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LesleyHazleton_2010X-_读可兰经_
You may have heard about the Koran 's idea of paradise being 72 virgins , and I promise I will come back to those virgins. 你可能听过 可兰经里对天堂的描述, 那里有72个处女。 我保证待会儿会回到处女这个话题。
Koran:n.《可兰经》,《古兰经》(伊斯兰教); paradise:n.天堂;至福境地; virgins:n.处女;童男;无…经验的人;新手;(virgin的复数)
But in fact, here in the northwest , we're living very close to the real Koranic idea of paradise, defined 36 times as "gardens watered by running streams." 事实上,在我们（美国的）东北部, 我们生活在 跟真正可兰经里的天堂极为相似的地方, （在书中）它的定义出现过36次, 即“流水灌溉的花园”。
northwest:adj.西北的;来自西北的;n.西北;adv.在西北;来自西北; defined:adj.有定义的,确定的; v.使明确;
Since I live on a houseboat on the running stream of Lake Union, this makes perfect sense to me. 因为我恰好住在同盟湖水流经的船房里, 所以说我太理解这个定义了。
houseboat:n.游艇;居住船;vi.居住在船上;乘居住船游览;
But the thing is, how come it's news to most people? 但问题是,为什么绝大多数人对这一点却很陌生？
I know many well-intentioned non-Muslims who've begun reading the Koran, but given up, disconcerted by its " otherness ." 我知道很多怀着善意的非穆斯林 试着开始读可兰经,但最后还是放弃了, 因为它的另类而不安。
well-intentioned:adj.好意的,好心的;出于善意的; disconcerted:adj.不安的;惊慌的;v.使困惑;使仓皇失措(disconcert的过去分词); otherness:n.差异性;相异;他物;
The historian Thomas Carlyle considered Muhammad one of the world's greatest heroes, yet even he called the Koran "as toilsome reading as I ever undertook , a wearisome , confused jumble ." 史学家托马斯.卡莱尔 认为穆哈默德是世界上最伟大的英雄之一, 可即便是他也认为可兰经, “是我有生以来读得最费劲的读物, 叫人厌烦,而且含糊不清。”
undertook:v.承担(undertake的过去式);着手做; wearisome:adj.使疲倦的;使厌倦的;乏味的; confused:adj.困惑的; v.使糊涂; (confuse的过去分词和过去式) jumble:n.混乱;杂乱的一堆东西;vi.混杂;搀杂;vt.使混乱;搞乱;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Part of the problem, I think, is that we imagine that the Koran can be read as we usually read a book -- as though we can curl up with it on a rainy afternoon with a bowl of popcorn within reach, as though God -- 部分原因,我认为, 是我们把可兰经想象成一本像 我们平时信手拈来就可以读的书 -- 仿佛我们可以在一个细雨蒙蒙的下午,蜷缩在椅子里悠闲品读, 手边还放着一碗爆米花, 仿佛上帝 --
curl:v.卷;蜷缩;鬈曲;(使)成拳曲状;n.(一绺)鬈发;(头发)拳曲;卷状物;螺旋状物;
and the Koran is entirely in the voice of God speaking to Muhammad -- were just another author on the bestseller list. 可兰经完整记录了上帝对穆哈默德的话语 -- 仅仅是另一本畅销书榜单上的作者。
bestseller:n.畅销书;畅销书作者;畅销商品(等于bestseller);
Yet the fact that so few people do actually read the Koran is precisely why it's so easy to quote -- that is, to misquote . 然而事实上,只有极少数人 真正研读可兰经, 这就是为什么可兰经这么容易被引用 -- 或者说,错误地被引用。
misquote:vt.错误地引用;vi.错误引证;n.引用错误;
Phrases and snippets taken out of context in what I call the " highlighter version," 人们断章取义 截出我称之为“划重点版”的章节,
snippets:n.片段(snippet的复数形式);小片; context:n.环境;上下文;来龙去脉; highlighter:n.荧光笔,高光色;轮廓色;
which is the one favored by both Muslim fundamentalists and anti-Muslim Islamophobes. 穆斯林原教旨主义者和 反穆斯林的恐伊斯兰教者都乐衷于此。
fundamentalists:n.原教旨主义者(fundamentalist的复数形式);基要派;
So this past spring, as I was gearing up to begin writing a biography of Muhammad, 所以在过去的这个春天, 当我正筹备着 开始撰写穆哈默德传记的时候,
gearing:n.联动比率; v.换挡; biography:n.传记;档案;个人简介;
I realized I needed to read the Koran properly -- as properly as I could, that is. 我意识到我必须好好地读一读可兰经 -- 当然,尽可能好地。
My Arabic's reduced by now to wielding a dictionary, so I took four well-known translations and decided to read them side-by-side , verse-by-verse along with a transliteration and the original seventh-century Arabic. 我的阿拉伯语已经退化到 要靠翻字典才能过活的地步, 所以我找了四本著名的（可兰经）译本, 决定把它们并排并放一起读, 一行一行地读, 同时参考一本音译本和 一本七世纪阿拉伯语的原版。
wielding:v.拥有,运用,行使,支配(权力等);(wield的现在分词) well-known:adj.著名的;众所周知的;清楚明白的; side-by-side:adj.并肩的;并行的; transliteration:n.音译;直译; original:n.原件;原作;原物;原型;adj.原始的;最初的;独创的;新颖的;
Now I did have an advantage . 我的确有个优势。
advantage:n.有利条件:优势:优点:
My last book was about the story behind the Shi'a-Sunni split , and for that I'd worked closely with the earliest Islamic histories, so I knew the events to which the Koran constantly refers , its frame of reference . 我最近的一本书 讲的是关于叶什和逊尼两派（伊斯兰教的两个分支）纷争的故事, 因为它,我跟伊斯兰的早期历史打过交道, 所以我很熟悉那些历史事件, 可兰经里反复提及的事件, 即它的历史背景。
split:v.分离;使分离;劈开;离开;分解;n.劈开;裂缝;adj.劈开的; Islamic:adj.穆斯林的; constantly:adv.不断地;时常地; refers:v.谈及;提到;提及;涉及;描述;(refer的第三人称单数) frame of reference:n.(影响人理解和判断事物的)信仰;
I knew enough, that is, to know that I'd be a tourist in the Koran -- an informed one, an experienced one even, but still an outsider , an agnostic Jew reading some else's holy book. 我知道足够多,或者说会知道 我会像一个游客,游历可兰经 -- 我至少是一个见识过的游客, 甚至是一个有经验的游客, 但无论如何始终是一个局外人, 一个不知可论（哲学观点）的犹太人, 阅读其他宗教的神圣经文。
informed:adj.见多识广的; v.通知; (inform的过去分词和过去式) outsider:n.外人;无取胜希望者; agnostic:n.不可知论者;adj.不可知论的; Jew:v.(集合词)犹太人;犹太人的世界;犹太教;-dom;n.犹太人;犹太教徒;
(Laughter) （笑声）
So I read slowly. 所以我读得很慢。
(Laughter) （笑声）
I'd set aside three weeks for this project, and that, I think, is what is meant by " hubris " -- 我打算用三个星期完成这个计划, 而这,就是所谓的自大。
hubris:n.傲慢;狂妄自大;
(Laughter) （笑声）
- because it turned out to be three months. 因为最后我花了三个月的时间才完成。
I did resist the temptation to skip to the back where the shorter and more clearly mystical chapters are. 我有抵制住翻到最后看结局的诱惑, 在读到那些较短的,但明显更神秘的章节时。
resist:v.抵制;阻挡;反抗;回击;抵抗;忍住;n.防染剂;防蚀用涂料;防腐剂; temptation:n.诱惑;引诱;煽诱人的事物; mystical:adj.神秘的;神秘主义的;
But every time I thought I was beginning to get a handle on the Koran -- that feeling of "I get it now" -- it would slip away overnight , and I'd come back in the morning wondering if I wasn't lost in a strange land, and yet the terrain was very familiar . 但每次我以为我开始 要对可兰经开窍的时候 -- 那个“我终于明白了”的感觉 -- 在一夜之间又会悄然而逝。 第二天早晨醒来, 我会纳闷我是否曾在一个陌生的领地迷了路。 而那个地带却又很熟悉。
handle:n.[建]把手;柄;手感;口实;v.处理;操作;运用;买卖;触摸; slip away:逃走;悄悄溜走; overnight:adj.夜间的; v.在夜间; n.(美)前一天的晚上; terrain:n.[地理]地形,地势;领域;地带; familiar:adj.熟悉的;常见的;亲近的;n.常客;密友;
The Koran declares that it comes to renew the message of the Torah and the Gospels . 可兰经声明了它是来 更新律法和福音的（基督教经文）。
renew:v.重新开始;中止后继续;重复强调;延长; Torah:n.律法;圣经旧约之首五卷; Gospels:n.福音书(指《圣经新约》中的马太,马可,路加,约翰四福音书);
So one-third of it reprises the stories of Biblical figures like Abraham, Moses , 所以它的三分之一 都在重新叙述圣经里人物的故事, 像阿伯拉罕,摩西,
reprises:n.重复;(从地产每年收入中扣除的)年金;vt.重奏; Biblical:adj.圣经的;依据圣经的(等于biblical); Moses:n.摩西(《圣经》故事中犹太人古代领袖);立法者;领导者;
Joseph , Mary, Jesus . 约瑟夫,玛利,耶稣。
Joseph:n.连帽大氅; Jesus:int.上帝啊:天哪:n.耶稣:耶稣基督:
God himself was utterly familiar from his earlier manifestation as Yahweh -- jealously insisting on no other gods. 上帝本身是绝对的熟悉, 从一开始以雅威为化身 -- 心存嫉妒,坚持世上除他之外再没有其他神明。
utterly:adv.完全地;绝对地;全然地;彻底地,十足地; manifestation:n.表现;显示;示威运动; jealously:adv.妒忌地;猜疑地;
The presence of camels, mountains, desert wells and springs took me back to the year I spent wandering the Sinai Desert. 书中出现的骆驼和高山, 绿洲和泉水 都把我带回了我在 西奈沙漠游走的那年。
presence:n.存在;出席;参加;风度;仪态;
And then there was the language, the rhythmic cadence of it, reminding me of evenings spent listening to Bedouin elders recite hours-long narrative poems entirely from memory. 还有语言, 那带着韵律的抑扬顿挫, 让我回想起那些夜晚,倾听贝都因老人 背诵几小时的长篇叙事诗 完全凭记忆。
rhythmic:adj.[生物]有节奏的(等于rhythmical); n.韵律论(等于rhythmics); cadence:n.节奏;韵律;抑扬顿挫; reminding:v.提醒;使想起;(remind的现在分词) Bedouin:n.贝多因人(一个居无定所的阿拉伯游牧民族); adj.贝都因人的; recite:v.朗诵;(口头)列举;逐一讲述; narrative:n.叙述;故事;讲述;adj.叙事的,叙述的;叙事体的;
And I began to grasp why it's said that the Koran is really the Koran only in Arabic. 然后我开始明白 为什么说 只有阿拉伯语的可兰经 才是真正的可兰经。
grasp:n.抓住;理解;控制;v.抓住;领会;
Take the Fatihah, the seven-verse opening chapter that is the Lord's Prayer and the Shema Yisrael of Islam combined. 拿Faatihah来说, 七行的开篇, 由主祷文和伊斯兰的施玛篇组成。
Shema:n.(犹太教)施玛篇(申述笃信上帝的祷词);
It's just 29 words in Arabic, but anywhere from 65 to 72 in translation. 它只是29个阿拉伯语单词, 但翻译都至少要用到65至72个单词。
And yet the more you add, the more seems to go missing. 然而添加的越多, 本意似乎也丧失得越多。
The Arabic has an incantatory , almost hypnotic , quality that begs to be heard rather than read, felt more than analyzed . 阿拉伯语有一种咒语般的, 近乎于催眠的特质, 它祈求被聆听,而非阅读, 被感受,多于解析。
incantatory:adj.咒语的;魔咒的; hypnotic:adj.催眠的,催眠术的;易于催眠的;n.安眠药;催眠状态的人; analyzed:v.分析(analyze的过去式和过去分词);检讨;
It wants to be chanted out loud, to sound its music in the ear and on the tongue. 它希望被大声吟咏, 让它的旋律传出舌尖,传进耳朵。
chanted:吟唱(chant的过去式和过去分词);
So the Koran in English is a kind of shadow of itself, or as Arthur Arberry called his version, "an interpretation ." 所以英文版的可兰经 只不过是它的影子, 或者如亚瑟.阿伯里所说, “一种释义”。
interpretation:n.解释;翻译;演出;
But all is not lost in translation. 但不是所有都会在翻译中被丢失。
As the Koran promises, patience is rewarded , and there are many surprises -- a degree of environmental awareness , for instance , and of humans as mere stewards of God's creation , unmatched in the Bible . 正如可兰经承诺的那样,耐心会得到回报, （读可兰经）会带来很多惊喜 -- 譬如一定程度上对环境的认知, 人类仅仅是上帝创造的副手, 这些都是圣经无法比拟的。
patience:n.耐性,耐心;忍耐,容忍; rewarded:v.奖励;奖赏;给以报酬;(reward的过去分词和过去式) awareness:n.意识,认识;明白,知道; instance:n.实例;情况;建议;v.举...为例; mere:adj.仅仅的;只不过的;n.小湖;池塘; stewards:n.干事; v.管理; creation:n.创造,创作;创作物,产物; unmatched:adj.无与伦比的;不相配的;无匹敌的; Bible:n.有权威的书;
And where the Bible is addressed exclusively to men, using the second and third person masculine , the Koran includes women -- talking, for instance, of believing men and believing women, honorable men and honorable women. 相对于圣经里那些仅仅是对男同胞的讲解, 即以第二和第三男性人称的叙述部分, 可兰经顾及到了女同胞 -- 例如, 信男和信女 -- 可敬的男人和可敬的女人。
addressed:v.写(收信人)姓名地址:致函:演说:演讲:向…说话; (address的过去分词和过去式) exclusively:adv.唯一地;专有地;排外地; third person:第三人称角色; masculine:adj.男性的;阳性的;男子气概的;n.男性;阳性,阳性词; honorable:adj.光荣的;可敬的;高贵的;
Or take the infamous verse about killing the unbelievers . 再比如那句臭名昭著的, 关于杀死异教徒的句子。
infamous:adj.声名狼藉的;无耻的;邪恶的;不名誉的; verse:n.诗,诗篇;韵文;诗节;vi.作诗;vt.使熟练,使精通; unbelievers:n.异教徒;无信仰的人;不相信者;
Yes, it does say that, but in a very specific context: the anticipated conquest of the sanctuary city of Mecca where fighting was usually forbidden , and the permission comes hedged about with qualifiers . 是的,可兰经里有这么说, 但是是在一个非常特定的情况下才被允许的: 即将来临的 对圣城麦迦的入侵 在这座禁止打斗的城市里。 而且这许可是带有限制的。
specific:adj.特殊的,特定的;明确的;详细的;[药]具有特效的;n.特性;细节;特效药; anticipated:adj.预期的; v.预期; (anticipate的过去式和过去分词) conquest:n.征服;占领;占领(或征服)的地区;(爱情或性方面)被俘虏的人; sanctuary:n.避难所;至圣所;耶路撒冷的神殿; Mecca:n.麦加(沙特阿拉伯一座城市);众人渴望去的地方; forbidden:adj.禁止的; v.禁止; (forbid的过去分词和过去式) hedged:vt.用树篱笆围住; vi.用树篱围住; n.树篱; qualifiers:n.限定符, 称限定词;后置修饰语(qualifier复数);
Not "You must kill unbelievers in Mecca," 不是说,你一定要杀死麦迦城的异教徒,
but you can, you are allowed to, but only after a grace period is over and only if there's no other pact in place and only if they try to stop you getting to the Kaaba, and only if they attack you first. 而是说,你可以,你被允许这么做, 但只有等到宽限期结束之后, 只有当没有其他条约存在的时候, 只有当他们企图阻止你到达克尔白天房, 只有当他们先攻击你。
grace:n.优雅;恩惠;魅力;慈悲;v.使优美; pact:n.协定;公约;条约;契约;
And even then -- God is merciful; forgiveness is supreme -- and so, essentially , better if you don't. 就算到了那个时候 -- 上帝还是仁慈的, 宽恕至上 -- 所以,本质上, 最好不杀。
forgiveness:n.宽恕;原谅;宽宏大量 supreme:adj.最高的;至高的;最重要的;n.至高;霸权; essentially:adv.本质上;本来;
(Laughter) （笑声）
This was perhaps the biggest surprise -- how flexible the Koran is, at least in minds that are not fundamentally inflexible . 这也许是最大的惊喜 -- 可兰经是多么变通啊, 至少对那些 不是完全固不可化的人来说是这样的。
fundamentally:adv.从根本上;基础地;重要地 inflexible:adj.顽固的;不可弯曲的;不屈挠的;不能转变的;
'"Some of these verses are definite in meaning," it says, "and others are ambiguous ." “有些语句很明了”,它说, “而另一些则有歧义。
verses:诗; definite:adj.一定的;确切的; ambiguous:adj.模糊不清的;引起歧义的;
The perverse at heart will seek out the ambiguities , trying to create discord by pinning down meanings of their own. 心术不正的 会去寻找有歧义的部分, 用他们自己扭曲了的解释, 企图制造不和。
perverse:adj.堕落的,不正当的;倔强的;违反常情的; seek:v.寻求;寻找;谋求; ambiguities:歧义;模棱两可; discord:n.不和;不调和;嘈杂声;vi.不一致;刺耳; pinning:n.阻塞;[建]打小桩;v.钉(pin的现在分词);
Only God knows the true meaning. 只有上帝才知道真正的意义。”
The phrase "God is subtle " “上帝是不可捉摸的”这句话
subtle:adj.微妙的;精细的;敏感的;狡猾的;稀薄的;
appears again and again , and indeed, the whole of the Koran is far more subtle than most of us have been led to believe. 出现了一次又一次。 事实上,整个可兰经 比我们中大多数所相信的要难以琢磨得多。
again and again:adv.再三地,反复地;
As in, for instance, that little matter of virgins and paradise. 譬如, 在 处女和天堂的那个小议题中。
Old-fashioned Orientalism comes into play here. 老式的东方主义发挥了它的作用。
Old-fashioned:adj.老式的;过时的;守旧的;
The word used four times is Houris, rendered as dark-eyed maidens with swelling breasts, or as fair, high-bosomed virgins. 有个词被用了四次 那就是Houris, 意为 有着深色眼睛、丰盈乳房的少女, 或者是白皙而又胸部高挺的处女。
rendered:v.使成为;给予;提供;回报;递交;(render的过去分词和过去式) maidens:n.少女;处女(maiden的复数形式);(未婚)女子; swelling:n.膨胀;肿胀;肿胀处;v.膨胀;肿胀;(使)鼓出;(使)增加;(swell的现在分词)
Yet all there is in the original Arabic is that one word: Houris. 然而在阿拉伯语原版中,有的仅仅是 那一个词:Houris
Not a swelling breast nor a high bosom in sight. 根本没有任何暗示,提及丰盈的乳房或高挺的胸部。
bosom:n.胸; vt.怀抱; adj.知心的;
(Laughter) （笑声）
But the truth is nobody really knows, and that's the point. 但它真正的释义没人知道, 那就是它的本质。
Because the Koran is quite clear when it says that you'll be "a new creation in paradise" 因为可兰经很明确地说 你将会成为 “一个新的生命体出现在天堂”,
and that you will be " recreated in a form unknown to you," 你将被”重新创造成 一种未知的形式“,
recreated:v.再现;再创造;(recreate的过去分词和过去式)
which seems to me a far more appealing prospect than a virgin. 在我看来比成为一个处女 更具有吸引力。
appealing:adj.吸引人的; v.呼吁; (appeal的现在分词) prospect:n.展望;前景;希望;前途;v.勘探;探矿;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And that number 72 never appears. 还有,72这个数字从未出现过。
There are no 72 virgins in the Koran. 在可兰经里,没有72个处女 这么一说。
That idea only came into being 300 years later, and most Islamic scholars see it as the equivalent of people with wings sitting on clouds and strumming harps . 这种说法是在可兰经写成后过了300年才出现的, 大多数伊斯兰教学者把它等同于 那些坐在云上,弹着竖琴 带着翅膀的人儿。
scholars:n.学者们(scholar的复数); equivalent:adj.等价的,相等的;同意义的;n.等价物,相等物; strumming:v.弹奏(吉他等乐器);(strum的现在分词) harps:n.竖琴(harp的复数);v.用竖琴弹奏;反复诉说;唠叨(harp的三单形式);
Paradise is quite the opposite. 天堂其实恰恰相反。
It's not virginity; it's fecundity . 它不是童贞, 它是富饶,
fecundity:n.[生物]繁殖力;多产;肥沃;
It's plenty. 是丰盛,
It's gardens watered by running streams. 是流水灌溉的 花园。
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）