2 Chapter 1 Child Groom

Chapter 1 Child Groom Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, India. Porbandar was a small state on the western coast of a very large country. Mohandas, called Mohan by his family, grew up with his mother, father, two half sisters from his father’s previous marriages, oldest brother Laxmidas, sister Raliatbehn, and brother Karsandas. Mohan was the youngest.

莫汉达斯·卡拉姆昌德·甘地于1869年10月2日出生在印度的波尔班达尔。 波尔班达是一个位于一个大国西海岸的小州。 莫汉达斯的家人叫他莫汉，他和母亲、父亲、父亲前几次婚姻中的两个同父异母的姐妹、哥哥Laxmidas、妹妹raliathhen和弟弟Karsandas一起长大。 莫汉是最小的。

His father, Karamchand, was the diwan, or political leader, of Porbandar. The large family lived well, with servants, in a three-story house.

他的父亲卡拉姆昌德(Karamchand)是波尔班达尔的diwan，即政治领袖。 这个大家庭和仆人住在一栋三层楼的房子里，生活得很好。

Mohan grew up in a country with deep Hindu traditions. His mother, Putlibai, was especially religious. Every day, she went to the temple for worship. She prayed before meals. Sometimes she fasted, or gave up food, to show her devotion to God. During one period of four months during the rainy season, Putlibai said she would not eat until the sun came out. Gandhi later said,

莫汉在一个有着深厚印度教传统的国家长大。 他的母亲普特利拜(Putlibai)特别虔诚。 她每天都去庙里做礼拜。 她饭前祈祷。有时她禁食或不吃东西，以表示她对上帝的虔诚。 在雨季的四个月里，pulibai说她不会吃东西，直到太阳出来。 甘地后来说，

“We children on those days would stand, staring at the sky, waiting to announce the appearance of the sun to our mother.” His mother’s devotion left a big impression on little Mohan. He saw her as a saint. When Mohan turned seven, his family moved from Porbandar to the more inland city of Rajkot. At school, Mohan was an average student and extremely shy. “My books and my lessons were my sole companions,” he said. As soon as school ended,

“在那些日子里，我们这些孩子会站着，盯着天空，等着向妈妈宣布太阳的出现。”母亲的奉献给小莫汉留下了深刻的印象。 当莫汉七岁时，他的家人从波尔班达尔搬到了内陆城市拉杰科特。 在学校，莫汉是一个普通的学生，非常害羞。 “书本和功课是我唯一的伴侣，”他说。 学校一结束，

he would run home. He did not want to have to talk to anyone or risk someone making fun of him. Mohan was also very fearful as a child, and even into adulthood. He was afraid of thieves, snakes, ghosts, and most especially the dark. Hindu parents arranged the marriages of their children. When Mohan was only seven, his parents had betrothed (or promised) him to a girl. Kasturbai was the same age as Mohan. She was the daughter of a merchant in Porbandar who was a good friend of Mohan’s father. When Mohan and Kasturbai turned thirteen, they would be married. Later in life, Gandhi was very outspoken against the idea of child marriage. “I can see no moral argument in support of such a preposterously early marriage,” he wrote. But during his own wedding, Gandhi enjoyed himself.

他会跑回家。他不想和任何人说话，也不想冒险让别人取笑他。 莫汉小时候也非常害怕，甚至到了成年。 他害怕小偷、蛇、鬼，尤其是黑暗。 印度父母为子女包办婚姻。 当莫汉只有七岁的时候，他的父母给他许配了一个女孩。 卡斯图尔拜和莫汉年龄相仿。 她是波尔班达尔一位商人的女儿，是莫汉父亲的好朋友。 当莫汉和卡斯图尔拜13岁时，他们就会结婚。 晚年，甘地直言不讳地反对童婚。 “我看不出有什么道德上的理由支持这种荒谬的早婚，”他写道。 但在他自己的婚礼上，甘地玩得很开心。