欧美文化博览 文化博览:犹太人的故事(8)

At last, this compromised, sycophantic¹, creepily self-exonerating historian stands tall, brimful with pride in his Judaism, and says in a phrase I find genuinely moving—We have become the teachers of men in the greatest of things.

最后,这一妥协,奉承,令人毛骨悚然，兼具自我责备之心的历史学家最终赢得了胜利,他的犹太教满怀骄傲之情,而说着一句令我真正感动的话，我们成为了男性的榜样，做出了最伟大的事情。

Given the hammer blows of the Roman legions, and coming as they did after century upon century of blows from Egyptians, the Syrians and Babylonians, there would have been scant² reason to suppose that the Jews would survive as a people. And yet, 2,000 years later, the Jews are still here. How. Well, one answer can be found back at the Arch of Titus, not something that's here, but something that's not.

对于罗马军团的打击,就如同他们几个世纪来对埃及人,叙利亚和巴比伦人所做的一模一样,这是我们认为犹太人生存下来的理由。然而,2000年后,犹太人仍在这里。在提图斯的拱门处可以找到答案,这里没有什么东西留下,但绝不是空无一物。

When Josephus describes the procession of loot and prisoners parades through the streets of Rome, he says, and last of all of the spoils was carried, the laws of the Jews. But where are the laws. Where are the Torah scrolls³. Conspicuously⁴, tellingly, they are absent.

当约瑟夫描述掠夺和囚犯游行的队伍走在罗马的大街上,他表示最后所有的战利品是犹太人的法律。但法律在哪里。律法的卷轴在哪里。明显的是它们已经不在了。

What were scrolls of law anyway. Just so many words on parchment, not really worth the time of a sculptor⁵ or the cost of the marble. But words copied, memorized, internalized, made unforgettable, will beat swords any time. You can't hold words captive. The Roman Empire has come and gone, but go into a synagogue any Saturday, and you'll still hear those words.

什么是法律卷轴。只是羊皮纸上的很多单词,不是雕塑家倾注的大把时间或大理石的价值。仅仅是复制,记忆,难忘,会使得剑刃折断的话语。你不能囚禁语言的奴隶。罗马帝国来去匆匆,但只要在任何一个周六进入会堂,你仍然会听到这些话。

1 sycophantic   

adj.阿谀奉承的

参考例句：

• Qinhui was a notorious sycophantic official in the Song dynasty,and was spurned by later generations.秦桧是宋代著名的佞臣，受尽后人的唾骂。
• We heard the sound of sycophantic laughter.我们听到了谄媚的笑声。

2 scant   

adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略

参考例句：

• Don't scant the butter when you make a cake.做糕饼时不要吝惜奶油。
• Many mothers pay scant attention to their own needs when their children are small.孩子们小的时候，许多母亲都忽视自己的需求。

3 scrolls   

n.（常用于录写正式文件的）纸卷( scroll的名词复数 )；卷轴；涡卷形（装饰）；卷形花纹v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Either turn it off or only pick up selected stuff like wands, rings and scrolls. 把他关掉然后只捡你需要的物品，像是魔杖(wand)，戒指(rings)和滚动条(scrolls)。 来自互联网
• Ancient scrolls were found in caves by the Dead Sea. 死海旁边的山洞里发现了古代的卷轴。 来自辞典例句

4 conspicuously   

ad.明显地，惹人注目地

参考例句：

• France remained a conspicuously uneasy country. 法国依然是个明显不太平的国家。
• She figured conspicuously in the public debate on the issue. 她在该问题的公开辩论中很引人注目。

5 sculptor   

n.雕刻家，雕刻家

参考例句：

• A sculptor forms her material.雕塑家把材料塑造成雕塑品。
• The sculptor rounded the clay into a sphere.那位雕塑家把黏土做成了一个球状。