What do you know aboutCleopatra, Neil?
尼尔，你对克利奥帕特拉了解多少?
Well, she was Queen of Egypt... quite a long time ago.
她是埃及的女王.....在很久以前。
Anything else?
还有吗？
Didn't she arrive for a meeting with Roman Emperor Julius Caesar rolled up in a carpet? Or is that a Hollywood invention?
她不是裏着毯子，被人抬着去会见罗马皇帝尤利乌斯凯撒吗?还是说这只是好莱坞电影里的杜撰?
Some historical sources say she was rolled up in a carpet - and others say she was hidden inside a linen sack. Cleopatra is the subject of today' 's show.
一些历史资料记载，她被裏在地毯里，另-些资料记载，她被藏在一个亚麻麻袋里。克利奥帕特拉是今天节目的主题。
She was the last pharaoh to rule Egypt and is arguably the most famous female ruler in history.
她是最后一位统治埃及的法老，可以说是历史上最著名的女性统治者。
And the most beautiful.
而且最漂亮。
Well, the jury's out on that one, Neil - and that means people haven't decided yet.
尼尔，这个问题目前还没有定论,意味着人们还没有做出决定。
Coins with Cleopatra's portrait on them, for example, show her with a prominent nose and thin lips.
例如，刻有克利奥帕特拉肖像的硬币，显示她有一-个突出的鼻子和薄薄的嘴唇。
Prominent means noticeable - and in this case,I think it means large! So what were her attributes - or main qualities -, then?
Prominent意思是值得注意一在这个句子中， 我认为它的意思是大!那么，她的特点一或者说主 要品质一是什么呢?
Cleopatra was a wily politician. She made important alliances with Rome to protect her country and was ruthless in dealing with her enemies - in this case, her siblings - who challenged her as sole ruler of Egypt.
克利奥帕特拉是个狡猾的政治家。她与罗马建立了重要的联盟来保护她的国家，并在与敌人的斗争中表现得很无情-这里的敌人指的是她的兄弟姐妹-他们挑战她作为埃及唯一的统治者的地位。
Wily means clever and sibling is another word for brother or sister. Didn't she have her siblings murdered?
Wily的意思是聪明的，sibling是 brother或sister的另一种说法。她不是杀了她的兄弟姐妹吗?
Yes, she was very ruthless - and that means without pity. And today's quiz question is about her family.
是的，她很无情一也就是说没有怜悯之心。今天的问题有关她的家庭。
Can you tell me, Neil, which country was Cleopatra's family originally from? Is it..a)Macedonia? b) Ethiopia? Or c) Egypt?
尼尔，你能告诉我克利奥帕特拉的家族最初来自哪个国家吗? a)马其顿? b)埃塞俄比亚?或c)埃及?
I'm going for c) Egypt - The obvious answer.
我选c)埃及一显而易见的答案。
Well, we'll find out if the obvious answer is the right one, later on in the show. But let's talk some more about Cleopatra s attributes.
好吧，我们将在稍后的节目中揭晓你的答案是否正确。让我们来谈谈克利奥帕特拉的特点。
She may not have been Hollywood gorgeous,but she spoke many languages and was highly educated in philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and oratory.
她可能不是好莱坞美女，但她会说多种语言，在哲学、天文学、数学和演讲术方面受过高等教育。
Here's Susan Walker, Keeper of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford, with more about this.
苏珊.沃克是牛津大学阿什莫尔博物馆的文物管理员，接下来她会讲述更多关于克莉奥帕特拉的故事。
Plutarch says that what was really remarkable about Cleopatra was not so much her beauty as the intelligence of her company.
普鲁塔克说，克利奥帕特拉真正引人注目之处在于，与其说是她的美貌，不如说是她的智慧。
She had a very beautiful voice, which I think is a quality that we perhaps underrate these days , in estimations of cebrity, and she clearly had masses of charisma; the sort of person who would light up a room; so, enormous personal charm.
她有一副非常美妙的嗓音，我想这是如今在评价名人时可能会忽略的品质，而且她显然具有非凡的领导力;甚至还有非凡的个人魅力，能照亮整个房间。
So the Roman historian Plutarch wrote about Cleopatra's voice, her charisma and personal charm - but not about her beauty.
所以罗马历史学家普鲁塔克描述了关于克利奥帕特拉的声音，她非凡的领导力和个人魅力，但没有谈及她的美貌。
That's right. And charisma is, in other words,a strong power to attract people.
没错。charisma,换句话说，是一种吸引人的强大力量。
Cleopatra's voice was also considered very attractive - an attribute we underrate today,according to Susan Walker.
克利奥帕特拉的声音也被认为非常具有吸引力一根振苏珊.沃克的说法，我们今天看轻了这一特征。
And underrate means to place too small a value on something.
Underrate意思是把某物的价值看得太低。
Egyptian Pharaohs were regarded as gods -and spectacle - or making a big visual impact- was an important part of this. Cleopatra was very skilled at making grand entrances.
埃及法老被视为神一主 要是他能制造出壮观的场面或给人巨大的视觉冲击。克利奥帕特拉非常善于制造华丽的门面。
Rolled up in a carpet for Caesar, or dressed up as Venus on board a shimmering golden barge, for Mark Anthony.He was a Roman politician and general.
为凯撒裹上地毯，或为马克安东尼装扮成维纳斯登上一艘闪闪发光的金 色游艇。安东尼是罗马的政治家和军事家。
And even her death was spectacular. She and Mark Anthony had lost an important battle against another Roman general, Octavian.
甚至她的死也很壮观。她和马克安东尼在与另一位罗马将军屋大维的重要战役中失败了。
Mark Anthony had fatally wounded himself when he heard, mistakenly, that Cleopatra was dead.
当马克.安东尼误以为克利奥帕特拉已死时，他重伤了自己。
But before he died, he managed to get back to Cleopatra, who held him in her arms as he died,in her family tomb.Then she decided to take her own life.
但在他死前，他设法回到克利奥帕特拉身边，在克利奥克利奥帕特拉决定结束自己的生命。
You make it sounds like a Shakespearian tragedy!
你像在讲莎士比亚的悲剧!
Shakespeare did write a play about it. Now,let's hear from Catherine Edwards, Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck,University of London, about this tragic event.
莎士比亚确实写了一部与此有关的戏剧。现在，我们来听听伦敦大学伯克贝克学院古典文学和古代史教授凯瑟琳.爱德华兹对这一悲剧事件的看 法。
She plans her own death in this very sort of seems to focus on spectacle yet again.
她精心策划自己的死亡-这种方式似乎也再次聚焦于壮观的场面。
She takes her time, she has a feast, and then,you know, the figs, the basket of figs arrives with the asp in it-or was it perhaps a poisoned hairpin - there's a certain amount of uncertainty about the exact method of her death. I think most sources prefer the snake.
她计算好时间，举办了一场盛宴，然后一篮无花果登场，其中藏有一条毒蛇，也有可能是带毒的发簪一她确切的死亡方式仍有很多不确定性。我觉得大多数人倾向于认为毒蛇导致了她的死亡。
So Catherine Edwards says the facts surrounding Cleopatra's suicide aren't clear.
所以，凯瑟琳. 爱德华兹说，克利奥帕特拉自杀的真相
She may have used a snake to bite her, smuggled into her room in a basket of fruit -but it may have been a poisoned hairpin - or simply a cup of poison. But she diditin a calculated - or carefully planned - way.
也许是她悄悄把藏在水果篮里的毒蛇带进了房间，然后让毒蛇咬伤了自己一 但也许是用了有毒的发簪一 或者只是喝了一杯毒药。 但她确实仔细地计划了自己的死亡。
OK, so the final curtain comes down on Cleopatra - but what about the answer to today' S quiz question, Sophie?
好了，克利奥帕特拉的故事落下了帷幕，但是今天问题的答案是什么呢，索
OK. I asked: which country was Cleopatra's family originally from? Is it..a) Macedonia, b)Ethiopia or c) Egypt?
好的。我问:克利奥帕特拉的家族最初来自哪个国家?a)马其顿? b)埃塞俄比亚?或c)埃及?
I said.. Egypt! Of course it is!
我说..埃及!一定没错!
And that's the wrong answer, Neil. It's actually a) Macedonia.
你回答错了，尼尔。实际上是a)马其顿。
Cleopatra was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Macedonian Greek origin that ruled Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great.
克利奥帕特拉是托勒密王朝的一员，该家族是马其顿希昔血统，在亚历山大大帝死后统治埃及。
of which, here are the words we learned inthis programme:You learn something new every day! Talking
你每天都能学到新知识!说到这里，我们本期要学的单词是:
the jury's out on something
某事尚无定论
Prominent
显著的
Attributes
特征
Wily
聪明的
Sibling
兄弟姐妹
Ruthless
无情的
Charisma
非凡的领导力
Underrate
看轻
Spectacle
壮观的场面
calculated
有计划的
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