LESSON 38 LESSON 38 Jerusalem From the Mount of Olives
第三十八课 橄榄山上的耶路撒冷
Morning dawned; and I ascended to the terraced roof of a little tower on the western side of Olivet, rented by a friend to whom every spot in Jerusalem was familiar. Behind Olivet, in the east, the sky was all aglow with red light, which shot slanting across the hill-tops and projecting cliffs, and upon the walls and prominent buildings of the city, throwing them up in bold relief from the deeply-shaded glens. No time could have been more opportune, no spot better fitted for seeing and studying the general topography of the Holy City. The whole site was before us, distinct and full, like a vast and beautiful embossed picture.
清晨,我爬上橄榄山西侧一座小塔的露台屋顶,那里是一位朋友租来的,他对耶路撒冷的每一处地方都很熟悉。在橄榄山身后的东方,天空布满一片红光,红光斜照在山顶和高耸的悬崖之上,投射在城墙和城市突出的建筑物之上,将它们粗糙的轮廓从幽深的峡谷中投射到高处。现在是最好的时机,这里也是观察研究圣城总体地形的最佳位置,整个遗址清晰而完整地展现在我们面前,就像一幅巨大而美丽的浮雕画。
At our feet, along the base of Olivet, was the Kidron, a deep and narrow glen, coming down from an undulating plateau on the right, and disappearing round the shoulder of the hill on the left; its banks terraced, and dotted here and there with little groves and single olive trees. Directly opposite us was Mount Moriah, its bare sides rising precipitously from the bottom of the Kidron to a height of some two hundred feet.
在我们的脚下,沿着橄榄山的底部,那里是汲沦溪谷,一个又深又窄的峡谷,从右边起伏的高原上延伸下来消失在左边的山肩处。河岸上有梯田,点缀着小树林和一棵棵的橄榄树。正对着我们的是摩利亚山,它光秃秃的侧面从汲沦溪底陡然上升到约二百英尺的高度。
On its summit is a rectangular platform, about thirty acres in extent, and taking up fully one-half of the eastern side of the city. It is encompassed and supported by a massive wall, in some places nearly eighty feet high, and looking even higher where it impends over the ravine. This platform constitutes by far the most striking feature of the city. It is unique. There is nothing like it in the world. Its history, too, is wonderful. It has been a "holy place" for more than thirty centuries.
它的山顶上有一个长方形的平台,面积约30英亩,占据了整个城市东部一半的面积,它被一堵巨大的墙包围和支撑着,有些地方的高度几乎达到80英尺,从峡谷上方望过去甚至更高。这个平台构成了这个城市迄今为止最为引人注目的特色,它是独一无二的,世界上没有任何东西能与它相媲。它的历史也同样精彩,早在三十个世纪前它就被誉为一个“神圣的地方”。