她才貌出众，聪颖机智，善耍手腕。罗马人对她痛恨不已，因为她差一点让罗马变成埃及的一个行省；埃及人却称颂她是勇士，因为她为弱小的埃及赢得了22年的和平。她的一生极富戏剧性，因此她也成为文学家、艺术家十分喜欢的创作题材。她就是埃及托勒密王朝最后一位女王，人称“埃及艳后”的克娄巴特拉七世(Cleopatra VII)。这位谜一般的埃及末代女王到底有着怎样的故事呢？我们请她“自己”来说一说吧！
I was born in 69 BC in Alexandria which was the capital of Egypt at the time. My father was the Pharaoh of Egypt when I was born, and his name was Ptolemy XII. In 51 BC my father died and since I was the eldest child I inherited1) the throne of Egypt with my brother Ptolemy XIII.
公元前69年，我出生在埃及当时的首都亚历山大。我出生的时候，我的父亲就已经是埃及法老，他名叫托勒密十二世。公元前51年，我的父亲去世了。因为我是长女，所以便顺理成章地与我的弟弟托勒密十三世一同继承了埃及的王位。
At age 18, I was the queen of Egypt which was not an easy job. The Romans were conquering city after city and they were even beginning to gain control over Egypt when I took the throne. Keeping the Romans from completely taking over my land was a struggle in itself. Along with that, I had enemies to contend with2). People were jealous that I was so intelligent (I knew 9 languages) and that I was an independent ruler. I ruled for 3 years until I was overthrown by one of my father's advisors. I was forced to leave Egypt and move to Syria while my younger brother became the sole3) ruler of Egypt. But I don't give up so easily.
18岁的我成了埃及的女王，这可不是件容易的差事。在我坐上女王宝座的时候，罗马人开始不断地攻下一座又一座的城池，甚至开始逐步控制埃及。抵御罗马人以防他们完全侵占我的领土本身就是一场艰苦卓绝的斗争。而与此同时，我还要对付我的敌人们。人们嫉妒我，因为我有过人的聪明才智(我会九门语言)，也因为我是个不受任何外部势力约束的统治者。我对埃及进行了为期三年的统治，直到被我父亲的一个谋臣推翻。之后，我被迫离开埃及，被流放到叙利亚，而我的弟弟则成了埃及唯一的统治者。但我绝不会轻言放弃。
I was furious4) that my brother agreed to this. I found out that the Roman general, Julius Caesar, was in Alexandria and I devised a plan to enter into the city of Alexandria to make a plea to him. I couldn't simply walk into the city or my brother would have me imprisoned or worse. So I had myself wrapped in a rug and had the rug offered as a gift to Caesar. When the rug was unrolled, I tumbled5) out. Though I'm known in modern day to have been a great beauty, I truly wasn't. But my charm overtook the powerful Caesar and it was love at first sight.
对于我弟弟竟然同意推翻我并将我流放这件事，我怒不可遏。我发现罗马的将军尤利乌斯·凯撒当时正在亚历山大，于是我设计潜入亚历山大城内向他求援。我不能就那么走进城去，否则弟弟会派人把我抓进监狱，甚至更糟。于是，我将自己裹在一张毯子里，并让人把这张毯子作为礼物献给凯撒。当毯子展开的时候，我就从里面滚了出来。尽管现代的人们都公认我是个绝世美女，但事实上我真的不是。然而，我的魅力却令权倾一时的凯撒为我折服，他对我一见钟情。
My brother felt he had been betrayed and he declared war against Caesar and his Roman army. My brother died in the war and Caesar gained control of the throne of Alexandria. Caesar restored6) the throne to me. Again I was the queen of Egypt and was worshipped as a Pharaoh. Caesar and I had a son together, but a short time later Caesar died.
我的弟弟发觉我背叛了他，于是他向凯撒以及凯撒的罗马军队宣战了。我弟弟战死，而凯撒控制了埃及。凯撒将王位还给了我，于是我再次成为埃及的女王，并被尊为法老。凯撒和我有一个儿子，但是过了不久，凯撒死了。
Upon his death, Rome began to divide. I knew that I had to stay in favor with7) the Romans so that they would not take the throne of Egypt away from me. When Mark Antony prevailed8) as ruler of the Roman Empire, I supported him. He and I eventually fell in love, but the Romans were not happy about our love. They felt he was giving away the Roman Empire by allowing me control over Egypt.
凯撒去世后，罗马开始分裂。我知道我必须要获得罗马人的青睐，这样他们才不会从我手中夺走埃及的王位。于是当马克·安东尼在罗马帝国的王位之争中占据了上风时，我便极力拥护他。最终，我和他坠入了爱河，但罗马人并不乐于看到我们相爱。他们觉得，安东尼让我统治埃及就等于是出卖了罗马帝国。
Fortune turned against us in 30 BC. Octavian was a man who was also in line for9) the throne of the Roman Empire. He was not fond of Mark Antony or me, and he declared war on Egypt. He defeated my beloved Mark Antony and then had me arrested. At the age of 39 I died in honor and was the last Pharaoh of Egypt.
公元前30年，命运开始与我们作对。屋大维也是罗马帝国王位的有力争夺者。他不喜欢我和马克·安东尼，于是他向埃及宣战了。他打败了我心爱的马克·安东尼，之后又将我拘捕。我39岁就光荣赴死，成了埃及历史上最后一位法老。
1. inherit [ɪnˈherɪt] vt. 继承(传统、遗产、权利等)
2. contend with: 与……斗争，搏斗
3. sole [səʊl] adj. 单独的；唯一的；独特的
4. furious [ˈfjʊəriəs] adj. 狂怒的，暴怒的
5. tumble [ˈtʌmb(ə)l] vi. 打滚；翻滚
6. restore [rɪˈstɔː(r)] vt. 归还，交还
7. in favor with: 受喜爱，受宠爱
8. prevail [prɪˈveɪl] vi. 获胜；占优势，占上风
9. be in line for: 很有可能获得