世界小史 第196期:狄奥多里克

 　　Theodoric captured Odoacer, but he promised to spare his life. 狄奥多里克俘获了日耳曼统帅奥多亚塞。

　　Instead, he invited him to a banquet and stabbed him to death. 狄奥多里克虽然允诺免他一死，但是后来却在一个宴会上将他刺死。

　　It has always puzzled me that Theodoric could have done something so monstrous¹, 我始终感到奇怪，狄奥多里克怎么会做出这样令人恶心的事情来，

　　because in other ways he was a truly great ruler, a man of real merit and distinction. 因为撇开这一点不谈，他是一位真正伟大、著名和有教养的君主。

　　He made sure that the Goths lived in peace with the Italians and gave his warriors² no more than one piece of land each to farm. 他力主让哥特人和意大利和睦相处并只分给他的每一名武士一块可耕作的田地。

　　He chose Ravenna, a harbor town in northern Italy, to be his capital and built beautiful churches decorated with wonderful brightly colored mosaics³. 他选择上意大利的一座港口城市拉韦纳做首都。他在那里建造镶嵌美妙的彩色马赛克（在美术中，用各种颜色的小块材料如石块、玻璃、瓷片或贝壳等紧密拼集在黏附性底材上的表面装饰）的漂亮教堂。

　　This was all quite unexpected. That the Ostrogoths might succeed in building themselves a mighty⁴ and prosperous kingdom in Italy, 东罗马的皇帝们却没有想到会这样，他们不相信东哥特人会在那边的意大利建造一个强大和繁荣的国家,

　　one that would one day pose a threat to the imperial rule in Constantinople, is something that would never have occurred to the Emperor of the East, who must have regretted his advice. 一个最终会对君士坦丁堡的统治者们构成威胁的国家。

1 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

2 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

3 mosaics   

n.马赛克( mosaic的名词复数 )；镶嵌；镶嵌工艺；镶嵌图案

参考例句：

• The panel shows marked similarities with mosaics found elsewhere. 这块嵌板和在其他地方找到的镶嵌图案有明显的相似之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The unsullied and shining floor was paved with white mosaics. 干净明亮的地上镶嵌着白色图案。 来自辞典例句

4 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。