英语听力：探索发现 2012-08-17 爱尔兰的故事 Story Of Ireland—15

 What it says is that the Irish are the centre of the world. They’re not a small insignificant¹ people. It was woven together in the 11th century from earlier sources as a statement of Irish uniqueness.

 

They didn’t want to be seen as peripheral² people living at the edge of Europe. One of the main themes in early Irish history is the sense that Ireland is central culturally to what happens in the Christian³ world.  So what they do is they insert the Irish at various points into key events in world history. So what they are doing is they start off with the creation of the world in the Book of Genesis, so it’s almost like the Scripture⁴ of Ireland, the Old Testament⁵ of Ireland. And then they show the ancestors of the Irish appearing at various key events, so when Moses goes on the Exodus⁶, an Irish guy sort of pops up, so he can find out what the Ten Commandments are. They look about the sort of origins of their own language, and an Irish guy pops up at the Tower of Babel, and he makes Irish from all of the best bits of the languages when they are divided up. At a very early point, the Irish began to write in Irish. And one of the things that Lebor Gabála does is it brings in an awful lot of traditional lore⁷. So you get elements of popular culture and elite⁸ culture being brought in together along with sort of the learning of the Old Testament or of Christian writers.

 

What were they trying to do by setting it in such an international context, this idea that we came from everywhere?

 

The basic framework which it takes is that Ireland has been populated by various waves of people over time. Some of these people are invaders⁹; some are more refugees than invaders, for example. And they admit that not everybody who lives on the island in the early medieval period are descended¹⁰ from one group of people. So there’s an acceptance in  the Lebor Gabála that the Irish are of multi-ethnic origins. 

 

At what point do we lose that sense of being part of something greater, and take on board this narrow idea that it’s us in a misty¹¹ Celtic past, a people alone?

 

Certainly from the 18th century. If you look at the Irish themselves during this period when they are putting together the Lebor Gabála and the various elements that go into it, the one element they don’t pick themselves is Celtic. I mean they know about the existence of groups called Celts and Gauls from classical writers. They never identify with them. In fact, they are far more confident about their identity, you could say, than maybe modern people are about theirs.

1 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

2 peripheral   

adj.周边的，外围的

参考例句：

• We dealt with the peripheral aspects of a cost reduction program.我们谈到了降低成本计划的一些外围问题。
• The hotel provides the clerk the service and the peripheral traveling consultation.旅舍提供票务服务和周边旅游咨询。

3 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。

4 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。

5 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

6 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

7 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

8 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

9 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

10 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

11 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。