far into the ground, so that a horse galloping across it at midnight won't even stumble. The greatest joy in my life is to kill my rivals and steal their possessions!"

他野蛮地战斗，强迫他们的领袖向他发誓忠诚。他承诺说："任何不跟随我的人都会被杀死。我会把他的帐篷压平到地面深处，这样即使马匹在午夜疾驰经过也不会绊倒。我生命中最大的喜悦就是杀死我的敌手并偷取他们的财产！"

Would you surrender to a man who talked like that? Most of the Mongols did. And those who didn't were killed. After Genghis Khan killed one rival leader, he moved his tent to cover the body. Then he ordered his servants to remove the body through the tent's smoke hole, late at night, while everyone was watching the front of the tent.

你会向一个说这种话的人投降吗？大多数蒙古人都投降了。那些不投降的人被杀死了。成吉思汗杀死一个敌对领袖后，他把帐篷移到覆盖尸体的位置。然后他命令仆人在深夜通过帐篷的烟洞搬走尸体，当时所有人都在看着帐篷前面。

In the morning, he announced that the gods had killed his rival and spirited the body away as punishment for defying Genghis Khan. After that, everyone followed Genghis.

第二天早晨，他宣布神明杀死了他的敌手并带走尸体，作为对违抗成吉思汗的惩罚。从那以后，所有人都跟随成吉思汗了。

[原书插图：成吉思汗骑马征战图]

Now it was time for Genghis Khan to lead the unified Mongols against China. They swarmed down out of the north, destroying every city they came across, leveling every building to the ground. They broke through the Great Wall, into China. And while King John was signing the Magna Charta over in England, Genghis Khan was conquering the city of Beijing.

现在是成吉思汗率领统一的蒙古人对抗中国的时候了。他们从北方蜂拥而下，摧毁所遇到的每座城市，将每栋建筑夷平。他们突破了长城，进入中国。当约翰王在英格兰签署大宪章时，成吉思汗正在征服北京城。

But then Genghis Khan decided to turn his armies to the West. He told his followers that the sky-god Tengri had chosen them to conquer the earth. And then he led them against the frontiers of the Islamic empire.

但随后成吉思汗决定将他的军队转向西方。他告诉他的追随者天神腾格里选择了他们去征服大地。然后他率领他们攻击伊斯兰帝国的边境。

No one could stop this horrific invasion! Genghis Khan and his Mongol horde seemed like the punishment of God. Muslims called him "The Scourge." He terrorized the western part of the Islamic empire for five years and conquered cities almost as far as the Caspian Sea.

没有人能阻止这次可怕的入侵！成吉思汗和他的蒙古部落大军看起来像是上帝的惩罚。穆斯林称他为"天谴"。他恐吓伊斯兰帝国西部地区长达五年，征服的城市几乎远至里海。

Villagers were so frightened of him that when the Mongol warriors came into sight, they would lie down on their faces and surrender without even trying to fight. One Muslim historian, Ibn Athir, tells this story about eighteen men who were riding along when a single Mongol horseman thundered up.

村民非常害怕他，以至于当蒙古战士出现在视线中时，他们会脸朝下趴在地上投降，甚至不尝试战斗。一位穆斯林历史学家伊本·阿西尔讲述了这样一个故事：十八个人正在骑行时，一个蒙古骑手雷鸣般冲来。

"The Mongol told them to tie each other up," Ibn Athir writes, "and so terrified were they that they began to do so. Then one of them said, 'There's only one of him and eighteen of us. Why don't we just kill him and go on our way?' But the other seventeen were too frightened. 'He will kill us if we defy him!' they wailed, and went on tying each other up. So the eighteenth man rode up and knocked the Mongol off his horse. Then the other seventeen galloped away, crying, 'Allah preserve us! A Mongol is here!'"

"蒙古人让他们彼此捆绑，"伊本·阿西尔写道，"他们如此恐惧以至于开始照做。然后其中一人说，'他只有一个人，我们有十八个。我们为什么不杀了他继续前进？'但其他十七人太害怕了。'如果我们违抗他，他会杀死我们！'他们哀号着，继续相互捆绑。所以第十八个人骑上前去，把蒙古人从马上撞倒。然后其他十七人疾驰而去，大喊'真主保护我们！有蒙古人在这里！'"

No wonder Genghis Khan conquered such a huge empire. His enemies were too scared to fight back. Genghis Khan was still fighting when, sometime around 1227, he grew ill and died. His people took him back to China to bury him. But they killed everyone who saw the funeral procession pass by, so that no one would know where his grave was. Even today, no one has ever discovered the burial place of Genghis Khan.

难怪成吉思汗征服了如此巨大的帝国。他的敌人太恐惧了，不敢反击。成吉思汗仍在战斗时，大约在1227年左右，他生病去世了。他的人民把他带回中国埋葬。但他们杀死了所有看到葬礼队伍经过的人，这样就没有人知道他的坟墓在哪里。即使到今天，也没有人发现过成吉思汗的埋葬地。

The Mongol Conquest of China / 蒙古征服中国

When Genghis Khan died, the Mongols ruled an enormous empire—and their kingdom soon expanded even more. The Mongols took land away from the Islamic empire. They conquered part of the Byzantine Empire. Their kingdom stretched from the Yellow Sea to the west as far as the Mediterranean.

当成吉思汗去世时，蒙古人统治着一个巨大的帝国——他们的王国很快扩张得更多。蒙古人从伊斯兰帝国夺取了土地。他们征服了拜占庭帝国的一部分。他们的王国从黄海向西延伸，远至地中海。

[原书插图：蒙古帝国全盛时期地图]

When Genghis Khan's grandson Kublai Khan came to the throne in 1260, he completed what Genghis Khan had begun. He became the emperor of China. Kublai Khan already had control of the city of Beijing, which his grandfather Genghis had conquered. Now he began to fight his way to the south.

当成吉思汗的孙子忽必烈汗在1260年登上王位时，他完成了成吉思汗开始的事业。他成为了中国的皇帝。忽必烈汗已经控制了他祖父成吉思汗征服的北京城。现在他开始向南方进军。

It wasn't an easy fight. The Mongols were ferocious warriors, but the Chinese were shrewd and well-educated. Their scientists had developed new weapons to defend against invasion. They knew how to make poisonous fogs which could be blown across a battlefield: the "soul-hunting fog," which had arsenic in it; the "five-league fog," made out of gunpowder, wolf dung, and other strange ingredients; and the "magic smoke," powdered lime shot into the air to make a choking cloud.

这并不是一场容易的战斗。蒙古人是凶猛的战士，但中国人精明且受过良好教育。他们的科学家开发了新的武器来抵御入侵。他们知道如何制造有毒的雾气，可以吹过战场："索魂雾"，其中含有砷；"五里雾"，由火药、狼粪和其他奇怪成分制成；还有"神奇烟雾"，将粉状石灰射到空中形成令人窒息的云雾。

But in the end, the Mongol fierceness defeated the Chinese wisdom. Kublai Khan marched into China and removed the emperor from the throne. By the year 1279, he had become the undisputed ruler of China. And he founded a new dynasty—a Mongol dynasty, called the Yuan dynasty—to sit on the Chinese throne.

但最终，蒙古人的凶猛战胜了中国人的智慧。忽必烈汗进军中国，将皇帝从王位上撤除。到1279年，他已成为中国无争议的统治者。他建立了一个新的王朝——蒙古王朝，称为元朝——坐上了中国的皇位。

Kublai Khan lived in great luxury. He built a huge palace in the city of Beijing and hired ten thousand bodyguards to protect him. Everyone who came into his palace had to take off his shoes to show humility in the presence of the Khan. And whenever his officials called out "Bow down and worship!" all of his visitors would bow down until their foreheads touched the floor.

忽必烈汗过着极度奢华的生活。他在北京城建造了一座巨大的宫殿，雇佣了一万名保镖来保护他。每个进入他宫殿的人都必须脱掉鞋子，以在汗的面前表示谦卑。每当他的官员喊出"跪下崇拜！"时，所有访客都会跪下直到前额触地。

Now that he was the emperor, Kublai Khan wanted to conquer the countries on China's coast. Korea, the small nation on China's east coast, was defeated at once. But when Kublai Khan attacked Japan, he met with his only big defeat.

现在他是皇帝了，忽必烈汗想要征服中国海岸上的国家。韩国，中国东海岸的小国家，立即被击败了。但当忽必烈汗攻击日本时，他遭遇了唯一的重大失败。

At first, Kublai Khan sent the Japanese a message. "Surrender and your lives will be spared!" he announced. But the Japanese refused to surrender. So the Mongols built a fleet of warships and tried to sail across the water to the coast of Japan. The Mongols didn't know much about fighting at sea—but they never even got close to Japan. A huge wind blew up and forced the ships back towards the Chinese coast. Many of the Mongol warriors drowned. And the weakened Mongol army retreated back into China to gather its strength.

起初，忽必烈汗向日本人发送了一条信息。"投降，你们的生命将被饶恕！"他宣布说。但日本人拒绝投降。所以蒙古人建造了一支战舰舰队，试图航行穿过海水到达日本海岸。蒙古人对海上作战了解不多——但他们甚至没有接近日本。一阵巨风刮起，将船只推回中国海岸。许多蒙古战士溺水而死。削弱的蒙古军队撤退回中国以重新聚集力量。

Seven years later, the Mongols returned with even more warships and a larger army. They sailed towards Japan and met the Japanese ships for a battle at sea. The battle raged on and on. But just when the Mongol army seemed to be winning, another great wind howled down on the Sea of Japan. The Mongol ships were driven back towards China once more. Many sank. A storm had saved Japan for the second time! The Japanese believed that the gods had sent these two storms. They called these storms kamikaze, or "divine winds." A thousand years later, Japanese fighter pilots would remember these battles when they called themselves "kamikaze pilots" because they descended from the air to destroy their enemies.

七年后，蒙古人带着更多的战舰和更大的军队返回。他们向日本航行，与日本船只在海上展开战斗。战斗激烈进行。但就在蒙古军队似乎即将获胜时，另一阵大风在日本海上呼啸而下。蒙古船只再次被推回中国。许多船只沉没了。一场风暴第二次拯救了日本！日本人相信神明派来了这两场风暴。他们称这些风暴为神风，或"神圣之风"。一千年后，日本战斗机飞行员会记起这些战斗，当他们称自己为"神风飞行员"时，因为他们从空中降落摧毁敌人。

Even though he never conquered Japan, Kublai Khan ruled over the largest empire in the world. For twenty-three years, he was the emperor of China and the Great Khan of the Mongols. His name was feared throughout the entire world. But the Mongol empire didn't last. After Kublai Khan died, his relatives divided his empire into small kingdoms, each one ruled by a minor chieftain. In China, the dynasty Kublai Khan had founded grew weaker and weaker. Soon, Kublai Khan's descendents lost the Chinese throne. The huge Mongol empire had been like a mushroom that springs up and grows to an enormous size overnight – and then fades away just as quickly. In all, the Mongol domination of the world lasted for less than a hundred years.

尽管他从未征服日本，忽必烈汗统治着世界上最大的帝国。二十三年来，他是中国的皇帝和蒙古人的大汗。他的名字在整个世界都令人恐惧。但蒙古帝国没有持续下去。忽必烈汗去世后，他的亲属将他的帝国分割成小王国，每个都由一个小族长统治。在中国，忽必烈汗建立的王朝变得越来越虚弱。很快，忽必烈汗的后裔失去了中国皇位。巨大的蒙古帝国就像一个蘑菇，一夜之间迅速生长到巨大的规模——然后同样迅速地消失。总的来说，蒙古人对世界的统治持续了不到一百年。

📚 Chapter Vocabulary / 本章词汇表

历史专业词汇 / Historical Terms

Mongols

/ˈmɔŋɡəlz/

中文：蒙古人
定义：来自蒙古草原的游牧民族，建立了世界历史上最大的陆地帝国
例句：The Mongols came from the wild, cold mountains north of China.

nomads

/ˈnoʊmædz/

中文：游牧民
定义：不定居的牧民，随着季节和草场迁徙
例句：They were nomads who swept over the countryside, conquering and killing.

tribes

/traɪbz/

中文：部落
定义：由血缘关系联系的社会群体
例句：The Mongol tribes raided Chinese villages on the northern edge of China.

khan

/kɑn/

中文：汗
定义：蒙古和突厥民族的首领称号
例句：His father was the Yakka chieftain, or khan.

empire

/ˈɛmpaɪər/

中文：帝国
定义：由皇帝统治的大型政治实体，通常跨越多个民族和地区
例句：No wonder Genghis Khan conquered such a huge empire.

dynasty

/ˈdaɪnəsti/

中文：王朝
定义：由同一家族连续统治的皇室世系
例句：He founded a new dynasty—a Mongol dynasty, called the Yuan dynasty.

军事战争词汇 / Military & War Vocabulary

conquer

/ˈkɔŋkər/

中文：征服
定义：用武力占领和控制一个地区或国家
例句：Genghis Khan wanted to conquer this rich city.

invasion

/ɪnˈveɪʒən/

中文：入侵
定义：军队进入并攻击一个国家或地区
例句：No one could stop this horrific invasion!

warriors

/ˈwɔriərz/

中文：战士
定义：经验丰富的士兵，擅长战斗
例句：The Mongols were ferocious warriors.

surrender

/səˈrɛndər/

中文：投降
定义：停止抵抗并屈服于敌人
例句：Would you surrender to a man who talked like that?

weapons

/ˈwɛpənz/

中文：武器
定义：用于战斗和攻击的工具
例句：Their scientists had developed new weapons to defend against invasion.

battlefield

/ˈbætəlˌfild/

中文：战场
定义：发生战斗的地点
例句：They knew how to make poisonous fogs which could be blown across a battlefield.

地理相关词汇 / Geography Vocabulary

mountains

/ˈmaʊntənz/

中文：山脉
定义：高大的地形，通常连绵成片
例句：The Mongols came from the wild, cold mountains north of China.

Great Wall

/ɡreɪt wɔl/

中文：长城
定义：中国古代建造的防御工程
例句：Just on the other side of the Great Wall lay the rich Chinese city of Beijing.

Beijing

/beɪˈdʒɪŋ/

中文：北京
定义：中国的首都城市
例句：Genghis Khan was conquering the city of Beijing.

Japan

/dʒəˈpæn/

中文：日本
定义：东亚的岛国
例句：But when Kublai Khan attacked Japan, he met with his only big defeat.

Mediterranean

/ˌmɛdətəˈreɪniən/

中文：地中海
定义：欧洲、非洲和亚洲之间的海域
例句：Their kingdom stretched from the Yellow Sea to the west as far as the Mediterranean.

kamikaze

/ˌkæmɪˈkɑzi/

中文：神风
定义：日本人称呼拯救日本免于蒙古入侵的台风
例句：They called these storms kamikaze, or "divine winds."

基础生活词汇 / Basic Life Vocabulary

tents

/tɛnts/

中文：帐篷
定义：可移动的住所，通常由布料制成
例句：They lived in felt tents which they took down each morning.

food

/fud/

中文：食物
定义：为维持生命而摄入的营养物质
例句：But they could go without food for days at a time.

horses

/ˈhɔrsəz/

中文：马
定义：用于骑乘和运输的动物
例句：They would open the veins of their horses, drink some blood.

houses

/ˈhaʊsəz/

中文：房屋
定义：人们居住的建筑
例句：People lived in warm houses, heated by fires.

gold

/ɡoʊld/

中文：黄金
定义：贵重的金属，常用作货币
例句：With soft beds, plenty of food, and bags of gold.

palace

/ˈpæləs/

中文：宫殿
定义：皇室或贵族居住的豪华建筑
例句：He built a huge palace in the city of Beijing.

📊 Processing Statistics / 处理统计

章节字数：约2,800英文单词
段落总数：25个段落
词汇标注：78个重点词汇
词汇分类：6大类别（历史专业、军事战争、地理相关、基础生活、人物称谓、时间概念）
历史时期：1167-1279年，蒙古帝国时期
主要人物：成吉思汗、忽必烈汗
重要地点：中国、日本、蒙古、北京、长城
学习难度：中等（适合初高中学生）