Gong Gong Hitting Buzhou Mountain 共工撞不周山

作者 /梁力之

指导教师 / 班海东 张泽妍

In ancient times, Yellow Emperor and Yan Emperor fought for the throne, and finally Yan Emperor was defeated.

远古时代，黄帝和炎帝为争夺王位征战不休，最后炎帝大败。

In order to take revenge for his ancestors, Water god Gong Gong, the descendant of Yan Emperor, declared war on Zhuan Xu, the descendant of Yellow Emperor.

炎帝的子孙水神共工为了给祖先报仇，便对黄帝的子孙颛项宣战了。

Gong Gong was born with human’s face but snake’s body, quite different from ordinary people.  

共工出生就和常人不同，他人面蛇身。

Strong and mighty as he was, he was more audacious than wise.

虽力大无穷，但性格暴躁，有勇无谋。

Zhuan Xu was not as powerful as Gong Gong was, but he was resourceful and good at winning trust and support of the people.

尽管额项力气不如共工，却很有谋略，善得民心。

The war was extremely fierce, with two troops fighting from heaven to ground and ground to heaven.

战争异常激烈，两队人马从天上厮杀到地面，又从地面杀回天上。

Although neither could get the upper hand in the beginning, Gong Gong suffered one defeat after another when Zhuan Xu adopted flexible tactics.

两队打得难解难分，然而颛项善用计谋。

After several major wars, Gong’s troop, with fewer and fewer soldiers, was besieged at the foot of Buzhou Mountain.

几场大战之后，共工的队伍就节节败退，人数也越来越少，最终被围困在不周山下。

Looking back at the approaching pursuing forces and the remaining teams, Gong Gong flied into a shameful rage, and suddenly struck the mountain with his head.

共工回头看看渐渐逼近的追兵，又看看自己寥寥无几的队伍，他恼羞成怒，突然一头撞向不周山。

With an earth-shaking blare, Buzhou Mountain was cut down in the middle and collapsed.

一声巨响后，不周山被拦腰斩断，整座大山轰然倒塌。

But who could ever expect this mountain was actually a pillar propping up the sky?

谁承想，不周山竟是撑天的一根柱子！

When one pillar was snapped, the whole universe would undergone tremendous changes.

擎天柱一断，整个宇宙就发生了巨大的变化：

The sun, the moon, and the stars followed the northwest direction as the sky there tilted down.

西北方向的天空倾斜了下来，天上的太阳、月亮和星星都跟着一起偏向西北方向。

That’s the reason why we today see these celestial bodies rise in the east and set in the west.

我们今天看到的日月星辰“东升西落”的运行轨迹便是来源于此。

Meanwhile the rope tied to the southeast corner of the earth broke, leaving the ground level uneven with the northwest higher and the southeast lower, which gave rise to the phenomenon that all the rivers flow to the east.

而挂着大地东南角的绳子也被崩断了，造成了西北高、东南低的地势形态，进而形成了今天“大河向东流”的现象。

As a famous Chinese myth in remote ages, Gong Gong hitting Buzhou Mountain, together with Nü Wa patching the sky, Hou Yi shooting the suns, the Goddess Chang’s fly to the moon, is known as the four great myths of ancient China.

共工撞不周山是中国著名的上古神话，与女娲补天、后羿射日和嫦娥奔月并称为中国古代著名的四大神话。

梁力之

大家好！我是人文与教育学院英语B2204班的学生——梁力之。我来自山西省临汾市霍州，爱好有唱歌，画画，跑步。今天我要和大家分享的文本是Gong Gong Hitting Buzhou Mountain（共工撞不周山）。