纪录片《文明》 第62期 自视如何（23）

And it's impossible not to think

我们不可能否认

that when people walked past here 3,500 years ago

三千五百年前 当人们经过这里的时候

that they, too, would have got

他们也理解了

what the message was intended to be.

这些雕像本想传达的讯息

This kind of bombastic¹, bare-chested display

这种浮夸而赤裸的展示

fits the picture we have of autocrats² today.

符合我们现在对独裁者的印象

Impressive though such images are,

尽管这些画面令人震撼

I'm sure some ancient Egyptians would have found them as vulgar

我确信很多古埃及人都和我们一样

or as irritating as we might.

认为它们粗俗 无礼

But beyond the gates of the temple there's another set of statues

但除了神庙门口之外 还有一批雕像

whose power and purpose is harder to fathom³.

它们的作用和目的就难以得知了

Deep inside, we're dominated

在神庙深处 我们被更多

by yet more vast images of Rameses

拉美西斯庞大的雕像所吸引

that can't be explained away as propaganda to the people.

这些雕像不像是对人民的宣传

Only those closest to the king

只有国王最亲近的人

were allowed into this part of the temple.

才能进入寺庙的这片区域

So what was the point of these towering statues?

那么这些高耸的石像又有什么意义呢

1 bombastic   

adj.夸夸其谈的，言过其实的

参考例句：

• The candidate spoke in a bombastic way of all that he would do if elected.候选人大肆吹嘘，一旦他当选将要如何如何。
• The orator spoke in a bombastic manner.这位演说家的讲话言过其实。

2 autocrats   

n.独裁统治者( autocrat的名词复数 )；独断专行的人

参考例句：

• Still, the widespread pessimism doesn't explain the relatively high scores enjoyed by the autocrats. 不过，普遍的悲观情绪并没有解释为何独裁者得到相对较高的分数。 来自互联网

3 fathom   

v.领悟，彻底了解

参考例句：

• I really couldn't fathom what he was talking about.我真搞不懂他在说些什么。
• What these people hoped to achieve is hard to fathom.这些人希望实现些什么目标难以揣测。