纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 050传丝公主画版（3）

I am sitting with the painting now. It's painted on a rough plank¹ that is almost exactly the size of a computer keyboard - and the figures are quite simply drawn² in black and white, with here and there touches of red and blue. It's pretty unprepossessing as a work of art, but then it was never intended to be a work of art, because this painting was made entirely³ to help a story-teller tell their story. Right in the middle is the silk princess herself, with her large and prominent headdress. And to make absolutely sure that we don't miss it, and that we don't fail to recognise that this is the focal point of the story, on the left a servant woman is melodramatically pointing at the headdress. The story-teller would then have told us that inside it there is everything you need to produce silk: worms of the silk moth⁴, and the silk cocoons⁵ that they produce, and mulberry seeds - because mulberry leaves are what silk worms need to eat. Then we see what happens next. In front of the princess, the silk cocoons are piled up in a basket, and on the far right there is a man hard at work weaving the silk threads into cloth. So, the princess has obviously arrived safely in Khotan, and her trick has worked. This story, simply set out in three scenes, is a key document of what was in fact a transforming shift of knowledge and skill from the east to the west.

We've known for a long time that the Silk Road was vitally important in the developing world of the eighth century, but it is only relatively⁶ recently that it has secured its romantic reputation, as the travel-writer and novelist Colin Thubron knows well:

"The place of the Silk Road in history - it's almost impossible to exaggerate its importance, I think, in the movement of peoples, the movement of goods, the transport of inventions in particular, and ideas - and of course in the movement of religions. Whether it's Buddhism⁷ north from India and eastward⁸ into China, or the advance of Islam deep into Asia, all this is a Silk Road phenomenon.

1 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

4 moth   

n.蛾，蛀虫

参考例句：

• A moth was fluttering round the lamp.有一只蛾子扑打着翅膀绕着灯飞。
• The sweater is moth-eaten.毛衣让蛀虫咬坏了。

5 cocoons   

n.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的名词复数 )v.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The silkworms have gone into the bushes to spin their cocoons. 蚕上山了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In two more days the " little darlings" would spin their cocoons. 再得两天，“宝宝”可以上山。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 Buddhism   

n.佛教（教义）

参考例句：

• Buddhism was introduced into China about 67 AD.佛教是在公元67年左右传入中国的。
• Many people willingly converted to Buddhism.很多人情愿皈依佛教。

8 eastward   

adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部

参考例句：

• The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
• The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。