英语听力：自然百科 Timkat：埃塞俄比亚的主显节

 Kibcob will soon face his first great step on the road to priesthood. He hopes to take part in the most important ceremony of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church—Timkat, the feast of the Epiphany, celebrating the baptism of Christ. Although Epiphany is celebrated 1 throughout the Christian 2 world, the Ethiopian Timkat ceremony is different. It features sacred replicas 3 of the Ark of the Covenant 4. To be allowed to take part, Kibcob must convince the senior priests of his church that he has total commitment to his calling, complete faith. For six years Kibcob has not been ready to take part in Timkat. If the elders question his faith now, it may be many years before he'll be considered again. And this is not the only pressure on Kibcob. He's got a family tradition to live up to.

 
I'm one of three brothers. The other two have finished their religious education. They are already working in the church. I am the youngest, but I want to achieve the same as them.
 
Kibcob's practice is a form of Christianity that is both ancient and unique to Ethiopia. His life revolves 5 around worship and study at a church school in Lalibela. His teacher, his own father, will be one of those who have the final say as to whether he's ready to take part in the Timkat festival. There's little formal structure to Kibcob's education. There's no end-of-year exam and study is constant. Learning the scriptures 6 by heart is in itself a monumental task, but Kibcob has to learn them in Ge'ez, which died out as an everyday language around a thousand years ago.
 
Kibcob lives with ten other students. They earn their meals the traditional way—by begging for food. Enduring physical hardship is seen as a necessary step in K's spiritual development, so is learning to accept charity, especially from villagers who often have little food to spare. Fortunately the people around Lalibela are devout 7 Christians 8, who would give whatever they can in exchange for a blessing 9.
 
There are few sights more impressive than the city of Lalibela. Kibcob's church is one of 11 churches, each cut straight into the volcanic 10 rock. They were built by the 12th-century King Lalibela, who had a vision of the holy city of Jerusalem.
 
Kibcob's long months of prayer and study have been rewarded. He's been chosen to be a part of the Timkat ceremony. It is an auspicious 11 landmark 12 in his spiritual development. But it is also a deeply private moment, a moment of personal revelation.
 
Christians from all over Ethiopia come to the ancient city of Lalibela for the festival of Timkat, hoping for a glimpse of the replicas of the Ark of the Covenant, known as Tabots. To come close to the Tabot is to come close to the word of God itself. The Tabots of the 11 churches of Lalibela emerge, carried on the heads of the most senior priests. They are considered so sacred that no one is ever permitted to gaze upon them, and must remain completely covered. From the labyrinth 13 they form a procession and make their way to the baptism pool. Scenes like this were described in the Bible when the Israelites welcomed Moses' return from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments. Celebrating the baptism of Christ, the faithful are themselves blessed by the holy water of Lalibela.
 
Kibcob has taken his first step on a great spiritual journey.