智慧人生篇章 第39期:寻“根”究底

 　　The Bible's boring, everyone knows that. Phares begat Esrom and Esrom begat Aram and Aram begat Aminadab. When I was teaching public bible reading in our church, I made the lesson readers practice with a telephone directory, to learn how to make it interesting. Suddenly entrance, ancestry¹ has become fascinating, as anyone gripped by Britain's DNA² Project on this programme yesterday will agree. Scientists believe, through mitochondrial DNA that we can now trace ourselves back to one woman, aptly dubbed³ Eve, living in Central Africa in 190000 BC, that nine people in the UK have the same DNA marker as the Queen of Sheba would have had, who visited King Solomon in the Book of Kings, and that 90% of men called Cohen all share the same sequence, some calling themselves sons of Aaron, older brother to Moses and the first High Priest. Time was when only toffs could trace their ancestry, the rest of us being too insignificant⁴ to have written records.

　　众所周知，《圣经》趣味性不强。法勒斯生希斯仑，希斯仑生亚兰，亚兰生亚米拿达。我以前在教堂里教公众阅读《圣经》的时候，让学生们对着电话薄练习，尝试让课程变得有意思。 大家被世系深深地吸引了，这真有些让人始料未及。但凡昨天被该项目的英国DNA计划感兴趣的人都会同意这一点。科学家相信借住线粒体DNA，我们发现自己的祖宗是一位公元19万年前的女人，她生活在中部非洲，姑且称之为夏娃吧。在英国，有9个人可能与《列王记》中拜访所罗门王的示巴女王的DNA标记相同。在所有叫科恩的男性中，90%的人序列相同，他们有些自称是亚伦，摩西的兄长、首任大祭司的后代。 曾几何时，只有富人才可以追溯世系，其他人无足轻重，没有任何书面记录。

　　Now, thanks to the Internet, many of us are finding our forebears, and are as proud of under-scullery-maids and transported convicts as of those who fought with the Conqueror⁵. Recently my father gave our daughter's fiance my mother's engagement ring. It is apt as well as moving that she should wear it, having inherited her grandmother's sweet nature as well as her formidable brains. It prompted me to find out more about my own ring, given to my husband by my mother Mary's sister, my dear aunt Jane. The last person to wear it before me was Mary Jane, my great-grandmother, who emigrated from Scotland to Australia aged⁷ six and became an accomplished⁸ art student in Melbourne in the mid⁶ 19th century. We have two of her beautiful paintings, and I'm even more inspired by her feminist⁹ professionalism, in such an era, than by her talent. We become the people we come from, which is why it's so right that adopted children may now trace their biological families. Genealogies¹⁰ are there because they are not only compelling but critical. At the weekend our nine year old and I read the thrilling Book of Ruth, ending with the bombshell that this poor displaced and desperate immigrant, became grandmother to David, the great King of the Jews. Almost, the greatest.

　　如今，在互联网的帮助下，很多人都可以找到自己的祖先，既为与征服者威廉一起战斗的人骄傲，也为在厨房里洗洗涮涮的婢女、被运往他乡的囚徒骄傲。 近日，我爸爸把我妈妈的订婚戒指送给了我女儿的未婚夫。这件事真是又合适、又让人感动，因为我的女儿将会戴上这枚戒指，继承她祖母的美好品质、聪明的头脑。我也开始了解我自己的这枚戒指。我婆婆玛丽的妹妹，简婶婶把它交给了我丈夫，我丈夫把它戴在我的手上。上一个戴这戒指的人是玛丽·简，我们的曾祖母。她六岁时从苏格兰移民澳大利亚，19世纪中期在墨尔本成为了一名杰出的美术专业学生。我们收藏了两幅她的作品，十分漂亮。与其说是她的才能，不如说是她的信念激励。她在那个年代就主张女性应当有自己的职业。 我们的祖先是什么样的，我们就是什么样的。这就是为什么现在领养的孩子寻找同自己有血缘关系的亲人。谱系摆在那儿，它不仅让人好奇，也非常重要。周末，我们9岁的孩子和我一起读《路得记》，故事令人动容，结局出人意料。这位贫困绝望、流离失所的移民，竟是大卫的祖母，而大卫又是犹太人的大王，可以算是最早的君王。

　　Why would one person have two different ancestries¹¹? One, in Mark's gospel, is straightforward¹², the royal succession, king after king regardless of blood. The other, Luke's gospel, goes backwards¹³, tracing the hidden, biological thread, the genetic¹⁴ descent. Both culminate¹⁵ with the same ordinary craftsman¹⁶, living under a foreign tyrant¹⁷ placed on the throne by an invading power. The rightful heir, keeping his ancestry darkly secret, a necessity to preserve his life. So the son he acknowledged, fulfilled hundreds of years of prophesy¹⁸, as the true heir to King David. As Luke says, "the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of David, the son of Adam, the son of God."You and I may not be able to trace our ancestry quite so far back, but knowing who we are is never boring.

　　为什么一个人会有两个祖先呢？一方面，马太的福音书直言是皇位继承，不论血脉传承皇位。另一方面，路加的福音书却倒退一步，追寻隐秘的生物联系，基因血统。 两者都追溯到一个平凡的巧匠，他生活在一位因入侵力量而加冕的异国暴君的统治之下。这位合法的继承人为了保命，不得不隐瞒自己的血统这一幽暗的秘密。所以，他承认的儿子，大卫王真正的后人，完成了几百年的语言。路加有言，“正是如此，约瑟的子孙，大卫的子孙，亚当的子孙，上帝的子孙。” 我们也许没法把我们的族谱追得这么远，但是知道我们是谁总是一件有意思的事情。

1 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

2 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

3 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

5 conqueror   

n.征服者，胜利者

参考例句：

• We shall never yield to a conqueror.我们永远不会向征服者低头。
• They abandoned the city to the conqueror.他们把那个城市丢弃给征服者。

6 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

7 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

8 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

9 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

10 genealogies   

n.系谱，家系，宗谱( genealogy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tracing back our genealogies, I found he was a kinsman of mine. 转弯抹角算起来——他算是我的一个亲戚。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
• The insertion of these genealogies is the more peculiar and unreasonable. 这些系谱的掺入是更为离奇和无理的。 来自辞典例句

11 ancestries   

n.祖先，世系( ancestry的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All patients and control ancestries were measured ABO blood type. 所有的患者和对照组个体均进行ABO血型检测。 来自互联网
• Our point here is that all ancestries have all experiences therein. 这里我们的重点是，其中所有祖先都经历了所有事件。 来自互联网

12 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

13 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

14 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

15 culminate   

v.到绝顶，达于极点，达到高潮

参考例句：

• The celebration of the centenary will culminate with a dinner.百年庆典活动将以宴会作为高潮。
• Everyone feared that the boundary dispute between these two countries would culminate in a war.人人都担心,这两国间的边境争端将以一场战争到达顶点。

16 craftsman   

n.技工，精于一门工艺的匠人

参考例句：

• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
• The craftsman is working up the mass of clay into a toy figure.艺人把一团泥捏成玩具形状。

17 tyrant   

n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a despotic tyrant.该国处在一个专制暴君的统治之下。
• The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves.暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。

18 prophesy   

v.预言；预示

参考例句：

• He dares to prophesy what will happen in the future.他敢预言未来将发生什么事。
• I prophesy that he'll be back in the old job.我预言他将重操旧业。