世界小史 第60期:缴纳贡品

 Speaking of labyrinths², have you ever heard the story of the evil Minotaur, half man, half bull,

说到迷宫，你听说过凶恶的人身牛首怪物的传说吗？他一半是人一半是公牛，

who lived in a labyrinth¹ and made the Greeks send him seven youths and seven maidens³ each year as human sacrifices?

他住在一个迷宫里，他要求希腊每年送给他少男少女各七名作为人祭。

Do you know where that was?

你知道，这发生在什么地方吗？

It was in Crete, so there may be some truth in the story.

正是在克里特岛。那就是说，这个传说里说某些东西是真实的。

Cretan kings may once have ruled over Greek cities, and those Greeks may have had to send them tribute.

也许克里特的国王们确实曾一度统治过这些希腊城市，而希腊人则不得不向他们缴纳贡品。

In any event, these Cretans were clearly a remarkable⁴ people, even if we still don't know much about them.

无论如何，这些克里特人一定是一个非常了不起的民族，虽然我们对这个民族知之甚少。

You only have to look at the paintings on the walls of their palaces to see that they are unlike any made at the same time in Egypt or in Babylon.

他们画在大宫殿里的画像看上去跟这一时期在埃及或巴比伦的画像也完全不一样。

If you remember, the Egyptian pictures were very beautiful, but rather severe and stiff, a bit like their priests.

如果你还记得的话，埃及的画像是极美的，但面部表情严厉而僵硬，像他们的祭司。

This was not the case in Crete.

克里特岛上的则完全不一样，

What mattered most to them was to catch animals or people in rapid motion,

他们最喜欢描绘快速运动中的动物或人。

hounds chasing wild boar, and people leaping over bulls, nothing was too hard for them to paint.

他们毫不费力地就能画出：追捕野猪的猎狗，跃过公牛的人。

1 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。

2 labyrinths   

迷宫( labyrinth的名词复数 )； （文字，建筑）错综复杂的

参考例句：

• I was engulfed in labyrinths of trouble too great to get out at all. 我陷入困难的迷宫中去，简直无法脱身。
• I've explored ancient castles, palaces, temples, tombs, catacombs and labyrinths. 我曾在古堡、古皇宫、古神庙、古墓、地下墓穴和迷宫中探险。

3 maidens   

处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• Transplantation is not always successful in the matter of flowers or maidens. 花儿移栽往往并不成功，少女们换了环境也是如此。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

4 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。