《宋氏快译》英汉对照（28）：罗马缔造者避难所重见天日

《宋氏快译》英汉对照（28）：罗马“缔造者”的避难所重见天日



Sanctuary of Rome's 'founder' revealed

罗马“缔造者”的避难所重见天日


美联社阿里尔朱 文 宋德利 译





ROME - Archaeologists on Tuesday unveiled an underground grotto believed to have been revered by ancient Romans as the place where a wolf nursed the city's legendary founder Romulus and his twin brother Remus.

罗马 - 考古学家周二揭开一个地下石窟神秘的面纱，据信这就是一直被古罗马人尊崇为一头狼哺育该城传奇缔造者罗慕洛斯及其孪生兄弟乐姆斯的圣地。


Decorated with seashells and colored marble, the vaulted sanctuary is buried 52 feet inside the Palatine hill, the palatial center of power in imperial Rome, the archaeologists said at a news conference.

饰以海贝壳和彩色大理石的拱形避难所，埋在巴勒登丘，即罗马帝国宏伟的权力中心地52英尺以下的地方，考古学家在一次新闻发布会上这样说。

注释：
sanctuary ，圣地，圣殿；避难所。根据传说中故事的意思，我选用“避难所”一解。Palatine hill，巴勒登丘，古罗马七丘之一。


In the past two years, experts have been probing the space with endoscopes and laser scanners, fearing that the fragile grotto, already partially caved-in, would not survive a full-scale dig, said Giorgio Croci, an engineer who worked on the site.

在过去两年中，专家们一直在利用内窥镜和激光扫描仪，对此地进行探测，但他们担心已经部分塌陷的脆弱的石窟，禁不住一场大规模的全面挖掘，一位在现场工作的工程师乔治奥。科洛西说。


The archaeologists are convinced that they have found the place of worship where Romans believed a she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus , the twin sons of the god of war Mars who were abandoned in a basket and left adrift on the Tiber.

考古学家相信，他们已经找到人们的崇拜之地，而罗马人认为一头母狼正是在那里哺育了罗慕洛斯和乐姆斯这对战神火星的孪生儿子。他们曾经遭到遗弃，被塞在一只水桶里，然后扔到台伯河里任其漂流。


Thanks to the wolf, a symbol of Rome to this day, the twins survived, and Romulus founded the city, becoming its first king after killing Remus in a power struggle.

多亏这条狼，至今仍被视为罗马一种象征的这对孪生兄弟才得以存活下来，也正是这个罗慕洛斯在一次权势争斗中杀害了自己的孪生兄弟乐姆斯之后，才创建了这座 城市，成为第一位君主。


Ancient texts say the grotto known as the "Lupercale"_ from "lupa," Latin for she-wolf — was near the palace of Augustus, Rome's first emperor, who was said to have restored it, and was decorated with a white eagle .

古代文献说，该石窟被称为“拉珀凯勒 lupercale ” ，此字来源于拉丁语“ lupa ” ，意思是母狼 - 这里距离罗马第一位君主奥古斯都的宫殿不远，据说后来重新修葺石窟的人正是他，而且还以一只白鹰做装饰物。


That symbol of the Roman Empire was found atop the sanctuary's vault, which lies just below the ruins of the palace built by Augustus, said Irene Iacopi, the archaeologist in charge of the Palatine and the nearby Roman Forum .

罗马帝国的这一表征是在避难所穹顶的顶部发现的，而穹顶就埋在被奥古斯都修建的宫殿的废墟下面，负责考察巴勒登丘及附近罗马广场的考古学家伊雷娜。亚科皮说。


Augustus, who ruled from the late 1st century B.C. to his death in the year 14, was keen on being close to the places of Rome's mythical foundation and used the city's religious traditions to bolster his hold on power, Iacopi said.

奥古斯都的统治从公元前一世纪末叶直至公元14年辞世止。他非常喜欢到那些富有罗马神话底蕴的地方去，并利用该城的宗教传统，支撑自己的权柄，亚科皮说。


"The Lupercale must have had an important role in Augustus' policies," she said. "He saw himself as a new Romulus."

“拉珀凯勒石窟在奥古斯都的政策中必然起到一种十分重要的作用，”她说。 “他将自己视为一位新生的罗慕洛斯。”

注释：
new Romulus，新的罗慕洛斯。根据其受哺母狼才得以新生的传说，罗慕洛斯自然会认为自己是获得第二次生命，亦即再生的罗慕洛斯，因此翻译成“新生的”比“新的”更贴切。


Andrea Carandini, a professor of archaeology at Rome's La Sapienza University and an expert on the Palatine, said the grotto is almost certainly the "Lupercale."

罗马萨皮恩扎大学一位考古学教授，巴勒登丘研究专家安德列卡兰迪尼表示，这一石窟几乎肯定就是“拉珀凯勒石窟”。


"The chances that it's not are minimal," said Carandini, who did not take part in the dig. "It's one of the greatest discoveries ever made."

“这种机率并非微不足道，” 未参加发掘的卡兰迪尼说。“这是至今为止最伟大的发现之一” 。


Most of the sanctuary is filled with earth, but laser scans allowed experts to estimate that the circular structure has a height of 26 feet and a diameter of 24 feet, Croci said.

避难所的大部分都已被土填满，但激光扫描却使专家得以估计，这一环形结构的建筑物高26英尺，直径24英尺， 工程师科洛西说。


Archaeologists at the news conference were divided on how to gain access to the "Lupercale." .Iacopi said a new dig would start soon to find the grotto's original entrance at the bottom of the hill. Carandini suggested enlarging the hole at the top through which probes have been lowered so far, saying that burrowing at the base of the hill could disturb the foundations of other ruins.

考古学家在记者会上颇有争议，分水岭就是如何找到“避难所”的通道。亚科皮说，一项新的挖掘计划不久即将开始，旨在发现位于山丘底部石窟原来的入口。卡兰迪尼建议扩大在顶部的孔洞，一直以来就是通过这一孔洞才使探测器得以向下深入，她说，在山丘底部打洞可能会震动其它遗址的地基。

注释：
Carandini suggested一句实在太长，不如分开说，saying之后，其实也是suggested建议的内容。作者之所以采用这种句式，似乎也是考虑到建议的内容太多，如果和前年的内容并列说，句子势必太长，因此才分开说。既然他可以分开说，译者为何不可以分开译呢？干脆，比他还自由，把saying之后的成分摘下来，单独成句，即使主语出现重复，但读起来却顺畅得多。得大于失，何乐而不为？



The Palatine is honeycombed with palaces and other ancient monuments, from the 8th-century B.C. remains of Rome's first fledgling huts to a medieval fortress and Renaissance villas. But the remains are fragile and plagued by collapses, leaving more than half of the hill, including Augustus' palace, closed to the public.

巴勒登丘与宫殿及其它古迹是以蜂窝状结构紧密相连的，这些古迹涉及范围从公元前8世纪罗马第一间朴拙的木屋，到一座中世纪城堡，再到文艺复兴时期的别墅。但这些遗迹早已脆弱不堪，饱受坍塌之忧，致使山丘一半以上的部分，包括奥古斯都宫在内，都不能对公众开放。

Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli said the first area to benefit from an extensive, $17.5 million restoration of the hills' ruins will be Augustus' palace, scheduled to reopen in February after being closed for decades.

文化部长弗朗西斯科鲁泰利说，山丘遗址修复耗资1750万美元之巨，而这笔巨额开支的第一个受惠者就是奥古斯都宫，现已敲定在被封闭数十年之后的（明年）二月重新开放。

附录：

奥古斯都（Augustus），原名Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus，有汉译简称屋大维，公元前63年9月23日—公元14年8月19日，是罗马帝国的开国君主，统治罗马长达43年。公元14年8月，在他去世后，罗马元老院决定将他列入“神”的行列，并且将8月称为“奥古斯都”月，这也是欧洲語文中8月（英语为August）的来源。

一般认为屋大维是最伟大的罗马皇帝之一。虽然他保持了罗马共和的表面形式，但是却作为一位独裁者，统治罗马长达四十年以上。他结束了一个世纪的内战，使罗马帝国进入了相当长一段和平、繁荣的辉煌时期。历史学家通常以他的头衔“奧古斯都烏斯”（“尊崇”的意思）来称呼他，这个称号是他在公元前27年的时候获得的, 那时他36岁。

屋大维是凯撒大帝的甥孙和养子，亦被正式指定为凯撒的继承人。公元前43年，他与马克•安东尼、雷必达结成后三头同盟，打败了刺杀凯撒大帝的共和派贵族。公元前36年他剥夺雷必达的军权，后在阿克图海战打败安东尼，消灭了古埃及的托勒密王朝，回罗马后开始掌握一切国家大权。公元前30年，被确认为“终身保民官”，公元前29年获得“大元帅”称号；公元前28年获得“奥古斯都”（神圣、至尊的意思）称号，建立起了专制的元首政治，开创了罗马帝国。