Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 Have you ever hiked 10 miles? If it's a nice day— not too hot or too cold, no rain or snow— and you're in pretty good shape, it's not that big of a deal. It can even be fun! But imagine hiking day after day for at least 10 days in hot and dry air, or cold and wet rain, over rocks and hills, and sleeping on the dusty or muddy ground every night. By the way, there's no time for a bath. Now, imagine doing that while pregnant (which is harder to imagine for some people than others). Finally, picture doing that 100-mile hike— 10 days, heat, cold, rain, dust, mud, rocks, no bath, pregnant —3 times!

第十二章你曾经徒步走过十英里吗？ 如果天气很好——不太热也不太冷，不下雨也不下雪——而且你身材很好，那也没什么大不了的。 它甚至可以很有趣！但想象一下，在炎热干燥的空气中，或寒冷潮湿的雨中，日复一日地徒步旅行至少10天，翻越岩石和山丘，每晚睡在尘土飞扬或泥泞的地面上。 顺便说一下，没时间洗澡了。 现在，想象一下在怀孕期间这样做（这对有些人来说比其他人更难想象）。 最后，想象一下100英里的徒步旅行——10天，炎热，寒冷，下雨，尘土，泥泞，岩石，没有洗澡，怀孕- 3次！

Not only did Jesus' mother-to-be, Mary, journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in the Christmas story we are all so familiar with, but a few months earlier, she traveled nearly the same route to visit her relative Elizabeth in Ein Karem (just a few miles from Bethlehem) before returning back home to Nazareth. That's 300 miles of pregnant hiking! Mary may have ridden on a donkey, but the Bible never says that she did. She most likely walked. Remember that the next time your mom asks you to bring your laundry to your room.

在我们都很熟悉的圣诞节故事中，耶稣的准妈妈玛利亚不仅从拿撒勒到伯利恒，而且在几个月前，她在返回拿撒勒的家之前，几乎走了同样的路线去拜访她在Ein Karem的亲戚伊丽莎白（距离伯利恒只有几英里）。 那可是300英里的孕妇徒步旅行啊！马利亚可能骑过驴，但圣经从来没有说她骑过驴。 她很可能是走路的。下次你妈妈让你把要洗的衣服拿到房间时，请记住这一点。

The upside for Merle and Pearl was they were riding on a donkey in a shaded birdcage. The downside was that they were locked in that birdcage and at Ruben's mercy for bathroom breaks. Their squirrelnapper remained quite determined to get to their destination as soon as possible, which meant long days and limited potty stops. If you've ever been trapped in the car when your dad is determined to make it to Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's as soon as possible, you know how that feels. In all of Dusty's treks over the Nativity Trail, he had arrived in Jericho on day 8. With Ruben pulling the reins, however, they had managed to waddle into town on day 7.

对莫尔和珠儿来说，好的一面是他们骑着一头驴，坐在一个有树荫的鸟笼里。 缺点是他们被关在鸟笼里，上厕所要听鲁本的摆布。 他们的松鼠鼠决心要尽快到达目的地，这意味着要花很长时间，上厕所的次数也很有限。 如果你曾经被困在车里，而你的爸爸决定尽快去奶奶家吃感恩节晚餐，你就会知道那是什么感觉。 达斯迪在耶稣诞生之路上的所有徒步旅行中，他都是在第八天到达耶利哥的。 然而，在鲁本拉着缰绳的情况下，他们终于在第七天摇摇摆摆地来到了镇上。