纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 053洛泰尔一世水晶雕刻（6）

This was a huge dynastic setback¹ for Lothair, but he seems to have accepted the Pope's decision.

这对洛泰尔来说是沉重的打击，但他不得不接受教皇的判决。

Although he continued to try to find another way of divorcing her, he seems to have acknowledged publicly that the claims against Theutberga were groundless, and that the slandered² woman was entirely³ innocent.

此后他仍千方百计试图废后，无奈世人皆知他对塞勃格的指控没有根据，这位被中伤的女子完全是清白的。

Because of the strong parallels with the Susannah story, it's always been tempting⁴ to see the Lothair Crystal as connected to this royal drama-perhaps it was made as a present for Theutberga to show Lothair's sincerity⁵ in accepting that she was blameless.

这段历史与苏撒拿的故事有惊人的相似之处，因而人们一直想找出水晶盘与这出王室丑闻的关联。它也许是为塞勃格而制的礼物，表明洛泰尔真心相信她的清白。

If so, it's a kind of private statement marking a temporary truce⁶ in their marital⁷ hostilities⁸.

若果真如此，这种私人声明也许会让他们之间的敌意暂时告一段落。

But it is almost certainly something much more significant.

但有人认为水晶盘上的最后一幕场景暗示了更多的信息。

In this last scene, the artist abandons the Biblical text and shows Susannah being declared innocent by a king sitting in judgement, and the inscription⁹ specifically names Lothair.

在这一幕中，艺术家偏离了《圣经》的内容，描画了一位听审的国王宣布苏撒拿无罪，所附铭文中又特别提到了洛泰尔的名字。

The message is clear: one of the key duties of the king is to ensure that justice is done.

它所传达的信息一目了然：国王的一大职责是维护公正。

In short, the king must secure and respect the rule of law, even at great personal cost to himself.

也就是说，国王必须尊重法律，维护法律的实施，

Justice is almost 'the' defining royal virtue¹⁰.

哪怕这会损害他个人的利益。

A treatise¹¹, probably written for Lothair himself, spells this out:

—篇可能由洛泰尔亲自执笔的论述作了清楚的说明。

"The just and peaceful king carefully thinks about each case, and not despising the sick and poor of his people, speaks just judgements, putting down the wicked and raising the good."

公正而热爱和平的国王谨慎推敲每个案件，并不蔑视患病或贫苦的国民。他必须做出公正判决，惩恶扬善。

1 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

2 slandered   

造谣中伤( slander的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She slandered him behind his back. 她在背地里对他造谣中伤。
• He was basely slandered by his enemies. 他受到仇敌卑鄙的诋毁。

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 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

5 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

6 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

7 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

8 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

9 inscription   

n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文

参考例句：

• The inscription has worn away and can no longer be read.铭文已磨损，无法辨认了。
• He chiselled an inscription on the marble.他在大理石上刻碑文。

10 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

11 treatise   

n.专著；(专题)论文

参考例句：

• The doctor wrote a treatise on alcoholism.那位医生写了一篇关于酗酒问题的论文。
• This is not a treatise on statistical theory.这不是一篇有关统计理论的论文。