The Confusion of Babylon - Вавилонское столпотворение
As the legend has it, three hundred years after the
Flood, the descendants of Noah, journeying from the
East as nomads in one huge caravan, came to the great
plains of Babylonia, and set* ч1 there. But not content
with building themselves a city, they decided to construct a tower so high that its top should reach up to
heaven. This they did in order to make a name for themselves: and also to prevent the citizens from being
scattered all over the face of the earth. For when any
had wandered from the city and lost his way on the
boundless plain, he would look up and see from afar
the outline of the tall tower standing up dark against
the bright sky. So he would find his bearings, and
guided by the landmark would retrace his steps homeward.
But the people failed to reckon with the jealousy
and power of the Almighty. For while they were building away with all their might and main, God came
down from heaven to see the city and the tower which
men were raising so fast. The sight displeased him.
Apparently he feared that when the tower reached the
sky, men would swarm up it and beard him in his den.
So he resolved to nip the great project in the bud.
Down he went and confounded their language so that
they could not understand one another’s speech, and
had to separate into little groups where the same
tongue could be spoken.
Therefore they stopped building, and the name of
the place was called Babel, that is, confusion, because
God did there confound the language of all the earth.
The words Confusion of Babylon have come to denote an uproar. The Tower of Babel is a synonym for
a lofty structure; it often refers to a visionary scheme.
I. Сначала населяющие землю люди говорили на одном языке. 2. Они занимали равнину в бассейне рек Тигра и Евфрата. 3. Земля там была необыкновенно плодородная, так что им жилось все лучше и лучше. 4. Они возгордились и решили построить такую высокую башню, чтобы верхушка ее доставала до самого неба. 5. Башня росла все выше, пока бог не встревожился и не решил посмотреть, что она собой представляет. 6. Человеческая гордыня вызвала его гнев, и он смешал языки, чтобы люди не могли между собой договориться. 7. Среди строителей башни возникло замешательство, они вынуждены были отказаться от своего замысла и рассеялись по всему свету. 8. Город, где возводили башню и где произошло смешение языков человеческих, назвали Вавилон.