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Thomas Becket at the British Museum
在大英博物館展出的"托馬斯·貝克特"
Murder in the cathedral
大教堂謀殺案
An infamous medieval assassination echoes down the centuries
一場(chǎng)臭名昭著的中世紀(jì)刺殺事件流傳了幾個(gè)世紀(jì)
It could have been a scene from “The Sopranos”, only the irascible capo was King Henry II of England. The irksome upstart who had to be neutralised was Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?” Henry snapped in 1170, or words to that effect. His oblique command was to become a proverbial case of gangsterism dressed in plausible deniability.
這可能是《黑道家族》中的一幕，只是英國(guó)國(guó)王亨利二世在其中擔(dān)當(dāng)了“黑幫頭目”的角色。被迫保持中立的坎特伯雷大主教托馬斯·貝克特是一個(gè)令人討厭的新貴。1170年，亨利二世怒氣沖沖地說(shuō)著：“難道沒(méi)有人能讓我擺脫這個(gè)麻煩的牧師嗎？”，或者諸如類似的話。亨利二世通過(guò)拐彎抹角的命令讓自己合理地置身事外，并打造出了一場(chǎng)眾所周知的犯罪案件。
The shocking murder that resulted is at the heart of a new exhibition at the British Museum, its first to open since the pandemic struck last year. A replica altar occupies an otherwise empty space. Menacing music accompanies an audiovisual re-enactment. Four knights who take up Henry’s hint (or challenge) seem to cast long shadows on the walls; monks chant dolefully in Latin; a bell tolls. And the blood of the king’s erstwhile friend and lord chancellor splatters the wall like poppy petals.
這起駭人聽(tīng)聞的謀殺案是大英博物館新展覽的核心，此次是大英博物館自去年新冠疫情以來(lái)首次開(kāi)放展覽。一個(gè)復(fù)制祭壇占據(jù)了一片空地。陰森恐怖的音樂(lè)伴奏塑造了視聽(tīng)再現(xiàn)。領(lǐng)會(huì)亨利二世暗示（或挑戰(zhàn)）的四個(gè)騎士似乎在墻上投下長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的陰影；僧侶用拉丁語(yǔ)悲傷地吟唱；喪鐘敲響。國(guó)王昔日的朋友兼大法官的鮮血灑在墻上，就像罌粟花一樣。
As the many eyewitness accounts attest, the reality was far ghastlier—heavy medieval armour clanging against the cold flagstones of Canterbury Cathedral as the crowd shrank back, the shouts of a cornered man, a sword-swipe that sliced off the top of Becket’s head as if it were a boiled egg. Later, when the monks finally undressed the corpse, beneath his fine vestments he was found to have worn a hair shirt crawling with vermin. After spending six years in exile in France Becket had returned to England, not just to speak truth to power and defend the church’s privileges against the monarchy’s encroachments, but to offer his life up to God.
正如許多目擊者的描述所證明的那樣，現(xiàn)實(shí)要可怕得多——沉重的中世紀(jì)盔甲在坎特伯雷大教堂冰冷的石板路上叮當(dāng)作響，人群向后退去，伴隨貝克特這個(gè)被逼得走投無(wú)路的人的喊叫聲，一把劍從他的頭頂砍下，就仿佛那是一個(gè)煮蛋。后來(lái)，在僧侶們最終解開(kāi)這具尸體的衣服之時(shí)，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)貝克特精致的法衣下穿著一件長(zhǎng)滿虱蚤的苦衣。貝克特在流亡法國(guó)六年之后回到了英國(guó)，他不僅敢于對(duì)當(dāng)權(quán)者說(shuō)真話，捍衛(wèi)教權(quán)，反抗王權(quán)，而且還向上帝獻(xiàn)出了自己的生命。
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