世界小史 第58期:金银财富

 The people were mostly seafarers, like the Phoenicians, only they traded less and fought more.

他们大都是航海者，像腓尼基人，只不过他们不怎么经商，却常常进行战争。

They were often at war with one another, but on occasion would gang together to plunder¹ other shores.

他们常常互相争斗，但是有时他们也结盟，共同掠夺别的海岸。

And as their fortunes grew bigger, they grew bolder – and not just bolder, but braver,

当他们拥有越来越多的金银财富，他们变得越来越大胆——不只是大胆，还更勇敢，

because to be a sea raider takes courage as well as cunning.

因为当海盗需要很大的勇气和胆识。

So sea raiding was a task which fell to the nobility.

所以这大概是城堡里的上等人干的事，

The rest of the population were simple peasants and shepherds.

普通农民和牧民是当不了海盗的。

Now, unlike the Egyptians, the Babylonians and the Assyrians, these noblemen weren't interested in preserving the ways of their ancestors.

但是这些上等人不像埃及人或巴比伦尼亚人和亚述人那样很在乎一切都维持原状。

Their many raids and battles with foreign peoples had opened their eyes to new ideas and taught them to relish² variety and change.

在他们频繁的掠夺性航行和对别的部落的战斗中，他们开阔了眼界并变得喜欢花样翻新。

And it was at this point, and in this part of the world, that history began to progress at a much greater speed,

所以自那时以来世界历史在这些地区进展得很快，

because people no longer believed that the old ways were best.

因为自那些时代以来这里的人们永远也不再相信：现状恰恰就是最好的状态。

1 plunder   

vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠

参考例句：

• The thieves hid their plunder in the cave.贼把赃物藏在山洞里。
• Trade should not serve as a means of economic plunder.贸易不应当成为经济掠夺的手段。

2 relish   

n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味

参考例句：

• I have no relish for pop music.我对流行音乐不感兴趣。
• I relish the challenge of doing jobs that others turn down.我喜欢挑战别人拒绝做的工作。