評論
打印
The occasion which resulted in this decree was in some respects a change.
詔書簽署時，社會環境正在發生變化。
There had been previous decrees, and they take much the same form, but in this particular reign.
之前也頒過類似的法令，但此刻情況不同，
the reign of a very young king whose kingdom was under attack from many quarters-one of the clauses of the Memphis Decree, the Rosetta Stone, is that priests should no longer come every year to Alexandria-Alexandria was the new Greek capital.
年幼的國王正遭受來自四面八方的攻擊。羅塞塔石碑上孟菲斯法令的條款之一便是，祭司們不再需要每年去王朝的新都亞歷山大港朝拜，
Instead they could meet at Memphis, the old centre of Egypt.
而只需前往埃及古都孟菲斯。
This was new and it may be seen perhaps as a concession on the part of the Royal household.
這是從未有過的事，表明王室向祭司做了讓步。
The priests were critical in keeping the hearts and minds of the Egyptian masses on side for Ptolemy, and the Rosetta Stone was their reward.
祭司在確保埃及民眾全身心地擁護托勒密的統治方面發揮著重大作用，羅塞塔石碑上雕刻的承諾便是對他們的回報。
Not only does the decree allow the priests to remain in Memphis, rather than coming to Alexandria, it also gives them a number of very attractive tax breaks.
法令不止免去了他們趕往亞歷山大港的奔波之苦，也為他們提供了優厚的稅收優惠。
Of course no teenager is likely to have thought this up, somebody behind the throne was clearly thinking strategically on the boy's behalf and, more importantly, on the dynasty's behalf.
一個十幾歲的孩子顯然想不出這樣的政策來，一定是有人在背后為年幼的國王出謀劃策，維護托勒密的統治。
So the stone is simultaneously an expression of power and of compromise, although to read the whole content is about as thrilling as reading a new EU treaty written simultaneously in several languages.
羅塞塔石碑因此講述了一個權力與妥協的故事，但如果通讀其全文，基本上跟閱讀歐盟用多國語言頒布的最新法規一樣無趣。
The content is bureaucratic, priestly and dry-but that of course is not the point.
說到底，它只是用祭司口吻書寫的語言干澀的官樣文章。
