纪录片《凡尔赛宫》 24路易十五与他享乐的天堂

The world's most magnificent palace

举世最为恢弘的宫殿

is about to become its most notorious.

即将名声渐毁

Home to decadence¹ on a truly royal scale.

它是皇室颓废生活的温床

Prostitution and gluttony.

充斥着荒淫与饕餮

Gambling² and torture.

赌博与酷刑

And enough sex to scandalised even the French.

其间的恣情纵欲甚至让法国人不齿

This is the story of a king who took Versailles,

本片讲述了一位国王如何将凡尔赛

turned it into his palace of pleasure,

变为自己享乐的天堂

and brought the monarchy⁴ to the brink⁵ of collapse⁶.

由此将君主制推向瓦解的边缘

The waking ceremony of the Duke of Anjou, by grace of God,

画面中这是天佑的安茹公爵

King Louis XV, Monarch³ of France and Navarre,

路易十五 法国与纳瓦拉的君主

and just an 11-year-old boy.

这年仅11岁男孩的起床仪式

Louis will reign⁷ for 58 years,

路易将执政58年

but his whole life will be

但他的一生都将被

lived in the shadow of another man's glory,

另一个男人荣耀的阴影笼罩

his predecessor⁸, Louis XIV.

那就是他的前任 路易十四

Louis XIV was an incredibly tough act to follow.

路易十四的功绩难以复制

He is seen as The Great.

人们视他为大帝

He is the Conqueror⁹ of Europe.

他是欧洲的征服者

He adds to France.

他让法国空前强大

He is the greatest monarch of the 17th century.

是17世纪最伟大的君主

He was the first act on the stage of Versailles.

他是凡尔赛宫的第一位主人

He was the Sun,

他是太阳王

he was Apollo, the Sun God.

是太阳神阿波罗的化身

Everything orbited around him.

他是一切的中心

The etiquette¹⁰ of the court, the day of the court,

宫廷的礼仪 日常事宜

the extraordinary life lived entirely¹¹ in the public gaze.

万众瞩目下的非凡生活

In his patronage¹² of the arts, in his building projects,

他对艺术的赞助 他的建筑工程

in his personal conduct, in the way he dressed,

他的言行举止 着装风格

the way he ate, the way he looked,

用餐方式 外貌姿态

the way he walked.

甚至走路仪态

From the fountains in his gardens to the silver by his bed,

大到花园中的喷泉 小到床边的银器

he had established a form of etiquette

他建立了一套礼仪规则

with the sole view of making the whole country of France

仅仅为让整个法国的目光

entirely focused upon his person and his power.

都聚焦在他个人与他的权力之上

1 decadence   

n.衰落，颓废

参考例句：

• The decadence of morals is bad for a nation.道德的堕落对国家是不利的。
• His article has the power to turn decadence into legend.他的文章具有化破朽为神奇的力量。

2 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

3 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

4 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

5 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

8 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

9 conqueror   

n.征服者，胜利者

参考例句：

• We shall never yield to a conqueror.我们永远不会向征服者低头。
• They abandoned the city to the conqueror.他们把那个城市丢弃给征服者。

10 etiquette   

n.礼仪，礼节；规矩

参考例句：

• The rules of etiquette are not so strict nowadays.如今的礼仪规则已不那么严格了。
• According to etiquette,you should stand up to meet a guest.按照礼节你应该站起来接待客人。

11 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。

12 patronage   

n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场

参考例句：

• Though it was not yet noon,there was considerable patronage.虽然时间未到中午，店中已有许多顾客惠顾。
• I am sorry to say that my patronage ends with this.很抱歉，我的赞助只能到此为止。