2022年经济学人 俯身去征服（2）

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Yet even at what seemed to be the apotheosis¹ of Norman power and influence, the idea of what it was to be one was becoming elusive².

然而，即使在诺曼人的权力和影响力似乎达到鼎盛的时期，这种地位带来的感觉也变得难以捉摸。

By assimilating and marrying wherever they showed up, the Normans willingly blended their identity with the locals’.

通过在他们出现的任何地方进行同化和通婚，诺曼人心甘情愿地将他们的身份与当地人的身份相融合。

By the time of Frederick’s coronation, Normans in England, although still French-speaking, thought of themselves as English.

到腓特烈二世加冕时，英格兰的诺曼人虽然仍讲法语，但他们认为自己是英国人。

Normandy itself had been lost by King John to the French crown, while the multicultural³ Kingdom of Sicily was now part of the Holy Roman Empire.

诺曼底本身已经被约翰王割让给了法国王室，而多元文化的西西里王国成为了神圣罗马帝国的一部分。

In another 100 years, brooding castles and soaring churches would be the only distinctively⁴ Norman features left.

再过100年，阴沉的城堡和高耸的教堂将是仅存的明显的诺曼特色。

Tellingly, the title of Levi Roach’s book is “Empires of the Normans”, not “The Norman Empire”.

值得注意的是，列维·罗奇的书名是《诺曼人的帝国》，而不是《诺曼帝国》。

The grip Rollo’s descendants exerted on Europe and the Middle East was more the result of a militarised diaspora, vaulting⁵ ambition and crafty⁶ opportunism than of conscious empire-building.

罗洛的后代对欧洲和中东施加的控制，更大程度上是源于军事化的移居、过于雄心勃勃的野心和狡猾的投机主义，而不是有意识地建立帝国。

Even their genuine Christian⁷ piety⁸ served a practical end.

甚至他们真正的基督教虔诚也有一个实际的目的。

Successive popes lent a cloak of legality to Norman land-grabbing when it suited their political purposes.

历任教皇在符合其政治目的的情况下，为诺曼人的土地掠夺披上了合法的外衣。

Some of the ground covered by the book may be familiar to history buffs: from the high-stakes conquest of England to the fighting qualities that Normans brought to the near-miraculous triumph of the First Crusade.

对于历史爱好者来说，书中涵盖的一些领域可能并不陌生：从对英格兰的高风险征服，到诺曼人带来的战斗品质，再到第一次十字军东征近乎奇迹般的胜利。

But by telling the story from their perspective and following them wherever they went—from Italy to the Balkans and Asia Minor⁹, from England into Wales, Scotland and Ireland and from southern France into Iberia—Mr Roach gives a powerful account of how prowess in combat, shrewd alliance-building, low cunning and sheer chutzpah let them punch above their numerical weight.

但通过从他们的角度讲述故事，并跟随他们从意大利到巴尔干和小亚细亚，从英格兰到威尔士、苏格兰和爱尔兰，再从法国南部到伊比利亚，罗奇有力地讲述了战斗中的英勇、精明的联盟建设、卑劣的狡猾和纯粹的胆识是如何让他们拥有了超过其规模实力的力量。

It is a pity that the narrative¹⁰ sometimes drags as he tracks the exploits of so many Williams, Roberts, Rogers and Henrys (noble Norman families ran a bit short on names).

遗憾的是，当他追溯这么多威廉、罗伯特、罗杰和亨利(诺曼贵族家庭的名字花样有点少)的英勇事迹时，故事有时会拖拖拉拉。

Extraordinary characters such as Roger II of Sicily could have been better dramatised with more direct quotation¹¹ from the lively primary texts.

如果从生动的原始文本中更直接地引用，像西西里岛的罗杰二世这样的非凡人物本可以更具戏剧性。

For instance, in her “Alexiad”, Anna Komnene, daughter of the Byzantine emperor Alexios Komnenos, is both fascinated and repulsed¹² by Bohemond, the future Prince of Antioch: he is “perfectly proportioned” but a “supreme mischief-maker”.

例如，拜占庭皇帝阿莱克修斯一世·科穆宁的女儿安娜·科穆宁娜在她的《阿莱克修斯传》中，对未来的安提俄克王子波西蒙德既着迷又反感：波西蒙德的“比例很完美”，但却是一个“最大的恶作剧制造者”。

The result is an indelible picture of the warrior-politician.

其成果是对这位战士政治家的一幅难忘的画像。

Mr Roach has diligently¹³ mined the sources, but rather fussily¹⁴ deplores¹⁵ their bias¹⁶ and exaggeration.

罗奇孜孜不倦地挖掘了这些来源，却大惊小怪地对其中的偏见和夸大表示谴责。

A flashier historian would have had no such qualms¹⁷.

更加华而不实的历史学家不会有这样的顾虑。

1 apotheosis   

n.神圣之理想；美化；颂扬

参考例句：

• The legend of king arthur represent the apotheosis of chivalry.亚瑟王的传说代表骑士精神的顶峰。
• The Oriental in Bangkok is the apotheosis of the grand hotel.曼谷的东方饭店是豪华饭店的典范。

2 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

3 multicultural   

adj.融合多种文化的，多种文化的

参考例句：

• Children growing up in a multicultural society.在多元文化社会中长大的孩子们。
• The school has been attempting to bring a multicultural perspective to its curriculum.这所学校已经在尝试将一种多元文化视角引入其课程。

4 distinctively   

adv.特殊地，区别地

参考例句：

• "Public risks" is a recent term for distinctively high-tech hazards. “公共风险”是个特殊的高技术危害个人的一个最新术语。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• His language was natural, unaffected, distinctively vivid, humorous and strongly charming. 语言既朴实无华，又鲜明生动，幽默而富有艺术魅力。

5 vaulting   

n.（天花板或屋顶的）拱形结构

参考例句：

• The vaulting horse is a difficult piece of apparatus to master. 鞍马是很难掌握的器械。
• Sallie won the pole vaulting. 莎莉撑杆跳获胜。

6 crafty   

adj.狡猾的，诡诈的

参考例句：

• He admired the old man for his crafty plan.他敬佩老者的神机妙算。
• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 piety   

n.虔诚，虔敬

参考例句：

• They were drawn to the church not by piety but by curiosity.他们去教堂不是出于虔诚而是出于好奇。
• Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.经验使我们看到虔诚与善意之间有着巨大的区别。

9 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

10 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

11 quotation   

n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情

参考例句：

• He finished his speech with a quotation from Shakespeare.他讲话结束时引用了莎士比亚的语录。
• The quotation is omitted here.此处引文从略。

12 repulsed   

v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝

参考例句：

• I was repulsed by the horrible smell. 这种可怕的气味让我恶心。
• At the first brush,the enemy was repulsed. 敌人在第一次交火时就被击退了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 diligently   

ad.industriously;carefully

参考例句：

• He applied himself diligently to learning French. 他孜孜不倦地学法语。
• He had studied diligently at college. 他在大学里勤奋学习。

14 fussily   

adv.无事空扰地，大惊小怪地，小题大做地

参考例句：

• She adjusted her head scarf fussily. 她小题大做地整了整头巾。 来自辞典例句
• He spoke to her fussily. 他大惊小怪地对她说。 来自互联网

15 deplores   

v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He often deplores his past sins. 他经常痛悔自己过去的罪恶。 来自辞典例句
• Regretting the lack of spontaneity and real sensuousness in other contemporary poets, he deplores in Tennyson. 他对于和他同时代的诗人缺乏自发性和真实的敏感，感到惋惜，他对坦尼森感到悲痛。 来自辞典例句

16 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

17 qualms   

n.不安；内疚

参考例句：

• He felt no qualms about borrowing money from friends.他没有对于从朋友那里借钱感到不安。
• He has no qualms about lying.他撒谎毫不内疚。