【跟着英剧练发音】The Queens Palaces E01-17

文本：

George III's artistic¹ envoys² knew where to look. The Palazzo Mangilli Valmarana was home to the British consul³, Joseph Smith. He was one of the greatest art collectors, the Charles Saatchi of his day.

When Joseph Smith lived here, these walls were crammed⁴ with paintings that he'd commissioned from up-and-coming Venetian artists. It became the in thing for visiting British aristocrats⁵ to pull every string and use every family connection to try and get an invite here so they could admire the collection and then maybe buy a little something to take home.

模仿部分：

But Joseph Smith fell on hard times and needed cash, so he sold the lot to George III. Along with an impressive hoard⁶ of books, antiques and coins were paintings by great masters like Vermeer. Best of all were the paintings by Venice's greatest living artist, Canaletto.

 

 翻译：

 

威尼斯的大主顾们急需要钱，对英国收藏家来说这是个绝佳的时机，可以用低廉的价格收购艺术品。乔治三世的艺术使者知道该去哪里淘这些艺术品。曼吉利·瓦马拉那宫是英国驻威尼斯领事约瑟夫·史密斯的家。他是最伟大的艺术品收藏家之一是那个时代的查尔斯·萨奇（查尔斯·萨奇是当代著名收藏家）

约瑟夫住在这里的时候，这些墙上挂满了画作都是他从才华横溢的威尼斯画家手里收集的。英国贵族很时兴来这里参观，为此会使用各种方式和家人的关系，只为了得到一份邀请，来观赏这些收藏。也许他们可以买些绘画作品带回家去。

后来约瑟夫穷困潦倒，急需用钱，因而把很多东西都卖给了乔治三世，连同大量的书籍，古董，古钱币，还有绘画大家维米尔的作品。其中最好的作品当属威尼斯艺术家卡纳莱托的。

 

1 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

2 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。

3 consul   

n.领事；执政官

参考例句：

• A consul's duty is to help his own nationals.领事的职责是帮助自己的同胞。
• He'll hold the post of consul general for the United States at Shanghai.他将就任美国驻上海总领事(的职务)。

4 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

5 aristocrats   

n.贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many aristocrats were killed in the French Revolution. 许多贵族在法国大革命中被处死。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• To the Guillotine all aristocrats! 把全部贵族都送上断头台！ 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

6 hoard   

n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积

参考例句：

• They have a hoard of food in the basement.地下室里有他们贮藏的食物。
• How many curios do you hoard in your study?你在你书房里聚藏了多少古玩？