馬可·波羅遊記The Travels of Marco Polo
馬可·波羅/ Marco Polo
馬可·波羅（1254—1324），出生於意大利威尼斯城的一個商人家庭，公元1275年隨父親和叔父到達中國，居留了十七年，1295年返回故鄉。不久，馬可·波羅參加了對熱那亞城的海戰，兵敗被俘入獄。他在獄中口述了其在東方的見聞，由同獄難友為之筆錄，這就是舉世聞名的《馬可·波羅遊記》。馬可·波羅是中世紀的大旅行家，是使西方人了解中國的重要人物之一。他的遊記不僅在西方世界產生了重大影響，也是中國和西方，特別是中國和意大利人民友好關係的曆史見證。
Practicing for Better Learning
Which of the following is not mentioned in the article?
quailgeesepastesalmonpheasant
Upon leaving Va-giu you pass in the course of three days’journey many towns, castles, and villages, all of them well inhabited and opulent. At the end of three days you reach the noble and magnificent city of Kin-sai, a name that signifies“the celestial city.”
There are within the city ten principal squares or market-places, besides innumerable shops along the streets. Each side of these squares is half a mile in length, and in front of them is the main street, forty paces in width, and running in a direct line from one extremity of the city to the other. There is an abundant quantity of game of all kinds, such as roebucks, stags, fallow deer, hares, and rabbits, together with partridges, pheasants, francolins, quails, common fowls, capons, and such numbers of ducks and geese as can scarcely be expressed.
At all seasons there is in the markets a great variety of herbs and fruits, and especially pears of an extraordinary size, weighing ten pounds each, that are white in the inside, like paste, and have a very fragrant smell. There are peaches also, in their season, both of the yellow and the white kind, and of a delicious flavour. From the sea, which is fifteen miles distant, there is daily brought up the river, to the city, a vast quantity of fish; and in the lake also there is abundance, which gives employment at all times to persons whose sole occupation it is to catch them.
On each side of the principal street, there are houses and mansions of great size, with their gardens, and near to these, the dwellings of the artisans, who work in shops, at their several trades. The inhabitants of the city use paper money as currency. The men as well as the women have fair complexions, and are handsome. The greater part of them are always clothed in silk, in consequence of the vast quantity of that material produced in the territory of Kin-sai. They are friendly towards each other, and persons who inhabit the same street, both men and women, from the mere circumstance of neighborhoods, appear like one family. In their domestic manners they are free from jealousy or suspicion of their wives, to whom great respect is shown, and any man would be accounted infamous who should presume to use indecent expressions to a married woman. To strangers also, who visit their city in the way of commerce, they give proofs of cordiality, inviting them freely to their houses, showing them hospitable attention, and furnishing them with the best advice and assistance in their mercantile transactions.
At the distance of twenty-five miles from this city, in a direction to the northward of east, lies the sea, near to which is a town named Gan-pu, where there is an extremely fine port, frequented by all the ships that bring merchandise from India.
參考譯文
途經吳州的這三天行程中，我看到了許多城鎮、宮殿和村莊，這些地方人口密集，繁榮昌盛。第三天，我們到達了宏偉壯麗的臨安城，意即“皇城”。
臨安城內有十個主要的廣場，或稱市集，沿街還有許多店鋪。廣場每邊各有半英裏長，正前方是主街道，各有40步寬，從城的一端筆直地延伸到另一端。市集上野味的品種和數量豐富充足，有鵪鶉、雉雞、鷓鴣、鬆雞、家禽、閹雞，還有雄獐、牡鹿、扁角鹿和野兔，除此之外，還有不計其數的鴨和鵝。
市集上，各種各樣的藥草和水果一年四季都在出售，尤其是大個梨，每個足有10磅重，果肉呈白色，像晶瑩剔透的糨糊，還散發出一種濃鬱的香味。當然，也有正當時令的桃子，有黃有白，味美可口。每天，從15英裏以外的海中捕撈的大量魚品，從河道運到城內。湖中漁產也很豐富，這就給那些專以打魚為生的漁夫提供了常年的就業機會。
主街道兩邊都是帶有花園的大豪宅、大官邸，而近旁就是依靠各自手藝開店鋪的工匠屋舍了。市民用的都是紙幣。這裏的男男女女膚色白皙，俊朗漂亮。臨安城盛產絲綢，因而人們大多都穿著絲製衣裳。人們相親相愛，關愛有加，街坊鄰居，不論男女，儼然一家人。家庭禮法中，丈夫不會猜忌妻子，反而對其十分尊敬；要是哪個丈夫對妻子出言不遜，他肯定會聲名狼藉。對來城經商的外地人，人們也會禮貌相待，真誠地邀請他們常到家中做客，熱情款待他們，並會提供經商的最好建議和幫助。
臨安城25英裏外的東南方有一片大海，海附近有一個叫澉浦的城鎮，那是一個優良的港口城，停泊著從印度駛來的所有貨船。
心靈小語
我們的國土曾經如此繁華，吸引全世界的目光。如今的中國將再度崛起，我們為自己是中國人感到驕傲！
Ace in the Hole
Keywords and expressions
besides [bi'saidz]
作副詞，譯為“而且；此外”,近義詞：also, additional, in addition, moreover, furthermore, and that作介詞，譯為“除……之外”,近義詞：in addition to
except [ik'sept]作介詞，譯為“除了；要不是”，近義詞：but, aside from, other than
辨析:besides：除……外（還有），著重於“另外還有”。
except：除了（不包括），著重於“從整體裏減去一部分”。
例：1. He had other people to take care of besides me.
除了我之外，他還需要照顧其他人。
2.Everybody except me looks down upon him.
除了我之外，人們都瞧不起他。
Practicing for Better Learning
Do the following statements agree with the information in the reading text?
Write
TRUEif the statement agrees with the information
FALSEif the statement contradicts the information
______ (1) There are within the city ten principal squares or market-places, besides innumerable shops along the streets.
______ (2) There is an extremely fine port named Gan-pu.
Show Window
Describe what the life was like in the city, using no more than 20 words.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________