旅游英語(yǔ)：暢游尼羅河谷

The longest river in the world, the Nile, flows through the north-western area of Africa, and then into the Mediterranean Sea.

Great civilizations have always flourished alongside rivers, but the Egyptian civilization, which started on the Nile, is the most fascinating and mysterious in the history of mankind.

The Nile valley is a fertile one where there is an abundance of water and sun, elements which the ancient Egyptian believed were gods, they called the sun Amon and the Nile Apis.

Memphis was the first great capital of Egypt, united as a single kingdom in the third millennium B.C..But the Nile burst its banks a few centuries ago, flooding the ancient capital.

The river however has given more than it has taken, enough to make Herodotus, the ancient Greek historian say: Egypt is a gift from the Nile.

The annual floods left precious silt on the fields, a miraculous natural fertilizer which made the crops grow luxuriantly.

This instrument, called a Nilometer was used by the ancient Pharaohs to establish how high the periodic floods would be. The Nilometer, on the presupposition that the harvest would be plentiful, was nothing other than a device for setting income tax level.

The date palm is without a doubt the plant which characterizes Egyptian agriculture more than anything else. The peasants use it to make roofs, to construct furniture, to weave baskets; but above all the sweetest fruit on earth grows on the palm: the date.

On display are the souks. Red dates can be purchased here. They are dry and crunchy, less sweet than the others; the semi-sweet ones have all the shades of orange; the brown and the black ones are very soft, and their sugar seems to dissolve in your mouth.

If the Nile yields simple, raw materials, the inspiration of its people gives rise to one of the most perfumed, flavorsome and colorful cuisine in North Africa. Food in Egypt is hot and spicy, drenched in sauces.

The national dish is fouhl, a fragrant soup of beans which is sold on every street corner.

Egyptians tend to wash down these libations with black tea. Non-Muslims also enjoy the fine local wines and beer, whose origins are actually Egyptian. Ever since the 3rd dynasty drinking it while eating bread was considered a good omen.

What we are seeing is the village near Luxor, which is characterized by the typical houses built with mud and straw.

Some of these houses have been painted with colorful drawings, which are very curious. Aeroplanes, departures, ships and scenes from journeys. These painted walls tell us about the Islamic custom of going on a pilgrimage to Mecca. A duty which should be carried out at least once in a lifetime, an event that is to be passed down to descendants with a vivid fresco.

The population on the Nile has grown at a dizzying rate, giving rise to a great metropolis of the size of Cairo the second most populous city in the world.

To see the swarming crowds in the capital it would seem that the lesson of Ramese II, whose colossal stature is located near Cairo's Central Station, is still alive in Egypt. Ramses II had more than a hundred children and in Egypt today a baby is born every 20 seconds. The population is very young and half of its 54 million inhabitants are under 20 years old.

The crowds in Cairo, the hustle and bustle of the typical souk, are an unmissable spectacle for people arriving in Egypt, a brilliant contrast to the mysterious charm of the monuments of the Pharaohs.

These solemn states are almost participants in modern life. You can almost find your ideas about the Nile reflected in their eyes.

世界上最長(zhǎng)的河流尼羅河，流經(jīng)非洲西北部，最終匯入地中海。

偉大的人類(lèi)文明多發(fā)源于河流兩岸，但人類(lèi)歷史上最為絢麗、神秘的是使于尼羅河的古埃及文明。

尼羅河谷擁有充足的淡水與陽(yáng)光，這二者被古埃及人奉為神靈，他們尊稱(chēng)太陽(yáng)為AMON，稱(chēng)尼羅河為APIS。

孟菲斯是埃及第一個(gè)首都，公元前3000年，它建立為獨(dú)立王國(guó)。而若干世紀(jì)以前，尼羅河水泛濫，沖垮了古都。

但畢竟，尼羅河所賦予的遠(yuǎn)大于它索取的。正如古希臘歷史學(xué)家希羅多德所言：埃及是尼羅河賜予的禮物。

每年洪水過(guò)后，土地上都會(huì)留下一層淤泥，這是能讓莊稼茁壯成長(zhǎng)的天然優(yōu)良肥料。

這個(gè)被稱(chēng)作"Nilometer"的設(shè)備，是古代法老用來(lái)預(yù)測(cè)一定時(shí)期內(nèi)洪水的可能高度。用于推斷豐收與否的"Nilometer"，其實(shí)就是制定稅收標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的裝置。

最具埃及農(nóng)業(yè)特色的無(wú)疑是棗椰樹(shù)。農(nóng)民用它建房頂，打家具，編籃子。但最重要的是，世上最甜的水果就長(zhǎng)在這樹(shù)上——棗。

紅棗就在這里出售。風(fēng)干的棗吃起來(lái)不太甜很但脆。半甜的棗呈現(xiàn)出橙色;棕黑色的棗口感很軟，它們的糖份仿佛已經(jīng)溶進(jìn)了嘴里。

如果尼羅河只提供簡(jiǎn)單的原料，北非人就會(huì)把它們變成美味佳肴。埃及食物多辛辣，并要用醬汁浸透。

FOUHL是當(dāng)?shù)厥称罚@種鮮美的豆湯在各個(gè)街道都能買(mǎi)到。

埃及人習(xí)慣用紅茶解酒。非穆斯林也能享用當(dāng)?shù)孛牢兜钠咸丫坪推【?，其?shí)它們就原產(chǎn)于埃及。早在第三王朝，喝酒吃面包被視為是吉兆。

現(xiàn)在我們見(jiàn)到的是位于盧克索附近的村莊。其標(biāo)志性房屋是用泥和稻草砌成的。

一些屋外畫(huà)著彩色的畫(huà)，有些畫(huà)很罕見(jiàn)。飛機(jī)，離別，輪船以及旅途中的景象。壁畫(huà)講述著伊斯蘭教徒去麥迦朝圣的習(xí)俗。那是教徒一生中至少要履行一次的責(zé)任，鮮活的壁畫(huà)的也將代代相傳。

現(xiàn)在，尼羅河沿岸人口激增，首都開(kāi)羅已經(jīng)是世界人口最多的第2大城市。

看著熙來(lái)攘往的人群，仿佛又看到了萊比西斯二世的故事重現(xiàn)。他的塑像早已矗立在開(kāi)羅中央車(chē)站。萊比西斯二世有一百多個(gè)孩子，而今天的埃及每20秒就有一個(gè)新生命誕生。當(dāng)?shù)厝丝谀贻p化，5千4百萬(wàn)人口中，有一半不滿(mǎn)20歲。

喧鬧的開(kāi)羅會(huì)給每位來(lái)訪(fǎng)者留下深刻的印象。

而肅穆的法老像似乎也在參與著后人的生活。也許，你能從他的眼中讀到關(guān)于尼羅河的種種證實(shí)。