011 世宗大王与韩文

旁白 neutral

Long, long ago, in the fifteenth century, there was a very bored king

很久很久以前，在15世纪，有一位非常无聊的国王。

旁白 neutral

None of his subjects knew why he was bored

他的臣民都不知道他为什么无聊。

旁白 neutral

Even the king did not know why he was bored

就连国王自己也不知道他为什么无聊。

旁白 neutral

He was the fourth king of Choson Dynasty, King Sejong

他是朝鲜王朝的第四代国王，世宗大王。

旁白 neutral

" Why am I so bored?" King Sejong wondered

"我为什么这么无聊？" 世宗大王感到纳闷。

旁白 neutral

He thought about it day and night

他日思夜想。

旁白 neutral

It bothered him so much that he could not eat or sleep

这个问题困扰得他吃不下饭，睡不着觉。

旁白 neutral

Just when he was ready to give up, it dawned on him

就在他准备放弃时，他突然明白了。

旁白 neutral

There were no new ideas circulating in his kingdom

他的王国里没有新的思想在流传。

旁白 neutral

Sejong had read every book in Korea, and none of them were fresh or original to him anymore

世宗读遍了朝鲜的每一本书，对他来说，这些书都不再新颖独特了。

旁白 neutral

Every play, every song, and every poem sounded the same to him

每一出戏、每一首歌、每一首诗，在他听来都千篇一律。

旁白 neutral

None of them seemed to truly portray the lives of the spirited merchants, or the hardworking farmers, or the honest peasants that lived in his kingdom

好像没有一个能真正描绘他王国里那些充满活力的商人、勤劳的农民或朴实百姓的生活。

旁白 neutral

Sejong, being a clever king, knew why no stories accurately depicted his kingdom

世宗是个聪明的国王，他知道为什么没有故事能准确地描绘他的王国。

旁白 neutral

Only a small group of aristocrats could read and write

只有一小群贵族能读会写。

旁白 neutral

How could an aristocrat know what it was like to be a merchant or a farmer or a peasant?

一个贵族怎么能知道当商人、农民或百姓是什么感觉呢？

旁白 neutral

Not only that, how could a merchant, farmer, or peasant know about the kingdom he lived in when he could not read or write?

不仅如此，一个不能读不能写的商人、农民或百姓，又怎么能了解他生活的王国呢？

旁白 neutral

Furthermore, Sejong was dissatisfied with the current writing system

此外，世宗对当时的书写系统很不满意。

旁白 neutral

At that time, Korean was written using only Chinese characters

当时，韩语只用汉字来书写。

旁白 neutral

While Chinese characters were beautiful to look at, they were very complex and difficult to learn

虽然汉字看起来很优美，但它们非常复杂，很难学。

旁白 neutral

They also did not accurately capture the sounds of the Korean language

它们也无法准确地表达韩语的发音。

旁白 neutral

" We need a writing system of our own," Sejong thought

“我们需要一套属于自己的书写系统，”世宗心想。

旁白 neutral

He summoned a team of his most talented scholars

他召集了一队最有才华的学者。

旁白 neutral

" Develop a beautiful but easy to use writing system for the people," Sejong ordered the scholars

“为百姓创造一套美观但又易于使用的书写系统，”世宗命令学者们。

旁白 neutral

Coming up with a new writing system was no easy task, especially when commissioned by a very picky king

创造一套全新的书写系统绝非易事，尤其当委任者是一位非常挑剔的国王时。

旁白 neutral

" Too difficult!" Sejong would say when the scholars presented him with a new writing system, or " Too simple!" or " Too elaborate!"

“太难了！”当学者们向世宗展示新的书写系统时，他会说，“太简单了！”或是“太复杂了！”

旁白 neutral

But Sejong was being fickle for good reason

但是世宗的反复无常是有充分理由的。

旁白 neutral

The new writing system had to be easy to learn so that everyone could use it, even young children

新的书写系统必须易于学习，让所有人都能使用，甚至年幼的孩子也能。

旁白 neutral

The new writing system needed to capture the Korean language the way it was spoken by the people, otherwise it would not be a truly Korean writing system

新的书写系统需要如实地捕捉韩语的口语表达方式，否则它就不是一套真正的韩文书写系统。

旁白 neutral

Lastly, the new writing system needed to be elegant and pleasing, for writing is a form of art

最后，新的书写系统还需优雅悦目，因为书写本身是一种艺术形式。

旁白 neutral

Months passed and Sejong worried that he would never find a good writing system

几个月过去了，世宗担心他永远也找不到一套好的书写系统。

旁白 neutral

But one day, on October 9, 1443, the scholars came to the king with beaming faces

但是有一天，1443年10月9日，学者们面带喜色地来见大王。

旁白 neutral

" We have it, Your Majesty!" they cried," It is called Hunminchongum, correct sounds for the instruction of the people

“陛下，我们成功了！”他们大声说，“这就是训民正音，教导百姓的正确声音。

旁白 neutral

It consists of 28 letters and one can make characters by combining the letters into groups of two, three, or four."

它由28个字母组成，可以把字母两两、三三或四个组合起来构成文字。”

旁白 neutral

King Sejong looked at the writing system

世宗大王看着这套文字系统。

旁白 neutral

It was very simple and elegant looking, but was it easy to learn?

它看起来非常简单而优雅，但学起来容易吗？

旁白 neutral

He started grouping the letters into characters. It was so easy to use!

他开始把字母组合成文字，用起来太轻松了！

旁白 neutral

It worked like a mathematics equation

它就像数学公式一样运作。

旁白 neutral

All he had to do was put letters together into neat combinations to form different characters

他所要做的，就是把字母整齐地组合在一起，形成不同的文字。

旁白 neutral

He was having so much fun playing with the new letters that he forgot about the scholars

他玩这些新字母玩得不亦乐乎，都忘了学者们还在旁边。

旁白 neutral

The scholars looked at each other and smiled

学者们互相对视，露出微笑。

旁白 neutral

Whew! The grueling months of labor were finally over!

呼！数月艰苦的工作终于结束了！

旁白 neutral

They had a new writing system

他们拥有了一套新的文字系统。

旁白 neutral

The creation of the new writing system was complete, but the king's work had only just begun

新文字系统的创造完成了，但大王的工作才刚刚开始。

旁白 neutral

How would he share this new writing system with his people?

他该如何与百姓分享这套新文字呢？

旁白 neutral

Would he have them come to his palace and have his scholars teach them?

要让他们来王宫，让学者们教他们吗？

旁白 neutral

But that would take forever

但那太费时间了。

旁白 neutral

No, he needed to bring the writing system to his people

不，他需要把文字带到百姓身边去。

旁白 neutral

The king decided to have famous educational works like Koryo Sa

大王决定用这套新文字，把像《高丽史》这样的著名教育著作

旁白 neutral

and Yongbiuhchon Ga published using the new writing system and distributed among his people

和《龙飞御天歌》刊印出来，分发到百姓之中。

旁白 neutral

Unfortunately, not many people learned the new writing system as quickly as King Sejong would have liked

不幸的是，学会这套新文字的人并没有世宗大王期望的那么快。

旁白 neutral

But in time everyone learned to use it, and eventually it became the writing system that is used in Korea today, Hangul

但随着时间的推移，人人都学会了使用它，它最终成了今天在韩国使用的文字——韩文。

旁白 neutral

Following the creation of Hangul, many wonderful works were written after King Sejong's reign, like Ho Kyun's Hong Kildong Chon

韩文创制之后，在世宗大王统治之后，涌现了许多精彩的作品，比如许筠的《洪吉童传》。

旁白 neutral

These works express the thoughts and feelings of Koreans

这些作品表达了韩国人的思想和情感。

旁白 neutral

And now, Korean people today can share their thoughts and feelings with one another through writing

如今，韩国人民可以通过文字，彼此分享他们的思想和情感。