亚特兰蒂斯(Atlantis),又译阿特兰蒂斯,是传说中有高度文明发展的古老大陆,又称大西洲。最早的描述出现于古希腊哲学家柏拉图的《对话录》,它提到亚特兰蒂斯是一个美丽富饶、技术先进,却傲慢自大的城市,其历史可追溯至公元前370年,最后被一场自然灾难毁灭。她是那么美好又悲剧,以致两千多年来人们一直在为证实它的存在而努力。2010年英国著名的考古学家Bettany Hughes沿着前人的步伐,带领着BBC摄制组再次跑遍全球寻访Atlantis的踪迹,最后还发现了前所未有的新证,并摄制了《亚特兰蒂斯的新证》这一纪录片,引发了各地对Atlantis的再次关注。
今天我们就跟随Bettany Hughes踏上她行程的第一站——希腊——最早把这个神秘国度带入人们眼帘的柏拉图的故乡,寻找Atlantis的蛛丝马迹。
发音：英式发音
语速：145词/分钟
使用方法：泛听+复述
Bettany Hughes: Athens, Greece. It was here close on 2,500 years ago that a tale was composed about an island civilisation of 1)unparalleled wealth and power which was swallowed up by the sea. The author was no less than Plato, the father of Western philosophy. And his story became the legend of Atlantis.
贝特妮·休斯:希腊,雅典。大约在2500年前,曾经有个传说关于一个文明的岛国,它拥有着巨大的财富和强大的军力,却最终被大海所吞没。这个故事的作者就是西方哲学之父,柏拉图。而这个故事就是亚特兰蒂斯的传说。
The idea of Atlantis has always fascinated me. Now, you might think that, as a historian, I'd 2)pour scorn on the legend, you know, just condemn it as another fairy-tale. Atlantis has generated feverish speculation as to whether this fabled island ever existed. And it's spawned scores of 3)crackpot theories about where it might be found. But I'm certain that beneath the rubble of fantasy, are the foundations of a real story.
亚特兰蒂斯的传说一直令我很着迷。你看,你也许认为,作为一个历史学家,我应该不屑于这些传说,把它当作一个童话故事就好了。传说中的亚特兰蒂斯是否存在,这引发了极度热烈的推测。而对于它可能存在的地方,也引发了大量奇怪的理论。但是我相信这支离破碎的虚幻故事,一定是建立在一个真实事件的基础上的。
A thousand years before Plato lived, a truly amazing civilisation thrived here in the eastern 4)Mediterranean. But that civilisation suffered a terrible 5)catastrophe. Brand new scientific evidence shows us, that disaster was at least twice as large as previously thought. So could that tragedy be the basis for Plato's Atlantis myth?
在柏拉图时代千年之前,有一个确切存在的令人惊奇的文明,在地中海东部兴起。但是这个文明遭到了一个毁灭性的灾难。全新的科学证据向我们展示,那场灾难的破坏力至少是我们过去想象的一倍。那么,那场悲剧会不会就是柏拉图创作亚特兰蒂斯传说的蓝本?
When you say the name Atlantis, what often springs to mind is a lost underwater city or a mythical utopia. But actually Plato's Atlantis is neither of those things. His was a maritime trading empire, a sort of super state that enjoyed huge success but then became aggressive and overbearing, and so was punished for its 6)arrogance by the gods. Now, because that idea is eternally fascinating to us, the notion that pride always comes before a fall, from the moment that the Atlantis myth was set down here in Athens, it has never once left the human radar.
每当提及亚特兰蒂斯,最常涌入大家脑海的,便是失落的水下之城或者神话般的乌托邦。但是事实上柏拉图的亚特兰蒂斯所描述的并非如此。他所描绘的是一个沿海贸易帝国,一个拥有辉煌成就的超级大国。从最初的富强渐渐变得好斗和傲慢,并因为自己的傲慢自大遭到了上天的惩罚。因为在这个传说中“骄兵必败”的结局是那么地让我们着迷,所以自从亚特兰蒂斯被认为是从雅典引爆出去之后,这里就再也没有离开过人们关注的视线。