纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 047萨顿胡头盔(4)

It's the helmet of a hero, and when it was found, people were immediately reminded of the great Anglo-Saxon epic¹ poem Beowulf. Until 1939, it had been taken for granted that Beowulf was essentially² fantasy, set in an imaginary world of warrior³ splendour and great feasts. The Sutton Hoo grave ship, with its cauldrons, drinking horns and musical instruments, its highly wrought⁴ weapons and lavish⁵ skins and furs, and not least its hoard⁶ of gold and silver, was evidence that 'Beowulf', far from being just poetic⁷ invention, was a surprisingly accurate memory of a splendid, lost, pre-literate world.

这是一副英雄的头盔，一经发现,人们便立刻联想起伟大的盎格 鲁-撒克逊史诗《贝奥武甫》。在1939年前，人们都理所当然地认为 《贝奥武甫》完全是虚构的，是一个想象中的由武士的荣耀与丰美的盛宴组成的世界。但萨顿胡船葬中发现的大锅、酒器、乐器、磨损严重的武器、大量的皮草与为数众多的金银财宝，都表明《贝奥武甫》绝不只是诗歌想象，而是对一个在文字出现之前就已存在、业已逝去的光辉世界的精确记忆。

Think for a moment of the helmet, decorated with animal motifs⁸ made out of gilded⁹ bronze and silver wire and bearing the marks of battle; now listen to the poet Seamus Heaney reading from 'Beowulf':

头盔上装饰着用镀金青铜制作的动物图案以及银线，带着战场厮杀的痕迹。看着它，再看看《贝奥武甫》中的描述：

"To guard his head he had a glittering helmet

为了护头他戴着闪亮的头盔

that was due to be muddied on the mere-bottom

将来必会被水底的淤泥污染

and blurred¹⁰ in the upswirl. It was of beaten gold,

还会被旋风卷得模糊 它用金箔打造

princely headgear hooped¹¹ and hasped

王子般的帽子紧紧扣住

by a weapon-smith who had worked wonders

一个武器工匠创造的奇迹

in days gone by and adorned¹² it with boar shapes;

饰以公猪

since then it had resisted every sword."

自此之后抵御刀剑无数

Clearly the Anglo-Saxon poet must have looked closely at something very like the Sutton Hoo helmet. Seamus Heaney was reading from his own translation of 'Beowulf' - what does the Sutton Hoo helmet mean to him now?:

很明显，这位盎格鲁-撒克逊诗人曾仔细观察过类似萨顿胡头盔的物品。我询问过诺贝尔文学奖得主、桂冠诗人、《贝奥武甫》的译者谢默斯希尼对萨顿胡头盔的看法：

"I never thought of the helmet in relation to any historical character. In my own imagination it arrives out of the world of Beowulf, and gleams at the centre of the poem and disappears back into the mound¹³. The way to imagine it best is when it goes into the ground with the historical king, or whoever it was buried with, then its gleam under the earth gradually disappearing.

我从不觉得这头盔属于哪个历史人物。在我的想象中，它来自 《贝奥武甫》的世界，在诗章中闪耀，又消失于土丘。最好的方式是,想象它与某位历史上的国王或别的什么人一起入葬.然后它的光亮在泥土中慢慢暗淡。

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 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

3 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

4 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

5 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

6 hoard   

n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积

参考例句：

• They have a hoard of food in the basement.地下室里有他们贮藏的食物。
• How many curios do you hoard in your study?你在你书房里聚藏了多少古玩？

7 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

8 motifs   

n. （文艺作品等的）主题( motif的名词复数 )；中心思想；基本模式；基本图案

参考例句：

• I try to develop beyond the old motifs. 我力求对传统的花纹图案做到推陈出新。 来自辞典例句
• American Dream is one of the most important motifs of American literature. “美国梦”是美国文学最重要的母题之一。 来自互联网

9 gilded   

a.镀金的，富有的

参考例句：

• The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
• "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们，这只不过是些镀金的铅饼！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

10 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 hooped   

adj.以环作装饰的；带横纹的；带有环的

参考例句：

• Will the joint area with dense hooped reinforcement enhance the bearing capacity of the frame column? 节点区箍筋加密是否有利于框架柱承载能力的提高？ 来自互联网

12 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

13 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。