克莉奥帕特拉
Cleopatra
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil…
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语，我是尼尔。
And I'm Sophie.
我是苏菲。
What do you know about Cleopatra, Neil?
关于克莉奥帕特拉你知道多少，尼尔？
Well, she was Queen of Egypt… quite a long time ago.
她是埃及女王，很久很久之前的。
Anything else?
还有呢？
Didn't she arrive for a meeting with Roman Emperor Julius Caesar rolled up in a carpet?
她是不是裹着毯子，被人抬着会见罗马大帝尤利乌斯·凯撒的？
Or is that a Hollywood invention?
还是这是好莱坞电影杜撰的？
Some historical sources say she was rolled up in a carpet – and others say she was hidden inside a linen sack.
一些史料说她是裹着毛毯会见凯撒的，还有一些说法是她藏在亚麻袋里。
Cleopatra is the subject of today's show.
克莉奥帕特拉是今天节目的主题。
She was the last pharaoh to rule Egypt and is arguably the most famous female ruler in history.
她是统治埃及的最后一任法老，也是历史上备受争议的著名女性统治者。
And the most beautiful.
也是最美丽的。
Well, the jury's out on that one, Neil – and that means people haven't decided yet.
这还值得确认，也就是说人们至今还不能确定。
Coins with Cleopatra's portrait on them, for example, show her with a prominent nose and thin lips.
例如，印有克莉奥帕特拉肖像的硬币显示，她是大鼻子、薄嘴唇。
Prominent means noticeable – and in this case, I think it means large!
Prominent是指显而易见的，这里我觉得是指大！
So what were her attributes – or main qualities –, then?
所以她主要的特征是什么？
Cleopatra was a wily politician.
克莉奥帕特拉是一位老谋深算的政治家。
She made important alliances with Rome to protect her country and was ruthless in dealing with her enemies
她和罗马建立了重要的联盟，以保护她的国家，对待敌人时，她冷酷无情，
– in this case, her siblings – who challenged her as sole ruler of Egypt.
在这里是指挑战她作为埃及统治者权威的兄弟姐妹。
Wily means clever and sibling is another word for brother or sister.
wily是指机智的，sibling是兄弟或姐妹的别称。
Didn't she have her siblings murdered?
难道她杀了她的兄弟姐妹？
Yes, she was very ruthless – and that means without pity.
没错，她非常冷酷无情，也就是说没有同情心。
And today's quiz question is about her family.
今天的问题是关于她的家庭。
Can you tell me, Neil, which country was Cleopatra's family originally from?
你能告诉我，克莉奥帕特拉的家族来自哪里？
Is it…a) Macedonia?
a) 马其顿？
b) Ethiopia?
b) 埃塞俄比亚？
Or c) Egypt?
还是 c) 埃及？
I'm going for c) Egypt – The obvious answer.
我选c) 埃及，很明显的答案。
Well, we'll find out if the obvious answer is the right one, later on in the show.
之后我们再看这个明显的答案是不是正确答案。
But let's talk some more about Cleopatra's attributes.
我们再来谈谈克莉奥帕特拉的特征。
She may not have been Hollywood gorgeous,
她也许不想好莱坞电影中那么华丽，
but she spoke many languages and was highly educated in philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and oratory.
但她会说很多种语言，在哲学、天文学、数学及演讲术方面受过高等教育。
Here's Susan Walker, Keeper of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford, with more about this.
苏珊·沃克是牛津大学阿什摩尔博物馆文物管理员，她会讲述更多克莉奥帕特拉的故事。
Plutarch says that what was really remarkable about Cleopatra was not so much her beauty as the intelligence of her company.
普鲁塔克说，克莉奥帕特拉最著名的与其说是她的美丽，不如说是她的智慧。
She had a very beautiful voice, which I think is a quality that we perhaps underrate these days, in estimations of celebrity
她的嗓音非常优美，我觉得在评价名人时，这个特质一直被人们忽略，
and she clearly had masses of charisma;
她有非凡的领导力。
the sort of person who would light up a room; so, enormous personal charm.
这种人可以点燃一整屋的人的热情，具有非凡的个人魅力。
So the Roman historian Plutarch wrote about Cleopatra's voice, her charisma and personal charm – but not about her beauty.
所以罗马历史学家普鲁塔克描述了克莉奥帕特拉的声音、领导力和个人魅力，未谈及她的美貌。
That's right.
没错。
And charisma is, in other words, a strong power to attract people.
领导力，换句话说是一种可以吸引别人的强大力量。
Cleopatra's voice was also considered very attractive – an attribute we underrate today, according to Susan Walker.
克莉奥帕特拉的嗓音也很迷人，据苏珊·沃克说，这种特质如今总被人低估。
And underrate means to place too small a value on something.
underrate是指将某物的价值看低。
Egyptian Pharaohs were regarded as gods – and spectacle – or making a big visual impact – was an important part of this.
埃及法老被看做是神，制造强大的视觉效果是很重要的部分。
Cleopatra was very skilled at making grand entrances.
克莉奥帕特拉非常善于制造宏伟的出场效果。
Rolled up in a carpet for Caesar, or dressed up as Venus on board a shimmering golden barge, for Mark Anthony.
被裹在毯子里送给凯撒，或装扮成爱神维纳斯的模样，在闪闪发光的金色驳船上与马克·安东尼见面。
He was a Roman politician and general.
安东尼是罗马政治家、军事家。
And even her death was spectacular.
甚至克莉奥帕特拉的死都很惊人。
She and Mark Anthony had lost an important battle against another Roman general, Octavian.
她和马克·安东尼在与另一位罗马军事家屋大维对战时，在一场重要的战役中败北。
Mark Anthony had fatally wounded himself when he heard, mistakenly, that Cleopatra was dead.
马克·安东尼在听到克莉奥帕特拉死亡的假消息后，重伤了自己。
But before he died, he managed to get back to Cleopatra, who held him in her arms as he died, in her family tomb.
但他死前，在克莉奥帕特拉的家族坟墓找到了她，死在了她的怀里。
Then she decided to take her own life.
然后克莉奥帕特拉也选择结束自己的生命。
You make it sounds like a Shakespearian tragedy!
你讲出来像是莎士比亚的悲剧。
Shakespeare did write a play about it.
莎士比亚确实基于此写了一部戏剧。
Now, let's hear from Catherine Edwards, Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck, University of London, about this tragic event.
我们听听伦敦大学伯贝克学院古典文学与古代史教授凯瑟琳·爱德华兹讲述这一悲惨故事。
She plans her own death in this very sort of calculated manner – a manner that also seems to focus on spectacle yet again.
她仔细计划着自己的死亡，以一种依旧追求场面的形式。
She takes her time, she has a feast, and then, you know, the figs, the basket of figs arrives with the asp in it
她计算好时间，举办了一场盛宴，然后一篮无花果登场，其中藏有一条毒蛇。
– or was it perhaps a poisoned hairpin – there's a certain amount of uncertainty about the exact method of her death.
也有可能是带毒的发簪，关于她确切的死亡方式仍有很多不确定。
I think most sources prefer the snake.
大多数倾向于是毒蛇致她死亡。
So Catherine Edwards says the facts surrounding Cleopatra's suicide aren't clear.
所以凯瑟琳说关于克莉奥帕特拉自杀的真相还不清楚。
She may have used a snake to bite her, smuggled into her room in a basket of fruit
也许是因为藏在一篮水果中的毒蛇进入她房间后咬伤了她。
– but it may have been a poisoned hairpin – or simply a cup of poison.
但也许是有毒的发簪，或简单的一杯毒药。
But she did it in a calculated – or carefully planned – way.
但她确实仔细计划了自己的死亡。
OK, so the final curtain comes down on Cleopatra
所以克莉奥帕特拉的故事落下帷幕。
– but what about the answer to today's quiz question, Sophie?
但是今天问题的答案还没揭晓呢？
OK. I asked: which country was Cleopatra's family originally from?
好的。我的问题是：克莉奥帕特拉的家庭来自哪个国家？
Is it…a) Macedonia, b) Ethiopia or c) Egypt?
a) 马其顿， b) 埃塞俄比亚， 还是 c)埃及？
I said… Egypt! Of course it is!
我选的是埃及！当然是埃及啦！
And that's the wrong answer, Neil. It's actually a) Macedonia.
这不是正确答案！正确答案是马其顿。
Cleopatra was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty,
克莉奥帕特拉是托勒密王朝的一员，
a family of Macedonian Greek origin that ruled Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great.
该家族是马其顿希腊血统，在亚历山大大帝死后统治了埃及。
You learn something new every day!
每天都能学到新知识！
Talking of which, here are the words we learned in this programme:
说到这里，我们再来看看今天学到的单词：
the jury's out on something
某事尚未确定
prominent
显著的
attributes
特征
wily
聪明的
sibling
兄弟姐妹
ruthless
冷酷无情的
charisma
领袖气质
underrate
低估，看低
spectacle
奇观，壮观
calculated
有计划的
And that's the end of today's 6 Minute English.
今天的六分钟英语就到这里。
Don't forget to join us again soon!
我们下次再会！
Bye!
再见！