The Beginning of the World（盘古开天辟地）

    In the remoteages , the world was in completeindistinguishablechaoslike a giant egg . Pan Gu,creator of the universe , was born in it. He grew bigger and stronger whensleeping in it for over 18.000 years.

    上古时代，天地不分，混沌一片，整个宇宙就像一只巨大的鸡蛋。而开天辟地的祖先盘古就孕育在这只巨蛋里。他在蛋中沉睡了一万八千多年，身体也渐渐长大、健壮起来。

    One day, Pan Gu suddenlywoke up and saw nothing but darkness around him.Enragedby the narrowness and the darkness , Pan Gu grabbed a bigaxe out of nowhere andslashedaround him vigorously. With adeafeningblare shaking the world ,the giant egg was split up and from it something clearand light ascended while something turbid and heavy descended, turning into theheaven and earth respectively.

    一天，盘古突然醒来了，他睁开研究却发现，周围全是黑漆漆的一片，什么也看不见。面对黑暗和狭小的空间，盘古勃然大怒。他不知从哪里抓起一把大斧子，使劲力气对着这黑暗一阵乱砍。只听天崩地裂的一声巨响，巨蛋被劈开了。一些清和轻的东西慢慢上升，变成天空；另外一些浊而重的东西慢慢下沉，变成大地。

    Being afraid oftheir folding-up again, Pan Gu stood and hung in there with his head up to skyand his feet down to earth. As the world continued to be expanded. Pan Gu grewin height as well. For another 18,000 years in this way, the heaven and earthwere finally fixed when Pan Gu s height stopped increasing at 90,000 li (about45,000 kilometers).

    盘古担心天地还会合拢，他就站起身来，头顶蓝天，脚踩大地，撑在这天地当中。随着天地不断被撑开，盘古的身体也不断变长。就这样又过了一万八千年，盘古也长到了九万里长，天地终于被固定住，不再增长了。

    However, Pan Guwas exhausted and slammed down after such strenuous work for such a long time .

    With his death,his bodyunderwent marvelouschanges. His breath turned into the wind and the cloud，hisvoice into thunder; his left eye into the sun while his right eye into themoon; his limbs and body into the four poles of the earthy and the Five Mountains(Taishan Mountain in Shandong, Huashan Mountain in Shaanxi, Songshan Mountainin Henan, Hengshan Mountain in Shanxi and Hengshan Mountain in Hunan); hisblood into rivers and lakes, veins into thoroughfares, muscle into fertilesoil, skin into flowers and trees; his teeth and bones into various metals andstones,marrowintopearls and jewelry, sweat into rain and shower. The rudiment of the beautifulworld was formed.

    可是盘古辛辛苦苦撑了这么久，耗尽了力气，他“轰”的一声倒下去，再也没能站起来。

    随着盘古的死去，他的身体发生了奇妙的变化。他嘴里呼出的气变成了风儿和云朵；声音变成了雷鸣；左眼变成了太阳，右眼幻化成月亮；四肢和身体成了大地的四极和五岳名山（东岳泰山、西岳华山、中岳嵩山、北岳恒山和南岳衡山）；血液成为江河湖海，筋脉变为通途大道，肌肉化为肥田沃土，皮肤成为花草树木；牙齿和骨头也变成了各类金属和石头，骨髓成了珍珠宝石，汗水变成了雨露甘霖。美丽世界的雏形形成了。

    This is one ofthe oldest legends of Chinese nation . Later generations commemorate and recallPan Gu in different ways . 30 li(15 kilometers ) south of Biyang Country ,Henan Province lies a Pangu Mountain . The Pangu Mountain Temple Fair is heldevery year on the third day of the third lunar month , and on that day peoplefrom all directions will gather here for worship and blessing activities .

    盘古开天辟地是中华民族最古老的传说之一，后人也通过多种方式来纪念和缅怀盘古。在河南泌阳县南三十里（15千米）有一座盘古山，每年农历三月初三都要举办盘古山庙会，人们会从四面八方到这里进行祭拜和祈福活动。

相关词汇：

    indistinguishable  /ˌɪndɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃəbl/ adj.不能区别的，不能辨别的；不易察觉的

    chaos    /ˈkeɪɒs/ n. 混沌，混乱

    enraged /ɪn'reɪdʒd/ adj. 暴怒的；忿怒填胸的      v.使发怒；触怒（enrage的过去分词）

    deafening  /ˈdefnɪŋ/

        adj. 震耳欲聋的；极喧闹的

        v. 使…聋（deafen的ing形式）

        n. 隔音

    slashed /slæʃed/ v. 削减（slash的过去式及过去分词）

    marvelous  /ˈmɑːvələs/     adj.了不起的；非凡的；令人惊异的；不平常的

    marrow  /ˈmærəʊ/ n. 髓，骨髓；精华；活力