评论
打印
And leading the dance, of course, was Charles himself,
引导人们寻欢作乐的 是查理本人
constitutionally incapable of being so churlish
他天生不会贸然无礼地
as to spurn any woman generous enough to invite him into her bed.They all did.
拒绝任何邀请他共赴巫山的女士 他是大众情人
This was the golden age of ogling.
这是个眉目传情的黄金时代
If Puritan England had been governed by the ear,
如果说英格兰清教徒受控于"耳"
wide open to receive the word of God,
聆听上帝的教诲
the Restoration restored the sovereignty of the eye.
那么复辟则让"眼"重掌大权
Its ruling passion was "Scopophilia",the addiction of the gaze,
而统治的激情便在于"窥视症" 窥视成瘾
whether eyeballing an outrageous wig, a plunging neckline,
窥视撩人的发间 窥视开襟的领口
a louse caught in the lens of a microscope or the constellations of the stars.
显微镜下的虱子 或者是满天繁星
Charles's boyish enthusiasm for latest optical instruments suggested he might turn out to be a new kind of Stuart,
查理对最新的光学仪器有着孩童般的热忱 预示着他可能是一名不同寻常的斯图亚特王
whose vision dwelled not in cloudy realms of absolutism,
他的眼界不会耽于皇权
but which was precisely focused, concerned to observe reality political as well as physical.
而会放眼开来 关心现实 政治生活 还有声色犬马
He might, in fact, turn out to be that most unlikely thing a reasonable Stuart king.
最后 也许会变成意料之外的人 一位人精于世故的斯图亚特王
This was the Stuart for whom the physical world was his alpha and omega,who was earthy in his realism.
这位斯图亚特王 在他眼中 声色是他的全部 人生苦短 何不尽欢
All too earthy, some thought, as they looked down in disgust
一些人不无鄙夷地看着
at a theatre of indolence, punctuated by debauchery,that had become the court.
宫廷生活变成了无所事事 只知纵情酒色的闹剧
They were not so worldly, not so rational, as to be free of the fear that some day there would be a reckoning.
试图忘却清算之日 终将来临 这不合常情 也绝不理智
Some day soon, as it turned out.
这一天 的确来得很快
