世界小史 第28章:彩色画像

 　　Next to these brightly colored paintings you often see lots of tiny pictures of all sorts of things,

　　在这一排排彩色画像的旁边，你往往会看到许多画着各种各样的东西的小画像，

　　such as owls¹ and little people, flags, flowers, tents, beetles² and vases, together with zigzag³ lines and spirals, all jumbled⁴ up together.

　　比如猫头鹰、小人、旗子、花、帐篷、甲虫和花瓶，被锯齿形线和螺旋线连接，互相紧密并排。

　　Whatever can they be?

　　这会是什么呢？

　　They aren't pictures, they are hieroglyphs⁵ - or 'sacred signs' - the Egyptian form of writing.

　　它们不是图画，它们是象形文字--或"神圣的符号"--古埃及人的书写形式。

　　The Egyptians were immensely proud of their writing - indeed, they were almost in awe⁶ of it.

　　埃及人为他们的文字感到非常自豪--确实，他们几乎敬畏它。

　　And of all professions, that of scribe was the most highly esteemed⁷.

　　在所有行业中，书写员是最最受尊重的。

1 owls   

n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋，”我说，“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句

2 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 zigzag   

n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行

参考例句：

• The lightning made a zigzag in the sky.闪电在天空划出一道Z字形。
• The path runs zigzag up the hill.小径向山顶蜿蜒盘旋。

4 jumbled   

adj.混乱的；杂乱的

参考例句：

• Books, shoes and clothes were jumbled together on the floor. 书、鞋子和衣服胡乱堆放在地板上。
• The details of the accident were all jumbled together in his mind. 他把事故细节记得颠三倒四。

5 hieroglyphs   

n.象形字（如古埃及等所用的）( hieroglyph的名词复数 )；秘密的或另有含意的书写符号

参考例句：

• Hieroglyphs are carved into the walls of the temple. 寺庙的墙壁上刻着象形文字。 来自辞典例句
• This paper discusses the fundamental distinctions between the hieroglyphs andforerunner of writing. 英汉象形文字的比较是建立在象形文字具体内涵的基础上。 来自互联网

6 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

7 esteemed   

adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为

参考例句：

• The art of conversation is highly esteemed in France. 在法国十分尊重谈话技巧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He esteemed that he understood what I had said. 他认为已经听懂我说的意思了。 来自《简明英汉词典》