维京史话（2012）

The very earliest Viking finds from here date back to 753AD -
在这里发现的维京人的印迹 最早可追溯到公元七五三年
a generation before the first recorded raids on Britain.
比有史可查的第一次维京劫掠不列颠还早一代人
So this Russian outpost marks some of the very earliest evidence
因而这个位于俄♥罗♥斯♥的偏远定居点
of the Vikings outside their Scandinavian homelands.
是维京人在斯堪的纳维亚家乡之外 留下年代最为久远的证据
And this soon became the gateway to a route that would
这里很快就成为了一个据点
stretch as far as Constantinople and even Baghdad.
它连接的商路一直通向君士坦丁堡甚至巴格达
A route that could only be tackled by river.
这条路只有借助河流才能走通
Morning, Vikings.
早上好，维京人...
Where can I be?
我该在哪里？
Up here?
在这吗？
Using a replica Viking boat, these Russian enthusiasts
这些俄♥罗♥斯♥的维京迷们 试图驾驶一艘维京船的复♥制♥品
are figuring out how the Vikings made extraordinary journeys east.
去重现如何开辟出一条通往东方的终极之路.
Today there's too much ice on the river to launch our own boat so just
河上的冰太多了无法驾船行驶
like the eighth century Vikings, we've got to shift it ourselves.
我们只能象八世纪时的维京人一样抬着船走
This is just the way the boat has to be moved on dry land.
这正是让船在陆地上前行的方法
If it got to an obstacle - rapids, waterfall or ice -
假如遇到了障碍--比如激流，瀑布或者冰块
they have to take the boat out of the river
他们就必须把船拖出水，
and either go round the obstacle or find another river.
绕开障碍 或者找到另外一条河
This is the only way to do it
这是唯一的办法
so it's just rolled over land on these logs.
船就这样支在圆木上向前滚动
Hopefully over the shortest possible distance.
可能这样移♥动♥的距离最短
It's literally yard by yard, foot by foot.
完全是一♥码♥一♥码♥...一英尺一英尺的往前进
Oh, God!
哦...天哪
Imagine how long it would take to get anywhere.
想象一下去一个地方要花多长时间啊
You leave home in Sweden,
当你离开在瑞典的家乡
cross the Baltic in ships
乘船度过波罗的海
and then get everything into boats like this
不时需要把所有的东西都放进船里...
and every now and again
就像现在
you've got to take the boat out of the water
把船拖出水...
and move it over land.
这样拖着在陆上前进
These guys must have been away for years at a time.
这些人出去一次至少要好几年
By navigating the Russian rivers and lugging their boats
(有水时)驾船航行...(没水时)拖着船走
when necessary, the Vikings could transport themselves all the way
需要的话维京人可以...
from the Baltic to the Caspian and Black Seas.
从波罗的海一路来到里海和黑海
It's time consuming and it's laborious
这样很花时间也很艰苦
but there's enough men here to move a boat this size
但这里有足够的人手能推动这样大小的船
so the system does work,
这样做是行得通的
as history shows!
正如被历史所证明的一样
The journeys east along the Russian rivers demanded incredible
沿着俄♥罗♥斯♥的河流一路东行
feats of organisation,
(完成)这样的旅程需要高超的组织艺术
boatmanship and endurance.
操船技术和耐久力
And as well as overcoming the physical hardships,
除了需要克服严苛的自然环境外
the Vikings had to find ways of dealing with the very strange
一路之上维京人还要对付那些...
and often very violent locals they encountered along the way.
陌生的而通常十分残暴的当地人
For the people from the East, the Vikings also seemed strange.
在那些东方人的眼中维京人也同样生
Preserved in contemporary accounts written by Islamic scholars
伊♥斯♥兰♥学者撰写的当代见闻录
are vivid descriptions
生动的描写了
of how they saw those strange people from the North.
他们是如何看待这些来自北方的陌生人的
Arabic scholar James Montgomery
阿♥拉♥伯学者詹姆斯.蒙哥马利
has studied the remarkable written records of a Middle Eastern traveller
研究了一位中东旅行家的笔记
called Ibn Fadlan.
他名叫伊本.法德伦
"I've never seen more perfect bodies than theirs.
我从没见过谁的身体比他们更棒
"They were like palm trees."
他们就像是芭蕉树
And then there's this absolutely fantastic phrase which I just love.
接下来这些美妙的句子我非常喜欢
They're red, bright red, light haired,
他们长着红色…鲜红的头发
they're like a burst of fire.
就像是燃烧的火焰
He says, "From the tip of their fingers right up to their necks,
他写道"从指尖一直到到脖子"
"every one of them is covered in dark green trees and shapes
"每寸皮肤都画着深绿的树和图形"
"and other things."
"还有其他东西" ...
Tattoos.
纹身
Tattoos.
纹身
He then goes on and describes what the women look like,
然后他继续描述维京女人
and this is really interesting, because they are accompanied by their wives.
十分有趣的是他们的妻子都陪伴在身边
It says that, "Each woman has some form of a box
书上讲"每个妇女都有一个箱子"
"made of iron or silver or bronze or gold,
"铁质的或者银的，要么是铜的或金的"
"depending on how much money her husband has.
这取决于她的丈夫有多富有
"And every box has a ring
盒子上都有个环
"and from the ring there is a dagger suspended."
环上都系着把匕♥首♥
Are they settling and colonising in the East or are they just moving through?
他们是定居下来开始殖民呢还是继续东进？
Well, if we turn to another one of the texts that we have with us today,
我们再翻到文章的另外一段…
we can see a sense that they are both settling,
可以看到这句句子写道"他们都定居了下来"
but they are not setting down any particular roots.
"但是没有种任何庄稼"
So he says, "They don't have any fields that they sow,
他写道"他们没有土地播种庄稼"
"they don't have any villages,
"他们没有村庄"
"they don't have any agriculture.
"他们没有农业"
"The only thing they do is trade
"他们只做买♥♥卖♥♥"
"and that is trade in martens and squirrels and other pelts."
"他们买♥♥卖♥♥的是貂皮，松鼠皮还有别的各种皮毛"
So I think the picture that we have at this point
至此书上为我们描绘的…
is of a set of trading emporia.
是一幅市集的画面
You get off your boat, you do your trade,
下船…做买♥♥卖♥♥
build a couple of huts or whatever
搭个小棚或小摊…
and then get back on the boat.
然后回到船上
The Islamic writers
这位伊♥斯♥兰♥作家
even had a special name for the intrepid merchants from the North.
还给来自北方无畏的商人们起了个名字
They called them "the Rus,"
他们称(维京人)为"罗斯"(Rus)
which means something like "the men who row".
意思是"划船的人"
And it shows how influential they became,
显而易见他们的影响有多大
because, after all, this land is now called Russia.
因为…最终…这片土地名叫"俄♥罗♥斯♥"(Russia)
It's remarkable to think that one of the biggest nations in the world
不可思议的是世界上最面♥积♥最大国家的名字…
gets its name from the Vikings,
居然是自在这么一群维京人
who navigated its waterways
他们在河流上纵横驰骋
setting up trading posts and colonies as they went.
在陆地上建立买♥♥卖♥♥市集...然后定居殖民
Their target was the greatest city on Earth - Constantinople.
这些人的目标是世界上最大的城市---君士坦丁堡
When I started looking into the Vikings,
刚开始研究维京人时
I didn't think I'd have to go 1,500 miles south of Scandinavia
我并没有想到居然要远赴斯堪的纳维亚以南一千五百英里
to find out about them.
去那揭示维京人的秘密
But here I am, in a city that's the gateway to Asia -
但现在我来到了亚洲大♥陆♥的门户
Istanbul.
伊斯坦布尔
Once known as Constantinople.
历史上叫君士坦丁堡
For the Vikings, this glorious city
对于维京人来说，这辉煌的城市
was the culmination of their journeys.
是他们远征的顶点
Because, within its walls,
这面城墙里面
were some of the greatest markets in the world.
是世界上最大的市集之一
For a Viking, this would have been all but overwhelming,
初来乍到维京人当时就给跪了
because this is on a completely different scale
因为这个市场的规模远远大于…
from anything he would have witnessed before.
…他们之前见过的任何一个
Instead of hundreds of people,
熙熙攘攘的人流远不止数以百计
here there would have been thousands or even tens of thousands
而是数以千计甚至数以万计
and from all over the world.
来自世界各个地方
And then, there were all the exotic sights and sounds and smells.
还有来自世界各地的好看的好听的和好闻的
It's all but an assault on the senses.
绝对是感官的盛宴
The trouble was that Constantinople was tightly controlled
麻烦的是君士坦丁堡(的统治者)管控严格
with strict trade quotas, taxes and even immigration rules.
他们制定了严格的贸易配额，税率甚至是移♥民♥条例
But, by the early 900s, the Vikings had been granted access.
十世纪上半页时他们批准维京人可以进城
Hey! Yes? Do you speak English?
你会讲英语吗？
I speak English, my friend.
朋友，我会讲英语
Can I have 100 grams of the red spice?
能给我一百克这种红色的香料？
100 grams.
一百克
OK. Something else?
好的，还要其他什么吗？
No, that's all. How much?
不用了，就这些.多少钱？
Once here, they could buy finely woven silk
曾几何时...维京人买♥♥进做工精细的丝绸
worth its weight in gold in exchange
需要与之重量相等的黄金来交换…
for their own exotic wares.
而卖♥♥出的是来自北方的珍宝
Baltic amber, Arctic furs,
产自波罗的海的琥珀和北极的皮草
and the Vikings' most important commodity of all -
还有维京人最重要的商品--
slaves.
奴隶
Any Viking who spent three months or more in the city
维京人要在城里居留三个月以上
was entitled to buy silk up to the value of two slaves.
才有资格买♥♥入价值相当于两个奴隶的丝绸
And that silk was so valuable,
丝绸价值连城
it made the perilous river journeys to get here more than worthwhile.
这使得旅途中的一起艰苦都显得物有所值