纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 044辛顿圣玛丽肖像(5)

At this point few people would have wanted to show the victorious¹, all-powerful Christ with that shameful² instrument of suffering, the cross.

很少有人愿意看到胜利的全能的耶稣与他耻辱的受难刑具十字架放在一起。

He had told his disciples³ that he was the way, the truth and the life, but it's very difficult to show any of these physically⁴.

他曾告诉门徒，他是道路，是真理，是生命，但这些东西都无法用具象表现出来。

He had announced that he was the light of the world, but it's really hard to show light in a mosaic⁵, especially if, as here, you're dealing⁶ with a not very good artist.

他也曾宣称自己是世界之光，但马赛克图案很难表现出光芒，尤其当艺术家水平并不算太高明的时候。

The mosaicist⁷ at Hinton St Mary, instead of a symbol, gave him a monogram⁸, the Chi Rho'-those two letters of the Greek alphabet that begin Christ's name in Greek, written as though they were X and P in our alphabet.

我们这位亨顿圣玛丽的艺术家没有使用任何象征物，而是釆用了本文开始时提到的希腊字母来表明基督的身份，

In our mosaic, they lie like a halo behind Christ's head.

并将它表现为基督身后的光环。

It was the symbol adopted by the Roman emperor Constantine, after his conversion⁹ to Christianity in the year 313.

它是公元313年，罗马的君士坦丁大帝转变了对基督教的态度后所采用的标志。

Our floor was almost certainly made about 40 years later.

我们几乎可以肯定这块地板制作于约40年后。

We can be pretty confident of that, because both Christ and Bellerophon wear their hair in the fashion of about 350.

基督与柏勒洛丰的发型都是公元350年左右流行的发式，即是明证。

It was Constantine's conversion at the battle of the Milvian Bridge that in fact made our floor possible.

米尔维安大桥战役时，君士坦丁改变了对基督的态度，之后才可能有这样的地板出现。

Before he converted, no villa¹¹ owner would have dared display their Christian¹⁰ faith so brazenly-practising Christians¹² had been persecuted¹³.

此前，没有一个别墅主人敢如此大胆地公开宣扬自己信仰基督，因为基督徒一直受到迫害。

But now, everything was different.

但现在一切都不同了。

Professor Dame¹⁴ Averil Cameron of Oxford¹⁵ University explains:

牛津大学教授埃弗利尔卡迈隆女爵士解释道：

"The Emperor Constantine seems to have converted himself to Christianity, and started to favour the Christians.

据说战前，君士坦丁在天空中看到了十字架，因而改信了基督。

He is supposed to have seen a vision of a cross in the sky some time before the battle, and thereafter he never deviated¹⁶ from giving privileges to Christians, which was a complete overturning of what had been happening when Christians had not even been legal.

之后他始终赋予基督徒极大的特权，彻底扭转了此前基督教不合法时的情况。

1 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

2 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

3 disciples   

n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一

参考例句：

• Judas was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. 犹大是耶稣十二门徒之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "The names of the first two disciples were --" “最初的两个门徒的名字是——” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

4 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

5 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 mosaicist   

n.镶嵌细工师，镶嵌细工商

参考例句：

8 monogram   

n.字母组合

参考例句：

• There was a monogram in the corner in which were the initials"R.K.B.".原来手帕角上有个图案，其中包含着RKB三个字母。
• When we get married I don't have to change the monogram on my luggage.当我们结婚后，我连皮箱上的字母也不用改。

9 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

10 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

11 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

12 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

13 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。

14 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

15 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

16 deviated   

v.偏离，越轨( deviate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• On this occasion the plane deviated from its usual flight path. 这一次那架飞机偏离了正常的航线。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His statements sometimes deviated from the truth. 他的陈述有时偏离事实。 来自《简明英汉词典》