纪录片《文明》 第42期 自视如何（3）

Can we ever look through the eyes of people in the distant past?

我们能透过古人的眼光去看吗

It's hard, but just occasionally we get the chance.

很难 但有时我们有机会

It was some 2,000 years ago

大约两千年前

when the Roman Emperor Hadrian arrived in Thebes

罗马皇帝哈德良同他的随从

with his entourage.

抵达了底比斯

He'd come for a look-see around the fringes of his empire,

他来这里巡视他帝国的疆界

and to take in the wonders of ancient Egypt,

并领略距当时千年之久的

already thousands of years old.

古埃及奇观

Hadrian was by far the most committed traveller

哈德良是罗马皇帝中

of all the Roman emperors.

最热忱的旅行家

He seems to have got everywhere.

他好像哪儿都去过

And on this occasion, he wanted to visit

这一次 他想参观的

perhaps the most famous heritage site in Egypt,

也许是古埃及最著名的遗址

perhaps the greatest five-star tourist attraction

也许也是整个古代世界

of the whole of the ancient world.

最棒的五星级旅游胜地

It wasn't the great pyramids he longed to see,

他想看的不是大金字塔

but these colossal¹ statues.

而是这些巨像

1 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。