V. M. 希利爾（1875—1931），美國著名兒童教育家、科普作家， 創(chuàng)建了卡爾弗特教育體系。他為孩子們編寫了一套趣味盎然的歷史、地理、藝術(shù)讀物，即《寫給孩子看的世界歷史》《寫給孩子看的世界地理》《寫給孩子看的藝術(shù)史》。本文選自《寫給孩子看的藝術(shù)史》。

The Egyptian sculpture in the full round was usually giant size， as tall as a house， or the other extreme—tiny statues only an inch or so high. The statues of their kings and important people， the Egyptian sculptors usually made of giant size—colossal. They thought a statue the size of an ordinary man or woman was not nearly big enough for a king or a queen.

The biggest statue in the world is the Great Sphinx which is near the three great pyramids. It is a huge lion with a kings head. The Egyptians liked to combine men and animals in this way， but more often they put an animals head on a mans body. A cats head or a birds head on a mans body seems to us most unpleasant—a mon-strosity that makes us shudder. But a mans head on an animals body seems only a myth and doesnt shock us.

The Great Sphinx was supposed to be the God of the Morning and so faces east—always facing the rising sun and gazing at it unblinkingly as he has done each morning for thousands of years. His nose is as tall as a man. The triangular pieces at the sides of his head are not hair， they are a peculiar hood.

古埃及人雕刻了很多巨大的圓雕石像，一座石像就有房屋那么高。也雕刻了許多精致的小雕像，一座雕像只有一英寸左右高。當(dāng)他們?yōu)榉ɡ匣蛘咂渌矸蒿@赫的人雕刻塑像時，都會雕刻得極其龐大、健碩。他們覺得，普通人大小的雕像不足以彰顯法老或王后的重要地位。

斯芬克斯獅身人面像是世界上最大的雕像，位于三座大金字塔旁邊。獅身人面像像如其名，石像將埃及法老的頭部結(jié)合在獅子的身體上。將人的一部分和動物的一部分結(jié)合起來是埃及人常常使用的手法，但他們更為常用的結(jié)合方式是人身獸頭像。如果一個貓腦袋或者鳥頭長在人的身體上，看上去就覺得是一個會讓人毛骨悚然的怪物。但是，如果讓人的頭部長在動物的身體上，減少了恐怖感，增加了不少神秘感。

斯芬克斯獅身人面像面朝東方——太陽升起的方向，因為在古埃及人的心目中，它就是清晨之神。每天清晨都迎接著太陽自東方升起，連眼睛都不眨一下，如此已有幾千年。這座巨大的雕像僅僅一個鼻子就和一個成年人差不多高。他頭后兩側(cè)的三角形物體并不是他的頭發(fā)，而是一種奇特的頭巾。

There are many more sphinxes in Egypt， but all much smaller than the Great Sphinx， and these smaller ones usually were arranged， with many of them in a double row， to form an avenue leading up to some temple.

Farther up the Nile， there are two colossal seated figures sitting on thrones side by side， gazing out over the plain. They are called， on account of their colossal size， the Colossi， and each is made out of a single stone. They are weather-beaten and broken， but you do not need much imagination to see in your minds eye what they once were. They of course are Egyptian kings—or rather， two statues of the same king. These two also face the sun as it rises in the east and one of them is called the Vocal Memnon—that is， the singing or sounding Memnon， though Memnon was not the kings name. His name was Amenhotep.

We know the names of few of the old sculptors who made the statues， but we do know the name of this sculptor who made these statues of Amenhotep， for he had the same name as the king. Perhaps he was a slave. When we had slavery in our own country， a slave often used to take the name of his master.

斯芬克斯獅身人面像并不是古埃及唯一的獅身人面像，不過其他的都比斯芬克斯獅身人面像要小。這些小獅身人面像通常被安放在廟宇前長長的通道兩側(cè)，整齊地立成兩排，形成通向神殿的甬道。

在尼羅河上游，有兩座大型雕像肩并肩地坐在王座上，一同眺望著遠處的原野。這兩座雕像分別由單獨的一塊巨石雕成，體型巨大，所以被稱作巨像。經(jīng)歷了千百年滄桑的兩座雕像，到了現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)有些破損了。即使是這樣，但相信你仍然很容易就能感受到它們昔日的壯麗。這兩尊巨大的雕像雕塑的是古埃及的法老，準(zhǔn)確地說，雕塑的是同一個法老。它們也和獅身人面像一樣面朝著太陽升起的東方。這兩座雕像中的一座被人稱為“發(fā)聲門農(nóng)”，也就是會唱歌的門農(nóng)的意思?！伴T農(nóng)”并不是這位法老的名字，這位法老名叫阿蒙霍特普。

古代的雕塑家們，能夠青史留名，為現(xiàn)代人所知的并不多。但我們卻知道創(chuàng)作這兩件雕像作品的人的名字，因為他和國王的名字一樣。這個雕像作品的創(chuàng)作者很可能是國王的奴隸。就好像在美國，廢除奴隸制之前的奴隸一般都跟隨主人的姓氏一樣。

For some reason that no one has ever perfectly explained， the Vocal Memnon gave forth sounds， perhaps like the tones of a great organ when the sun rose， a hymn to a new day， though the Vocal Memnon did not sing every morning or even every year. When it did sing， it was supposed to be a sign of something—an omen people called it—but an omen of what， no one knows. It is believed that about the time of Christ it was upset by an earthquake and that when it was replaced， it ceased its morning song.

It has not sung for nearly two thousand years and some people doubt that it ever did， though people even at the time of Christ used to travel long distances just to hear it sing and were disappointed if it didnt. Many who did hear it， however， have carved on the base their names and date when they did hear it. So there seems to be little doubt that it did sing once upon a time. Some scientists think the suns rays striking the cold stone in the morning wrought some change that made the sound. It is one of the mysteries of which there are so many in Egypt.

伴隨著太陽升起，“發(fā)聲門農(nóng)”石像有時會發(fā)出聲音，聲音好像是大型風(fēng)琴發(fā)出的一樣，像是用歌聲來迎接新的一天。不過石像發(fā)出聲音的原因，一直不為人所知。更神奇的是，石像并不是每天或每年固定的幾天唱歌，所以每當(dāng)石像唱歌的時候，很多人都認為那是有特殊意義的，是某種預(yù)兆，不過唱歌到底預(yù)示了什么，又沒人說得清楚。據(jù)說，“發(fā)聲門農(nóng)”是被耶穌時代的一場大地震震倒后才開始唱歌的。幾百年后，人們又將石像重新安放回去，不過從此以后石像便不再唱歌了。

到現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)有兩千多年沒人聽到過石像的歌聲了?，F(xiàn)在，很多人都在懷疑石像唱歌的真實性。不過，在公元元年前后，確實有不少人專門長途跋涉去聆聽石像的歌聲。如果不巧石像在那幾天沒有唱歌，這些人就會失落而歸。很多聽過石像唱歌的人會把名字和日期刻在石像的基座上。由此可見，門農(nóng)石像以前會唱歌應(yīng)該是可以基本確定的。有些科學(xué)家指出，門農(nóng)石像之所以會唱歌，其原因是當(dāng)清晨的陽光灑在冰冷的石像上時，會發(fā)生特殊的反應(yīng)，進而發(fā)出聲音。不過，古埃及有著大量神秘的未解之謎，這只是其中的一個而已。

It is strange that one of the oldest pieces of sculpture in the world is made of wood—strange because wood of course does not usually last as long as stone. Strange， too， that it is not the statue of a king or a queen or a god， for that is what the Egyptians usually made. What do you suppose it is？ A school-teacher！

This piece of sculpture is the figure of a rather small， fat， baldheaded man carrying a tall walking-stick. The statue is small， smaller than a real man， perhaps to show that he was not a king or any important person. By some people he is called the Schoolmaster of Boulac. So you can see what a school-teacher may have looked like thousands of years ago. But others say there were no regular schools or teachers then， and they call him the sheik or chief of a tribe. Still others say no， he looks like the boss of a gang of workmen， and they believe he was the boss of a gang that worked on the Great Pyramid.

So yon can take your choice， for no one knows his name or what he was or who made him. The statue is in the great museum at Cairo， the capital of Egypt. Though it was made so long ago， it looks much more natural and lifelike than later Egyptian sculpture —like a real person. It is said that even the old Egyptians thought it so natural that they chained its feet to keep it from walking off！

在這個世界上，最古老的雕塑之一是木材制成的，這是不是很奇怪。因為很顯然，木頭是很難像石頭一樣長期保存的。而且還有一點很奇怪，這座并不是常見的法老、王后或神的雕像。請你猜一猜這到底是什么人的雕像？答案是老師！

這座雕塑看上去是一個矮小又有些肥胖的光頭男子，手里拄著一根拐杖。這是座還不及真人大的、較小的雕像，可能是為了表示他不是法老或者任何國家首腦吧。關(guān)于他的真實身份，眾說紛紜。有的人稱他為“布拉克校長”，認為從這座雕塑可以推測出古埃及時期的老師是什么樣子的。不過，也有一些人持不同意見，他們指出那時候不存在任何正規(guī)的學(xué)?；蛘降睦蠋煟@些人相信他應(yīng)該是位部落的酋長或首領(lǐng);還有一些人對上面兩種意見都不贊同，認為他看上去更像是“工頭”，猜測他可能負責(zé)管理那些修建埃及大金字塔的工人。

不論你相信哪一種說法都沒關(guān)系，因為他到底是誰、叫什么名字，以及由誰雕刻出來的，都無人知曉?，F(xiàn)在這座雕像被埃及首都開羅的大博物館收藏。雖然雕像是很久以前制作的，但是制作得十分自然、逼真，就好像真人一樣，甚至比后來的埃及雕像都更勝一籌。據(jù)說，正是因為雕像栩栩如生，逼真得讓古埃及人不得不將他的腳綁住，害怕他跑掉呢！

Another figure made about the same time is of a man seated and holding a writing tablet on his lap. It is of stone and it was painted—not the natural color of a man but—guess what color？ Red！ He was a professional writer—that is， one of the few men who knew how to write and made a business of writing for those who could not write， and most people at that time could not. Think of hiring a stranger to write your letters！ Such a person was called a scribe. He was a kind of secretary who took dictation. Even kings and queens could not write and had to have scribes to write for them. This figure is now in the Louvre in Paris， to which place， of course， it was carried from Egypt.

Often Egyptian sculptors went to the other extreme in making tiny statuettes， some only a few inches high， of their kings and queens， their gods and goddesses and sacred animals. Most of these miniature statues were cut out of the hardest kinds of stone—stone that would turn the edge of our modern tools. We suspect that they must have been cut with flint tools instead of steel tools—as， nowadays， a diamond， the very hardest of all stones， has to be cut with another diamond or shaped by being rubbed with diamond dust.

The beetle was sacred in Egypt and called a scarab， and numberless scarabs made of clay and stone were made to be suspended from the neck， where they acted as a charm for the wearer. So popular are these charms that they are manufactured today in great quantities and sold to travelers as real antiques.

還有一座與“布拉克校長”差不多同時完成的雕像，刻著一個坐著的人，膝蓋上有一個寫字板。這座雕像是石刻的，顏色完全不同于真人，你猜用了什么顏色？答案是紅色！這座雕像刻畫的是一名書吏，當(dāng)時會寫字的人很少，很多人都不會寫字，需要請陌生人來幫他們寫信，書吏就專門靠為別人寫字為生。其實書吏也很像現(xiàn)在的秘書，負責(zé)記錄長官的指示。在那時候，甚至連法老和王后也不會寫字，不得不讓書吏代筆。這座書吏的雕像現(xiàn)在被法國巴黎的羅浮宮收藏。當(dāng)然，是從埃及搬運到巴黎的。

古埃及雕塑家雕刻的雕像大的十分龐大，小的卻又極其小。有的法老、王后、神和圣物的雕像高度只有幾英寸。這些極其微小的雕像絕大部分使用了十分堅硬的石塊，即使用現(xiàn)代鋒利的鋼質(zhì)刀具也無法切割它們。我們猜測，用來雕刻這些雕像可能是燧石制成的工具，而不是鋼質(zhì)工具。就好比現(xiàn)在，切割所有石頭中最堅硬的鉆石，也必須使用鉆石刀具，打磨它只能使用鉆石粉塵。

古埃及人認為甲殼蟲是十分神圣的，因此稱為圣甲蟲。他們認為將石頭和黏土做的圣甲蟲戴在脖子上，可以作為幸運符。在埃及非常流行這種幸運符，所以現(xiàn)在的埃及人還在大量制作圣甲蟲，把它們作為古董旅游紀(jì)念品賣給游客。

Word Study

sculpture /'sk?lpt??（r）/ n. 雕像;雕塑品;雕刻品

colossal /k?'l?sl/ adj. 巨大的;龐大的

The singer earns a colossal amount of money.

shudder /'??d?（r）/ v. & n. 發(fā)抖，打顫，戰(zhàn)栗

Alone in the car， she shuddered with fear.

unblinkingly /?n'bl??k??li/ adv. 不眨眼的;目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地

She looked at him unblinkingly.

throne /θr?un/ n. 寶座;御座;王位;帝位

weather-beaten /'we??'bi?tn/ adj. （因風(fēng)吹日曬）受損的;飽經(jīng)風(fēng)霜的

Word Study

hymn /h?m/ n. 贊美詩，圣歌

cease /si?s/ v. 停止，終止，結(jié)束

The company ceased trading in June.

wrought /r??t/ v. 使發(fā)生了，造成了（尤指變化）

This century wrought major changes in our society.

baldheaded /'b??ldhed?d/ adj. 禿頭的

sheik /?i?k/ n.（阿拉伯的）家長;酋長

gang /ɡ??/ n. 一幫，一群，一伙

A four-man gang carried out the robbery.

scribe /skra?b/ n. 抄寫員，抄書吏

statuette /'st?t?u'et/ n. 小雕像，小塑像，小鑄像

edge /ed?/ n. 邊;邊緣;邊沿? v. 緩慢地移動;給……加邊

Dont put that glass so near the edge of the table.

beetle /'bi?tl/ n. 甲蟲? v. 快速移動