纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 043沙普尔二世银盘(4)

And all of these notions have of course passed into the Abrahamic mainstream¹ of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

这些概念都进入了亚伯拉罕诸教—犹太教、基督教与伊斯兰教的教义里。

And it's when you come to the animal that the King is riding on the silver dish that you get a shock, because he's not on a horse but on a fully-antlered stag. He straddles the beast without either stirrups or saddle, gripping it by the antlers with his left hand, while his right hand deftly² plunges³ a sword right into its neck-blood sprays out, and at the bottom of the plate we see the same stag in the throes of death. This whole image is quite clearly a fantasy, from the great crown at the top which would quite clearly have fallen off if you'd been riding, to the idea of killing⁴ your own mount in full leap. We're in the realm of symbol.

如果你注意到银盘上国王的坐骑，一定会大吃一惊。他骑的并不是马，而是长着大鹿角的牡鹿。他直接跨坐在没有镫也没有鞍的鹿背上，左手抓着鹿角，右手的匕首灵巧地刺入鹿脖子，鲜血飞溅。银盘的底部还有另一头垂死的牡鹿。整幅图画都有些不真实，比如他头顶的大皇冠，如果真的在骑行，一定早就掉下来了，而刺死正在飞奔的坐骑更是教人不可思议。

What's really going on here? In the Middle East, for centuries, hunting scenes have been a common way of representing royal power. Assyrian kings, well protected in their chariots, are shown bravely killing lions, from a safe distance. But Shapur is doing something else. This is the monarch⁵ in single combat with the beast, and he's risking himself not out of pointless bravado⁶, but for the benefit of his subjects. As protective ruler we see him killing certain kinds of animals, the beasts that threatened his subjects: big cats which preyed⁷ on cattle and poultry⁸, wild boar and deer which ravaged⁹ crops and pastures. So images like this one are visual metaphors¹⁰ for royal power, conceived in Zoroastrian terms.

这到底是怎么回事？千百年来，狩猎场景在中东一向是表现王权的普遍形式。我们曾看到叙利亚国王坐在重重护卫的马车里，在安全距离外英勇地杀死了狮子。沙普尔所做的略有不同。他挺身犯险，与野兽单打独斗，并非盲目逞能，而是在保卫臣民的利益。作为臣民的保护神，我们看到他杀死的都是些危害百姓生活的动物，如猎食家禽家畜的猛兽，破坏庄稼和牧场的野猪与鹿等。这样的图画是琐罗亚斯特教善神的代言人，将战胜一切恶势力，完成身为国王的重大职责。

1 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

2 deftly   

adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He deftly folded the typed sheets and replaced them in the envelope. 他灵巧地将打有字的纸折好重新放回信封。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At last he had a clew to her interest, and followed it deftly. 这一下终于让他发现了她的兴趣所在，于是他熟练地继续谈这个话题。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

3 plunges   

n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• Even before he plunges into his program, he has his audience in his pocket. 他的节目甚至还没有出场，就已控制住了观众。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 'Monseigneur, he precipitated himself over the hill-side, head first, as a person plunges into the river.' “大人，他头冲下跳下山坡去了，像往河里跳一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

6 bravado   

n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能

参考例句：

• Their behaviour was just sheer bravado. 他们的行为完全是虚张声势。
• He flourished the weapon in an attempt at bravado. 他挥舞武器意在虚张声势。

7 preyed   

v.掠食( prey的过去式和过去分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生

参考例句：

• Remorse preyed upon his mind. 悔恨使他内心痛苦。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He had been unwise and it preyed on his conscience. 他做得不太明智，这一直让他良心不安。 来自辞典例句

8 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

9 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

10 metaphors   

隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I can only represent it to you by metaphors. 我只能用隐喻来向你描述它。
• Thus, She's an angel and He's a lion in battle are metaphors. 因此她是天使，他是雄狮都是比喻说法。