1 Chapter 0 Who Was Gandhi

Who Was Gandhi?

甘地是谁?

Who Was Gandhi? On March 12, 1930, sixty-year-old Mohandas Gandhi set out from his home in Ahmedabad, India, with seventy-eight men and women at his side. They walked 240 miles along winding, dusty roads. It took twenty-four days in the hot sun to reach the town of Dandi on the western coast. Gandhi spoke with villagers all along the way. By the end of his journey, several thousand people had joined him.

甘地是谁?1930年3月12日，60岁的莫罕达斯·甘地带着78名男女从他在印度艾哈迈达巴德的家中出发。 他们沿着弯弯曲曲、尘土飞扬的道路走了240英里。 在烈日下，他们花了24天才到达西海岸的丹地镇。 甘地一路上和村民们交谈。 到他的旅程结束时，已经有几千人加入了他的行列。

When the marchers arrived in Dandi, they prayed. The next morning, April 6, on the shore of the Arabian Sea, Gandhi picked up a lump of salt from the mud. By doing so, he broke the law. This peaceful act was powerful. It united many Indians against the unfair Salt Act laws. The Salt Acts stated that Indians could not gather, make, or sell their own salt.

当游行者到达丹地时，他们祈祷。 第二天早上，4月6日，在阿拉伯海的岸边，甘地从泥里捡起一块盐。 他这样做触犯了法律。 这一和平行动是强有力的。 它联合了许多印第安人反对不公平的《盐法》。 《盐法》规定印第安人不能收集、制作或出售自己的盐。

Instead they had to buy it from the British, who ruled India from 1858 to 1947. Salt was a basic need in Indian households to flavor food. After Gandhi’s small but brave action, Indians all over the country began to gather and sell their own salt. Gandhi’s Salt March started India on a path to freedom from British rule. Mohandas Gandhi fought for freedom in India. But he did not fight with weapons. He believed words and actions were more powerful than violence. Above all, he had a simple message—to find truth through love and caring for others. People called him Mahatma, which means “Great Soul.”

相反，他们不得不从1858年至1947年统治印度的英国人手中购买。 盐是印度家庭调味食物的基本需求。 在甘地的小而勇敢的行动之后，全国各地的印度人开始收集和出售他们自己的盐。 甘地的盐游行开启了印度摆脱英国统治的自由之路。 莫罕达斯·甘地在印度为自由而战。 但他并没有用武器战斗。 他相信言语和行动比暴力更有力量。 最重要的是，他传达了一个简单的信息——通过爱和关心他人来寻找真理。 人们称他为Mahatma，意思是“伟大的灵魂”。