FAR away frm England，
Farff in the directinf the rising sun，Far beynd Italy and Jerusalem and the Tigris and Euphrates and Persia was a cuntry called Cathay-C-A-T-H-A-Y.
If you lked dwn at yur feet， and the wrld were glass， yu wuld see Cathayn thether side.
Cathay is the same place we nw call China. There had been peple living in Cathay，f curse， all thrugh the centuries that had passed， but Eurpeans knew littlef this landrf its peple.
In the thirteenth centuryr twelve hundreds， Mngls， wh came frm the nrth， were ruling China. Sn， it seemed that they might cnquer all thether cuntries whse histries we have been hearing abut. The rulerf the Mngls was a fierce fighter named Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan had an armyf Tartar hrsemen wh were terrific fighters.
Genghis usually fund sme excuse fr making warnthers， but if he culdn"t find a gd excuse， he made upne， fr he was bentn building an enrmus empire.
Genghis and his hrsemen sweptver the land frm Cathay tward Eurpe. They burned and destryed thusands upn thusandsf twns and cities and everything in their way. Nne was able t stp them.
Genghis Khan had cnquered the whle land frm the Pacificcean t the eastern partf Eurpe. At last he stpped. With this kingdm he seemed t be satisfied. He might well have been satisfied， fr it was larger than the Rman Empirer thatf Alexander the Great.
Even when Genghis died， things were n better， fr his sn was just as fierce a fighter as his father and cnquered still mre territry.
But the grandsnf Genghis Khan was much less warlike than his grandfather had been. He was named Kublai Khan， and he was quite different frm his father and grandfather. He made his capital at a city in China called Peiping， nw called Beijing， and ruledver this vast empire that he had inherited frm his father. Kublai built magnificent palaces and surrundedhimself with beautiful gardens， and he made such a wnderful capital fr himself that Slmn in all his glry did nt live in such splendr as did Kublai Khan.
Nw， far， farff frm Beijing and the palacef Kublai Khan， in the nrthf Italy was a city builtn the water. Its streets weref water， and bats were used insteadf carriages. This city was called Venice. Abut the Year 1260 there were living in Venice tw brthers named Nicl and Maffe Pl. The Pls gt an idea in their heads that they wuld like t see smethingf the wrld. S these tw Venetian merchants startedff tward the rising sun lking fr adventure， just like bys in strybks wh gff t seek their frtunes. After several yearsf travel， always tward the east， they at last came t the gardens and t the magnificent palacef Kublai Khan.
When Kublai Khan heard that strange white men frm a far-ff place and an unknwn cuntry wereutside the palace， he wanted t see them. They were brught int his presence. They tld Kublai Khan all abut theirwn land. They were gd stry-tellers， and they made it interesting. They tld him als abut the Christian religin and manyther things that he had never heardf. After several years， the Pls went hme t Venice.
The emperr was s much interested in the Pls and in the stries they tld abut their cuntry that he wanted t hear mre. In 1271 the Pls returned t China with Nicl"s teenage sn， Marc. The emperr persuaded them t stay with him and tell him mre. He gave them rich presents. Then he made them his advisers and assistants in ruling his empire. The Pls stayedn fr years and years and years and learned the language and came t be very imprtant peple in Cathay.
At last after they had spent abut twenty years in Cathay， the Pls thught it was abut time t g hme and see theirwn peple again. They begged leave t return. Kublai Khan did nt want them t g. In the end thugh he did let them g， and they started back t whatnce had been their hme.
When they at last arrived in Venice， they had been away s lng and had been traveling s far that nne knew them. They had almst frgtten hw t speak theirwn language， and they talked like freigners. Their clthes had becme wrnut and ragged by their lng trip. They lked like tramps， and nt even theirld friends recgnized them. Nne wuld believe that these ragged， dirty strangers were the same fine Venetian gentlemen wh had disappeared almst twenty years befre.
The Pls tld their twnspeple all abut their adventures and the wnderfully rich lands and cities that they had visited. The twnspeplenly laughed at them， fr they thught them stry tellers.
The Pls then rippedpen their ragged garments， andut fell pilesf magnificent and cstly jewels， diamnds and rubies and sapphires and pearls- enugh t buy a kingdm. The peple lked in wnder and amazement and began t believe.
Marc Pl tld his stries t a man wh wrte them dwn and made a bkf them called The Travelsf Marc Pl. This is an interesting bk fr yu t read even tday， althugh we cannt believe all the tales he tld. We knw that he exaggerated a great many things， fr he liked t amaze peple.
Marc Pl described the magnificencef Kublai Khan"s palace. He tldf its enrmus dining hall， where thusandsf guests culd sit dwn at the table atne time. He tldf a bird s huge that it culd fly away with an elephant. He said that Nah"s Ark was stilln Munt Ararat，nly the muntain was s high and s dangerus t climbn accuntf the ice and snw with which it was cvered that nne culd g t see if the ark really was there.
【中文阅读】
离英国很远，
在太阳升起的方向，离我们很远， 远在意大利、耶路撒冷、底格里斯河、幼发拉底河和波斯以外的地方，有个国家叫中国--古英语叫"Cathay"。
如果你向自己的脚下看，而且世界像玻璃那样透明，你就能看到世界另一边的 中国。
我们现在把中国称为"China"。当然自古以来中国就有人居住，可是这么多世 纪过去了，欧洲人对这片土地和生活在那里的人们仍知之甚少。
在 13 世纪，也就是公元 1200 年以后，来自北方的蒙古人统治着中国。不久， 他们就似乎要征服所有其他国家，那些国家的历史在本章之前我们都说过了。蒙古 人的统治者是一位勇猛的战士，名叫成吉思汗。成吉思汗有一支鞑靼人的骑兵部队， 这些骑兵都是所向无敌的勇士。
成吉思汗总会找些借口，与别国开战，但是如果找不到合适的借口，他就捏造 一个理由，因为他一心要建立一个庞大的帝国。
成吉思汗和他的骑兵们席卷了从中国到欧洲的大地。他们烧毁了成千上万的村 镇和城市，清除了阻挡他们前进的一切东西。没人能阻止他们。
成吉思汗征服了从太平洋到欧洲东部的全部陆地。最后他停了下来。对这样的 大帝国他似乎感到满意了。他极有可能踌躇满志，因为这个帝国比罗马帝国或亚历 山大大帝的帝国还要大。
即使成吉思汗死后，情况也没有任何好转，因为他的儿子也是和成吉思汗一样 勇猛的战士，他继续攻占了更多的领土。
但是成吉思汗的孙子远没有他的祖父那样好战。他名叫忽必烈，与他父亲和祖 父有很大的不同。他把都城建在中国一个叫北平的城市，现在被称为北京，统治着 从父亲那里继承来的庞大帝国。忽必烈建造了富丽堂皇的宫殿，周围都是美丽的园 林，他为自己建的这座都城是那么华美壮观雄伟，就连全盛时期的所罗门都没有像 忽必烈这样享受过如此的奢华。
离北京和忽必烈宫殿很远的意大利的北部有一座建在水上的城市。水道相当于 街道，船只代替了马车。这座城市叫威尼斯。大约在公元 1260 年威尼斯城里住着两 兄弟，分别叫尼科洛 波罗和马飞奥 波罗。波罗兄弟俩脑中有个念头，就是想去见 识一下这个世界。于是这两个威尼斯商人出发了，向着太阳升起的方向去寻求冒险， 就像故事书里的男孩子们出发去寻找宝藏一样。经过几年一直向东的旅行，他们终 于来到了忽必烈的皇家园林和宏伟的宫殿。
当忽必烈听说从遥远的不知名的国度来了两个古怪的白人，现在就在宫殿外面， 就想见见他们。他们被带到了他的面前。他们给忽必烈讲了有关他们自己国家的所 有的事情。他们很会讲故事，把故事说得生动有趣。他们还向他讲了基督教和其他 一些他从未听说过的事情。几年后，波罗兄弟回到了家乡威尼斯。
忽必烈皇帝对波罗兄弟二人和他们所讲的关于他们国家的故事非常感兴趣，很 想听他们再讲一些故事。公元 1271 年波罗兄弟又来到了中国，还带着尼科洛 波罗 十几岁的儿子马可。皇帝说服他们留下来陪他，给他讲更多的故事。他赏赐给他们 贵重的礼物。后来还请他们俩做他的顾问和助手，帮助自己治理国家。波罗兄弟在 中国一待就是很多年，年复一年，他们学会了当地的语言，在中国变成了重要的大 人物。
在中国待了大约二十年后，波罗兄弟终于觉得该回家乡去看看自己的亲人了。 他们请求回国。忽必烈舍不得他们走，不过最终还是同意了。就这样他们开始返回 他们阔别多年的家乡。
当他们最终抵达威尼斯时，由于他们离家太久，又经过漫长的旅途，已经没有 人认识他们了。他们几乎忘了该怎么说母语，说起话来就像外国人一样。经过长途 跋涉，他们的衣服已经变得破烂不堪。他们看上去像流浪汉，连他们的老朋友也都 认不出他们了。没人相信这两个衣衫褴褛、脏兮兮的陌生人就是二十年前失踪的那 两位优雅的威尼斯绅士。
波罗兄弟给镇上的人们讲了他们的历险经历以及他们到过的那些极其富庶的国 家和繁华的城市。大家听了只是觉得好笑，认为他们不过是在编故事而已。
于是波罗兄弟扯开破烂的外衣，从里面掉下成堆的璀璨、昂贵的珠宝、钻石、 红宝石、蓝宝石和珍珠--其价值足够买下一个王国了。人们惊叹不已地看着，这 才开始相信他们说的是真事。
马可 波罗把他的故事讲给一个人听，这个人把这些故事记了下来，写成一本 书，叫《马可 波罗游记》。这本书就是今天你读起来也很感兴趣，不过我们不能把 他说的故事都当真。我们知道他把许多事情都夸大了，因为他想让人们对他的故事 惊叹不已。
马可 波罗描述了忽必烈宫殿的雄伟。他提到里面有巨大的餐厅，能同时容纳 几千宾客在桌前用餐。他还讲到一只特别大的鸟，可以驮着大象一起飞行。他说诺 亚方舟仍然在亚拉腊山上，只是那山攀登起来太高太危险，因为山上覆盖着冰雪， 没有人能够登上去查看方舟是否真的在那里。
公元 1275 年