TED演讲:俄罗斯的起源(1)

 　　Where did Russia come from, why is it so big, and what are the differences between it and its neighbors? 俄罗斯起源于哪里，为何幅员如此辽阔，它和其邻国有什么不同呢？

　　The answers lie in an epic¹ story of seafaring warriors², nomadic³ invaders,  答案就在航海战士、游牧入侵者

　　and the rise and fall of a medieval state known as Kievan Rus. 以及被称为“基辅罗斯”的中世纪国家兴衰的史诗故事中。

　　In the first millennium⁴, a large group of tribes spread through the dense⁵ woodlands of Eastern Europe. 公元后的第一个千年，一个庞大的游牧民族开始向东欧繁茂的森林扩张。

　　Because they had no writing system, much of what we know about them comes from three main sources: 由于他们没有文字记载这段历史，我们主要通过三个途径了解它：

　　archaeological evidence, accounts from literate⁶ scholars of the Roman Empire and the Middle East,  考古学的佐证，当时罗马帝国和中东地区文学家的记述

　　and, lastly, an epic history called the Primary Chronicle compiled in the 12th century by a monk⁷ named Nestor. 以及《往年纪事》(Primary Chronicle)，它是由一名叫涅斯托尔的游僧编篡的一部有时代意义的历史著作。

　　What they tell us is that these tribes who shared a common Slavic language and polytheistic religion 书中记述这些部落共用一套语言系统——斯拉夫语，共同信仰多神教，

　　had by the 7th century split into western, southern and eastern branches, 在公元七世纪，他们分裂成西部、南部和东部三个分支，

　　the latter stretching from the Dniester River to the Volga and the Baltic Sea. 东部分支从德涅斯特河伸展到伏尔加河、波罗的海等地。

　　As Nestor's story goes, after years of subjugation⁸ by Vikings from the north, 在涅斯托尔记载的故事中，当地人在遭受了北边维京人的多年侵扰后

　　who, by the way, did not wear horned helmets in battle, the region's tribes revolted and drove back the Northmen, (这里说的并不是带着牛角帽子的维京人)，

　　but left to their own devices, they turned on each other. 奋起反抗并把他们驱赶了出去，但只剩他们自己的时候，又相互把矛头指向对方。

　　Such chaos⁹ ensued that, ironically, the tribes reached out to the foreigners they had just expelled, 讽刺的是，这样的混乱促使他们寻求之前的敌人——维京人的帮助，

　　inviting¹⁰ them to return and establish order. 邀请他们回来帮助建立秩序。

　　The Vikings accepted, sending a prince named Rurik and his two brothers to rule. 维京人欣然同意了，派遣来他们的王子留里克和他的两个兄弟回来统治。

　　With Rurik's son, Oleg, expanding his realm into the south, and moving the capitol to Kiev, 同时，留里克的儿子奥列格开始向南部扩张，他们的帝国不久后迁都到基辅，

　　a former outpost of the Khazar Empire, the Kievan Rus was born, 那是哈扎尔帝国从前的前哨，这意味着基辅罗斯帝国的诞生。

　　"Rus" most likely deriving¹¹ from an old Norse word for "the men who row." “罗斯”来自一个古老的挪威语，意思是 “划桨人”。

　　The new princedom had complex relations with its neighbors, 这个新成立的国家和他的邻国有着十分复杂的关系，

　　alternating between alliance and warfare¹² with the Khazar and Byzantine Empires, as well as neighboring tribes. 它改变了哈扎尔和拜占庭帝国之间的利害关系，对其他的邻近部落也同样有些影响。

　　Religion played an important role in politics, and as the legend goes,  宗教在当时的政治系统中有着重要的影响，随着故事的发展，

　　in 987, the Rus prince Vladamir I decided¹³ it was time to abandon Slavic paganism, 宗教在当时的政治系统中有着重要的影响，随着故事的发展，

　　and sent emissaries to explore neighboring faiths. 他向邻国派去使者，让他们去研究当地的宗教。

　　Put off by Islam's prohibition¹⁴ on alcohol and Judaism's expulsion from its holy land, 他无法忍受伊斯兰不喝酒的传统，接受不了犹太人被驱逐出圣地的凄惨，

　　the ruler settled on Orthodox Christianity after hearing odd accounts of its ceremonies. 在听说了基督教的各式庆典后，他接受了正统基督教(东正教)。

1 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

2 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

3 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

4 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

5 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

6 literate   

n.学者；adj.精通文学的，受过教育的

参考例句：

• Only a few of the nation's peasants are literate.这个国家的农民中只有少数人能识字。
• A literate person can get knowledge through reading many books.一个受过教育的人可以通过读书而获得知识。

7 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

8 subjugation   

n.镇压，平息，征服

参考例句：

• The Ultra-Leftist line was a line that would have wrecked a country, ruined the people, and led to the destruction of the Party and national subjugation. 极左路线是一条祸国殃民的路线，亡党亡国的路线。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• This afflicted German intelligence with two fatal flaws: inefficiency, and subjugation to a madman. 这给德国情报工作造成了两个致命的弱点，一个是缺乏效率，另一个是让一个疯子总管情报。 来自辞典例句

9 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

10 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

11 deriving   

v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• I anticipate deriving much instruction from the lecture. 我期望从这演讲中获得很多教益。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He anticipated his deriving much instruction from the lecture. 他期望从这次演讲中得到很多教益。 来自辞典例句

12 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

14 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。