美国学生人类历史 第145期:教皇与皇帝之争(1)

 Chapter 33 Pope¹ vs. emperor 第三十三章 教皇与皇帝之争

The strange double loyalty² of the people of the middle ages and how it led to endless quarrels between the popes³ and the holy roman emperors 中世纪人民奇特的双重效忠制度，以及由此引发的教皇与神圣罗马帝国皇帝之间的无尽争斗

It is very difficult to understand the people of by-gone ages. 要想真正理解以往时代的人们，搞清楚他们的行为方式、他们思想动机，是一件异常困难的事情。

Your own grandfather, whom you see every day, is a mysterious being who lives in a different world of ideas and clothes and manners. 你每天都能看见的自己的祖父，他仿佛就是一个无论在思想、衣着和行为态度上，都生活在一个不同世界的神秘人物。你难道不是费尽心思地认识他，绞尽脑汁地想要理解他，但往往无功而返吗。

I am now telling you the story of some of your grandfathers who are twenty-five generations removed, 我现在给你讲述的，是比你祖父早25代的老爷爷们的故事。

and I do not expect you to catch the meaning of what I write without re-reading this chapter a number of times. 如果你们不把这一章重读几遍，我想你们是不能真正理解其意义的。

The average man of the Middle Ages lived a very simple and uneventful life. 中世纪的普通老百姓生活简朴，平淡无奇的岁月中少有特别的事情发生。

Even if he was a free citizen, able to come and go at will, he rarely left his own neighbourhood. 即便是一个自由 市民，可以随心所欲地来去，他的生活范围也极少超出自己居住的邻区。

There were no printed books and only a few manuscripts⁴. 读物当然少得可怜，除少量的手抄本在极小的范围内流传，根本不存在印刷的书籍。

Here and there, a small band of industrious⁵ monks⁶ taught reading and writing and some arithmetic. 在各个地方，总有一小批勤勉的僧侣在教人读书、写字、学习 简单的算术。

But science and history and geography lay buried beneath the ruins of Greece and Rome. 至于科学、历史和地理，它们早已深埋于古希腊和古罗马的废墟之下，湮灭无闻了。

Whatever people knew about the past they had learned by listening to stories and legends. 人们对过去时代的了解，大都来自于他们日常听闻的故事和传奇。

Such information, which goes from father to son, is often slightly incorrect in details, 这些由父亲讲给儿子的代代相传的故事，能以令人惊奇的准确性保存了历史的主要事实， 

but it will preserve the main facts of history with astonishing accuracy. 只在细节上有轻微的出人。

After more than two thousand years, the mothers of India still frighten their naughty children by telling them that "Iskander will get them," 2000多年过去了，印度的母亲们为让淘气的孩子安静下来，依然会吓唬他们说，"再不听话，伊斯坎达尔要来捉你了！"

and Iskander is none other than Alexander the Great, who visited India in the year 330 before the birth of Christ, but whose story has lived through all these ages. 这位伊斯坎达尔不是别人，他就是公元前330年率军横扫印度的亚历山大大帝。他的故事经过几千年，依然在印度的大地上流传。

1 pope   

n.（罗马天主教的）教皇

参考例句：

• The Pope is the spiritual leader of many Christians.教皇是众多基督徒的宗教领袖。
• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。

2 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

3 popes   

n.罗马教皇( pope的名词复数 )；主教；蒲柏(1688-1744，英国诗人)；大腿上要害部位

参考例句：

• In 160 years, there were near hand 50 popes. 在160年里，大约有五十们教皇。 来自互联网
• That is what popes normally do. 但那正是教皇们的职责所在。 来自互联网

4 manuscripts   

手稿( manuscript的名词复数 )； 原稿； 底稿； 手写本

参考例句：

• The old librarian illuminated some old books and manuscripts. 这个老图书馆员把一些古书和旧抄稿加上各种装饰。
• At his death he left a great mass of undigested manuscripts. 他去世时留下大量尚未整理的文稿。

5 industrious   

adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的

参考例句：

• If the tiller is industrious,the farmland is productive.人勤地不懒。
• She was an industrious and willing worker.她是个勤劳肯干的员工。

6 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》