Lesson 3 Marco Polo
第三课 马可·波罗
Marco Polo and His Travels
马可·波罗和他的旅行
Marco Polo was born in Italy in 1254.
1254年，马可·波罗生于意大利。
When he was 17 years old, he travelled across Europe and Asia with his father, who wanted to do trade with the Chinese.
17岁时，他和爸爸周游了欧洲和亚洲，爸爸想与中国人做生意。
Eventually, they arrived in Beijing.
最后，他们来到北京。
At that time, China was ruled by the Yuan Dynasty Emperor, Kublai Khan.
那时，统治中国的是元朝的元世祖忽必烈。
Kublai Khan welcomed Marco and his father.
元世祖欢迎马可·波罗和他父亲来中国。
He was very happy to meet two foreigners and wanted to learn all about Europe.
他见到两个外国人非常高兴，并想了解欧洲所有情况。
Marco and his father were guests at the Emperor's Palace.
马可·波罗和他父亲是皇宫的贵宾。
Although Marco was young, he was very clever and could already speak four languages.
虽然马可·波罗还小，但他非常聪明，而且已经能说四国语言了。
The Emperor was impressed by him and they became friends.
皇帝对他印象很深，而且他们成为了朋友。
He asked Marco to serve in his court and sent him to do many important tasks across the country.
他让马可·波罗在朝中任职，并派他出国做许多重要的事。
Marco, in turn, was amazed by how beautiful and powerful China was.
马可也相应地被中国的美丽和强大所震撼。
He was very impressed by Beijing and the Emperor's Palace,
北京和皇宫深深打动了他。
especially the Summer Palace which he described as "The greatest palace that ever was ...
尤其是颐和园，他描述为“绝无仅有的最雄伟的宫殿……”
The walls were covered in gold and silver and the Hall was so large it could easily seat 6,000 people for dinner."
墙壁都用金银包着，大厅大到可以轻松地容纳6千人一起用餐。
There were inventions and developments in China which were not available in Europe at that time.
在当时，中国的发明和发展是欧洲无法达到的。
Marco was surprised to see Chinese people using paper money in the markets.
马可看到中国人在市场上用纸币，感到无比惊奇。
