纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 011古埃及法老德闻的凉鞋标签（2）

"It's a fine image of bashing-so it's violent, it's elegant, expressive¹, and it's beautiful as well."

“这威摄力的绝妙写照—充满了暴力、典雅、表现力以及美感。”史蒂夫贝尔说道。

Today's object shows us that in the Egypt of the pharaohs, the answer to the question of how to exert leadership and state control over a large population was quite simple: force.

今天的物品向我们展示了对于古埃及的法老而言，如何发挥领导力与领导一个人口众多的国家呢？最简单的答案就是：权力。

If you're going to talk about the Egypt of the pharaohs, the British Museum gives you a spectacular choice-monumental sculptures, painted mummy cases, and much much more but, as we're talking about a society that was created by its river, I've chosen an object that came quite literally² from the mud of the Nile.

如果你想谈谈关于埃及的法老，大英博物馆提供了极为壮观的选择：不朽的雕塑、彩绘木乃伊棺椁等等，种类繁多，不可胜数；然而我们想要谈论的是一个河流哺育起来的国度，我现在选择的这物品，毫不夸张地说，正是来自尼罗河的泥桨。

It's made from a tusk³ of a hippo, and it belonged to one of Egypt's first pharaohs-King Den⁴. Perversely⁵ for an object that's going to let us explore power on a massive scale, it is absolutely tiny.

它由河马的獠牙制成，属于埃及法老之一的国王德闻所有。反差强烈的是，将要带领我们探索强大权力，却是一件微不起眼的小物品。

I'm holding it now. It's about one and a half inches square, it's very thin and it looks and feels a bit like a modern-day business card. But, in fact, it's a label-a label that was once attached to a pair of shoes; not any old shoes-these were sandals of the highest status, because this little ivory plaque⁶ is a name tag for an Egyptian pharaoh, made to accompany him as he set off to the afterlife.

我现在就拿在手心里。它大约有一英寸半，正方形，非常的薄，外观和感觉有点像是现代名片。但事实上它是一件标签，附在一双鞋上的标签；不过可不是随随便便的一双烂鞋，而是一双最高地位人穿的凉鞋，因为这张小小的牙牌是一位古埃及法老的名片，制造出来以供他来世使用。

1 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 tusk   

n.獠牙，长牙，象牙

参考例句：

• The wild boar had its tusk sunk deeply into a tree and howled desperately.野猪的獠牙陷在了树里，绝望地嗥叫着。
• A huge tusk decorated the wall of his study.他书房的墙上装饰着一支巨大的象牙。

4 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

5 perversely   

adv. 倔强地

参考例句：

• Intelligence in the mode of passion is always perversely. 受激情属性控制的智力，总是逆着活动的正确方向行事。
• She continue, perversely, to wear shoes that damaged her feet. 她偏偏穿那双挤脚的鞋。

6 plaque   

n.饰板，匾，(医)血小板

参考例句：

• There is a commemorative plaque to the artist in the village hall.村公所里有一块纪念该艺术家的牌匾。
• Some Latin words were engraved on the plaque. 牌匾上刻着些拉丁文。