對于現在的小學生來說，寫作業就和吃飯、睡覺一樣，是每日必做的事。那麼古代的小學生是否就能擺脫課業束縛，自由自在地玩耍了呢？近日，大英圖書館即将展出的一塊蠟闆顯示，就連古埃及的小學生都有家庭作業，而且1800年前的這份作業竟讓人“似曾相識”。

A schoolchild's homework in Greek was written on a wax tablet nearly 2,000 years ago. Credit: Copyright British Library Board

Homework written by a school kid in ancient Egypt has been preserved since the second century A.D. And the words on the slab may sound familiar to any kid whose parents worry about them falling in with a bad crowd.

一名古埃及學童的家庭作業從公元二世紀保存到了現在，那些經常被父母教導不要和壞人混在一起的孩子可能會覺得這份“古老”的作業裡有些話很耳熟。

An ancient lesson preserved on a wood-mounted wax slab about the size of a Kindle reads: "You should accept advice from a wise man only" and "You cannot trust all your friends."

這篇古老的課文保存在一塊與Kindle差不多大小的木制蠟闆上，上面寫道：“你應該隻接受智者的建議”以及“你不能信任所有的朋友”。

Acquired by the British Library in 1892, the tablet hasn't been publicly displayed since the 1970s. The homework slab will be featured in an upcoming British Library exhibit called "Writing: Making Your Mark," which traces the evolution of writing over 5,000 years of human history, library representatives said in a statement.

這塊蠟闆于1892年被大英圖書館收購，自上世紀70年代以來就沒有公開展示過。圖書館的代表們在一份聲明中說，大英圖書館即将舉辦名為“書寫：留下你的印記”的展覽，追溯書寫在5000多年人類曆史當中的演變過程。這塊家庭作業闆将在此次展覽中展出。

On the wax tablet is a two-part lesson in Greek that provides a snapshot of daily life for a pupil attending primary school in Egypt about 1,800 years ago, exhibit co-curator Peter Toth, also a curator of ancient and medieval manuscripts at the British Library, told Live Science in an email.

彼得·托特是此次展覽的共同策展人，也是大英圖書館古代和中世紀文稿的策展人。他通過電子郵件告訴美國趣味科學網站，蠟闆上的課文分兩部分，均為希臘文，可以讓我們了解大約1800年前古埃及小學生的日常生活。

snapshot['snæpʃɑt]: n. 簡單印象

curator[kjʊ'retɚ]: n. 館長；監護人；管理者

One part of the assignment was a writing exercise. The slab displays a teacher's written example in the first line, and the next two lines contain the same words copied "rather clumsily" in the student's hand, much as primary students today copy lines penned by their teachers, Toth said. The rest of the homework included a multiplication table and reading exercises.

報道稱，蠟闆上的一部分作業是書寫練習。托特說，蠟闆上的第一行是老師寫的示範，後面兩行是學生抄寫的“相當笨拙”的同樣字句，就像今天的小學生抄寫老師寫的字句一樣。其餘作業包括乘法表和閱讀練習。

Though the name and sex of the tablet's owner is unknown, the child was likely a boy from a wealthy family, as formal education in ancient Egypt was typically reserved for males of privilege, according to the Royal Ontario Museum.

安大略省皇家博物館表示，盡管這塊蠟闆的主人姓名和性别不詳，但很可能是一個出身富裕家庭的男孩，因為古埃及的正規教育通常由特權階層的男性專享。

Lines copied by this long-ago student were not just for practicing penmanship; they were also intended to impart moral lessons. "It's not only the hands and fingers but also the mind that is being instructed here," Toth said.

這個很久以前的學生抄寫的字句不僅是為了練習書寫，也用于進行德育。托特說：“接受教導的不僅是手和手指，還有頭腦。”

impart[ɪm'pɑrt]: vt. 傳授

Homework slabs like this one were made by pouring melted, blackened wax into a rectangular depression at the center of a wooden tablet. Once the wax cooled, teachers and students could use a metal stylus to scratch letters that appeared as a lighter color against the dark background.

這種家庭作業闆的制作方式是把融化後的黑蠟倒入一塊木闆中央的長方形凹槽中。蠟冷卻之後，老師和學生可以用金屬筆劃出字母，而這些字母在黑色的底色上呈現出較淺的顔色。

stylus['staɪləs]: n. 鐵筆；尖筆

Wax typically breaks down in the presence of moisture, so the region's dry climate likely helped to protect the tablet, "preserving the clumsy handwriting of a primary school pupil from almost two millennia ago," Toth said.

托特說，蠟在潮濕的情況下通常會分解，因此該地區幹燥的氣候很可能幫助保護了這塊蠟闆，“保存下了一名小學生近2000年前留下的笨拙筆迹”。

Along with the homework slab, the exhibition brings together over 100 artifacts from the British Library collections to explore examples of writing from ancient civilizations to modern cultures. Objects include stone monuments bearing Egyptian hieroglyphs; a copy of the literary classic "Ulysses" annotated by author James Joyce; musical notes penned by Mozart; and contemporary tattooing instruments.

除了這塊作業闆之外，此次展覽還彙集了大英圖書館收藏的100多件文物，以探索從古代文明到現代文化的書寫範例。展品包括刻有古埃及象形文字的石碑、作家詹姆斯·喬伊斯批注的文學經典《尤利西斯》的副本、莫紮特書寫的樂譜以及當代文身工具。

artifact['ɑrtə,fækt]: n. 人工制品；手工藝品

hieroglyph['haɪərəɡlɪf]: n. 象形文字；圖畫文字

annotate['ænə'tet]: vt. 注釋；作注解

"Writing: Making Your Mark" will appear at the British Library from April 26 through Aug. 27, 2019.

“書寫：留下你的印記”展覽将于2019年4月26日到8月27日期間在大英圖書館舉行。

來源：趣味科學網、參考消息網

編譯：丹妮

來源：中國日報網