名人教你讲英文：The Boer War 波耳战争

名人教英文：the boer war 波耳战争

after three years in south africa, gandhi had become a successful lawyer with a good income. he was also a respected leader in the indian community. he published a pamphlet (小册子) titled the grievances of the british indians in south africa: an appeal to the indian public. the pamphlet had a green cover. it soon became known as the "green book".

in 1896 gandhi returned to india for a five-month visit with his family. he decided that when he returned to south africa, he would bring his wife and sons with him. his wife kasturba was afraid. she only spoke the gujarati language. she dreaded (害怕) being in a place where everyone around her spoke english or another foreign language. when kasturba gandhi arrived in south africa, she had to give up her comfortable traditional clothing - the loose fitting dhoti (缠腰布) and sandals. she would have to wear more modern clothing and hard leather shoes.

the gandhi family moved to south africa in 1897. their third and fourth sons, ramdas and devdas, were born there. during gandhi's absence from south africa, the "green book" had become famous. but the europeans hated it. gandhi was attacked by mobs of europeans on the street. he was struck with rocks, mud, and garbage. he was cut in the neck before he was rescued from the mob.

there was a lot of tension in south africa between the british and the dutch. in 1899 full- scale war broke out. it was called the boer war. since gandhi was a british citizen, he felt he had to side with the british. gandhi did not believe in war. but he volunteered to form an ambulance corps (队伍) to help the wounded british. the corps led by gandhi carried wounded soldiers off the battlefield. they consisted of africans and indian-born hindus, muslims, and christians. gandhi hoped their good work would impress the british. he hoped the british would grant more civil rights to indians. gandhi and 38 members of the corps were awarded the south african war medal for their courage. the boer war ended with the british victory. the union of south africa was then established. south africa withdrew from the british commonwealth and was ruled by the dutch.