纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 047萨顿胡头盔(7)

But the ship also contained gold coins from France, Celtic hanging bowls from the west of Britain, Imperial table silver from Byzantium, and garnets which may have come from India or Sri Lanka. And while ship burial is essentially¹ pagan, two silver spoons clearly show contact-direct or indirect-with the Christian² world.

但船里还有来自法国的金币、英格兰西部的凯尔特悬碗、拜占庭的宫廷银餐具和印度或斯里兰卡的石榴石。尽管船葬仪式是属于异教的，但陪葬品中仍有两把银勺直接或间接地与基督教世界有关。

These discoveries force us to think differently, not just about the Anglo-Saxons, but about Britain. For whatever may be the case for the Atlantic side of the country, on this side of the island, the East Anglian side, we have always been part of the wider European story, with contacts, trade and migrations³ going back thousands of years.

这些发现迫使我们改变对盎格魯-撒克逊及不列颠的看法。不管这个国家大西洋一侧的情况如何，在东安格利亚这一侧，英国一直是更广阔的欧洲世界的一部分，贸易与人口迁徙已持续数千年。

As I leave Sutton Hoo I'm struck by a paradox⁴. I travelled here through Constable⁵ country-the landscape that's become for us all synonymous with Englishness. The Anglo-Saxon ship burial here takes us at once to the world of Beowulf, the foundation stone of English poetry. You can't help feeling that here you are near the heart of English national identity. Yet not a single one of the characters in Beowulf is actually English. They're Swedes and Danes, warriors⁶ from the whole of northern Europe, while the ship burial here contains treasures from the eastern Mediterranean⁷ and from India. The history of England that you can tell from these objects is a history of the sea as much as of the land. Of an England long connected to Europe and to Asia which, even in 600 AD, was being shaped and re-shaped by the world beyond itself.

正如希尼所言，这座盎格鲁-撒克逊船葬墓地让我们立刻想到《贝奥武甫》的世界。它是英国诗歌的基石，但诗中没有一个人物是真正的英格兰人。他们是瑞典人和丹麦人，是来自北欧的勇士，同时，萨顿胡船葬中的珍宝产地从东地中海一直延展到印度。这些物品讲述的英国历史是陆地的历史，也是海洋的历史。早在公元六百年，这个岛屿就与欧亚两洲建立了长期联系，海岸之外的世界一次次地塑造、影响着它。

1 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。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 migrations   

n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It foundered during the turmoils accompanying the Great Migrations. 它在随着民族大迁徙而出现的混乱中崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Birds also have built-in timepieces which send them off on fall and spring migrations. 鸟类也有天生的时间感应器指导它们秋春迁移。 来自互联网

4 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

5 constable   

n.(英国)警察，警官

参考例句：

• The constable conducted the suspect to the police station.警官把嫌疑犯带到派出所。
• The constable kept his temper,and would not be provoked.那警察压制着自己的怒气，不肯冒起火来。

6 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。

7 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。