英語(yǔ)美文名人勵(lì)志故事09:Marco Polo旅行的故事
9. Marco Polo, Famous Italian Traveler
9. 馬可·波羅一一意大利著名旅行家
Marco Polo was born in Venice in 1254. He was the most famous westerner to visit Asia during The Middle Ages. His father, Nicolo Polo, and his uncle were wealthy traders who regularly traveled to parts of the East. They visited China and became friends with Kublai Khan, the great Mongol Emperor. It was only when they returned to Italy from China that Marco, who was now 15 years old, first met his father.
馬可·波羅 1254年出生于威尼斯。他是中世紀(jì)訪問亞洲的第一個(gè)西方人。他的父親——尼可羅·波羅和他的叔叔是很富有的商人，經(jīng)常到東方的各地區(qū)旅行。他們?cè)L問了中國(guó)，而且和忽必烈可汗，大蒙古皇帝成為了朋友。而且只是在他們從中國(guó)回到意大利之后，15歲的馬可才第一次見到他的父親。
Marco decided to join them for their next trip. It took them more than three years to travel the 9,000 miles to Shangdu, capital of the Mongol Empire. The great Khan gave them a fine welcome and they stayed in a huge marble place. Soon the young Marco became a great favorite of the Emperor and was one of his most trusted friends. Marco quickly learned the language and customs of the Chinese because he traveled around and talked to many people.
馬可決定下一次和他們一起去旅行。這花了他們?nèi)甑臅r(shí)間旅行9，000里到達(dá)了上都——蒙古帝國(guó)的首都。大汗熱烈地歡迎了他們，并且讓他們居住在一個(gè)巨大的大理石房子中。很快年輕的馬可成了這位帝王所喜歡的人，而且成為了他最為信任的朋友之一。馬可很快就學(xué)會(huì)了中國(guó)的語(yǔ)言和風(fēng)俗，因?yàn)樗礁鞯赜巫撸秃芏嗳私徽劇?/p>
After nearly 17 years in the East, Marco and his father prepared to return home. Not long after Marco came home, the Genoese caught him during a battle at sea. While he was a prisoner he met a writer called Rustichello who wrote down the long story that Marco told him about his travels.
在東方待了將近17年之后，馬可和他的父親準(zhǔn)備返回家鄉(xiāng)。馬可回家后不久，熱那亞人在一次海邊戰(zhàn)役中抓到了他。他牢獄期間，遇到了一名名叫魯斯梯切諾的作家，他寫下了馬可口述給他的有關(guān)他的旅行的長(zhǎng)篇故事。
He did not make any more journeys after the publication of his books, but he had a place in history-he was the first European ever to travel to the East and to return with a story to tell.
在書本出版之后，馬可沒有再進(jìn)行任何旅行，但是他在歷史上留下了一席之地——他是第一個(gè)到東方旅行的歐洲人，而且回來后口述了很多故事。
