11 Deciding a Successor

Chapter 10 Deciding a Successor In 1219, Genghis Khan was an old man at fifty-seven, and he had an important decision to make. Genghis Khan summoned his four sons. He

1219年，成吉思汗已经57岁了，他要做一个重要的决定。 成吉思汗召集了他的四个儿子。 他

wanted to hear what they thought. He told his oldest son, Jochi, to speak first. By choosing Jochi to go first, it seemed like Genghis Khan was indicating who he believed should be ruler. His second son, Chaghatai, exploded. He wanted to know how his father could pick Jochi, when Jochi did not share his father's blood. Jochi, he said, was the son of the Merkid tribesman who had kidnapped their mother, Borte, decades earlier. The two brothers fought.

想听听他们的想法。 他让大儿子约奇（Jochi）先发言。 成吉思汗选择Jochi先走，似乎是在表明他认为谁应该成为统治者。 他的第二个儿子查加泰（Chaghatai）爆发了。 他想知道，既然乔奇和他父亲没有血缘关系，他父亲怎么会选择乔奇。 他说，约奇是几十年前绑架了他们母亲博尔特（Borte）的默基德部落人的儿子。 两兄弟打了起来。

Genghis Khan told Chaghatai that by insulting Jochi, he insulted their mother. He reminded them how hard it had been to form the Great Mongol Nation. He spoke of what life was like when everyone was fighting one another. Genghis Khan now knew that if he left the empire in the hands of either brother, there would be civil war. He decided that his third son, Ogodei, would rule the empire as Great Khan. Jochi and Chaghatai would be given different sections of the empire. This would keep them separated. The youngest son, Tolui, would be left in charge of the old homeland on the Onon River. Relieved to have his successor decided, Genghis Khan turned back to the growing needs of his people. The Khwarizm Empire was beckoning. THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS

成吉思汗告诉察合台，他侮辱了乔吉，也侮辱了他们的母亲。 他提醒他们，建立大蒙古民族是多么艰难。 他谈到了大家互相争斗时的生活。 成吉思汗现在知道，如果他把帝国交给兄弟中的任何一个，就会爆发内战。 他决定让他的第三个儿子窝阔台作为大汗统治帝国。 Jochi和Chaghatai将被分配到帝国的不同部分。 这将使他们分开。 最小的儿子托瑞将被留下来掌管奥嫩河畔的故土。 成吉思汗松了一口气，决定了他的继任者，他把注意力转向了他的人民日益增长的需求。 花剌子模帝国在向他招手。 蒙古人的秘史

MUCH OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE LIFE OF GENGHIS KHAN COMES FROM A BOOK CALLED THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS. THE BOOK CHRONICLES GENGHIS KHAN'S LIFE, FROM BEGINNING TO END. WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK SO "SECRETIVE" IS THAT NO ONE IS CERTAIN WHO WROTE IT. NOT LONG AFTER THE BOOK WAS FINISHED, EVERY COPY OF IT DISAPPEARED. BY THE 1400S, THE ONLY COPIES LEFT WERE CHINESE TRANSLATIONS. FOR MORE THAN FOUR CENTURIES, THE SECRET HISTORY REMAINED HIDDEN TO THE WESTERN WORLD. IN 1866, A RUSSIAN MONK DISCOVERED A COPY AND TRANSLATED IT. IT WAS THEN TRANSLATED INTO MODERN MONGOLIAN IN 1917. MANY MORE TRANSLATIONS EXIST TODAY. A GOLD-PLATED COPY IS DISPLAYED IN THE MODERN MONGOLIAN CAPITOL BUILDING IN ULAANBAATAR, AND ALMOST EVERY MONGOLIAN FAMILY HAS A COPY IN THEIR HOME.

我们对成吉思汗生平的了解大多来自一本名为《蒙古秘史》的书。 这本书从头到尾记述了成吉思汗的生平。 这本书之所以如此“神秘”，是因为没有人能确定是谁写的。 这本书完成后不久，所有的副本都消失了。 到了15世纪，只剩下中文译本了。 四个多世纪以来，这段神秘的历史一直不为西方世界所知。 1866年，一位俄罗斯僧侣发现了一本抄本并翻译了它。 1917年被翻译成现代蒙古语。 今天存在着更多的翻译。 在乌兰巴托的现代蒙古国会大厦里陈列着一份镀金的副本，几乎每个蒙古家庭都有一份副本。