Giant gold-digging ants, 翻译：Mariam Aboud。审定：Ines Azabou
a furious king who orders the sea to be whipped 300 times, 巨型蚂蚁挖金，
and a dolphin that saves a famous poet from drowning. 愤怒的国王命令大海鞭打300次，
These are just some of the stories from The Histories by Herodotus, 海豚从溺水中解救了一位著名诗人。
an Ancient Greek writer from the 5th century BCE. 这些只是希罗多德（Herodotus）撰写的一些历史故事，
Not all the events in the text may have happened 一位来自公元前5世纪的古希腊作家。
exactly as Herodotus reported them, 也许不是文本中的所有事件都发生了
but this work revolutionized the way the past was recorded. 就像希罗多德斯所说的那样，
Before Herodotus, the past was documented as a list of events 但是他的作品彻底改变了过去的记录方式。
with little or no attempt to explain their causes 在希罗多德斯之前，过去以事件列表的形式记录下来
beyond accepting things as the will of the gods. 很少或没有尝试解释它们发生的原因
Herodotus wanted a deeper, more rational understanding, 超越接受事物，就好像它们是上帝的旨意一样。
so he took a new approach: 但是希罗多德斯想要更深入，更合乎逻辑的理解，
looking at events from both sides to understand the reasons for them. 因此，他采用了一种新方法：
Though he was Greek, Herodotus's hometown of Halicarnassus 它正在从双方看事件，以了解其原因。
was part of the Persian Empire. 尽管他是希腊人，但它是希罗多德的发源地哈利卡纳苏斯市
He grew up during a series of wars between the powerful Persians 波斯帝国的一部分。
and the smaller Greeks, 他在强大的波斯人之间的一系列战争中长大
and decided to find out all he could about the subject. 还有结构较弱的希腊人，
In Herodotus's telling, the Persian Wars began in 499 BCE, 于是他决定找到关于该主题的一切。
when the Athenians assisted a rebellion by Greeks living under Persian rule. 以希罗多德的说法，波斯战争始于公元前499年，
In 490, the Persian King, Darius, sent his army to take revenge on Athens. 当雅典人帮助住在波斯统治下的希腊人发动叛乱时。
But at the Battle of Marathon, the Athenians won an unexpected victory. 490年，波斯国王达里乌斯（Darius）派遣军队对雅典人进行报仇。
Ten years later, the Persians returned, planning to conquer the whole of Greece 但是在马拉松平原之战中，雅典人获得了意外的胜利。
under the leadership of Darius's son, Xerxes. 十年后，波斯人返回，计划完全入侵希腊人
According to Herodotus, when Xerxes arrived, 在达里乌斯之子谢尔克斯（Xerxes）的领导下。
his million man army was initially opposed by a Greek force 根据希罗多德斯所说，当施乐到达时，
led by 300 Spartans at the mountain pass of Thermopylae. 他的100万人的军队最初遭到希腊军队的抵抗
At great cost to the Persians, 它由300名Spartans领导，位于Mount Thermopylae。
the Spartans and their king, Leonidas, were killed. 但是付出了沉重的代价
This heroic defeat has been an inspiration to underdogs ever since. 斯巴达人及其国王列奥尼达斯均被杀害。
A few weeks later, the Greek navy tricked the Persian fleet 从那时起，这场英勇的失败一直是失败者的灵感来源。
into fighting in a narrow sea channel near Athens. 几周后，希腊海军欺骗了波斯舰队
The Persians were defeated and Xerxes fled, never to return. 她推动他在雅典附近的一条狭窄海道中战斗。
To explain how these wars broke out and why the Greeks triumphed, 波斯人被打败，薛西斯永远逃亡。
Herodotus collected stories from all around the Mediterranean. 为了解释这些战争是如何爆发的以及希腊人为什么占上风，
He recorded the achievements of both Greeks and non-Greeks 希罗多德斯收集了整个地中海地区的故事。
before they were lost to the passage of time. 他记录了希腊人和非希腊人的成就
The Histories opens with the famous sentence: 随着时间的流逝，他们迷失了。
"Herodotus, of Halicarnassus, here displays his inquiries." 他的书《历史》以著名的句子开头：
By framing the book as an “inquiry,” “哈里卡纳苏斯的赫罗多德斯在这里介绍他的调查。”
Herodotus allowed it to contain many different stories, 通过将该书归类为“调查”，
some serious, others less so. 希罗多德斯能够报道许多不同的故事。
He recorded the internal debates of the Persian court 有些是严肃的故事，有些则不是。
but also tales of Egyptian flying snakes 他在波斯法庭上记录了内部往来
and practical advice on how to catch a crocodile. 但他也记录了埃及飞蛇的记载
The Greek word for this method of research is "autopsy," 以及有关如何捕捉鳄鱼的实用建议。
meaning "seeing for oneself." 这个研究方法的希腊语是“解剖学”
Herodotus was the first writer to examine the past 意思是“自己看”。
by combining the different kinds of evidence he collected: 希罗多德斯是第一位回顾过去的作家
opsis, or eyewitness accounts, 通过结合各种形式的证据，他收集了：
akoe, or hearsay, （Opsys）或目击者帐户，
and ta legomena, or tradition. （Akoy）或谣言，
He then used gnome, or reason, 和（ta lagomina）或传统。
to reach conclusions about what actually happened. 然后他使用（睡眠）或逻辑，
Many of the book's early readers were actually listeners. 得出描述实际情况的结论。
The Histories was originally written in 28 sections, 该书的许多早期读者都是听众。
each of which took about four hours to read aloud. 历史最初由28个部分组成，
As the Greeks increased in influence and power, 每个部分大约需要四个小时才能朗读。
Herodotus's writing and the idea of history spread across the Mediterranean. 希腊人的势力和影响力越强，
As the first proper historian, Herodotus wasn't perfect. 希罗多德的更多著作和历史观念在整个地中海传播。
On occasions, he favored the Greeks over the Persians 对于第一个可靠的历史学家来说，希罗多德并不完美。
and was too quick to believe some of the stories that he heard, 有时，希腊人更喜欢波斯人
which made for inaccuracies. 他很快就不敢相信他听到的一些故事，
However, modern evidence has actually explained 这造成了一些错误。
some of his apparently extreme claims. 但是实际上，最近的证据很明显
For instance, there's a species of marmot in the Himalayas 他的一些看似极端的主张。
that spreads gold dust while digging. 例如，有一个喜马拉雅土拨鼠松鼠家族
The ancient Persian word for marmot is quite close to the word for ant, 她在钻探时撒了金尘。
so Herodotus may have just fallen prey to a translation error. 这个词在古代波斯语中意为土拨鼠，与ant（ant）一词很接近
All in all, for someone who was writing in an entirely new style, 因此，希罗多德可能是翻译错误的受害者。
Herodotus did remarkably well. 考虑到一切，对于以全新风格写作的人来说，
History, right down to the present day, has always suffered from the partiality 希罗多德斯做得很好。
and mistakes of historians. 历史一直以来一直受偏见的影响
Herodotus’s method and creativity earned him the title 还有历史学家的错误。
that the Roman author Cicero gave him several hundred years later: 但希罗多德的方法论和创造力为他赢得了头衔
"The Father of History." 几百年来，罗马作家西塞罗（Cicero）称其为： 78 “历史之父。”