背景介紹

美洲古代文明主要包括墨西哥的阿茲特克文明、中美洲北部的瑪雅文明、秘魯?shù)挠〖游拿骱透爬系膴W爾梅克文明。瑪雅文明是其中的杰出代表，它于16世紀(jì)被西班牙殖民者摧毀，此后被長(zhǎng)期湮沒(méi)在熱帶叢林中。1839年，美國(guó)探險(xiǎn)家約翰·斯蒂芬斯在洪都拉斯的熱帶叢林中發(fā)現(xiàn)了瑪雅古文明遺址。

情景對(duì)話

Patricia:I just finished watching this great documentary about the Mayan people...I learned so much！I had no idea that the Maya were still a major cultural group in Mexico！Did you know that sizable populations of Maya and their descendants still maintain traditions and beliefs of their ancestors?Even today,millions of people speak Mayan languages.

Lionel:Really?Where in Mexico are they?

Patricia:Well,actually,it's not just Mexico.Before the New World was discovered by the Europeans,the Mayan civilization extended through out the present-day southern Mexican states of Chiapas,Tabasco,and the Yucatan Peninsula（半島）states of Quintana Roo,Campeche,and Yucatan.In addition to these areas in Mexico,the Maya were also found throughout the northern Central American region,including Guatemala,Belize,Honduras,and El Salvador.

Lionel:Wasn't it the Maya who invented calendars?I remember hearing so much about the Mayan calendar predicting the end of the world...

Patricia:Actually,the calendar didn'toriginate withthe Maya,but their civilization fully developed it.They are the only pre-Columbian American civilizations to have a fully developed written language,and had amazing advancements in art,architecture,mathematics,and astronomy.They were also one of the most successful Mesoamerican（中美洲）civilizations in withstanding Spanish invasions （入侵）.

Lionel:Why were they able to do that?

Patricia:There are a few reasons.Unlike other groups,like the Aztecs or the Incas,the Maya had nocentralizedpolitical center.Therefore,conquistadors（西班牙征服者）had to fight the independent Mayan groups one by one...Another reason was that most of the Spanish forces were in it for the gold,but the land where the Mayan people lived weren't rich in precious metal resources.The Spanish were more motivated to seek riches in South America or central Mexico.

Lionel:So the Spanish never actually took control of Mayan land?

Patricia:Well,they did,but it took them 170 years for the conquest of the Yucatan.It was a very lengthy,costly,and lethal（致命的）effort for them.The Maya were able to avoid being subdued（征服）by the Spanish until almost the 18th century.And they never were able towipethem allout.They are still a major cultural force,even today.

Lionel:Amazing！

譯文助讀

帕特里夏：我剛剛看完這部關(guān)于瑪雅人的大型紀(jì)錄片……我從中學(xué)到了很多東西！我以前都不知道，瑪雅人在墨西哥仍然是一個(gè)主要的文化群體！相當(dāng)多的瑪雅人及其子孫后代仍然保留著祖先們的傳統(tǒng)和信仰，這一點(diǎn)你知道嗎？即使是今天，仍然有數(shù)百萬(wàn)人說(shuō)瑪雅語(yǔ)。

萊昂內(nèi)爾：真的嗎？他們住在墨西哥的什么地方呢？

帕特里夏：哦，實(shí)際上，不僅是在墨西哥。在歐洲人發(fā)現(xiàn)“新大陸”之前，瑪雅文明就已延伸至今天的墨西哥南部的恰帕斯州和塔巴斯科州，以及尤卡坦半島上的金塔納羅奧州、坎佩切州和尤卡坦州。此外，瑪雅文明也出現(xiàn)在中美洲北部地區(qū)，包括危地馬拉、伯利茲、洪都拉斯和薩爾瓦多。

萊昂內(nèi)爾：日歷不就是瑪雅人發(fā)明的嗎？我記得聽(tīng)過(guò)很多關(guān)于瑪雅日歷預(yù)言世界末日的事……

帕特里夏：實(shí)際上，歷法并不是瑪雅人首創(chuàng)的，但是瑪雅文明充分發(fā)展了歷法。在哥倫布發(fā)現(xiàn)美洲大陸以前，他們是唯一擁有全面發(fā)展的語(yǔ)言文字體系的民族，而且在藝術(shù)、建筑學(xué)、數(shù)學(xué)、天文學(xué)方面也取得了驚人的進(jìn)步。他們也是抵御西班牙入侵最成功的中美洲文明之一。

萊昂內(nèi)爾：他們?yōu)槭裁茨茏龅侥兀?/p>

帕特里夏：有幾方面的原因。與阿茲特克和印加民族不同，瑪雅人沒(méi)有集中的政治中心。因此西班牙征服者不得不一個(gè)接一個(gè)地應(yīng)戰(zhàn)各個(gè)獨(dú)立的瑪雅部族……另一個(gè)原因是，大部分西班牙軍隊(duì)是沖著黃金去的，而瑪雅人居住的土地上并沒(méi)有豐富的貴金屬資源。西班牙更熱衷于在南美洲或墨西哥中部尋找財(cái)富。

萊昂內(nèi)爾：所以西班牙人從未真正控制過(guò)瑪雅人的領(lǐng)土，是嗎？

帕特里夏：哦，他們控制過(guò)，不過(guò)他們用了170年才征服了尤卡坦。那對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)是一場(chǎng)非常漫長(zhǎng)、代價(jià)巨大而且致命的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。直到大約18世紀(jì)，西班牙人才將瑪雅人征服。而且他們從未能將瑪雅人消滅掉。即使到今天，瑪雅人仍然是一支主要的文化力量。

萊昂內(nèi)爾：真了不起呀！

Language study

originate with由某人發(fā)起/首創(chuàng)

centralized adj.集中的；中央集權(quán)的

wipe out徹底消滅