纪录片《文明》 第63期 自视如何（24）

Some think they were aimed at powerful elites¹

有些人认为它们是为掌权的精英阶层而建的

to remind them who was boss.

用来提醒他们谁才是统治者

Others think they were aimed at the all-seeing eye of the gods.

其他人认为它们是为了神的天眼而建

I've got a different viewer in mind.

我有一个不同的想法

And that's the pharaoh himself.

那就是 这是为法老自己而建的

Those of us with no inkling

像我们这样的

of power on a grand scale often forget

对这个级别的权力毫无概念的人常常会忘记

how hard it must be to believe in oneself as monarch² or autocrat³.

相信自己是天生的君王和统治者是多么的困难

The person who really needs to be convinced

真正需要说服自己

that he is pre-eminent above the common herd⁴

是凌驾于常人之上的那个人

is that ordinary human being

正是那位

who is masquerading as omnipotent⁵ ruler.

在假扮万能天神的普通人

That's why, as a basic rule of thumb,

正因如此 才会有这样一条经验法则

we find more pictures of kings and queens in all their finery

我们发现国王和女王身着华服的肖像

in royal palaces than anywhere else in the world -

在皇家宫殿里比其他任何地方都多

and here in Egypt, too.

在埃及也是一样

1 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

2 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

3 autocrat   

n.独裁者；专横的人

参考例句：

• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。
• The nobles tried to limit the powers of the autocrat without success.贵族企图限制专制君主的权力,但没有成功。

4 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

5 omnipotent   

adj.全能的，万能的

参考例句：

• When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need of science.我们达到万能以后就不需要科学了。
• Money is not omnipotent,but we can't survive without money.金钱不是万能的，但是没有金钱我们却无法生存。