纪录片《文明》 第43期 自视如何（4）

Made around 1300 BC,

始建于公元前1300年

they were originally statues of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep,

它们起初被埃及法老阿蒙霍特普

marking his tomb.

用作陵墓的标志

But over time, their meaning had changed.

但岁月流逝 雕像的含义改变了

And by Hadrian's day,

在哈德良的时代

they were thought to depict¹ a mythical² African king, Memnon.

它们被认为是一位神秘非洲国王门农的雕像

And what had made them such a draw

之所以有这样的说法

was that one of the statues

是因为其中一座雕像

could do things no other statues could.

有着其它雕像没有的独特能力

If you were lucky and came early in the morning,

如果你非常幸运 并在大清早赶到

believe it or not, he could sing.

不管你信不信 他会唱歌

It was a bit like a lyre with a broken string.

它听起来有点像坏掉一根弦的竖琴

And even in its prime,

即便在它最完好的时候

it couldn't be relied upon to make a sound every day.

你也不能指望它天天发出声音

It was taken as a very good omen³ if it did.

假如真的如此 那就是大吉之兆

What's amazing is that Hadrian's encounter is recorded

神奇的是 多亏一次破坏文物的行为

thanks to a piece of vandalism.

哈德良的来访被记录下来了

For ancient tourists, part of the fun was to have their reactions

对古代游客来说 游览的乐趣之一就是

carved onto the statue's leg.

把他们的感受刻在雕像腿上

1 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

2 mythical   

adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的

参考例句：

• Undeniably,he is a man of mythical status.不可否认，他是一个神话般的人物。
• Their wealth is merely mythical.他们的财富完全是虚构的。

3 omen   

n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示

参考例句：

• The superstitious regard it as a bad omen.迷信的人认为那是一种恶兆。
• Could this at last be a good omen for peace?这是否终于可以视作和平的吉兆了？