TPO-16 Reading 1翻译

Trade and the AncientMiddle East古代中东与贸易Trade wasthe mainstayof theurban economyin theMiddle East,as caravansnegotiatedthe surroundingdesert,restricted onlyby accessto waterand bymountainranges.This hasbeen sosince ancienttimes,partly dueto thegeology of the area,which ismostlylimestone andsandstone,with fewdeposits ofmetallic oreand otheruseful（materials.Ancient demandsfor obsidiana blackvolcanic rockuseful formaking mirrors）and toolsled totrade withArmenia to the north,while jadefor cuttingtools wasbroughtfrom Turkistan,and theprecious stonelapis lazuliwas importedfrom Afghanistan.Onecan tracesuch expeditionsback toancient Sumeria,the earliestknown Middle Easterncivilization.Records showmerchant caravansand tradingposts setup by the Sumeriansinthe surroundingmountains anddeserts ofPersia andArabia,where theytraded grainforraw materials,such astimber andstones,as wellas formetals andgems.自从中东地区的商旅们成功跨越周围的戈壁，只有水路和山峦还是障碍时，贸易就成为了中东地区城市经济的主要支柱这种情况（贸易是主要支柱）从古至今都是如此，一部分原因是中东地区的地质环境——多为沙石和石灰岩，金属矿藏和其它有用材料很少古代对黑曜石（一种火山岩，可以用来制作镜子和工具）的需求引发了（中东地区）与北方的亚美尼亚之间的贸易;用作切削工具的玉石从土耳其斯坦购买;而稀有贵重的琉璃青金石是从阿富汗地区进口探险活动最早可以追溯至古苏美尔——已知最早的中东文明记录显示商队和贸易站由古苏美尔人在周围山区及古波斯和阿拉伯的沙漠地区建立Reliance ontrade hadseveral importantconsequences.Production wasgenerally inthehands ofskilled individualartisans doingpiecework underthe tutelageof amaster whowasalso theshop owner.In theseshops differencesof rankwere blurredas artisansandmasters laboredside byside in the samemodest establishment,were usuallymembers ofthe same guildand religioussect,lived in thesameneighborhoods,and oftenhad assumed（）or realkinship relationships.The workerwas boundtothemaster by a mutualcontractthat eitherone couldrepudiate,andtherelationship wasconceptualized asone ofpartnership.过于依赖贸易造成了一些重大影响生产工作一般在师傅也是店主的监视下，由熟练的工匠计件完成在这些店铺中，阶级差异并不明显，因为工匠和店主同在一个相对舒适的环境中共事，通常有着相同的宗教信仰，而且又是街坊邻里，彼此之间还很有可能（没准真的）是亲戚关系Q工人和店主双方具有劳务关系，任一方都有权终止，这是合作关系中的一种This modeof craftproduction favoredthe growthof self-governing andideologicallyegalitarian craftguilds everywhereintheMiddle Easterncity.These wereessentiallyprofessional associationsthat providedfor themutual aidand protectionof theirmembers,and allowedfor themaintenance ofprofessional standards.The growthof independentguildswas furtheredbythefact thatsurplus wasnot aresult ofdomestic craftproductionbut resultedprimarily frominternational trading;the governmentleft workingpeople togovernthemselves,much asshepherds oftribal confederacieswere leftalone bytheirleaders.In themultiplicity ofsmall-scale localegalitarian orquasi-egalitarianorganizations forfellowship,worship,and productionthat flourishedin thislaissez-faireenvironment,individuals couldinteract withone anotherwithin acommunity ofharmonyand ideologicalequality,following theirown popularlyelected leadersand governingthemselvesby sharedconsensus whileminimizing distinctionsof wealthand power.这种生产模式有助于自主管理制度的发展，在中东城市里意识形态上秉持人人平等的手工行会比比皆是他们实质上是专门提供互助且保护组织成员的协会组织，同时注重维持行业标准独立行会不断增加，是因为剩余价值的产生并非由于国内生产，而是主要来自于国际间的贸易活动政府允许劳动人民自主管理，这和部落首领让牧羊者们离群索居一样在当地，团体、信仰以及生产方面的小型平等主义团体或类似平等主义的组织在这种自由放任的环境里遍地开花，和谐平等的团体中，成员之间相互影响，追随着他们自己选举的领导人，在缩小财富和权力差距的同时通过分享意见进行自我管理The mercantileeconomy wasalso characterizedbyapeculiar moralstance that istypical ofpeople wholive bytrade—an attitudethatisindividualistic,calculating,risktaking,and adaptiveto circumstances.As amongtribespeople,personal relationshipsand acarefulweighing ofcharacter havealways beencrucial ina mercantileeconomy withlittleregulation,where onesword isones bondand whereinformal tiesof trustcement togetheraninternational tradenetwork.Nor havemerchants andartisans everhad muchtolerancefor aristocraticprofessions ofmoral superiority,favoring insteadan egalitarianethic oftheopen market,where steadyhard work,the loyaltyof one*s fellows,and entrepreneurialskillmake allthe difference.And,like thepastoralists,MiddleEastern merchants andartisansunhappy withtheir environmentcould simplypack up and leavefor greenerpastures-an actof self-assertion whollyimpossible inmost othercivilizations throughouthistory.商品经济也通过靠贸易为生的商人所秉持的特定道德立场表现出来他们具有独立自主、精于计算、敢于冒险和随遇而安的优秀品质在部落成员之间,人际关系和对人格的仔细衡量在监管不严的商品经济中至关重要，商品经济里人们出口成契，诚信基础上的非正式联系形成了一个国际贸易网络从没有商人和工匠对贵族职业的道德优越感如此宽容，这很好地促进了开放市场中的平等主义，人们辛勤工作，忠诚跟随，具备企业家精神非常重要而且，这和畜牧文明类似，中东的商人和工匠们若对自己所处的环境不满意，简单收拾一下就可迁移到一个更加丰茂的牧场——纵观历史，如此随性而为的行为在其他多数文明中是无法想象的Dependence onlong-distance tradealso meantthat thegreat empiresoftheMiddleEast werebuilt bothliterally andfiguratively onshifting sand.The centralstate,thoughoften veryrich andvery populous,was intrinsicallyfragile,since thedevelopment ofnewinternational traderoutes couldundermine themonetary baseand erodestate power,asoccurred whenEuropean seafarerscircumvented MiddleEasternmerchantsafter VascodaGamas voyagearound Africainthelate fifteenth-century openedupasouthern route.Theecology ofthe regionalso permittedarmed predatorsto prowlthe surroundingbarrens,which werealmost impossiblefor astate tocontrol.Peripheral peoplestherefore hadagreat advantagein theirdealings withthe center,making governmentauthority insecureandanxious.对远距离贸易的依赖也意味着伟大的中东帝国得以建立在这片飘忽不定却又无比真实的沙土之中帝国中部尽管非常富足繁盛，但本质上脆弱不堪，因为新的国际贸易线路的出现会动摇经济基础并腐蚀国家权力就在15世纪晚期达伽马绕过非洲开辟南部航线以后，欧洲的水手们便绕过中东商人改走南部航线了该地区的生态环境也允许武装“捕食者”在周围的荒漠潜行，几乎很难被帝国控制外围的人借此得到一个应对中央帝国的绝好机会，这让政府惴惴不安。