所罗门王的智谋(英中对照)

古德明《征服英语》之英语军事故事，古德明，香港英语教育作家，他开了一个《征服英语专栏》，在专栏中专门用英语写了世界近代史上的军事小故事，用英语讲述历史中那些惊心动魄的战争。
所罗门王的智谋
in a bible story, the queen of sheba* heard about the great wisdom of king solomon of israel, but did not believe it. she went to jerusalem to test his wisdom with riddles, and the king solved all of them. the bible only speaks of the mutual respect of the two monarchs.
however, the queen figures also in countless tales of the middle east and africa. in ethiopian myth, solomon used his fabled wisdom to trick her. he promised not to pester the queen to sleep with him if she swore to take none of his possessions. he then told his servants to bring her heavily salted foods to eat at dinner. during the night, when the thirsty queen drank from the water jug next to her bed, solomon accused her of theft, and thus compelled her to sleep with him.

一个《圣经》故事说,希巴女王风闻以色列的所罗门王足智多谋,认为不可信,亲往耶路撒冷,用谜语诘难,所罗门王一一解答。《圣经》只说两位国王惺惺相惜。
不过,希巴女王在中东以及非洲无数故事之中都有出现。根据衣索匹亚传说,所罗门王用他脍炙人口的智谋,玩弄了希巴女王。他答应不强求希巴女王共寝,但女王须发誓不擅取他任何东西。所罗门王跟着就吩咐仆人给希巴女王送上晚餐,菜肴都多用盐。晚上,女王口渴,拿起床畔的水壶喝水,所罗门王责她偷窃,逼她荐枕。
附注：
*据史学家考证,希巴王国位在阿拉伯半岛东南,即今之也门。