美国学生人类史（套装上下册）

章节摘录

01 The setting of the stage人类舞台的起始WE live under the shadow of a gigantic question mark.Who are we?Where do we come from?Whither are we bound?Slowly, but with persistent courage, we have been pushing this question mark further and further towards that distant line, beyond the horizon, where we hope to find our answer. We have not gone very far.We still know very little but we have reached the point where (with a fair degree of accuracy) we can guess at many things. In this chapter I shall tell you how (according to our best belief) the stage was set for the first appearance of man.If we represent the time during which it has been possible for animal life to exist upon our planet by a line of this length, then the tiny line just below indicates the age during which man (or a creature more or less resembling man) has lived upon this earth.Man was the last to come but the first to use his brain for the purpose of conquering the forces of nature. That is the reason why we are going to study him, rather than cats or dogs or horses or any of the other animals, who, all in their own way, have a very interesting historical development behind them.In the beginning, the planet upon which we live was (as far as we now know) a large ball of flaming matter, a tiny cloud of smoke in the endless ocean of space. Gradually, in the course of millions of years, the surface burned itself out, and was covered with a thin layer of rocks. Upon these lifeless rocks the rain descended in endless torrents, wearing out the hard granite and carrying the dust to the valleys that lay hidden between the high cliffs of the steaming earth.Finally the hour came when the sun broke through the clouds and saw how this little planet was covered with a few small puddles which were to develop into the mighty oceans of the eastern and western hemispheres.Then one day the great wonder happened. What had been dead, gave birth to life.The first living cell floated upon the waters of the sea.For millions of years it drifted aimlessly with the currents. But during all that time it was developing certain habits that it might survive more easily upon the inhospitable earth. Some of these cells were happiest in the dark depths of the lakes and the pools. They took root in the slimy sediments which had been carried down from the tops of the hills and they became plants. Others preferred to move about and they grew strange jointed legs, like scorpions and began to crawl along the bottom of the sea amidst the plants and the pale green things that looked like jelly-fishes. Still others (covered with scales) depended upon a swimming motion to go from place to place in their search for food, and gradually they populated the ocean with myriads of fishes.Meanwhile the plants had increased in number and they had to search for new dwelling places. There was no more room for them at the bottom of the sea. Reluctantly they left the water and made a new home in the marshes and on the mudbanks that lay at the foot of the mountains. Twice a day the tides of the ocean covered them with their brine. For the rest of the time, the plants made the best of their uncomfortable situation and tried to survive in the thin air which surrounded the surface of the planet. After centuries of training, they learned how to live as comfortably in the air as they had done in the water. They increased in size and became shrubs and trees and at last they learned how to grow lovely flowers which attracted the attention of the busy big bumble-bees and the birds who carried the seeds far and wide until the whole earth had become covered with green pastures, or lay dark under the shadow of the big trees. But some of the fishes too had begun to leave the sea, and they had learned how to breathe with lungs as well as with gills. We call such creatures amphibious, which means that they are able to live with equal ease on the land and in the water. The first frog who crosses your path can tell you all about the pleasures of the double existence of the amphibian.Once outside of the water, these animals gradually adapted themselves more and more to life on land. Some became reptiles (creatures who crawl like lizards) and they shared the silence of the forests with the insects. That they might move faster through the soft soil, they improved upon their legs and their size increased until the world was populated with gigantic forms (which the handbooks of biology list under the names of Ichthyosaurus and Megalosaurus and Brontosaurus) who grew to be thirty to forty feet long and who could have played with elephants as a full grown cat plays with her kittens.Some of the members of this reptilian family began to live in the tops of the trees, which were then often more than a hundred feet high. They no longer needed their legs for the purpose of walking, but it was necessary for them to move quickly from branch to branch. And so they changed a part of their skin into a sort of parachute, which stretched between the sides of their bodies and the small toes of their fore-feet, and gradually they covered this skinny parachute with feathers and made their tails into a steering gear and flew from tree to tree and developed into true birds.Then a strange thing happened. All the gigantic reptiles died within a short time. We do not know the reason. Perhaps it was due to a sudden change in climate. Perhaps they had grown so large that they could neither swim nor walk nor crawl, and they starved to death within sight but not within reach of the big ferns and trees. Whatever the cause, the million year old world-empire of the big reptiles was over.The world now began to be occupied by very different creatures. They were the descendants of the reptiles but they were quite unlike these because they fed their young from the “mammæ” or the breasts of the mother. Wherefore modern science calls these animals “mammals.” They had shed the scales of the fish. They did not adopt the feathers of the bird, but they covered their bodies with hair. The mammals however developed other habits which gave their race a great advantage over the other animals. The female of the species carried the eggs of the young inside her body until they were hatched and while all other living beings, up to that time, had left their children exposed to the dangers of cold and heat, and the attacks of wild beasts, the mammals kept their young with them for a long time and sheltered them while they were still too weak to fight their enemies. In this way the young mammals were given a much better chance to survive, because they learned many things from their mothers, as you will know if you have ever watched a cat teaching her kittens to take care of themselves and how to wash their faces and how to catch mice.But of these mammals I need not tell you much for you know them well. They surround you on all sides. They are your daily companions in the streets and in your home, and you can see your less familiar cousins behind the bars of the zoological garden.And now we come to the parting of the ways when man suddenly leaves the endless procession of dumbly living and dying creatures and begins to use his reason to shape the destiny of his race.One mammal in particular seemed to surpass all others in its ability to find food and shelter. It had learned to use its fore-feet for the purpose of holding its prey, and by dint of practice it had developed a hand-like claw. After innumerable attempts it had learned how to balance the whole of the body upon the hind legs. (This is a difficult act, which every child has to learn anew although the human race has been doing it for over a million years.)This creature, half ape and half monkey but superior to both, became the most successful hunter and could make a living in every clime. For greater safety, it usually moved about in groups. It learned how to make strange grunts to warn its young of approaching danger and after many hundreds of thousands of years it began to use these throaty noises for the purpose of talking.This creature, though you may hardly believe it, was your first "man-like" ancestor.中文阅读我们活着有一个极大的疑问。我们是谁？我们是从哪里来的？我们是往哪里去？我们已把这疑问慢慢的但是鼓着坚执的勇气推到不能再推的地方，希望在那里可以得到我们的答案。我们所推的不远，所以知道的事情不多；但我们已经达到一个由此可以猜想出许多事情的地方了。在这一章书内，我要告诉读者人类的舞台最初是怎样（按我们十分的相信）成立的。假使我们以上图的长线代表动物在地球上生存的年代，那么长线下的短线，就是代表我们人类（或是一种多少与人相似的动物）在地球上生存的年代。我们所以要研究人的历史，是因为他在地球上虽然最后出现，但是最早能运用他的脑力去支配自然的势力。猫、狗、马以及其他动物，虽也有它们有趣的历史，但没有人类所有的这种特色。我们现在所居的星球，最初原是（按我们现在所能知道的）一个大火球，在那漫无边际的太空中，仅仅是一点小小的烟雾。在无数年代的过程中，星球的表面渐渐烧尽后，结起一层稀薄的石皮。无休无尽的雨水，不断的冲击这些没有生命的石块，把它们击成细沙尘埃，带入蒸汽腾腾的地球上的高峰之间的山谷里。到后来，太阳从云端里探首出来，望见这小小的星球上现出几个小水潭。这些小水潭以后逐渐变成东西两半球的大洋。于是有一天一个大奇迹发生了。那没有生命的得到了生命。最初的有生命的小细胞在海面上漂浮，没有目的的随波逐浪了无数年。但在这些年代内，它却发展了一种习惯，就是容易生存在这凄凉的地球上的习惯。其中有的小细胞非常欢喜住在小河与池塘的昏暗的深底里。它们就在从山顶冲下来的黏土上生根，长成了植物。有的宁愿到处移动，就生出奇怪的有关节的腿，像蝎子似的开始在海底的植物与像水母似的淡绿东西之间爬行。此外又有些遍体有鳞的东西，靠着一种游泳的动作到处来往寻食物；它们逐渐在海洋内繁殖了无数的鱼类。同时那些植物也增加了数目。海底已无它们容身之地，于是不得不离开海水，去到山脚的泥滩或湿地上另筑新家。海潮每天上来两次，将它们全身泡在咸水内。其余时，它们就在不舒服的情况中将就对付，并且设法在包围星球表面的稀薄空气里生活着。经过许多年代的训练，它们学会如何在空气内生活与当年在水里生活同样的舒服。它们的骨干长大了，长成大小的树木，到最后，学会如何开美丽的鲜花，引动大野蜂与飞鸟的注意，这些蜂与鸟替它们到处去传播种子，使全世界都铺满了绿沉沉的草地和阴森森的树林。有的鱼类也渐渐离开海水，学会了如何用肺呼吸与用鳃呼吸一样方便。我们称这类动物为两栖类，意思就是它们既可以陆居，又可以水居。你在半路遇到的小青蛙就可以告诉你两栖类的二重生活的快乐。这些动物，一旦离开水，渐渐能适应于陆居的生活。有的变成爬虫类（像壁虎之类会爬的），它们与昆虫同享树林里的安静。它们为要在松土上来去得快些，便把它们的腿改良了，体格增长了，直到这世上充满无数庞大的动物〔生物学教科书上将它们分为鱼龙（Ichthyosaurus）、斑龙（Megalosaurus）、雷龙（Brontosaurus）三种〕，这种动物长大到三四丈之长。有的爬虫类开始迁居到树顶，那时的树往往高至十余丈。它们不用腿走，所以必须另有方法迅速地往来于树林间。于是它们把身体上一部分的皮肉变成一对翅膀与足趾间的掌皮，翅膀渐渐长满了羽毛，又把尾巴当作舵，如此便可以自由飞翔，最后就发展成真正的飞鸟。这时又发生一件奇怪的事情。所有的庞大爬虫类统在一个短时期内死绝了。我们不知为什么。也许是为骤然改变气候的缘故。也许是为它们长得太大，以至不能游泳，不能走，也不能爬，即在它们近旁的羊齿与树，只是可望而不可即，因此而饿死的。不管是什么原因吧，总之，百万年的庞大爬虫类的世界是完了。现在的世界渐被许多不同样的生物所占据。这些生物都是爬虫类的后裔，但与它们绝对不同，因为它们抚养孩子是用母亲的乳哺的。这种动物现在称为“哺乳动物”。它们身上脱落了鱼鳞，不采用羽毛，而披满了毛发。这些哺乳动物后来发展许多别的习惯，使它们的种族得到一个比任何动物都占便宜的极大利益。母的哺乳动物怀卵在腹内，直到孵生之日。别的动物一向都把它们的孩子丢在一旁，任凭它们挨冻受热或被野兽吞食，独有哺乳动物与它们的孩子相处很久，在孩子们尚无能力抵抗仇敌之前，永远庇护它们。这样，使小的哺乳动物有极好的生存机会，因为它们从它们的母亲们学到许多本领。你只要看一只老猫教导它的小猫如何保护身子，如何洗脸，如何捉老鼠，你就可以明白了。关于这些哺乳动物用不着我多说，因为你知道的很清楚了。你的周围都有它们，不论你出门或在家，它们无时无刻不是你的同伴；在动物园的木栅里，还有你远房的从兄弟呢。现在我们走到歧路口了，那时人类忽然脱离过哑巴生活的动物所走的无穷尽的行程，开始运用他们的理性来定他们种族的运命。有一种哺乳动物的寻食与找居处的能力仿佛比一切的动物特别强。它们学会用前足拿食物，靠着天天练习的功效，前足就变成手样的爪子。又经过无数次的试验，它们学会如何使全身称平在两条后腿上（这是一件艰难的工作，人类虽已有过一百万年以上的经验，然而每个小孩尚须重新学过）。这种半猿、半猴式的，但优胜于此二者的动物，后来成为最成功的猎户，且在任何气候下都可以生活。它们为求安全起见，出游时都结队而行。它们学会做一种怪声去警告将要遇险的孩子。如此又经过几千百年之后，他们渐渐用喉音说话了。这种动物，虽然很难相信，确是你的“像人”的祖先。

前言

When I was twelve or thirteen years old, an uncle of mine who gave me my love for books and pictures promised to take me upon a memorable expedition. I was to go with him to the top of the tower of Old Saint Lawrence in Rotterdam.And so, one fine day, a sexton with a key as large as that of Saint Peter opened a mysterious door. “Ring the bell,” he said, “when you come back and want to get out,” and with a great grinding of rusty old hinges he separated us from the noise of the busy street and locked us into a world of new and strange experiences.For the first time in my life I was confronted by the phenomenon of audible silence. When we had climbed the first flight of stairs, I added another discovery to my limited knowledge of natural phenomena—that of tangible darkness. A match showed us where the upward road continued. We went to the next floor and then to the next and the next until I had lost count and then there came still another floor, and suddenly we had plenty of light. This floor was on an even height with the roof of the church, and it was used as a storeroom. Covered with many inches of dust, there lay the abandoned symbols of a venerable faith which had been discarded by the good people of the city many years ago. That which had meant life and death to our ancestors was here reduced to junk and rubbish. The industrious rat had built his nest among the carved images and the ever watchful spider had opened up shop between the outspread arms of a kindly saint.The next floor showed us from where we had derived our light. Enormous open windows with heavy iron bars made the high and barren room the roosting place of hundreds of pigeons. The wind blew through the iron bars and the air was filled with a weird and pleasing music. It was the noise of the town below us, but a noise which had been purified and cleansed by the distance. The rumbling of heavy carts and the clinking of horses’ hoofs, the winding of cranes and pulleys, the hissing sound of the patient steam which had been set to do the work of man in a thousand different ways—they had all been blended into a softly rustling whisper which provided a beautiful background for the trembling cooing of the pigeons.Here the stairs came to an end and the ladders began. And after the first ladder (a slippery old thing which made one feel his way with a cautious foot) there was a new and even greater wonder, the town-clock. I saw the heart of time. I could hear the heavy pulsebeats of the rapid seconds— one—two—three—up to sixty. Then a sudden quivering noise when all the wheels seemed to stop and another minute had been chopped off eternity. Without pause it began again—one—two—three—until at last after a warning rumble and the scraping of many wheels a thunderous voice, high above us, told the world that it was the hour of noon.On the next floor were the bells. The nice little bells and their terrible sisters. In the centre the big bell, which made me turn stiff with fright when I heard it in the middle of the night telling a story of fire or flood. In solitary grandeur it seemed to reflect upon those six hundred years during which it had shared the joys and the sorrows of the good people of Rotterdam. Around it, neatly arranged like the blue jars in an old-fashioned apothecary shop, hung the little fellows, who twice each week played a merry tune for the benefit of the country-folk who had come to market to buy and sell and hear what the big world had been doing. But in a corner— all alone and shunned by the others—a big black bell, silent and stern, the bell of death.Then darkness once more and other ladders, steeper and even more dangerous than those we had climbed before, and suddenly the fresh air of the wide heavens. We had reached the highest gallery. Above us the sky. Below us the city—a little toy-town, where busy ants were hastily crawling hither and thither, each one intent upon his or her particular business, and beyond the jumble of stones, the wide greenness of the open country. It was my first glimpse of the big world.Since then, whenever I have had the opportunity, I have gone to the top of the tower and enjoyed myself. It was hard work, but it repaid in full the mere physical exertion of climbing a few stairs.Besides, I knew what my reward would be. I would see the land and the sky, and I would listen to the stories of my kind friend the watchman, who lived in a small shack, built in a sheltered corner of the gallery. He looked after the clock and was a father to the bells, and he warned of fires, but he enjoyed many free hours and then he smoked a pipe and thought his own peaceful thoughts. He had gone to school almost fifty years before and he had rarely read a book, but he had lived on the top of his tower for so many years that he had absorbed the wisdom of that wide world which surrounded him on all sides.History he knew well, for it was a living thing with him. “There,” he would say, pointing to a bend of the river, “there, my boy, do you see those trees? That is where the Prince of Orange cut the dikes to drown the land and save Leyden.” Or he would tell me the tale of the old Meuse, until the broad river ceased to be a convenient harbour and became a wonderful highroad, carrying the ships of De Ruyter and Tromp upon that famous last voyage, when they gave their lives that the sea might be free to all.Then there were the little villages, clustering around the protecting church which once, many years ago, had been the home of their Patron Saints. In the distance we could see the leaning tower of Delft. Within sight of its high arches, William the Silent had been murdered and there Grotius had learned to construe his first Latin sentences. And still further away, the long low body of the church of Gouda, the early home of the man whose wit had proved mightier than the armies of many an emperor, the charityboy whom the world came to know as Erasmus.Finally the silver line of the endless sea and as a contrast, immediately below us, the patchwork of roofs and chimneys and houses and gardens and hospitals and schools and railways, which we called our home. But the tower showed us the old home in a new light. The confused commotion of the streets and the market-place, of the factories and the workshop, became the well-ordered expression of human energy and purpose. Best of all, the wide view of the glorious past, which surrounded us on all sides, gave us new courage to face the problems of the future when we had gone back to our daily tasks.History is the mighty Tower of Experience, which Time has built amidst the endless fields of bygone ages. It is no easy task to reach the top of this ancient structure and get the benefit of the full view. There is no elevator, but young feet are strong and it can be done.Here I give you the key that will open the door.When you return, you too will understand the reason for my enthusiasm.我在十二三岁时，那位使我对于书籍图画发生兴趣的叔父，允许带我作一个值得纪念的探险。我须随他上罗特丹姆a的老圣洛仑斯教堂b的塔巅。于是，在一个天气明媚的日子，一个管理教堂的人拿着一把极大的钥匙，开了一扇神秘的门。他对我们说：“你们回来时，想要出来，便按这个铃。”一声生了锈的铁钮响，他已将我们两人隔绝了闹市的扰攘，将我们锁进在一个经验新奇的世界里了。这是我生平第一次遇到的可以听得见的寂静。我们登上第一层楼梯时，在我的对于自然现象的有限知识上增加了一个新发见——就是可以摸得出的黑暗。一根火柴的光辉指示了我们向上的路径。我们登上第二层，于是一层又一层的直至数不清的层数，后来又上一层，忽然我们面前大放了光明。这一层与教堂的屋顶一样高，一向当作一间储藏室。室内积起几寸厚的灰尘，陈列着几尊在许多年前被良善市民所遗弃的信仰的标帜。从前我们的祖宗视为性命交关的东西，如今在这里已然贬为垃圾废物了。而这些偶像堆里甚至于筑满着老鼠窠与蜘蛛网。再上的一层，指示我们眼前的光明的来处。几扇有铁栏的敞开的大窗，使这间高而且空的屋子变成数百鸽子栖宿的地方。风从铁栏缝中吹过，空气里充满怪异的愉悦的音乐。这是我们脚下的都市里的声音，不过已被距离滤清、涤净了的。载重的大车的辚辚，马蹄的得得，起重机与滑车的辘辘，以及使人们演出千百样工作的蒸气的咝咝——这些嘈杂的声音融成一片轻柔的沙沙声，给了鸽子的战栗的咕咕声一个美丽的背景。楼梯到此地为止，梯子从这里起首。登上了第一梯（这是一件光滑的老古董，你得小心用脚去探索你的路）又有一个新的更大的怪物，就是那只大市钟。我看见了时间的核心。我可以听到急速的秒针的沉重的跳动——一——二——三——一直到六十。于是来了一个突然的震动，那时仿佛一切的齿轮戛然停止，这是又一分钟从无穷上被切下了。并不间断的重新开始它的——一——二——三——直到最后，在一个警告的轰声与许多齿轮的磨擦之后，高高在我们头顶之上，一声震耳的雷鸣，报告世上的人们此时已是正午了。再上的一层是几只吊钟。正中间是一只大吊钟，它在半夜里报告火警或水警时，可以把我吓呆的。这钟的孤高，仿佛反映过去的六百年间它与罗特丹姆人民共受甘苦的情景。大钟的周围，挂着一些像是旧式药铺里排列齐整的蓝色罐子似的小把戏，它们每星期奏两次悦耳的曲子，给进城来作买卖的，或来听新闻的乡下人一点消遣。但在一个犄角上——独自一个，为别的吊钟所远避的——有一只寂静而且严肃的大黑钟，那是报丧钟。于是又经过黑暗，又登上几条梯子，这些比我们先前登过的更陡更危险，忽然吸着了无边天空中的新鲜空气。我们已然达到最高一层的行廊了。这时在我们的头顶是天空。我们的脚下是都市——一个玩具式的小都市，一些蚂蚁在那里匆忙的爬来爬去，每个都在注意他的或她的各自的职业。在一堆乱石的那边，乃是城外的一大片绿野。这是我生平第一次对于这大千世界的一瞥。从这日起，我每遇机会，就到塔顶去消遣。虽说这是件艰难的工作，但只须费登几级楼梯的力，就可以得到心满意足的报酬。何况我又知道我的报酬是什么。我会看见天空与陆地，我会听到我的慈祥的朋友讲的故事。他是塔的看守人，住在走廊一角的一间小茅棚里。他的职务是照管市钟与吊钟，并负报告火警的责任，但他也享受不少闲暇的时间，有时抽一筒烟，想想他个人的宁静的思想。差不多在五十年之前，他也进过学校，他很少读书，但在这塔顶上住过这许多年，也就吸收了他周围大世界里的不少知识。他对于历史知道的很清楚，因为历史对于他是一件活东西。“那里，”他指着河的曲折处说，“那里，我的孩子，你不看见那些树吗！那就是奥伦治c公爵掘堤灌水以救莱顿的所在。”或者他告诉我老谬司河的故事。他说，在这条宽广的河不再作便利的港口，而变成很好的交通要道之先，得垒特与特纶普的著名的末一次航行是从这里经过的，那一次他们两人为争海洋的自由，而牺牲了性命。还有许多小的村子，丛集在那座保卫教堂——就是在许多年前那些保佑圣僧住的地方——的周围。在远远的地方，我们可以望见德佛特的斜塔。在它的高穹的视线之内，就是那位沉默的威廉被刺的地方，也就是格老秀司初学拉丁文的地方。再远一点，是高达教堂的一长条矮的建筑，就是那个幼年受人抚养的伊拉斯莫斯的家乡，这人的智慧大家认为比多少皇帝的军队的势力还大。最后是那无边的大海的银色线，与它对照的，正在我们脚下的，是一大片充满了屋顶、烟突、房屋、花园、病院、学校以及铁路等的补缀物，我们称之为我们的家乡。这塔使我们对这老家有一个新的看法：那些街道、市场、工厂的扰攘变为人类的精力与目的的有秩序的表现了。最好之点，是在看过这周围的光荣的过去之后，回到我们每日的工作时，我们可以得到新的勇气，以应付将来的问题。历史是一个经验的巨塔，由时间在以往的无限的方面造成的。要达到这座古代建筑的顶尖纵览全景，不是件容易的工作。因为此地没有升降机可乘，但是幼年人的脚劲是强的，是可以做到的。现在我把那个开门的钥匙给你。等你回来的时候，你也就会明白我所以如此热心的缘故了。Hendrik Willem Van Loon亨特利克•威廉•房龙

后记

一部优秀的纽伯瑞儿童文学获奖作品    呈现于读者面前的这部《美国学生人类史》，又名《人类的故事》，是荷兰裔美籍记者、教授兼作家房龙的经典著作，书中插图亦出自作者之手。本书英文原版于1921年出版，1922年获得首届纽伯瑞儿童文学奖，以表扬其对儿童文学的卓越贡献。1925年，沈性仁女士将此书翻译介绍到中国，由商务印书馆出版，在国内掀起了持久的房龙热。    本书内容均为短篇章节，叙述世界文明如何从原始社会发源，并进一步讲述书写文字、艺术、建筑以及主要的信仰，直至近代民族国家的兴起等。作者在写作精选历史题材时，总是不断问自己：该历史人物或事件是否至关后代的人类历史走向？书中文字从头至尾脉络清晰、简明流畅，犹如一位真实的老爷爷给孩子们在讲述人类的故事。    本书1921上市后，在美国大受欢迎，迅即成为畅销儿童图书。1922年，美国图书馆协会为纪念著名儿童图书出版商约翰·纽伯瑞，特设立纽伯瑞(Newbery Medal)儿童文学奖，房龙先生写作的这部畅销书成为第一部获得纽伯瑞金奖的图书。1923年，著名教育出版公司麦克米伦公司出版此书学生版，推荐给当时的学校作为教材使用。    遗憾的是，房龙先生的这部经典儿童文学作品，在中国一直与作者后来写作的《宽容》、《圣经的故事》等被当作成人阅读的人文经典。这种出版导向使得本书错失了很多青少年读者。近期我们出版了美国另一位作者维吉尔’希利尔的一套文史经典(《美国学生世界历史》、《美国学生世界地理》、《美国学生艺术史》)，特别巧合的是，房龙先生的这部人类史故事与希利尔先生的三本经典教材相比，无论从写作对象、讲述方式和选取内容来看，都是那么相似，其写作年代也相差不远。于是我们便将房龙的这部书并入希利尔校长的文史系列。为了让更多学生和家长关注这部纽伯瑞金奖图书，我们特参考麦克米伦公司出版的学生版，并将此英汉双语版定名为《美同学生人类史》，以期引吸更多学生阅读此书，了解人类历史知识，同步提升英文阅读水平。    至于本书的中译本，我们选取了沈性仁女士的译本。它是房龙的这本书在中国的第一部中文译本，1925年由商务印书馆出版，当时在国内掀起了一股经久不衰的“房龙热”。郁达夫先生曾评价说：“范龙(即房龙)的这一种方法，实在巧妙不过，干燥无味的科学常识，经他那么一写，无论大人小孩，读他的书的人，都觉得娓娓忘倦了……范龙的笔，有这一种魔力。但这也不是他的特创，这不过是将文学家的手法，拿来用以讲述科学而已。”    沈性仁(1895—1943)，浙江嘉兴人，早在“五四”时期就有翻译作品在《新青年》上发表。其父沈秉钧在上海商务印书馆做过七年编辑，参与编辑过《辞源》等书。沈性仁曾在日本求学，因父病回国，后入北京女高师。1917年与北大教授、著名社会学家陶孟和结婚，夫妇志趣相投，生活淡泊。卢沟桥事变后，沈性仁带一个孩子南下，乘船数十个小时，没有床位，甚至连座位都没有，且一路苍蝇、蚊子扑面，只能以手帕遮口，这些致使她到上海时已面容憔悴。接着，她又辗转前往桂林，与陶孟和及其他孩子会合，后又前往红十字会报名，志愿看护伤兵，不久肺病发作。1943年1月，年仅48岁的沈性仁囚肺炎突发在兰州逝世，留下三女一子。费正清先生说，“她是我们月月友中最早去世的一个”。    还有一点需要向读者交代的是，本书对东方世界的故事讲述较少，涉及中闹的也仅有一篇，译者当时觉得这篇讲得不够全面，也不太准确，翻译时便含弃此篇，本英汉双语版相应去掉了该篇英文。另外，当时译者对某些专有名词的译法标准，与现代译法有些差别，我们在每篇结尾增加了“编者注”，给出其对应的现代译法，供读者阅读时参照。    这套《美围学生人类史》，不仅是房龙先生讲给两位孙子的家庭故事，而且是他献给世界儿童的经典文学礼物！期盼得到广大家长和学生的喜欢！

内容概要

亨德里克•威廉•房龙（1882.1.14-1944.3.11），荷兰裔美国人，著名历史通俗读物作家、插图画家、记者。1882年，他出生于荷兰鹿特丹一个富裕家庭。自幼对历史、地理、船舶、绘画和音乐等很有兴趣。1902年只身赴美国，入康奈尔大学，1905年获学士学位，1911年在慕尼黑大学获博士学位。房龙的作品多以散文的形式叙述、评论历史事件及人物，他生动诙谐的文笔使读者能在短时间内以一种轻松的方式了解历史的大致脉络，并配上亲手绘制之许多生动插图，提高阅读的趣味，因此很受大众读者欢迎。他的书十分畅销，拥有惊人的销量。但在历史学研究上，房龙则并未取得相应的学术地位与成就，基本上是被定位于一位“优秀的通俗历史作家”。他的作品中，以《美国学生人类史》、《人类的故事》、《宽容》、《圣经的故事》最为著名。

书籍目录

《美国学生人类史（上册）》目录：

人类舞台的起始1

我们最早的祖宗8

历史以前的人11

象形字15

尼罗河流域22

埃及的历史27

美索博达米亚30

苏曼利亚人32

摩西38

腓尼西亚人42

印度欧罗巴人45

伊近海49

希腊人54

希腊都市58

希腊的自治政府62

希腊人的生活66

希腊的戏剧72

波斯战争76

雅典与斯巴达之拮抗84

亚历山大大王87

概要90

罗马与迦太基93

罗马之兴110

罗马帝国114

拿撒勒的约书亚127

罗马之亡134

教会之兴142

穆罕默德151

查尔斯大帝159

诺斯人166

封建制度170

武士制175

教皇与皇帝之对立179

十字军188

中世纪的都市195

中世纪的自治制度208

……

《美国学生人类史（下册）》

编辑推荐

《美国学生人类史(英汉双语版)(套装上下册)》是我国第一部房龙历史的经典译本，获得首届纽伯瑞奖的儿童文学经典，英汉双语版，并配有全书英文朗读，在提升英文阅读水平的同时，了解不一样的人类历史！

作者简介

《美国学生人类史(英汉双语版)(套装上下册)》内容简介：呈现于读者面前的这部《美国学生人类史》，亦名《人类的故事》，是荷兰裔美籍记者、教授兼作家房龙的经典著作，书中插图亦出自作者之手。《美国学生人类史》英文原版问世于1921年，1922年获得首届纽伯瑞儿童文学奖。1923年，著名教育出版公司麦克米伦公司出版《美国学生人类史》学生版，推荐给学校作为教材使用。1957年，据其改编的电影上市。1925年，沈性仁女士将《美国学生人类史》翻译介绍到中国，由商务印书馆出版，在国内掀起一阵房龙热。



《美国学生人类史》最初是房龙写给两位孙子的历史故事集。书中内容均按短篇章节而写，叙述西方文明是如何从原始人类发源，并进一步讲述书写文字、艺术、建筑以及主要的信仰，直至近代民族国家的兴起等。遗憾的是，房龙的这部经典儿童文学作品，在中国一直与他后来写作的《宽容》、《圣经的故事》等被当作成人阅读的人文经典。这种出版导向，使得《美国学生人类史》错失了很多青少年读者。在出版美国另一位作者维吉尔•希利尔的一套文史经典（《美国学生世界历史》、《美国学生世界地理》、《美国学生艺术史》）之后，我们决定将房龙的这部书并入希利尔校长的文史系列。并将此英汉双语版定名为《美国学生人类史》，以期引吸更多学生读者阅读此书，了解人类历史知识、同步提升英文阅读水平。



The Story of Mankind was written and illustrated by American journalist, professor, and author Hendrik Willem van Loon and published in 1921. In 1922, it was the first book to be awarded the Newbery Medal for an outstanding contribution to children's literature.

Written for his grandchildren, The Story of Mankind tells in brief chapters the history of Western civilization beginning with primitive man, covering the development of writing, art, and architecture, the rise of major religions, and the formation of the modern (for 1921) nation-state. Van Loon explains in the book how he selected what and what not to include by subjecting all materials to the question: Did the person or event in question perform an act without which the entire history of civilization would have been different? This genuinely enjoyable charmer, for history buffs and the historically challenged alike, covers human history from prehistoric times, when our earliest ancestors were learning to communicate with grunts, right through to the issues of the latter 20th century. Van Loon's inviting classic is filled with stories that bring history alive. His pen-and-ink illustrations, maps, and animated chronology contribute to the cozy, round the fireplace aspect of the book.

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