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One such pharaoh was King Cheops, who lived in about 2,500 BC.
就有这样一位名叫齐阿普斯的法老，他生活在于公元前2500年。
He summoned all his subjects to help construct his tomb.
他就曾下令让他所有的臣仆建造他的坟墓。
He wanted a building like a mountain, and he got it.
他想要一座像山一样的建筑物，他拥有了它。
You can still see it today.
你今天仍然能看见它。
It's the Great Pyramid of Cheops.
这就是著名的胡夫金字塔。
You may have seen pictures of it, but you still won't be able to imagine how big it is.
也许你已经看见过这座金字塔的图片了，但是它有多大，这你无法想象。
A cathedral would fit comfortably inside.
它容纳得下任何一座大教堂。
Clambering up its huge stone blocks is like scaling a mountain peak.
从它的巨大的石块上攀登上去，就像登上山顶。
And yet it was human beings who piled those gigantic stones on top of each other.
可是这些巨大的石块是人一块一块地搬运上去，一块挨着一块垒起来的。
They had no machines in those days - rollers and pulleys at most.
当时他们还没有机器--至多只有滚轴和滑轮。
They had to pull and shove every single block by hand.
他们拉推每一块石块都得用手。
Just think of it, in the heat of Africa!
你想象一下吧，在炎热的非洲！
In this way, it seems, for 30 years, some hundred thousand people toiled for the pharaoh, whenever they weren't working in the fields.
几十万人就这样在农闲的月份里为法老接连辛苦劳作了30年。
And when they grew tired, the king's overseer was sure to drive them on with his hippopotamus-skin whip,
他们干累了，法老的监工就用河马皮做的鞭子驱使他们继续干活,
as they dragged and heaved those immense loads, all for their king's tomb.
他们就是这样扛拉并抬起这些巨大的石块，全都是为了建造他们国王的坟墓。
