评论
打印
From its earliest days,Britain was an object of desire.
自远古时代起 不列颠就为人所觊觎
Tacitus declared it "pretium victoriae" worth the conquest,
塔西佗称其为"值得征服的土地"
the best compliment that could occur to a Roman.
在罗马人眼中 这无疑是最高的赞誉
He had never visited these shores but was nonetheless convinced
他从未踏足这片土地 尽管如此他仍坚信
that Britannia was rich in gold.
不列颠尼亚是一个黄金夹道的富庶之地
Silver was abundant too. Apparently so were pearls,
同样取之不尽的还有白银与珍珠
although Tacitus had heard they were grey,
尽管塔西佗听说那里的珍珠
like the overcast, rain-heavy skies,
就像那里常年阴霾笼罩的天空一般灰暗
and the natives only bother to collected them when cast up on the shore.
却盈千累万 当地人都不需费心采撷 等着珍珠冲上岸就好
As far as the Roman historians were concerned,
古罗马历史学家曾认为
Britannia might be well off at the edge of the world,
不列颠尼亚远在世界之端
but it was off the edge of their world,not in a howling barbarian wilderness.
但事实上 她只是在罗马世界的边缘 且并非未开化的蛮夷之地
If the same writers had been able to travel in time as well as space
假使这些作家可以穿越时空
to the northernmost of our islands, the Orcades our modern Orkney
游历至不列颠最北端 如今的奥克尼群岛
they would have seen something much more astonishing than pearls:
令他们瞠目结舌的将不仅是金山银海
The unmistakable signs of a civilisation thousands of years older than Rome.
还有这里无疑早于罗马数千年的文明的遗迹
