纪录片《凡尔赛宫》 19国王的责任与尊严

But Louis was only human. And after years of good health,

但路易也是凡人 尽管多年健康

he began to suffer from a serious medical problem,

他仍患了一种重病:

an anal fistula.

肛瘘

This was an extremely serious condition

以17世纪的医疗条件来说

in the context of the 17th century.

路易的情况格外糟糕

The risk of it becoming gangrenous,

脱疽 也就是脓液

that the pus would seep¹ into the rest of the body and infect

渗入并感染身体其他部位的

was very great indeed.

可能性很大

Untreated, it would almost certainly have killed the King.

如果不及时治疗 将导致死亡

The only way that it was likely to be cured

唯一的治疗方法

was through invasive surgery.

就是进行入侵性外科手术

Such surgery had had a very poor success rate.

但成功率很低

But Louis instructed his doctors to go ahead.

路易却命令医生继续进行

His senior physician devised a new instrument

他的首席医师发明了

especially for the operation.

一种手术专用工具

The doctors involved in the operation

手术医生

practised on a number of others

预先已经在许多其他病人

who had anal fistulas before hand.

身上实验手术

But it was nonetheless still a very risky² operation.

但手术风险仍然很大

In the 17th century,

在17世纪

the doctors were much more likely to kill you than cure you.

医生杀人多于医人

Huge effort was made at Versailles

凡尔赛宫上下

to keep the details of this secret,

尽力对手术保密

because it was felt so likely that the King wouldn't survive,

因为国王很有可能无法存活

that the diplomatic repercussions³ of this

而由此导致的政治变革

would sweep through Europe.

将会席卷欧洲

He was so stalwart during the operation, he never spoke⁴ at all.

他在手术中很顽强 一言不发

Imagine the pain, no anaesthetic.

当时没有麻醉药 痛苦难以想象

This extraordinary self control he had,

路易的自控力超乎寻常

he just gritted⁵ his teeth,

他只是紧咬牙关

and conducted himself with great dignity.

表现出超凡的尊严

And that night, he took a counsel meeting. Extraordinary,

那晚他参加了议会会议 很惊人

very pale with a sort of sheen of sweat,

他脸色苍白 汗珠晶亮

but he made it.

但他还是做到了

1 seep   

v.渗出，渗漏；n.渗漏，小泉，水（油）坑

参考例句：

• My anger began to seep away.我的怒火开始消下去了。
• If meteoric water does not evaporate or run overland,it may seep directly into the ground.如果雨水不从陆地蒸发和流走的话，就可能直接渗入地下。

2 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

3 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 gritted   

v.以沙砾覆盖（某物），撒沙砾于( grit的过去式和过去分词 )；咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• He gritted his teeth and plunged into the cold weather. 他咬咬牙，冲向寒冷的天气。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The young policeman gritted his teeth and walked slowly towards the armed criminal. 年轻警官强忍住怒火，朝武装歹徒慢慢走过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》