When Joseph died, his family stayed in Egypt. His children had large families of their own, and before long there were thousands of Israelites living in Egypt. The Egyptians, forgetting how Joseph had saved them from starving,began to complain.

　　　‘There are too many of these Israelites,’they grumbled.‘They will soon take over Egypt if we are not careful.’

　　Then a new Pharaoh came to the throne.

　　‘If I put the Israelites to work,’he said,‘they will be too weak and tired to cause any trouble.’

　　当约瑟死了以后，他的家留在了埃及。他的孩子们各有自己的大家庭，不久以后就有成千上万的以色列人住在埃及了。埃及人忘记了约瑟是如何把他们从饥荒中解救出来的，开始抱怨起来。

　　“这里的以色列人太多了，”他们不满地说，“如果我们不小心，他们就会很快接管埃及了。”

　　后来，一个新的法老王继承了王位。

　　“如果我让以色列人都去干活，”他说，“他们就会变得软弱与疲劳，这样就不能惹任何麻烦了。”

　　So cruel slave-drivers forced the Israelites to make bricks and drag heavy blocks of stone to build cities and temples for the Pharaoh.

　　于是，残酷的奴隶主强迫以色列人做砖，并拖着沉重的石块建造法老的城市和庙宇。

　　But still there seemed to be too many Israelites in Egypt.The Pharaoh decided

　　to pass a very cruel law.

　　‘All Israelite boys must be killed as soon as they are born,’he announced.

　　Soon after this an Israelite woman, called Jochebed, had a baby son.

　　‘I don't want them to kill my baby,’she cried to her husband.‘We must

　　save him.’

　　‘We cannot hide a baby,’her husband protested.‘He will cry and the soldiers will find him.’

　　但是埃及的以色列人似乎仍然很多。法老王决定通过一项残忍的法律。

　　“所有的以色列男孩在一出生时就必须被杀死。”他宣布。

　　在这之后不久，一个叫约基别的以色列妇女生了一个男婴。

　　“我不想让他们杀了我的孩子，”她哭着对丈夫说，“我们必须救他。”

　　“我们没办法把一个孩子藏起来。”她的丈夫断言，“他会哭，士兵就能找到他。”

　　But Jochebed had a plan. She made a cradle from rushes. She smeared the outside with tar to make it waterproof. Then she put her sleeping baby into the cradle and went down to the river Nile.She found a hiding place among the bulrushes which grew by the river bank, and left the cradle there, floating gently on the water.

　　但是约基别有了一个计划。她用灯芯草做了一个摇篮，把焦油涂在外面以使它防水。然后她把睡着的婴儿放在摇篮里，顺着尼罗河走下去。她在河边的芦苇中找到了一个隐避的地方，把摇篮放在那里，让它轻轻地漂在水上。

　　‘God will keep my baby son safe,’she said to her daughter Miriam, who had come with her.‘Stay here and watch what happens.’

　　While Jochebed went home,Miriam too hid amongst the bulrushes and watched. Soon she heard the sound of laughter and chattering voices. One of the Pharaoh's daughters was walking along the river bank with her servants.

　　“上帝会让我的男婴安全的，”她对跟自己一起来的女儿米利暗说，“你呆在这里看看会发生什么事？”

　　当约基别回家后，米利暗就藏进芦苇中注视着。很快地，她听到了笑声和喋喋不休的谈话声。法老的一个女儿和她的仆人正沿着河边散步。

　　Suddenly, the Pharaoh's daughter noticed the cradle.

　　‘Look!’she cried.‘There is a cradle in the bulrushes. And there is a tiny baby inside.’

　　突然，法老的女儿注意到了这个摇篮。

　　“看！”她叫道，“在芦苇中有一个摇篮。还有一个小婴儿在里面。”

　　One of the servants waded into the water and picked up the cradle.The baby, frightened by the sudden movement, began to cry.

　　‘Poor little boy,’said the Pharaoh's daughter, as she lifted the crying baby gently out of the cradle.‘He must be an Israelite.I would like to keep him. I wish I knew someone who could look after him.’

　　She spoke so kindly that Miriam felt brave enough to come out of her hiding place and speak to the princess.

　　‘I know someone who could look after him,’Miriam said.‘I'll go and fetch her.’

　　其中一个仆人趟进水里把摇篮拎起来。婴儿被这突然的举动惊醒了，开始哭起来。

　　“可怜的小男孩，”法老的女儿温柔地从摇篮里抱起哭着的小婴儿说，“他一定是个以色列人。我很愿意留下他。我希望有人能照料他。”

　　她说得如此和善，以至于米利暗觉得自己能够勇敢地从藏着的地方走出来和公主说话。

　　“我知道有人可以照料他，”米利暗说，“我去把她带来。”

　　Miriam ran home and fetched her mother. They hurried back to the river.

　　‘My name is Jochebed,’said Miriam's mother.‘My daughter tells me you have found a baby hidden in the bulrushes. I would be happy to look after him.’

　　米利暗跑回家把她的妈妈带来。她们赶紧回到河边。

　　“我的名字叫约基别，”米利暗的妈妈说。“我的女儿告诉我，你们找到一个藏在芦苇中的婴儿。我很愿意照料他。”

　　‘Thank you,’said the princess,not realising that she was speaking to the baby's real mother.‘I would like you to do that. Then, when he is old enough, I want you to bring him to the palace where he will be brought up as my son.I will call him Moses.’

　　“谢谢你，”公主说。她没意识到她正在跟婴儿的亲妈说话。“我很高兴你这样做。然后等他长大一些，我要你把他带进宫里，他将像我的儿子一样成长。我要叫他摩西。”

　　Of course,Jochebed was overjoyed. Her clever plan had worked even better than she had hoped. No one would dare to kill her baby now that he was the son of one of the daughters of the Pharaoh.

　　Jochebed took Moses home and looked after him. The boy grew up strong and happy. When he was old enough to understand, Jochebed told him how God had saved him from death. She told him, too, that one day God would save the Israelites from their terrible slavery.

　　约基别当然很高兴。她聪明的计划实现得比她自己想象得更好。现在没有人敢杀她的孩子了，因为他已经是法老一个女儿的儿子了。

　　约基别带着摩西回家照顾他。这个男孩健康快乐地长大了。当他长到能懂事了，约基别告诉他上帝如何把他从死亡中救出来。她还告诉他，总有一天上帝会把以色列人从他们可怕的奴隶制中解救出来。

　　Finally the day came for Moses to go to the Pharaoh's palace. The princess was pleased with her fine young son, and thanked Jochebed for looking after him so well.

　　‘Dress him in the richest clothes,’she ordered.‘I want him to be brought up like an Egyptian prince. He must have the best of everything.’

　　摩西进入法老宫殿的那一天终于来了。公主很满意她优秀而年轻的儿子，也很感谢约基别把他照料得这么好。

　　“给他穿上最华丽的衣服，”她命令道，“我要他像一个埃及王子一样成长。他一定要得到一切最好的东西。”

　　Moses was given a splendid chariot and treated like a prince.Tutors came to the palace to teach him to read and write. But Moses never forgot that he was an Israelite. He never worshipped the strange, animal-headed gods of the Egyptians.

　　摩西被赐予了一辆豪华的战车，并像王子一样被对待。家庭教师来到宫殿里教他读书和写字。但是，摩西没有忘记自己是一个以色列人。他从来不崇拜陌生的埃及动物头像之神。

　　And every time he went out of the palace and saw Israelite slaves toiling in the blazing sun, he felt very sad.

　　‘One day I will help my people,’he thought.

　　每次他走出宫殿，看到以色列奴隶在炽热的太阳下辛苦地劳动，他都会觉得很难过。

　　“总有一天我要帮助我的人民。”他想。

　　As Moses got older, he became more and more angry with the way his people were treated. One day, when he was driving his chariot through the countryside,he saw an Egyptian beat an Israelite to death. Moses was so furious that he jumped down and killed the Egyptian. When he calmed down, Moses felt very ashamed of the terrible thing he had done. He looked around and,as no one seemed to have seen the murder, he buried the body in the sand.

　　当摩西长得更成熟时，他为他的人民被对待的方式越来越气愤。一天，当他驾驶他的战车穿过乡间时，他看到一个埃及人把一个以色列人给打死了。摩西非常狂怒，他跳下来杀了那个埃及人。当他平静下来以后，摩西对自己所做的可怕的事情感到非常惭愧。他看看周围，好像没有人看到这次谋杀，他就把尸体埋进了沙里。

　　The very next day, Moses went out again and was horrified to see two

　　Israelites fighting each other.

　　‘Stop!’he cried.‘You should not fight. You are both Israelites.’

　　‘Who do you think you are to judge what we are doing?’asked one of the Israelites, rudely.‘Are you going to kill us like you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’

　　Moses was terrified. Someone had seen what he had done. He

　　knew that soon the story of his dreadful deed would reach the ears of the Pharaoh.

　　就在第二天，摩西再次出去，他吃惊地看见两个以色列人在打架。

　　“停下来！”他喊道，“你们不应该打架，你们都是以色列人。”

　　“你认为你是谁能裁决我们做什么吗？”其中一个以色列人粗鲁地问，“你想要杀死我们，就像你昨天杀死那个埃及人一样吗？”

　　摩西感到恐怖。有人看到他昨天所做的事了。他知道自己的可怕行为很快就会传到法老的耳朵里。

　　And that is exactly what happened. When the Pharaoh heard that Moses had killed an Egyptian, he was very angry.He wanted Moses put to death.

　　Moses knew that if he stayed in Egypt, he would be killed. So he fled at once to the barren country of Midian.

　　Before long he met a shepherd called Jethro. Moses became Jethro's friend. He went to live with Jethro's family and helped to look after their huge flock of sheep and goats. Eventually he married one of Jethro's daughters.

　　要发生什么是很明显的。当法老知道摩西杀了一个埃及人时，他非常生气，他要把摩西处死。

　　摩西知道如果他呆在埃及，就会被杀。于是他立刻逃到了米甸的荒野上。

　　不久以后他遇到了牧羊人叶忒罗。摩西变成了叶忒罗的朋友。他和叶忒罗的家人住在一起，帮助照看他们的很大一群绵羊和山羊。最终他娶了叶忒罗的一个女儿。

　　But Moses, although now a humble shepherd, had still moreadventures to face. In spite of his crime, he had been chosen by God as the person who, years later,would lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land.

　　虽然摩西现在是一个卑微的牧羊人，但仍然要面对很多冒险。尽管他犯了罪，却已成为被上帝选中的人，在多年以后他领导以色列人离开埃及到达了希望之乡。