評(píng)論
打印
They'd already experienced a very interesting life.
他們之前的人生很有趣
Twin sons of a local princess and the great god Mars,
他們是一位公主和戰(zhàn)神的雙胞胎兒子
they'd been exposed at birth
剛出生時(shí)，他們就被
by their evil grand-uncle and left to die.
邪惡的叔祖父拋棄，等待他們的是死亡
Luckily, a roaming she-wolf found the bawling babies
幸運(yùn)的是，一只母狼發(fā)現(xiàn)了啼哭的嬰兒
and instead of eating them, she suckled them.
母狼沒有吃掉孩子，而是喂他們奶
This saved them until a friendly local shepherd
兄弟倆就這樣活了下來，之后
and his wife discovered them
當(dāng)?shù)氐哪裂蛉撕推拮影l(fā)現(xiàn)了這對(duì)兄弟
and brought them up as their own.
把他們當(dāng)做自己的孩子撫養(yǎng)成人
After a troubled adolescence,
在經(jīng)過麻煩重重的青春期
young Romulus and Remus decided on a new start.
羅慕路斯和雷穆斯決定創(chuàng)造一個(gè)新起點(diǎn)
That's how the twins found themselves
因此，這兄弟兩個(gè)
on top of a hill in Latium,
來到Latium的一座小山上
founding a new city on the site of
創(chuàng)立了一個(gè)城市
what would eventually be Rome.
這座城市就是后來的羅馬
Problem is, only one of them could become king.
問題是，只有一個(gè)人能成為國王
One of them had to have been the older twin,
兄弟兩個(gè)中，肯定有一個(gè)是哥哥
but they were mere babies at the time they were born,
但是他們出生的時(shí)候都還是嬰兒
and they really couldn't be expected
可能不可能知道
to notice who was first.
誰先出生的
Instead, like the future Romans they were,
他們和以后的羅馬人一樣
they resorted to augury,
選擇用占卜決定
the art of bird signs to decide
用鳥類預(yù)兆來決定
who was the proper king.
誰應(yīng)該擔(dān)任國王
Remus was the first
雷穆斯首先
to spot a flock of vultures, 6 of them.
認(rèn)出一群禿鷹，有六只
But then Romulus saw 12 vultures, so he won.
但是羅慕路斯看見了12只，因此他獲勝了
Another version of this story says that
這個(gè)故事的另一個(gè)版本是
Remus jumped over a wall
雷穆斯跳過了
that Romulus had just finished building.
羅慕路斯剛建好的墻
Both versions end with Remus dead,
兩個(gè)版本的結(jié)局都是雷穆斯死了
and Romulus sole ruler of the city
羅慕路斯成了剛建成的
they had just founded.
城市的統(tǒng)治者
Romulus recruited new settlers for his city,
羅慕路斯招收了一批新成員
which was known as Rome and not Reme,
這座城市名字是羅馬，不是里馬
unless you're Russian,
除非你是俄羅斯人
the Russians do call the city Reme,
俄羅斯人稱這座城市為里馬
by opening an asylum in the forest,
羅馬在森林中開設(shè)了收容所
where fugitives, freed men and slaves
逃亡者，自由的人和奴隸
could join this new Roman people.
可以成為新的羅馬人
Since Rome was still experiencing
因?yàn)榱_馬缺少
a shortage of marriage aged females,
婚齡的婦女
Romulus invited the neighboring Sabine tribe
羅慕路斯邀請(qǐng)林靜的薩賓人部落
over for a little picnic.
共同舉行小型野餐
While the Sabine men were busy
當(dāng)薩賓人中的男性忙著
enjoying the food and the drink,
享受食物和飲料時(shí)
the Romans ran off with the Sabine women.
羅馬人帶著薩賓婦女逃跑了
The Sabine army went back for their weapons,
薩賓人軍隊(duì)回去拿自己的武器
they marched on Rome to bring their women back,
到羅馬搶回他們的女人
but the women, so the story goes,
但是女人們，根據(jù)故事所說
were just as happy to be Romans.
很樂意成為羅馬人
They said, guys, go home, it's all good.
她們說，男人們，回家吧，這里很好
At any rate, that's how the ancient Romans
無論如何，這就是古羅馬人
liked to think their city was founded.
認(rèn)為自己的城市是如何建立的
The name Romulus means young Roman in Latin.
羅慕路斯在拉丁語中的意思是年輕的羅馬人
And his character was almost
他的性格
certainly a legendary invention.
具有傳奇性
The murder of Remus, murdering your own brother,
他謀殺了雷穆斯，親兄弟
is a tough one to explain positively.
很難對(duì)此作出正面的解釋
The Latin word for she-wolf is Lupa,
拉丁語中，母狼是Lupa
and it is also a word meaning prostitute.
同時(shí)，這個(gè)詞還表示妓女
No doubt, a struggling young city-state
毫無疑問，一個(gè)奮斗的年輕的城市
was always looking to pad its population
通常通過收留逃亡者和偷搶妻子
by welcoming fugitives and stealing wives.
來擴(kuò)張自己的人口
This account of Rome's foundation
這種對(duì)羅馬成立的解釋
became even less satisfactory,
相比來說不太受人歡迎
as Rome became stronger and
以為羅馬變得更加強(qiáng)大
came into contact with Greek colonies,
和希臘殖民地進(jìn)行接觸
which were scattered
希臘殖民地
all along the southern Italian coast.
分布在意大利南岸
Almost every one of these Greek colonies
幾乎每個(gè)希臘殖民地
could brag about being founded
都吹噓自己是英雄建立
by a hero, or founded by the son of the gods,
或者是由神的兒子創(chuàng)立的
or at least founded by a big time hero
至少是由特洛伊戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中偉大的英雄
from the Trojan War.
創(chuàng)立的
Suddenly, the murderous foster-son
突然之間，母狼或者妓女的養(yǎng)子
of a canine or a prostitute, whichever you pick,
無論養(yǎng)母是誰
wasn't much to brag about.
這一點(diǎn)都不值得吹噓
