你知道胭脂虫的故事吗?(一 )
我饶有兴致地读了这篇关于胭脂虫故事的BBC博客,特分享部分如下:
The Insect That Painted Europe Red
染红欧洲的昆虫
When the conquistadors arrived in Mexico City, the (home office, main office, head office, headquarters ) of the Aztec empire, the red colour was everywhere.
当西班牙征服者到达墨西哥城时,阿兹特克帝国的总部到处都是红色。
Outlying villages paid (dues, debts, fees, tariffs, obligations) to their Aztec rulers in kilos of cochineal and rolls of blood-red cloth.
边远村庄需给阿兹特克帝国的统治者上供数公斤的胭脂虫和胭脂虫染色的布匹。
King Charles V of Spain saw in cochineal an opportunity to refill the crown’s (coffers, chests, boxes, caskets).
西班牙查理五世在胭脂虫身上看到了一个填充王室金库收入的机会。
Cortés immediately recognized the riches of Mexico, which he (told, related, spoke, referred) in several letters to King Charles V.
科蒂斯(西班牙征服者)立即意识到了墨西哥的财富,并在数封信中向查理五世汇报了。
“I shall speak of some of the things I have seen, which although badly described, I know very well will cause such wonder that they will (merely, toughly, hardly, just) be believed, because even we who see them here with our own eyes are unable to comprehend their reality,” wrote Cortés to the king.
科蒂斯在信中写到:我将讲述一些我所看到的东西,虽然我的描述很拙笨,我仍然清楚地知道我的见闻会让大家惊讶到难以置信。因为即使我们亲眼所见的这些人都感到不可思议。
About the great (hypermarket, marketplace, mall) of Tenochtitlan, which was “(double, twice) as large as that of Salamanca," he wrote,
他还写到:特诺奇蒂特兰(墨西哥古城名)的集市比萨拉曼卡(西班牙)的贸易集市整整大了2倍。
“They also sell (coils, webs, snarls, skeins) of different kinds of spun cotton in all colours, so that it seems quite like one of the silk markets of Granada, although it is on a greater scale; also as many different colours for painters as can be found in Spain and of as excellent hues.”
他们也出售不同种类五颜六色的棉纱线,以至于看上去就像格拉纳达(西班牙)的丝织品市场,且规模更大;还有像在西班牙能够找到的画家用的各种不同颜色,色泽也是一流鲜。