经济学人231:维多利亚的秘密

 　　The queen's knickers

　　女王的短裤

　　Victoria’s secret

　　维多利亚的秘密

　　维多利亚的秘密.jpg

　　What do you buy the monarchist who has everything? One auction¹ bidder² has the answer: knickers that belonged to Queen Victoria. The buyer paid 6,200 ($9,900) for them on October 12th at an auction in Kent. At her death in 1901, Victoria bequeathed several dozen pairs of bloomers to her servants (“for loyal service”) but only one other complete pair has been found and sold. These drawers are interesting because the 52-inch (132cm) waist shows how well Her Majesty³ ate in later years. The sale is part of a growing market for the underwear of famous dead people: recent auctions⁴ have tried to sell the smalls of Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith and Elvis Presley. Someone wanted 7,000 for the King’s briefs in 2012 but they didn’t sell. Only Victoria’s have sat on an actual throne.

　　你要从拥有一切的君主那里买什么？有一位拍卖者知道答案：曾属于维多利亚女王的短裤。10月12号，这位买家在肯特举行的一场拍卖会上以6，200英镑（9，900美元）的价格拍下了这条短裤。维多利亚女王在1901年弥留之际，将好几十条灯笼裤赠给仆人（因为他们“忠诚的服务”）。但除了刚刚提到的那条之外，迄今只发现另一条完整的短裤，它已经卖出去了。这些衬裤很有意思，因为那52英寸（132cm）的腰围显示出尊贵的女王陛下在晚年伙食相当不错。这次交易是已故名人内衣裤拍卖这个蓬勃发展的市场的一部分:近期的拍卖会已经尝试拍卖了迈克尔·杰克逊、安娜·妮可·史密斯和猫王的内衣裤。2012年，有人曾希望以7，000英镑的价格买下国王的内裤，但这是非卖品。只有维多利亚女王的短裤才曾坐在真正的王位上，（惟有维多利亚女王的短裤才真正雄踞价位榜首）。

1 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

2 bidder   

n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
• The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。

3 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

4 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句