X. The Oldest Language upon Earth.

 The story goes that three old men—a Mohammedan, a Jew, and a Brahmin—seated on the ground beside a well, disputed together as to which was the first language spoken upon earth. The discussion waxed so hot, the voices were raised so loudly, that the sound drew to the spot a young Englishman. The youth had been out shooting; with his gun in his hand, and his game at his feet, he now stood, leaning against a tree, listening to the discussion between the three men.

 

The Mohammedan, with vehement¹ gestures, and many an oath, declared that no language could equal the Arabic.

 

“Is it not the language,” he cried, “in which Mohammed (blessed be his name!) received the holy Koran? Is it not that in which the Most High gave laws to the faithful? Will ye, O ye unbelievers![171] cast dust on the grave of the Prophet by doubting that Arabic is the oldest language on earth?”

 

The Jew shook his gray head, and his brow was knit into many wrinkles as he made answer: “The language which Abraham our father, which Isaac and Jacob (peace be on them!) spake, must be honoured above all other tongues. Surely it was heard in Paradise, before Eve plucked the forbidden fruit! The oldest and most sacred language assuredly is the Hebrew.”

 

Then spake the Brahmin, in tones of scorn: “All languages compared to Sanscrit are as the bulrush compared with the spreading banyan². Nay³; even as the banyan sends forth⁴ shoots, and from those shoots, when they touch the earth, spring forth young trees, so other tongues spring from the life-giving Sanscrit. He must be void of wisdom, and ignorant as a woman, who doubts that the most ancient language is Sanscrit.”

 

The disputants grew so angry, that it seemed as if to words might succeed blows, when the young Englishman stepped forward.

 

“O venerable men!” he said with courtesy, “you have numbered many years and I but few; yet let me arbitrate between you. I know what is the most ancient and honourable⁵ language spoken on earth.”

 

[172]

 

“You know!” exclaimed the Mohammedan in surprise. “You have but down upon your lips; and will you teach graybeards like us?”

 

The Hindu muttered to himself,—“The Sahib log think that they know everything! They can make roads and bridges, and send messages through wires; but what can they tell of ancient languages to a Brahmin?”

 

“The language of which I would inform you is not only the one first spoken upon earth, but it is the one now spoken in heaven,” said the Englishman.

 

The three men stroked their beards, and uttered exclamations⁶ of astonishment⁷ at the presumption⁸ shown by the youth.

 

“And yet more,” continued the youth, his eyes, blue as the sky, sparkling with animation⁹ as he went on,—“without learning to speak this language no man, of whatsoever¹⁰ nation he be, will ever be suffered to enter heaven.”

 

“Does your honour know this language?” asked the Mohammedan quickly.

 

“Yes, God be praised!” the Englishman replied.

 

“And where did you first learn it?” asked the incredulous Jew.

 

In a softened¹¹ tone the young man replied, “I learned it first from the lips of my mother.”

 

[173]

 

The three men glanced at each other in surprise; and then the Brahmin inquired, “And what is this language, O Sahib?”

 

“The language of TRUTH,” said the Englishman.

 

When the word was spoken, the clouds cleared away from the faces of the three; they stroked their beards and cried, “Well said. Truth is the language of God; truth is the language spoken in heaven.”

 

“But it must be learned upon earth,” said the Englishman earnestly. “Before I came to this land, I gave up pleasures by day and rest by night, in order to learn the language of Hindostan. Were I not to know it, I could not remain in the honourable service to which I belong. And thus it is with truth, the language of heaven. God is truth itself, and a lie is to Him an accursed thing. It is written in His Word: Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.”

 

Again the three men glanced at each other. There was not one of them that would not have lied for the sake of making a few pice larger profit in a bargain; lies were to them common as the mosquitoes which buzzed around their heads; not one of them had ever thought of falsehood as a deadly sin, abhorrent¹² to God.

 

The Mohammedan was the one to speak first.

 

“Upon what authority does the Sahib affirm that[174] the gate of heaven is closed against those who speak not the language of truth?”

 

“On the authority of God’s holy Word, which cannot be broken,” replied the Englishman. “Hear, O my friends, what is declared of the abode¹³ of the blessed by Him who cannot utter untruth: There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie.”

 

“Heaven will be very empty, then,” said the Jew with a sneer¹⁴. “Your favoured Saint Peter, according to your own Scriptures¹⁵, lied thrice, and with oaths and curses. Shall he be shut out from heaven, or shall his sin alone go unpunished?”

 

“Peter’s sin was punished,” replied the Englishman gravely; “but it was Peter’s Lord, the Master whom Peter had denied, who bore the penalty for him. The blood that flowed from the Saviour’s wounded side can wash away all sin, whether of thought or word or deed, the sin of falsehood amongst the rest. But those who would be forgiven like Peter, must, like Peter, believe and love. When God’s Spirit comes into the heart, He comes to drive away evil from it; the unjust becomes just, and the proud becomes meek¹⁶, and the lips that often were stained with falsehood learn the language of heaven—the language of truth.”

1 vehement   

adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的

参考例句：

• She made a vehement attack on the government's policies.她强烈谴责政府的政策。
• His proposal met with vehement opposition.他的倡导遭到了激烈的反对。

2 banyan   

n.菩提树，榕树

参考例句：

• This huge banyan tree has a history of more than 400 years.这棵大榕树已经有四百多年的历史了。
• A large banyan tree may look like a forest.大型的榕树看起来象一片树林。

3 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

4 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

5 honourable   

adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的

参考例句：

• I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号，我可担当不起。
• I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。

6 exclamations   

n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词

参考例句：

• The visitors broke into exclamations of wonder when they saw the magnificent Great Wall. 看到雄伟的长城，游客们惊叹不已。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After the will has been read out, angry exclamations aroused. 遗嘱宣读完之后，激起一片愤怒的喊声。 来自辞典例句

7 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

8 presumption   

n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定

参考例句：

• Please pardon my presumption in writing to you.请原谅我很冒昧地写信给你。
• I don't think that's a false presumption.我认为那并不是错误的推测。

9 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

10 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

11 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

12 abhorrent   

adj.可恶的，可恨的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• He is so abhorrent,saying such bullshit to confuse people.他这样乱说，妖言惑众，真是太可恶了。
• The idea of killing animals for food is abhorrent to many people.许多人想到杀生取食就感到憎恶。

13 abode   

n.住处，住所

参考例句：

• It was ten months before my father discovered his abode.父亲花了十个月的功夫，才好不容易打听到他的住处。
• Welcome to our humble abode!欢迎光临寒舍！

14 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

15 scriptures   

经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典

参考例句：

• Here the apostle Peter affirms his belief that the Scriptures are 'inspired'. 使徒彼得在此表达了他相信《圣经》是通过默感写成的。
• You won't find this moral precept in the scriptures. 你在《圣经》中找不到这种道德规范。

16 meek   

adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的

参考例句：

• He expects his wife to be meek and submissive.他期望妻子温顺而且听他摆布。
• The little girl is as meek as a lamb.那个小姑娘像羔羊一般温顺。