英语原文出处Long long ago, a king in India named Kaid, who had bui

英语原文出处
Long long ago, a king in India named Kaid, who had built a huge empire, was sick at heart. He called his minister, Sassa, to him and said: “ 26I think about my past battles. I can’t sleep for thinking about imaginary wars and victories. But I have 27enemies, and it is wrong to28war without cause. What can I do to29my peace of mind? ”
The minister thought of a game that he had learned from a Greek soldier. He taught the rules to the king, who found the game so engaging (吸引人的), such a perfect 30 , that he became a happy man again.
He asked Sassa: “How can I 31you? Choose anything you like. But Sassa said: “Take a grain of rice and place it on the first square of the board. Put two grains on the second square. Keep going, doubling the number of grains each time, until you have32all the 64 squares on the boarD”
33they laughed at Sassa for his modesty and simplicity. But then they discovered that the rice would exceed (超过) all the34in the known world.
The game, 35 you haven’t guessed, was chess. It’s interesting that chess’s place and date of birth are still a36 . India, China, Persia, Greece? Nobody knows.
What is definitely true in the story is the 37Sassa was making with his rice. Chess is pretty much 38 . We don't know the number of possible games even today, 39 a supercomputer can 40the world champion. There’s an Indian saying: “Chess is a lake in which a mosquito can bathe – and an elephant can drown.”
Children like to 41a little wooden army, and even adults like to42 Napoleon. That’s 43they get started. Later, players realize the technical complexity (复杂事物) and, 44they see the game’s unbelievable artistic beauty. It’s a unique 45of war game, sport, science and art.