國中國里的城中城(雙語視頻)
作者:滬江英語
來源:iDeal翻譯組
2012-12-12 10:19
The Great City of London,
偉大的倫敦城
known for its historical landmarks, modern skyscrapers, ancient markets and famous bridges.
以其歷史地標 現代摩天大樓 古代集市和著名大橋而聞名
It's arguably the financial capital of the world
它無疑可以稱得上是全世界的金融中心
and home to over eleven thousand people.
也是一個屬于超過一萬一千名民眾的家園
Wait, what? Eleven... thousand?
慢著 什么? 一萬……一千名?
That's right: but the City of London is a different place from London,
沒錯 不過倫敦城跟倫敦是兩個不同的地方
though London is also known for its historical landmarks, modern skyscrapers, ancient markets, famous bridges
盡管倫敦也是以其歷史地標 現代摩天大樓 古代集市和著名大橋而聞名
and is home to the government, royal family and seven million people.
但它還是英國政府 英國王室和七百萬民眾共同的家園
But, if you look map of London crafted by a careful cartographer
如果你去看看由嚴謹的制圖師制作的倫敦地圖
that map will have a 1-square-mile hole near the middle.
你會發(fā)現那個地圖接近中央的位置會有一個一平方英里大的洞
It's here where the City of London lives inside of the city named London.
那就是倫敦城 位于一個名叫倫敦的城市里面
Despite these confusingly close names
盡管這兩個名字相似到容易混淆
the two Londons have separate city halls and elect separate mayors,
但這兩個倫敦有各自的市政廳 各自選舉市長
who collect separate taxes to fund separate police who enforce separate laws.
他們各自收稅 給各自的警力撥款 執(zhí)行各自的法律
The Mayor of the City of London has a fancy title
倫敦城的市長有個尊貴的頭銜
"The Right Honourable, the Lord Mayor of London"?to match his fancy outfit.
“倫敦城市長大人閣下”來搭配他尊貴的服飾
He also gets to ride in a golden carriage and work in a Guildhall
他乘坐的是金色馬車 在倫敦城政廳里工作
while the mayor of London has to wear a suit, ride a bike and work in an office building.
而倫敦城長得穿西裝套裝 騎自行車 在辦公樓里工作
The City of London also has its own flag and its own crest
倫敦城有自己的旗幟和市徽
which is awesome and makes London's lack of either twice as sad.
顯得非常霸氣的同時也讓兩個都沒有的倫敦更加可憐
To top it off, the City of London gets to act more like one of the countries in the UK
除此以外 倫敦城越來越像是英國的一個組成國
than just an oddly located city
而不只是一個地理位置古怪的城市
for uniquely the corporation that runs the city of London is older than the United Kingdom by several hundred years.
因為管理倫敦城的市政委員會的成立比英國還要早好幾百年
So how did the UK end up with two Londons, one inside of the other?
那么英國最后究竟是怎樣有了兩個倫敦 而其中一個在另一個之中的呢?
Because: Romans.
因為 羅馬人
2,000 years ago they came to Great Britain, killed a bunch of druids,
兩千年前 他們來到大不列顛 殺了一班德魯伊教士
and founded a trading post on the River Thames and named it Londinium.
然后在泰晤士河邊上創(chuàng)立了一個貿易點 并把它命名為倫丁尼姆
Being Romans they got to work doing what Romans do:
作為羅馬人 他們就得讓里面的人“入鄉(xiāng)隨俗”
enforcing laws, increasing trade,
施行法律 擴大貿易
building temples, public baths, roads, bridges and a wall to defend their work.
建造廟宇 公共浴池 道路 橋梁以及一道用來保護他們工作成果的城墻
And it's this wall which is why the current City of London exists,
正是這座城墻使倫敦城得以保存至今
for though the Romans came and the Romans went and kingdoms rose and kingdoms fell,
盡管羅馬人來來去去 眾多的王國興起覆滅
the wall endured protecting the city within.
但城墻保存了下來 把這個城市里的一切保護好
And The City, governing itself and trading with the world, grew rich.
而這個城市通過自身的有效管理和對外貿易 變得日漸富有
A thousand years after the Romans, yet still a thousand years ago,
羅馬人來了之后一千年 也就是距今一千年
when William the Conqueror came to Great Britain
當征服者威廉踏入大不列顛的土地
to conqueror everything and begin modern British history
開始他的征服歷程 也開創(chuàng)了英國的新歷史的時候
he found the City of London, with its sturdy walls
他發(fā)現征服有著堅固城墻保護的倫敦城
more challenging to defeat than farmers on open fields.
比征服農民那些未開發(fā)的田地更具挑戰(zhàn)性
So he agreed to recognize the rights and privileges City of Londoners were used to
于是他同意讓倫敦人承認威廉這個新國王的前提上
in return for them recognizing him as the new King.
作為回報 他承認倫敦城的居民過去所擁有的權利和特權
Though after the negotiation,
磋商完成后
William quickly built towers around the City of London
威廉迅速在倫敦城外建造塔樓
which were just as much about protecting William from the locals within
旨在保護自身免受當地人的偷襲
as defending against the Vikings from without.
也是為了防御外來的維京海盜
This started a thousand-year long tradition
就這樣倫敦城的獨立成為了持續(xù)千年的傳統
whereby Monarchs always reconfirmed that 'yes',
英國歷朝歷代的君主都以此承認
the City of London is a special, unique place that's best left to its own business,
倫敦城就是個獨特的地方 最好不要干涉他們的內政
while simultaneously distrusting it.
但同時 這些君主并不信賴它
Many a monarch thought the City of London was too powerful and rich.
很多君主覺得倫敦城過于強大富有
And one even built a new Capital city nearby, named Westminster,
其中一個還在附近建造了一個新首都 名叫威斯敏斯特
to compete with the City of London and hopefully, suck power and wealth away from it.
用它來與倫敦城競爭 希望能偷取它的權力和財富
This was the start of the second London.
這就是倫敦2.0的開始
As the centuries passed,
又過了幾個世紀
Westminster grew and merged with nearby towns
威斯敏斯特不斷擴張 合并周邊城鎮(zhèn)
eventually surrounding the walled-in, and still separate City of London.
最后把在城墻內獨立出來的倫敦城包圍在內
But, people began to call the whole urban collection "London"
人們開始把整個合并起來的市區(qū)稱作“倫敦”
and the name became official
當議會把這些城鎮(zhèn)都合并起來
when Parliament joined towns together under a single municipal government with a mayor.
歸于一個市政府管理的時候 “倫敦”這個名字就成為官方用語
But, the mayor of London still doesn't have power over the tiny City of London
但倫敦城長同樣沒有權力干涉?zhèn)惗爻沁@個小小的城市
which has rules and traditions like nowhere else in the country and possibly the world.
它有自己的規(guī)則和傳統 在全國甚至全世界是找不到一個這樣的城市了
譬如 在位的英國女王如果為了一時的心血來潮想進入倫敦城
but instead asks for permission from the Lord Mayor at a ceremony.
也要在禮節(jié)上獲得倫敦城市長的許可
While it's not required by law, the ceremony is, unusual to say the least.
盡管法律沒有這樣的規(guī)定 但禮節(jié)是必要的 至少可以說這樣不太尋常
The City of London also has a representative in Parliament, The Remembrancer,
倫敦城在議會上有一名代表作為倫敦城議會代表
whose job it is to protects the City's special rights.
他的職責是保護該城的特殊權益
Because of this, laws passed by Parliament sometimes don't apply to the City of London:
因為國會通過的法律有時并不適用于倫敦城
most notably voting reforms, which we'll discuss next time.
尤其是投票改革 這個我們下次再討論
But if you're curious for preview, unlike anywhere else in the UK,
如果你對以上內容感到好奇 它而不像英國其他地方那樣
elections in the City of London involve Medieval Guilds and modern companies.
倫敦城的選舉制度牽涉到中世紀的行會和現代企業(yè)
Finally, the City of London also owns and operates land and buildings far outside its border,
最后 倫敦城在境外擁有并管理很多土地和建筑
making it quite wealthy.
這讓它十分富有
Once you start looking for The City's Crest you'll find it in lots of unexpected places,
如果你去尋找倫敦城的市徽 你會在很多意想不到的地方發(fā)現它
most notably on Tower Bridge which, while being in London is operated by City of London,
最著名的是塔橋 雖然地處倫敦卻被倫敦城管轄
These crests everywhere when combined with the City of London's age and wealth and quasi-independent status
當無處不在的市徽和倫敦城的歷史 財富 還有半獨立狀態(tài)聯系在一起的時候
make it an irresistible temptation for conspiracy nuts.
他們就成了陰謀論者不可抗拒的誘惑
Add in the oldest Masonic temple
再加上最古老的共濟會教堂
and it's not long before the crazy part of the Internet starts yelling about
不久前一些網絡上的瘋子叫囂著
secret societies controlling the world via the finance industry from inside the City-state of London.
倫敦城里的秘密組織正通過金融產業(yè)控制著整個世界
And don't forget the reptilian alien Queen who's really behind it all.
而且別忘了是爬行動物怪偽裝成的外星女王在操控著一切
But conspiracy theories aside,
但撇開陰謀論不說
the City of London is not an independent nation like the Vatican is,
倫敦城不像梵蒂岡那樣是獨立的國家
no matter how much you might read it on the Internet,
不管你從網上讀到了什么
rather it's a unique place in the United Kingdom with a long and very complicated history.
這是一個在英國內有著相當漫長而且復雜歷史的地方
The wall that began all this 2,000 years ago is now mostly gone,
那座2000年前筑起來的城墻現在已多半不復存在
so the border between London and its secret inner city isn't so obvious.
以致倫敦和倫敦城之間的界限并不是很明顯
Though, next time you're in London,
不過若你下次來到倫敦
if you come across a small dragon on the street,
碰巧在街上看見一只小龍
he still guards the entrance to the city in a city in a country in a country.
它還在守衛(wèi)著這個進入國中國里城中城的入口
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