造桥者

造桥者

阿栖河穿过安提阿城奔流入海，河上建造了一座桥，以便利这城市的两部分之间的交通。

桥是用大石头筑成的，大石头是驮在安提阿的骡子的背上从山里运来的。

石桥竣工时，一根石柱上用希腊文和阿拉姆文刻了一行字："此桥系国王安提阿二世所建"。

所有的老百姓都经由这座美好的石桥走到美丽的阿栖河对岸去。

一天晚上，有个被人们认为有点儿傻里傻气的青年，往下爬到那石柱上刻字的地方，用木炭把刻的字涂抹掉，然后在这上面写道："这桥上的石头是骡子从山里驮运来的。你们在桥上来来往往，就是跨在建桥者——也就是安提阿的骡子——的背上。"

老百姓读了那青年写下的话，有的哈哈大笑，有的大为惊异。有的说："啊，明白了，我们知道这是谁干的。他不是有点儿傻里傻气吗？"不过，有只骡子一边儿哈哈大笑一边儿对另一只骡子说道："你可记得我们确确实实驮运了这些石头，然而直至今日一直说这石桥是国王安提阿建造的。"

Builders Of Bridges

In Antioch where the river Assi goes to meet the sea, a bridge was built to bring one half of the city nearer to the other half. It was built of large stones carried down from among the hills, on the backs of the mules of Antioch.

When the bridge was finished, upon a pillar thereof was engraved in Greek and in Aramaic, "This bridge was builded by King Antiochus II."

And all the people walked across the good bridge over the goodly river Assi.

And upon an evening, a youth, deemed by some a little mad, descended to the pillar where the words were engraven, and he covered over the graving with charcoal, and above it wrote, "The stones of this bridge were brought down from the hills by the mules. In passing to and fro over it you are riding upon the backs of the mules of Antioch, builders of this bridge."

And when the people read what the youth had written, some of them laughed and some marvelled. And some said, "Ah yes, we know who has done this. Is he not a little mad?"

But one mule said, laughing, to another mule, "Do you not remember that we did carry those stones? And yet until now it has been said that the bridge was builded by King Antiochus."