纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 043沙普尔二世银盘(7)

Zoroastrians don't have that option, everywhere that is Zoroastrian has been conquered by Islam. And so as a result there is an increasing,sort of, spiral of decline to the degree that now in the land of its birth-in Iran-Zoroastrians are a tiny, tiny minority."

可琐罗亚斯特教徒没有这样的选择。他们曾经的国度全都被伊斯兰占领了。如今就算在琐罗斯特教的发源地伊朗，其教徒数量也为数不多。

But if Zoroastrians today are relatively¹ few in number, some of their faith's core teachings about the eternal conflict of good and evil, about the ending of the world, are still very powerful today. The politics of the Middle East are still haunted, and in some measure shaped, by belief in an eventual² apocalypse and the triumph of justice-an idea that Judaism, Christianity and Islam all derived³ from Zoroastrianism. And when politicians in Teheran talk of the Great Satan, and politicians in Washington denounce the Empire of Evil, one's tempted⁴ to point out that: "Thus Spake Zarathustra".

虽然教徒的数量不算多，但他们的一些核心教义，如世界的善恶之争，以及世界末日的观念，依然有巨大影响。如今中东依然政局不稳，末日启示和正义必胜等观念仍在某种程度上影响着政局。这些观念都源自琐罗亚斯特教，如今为犹太教、基督教与伊斯兰教共有。德黑兰政治家提到的“大撒旦”，华盛顿政治家所谴责的“邪恶帝国”，这些都是“查拉图騰拉如是说。”

1 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

2 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

3 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。