纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 055唐代墓葬俑(1)

055：EPISODE 55 - Chinese Tang tomb figures 唐代墓葬俑

Tang tomb figures (made around 728 AD). Earthenware¹ sculpture, from China

It's a sure sign of middle age they say if, when you pick up the newspaper, you turn first to the obituaries².

据说，如果你拿起报纸首先会去翻讣闻版，说明你已经步人中年了。

But middle-aged³ or not, most of us, I suspect, would love to know what people will actually say about us when we die.

但我觉得，不管中年与否，大部分人都很好奇自己身后会被他人如何评价。

The privileged people I'm focusing on this week were all, one way or another, eager to fix posterity⁴.

本期节目我将关注有特权的人,不管是何人都希望将一世英名流传给后世。

But nowhere was it so deftly⁵ done as in Tang China around 700 AD, where powerful figures didn't just wonder what would be said about them when they died, they simply wrote or commissioned their own obituaries, so that the ancestors and the gods would know precisely⁶ how important and how admirable they were.

在公元700年左右的唐朝，达官显贵不光好奇，还渴望操控自己在后人心目中的形象。他们或亲笔摞写自己的讣告，或委托别人代笔，将自己的丰功伟绩昭告祖宗与神明。

1 earthenware   

n.土器，陶器

参考例句：

• She made sure that the glassware and earthenware were always spotlessly clean.她总是把玻璃器皿和陶器洗刷得干干净净。
• They displayed some bowls of glazed earthenware.他们展出了一些上釉的陶碗。

2 obituaries   

讣告，讣闻( obituary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Next time I read about him, I want it in the obituaries. 希望下次读到他的消息的时候，是在仆告里。
• People's obituaries are written while they're still alive? 人们在世的时候就有人给他们写讣告？

3 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

4 posterity   

n.后裔，子孙，后代

参考例句：

• Few of his works will go down to posterity.他的作品没有几件会流传到后世。
• The names of those who died are recorded for posterity on a tablet at the back of the church.死者姓名都刻在教堂后面的一块石匾上以便后人铭记。

5 deftly   

adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He deftly folded the typed sheets and replaced them in the envelope. 他灵巧地将打有字的纸折好重新放回信封。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At last he had a clew to her interest, and followed it deftly. 这一下终于让他发现了她的兴趣所在，于是他熟练地继续谈这个话题。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

6 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。