Chapter 22 - Exploring the Mysterious East / 第二十二章 - 探索神秘的东方

Marco Polo Goes to China / 马可·波罗前往中国

For people who lived in Europe, China was on the other side of the world.

对于居住在欧洲的人们来说，中国位于世界的另一边。

The long road that led to China, the Silk Road, led through mountains and along the edges of steep rocky cliffs. It wound through dry deserts where the only water was found in small pools under the scattered oases.

通往中国的漫长道路——丝绸之路，穿越山脉，沿着陡峭岩石悬崖的边缘延伸。它蜿蜒穿过干燥的沙漠，那里唯一的水源只能在零星绿洲下的小水池中找到。

Merchants who set off down the Silk Road to buy spices and jewels in China might be lost in a sandstorm in summer, or a snowstorm in winter. And China was so far away that it could take five years to travel down the Silk Road and return.

沿着丝绸之路前往中国购买香料和珠宝的商人们，可能在夏天迷失在沙尘暴中，或在冬天遭遇暴风雪。中国如此遥远，以至于走完丝绸之路往返一趟可能需要五年时间。

But the merchants who did manage to travel the Silk Road found wonderful things at its end: gold, cloves and ginger, jade and lacquer, rare and beautiful flowers, wine, sweet-smelling wood, rugs with rich complicated patterns, and the mysterious shining silk cloth that only the Chinese knew how to make.

但是成功走完丝绸之路的商人们在终点发现了奇妙的物品：黄金、丁香和生姜、玉石和漆器、珍稀美丽的花朵、美酒、芳香的木材、图案丰富复杂的地毯，以及只有中国人知道如何制作的神秘闪亮的丝绸布料。

Europeans marveled over these treasures and hurried to buy them as soon as the caravans from China arrived.

欧洲人对这些珍宝惊叹不已，一旦来自中国的商队到达，他们就匆忙前去购买。

[原书插图：丝绸之路和明朝帝国地图 - The Ming Dynasty and the Silk Road]

Kublai Khan knew that trade with Europe would make China even more prosperous. So he did his best to encourage traders and merchants to come to his cities. He turned his Mongol soldiers into road-keepers and policemen and sent them out to guard the roads and protect travelers against bandits.

忽必烈汗知道与欧洲的贸易会让中国更加繁荣。因此，他尽力鼓励商人和贸易商前来他的城市。他把蒙古士兵改编为道路管理员和警察，派遣他们守卫道路，保护旅行者免受强盗侵害。

As the journey grew safer, more and more merchants and adventurers traveled along the Silk Road to see the marvels of China's cities.

随着旅程变得更加安全，越来越多的商人和冒险家沿着丝绸之路旅行，去观看中国城市的奇迹。

One of these adventurers was named Marco Polo. Marco Polo was the son of an Italian merchant named Niccolo. Before Marco was born, Niccolo left on a journey to China. He didn't come back until Marco was fifteen years old.

其中一位冒险家名叫马可·波罗。马可·波罗是一位名叫尼科洛的意大利商人的儿子。在马可出生之前，尼科洛就踏上了前往中国的旅程。他直到马可十五岁时才回来。

When he did return, he told his son, "It took me three years to travel to the palace of the Great Khan. When I arrived, the Khan made me welcome and gave me a position as his messenger. All this time, I have been working for the emperor of China! He sent me back home to ask the pope for a hundred wise men who could explain Christianity. And he wants me to bring him back some holy oil from Rome."

当他回来时，他告诉儿子："我花了三年时间才到达大汗的宫殿。当我到达时，大汗欢迎了我，并给了我一个信使的职位。这些年来，我一直在为中国的皇帝工作！他派我回家请求教皇派遣一百名智者来解释基督教。他还要我从罗马带回一些圣油。"

"You're a strong boy, and growing to be a man. You can travel with me to China."

"你是个强壮的男孩，正在成长为一个男人。你可以和我一起去中国。"

So Marco and his father started back down the Silk Road, carrying holy oil for the emperor of China. The journey took four years! Marco and his father were attacked by bandits. They had to take a detour to avoid a war in one of the countries they passed through. Marco became ill and had to rest for a whole year.

因此，马可和他的父亲重新踏上丝绸之路，为中国皇帝携带圣油。这次旅程花了四年时间！马可和他的父亲遭到强盗袭击。他们不得不绕道以避开他们经过的某个国家的战争。马可生病了，不得不休息了整整一年。

But finally Marco and his father arrived in the city of Beijing. There they met the emperor, Kublai Khan. We know what Marco Polo thought about this meeting, because he wrote a book about his journey to China. This book, which he named The Travels of Marco Polo, was read all over the world.

但最终马可和他的父亲到达了北京城。在那里他们见到了皇帝忽必烈汗。我们知道马可·波罗对这次会面的想法，因为他写了一本关于自己中国之旅的书。这本书名为《马可·波罗游记》，在全世界都有人阅读。

For many years, Marco Polo's book was the only way for people in the west to find out what China was like.

多年来，马可·波罗的书是西方人了解中国真实情况的唯一途径。

In his book, Marco Polo described the marble palace of the Khan. The palace stood in a huge walled garden where wild animals roamed the grounds. A man-made mountain rose up in the garden's center, with beautiful trees from every part of the world planted all over it.

在他的书中，马可·波罗描述了大汗的大理石宫殿。宫殿坐落在一个巨大的围墙花园中，野生动物在园中漫步。一座人工山矗立在花园中央，上面种植着来自世界各地的美丽树木。

A lake filled with fish lay at the foot of the mountain, and a small palace for the Khan to relax in was built at its top.

山脚下有一个满是鱼的湖，山顶上建有一座供大汗休息的小宫殿。

Inside the palace, carvings of dragons and colorful paintings of battle scenes covered the walls. Marco Polo was led to a dining hall where six thousand people could eat at once. In his book, he wrote, "It is all painted in gold, with many histories and representations of beasts and birds, of knights and dames, and many marvelous things."

在宫殿内部，龙的雕刻和战斗场面的彩色绘画覆盖着墙壁。马可·波罗被领到一个能同时容纳六千人用餐的餐厅。在他的书中，他写道："全部都用金色绘制，有许多历史故事以及野兽、鸟类、骑士和贵妇的图像，还有许多奇妙的东西。"

"Over all the walls and all the ceiling you see nothing but paintings in gold." Here the great feasts of the Khan were held—and Marco Polo tasted his first ice cream.

"在所有的墙壁和天花板上，你看到的只有金色的绘画。"在这里举行大汗的盛大宴会——马可·波罗在这里第一次品尝了冰淇淋。

[原书插图：商人和探险家马可·波罗 - Merchant and explorer, Marco Polo]

Marco Polo was amazed by the beautiful clothes that the Chinese people wore, by the abundance of fresh meat and vegetables in the Chinese markets, and by the size of the fruit. "Certain pears of enormous size," he wrote, "weigh as much as ten pounds each."

马可·波罗对中国人穿的美丽衣服、中国市场上丰富的新鲜肉类和蔬菜，以及水果的大小感到惊讶。他写道："某些巨大的梨子，每个重达十磅。"

And he was astounded to see fires made out of black rocks that burned. Marco Polo had never seen coal before!

他还对用黑色石头生火燃烧感到震惊。马可·波罗以前从未见过煤炭！

Marco and his father stayed in China for almost twenty years. Marco traveled all around China, seeing its great cities with their beautiful buildings and its tiny villages filled with peasants and farmers.

马可和他的父亲在中国待了近二十年。马可游遍了中国，看到了有着美丽建筑的大城市和满是农民和农夫的小村庄。

When Marco Polo grew older, Kublai Khan put him in charge of governing different cities in his empire. He sometimes asked Marco to judge between Chinese officials who were arguing with each other. And once he even asked Marco to find out whether his soldiers were plotting against him.

当马可·波罗长大后，忽必烈汗让他负责治理帝国内的不同城市。他有时要求马可在相互争论的中国官员之间进行仲裁。有一次，他甚至要求马可查明他的士兵是否在密谋反对他。

When Marco and his father finally returned home, their relatives refused to let them in. Marco was now a man of forty, and Niccolo had a white beard. And they were wearing ragged, dirty clothes. "You aren't Marco and Niccolo!" their relatives scoffed. "They've been dead for years! You're just beggars."

当马可和他的父亲最终回到家时，他们的亲戚拒绝让他们进门。马可现在已经是四十岁的男人，尼科洛有着白胡子。他们穿着破烂肮脏的衣服。"你们不是马可和尼科洛！"他们的亲戚嘲笑道。"他们已经死了很多年了！你们只是乞丐。"

So Marco and Niccolo ripped open the seams of their coats. Jewels tumbled out: emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. The two men had worn their oldest clothes and had sewn their jewels into the seams so that robbers would not attack them.

于是马可和尼科洛撕开了他们外套的缝隙。珠宝掉了出来：翡翠、红宝石和蓝宝石。两个人穿着最旧的衣服，把珠宝缝在缝隙里，这样强盗就不会袭击他们。

Finally, their relatives let them in. Marco and Niccolo had returned from China.

最终，他们的亲戚让他们进了门。马可和尼科洛从中国回来了。

The Forbidden City of the Ming / 明朝的紫禁城

Marco Polo was lucky to make his journey to China during the reign of Kublai Khan. The Great Khan wanted Europeans to come to his country, so he tried to make the Silk Road safe. But after the Great Khan's death, traveling to China became more and more difficult.

马可·波罗很幸运，在忽必烈汗统治期间前往中国。大汗希望欧洲人来到他的国家，所以他努力让丝绸之路变得安全。但在大汗死后，前往中国变得越来越困难。

The land between Europe and China itself had once been controlled by Kublai Khan and protected by his soldiers. But now other Mongol leaders divided this in-between land among themselves. They fought with each other over the borders of their new little kingdoms. Now there were wars all along the Silk Road.

欧洲和中国之间的土地曾经由忽必烈汗控制并由他的士兵保护。但现在其他蒙古领袖把这片中间地带分割给了自己。他们为了各自新小王国的边界而相互争斗。现在丝绸之路沿线到处都是战争。

Merchants traveled to China less and less often—and then hardly at all.

商人前往中国的次数越来越少——然后几乎完全不去了。

Meanwhile, the new rulers of China, the emperors of the Ming dynasty, spent their time improving their own cities and palaces. One of these emperors, the emperor Yongle, built a palace right at the center of China's capital city, Beijing.

与此同时，中国的新统治者——明朝的皇帝们，把时间花在改善自己的城市和宫殿上。其中一位皇帝永乐，在中国首都北京的中心建造了一座宫殿。

He wanted this palace to show the beauty of Chinese architecture and the skill of Chinese builders. The royal family would live in it. The emperor's home and all of his official buildings would be part of the palace. And no foreigner would ever be allowed to enter it.

他希望这座宫殿展示中国建筑的美丽和中国建筑工匠的技艺。皇室将居住在其中。皇帝的住所和他所有的官方建筑都将是宫殿的一部分。任何外国人都不被允许进入。

We call this palace the Forbidden City because it was as large as a small city, and because foreign visitors were forbidden to see it.

我们称这座宫殿为紫禁城，因为它像一座小城市一样大，而且外国游客被禁止参观。

Yongle ordered construction to begin in 1421. The Forbidden City took fourteen years to build. Its walls were made from enormous stones that were cut from stone quarries outside of Beijing.

永乐下令在1421年开始建设。紫禁城花了十四年才建成。它的墙壁是用从北京城外采石场开采的巨大石头建造的。

The stones were too heavy for oxen to pull into the city—especially during the winter, when the roads were covered with frozen ruts. So the Chinese laborers dug a well every three or four hundred feet along the road. They poured water on the road and waited for it to freeze into ice, and then slid the stones along on the ice, right into Beijing.

这些石头太重了，牛无法拉进城里——尤其是在冬天，道路上覆盖着结冰的车辙。因此，中国劳工每隔三四百英尺就挖一口井。他们在路上泼水，等水结成冰，然后让石头在冰上滑行，直接运到北京。

The stone walls that surrounded the palace were thirty feet high. Inside these walls, the Chinese built 9,999 smaller buildings. These buildings are made not only out of stone, but out of hard red bricks made from rice and lime.

围绕宫殿的石墙有三十英尺高。在这些墙内，中国人建造了9999座较小的建筑。这些建筑不仅用石头建造，还用大米和石灰制成的坚硬红色砖建造。

The bricks are attached together with a cement made out of mashed rice and egg whites. These bricks have remained strong for centuries.

砖块用捣碎的大米和蛋白制成的水泥粘合在一起。这些砖块已经坚固了几个世纪。

Yellow is the color of royalty in China, so the buildings were decorated with gold dragons and yellow paintings, and the roofs were covered with yellow tiles. Each building inside the Forbidden City had a special name.

黄色是中国皇室的颜色，所以建筑物用金龙和黄色绘画装饰，屋顶覆盖着黄色瓦片。紫禁城内的每座建筑都有特殊的名称。

The largest buildings, where the emperor worked on the business of ruling his country, were called the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Military Might, the Hall of Peace, and the Hall of Terrestrial Tranquility.

最大的建筑是皇帝处理治国事务的地方，被称为太和殿、武英殿、和平殿和坤宁宫。

The emperor's throne room was in the Hall of Celestial Purity, which had walls lacquered red, a marble floor, and golden carved dragons all around the walls.

皇帝的王座室位于乾清宫，那里有漆成红色的墙壁、大理石地板和墙壁四周雕刻的金龙。

The emperor himself lived in great luxury. He had entire buildings all to himself! He ate alone, waited on by dozens of servants. A food-taster stood beside him and took a bit of each dish before the emperor ate it, to make sure that none of the food was poisoned.

皇帝本人过着极其奢华的生活。他拥有整座建筑供自己使用！他独自用餐，由几十名仆人侍候。一名试毒员站在他身边，在皇帝吃之前先尝一点每道菜，以确保食物没有被下毒。

The cooks of the Forbidden City would make roast chickens, roast deer, glazed duck, raised sweet buns, iced cakes, rice, several kinds of soup, a dozen vegetables and wine for every meal, just for this one man. There was so much food at each one of the emperor's meals that his leftovers were served to the others who lived in the palace.

紫禁城的厨师们为每顿饭制作烤鸡、烤鹿肉、糖醋鸭、发糕、冰糕、米饭、几种汤、十几种蔬菜和酒，仅仅为了这一个人。皇帝每顿饭的食物如此之多，以至于他的剩菜都要供应给住在宫中的其他人。

The emperor's family and other relations also lived inside the Forbidden City. A royal child could grow up inside the Forbidden City and never need to leave. Children could spend their time doing lessons, but also painting, flying kites, ice skating, and playing with pet birds.

皇帝的家人和其他亲属也住在紫禁城内。一个皇家子女可以在紫禁城内长大，永远不需要离开。孩子们可以花时间做功课，还可以绘画、放风筝、滑冰和与宠物鸟玩耍。

They could go see plays and concerts, performed for them in a special theatre called the Pavilion of Cheerful Melodies. But they probably had the most fun raising crickets. Special pet crickets were kept in cricket cages and taken for walks on narrow leashes made of thread.

他们可以去看戏剧和音乐会，这些在一个名为畅音阁的特殊剧院为他们表演。但他们可能最喜欢的是养蟋蟀。特殊的宠物蟋蟀被关在蟋蟀笼中，用细线制成的细绳牵着去散步。

Cricket-fights were held to find out whose cricket was the strongest. In a museum in China, you can still see the cricket-cages owned by the last emperors of China when they were children!

举行蟋蟀斗争来看谁的蟋蟀最强壮。在中国的一个博物馆里，你仍然可以看到中国最后几位皇帝儿时拥有的蟋蟀笼！

Even though foreigners were kept from coming into the Forbidden City to see the emperor Yongle, Yongle wanted to know more about the rest of the world. He ordered ships built, and paid Chinese explorers to go out on expeditions to distant lands. The explorers sailed thousands of miles. One ship may even have made it all the way to North America!

尽管外国人被禁止进入紫禁城见永乐皇帝，但永乐想要了解更多关于世界其他地方的情况。他下令建造船只，并付钱给中国探险家去遥远的土地进行远征。探险家们航行了数千英里。有一艘船甚至可能一直到达了北美洲！

But the Ming emperors who came after Yongle didn't want to discover new and distant lands. They believed that China was already the best country in the world. They thought that Chinese art and science was already perfect, and that the Chinese way of living couldn't possibly be improved.

但永乐之后的明朝皇帝们不想发现新的遥远土地。他们相信中国已经是世界上最好的国家。他们认为中国的艺术和科学已经完美，中国的生活方式不可能得到改善。

So instead of trading with the outside world, or sending Chinese people to start new settlements in different countries, the Ming emperors made the Great Wall even stronger, to protect against invaders—and stayed home.

因此，明朝皇帝们没有与外界贸易，也没有派遣中国人到不同国家建立新的定居点，而是让长城变得更加坚固，以防御入侵者——并待在家里。

One of the emperors even made it illegal to build ocean-going ships. He told sailors that anyone who tried to sail to other countries and trade with them would be executed.

其中一位皇帝甚至让建造远洋船只成为非法行为。他告诉水手们，任何试图航行到其他国家与之贸易的人都将被处决。

The Ming emperors lived in the Forbidden City, separated from the rest of the world, for centuries. About ninety years ago, the last Chinese emperors were driven out of the Forbidden City. Some of the buildings were destroyed. But today, the Forbidden City has been restored and rebuilt. Tourists can go see the palace that no medieval traveler ever saw.

明朝皇帝们在紫禁城中生活了几个世纪，与世界其他地方隔绝。大约九十年前，最后的中国皇帝们被赶出了紫禁城。一些建筑被摧毁了。但今天，紫禁城已经被修复和重建。游客可以去参观这座中世纪旅行者从未见过的宫殿。

📚 Chapter Vocabulary / 本章词汇表

基础生活词汇 / Basic Life Vocabulary

people

/ˈpiːpl/

中文：人们
定义：人类群体，民众
例句：Many people lived in Europe during medieval times.

water

/ˈwɔːtər/

中文：水
定义：生命必需的液体
例句：Water was scarce in the desert oases.

food

/fuːd/

中文：食物
定义：维持生命的营养物质
例句：The emperor had abundant food at every meal.

house

/haʊs/

中文：房子
定义：人们居住的建筑
例句：The palace was like a giant house for the emperor.

clothes

/kloʊðz/

中文：衣服
定义：穿在身上的服装
例句：The Chinese people wore beautiful clothes made of silk.

family

/ˈfæməli/

中文：家庭
定义：相关的亲属群体
例句：The royal family lived in the Forbidden City.

历史专业词汇 / Historical Terms

Silk Road

/sɪlk roʊd/

中文：丝绸之路
定义：连接欧亚的古代贸易路线
例句：The Silk Road was dangerous but profitable for merchants.

emperor

/ˈempərər/

中文：皇帝
定义：帝国的最高统治者
例句：Kublai Khan was a powerful emperor of China.

dynasty

/ˈdaɪnəsti/

中文：朝代
定义：连续统治的皇室家族
例句：The Ming dynasty ruled China for centuries.

Forbidden City

/fərˈbɪdən ˈsɪti/

中文：紫禁城
定义：明清皇帝的宫殿建筑群
例句：The Forbidden City was closed to foreigners for centuries.

merchants

/ˈmɜːrtʃənts/

中文：商人
定义：从事贸易的人
例句：Merchants traveled long distances to trade goods.

Marco Polo

/ˈmɑːrkoʊ ˈpoʊloʊ/

中文：马可·波罗
定义：著名的意大利旅行家和探险家
例句：Marco Polo wrote about his travels to China.

地理相关词汇 / Geography Vocabulary

China

/ˈtʃaɪnə/

中文：中国
定义：东亚的古老文明国家
例句：China was on the other side of the world from Europe.

Europe

/ˈjʊrəp/

中文：欧洲
定义：西方的大陆
例句：People who lived in Europe knew little about China.

Beijing

/beɪˈdʒɪŋ/

中文：北京
定义：中国的首都城市
例句：Marco Polo finally arrived in Beijing after years of travel.

mountains

/ˈmaʊntənz/

中文：山脉
定义：高大的地形
例句：The Silk Road led through dangerous mountains.

deserts

/ˈdezərts/

中文：沙漠
定义：干燥少雨的地区
例句：Travelers faced harsh deserts on the Silk Road.

Great Wall

/ɡreɪt wɔːl/

中文：长城
定义：中国古代的防御工程
例句：The Ming emperors strengthened the Great Wall.

文化社会词汇 / Culture & Society

silk

/sɪlk/

中文：丝绸
定义：蚕丝制成的珍贵织物
例句：Only the Chinese knew how to make silk cloth.

palace

/ˈpæləs/

中文：宫殿
定义：皇帝居住的豪华建筑
例句：The marble palace was magnificent and beautiful.

architecture

/ˈɑːrkɪtektʃər/

中文：建筑
定义：建筑设计和建造艺术
例句：Chinese architecture was admired around the world.

treasures

/ˈtreʒərz/

中文：珍宝
定义：珍贵的物品
例句：Europeans marveled at Chinese treasures.

luxury

/ˈlʌkʃəri/

中文：奢华
定义：极其富裕和舒适的生活
例句：The emperor lived in great luxury in the palace.

crickets

/ˈkrɪkɪts/

中文：蟋蟀
定义：会鸣叫的小昆虫
例句：Royal children enjoyed raising pet crickets.

📊 Chapter Processing Statistics / 章节处理统计

✅ 总段落数 / Total Paragraphs: 42
✅ 标注词汇数 / Annotated Vocabulary: 78个
✅ 词汇表卡片 / Vocabulary Cards: 24张
✅ 分类数量 / Categories: 4类
✅ 发音功能 / Pronunciation Feature: 已启用
✅ 响应式设计 / Responsive Design: 已优化
✅ 悬停提示 / Hover Tooltips: 已配置
✅ 时间标记 / Time Markers: 1421年