西方博主貼文：公元 97 年左右，一位中國將軍命令甘英大使西行，與羅馬帝國建立直接聯(lián)系。引起網(wǎng)友熱議
Around 97 AD, a Chinese general ordered ambassador Gan Ying to travel westward to establish direct contact with the Roman Empire.
譯文簡介
無論如何，當(dāng)甘英提出要啟程前往羅馬帝國時(shí)，被當(dāng)?shù)叵驅(qū)褡枇耍贿@些信息嚇到后，甘英決定返回中國，并向人們講述了自己聽聞的一系列關(guān)于羅馬人的謠言。如果他繼續(xù)前行，世界上兩個(gè)最強(qiáng)大的帝國本可以建立外交關(guān)系。
正文翻譯
Alessandro13
Around 97 AD, a Chinese general ordered ambassador Gan Ying to travel westward to establish direct contact with the Roman Empire.
公元97年左右，一位中國將軍派遣使節(jié)甘英向西行進(jìn)，試圖與羅馬帝國建立直接聯(lián)系。
The ambitious mission, however, ran aground on the coasts of a mysterious country called Tiaozhi, which some historians place on the Persian Gulf and others on the Black Sea.
In any case, when Gan Ying asked to embark for the Roman Empire, he was dissuaded by local guides: "The sea is immense. If you encounter favorable winds, you can cross it in three months, but if not, the journey can take up to two years. For this reason, those who embark always carry provisions for three years. Also, there is something in the sea that makes men nostalgic: many think back to their homes and many lose their lives on the journey."
Frightened by this information, Gan Ying decided to return to China, where he recounted a series of rumors he had heard about the Romans. Had he continued his journey, the two most powerful empires in the world could have established diplomatic relations.
然而，這項(xiàng)雄心勃勃的使命卻在名為條支的一個(gè)神秘國家的海岸擱淺，一些歷史學(xué)家認(rèn)為這個(gè)國家位于波斯灣，而另一些則認(rèn)為是黑海。
無論如何，當(dāng)甘英提出要啟程前往羅馬帝國時(shí)，被當(dāng)?shù)叵驅(qū)褡枇耍骸按蠛：棋珶o垠。如果順風(fēng)的話，三個(gè)月就能橫渡，但如果風(fēng)向不利，旅程可能長達(dá)兩年。因此，出海的人總是攜帶三年的給養(yǎng)。而且，海上有些東西會(huì)讓人懷舊：許多人會(huì)想念家鄉(xiāng)，許多人在旅途中喪生?！?br /> 被這些信息嚇到后，甘英決定返回中國，并向人們講述了自己聽聞的一系列關(guān)于羅馬人的謠言。如果他繼續(xù)前行，世界上兩個(gè)最強(qiáng)大的帝國本可以建立外交關(guān)系。
（譯注：條支是西亞的一個(gè)古國名，泛指時(shí)為古地名，位于今霍爾木茲海峽處。這個(gè)國家曾在公元前64年被羅馬所滅。此外，在《漢書》等古籍中也有關(guān)于條支的記載，描述了其地理位置、城市風(fēng)貌和物產(chǎn)等。在漢代，條支有時(shí)也被用來指稱波斯及大食（即阿拉伯）地區(qū)。另一種說法認(rèn)為，條支可能是指塞琉古王朝，這個(gè)王朝在中國古代也被稱為條支或敘利亞王國。塞琉古王朝是亞歷山大帝國分裂后形成的一個(gè)國家，其統(tǒng)治區(qū)域包括了兩河流域、波斯等地。然而，這一說法與條支作為獨(dú)立國家的傳統(tǒng)認(rèn)知存在差異，因此并非所有學(xué)者都接受這一觀點(diǎn)。）
In any case, when Gan Ying asked to embark for the Roman Empire, he was dissuaded by local guides: "The sea is immense. If you encounter favorable winds, you can cross it in three months, but if not, the journey can take up to two years. For this reason, those who embark always carry provisions for three years. Also, there is something in the sea that makes men nostalgic: many think back to their homes and many lose their lives on the journey."
Frightened by this information, Gan Ying decided to return to China, where he recounted a series of rumors he had heard about the Romans. Had he continued his journey, the two most powerful empires in the world could have established diplomatic relations.
然而，這項(xiàng)雄心勃勃的使命卻在名為條支的一個(gè)神秘國家的海岸擱淺，一些歷史學(xué)家認(rèn)為這個(gè)國家位于波斯灣，而另一些則認(rèn)為是黑海。
無論如何，當(dāng)甘英提出要啟程前往羅馬帝國時(shí)，被當(dāng)?shù)叵驅(qū)褡枇耍骸按蠛：棋珶o垠。如果順風(fēng)的話，三個(gè)月就能橫渡，但如果風(fēng)向不利，旅程可能長達(dá)兩年。因此，出海的人總是攜帶三年的給養(yǎng)。而且，海上有些東西會(huì)讓人懷舊：許多人會(huì)想念家鄉(xiāng)，許多人在旅途中喪生?！?br /> 被這些信息嚇到后，甘英決定返回中國，并向人們講述了自己聽聞的一系列關(guān)于羅馬人的謠言。如果他繼續(xù)前行，世界上兩個(gè)最強(qiáng)大的帝國本可以建立外交關(guān)系。
（譯注：條支是西亞的一個(gè)古國名，泛指時(shí)為古地名，位于今霍爾木茲海峽處。這個(gè)國家曾在公元前64年被羅馬所滅。此外，在《漢書》等古籍中也有關(guān)于條支的記載，描述了其地理位置、城市風(fēng)貌和物產(chǎn)等。在漢代，條支有時(shí)也被用來指稱波斯及大食（即阿拉伯）地區(qū)。另一種說法認(rèn)為，條支可能是指塞琉古王朝，這個(gè)王朝在中國古代也被稱為條支或敘利亞王國。塞琉古王朝是亞歷山大帝國分裂后形成的一個(gè)國家，其統(tǒng)治區(qū)域包括了兩河流域、波斯等地。然而，這一說法與條支作為獨(dú)立國家的傳統(tǒng)認(rèn)知存在差異，因此并非所有學(xué)者都接受這一觀點(diǎn)。）
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Seems like the Chinese general simply chickened out or believed some liars. Or the whole ordeal is a hoax. Neither of the seas need 3 months to cross. Also, you didn’t need to cross any sea to reach the Roman Empire from Asia.
看起來那個(gè)中國將軍要么是膽怯了，要么是相信了騙子的話?；蛘哒麄€(gè)事件就是個(gè)騙局，因?yàn)榇┰侥莾蓚€(gè)海根本不需要三個(gè)月。而且，從亞洲到羅馬帝國，你根本不需要穿越任何海洋。
One theory is that the local government was worried that if the Chinese and the Romans contacted one another directly, they might negotiate direct trade agreements that bypassed their nation and thus jeopardized their lucrative position as a major trade hub between the Roman and Chinese civilization spheres. So when the Chinese delegation asked them for information about Rome, they lied, spinning tall tales about how dangerous and long and difficult the journey was.
有一種理論認(rèn)為，當(dāng)?shù)卣畵?dān)心如果中國人和羅馬人直接接觸，他們可能會(huì)繞過自己的國家，進(jìn)行直接談判貿(mào)易協(xié)議，從而危及自己作為羅馬和中國文明圈之間主要貿(mào)易樞紐的有利地位。所以，當(dāng)中國代表團(tuán)向他們詢問有關(guān)羅馬的信息時(shí)，他們?nèi)鲋e了，編造了一系列關(guān)于旅程多么危險(xiǎn)、漫長和艱難的謊言。
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處
Makes sense. If your economic strength is being the middleman then it's unlikely that you will promote direct face to face negotiations.
這說得通。如果你的經(jīng)濟(jì)優(yōu)勢是充當(dāng)中間商，那么你不太可能推動(dòng)雙方直接面對面談判。
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處
Still a bit strange. The Silk Road was already well established when the mission allegedly happened. All the ambassador had to do was to join a caravan going from China to the Mediterranean Sea. There were Hellenic cities in Central Asia established by Alexander the Great that traded horses with China if I remember correctly. The only country you needed to cross from there was Persia called Parthia at the time.
還是有點(diǎn)奇怪。據(jù)稱這次使命發(fā)生時(shí)，絲綢之路已經(jīng)發(fā)展得很成熟了。大使所要做的就是加入一個(gè)從中國前往地中海的商隊(duì)。如果我沒記錯(cuò)的話，中亞還有亞歷山大大帝建立的希臘城市，與中國進(jìn)行馬匹貿(mào)易。從那里出發(fā)，你只需要穿越當(dāng)時(shí)的波斯（稱為帕提亞）就可以了。
That’s just it, there was no caravans going the whole route. Not like a 18 wheeler going all the way across the states by the interstate or rail networks, a caravan only did short hauls and traded their product (silk) for foreign products that they took back with them. The silk continued on with a new trader and caravan to somewhere else, and was traded for something the trader knew he could sell back where he started from, this being repeated several times for that bolt of silk, it didn’t always follow a set route but moved by various networks of traders. There was no single route a Silk Road like there is the interstate I40.
問題就在于，沒有商隊(duì)會(huì)走完全程。不像18輪大卡車沿著州際公路或鐵路網(wǎng)絡(luò)穿越整個(gè)美國，商隊(duì)只負(fù)責(zé)短途運(yùn)輸，用他們的產(chǎn)品（絲綢）換取外國產(chǎn)品，然后帶回國內(nèi)。絲綢會(huì)繼續(xù)隨著新的商人和商隊(duì)前往其他地方，并被換取商人知道可以在自己出發(fā)地出售的東西，這個(gè)過程會(huì)重復(fù)好幾次，直到那匹絲綢被賣出。它并不總是遵循固定的路線，而是通過各種貿(mào)易網(wǎng)絡(luò)移動(dòng)。絲綢之路并不像州際公路I-40那樣有固定的路線。
（譯注：40號州際公路（Interstate 40，簡稱I-40）是美國州際公路系統(tǒng)的一部份。西起加利福尼亞州巴斯托（與15號州際公路交匯），東在北卡羅萊納州威爾明頓與美國國道117和北卡羅萊納州公路132交匯。美國東到西的超級公路。）
Still, if you are a governmental envoy you still would be able to move all the way from China to Syria by bribing people along the way. The whole 3 months crossing of the sea is BS.
即便如此，如果你是一位政府使節(jié)，你仍然可以通過一路賄賂人員，從中國走到敘利亞。說穿越海洋需要三個(gè)月完全是胡說八道。
You’ve no concept of distance and time to travel, that distance would be at walking speed, and mostly the camp site for the night could be within sight of the previous nights camp. Also there being no route to follow nor a fixed line of traders following I-80 equivalents. You went to an intermediate market/trading/taxation hub and had to wait asking around for someone who knew what was beyond their normal trading pattern, all very slow and with an element of luck. Now there’s another empire in the middle that doesn’t really want Rome and China to meet ever. They would be very capable of delaying such an envoy, sending him the scenic route and with a circle or two thrown in, and or telling of imagined difficulties of the routes ahead. Remember it was all heresay and stories, that got expanded and became more exotic in the retelling, there was no radio, news papers, telephones, internet or social media, it would be the camel riders equivalent of a journey to Mars.
你根本不了解旅行所需的距離和時(shí)間，那段距離需要步行才能到達(dá)，而且大多數(shù)情況下，當(dāng)晚上的營地基本都在前一晚營地的視線范圍內(nèi)，所以一天走不遠(yuǎn)的。此外，也沒有路線可循，也沒有像沿著I-80州際公路這樣的固定路線。你得去一個(gè)中間的市場/貿(mào)易/稅收中心，然后四處打聽，看誰知道超出他們正常貿(mào)易范圍之外的情況，這整個(gè)過程都非常緩慢，還帶有一定的運(yùn)氣成分?，F(xiàn)在中間又出現(xiàn)了一個(gè)帝國，他們根本不想讓羅馬和中國見面。他們完全有能力拖延這樣的使節(jié)，讓他走更遠(yuǎn)的路，繞上一兩圈，或者告訴他前方路線的他們虛構(gòu)的困難。記住，這一切都是道聽途說，這些故事在講述過程中被夸大，變得越來越離奇。當(dāng)時(shí)沒有收音機(jī)、報(bào)紙、電話、互聯(lián)網(wǎng)或社交媒體，這對駱駝騎手來說，就像是前往火星的旅程。
Did you even read the post? Please, try to read it again.
你到底有沒有看帖子？拜托，你再看一遍吧。
The 3 month thing IS BS. That’s the whole point. The local government at his final stop prevented Gan Ying from bribing any more merchants to guide him further. Possibly by bribing all the merchants themselves, or other coercive means.
Gan Ying was either fooled, was the victim of some sort of translation or unit conversion misunderstanding, or he chose for his own reasons not to openly question the stories he was being told, even if he had suspicions about their accuracy.
說需要三個(gè)月完全是胡說八道。這才是問題的關(guān)鍵所在，甘英在最后一站被當(dāng)?shù)卣柚?，無法再賄賂更多商人引導(dǎo)他前行。他們可能是通過賄賂所有商人，或其他強(qiáng)制手段做到的。
甘英要么是被騙了，要么是遭遇了某種翻譯或單位換算上的誤解，或者出于某種原因，他選擇不公開質(zhì)疑自己所聽到的故事，即使他對這些故事的準(zhǔn)確性有所懷疑。
That’s basically what Gan Ying did.
Some historians think the “Western Sea” that he stopped at was indeed the Mediterranean, and the country he stopped at was actually Parthia, or a satellite and ally of Parthia.
Wherever exactly it was that he turned back from, he had followed the established Silk Road trade routes to get there.
And the questions he asked once arriving there were essentially about what the next leg of the Silk Road trade route was.
Gan Ying was basically the victim of a carefully orchestrated intelligence operation by the local government to prevent him from proceeding further. The “l(fā)ocal guides” who spun him the tall tales about how immensely difficult it was to continue further were almost certainly operatives of that local government, who took care to make sure no other sources of information reached Gan Ying’s entourage.
It is also well within the realm of possibility that Gan Ying was a “willing dupe” as it were, and didn’t try particularly hard to fact check the stories he was being fed, seeing it as a convenient excuse to go home early.
甘英的行程大致如此。一些歷史學(xué)家認(rèn)為，他止步的“西海”實(shí)際上就是地中海，而他停留的國家很可能是帕提亞，或是帕提亞的附屬國和盟友。
無論他究竟是在何處折返，他都是沿著既定的絲綢之路貿(mào)易路線到達(dá)那里的。
他抵達(dá)后所詢問的問題，主要是關(guān)于絲綢之路貿(mào)易路線的下一段路程。
甘英基本上成為了當(dāng)?shù)卣牟邉澋那閳?bào)行動(dòng)的受害者，他們阻止他繼續(xù)前行。那些向他編造繼續(xù)前行無比艱難的謊言的“當(dāng)?shù)叵驅(qū)А?，幾乎可以肯定是?dāng)?shù)卣奶毓?，他們小心翼翼地確保沒有其他信息來源能接觸到甘英的隨行人員。
同樣有可能的是，甘英在某種程度上是一個(gè)“心甘情愿的受騙者”，他并沒有特別努力去核實(shí)他所聽到的故事，而是將其視為一個(gè)提前回家的便利借口。
Apnin
Thanks for the replies, however I do know how the system works in the long term. Someone said Marco Polo learnt the language … does anyone know how many languages there was on the way to China back then … not just dialects … eh? I was in Papua New Guinea for 3yrs in the 80’s. There was over 600 languages there even then … as I said before … not just dialects … LANGUAGES !! Pidgin English (Tok Pisin) helped immensely. So lovely people, LUKIM YU BEHINE TIME WANTOK.
謝謝你的回復(fù)，但我確實(shí)知道這個(gè)系統(tǒng)長期是如何運(yùn)作的。有人說馬可·波羅學(xué)會(huì)了當(dāng)?shù)氐恼Z言……有誰知道去中國的路上當(dāng)時(shí)有多少種語言呢？不只是方言哦,是吧？80年代的時(shí)候，我在巴布亞新幾內(nèi)亞待了三年。那里當(dāng)時(shí)就有600多種語言，我說的是語言，不只是方言！皮金語（Tok Pisin）幫了我大忙。那里的人們真的很友好，期待下次再見。
（譯注：皮金語別名巴布亞皮欽語(Tok pisin)，又叫皮欽語、新美拉尼西亞語、托克皮辛語等，是一種基于英語的克里奧爾語，是巴布亞新幾內(nèi)亞的官方語言之一。巴布亞皮欽語屬于克里奧爾語而非皮欽語或稱混雜語言（Pidgin），即由不同種語言混合而成的混合語。）
I think the difference is the isolation the island had until relatively recent history. You can pretty much trace the migration of “Indo-European” languages from the Caucus Mountains to Europe and India. I used to study Sanskrit and my all time favorite resource was Monier-Williams “ A Sanskrit-English Dictionary”. It had special references to cognates in Latin and Greek, which I also had experience studying and made it so much more useful compared to other Sanskrit resources. You could see how “ignus” in Latin and “agni” in Sanskrit were the same word with a somewhat expected level of difference.
If the main ancient languages of that time, such as Latin, Attic Greek, old Persian, Sanskrit had linguistic connections, that shortens the gap considerably. Not only that, but we had Alexander the Great marching into India well before the Roman Empire. I don’t know of any Papuan generals that marched into India, let alone Europe or China.
我認(rèn)為區(qū)別在于這個(gè)島嶼直到相對較近的歷史時(shí)期都處于孤立狀態(tài)。你可以大致追蹤到“印歐”語系從高加索山脈向歐洲和印度的遷移路徑。我以前學(xué)過梵語，我最喜歡的是莫尼爾-威廉姆斯的《梵英詞典》。它特別參考了拉丁語和希臘語中的同源詞，由于我也學(xué)過拉丁語和希臘語，這使它比其他梵語資源更有用。你可以看到拉丁語中的“ignus”和梵語中的“agni”是同一個(gè)詞，只是存在某種預(yù)期程度的差異。
如果當(dāng)時(shí)的主要古代語言，如拉丁語、雅典希臘語、古波斯語、梵語之間存在語言學(xué)上的聯(lián)系，那么這將在很大程度上縮短語言間的鴻溝。不僅如此，亞歷山大大帝早在羅馬帝國之前就已經(jīng)進(jìn)軍印度了。除此之外，我不知道是否有任何其他將軍進(jìn)軍過印度，更不用說歐洲或中國了。
I'm starting to think that we need to learn pidgin forms of a variety of languages (Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Arabic etc.) in school, instead of focusing on any single language.
我開始認(rèn)為我們需要在學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)各種語言的類似皮欽語的這種模式（如西班牙語、中文、俄語、阿拉伯語等），而不是只專注于任何一種語言。
Didn’t the United Nations try to establish an International Language? Yes, in 1954. It was called Esperanto. Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed language in the world, with up to two million speakers. It's become more accessible to learn through platforms like Duolingo, and speakers have networked on platforms like Amikumu.
For some reason it failed to gain acceptance. I don’t know why? Anyone else??
聯(lián)合國不是嘗試過建立一種國際語言嗎？是的，在1954年。它被稱為世界語。世界語是世界上最廣泛使用的人造語言，有多達(dá)兩百萬的使用者。通過像Duolingo這樣的平臺，學(xué)習(xí)世界語變得更加容易，使用者還可以在像Amikumu這樣的平臺上建立聯(lián)系。
出于某種原因，它未能得到廣泛接受。我不知道為什么？有其他人知道嗎？
Once on a call with my girlfriend, she mentioned that they watched a German movie at the end of her German class, to get a taste of the people & culture. So I asked what seemed like the natural question, “Huh. I wonder what kind of movie you’d watch in an Esperanto class?” (heh heh).
So she says “What?” and I gave her a quick lecture on what Esperanto was and that it didn’t really come from anywhere, just the language departments at some universities.
She responded with a somewhat *longer* lecture about how STUPID MY SENSE OF HUMOR WAS. (Needless to say, I married someone else, not that she thinks any different…)
That said, real answer was A HORROR MOVIE. You could watch a HORROR movie in an Esperanto class! Leslie Stevens (creator of “The Outer Limits” show) shot the film “Incubus” (starring William Shatner) in Esperanto with English subtitles.
It didn’t do very well, though. Maybe that’s in indication of the the uptake that Esperanto got…
有一次在和女朋友通話時(shí)，她提到在德語課的結(jié)尾看了一部德國電影，以了解德國人和文化。于是我問了一個(gè)看似自然的問題：“嗯。我想知道在世界語課上你們會(huì)看什么電影呢？”（嘿嘿）。
她問：“什么？”然后我給她簡要地講了講世界語是什么，以及它并不是來自某個(gè)地方，而只是某些大學(xué)的語言系創(chuàng)造的。
她則用了一段更長的演講來回應(yīng)，說我的幽默感有多愚蠢。（然后不用說，我娶了別人，雖然她可能想法不同……）
不過，真正的答案是恐怖片。你可以在世界語課上看恐怖片！萊斯利·史蒂文斯（《The Outer Limits》節(jié)目的創(chuàng)作者）用世界語拍攝了電影《夢魔》（由威廉·夏特納主演），并配有英文字幕。
不過，這部電影并不成功。這也許表明了世界語的普及程度……
I have read that, to Esperanto speakers, Shatner’s accent — and his mispronunciations — are hilarious.
Nonetheless, I give him kudos for making the effort. (How many other Hollywood stars have made an entire movie in a language they didn’t speak?)
我了解到，對于講世界語的人來說，威廉·夏特納（Shatner，此處可能指某位具有特定口音和愛發(fā)錯(cuò)音的公眾人物或演員）的口音和他的發(fā)音錯(cuò)誤都十分滑稽可笑。
盡管如此，我還是要為他的努力點(diǎn)贊。（有多少好萊塢明星會(huì)用他們不會(huì)說的語言拍一整部電影呢？）
More practical for getting bargains from local sellers, with less effort. Not elegant, but roughly effective.
這種方法在與當(dāng)?shù)刭u家討價(jià)還價(jià)時(shí)更為實(shí)用，而且省力。雖然不夠優(yōu)雅，但大致有效。
Mainly basic stuff like asking for directions, getting a hotel room, ordering food in restaurants. You can get pretty far using a dictionary to provide the vocabulary, but enunciation is critical.
主要是些基礎(chǔ)內(nèi)容，比如問路、訂酒店房間、在餐廳點(diǎn)餐。使用詞典來提供詞匯，你可以走得很遠(yuǎn)，但發(fā)音至關(guān)重要。
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Peter Trznadel
Nah the Persians went out their way to make sure that any direct contact endeavors failed. As the middleman, the empire in the middle, they were very rich from the Silk Road trade that passed through. The last thing they and the middlemen merchants wanted was for Rome and China to get together and develop new direct routes that bypassed them.
不，波斯人想方設(shè)法地確保漢語羅馬任何直接交往的嘗試都必須失敗。作為中間商，作為位于中間的帝國，他們從途經(jīng)的絲綢之路貿(mào)易中獲利頗豐。他們和中間商最不愿意看到的就是羅馬和中國聯(lián)手開發(fā)出繞過他們的新直線路線。
Apnin
I wonder how a Chinese could converse with locals when they have never met before … ?
我想知道，中國人如果之前從未與當(dāng)?shù)厝艘娺^面，他們是如何與當(dāng)?shù)厝私徽劦哪兀俊?/b>
The Chinese had contact with many of the nations and cultures that lived in between, such that they had access to translators.
When Country A has contact with country B long enough for there to be translators who know the languages of both A and B, it can then attempt contact with Country C, which it has never encountered, so long as Country C has encountered Country B long enough for there to exist translators who know the language of both B and C. A can then employ a C to B translator and a second B to A translator to converse in A, with C, and to train A to C translators for the future.
And then daisy chain the translations to D, E, F and onwards.
中國人與許多位于他們之間的國家和文化都有過接觸，因此他們有機(jī)會(huì)找到翻譯。
當(dāng)國家A與國家B接觸的時(shí)間足夠長，以至于有翻譯同時(shí)精通A和B兩國的語言時(shí)，它就可以嘗試與從未接觸過的國家C進(jìn)行接觸，只要國家C與國家B接觸的時(shí)間也足夠長，以至于存在同時(shí)精通B和C兩國語言的翻譯。然后，A國可以雇傭一個(gè)C到B的翻譯和一個(gè)B到A的翻譯，用A國的語言與C國交談，并培訓(xùn)未來的A到C的翻譯。
然后，就像串起一朵朵雛菊一樣，將翻譯工作串聯(lián)到D國、E國、F國以及更遠(yuǎn)的地方。
Hahahahaha, I love this explanation.
哈哈哈哈哈，我喜歡這個(gè)解釋。
Haha, at least he really did try to ‘explain’
哈哈，至少他真的嘗試去“解釋”了。
The difficulty is that when history is made up, there are always flaws that logic or common sense cannot explain. Haven't we seen and read too many bogus 'histories' by the Chinese lately?Where is the common sense in attempting to compare the Chinese Han period to Rome?
困難在于，當(dāng)歷史被編造出來時(shí)，總會(huì)有邏輯或常識無法解釋的漏洞。我們最近是不是已經(jīng)看到和讀到了太多中國人編造的“歷史”？試圖將中國的漢朝與羅馬進(jìn)行比較，這哪里有常識可言？
Didn’t need to as there was no direct trade as such. You only needed to know the language at the other end of your particular trade route. At which point you traded goods for barter or gold and went home the next trader did the same with the other end of his route, the bolt of silk cloth just passed through several middle men, finally arriving in Rome or Gaul. The traders at one end of the network didn’t even need to know of the existence of the traders at the other end, never mind what language they spoke.
其實(shí)并不需要這樣做，因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)并沒有直接的貿(mào)易往來。你只需要知道你特定貿(mào)易路線另一端的語言。在那個(gè)時(shí)候，你用貨物進(jìn)行物物交換或用黃金購買，然后回家。下一個(gè)商人沿著他的路線，而另一端做同樣的事情，絲綢布匹只是經(jīng)過了幾個(gè)中間商，最終到達(dá)羅馬或高盧。這個(gè)貿(mào)易網(wǎng)一端的商人甚至不需要知道另一端商人的存在，更不用說他們說的是什么語言了。
For trade, yes. But if you are attempting to establish a diplomatic mission, you probably contact your merchant trade partners and ask them if they can help you find some translators.
對于貿(mào)易來說，確實(shí)如此。但如果你想要建立外交使團(tuán)，你可能會(huì)聯(lián)系你的商人貿(mào)易伙伴，并詢問他們是否能幫你找到一些翻譯。
Couldn’t A and C just communicate by speaking B since they both have translators that speak it?
A國和C國不能都通過說B國的語言來交流嗎？畢竟他們都有會(huì)說B國語言的翻譯。
Cfr Marco Polo: learn the language.
參考馬可·波羅：學(xué)習(xí)語言。
Chinese and Perisans were friends and allies dating back 2000 years. Several Chinese words borrow from Persian origins, like grape and lion, and there were diplomatic and cultural exchanges — meaning interpreters were available.
中國人和波斯人是有著2000年友誼和聯(lián)盟的朋友。許多中文詞匯都源自波斯語，比如“葡萄”和“獅子”，雙方也有外交和文化交流——這意味著有翻譯可用。
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處
William Elliott
Not long ago, the London Museum did tests on bones found in a Roman era cemetary. A pair of skeletons found there were from modern day China, our bones carry with them compounds from the regions where we grow up, those indicators remain with us through life and beyond. So Roman London had at least two residents or visitors from Ancient China.
不久前，倫敦博物館對羅馬時(shí)代墓地中發(fā)現(xiàn)的骨骼進(jìn)行了測試。在那里發(fā)現(xiàn)的一對骨骼來自現(xiàn)代中國，我們的骨骼攜帶著我們所在地區(qū)的基因混合，這些指標(biāo)會(huì)伴隨我們一生，甚至死后仍會(huì)留存。所以，羅馬倫敦至少有兩位來自古代中國的居民或訪客。
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處
Assyria or Bulgarian Slavs; Syria, Thrace and Bulgaria officials, peasants and herders feared an imperialistic Romanus military reaction to Chinese or other rather foreign associates.
亞述或保加利亞斯拉夫人；敘利亞、色雷斯和保加利亞的官員、農(nóng)民和牧民都害怕羅馬軍隊(duì)會(huì)對中國人或其他外國盟友采取帝國主義式的軍事反應(yīng)。