盘点已经拥有2000年历史的十大职业(中)
日期:2016-11-24 18:19

(单词翻译:单击)

7.Innkeeper
7.客栈老板
As we said in our introduction, innkeepers had a shady reputation in antiquity. During the Roman Empire, most travelers actually stayed in guest rooms set aside in private homes.
正如引言中所说,在古代,客栈老板这一职业名声一直不好。在罗马帝国时期,大多数的旅行者都住在居民家的客房中。
Inns offered spartan accommodation in communal sleeping rooms, with space outside to tie up animals. Innkeepers often colluded with robbers and supplied guests with prostitutes. (Given their bad character, some experts say the Biblical Mary and Joseph likely were seeking shelter in a guest room, not an inn.)
客栈为斯巴达提供公共住宿,房外有可以绑住动物的地方。客栈老板经常串通强盗偷窃且为客人提供卖淫服务。(由于这些坏印象,一些专家认为圣玛丽和约瑟夫可能都住在居民家里的客房,而不是客栈)。
Because of such skullduggery, Roman law is filled with punishments for these types of offenses.
由于这些欺骗行为的盛行,罗马法律中也充斥着对这些行为的惩罚规定。
Unfortunately for the honest innkeepers, the laws were written with the assumption the innkeeper was guilty.
那些品质良好的客栈老板就倒了霉,因为这些法律本身就假定了客栈老板这个职业是有罪的。

客栈老板

During medieval times, monks became de facto innkeepers, hosting travelers trekking long distances on religious pilgrimages.
在中世纪时期,僧侣成为了真正意义上的客栈老板,招待长途跋涉前去朝圣的虔诚的旅行者。
In late-medieval England, innkeepers were members of the upper class and influential citizens. Inns here typically offered communal sleeping, although private rooms started to become more common.
在中世纪后期的英国,客栈老板成为了上流社会和有影响力公民的一员。单人房间开始变得更加常见,但客栈也提供公共房间。
In the U.S., people first began traveling for business or pleasure in the 1700s, causing stagecoach inns to pop up. These were very modest accommodations; sometimes people had to sleep in the same bed with a stranger.
从十八世纪开始,美国人开始商务旅行或休闲旅行,公共车马客栈由此应运而生。这些都是比较便宜的住所,所以有时你得和陌生人睡在同一张床上。
Of course today, a guest can choose between a charming bed and breakfast, a large hotel chain, a budget motel and dozens of other innkeeping options. Thankfully, the innkeeper reputation has improved somewhat.
当然,如今客人的选择也很多,可以选择华丽的大床和早餐,大型连锁旅馆,经济型汽车旅馆以及其他旅馆。而且,客栈老板的名声在一定程度上也大大提高了。

6.Judge
6.法官
During the old kingdom in ancient Egypt (3000 B.C.E.), there were no official judges, but cases were tried before priests and scribes.
埃及古王国时期(公元前3000年)并没有正式的法官,案件都是由祭司和文职人员审理的。
But by the middle kingdom (around 1500 B.C.E.), there were official judges, and a judgeship was typically passed down from father to son.
到了埃及第一中间时期(约公元前1500年)开始有了正式法官,而且这个职位通常都是世袭制。
The cases a judge might oversee were the same as today: murder, robbery, property ownership and so on. People often tried to bribe the judges or sway their opinion through flattery in order to avoid harsh sentences.
当时法官所审理的案件与今天的相差无几,包括谋杀、抢劫、判决财产拥有权等。那时,人们会通过贿赂或奉承法官来左右法官的决策,以避免严厉的刑罚。

法官

And judges were often dishonest or abused power when it served their needs, namely when society wasn't running so smoothly.
在社会缺乏秩序的条件下,法官们为了满足自身需求,会作出失信行为或者滥用权力。
But if a judge was caught in a misdeed, the punishment could be severe. During one era in Egypt, convicted judges had their noses cut off.
但是如果一个法官的罪行被揭露的话,惩罚是非常严厉的。在埃及的某一个时期,被定罪的法官的鼻子会被切下来。
In the Middle Ages, dishonesty continued to plague the judiciary. Judges often were paid off by litigants, even if the judges were members of the clergy.
在中世纪,法官的失信行为让司法制度饱受诟病。即使是作为神职人员的法官都经常会被当事人贿赂。
Today's judges are either appointed officials or elected by the people. Although generally only a bachelor's degree and some related experience is required to be a judge, most judges are lawyers.
如今的法官是由政府任命或者群众选举出来的。虽然一般来说拥有学士学位和相关经验便有机会成为法官,而且很多法官都是律师出身。
But the job market for judges is rather flat, because every new judgeship position in the U.S. must be authorized and approved by the state or federal legislature. And they still get accused of dishonesty sometimes.
但是法官的就业市场非常萧条,因为在美国,每一位法官的身份都必须经由州政府和联邦政府的授权批准,而且他们仍会因失信行为遭到起诉。

5.Psychic
5.灵媒
Call them seers, astrologers, psychics, mediums or clairvoyants. Whatever term you use for people who work to discern the future, know that this occupation has been around since the dawn of recorded history.
那些能够预见未来的人有很多名字——先知、占星家、灵媒、女巫、千里眼,无论你用哪个名字来称呼他们,都要知道这一个职业在有历史记载的时期就已经出现了。
In the ancient world, psychics were often members of the royal court or regularly consulted by the rulers before making decisions both large and small — what crops to plant, which officials to hire, which battles to wage.
在古时候,灵媒通常是皇家法庭的成员,或者是统治者做决策时的咨询对象,这些决策小到该种植哪一种作物,该雇用哪一位官员,大到该发动哪一场战争等等。
But while royal psychics were much-heralded, their position was also risky. If they recommended a battle that the empire subsequently lost, for example, they might be fired, jailed or even killed.
不过,虽然王室的灵媒被大肆赞扬,但是他们的地位却很危险。例如他们建议国王发动战争后,王朝却因此覆灭了,这些灵媒有可能会被解雇、监禁甚至杀害。

灵媒

Since the work of a psychic involved communicating with an entity in another world, the profession was condemned by the monotheistic religions that later emerged: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
灵媒的工作是与另一个世界的神明进行沟通,而这一职位遭到后来出现的犹太教、基督教和伊斯兰教等只信奉一个神灵的教派的谴责,
Texts that are central to these religions viewed psychics as evil, since only God is supposed to know the future. In 785, the Catholic Church outlawed the use of sorcerers in settling disputes.
因为这些教派的核心典籍认为通灵是邪恶的,而且只有上帝才能预见未来。在785年,天主教会禁止巫师参与解决纷争。
Today there are signs advertising psychic readings in innumerable towns around the globe.
今天,在世界各地都有关于通灵读物的广告。
Some people view such psychics simply as entertainers with no real power, while others see them as charlatans taking money from gullible people. Still others take them seriously.
一些人认为这些灵媒只是些表演家,并没有所谓通灵的能力;有些人认为他们是江湖骗子,专门从那些轻信别人的人手中骗取钱财;但是还是有些人很相信他们。
Studies on whether psychic powers exist are inconclusive. Yet some professional psychics have been used by police departments and other crime-solving groups with apparent success.
对于通灵之术是否存在,科学研究尚未给出定论,但一些专业的通灵人士与警察部门和破案组已有的成功合作表明,这项职业还是颇有效用的。

4.Prostitute
4.性工作者
A Rudyard Kipling short story "On the City Wall" gets the credit for calling prostitution the world's oldest profession. If it's not really the oldest occupation, it's pretty close to it.
在鲁德亚德·吉卜林的一篇短篇小说《在城墙上》里,卖淫被称为世界上最古老的一种职业。即使不算最古老,它也应该是最古老的职业之一。
Prostitution involves having sexual intercourse with someone in exchange for some kind of payment (money, food, clothing), and it's been around for millennia.
卖淫是通过和人进行性行为以获得钱、食物、衣物等物质为报酬的职业,这种物性交换行为已经存在了几千年。
In ancient times, prostitution was often performed within a sacred context, as part of a religious ceremony or for a sacred purpose.
在古代,卖淫其实常常带有神圣的色彩,它是宗教仪式的一部分或者用以达到某种通神的目的。
In Sumerian and Babylonian cultures (2400 B.C.E. and beyond) having sex with a temple prostitute was one way to gain favor from a fertility god.
在公元前2400年起始的苏美尔文化和巴比伦文化中,和寺院妓女性交是一种获得生育神庇佑的方式。

性工作者

In ancient Rome, prostitution was not part of religion. Slaves were often forced to work as prostitutes, as were orphaned children.
在古罗马,卖淫与宗教无关。奴隶通常被迫卖淫,特别是孤儿身份的奴隶。
In ancient Greece, male prostitutes were common, and were mainly adolescent boys. Slave boys typically worked in Athens' male brothels.
在古希腊,男妓十分常见,并且主要是青少年,这些男孩通常在雅典的男妓院里工作。
In 2012, there were roughly 42 million prostitutes in the world, three-quarters of them between the ages of 13 and 25, and 80 percent female.
在2012年,全世界大约有4200万性工作者,他们中四分之三的人的年龄在13岁到25岁之间,80%的人是女性。
Now, as in ancient times, most prostitutes work in this field against their will, and human trafficking is a huge human rights issue.
正如古代,大多数性工作者都不是出于自己的意愿而进入这一行,而且贩卖人口是当前的一个严重的人权问题。

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重点单词
  • swayv. 摇摆,摇动,支配,影响 n. 摇摆,动摇,支配
  • influentialadj. 有权势的,有影响的 n. 有影响力的人物
  • overseevt. 监督,监管,监视
  • accommodationn. 住处,膳宿;适应,和解
  • dishonestyn. 不诚实;不正直;欺诈
  • discernv. 辨别,看清楚
  • flatteryn. 谄媚,阿谀,巴结
  • gullibleadj. 易受骗的,轻信的
  • harshadj. 粗糙的,使人不舒服的,刺耳的,严厉的,大约的
  • sacredadj. 神圣的,受尊重的