英语词汇hieroglyphics的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

hieroglyphics. From the Greek words for “sacred pictograph.” The limitations of hieroglyphics or “picture writing,” the pre- cursor of alphabets, can be seen in the old story about Darius the Great, king of Persia. He received a hieroglyphic message from his enemies the Scythians; they sent him a live mouse, frog, bird, and arrows instead of pictures of these things. Dar- ius interpreted this to mean they would surrender come morning—the arrows, he thought, meant they would give up their arms, mouse and frog represented surrender of the land and water, and the bird meant the Scythians would soon fly away from the field of battle. Accordingly, Darius went to bed without preparing his troops for attack and the Scythians raid- ed his camp that night and overwhelmed his armies. They then explained their interpretation of the live hieroglyphics: the bird meant the Persians would never escape the Scythians unless they could literally fly, the mouse and frog meant that the only other way they could escape would be to turn themselves into mice and burrow through the ground or into frogs and hide out in the swamps, and the arrows meant they would never es- cape the infallible Scythian weapons.

词汇	hieroglyphics
词源	hieroglyphics. From the Greek words for “sacred pictograph.” The limitations of hieroglyphics or “picture writing,” the pre- cursor of alphabets, can be seen in the old story about Darius the Great, king of Persia. He received a hieroglyphic message from his enemies the Scythians; they sent him a live mouse, frog, bird, and arrows instead of pictures of these things. Dar- ius interpreted this to mean they would surrender come morning—the arrows, he thought, meant they would give up their arms, mouse and frog represented surrender of the land and water, and the bird meant the Scythians would soon fly away from the field of battle. Accordingly, Darius went to bed without preparing his troops for attack and the Scythians raid- ed his camp that night and overwhelmed his armies. They then explained their interpretation of the live hieroglyphics: the bird meant the Persians would never escape the Scythians unless they could literally fly, the mouse and frog meant that the only other way they could escape would be to turn themselves into mice and burrow through the ground or into frogs and hide out in the swamps, and the arrows meant they would never es- cape the infallible Scythian weapons.
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