ＪｏｓｅｐｈＳｏｌｄｔｏＥｇｙｐｔ

2006-01-01 00:00:00

閱讀與作文(英語初中版) 2006年6期

When Joseph was a boy of seventeen，he used to accompany his brothers，the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah，his father's wives，when they were in charge of the flock;and he brought their father a bad report of them.Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons，because he was a child of his old age，and he made him a long，sleeved robe.When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them，they hated him and could not say a kind word to him.

約瑟十七歲時，常常和他的異母哥哥們即辟拉和悉帕的兒子們一起放牧，但他經常在父親面前說他們的壞話。以色列最愛約瑟，因為約瑟是他老年時得到的兒子，他為約瑟做了件有袖長袍。兄長們看到父親寵愛約瑟，他們就妒忌約瑟，都不同他好好說話。

Joseph had a dream，which he told to his father and his brothers，He said.\"Listen:I have had a dream.The sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.\"When he told it to his father took him to task:What is this dream of yours?\"He said.\"Must we come and bow low to the ground before you，I and your mother and your brothers\"His brothers were jealous of him，but his father did not forget.

約瑟做了一個夢，他把它說給父親和哥哥們聽。他說：“你們聽聽，我做了個夢，在夢中太陽、月亮和十一顆星辰向我下拜。”父兄們聽到他這些話，父親就責備他說：“你這是做的什么夢？難道我們，我，你的母親還有兄長們，都要在你面前下跪嗎？”他的哥哥們都妒忌他，他的父親卻將這話記在心里。

Joseph's brothers went to mind their father's folcks in Shechem.Israel said to him，\"Go and see it all is well with yourbrothers and the sheep，and bring me back word ---\"His brothers saw him in the distance，and before he reached them，they plotted¹to kill him.They said to each other，\"Here comes that dreamer.Now is our chance;let us kill him and throw him into one of these pits and say that a wild beast has devoured him.Then we shall see what will come of his dreams.\"When Reuben heard，he came to his rescue²，urging them not to take his life.\"Let us have no bloodshed\"，he said.\"Throw him into this pit³in the wilderness，but do him no bodily harm.\"He meant to save him from then so as to restore him to his father.When Joseph came up to his brothers，they stripped⁴him of the long ，sleeved⁵robe which he was wearing，took him and threw him into the pit .The pit was empty and had no water in it .

約瑟的哥哥們去示劍牧羊，以色列對約瑟說：“你去看看你哥哥們和羊群是否都安全并給我一個答復”……約瑟的哥哥們遠遠地看見了約瑟走來，趁他還沒來到就商議要殺死他。他們議論說：“瞧，那做夢的來了。這是我們的機會，我們殺死他，將他扔在這兒的亂坑里，就說景頗野獸吃了，看他那些夢怎么應驗。”流便聽到這樣的話就要救約瑟，他叫兄弟們不要害他性命。“不要流血，”他說：“就把他扔在這荒野里的坑內好了，不用傷他的身體。”其實他想把他從他們手里救出來交回他父親。當約瑟來到哥哥們那里時，他們扒掉了他穿著的長袍，抓住并把他扔進坑里。坑里是空的，里面沒水。

Then they sat down to eat some food and looking up，they saw an Ishmaelite caravan⁶coming in from Gilead on the way down to Egypt.Judah said to his brothers，\"What shall we gain by killing our brother and concealing⁷his death?Why not sell him to the Ishmaelits?\"His brothers agreed with him.Meanwhile some Midianite merchants passed by and drew Joseph up out of the pit.They sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites，and tyey brought Joseph to Egypt.When Reuben went back to the pit，Joseph was not there.He rent his clothes and went back to his brothers and said，\"The boy is not there.Where can I go?\"后來他們坐下來吃東西抬頭看見一個以實瑪利人的商隊從基列來到埃及去。猶大對兄弟們說：“我們殺死我們的弟弟并隱瞞他死的真像，我們能得到什么呢？為什么不把他賣給以實瑪利人呢？”兄弟們都答應他的話。這時，一些米甸商人們從他們身旁把約瑟從坑里拉上來，以二十舍客勒銀子將約瑟賣給了以實瑪利人。于是，約瑟就被帶往埃及去了。流便回到土坑時，約瑟已不在里面。他憤怒地撕碎了衣服，對兄弟們說：“那孩子不見了。我該上哪兒去找呢？”

Joseph's brothers took his rob，killed a goat and dipped it in the goat's blood.Then they tore the robe，the long，sleeved robe，brought it to their father and said，\"Look what we have found.Do you recognize it?Is this your son's robe or not?\"Jacob did recognize it ，and he replied，\"It is my son's robe.A wild beast has devoured⁸him.Joseph has been torn to pieces.\"Jacob rent his clothes，put on sackcloth⁹and mourned⁰his son for a long time.Thus Joseph's father wept for him.Meanwhile the Midianites had sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar，one of Pharaoh's eunuchs，the captain of the guard--

約瑟和哥哥們把約瑟的長袍拿來，殺了一只羊，把袍子上沾上羊血。然后他們又將它撕破，拿回去給他們的父親看，說：“你看我們找到什么了？你能認出這袍子嗎？它是不是約瑟的長袍？”雅各當然認得它，他答道：“這是我兒子的袍子，野獸將他吃掉了，約瑟被撕成了碎塊了。”雅各悲痛欲絕地扯破了自己的衣服，圍上麻布，對兒子哀悼不已。這段時間，米甸人把約瑟賣到埃及波提乏家。波提乏是法老的內臣，護衛隊長。

The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered.Indeed，his Egyptian master put him in charge of his household and entrusted¹¹ him with all that he had .From the time that he put him in charge of his household and all his property，the Lord blessed the Egyptian's household for Joseph's sake.

天主與約瑟同在，他又碰到好運了。確實如此，他的埃及主人讓他管理家務，把一切財產都交付給他。從他負責統管主人的家務和財產時起，天主就因約瑟而賜福給他的埃及主人。

Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking ，and a time came when his master's wife took notice of him and said，\"Come and lie with me.\"But he refused and said to her ，\"Think of my master.He does not know as much as I do about his own house，and he has entrusted me with all he has .He has given me authority in this house second only to his own，and has withheld ¹²nothing form me except you，because you are his wife.How can I do anything so wicked¹³，and sin against God?\"She kept asking Joseph day after day，but he refused to lie with her and be in her company.One day he came into the house as usual to do his work，when none of the men of the household were there indoors.She caught him by his cloak¹⁴，saying ，\"Come and lie with me ?but he left the cloak in her hands and ran out of the house.When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hands and had run out of the house，she called out to the men of the household，\"Look at this!My husband has broutht in a Hebrew to make a mockery¹⁵of us .He came in here to lie with me，but Igave a loud scream.When he heard me scream and call out，he left his cloak in my hand and ran off.\"She kept his cloak with her until his master came home，and then she repeated her tale.When Joseph's master heard his wife's story of what his slave had done to her，he was furious.He took Joseph and put him in the Round Tower，where the king's prisoners were kept:and there he stayed in the Round Tower.But the Lord was with Joseph and kept faith with him，so that he won the favour of the governor of the Round Tower.He put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners in the tower and of all their work.

現在約瑟已是一個英俊的美少年，有一天，他主人的妻子愛上了他，對他說：“來，和我同寢吧。”但他拒絕了，說：“想想我的主人吧，家里的事他都不及我清楚，他將一切都托付給我了，而且讓我在這家中享有僅次于他的權力。他把什么都交給我了，只是除了你，因為你是他的妻子。我怎能作這不道德的事，冒犯上帝呢？”她卻天天不斷地糾纏約瑟，他則一直不與她同寢，也不同她在一起。有一天，他像往常一樣進屋里做事，屋里沒有其他人，她抓住他的外衣說：“來吧，來和我同寢。”約瑟掙脫開跑出了家門，外衣卻被她抓在手里。她看他留下的外衣跑了，就叫來所有家人：“你們看這個！我丈夫帶來的這個希伯來人玩弄我們。他闖進來要和我同寢。我大聲呼救。他見我叫起來就扔下外衣跑了。”她拿著外衣等主人回來，然后又重復了她的謊言，約瑟的主人聽到妻子說他的奴仆怎樣對她無禮時，憤怒萬分。他把約瑟抓來關在國王關囚犯的圓塔樓里。約瑟就呆在圓塔樓里，但天主與約瑟同在，他仍舊保佑他。所以約瑟得到了圓塔樓看守長的好感。他讓約瑟負責管理那里的犯人和他們的工作。

1 plotin. 密謀，策劃

2 came to his rescue解救

3 pitn. 深坑，深淵，陷阱

4 strip vt. 剝，剝去

5 sleevd有袖子的

6 caravan n.旅行隊，大篷車

7 conceal vt. 隱藏，隱蔽，隱瞞

8 devourvt. （尤指動物）吞吃，狼吞虎咽，破壞，吞沒

9 sackclothn.麻袋布

10 mourn v.哀悼，憂傷，服喪

11 entrust v.委托

12 withheld v. withhold 過去式及過去分詞；withhold vt.使停止，拒給，保留，抑制