BACKGROUND： One of the greatest cities in ancient Sumer was the city ofUruk. Legend says that once upon a time， on the banks of the Euphrates， in thegreat city of Uruk， there lived a king named Gilgamesh. In truth， a king namedGilgamesh may actually have existed. His name is on the Sumerian King List， a listwritten in cuneiform1 on clay tablets2， discovered by archaeologists3.

背景院烏魯克是古代蘇美爾最偉大的城市之一。傳說(shuō)從前，在幼發(fā)拉底河畔的大城市烏魯克，住著一位名叫吉爾伽美什的國(guó)王。事實(shí)上，一位名叫吉爾伽美什的國(guó)王可能真的存在過(guò)。他的名字出現(xiàn)在了考古學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)的蘇美爾王表上，都是一份用楔形文字寫(xiě)在泥板上的名單。

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a series of stories about King Gilgamesh， writtenthousands of years ago. The stories tell the many adventures that our hero，Gilgamesh， experienced in his search for everlasting4 life. These stories had anunnamed narrator5 who states， “I will proclaim6 to the world the deeds ofGilgamesh.”The narrator introduces himself before he introduces the hero， KingGilgamesh of Uruk， and by doing so， welcomes us into the story.

《吉爾伽美什史詩(shī)》是關(guān)于吉爾伽美什國(guó)王的一系列故事，寫(xiě)于數(shù)千年前。這些故事講述了我們的主人公吉爾伽美什在尋找永生的過(guò)程中經(jīng)歷的許多冒險(xiǎn)。這些故事有一位未透露姓名的敘述者，他說(shuō)：“我將向世界宣揚(yáng)吉爾伽美什的事跡?！睌⑹稣咴诮榻B主角烏魯克國(guó)王吉爾伽美什之前介紹了自己，并這樣帶我們走進(jìn)故事。

The narrator is quick to tell us that the king of Uruk， the great King Gilgamesh，was two-thirds god and one-third human. Because of this， Gilgamesh was far morebeautiful and far more courageous7 than a common person. He had some magicalpowers. The powers came up now and then throughout the stories because he waspart god. According to the narrator， Gilgamesh was not just a hero; he was asuperhero. Gilgamesh fought monsters， moved mountains and rivers， saved people inneed， and protected the people of Sumer. Yet， he was also part mortal8， which mightexplain why Gilgamesh decided to find the key to everlasting life—so he could liveforever like the rest of the gods.

敘述者很快告訴我們，烏魯克國(guó)王，偉大的國(guó)王吉爾伽美什，三分之二是神，三分之一是人。正因?yàn)槿绱?，吉爾伽美什比普通人美麗勇敢得多。他有一些神奇的力量。因?yàn)樗前肷瘢@些力量在整個(gè)故事中不時(shí)地出現(xiàn)。根據(jù)敘述者的說(shuō)法，吉爾伽美什不僅僅是一個(gè)英雄；他是個(gè)超級(jí)英雄。吉爾伽美什與怪物作戰(zhàn)，移山倒海，救人于危難，并保護(hù)蘇美爾的人民。然而，他也是半人，這也許可以解釋為什么吉爾伽美什決心找到永生的關(guān)鍵———這樣他就可以像其他神一樣長(zhǎng)生不老了。

Even though The Epic of Gilgamesh was written thousands of years ago， theseimaginative9 stories of great adventure are still fun to read today.盡管《吉爾伽美什史詩(shī)》寫(xiě)于數(shù)千年前，但這些富有想象力的偉大冒險(xiǎn)故事至今讀來(lái)仍然妙趣橫生。

（英語(yǔ)原文選自：mesopotamia.mrdonn.org）