纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 055唐代墓葬俑(3)

I used, oddly enough, to get lots of letters-in the almost decade I ran The Times obituaries¹-saying,Oh, I do not seem to be getting any younger, and I thought it might be helpful to let you have a few notes on my life'. And they were unbelievable. People's self conceit-saying things like, 'Though a man of unusual charm, and this kind of thing. I mean, I couldn't believe that people would write this about themselves. So of course no-one nowadays self-commissions their own obituary², and those that were sent in always ended up straight in the waste-paper basket.

我收到过不少写着我已时日无多，想来有必要让你们了解一下我的生平事迹的信。它们简直让人难以置信，字里行间透出的尽是狂妄自大.充斥着类似虽然他是一个极具魅力的人的描述。我很难相信有人会如此评价自己。当然，如今没有谁委托別人为自己写讣告，早年间的这种倌通常也直接进了废纸篓。

"I used to rather boast, and say that on the obits page of 'The Times', 'We are writing the first version of history of our generation'. And that is what I think it ought to be. It certainly isn't for the relatives, or the family, or even the friends."

我以前总是为《泰晤士报》的讣闻版夸口说“我们在书写当代历史的第一个版本。这也正是讣告的价值所在。它自然并非写给逝者的家人或朋友看的。

The Tang obituaries were not for family and friends, either. But nor were they the first version of history for their generation. The intended audience for the obituary of Liu Tingxun was not earthly readers, but the judges of the underworld, who would recognise his rank and his abilities, and award him the prestigious³ place among the dead that was his due.

唐朝的讣闻也同样不是写给家人或朋友的，但它们亦非那一代历史的首个版本。刘廷苟的讣闻的目标读者并非在世的人，而是阴间的判官，它让他们得以了解他的地位和能力，好在阴间给予他相应的地位。

1 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？

2 obituary   

n.讣告，死亡公告；adj.死亡的

参考例句：

• The obituary records the whole life of the deceased.讣文记述了这位死者的生平。
• Five days after the letter came,he found Andersen s obituary in the morning paper.收到那封信五天后，他在早报上发现了安德森的讣告。

3 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。