世界小史 第59期:碎罐片

 From now on, things were constantly changing.

自此一切都一再起变化，

And this is why, nowadays, when we find even a fragment of pottery¹ – in Greece, or anywhere else in Europe,

这就是为什么当我们现在在希腊或欧洲的其它地方哪怕只找到一块碎罐片，

we can say，this dates from roughly this or that period.

我们就可以说，这块碎片大致是这个或那个时代的。

Because 100 years later a pot like that would have gone out of fashion, and nobody would have wanted it.

因为100年后这么一只罐就已经完全过时了，谁也不愿意再要它了。

It is now thought that all the beautiful things that Schliemann found in his excavations² of Greek cities

人们今天认为，施里曼所挖掘的那些美好的东西并不是希腊城市里的国王们自己发明的

the fine vessels³ and daggers⁴ decorated with hunting scenes,

漂亮的器皿和有狩猎画像的匕首，

the golden shields and helmets, the jewelry⁵ and even the colorful paintings on the walls of the halls, were not invented there.

金盾牌和头盔，他们的大厅里墙壁上的装饰品和彩色画像是没有发明的。

They were first made not in Greece or in Troy, but on an island nearby.

所有这些东西都并非最早产生于希腊，也不是在特洛伊，而是在一个岛上，在一个不太远的岛上。

This island is called Crete.

这个岛叫克里特。

There, at the time of King Hammurabi – do you remember when that was?

在那里，在汉谟拉比王时期——你还记得这是什么时候吗？

the Cretans had already built splendid royal palaces,

克里特岛上就已经有豪华而庞大的王宫，

with innumerable rooms, staircases running up and down in all directions, great pillars, courtyards, corridors and cellars, a veritable labyrinth⁶!

有多得数不尽的房间，四面八方都是楼梯，有柱子、庭院、走廊和地下室，整个一座迷宫！

1 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。

2 excavations   

n.挖掘( excavation的名词复数 )；开凿；开凿的洞穴（或山路等）；（发掘出来的）古迹

参考例句：

• The excavations are open to the public. 发掘现场对公众开放。
• This year's excavations may reveal ancient artifacts. 今年的挖掘可能会发现史前古器物。 来自辞典例句

3 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 daggers   

匕首，短剑( dagger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I will speak daggers to her, but use none. 我要用利剑一样的话刺痛她的心，但绝不是真用利剑。
• The world lives at daggers drawn in a cold war. 世界在冷战中剑拨弩张。

5 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

6 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。