纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 053洛泰尔一世水晶雕刻（3）

"Daniel did what Rumpole at the Old Bailey would do if he thought he was cross-examining witnesses who were telling lies. One has to say that in real life Daniel would have been extremely lucky to have been thought to have demolished¹ the witnesses, and to demonstrate their dishonesty by asking them one question each, but the principle is quite clear, and Daniel was clearly a very skilful² cross-examiner."

但以理的做法与“老贝利律师”鲁波尔一样，如果觉得目击证人在说谎,就要进行盘问。但以理只靠一个问题就揭穿了证人的谎言，推翻了他们的证词，这种情况在现实生活中要算极其幸运的。但他的信条十分明确，手法相当老练。

Each scene on the crystal is a masterpiece of miniature carving³, and in every scene, the artist has still found space for a small text in Latin, explaining what is going on. In the final scene is the ringing phrase, "Et salvatus est sanguis innoxius in die illa" - "And that day, innocent blood was saved".

水晶上的每一幅场景都是微雕杰作，这位艺术家也留出了一定空间， 用拉丁文为它们分别配上相应的故事内容。最后—幕画面周围环绕着一句“Et salvatus est sanguis innoxius in die ilia",即“那一天，无辜的流血得以幸免”。正是在这幅图旁，我们找到了涉及洛泰尔国王名字的文字。

The king who commissioned the Susannah Crystal was descended⁴ from one of the great figures of medieval Europe - Charlemagne. Around 800, Charlemagne, King of the Franks, had created an empire that covered most of western Europe, including northern Italy, western Germany and modern France. This was the largest state that western Europe had seen since the disintegration⁵ of the Roman Empire, and the stability and prosperity of Charlemagne's empire allowed a great flourishing of the arts in the years after 800. Our crystal is a magnificent example of this so-called Carolingian Renaissance⁶. This is a jewel that has always been valued and, for most of its existence, it was in the abbey of Waulsort in modern Belgium, in the centre of Charlemagne's empire. It was certainly there in the twelfth century, when the abbey's chronicle clearly describes it.

下令制作苏撒拿水晶的国王，是中世纪欧洲赫赫有名的查理曼大帝的后代。公元八百年前后，法兰克国王查理曼大帝所缔造的帝国疆域几乎瘈括了整个西欧，包含意大利北部、德国西部与现代法国。它是自罗马帝国覆灭之后西欧最大的帝国。查理曼大帝治下的社会繁荣稳定，使得接下来若干年内艺术发展欣欣向荣。水晶盘便是所谓“卡洛林文艺复兴” 的绝佳代表。这件珍品一直备受推崇。大部分时间它都被珍藏在查理曼帝国的中心，今比利时境内的沃尔索修道院内，至少我们知道，十二世纪时它的确藏于此院，因为修道院的编年史有记载。

1 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

2 skilful   

(=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的

参考例句：

• The more you practise,the more skilful you'll become.练习的次数越多，熟练的程度越高。
• He's not very skilful with his chopsticks.他用筷子不大熟练。

3 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

4 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

5 disintegration   

n.分散，解体

参考例句：

• This defeat led to the disintegration of the empire.这次战败道致了帝国的瓦解。
• The incident has hastened the disintegration of the club.这一事件加速了该俱乐部的解体。

6 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。