世界小史 第24章:貓

In the Egyptian religion, certain animals were sacred: cats, for example.

在埃及的宗教中，有些動物也是神圣的，譬如貓。

Other gods were represented in animal form.

人們把某些神描繪為動物的形態(tài)。

The creature we know as the Sphinx, which has a human head on a lion's body, was a verypowerful god.

這個有著獅子身體和人的腦袋的怪物，我們稱之為"司芬克斯"，是一位威力巨大的神。

Its statue near the pyramids is so vast that a whole temple would fit inside.

它的巨大的雕像擺放在金字塔近旁，它大得足可以容納下整座廟宇。

Buried from time to time by the desert sands, the Sphinx has now been guarding the tombs ofthe pharaohs for more than 5,000 years.

神一直守護著法老們的墳?zāi)沟浆F(xiàn)在已有5000多年，沙漠里的沙土則時不時地將它掩蓋。

Who can say how long it will continue to keep watch?

誰知道，它還將在那里守護多久?