纪录片《文明》 第1期 创世纪的第二个瞬间（1）

In Mosul, in a matter of hours,

在摩苏尔 仅用几个小时

the forces of Isis destroyed the work of centuries.

伊斯兰国就毁掉了数百年来的杰作

And when they took the ancient trading city of Palmyra

而当他们夺下巴尔米拉这座古老的贸易之城

where the cultures of Greeks, Romans, Persians,

这座希腊人 罗马人 波斯人

Arabs and Jews have mixed and merged¹,

阿拉伯人以及犹太人的文化相互融合的城市

it was feared that exactly the same would happen.

人们担心同样的暴行也会在此上演

Here in Geneva,

在日内瓦

a few Palmyrene artefacts have been saved -

有几件巴尔米拉的工艺品被保存了下来

stolen before the violence began,

在暴力发生之前被盗了出来

arrested at customs as black marketeers tried to sell them.

黑市商人销赃时 在海关被查获

Like this bust² of a priest.

比如这座牧师半身像

His eyes wide open, he seems not dead at all,

他的双眼圆瞪 看起来绝非已死之人

just translated to a life elsewhere.

只不过是转生到另一个世界罢了

These lovingly carved

这些为已故之人

likenesses of the dead looted from their tombs

精心雕刻的肖像于主人墓中遭劫

ended up in exile, but safe for posterity³.

虽流离他乡 却能安然流传后世

Saving the art that remained in Palmyra, however,

然而 拯救巴尔米拉残存的古迹

could come at a terrible price.

可要付出难以想象的代价

1 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

2 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

3 posterity   

n.后裔，子孙，后代

参考例句：

• Few of his works will go down to posterity.他的作品没有几件会流传到后世。
• The names of those who died are recorded for posterity on a tablet at the back of the church.死者姓名都刻在教堂后面的一块石匾上以便后人铭记。