血鷹 - 人類歷史上最殘酷的懲罰：英語精讀講義

Try and put yourself in this position for a moment. 片語搭配

試著設想一下你處於這種境地。

You're a king in 9th century medieval England

你是公元9世紀中世紀英格蘭的一位國王，

and you've been attacked and overrun by rather fearsome Viking hordes

你遭到相當可怕的維京部落的襲擊和蹂躪，

who've made the trip to kill and pillage in that order. 語氣意圖

他們不遠千里跑來，為了殺戮和掠奪，按這個順序。

You've been told you're going to be executed

你被告知你將被處決，

and so you wait in some kind of tent

所以你在某種帳篷裡等待，

wondering how that's going to play out. 片語動詞

想知道這一切將如何收場。

What usually happens on your home turf is offenders go to the chopping block. 慣用語

通常在你的地盤上發生的是，罪犯會上斷頭台。

You think, okay,

你心想，好吧，

it'll be quick and painless.

這會很快，沒有痛苦。

I'll say my prayers

我會做我的祈禱，

and that'll be that. 慣用語

然後就結束了。

I'm a martyr.

我是個殉道者。

Heaven will be good to me.

天堂會善待我的。

But you underestimate the brutal creativity of your foes.

但你低估了你的敵人殘忍的創造力。

You soon find out you're going to have your ribs and lungs

你很快就會發現，你的肋骨和肺部將被

pulled through your back

從背部拉出來，

to be turned into a kind of winged creature.

把你變成一種長著翅膀的生物。

Damn,

該死，

that's going to be rough, you think.

這將會很難熬，你心想。

And that's the blood eagle

簡而言之，

in short. 表達脈絡

這就是血鷹。

But we'll add a bit more to the description

但我們還要對這種令人作嘔的維京處決程序

of this nasty Viking execution procedure.

增加一點描述。

First, the person is laid on their chest

首先，這人被安排趴著，

with their back facing the air.

背部朝上。

Perhaps if the victim hadn't been told what was going to happen, 文法

也許如果受害者沒被告知會發生什麼，

they might have thought they were going to lose their head,

他們可能會以為自己要掉腦袋了，

as was the custom in Anglo-Saxon England.

因為這是盎格魯-撒克遜英格蘭的習俗。

We can't be sure if they were told or not

我們無法確定他們是否被告知，

because there's no nothing in Viking literature that tells us so. 文法

因為維京文學中沒有任何東西告訴我們這一點。

We also presume they were held down by a few people 片語動詞

我們還推測，他們被幾個人按住，

or tied down.

或者被綁起來。

These bits are missing in the old texts.

舊文獻中缺失了這些細節。

So the person is lying on their front waiting.

所以這個人正面朝下躺著等待。

This form of execution was a kind of ritual,

這種處決形式是一種儀式，

so no doubt it would have happened in a special place

所以毫無疑問，它會在一個特殊的地方發生，

and would have been observed by a lot of Viking men.

並且會被許多維京人圍觀。

The naked victim is then approached by an executioner

然後劊子手走向赤裸的受害者，

with a very sharp knife or something bigger,

拿著一把非常鋒利的刀或者更大的東西，

like an axe.

比如斧頭。

In some cases,

在某些情況下，

he might have an eagle carved into his skin. 文法

他可能會在皮膚上刻上一隻鷹。

This was merely an aperitif. 慣用語

這僅僅是個開胃菜。

With that knife,

用那把刀，

he then tears through the flesh in the man's back

然後他撕開這人背部的血肉，

with so much power that he actually severs the ribs. 文法

力量如此之大，以至於他實際上切斷了肋骨。

Those ribs are pulled and stretched outward like wings.

那些肋骨被拉開，像翅膀一樣向外伸展。

The pièce de résistance is when the man's lungs 慣用語

最核心的一步是當這個人的肺部

are pulled through his back

被從背部拉出，

and wrapped over the rib wings.

並包裹在肋骨形成的翅膀上。

This procedure was supposed to give more of

這個過程本應帶來更多

an impression of bird's wings,

鳥翼的印象，

hence the blood eagle.

這就是血鷹的由來。

It sounds too bad to be true. 慣用語

這聽起來糟透了，不像是真的。

So how do we know this actually happened? 表達脈絡

那麼我們怎麼知道這確實發生過呢？

Well, during the Viking Age,

在維京時代，

they had poets as many old cultures did back then.

他們和當時許多古老文化一樣，有詩人。

This was called skaldic poetry. 文化背景

這被稱為斯卡爾德詩歌。

These poems would become parts of sagas,

這些詩歌會成為薩迦的一部分，

stories which detail things such as Viking invasions,

那些故事詳細描述了諸如維京人入侵、

the legends of great kings,

偉大國王的傳說、

bloody battles, etc.

血腥的戰鬥等事情。

Some of these stories have survived

其中一些故事流傳了下來，

and they've been translated.

並被翻譯了過來。

There's a story called the Orkneyinga Saga

有個故事叫做《奧克尼人薩迦》，

and this details the exploits of a guy named Harald the First Fairhair, 用詞

它詳細記載了一個叫「金髮哈拉爾」的人的事蹟，

which is said to have been the first king of Norway. 文法

據說他是挪威的第一任國王。

He is credited with being the ruler 片語搭配

他被認為是當維京人佔領

when the Vikings took over the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland.

奧克尼和設得蘭群島北島時的統治者。

If you don't know where they are,

如果你不知道它們在哪裡，

and we don't expect most of you will,

而且我們也沒指望你們大多數人會知道，

they're north of Scotland.

它們在蘇格蘭的北部。

But sets of islands not on the mainland.

但那是島嶼群，不在大陸上。

If you didn't know,

如果你不知道，

a group of islands is called an archipelago.

一群島嶼被稱為群島。

See,

看，

we're not just about describing blood and gore.

我們不僅僅是在描述血腥和暴力。

The saga details life on these islands.

薩迦詳細記錄了這些島嶼上的生活。

Some scholars might question if what's written actually went down 片語動詞

一些學者可能會質疑寫下來的東西是否真的發生過，

because the saga was written many years after King Harald was around. 用詞

因為這部薩迦是在哈拉爾國王存在很多年之後寫的。

It was written in the 13th century,

它是寫於13世紀，

but the Vikings were there since the 9th century.

但維京人從9世紀就在那裡了。

Word of mouth might have passed down the details. 講解

細節可能是透過口耳相傳流傳下來的。

Anyway,

無論如何，

to cut a short story even shorter, 慣用語

長話短說，

one of Harald's warrior sons named Halfdan Long-leg

哈拉爾的一個名叫長腿哈夫丹的戰士兒子

was executed because he'd been involved in power struggles

被處決了，因為他捲入了權力鬥爭，

that had killed a member of Viking nobility

那場鬥爭殺死了一名維京貴族

and another 60 men.

和另外60個人。

He'd done this with his brother.

他是和他兄弟一起做這事的。

That brother was banished from Orkney,

那個兄弟被驅逐出了奧克尼，

but the mastermind of the operation didn't get so lucky.

但這起行動的主謀卻沒有這麼走運。

The son of the slain nobleman got his revenge

被殺貴族的兒子報了仇，

and demanded the blood eagle be performed on Halfdan Long-leg

並要求在長腿哈夫丹身上執行血鷹，

as a sacrifice to the god Odin. 文化背景

作為對奧丁神的獻祭。

This is how it's been translated.

它是這樣被翻譯過來的。

Earl Einar went up to Halfdan

埃納爾伯爵走到哈夫丹跟前，

and cut the blood eagle on his back

在他背上刻下了血鷹，

in the fashion that he thrust his sword into his chest by the backbone

方式是用他的劍沿著脊柱刺入他的胸膛，

and severed all the ribs down to the loins

切斷所有一直到腰部的肋骨，

and then pulled out the lungs.

然後拉出肺部。

And that was Halfdan's death.

這就是哈夫丹的死。

That's case one.

那是第一個案例。

Case two involves a formidable Viking warrior named Ivar the Boneless,

第二個案例涉及一位名叫無骨者伊瓦爾的可怕維京武士，

who's said to have been the son of the Norse hero Ragnar Lodbrok.

據說他是挪威英雄拉格納·羅德布洛克的兒子。

Why boneless,

為什麼叫無骨者，

you might ask? 表達脈絡

你可能會問？

And historians have wondered the same thing.

歷史學家也想知道同樣的問題。

Some think he wasn't actually boneless,

有些人認為他其實並非沒有骨頭，

but that his manhood didn't work very well.

而是他的男子氣概不太行。

What he lacked physically, 文法

他在身體上缺乏的東西，

he made up for in brains 片語動詞

用大腦彌補了，

because it's said he was an outstanding tactician in battle.

因為據說他在戰鬥中是一位傑出的戰術家。

This was a time when the Vikings were taking over large parts of Anglo-Saxon England

那時維京人正在接管盎格魯-撒克遜英格蘭的大部分地區，

and it's detailed in the saga called the Tale of Ragnar's Sons.

這在名為《拉格納諸子傳》的薩迦中詳細記載。

It depicts what went down with the 9th century king Aella of Northumbria.

它描述了9世紀諾森布里亞國王艾拉發生了什麼。

That's northern England.

那就是英格蘭北部。

King Aella learns about an upcoming invasion by the great Ragnar Lodbrok.

艾拉國王得知了偉大的拉格納·羅德布洛克即將入侵的消息。

There are different accounts of what he got up to and how he died,

關於他做了什麼以及他是怎麼死的，有不同的說法，

but one such account, um, spoiler alert, 文化背景

但其中一種說法，嗯，劇透警告，

if you haven't finished watching the show Vikings,

如果你還沒看完電視劇《維京傳奇》，

plug your ears, now.

現在請摀上耳朵。

Is he's captured by King Aella and thrown into a snake pit.

就是他被艾拉國王抓獲並扔進蛇坑裡。

There he perishes.

他在那裡喪生。

Ivar the Boneless is too clever to invade northern England

無骨者伊瓦爾太聰明了，不會在

when the army there is so strong.

北方軍隊如此強大的時候去入侵英格蘭北部。

He bides his time. 慣用語

他等待時機。

In fact,

事實上，

he stays in England,

他留在了英格蘭，

but asks King Aella for something called a wergild, 文化背景

但向艾拉國王要一種叫做「贖命金」的東西，

which is a kind of compensation for a man's life.

這是對人命的一種補償。

In this case,

在這個案子裡，

his father's.

是他父親的命。

He tells Aella

他告訴艾拉，

that all he wants is an ox's hide 文法

他想要的只是一張牛皮，

and he'll only take the land that he can stretch the hide around.

他只會拿走那張牛皮所能圈出的土地。

In modern parlance, 用詞

用現代話說，

Aella might have thought, what an idiot.

艾拉可能會想，真是個白痴。

But smart Ivar cut the hide into very thin string

但聰明的伊瓦爾把牛皮切成了非常細的繩子，

and stretched that around a large area.

並把它圈在一大片區域周圍。

He said this will be a new city

他說這將是一座新城市，

and that city is supposed to be York in northern England.

那座城市應該就是英格蘭北部的約克。

Ivar proceeds to get all the chieftains in that region on his side. 慣用語

伊瓦爾接著把那個地區的所有酋長拉攏到他這一邊。

He now has a powerful army

他現在有一支強大的軍隊，

and so decides it's time to attack the rest of England

於是決定是時候攻擊英格蘭其他地區

and get revenge on Aella. 片語搭配

並向艾拉復仇了。

Many of the northern English pledge allegiance to Ivar 片語搭配

許多英格蘭北部的人宣誓效忠伊瓦爾，

because they respect him,

因為他們尊重他，

which sounds a bit like Norse propaganda.

這聽起來有點像挪威人的政治宣傳。

This all ended with Aella being captured 文法

這一切以艾拉被捕

and Ivar becoming the king of northeastern England.

以及伊瓦爾成為英格蘭東北部國王而告終。

His brothers basically go on a pilgrimage

他的兄弟們基本上進行了一場朝聖之旅，

rampaging in England and all over Europe.

在英格蘭和整個歐洲肆虐。

Aella,

同時，

meanwhile,

艾拉，

is about to get the dreaded blood eagle treatment 語氣意圖

即將接受可怕的血鷹酷刑，

and in an 11th century poem,

在一首11世紀的詩歌中，

this is how it went down in translation.

它是這樣被翻譯出來的。

And Ivar,

而伊瓦爾，

the one who dwelt at York,

那個居住在約克的人，

has Aella's back cut with an eagle.

讓艾拉的背上刻下一隻鷹。

That's a rather family-friendly description of events 語氣意圖

這是一個相當適合家庭觀看的事件描述，

because we have another description too if your bloodlust wasn't satiated.

因為如果你的嗜血慾望沒有得到滿足，我們還有另一個描述。

It went like this.

它是這樣的。

They caused the bloody eagle to be carved on the back of Aella

他們讓人在艾拉的背上雕刻血鷹，

and they cut away all of the ribs from the spine

他們切掉了脊柱上的所有肋骨，

and then they ripped out his lungs.

然後扯出了他的肺部。

Okay,

好吧，

so did all this actually happen?

那麼這一切真的發生過嗎？

Well, who knows

嗯，誰知道呢，

because any historian that tells you that it's the truth

因為任何告訴你這是真相

or not the truth can't really be sure either.

或者不是真相的歷史學家，也都不能確定。

They weren't there.

他們當時不在場。

Some scholars say that Norse poets,

一些學者說挪威詩人，

like modern poets,

就像現代詩人一樣，

were cryptic,

隱晦難懂，

used symbolism,

使用象徵主義，

and so weren't always literal.

所以並不總是字面意思。

Saying that in the 12th century,

話雖如此，在12世紀，

a Danish poet named Saxo Grammaticus also

一位名叫薩克索·格拉馬提庫斯的丹麥詩人也

wrote about the people being cut apart

寫到了人被切開

and turned into an eagle.

變成一隻鷹的事。

So there definitely seems to be a theme shared in those dark days.

所以在那些黑暗的日子裡，這絕對似乎是一個共同的主題。

In that account,

在那篇記述中，

the Vikings took the ritual a step further 慣用語

維京人把儀式又推進了一步，

and poured salt into the open body.

並把鹽倒進切開的身體裡。

Some say it might have happened

有人說這可能發生過，

and others seem to think that a lot has been lost in the translation over the years. 慣用語

而其他人似乎認為這麼多年來，在翻譯中丟失了很多資訊。

You see,

你要知道，

the writers of sagas wrote that stuff hundreds of years after the fact. 片語搭配

寫薩迦的人是在事發數百年後才寫下這些東西的。

As you know yourself,

你自己也知道，

things tend to get exaggerated over the passage of time. 文法

隨著時間的流逝，事情往往會被誇大。

What starts as some guy pushing another in a train station 文法

從某個人在火車站推了另一個人開始，

can, by the end of the week,

到週末的時候，

be a bloody brawl

可能會變成一場血腥鬥毆，

where someone lost teeth and an eye.

有人被打掉了牙齒和一隻眼睛。

A hero might also emerge from the mayhem.

混亂中可能還會出現一位英雄。

Did those stories of Viking violence get embellished

那些關於維京暴力的故事是否被添油加醋，

since people admired them

因為人們欽佩他們，

and so stretched the ferocity of the Vikings?

從而誇大了維京人的兇猛？

Or were they accurate?

或者它們是準確的？

We just don't know.

我們無從知曉。

But it's a fact that the blood eagle was talked about a bit.

但血鷹經常被談論是一個事實。

Scholars are still in disagreement today. 片語搭配

學者們直到今天仍有分歧。

But in the interests of this show, 片語搭配

但為了這個節目的利益，

we won't ask you to let the facts get in the way of a good tale. 片語動詞

我們不會讓你讓事實阻礙一個好故事。

To keep your watch party going,

要繼續你的觀影派對，

click on this amazing video right here

點擊這裡這個神奇的影片，

or head over here and click this totally incredible video instead.

或者轉到這裡，點擊這個完全令人難以置信的影片。