"空中有四架战斗机 我不知道..." 'There are four fighters up there and I don't know what...'
1940年一个夏日的早晨 On a summer's morning in 1940,
数百架战斗机 从英国各地的跑道起飞 hundreds of fighter planes took off from runways all over England.
从我出生那会儿上溯十年 这个国家面临着被灭绝的危险 A decade before I was born, this country faced annihilation.
第二次世界大战时 我的父母亲都是军官 In World War II, my mother and father were both army officers
我的整个童年时代 就是在他们的回忆中度过的 and all through my childhood they looked back
那个夏日是那样的惊心动魄 to that most frightening summer.
"这场战争将决定基督教文明的存亡" 'Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation.' (丘吉尔首相的演讲)
这就是很快为人所知的"不列颠之战" It was of course soon known as the Battle of Britain.
尽管名字如此 But even though that was its name,
但实际上并非在整个不列颠群岛上空展开 it wasn't actually fought over the whole of the British Isles.
空战在英格兰,苏塞克斯 肯特,东英吉利等地展开 It was the skies over England, Sussex, Kent, East Anglia,
绝大多数的空战在上述地区发生 that saw most of the action.
不列颠之战不是孤立的 And the Battle of Britain wasn't just a one off.
它属于一系列光荣显赫的胜利 It fitted into a glorious series of victories,
克雷西战役(1346年英军大破法军) 阿金库尔战役(1415年英军于法国北部重创法军) 西班牙无敌舰队(1588年被英国击败) 特拉法加海战(1805年击败法国联合舰队) Crecy, Agincourt, the Spanish Armada, Trafalgar.
但是绝大多数的胜利不属于不列颠人 而是应归功于英国人 But most of those victories were not British but English.
"前面两架后跟着一架喷火战斗机" 'And there's a spitfire just behind the first two.
"他会击落它们的 哦,好的" 'He'll get them. Oh, yes.'
虽然幸存的几率很低 The odds of survival were low
但这些飞行员依然满怀英国人 一直就有的自信心 but those fighters had a confidence that the English have always had.
现在还是那样 And still do.
它仍以自己的傲慢态度 向这个偏居一隅的岛国传达出一种信念 It's given this corner of an island a belief in its own importance,
程度远远超越它所占据的地缘尺度 way beyond its geographical size.
但为何如此呢? But why?
答案可能就在你料想不到之处 The answer lies somewhere you might not expect.
英国人怀有无比自信的原因 The reason the English have always felt supremely self confident,
就在于一千多年来他们坚信 is because for over a thousand years they've believed
他们拥有着人们渴求的无尽宝藏 that they possessed the greatest asset you could hope for,
那就是上帝 God.
如今,这种观念也许显得荒谬 Nowadays, such an idea might seem preposterous.
可我希望将历史证据展现在你面前 But I hope to show you that is the evidence from history.
在这部系列片中,我将去探索英国人的特质 In this series I'll be exploring English identity.
竭力去探寻事物的原委 以及它的历史变迁 To try and find out what it is and how it's changed through time.
你想象不到这事会发生在英格兰吧? You can't imagine this happening in England, can you?
我要向某些陈词滥调挑战 I'll be challenging some stereotypes,
那就是,作为英国人就是要宽容 或者是,白种人 that to be English is to be tolerant, or to be white,
就是盎格鲁-萨克森人的子孙 Anglo-Saxon.
我要揭示的是,民族特质 And I'll reveal that national identity
从来就不是单一性的 has never been just one thing.
它是会演变的 It's evolved,
并非一成不变地能叫人豪情满怀 not always in ways to be proud of.
但有一样东西是永恒的 But there's been one constant,
宗教信仰 religion.
一种塑造了英国人灵魂的力量 A force that's shaped the English soul.
我就从作为英国人要与众不同 And I'm starting with the idea that to be English is to be special.
要超越别人开始吧 To be better than others.
让上帝站在你这边 To have God on your side.
我将追溯这个观念的起源 I'm going to trace the origins of the idea
从欧洲中世纪一直到当代 from the Dark Ages to the present day.
以此来展现这种信念 To show how this conviction has fuelled
是如何激发起正义和责任的激情 a passion for justice and duty.
此外,还要让英国人感到自己是有资格 But has also made the English feel entitled
给其他国家提出建议的 to tell the rest of the globe what to do.
要使得英国人充满自信心 And give them the self confidence
来缔造这个世界上的庞大帝国 to create one of the largest Empires in the world.
这就是英国人 This is the story of the English.
和上帝如何造就他们的故事 And how God made them.
上帝如何造就英国人
第一集:上帝的选民?
我们都知道陈词滥调是如何形容英国人的 We all know the cliches of what the English are like.
保守,古怪 对于责任和公正信守承诺 Reserved, but eccentric, with a commitment to duty and fair play.
英国人还有一种特质 And there's one characteristic in particular
使之与联合王国其他地方的人 得以区分开来 that marks the English out from the rest of the United Kingdom.
英国人为什么会显得 What makes the English different
与威尔士人,苏格兰人 还有爱尔兰人不一样呢? from the Welsh the Scots or the Irish?
我认为这可以从我年轻时代 听过的一首滑稽的歌里概括出 I think it's summed up in a comic song from my youth,
佛兰德斯和斯旺(英国喜剧组合) 过去唱过的,开头是这样的 which Flanders and Swann used to sing. The opening lines are,
# 英国人,英国人,英国人,他们最棒了 # The English, the English, the English, they are best
# 我一点信不过其他人 # # I don't give tuppence for all the rest. #
这就是说,英国人认为自己是最棒的 That's it, you see, the English think they are best.
正因为如此 Because of that,
他们将自己不仅仅视作历史的旁观者 they view themselves not as mere spectators of history,
而且还是一个亲历其中 扮演重要角色的缔造者 but as a people called upon to play a role in shaping it.
没有一处建筑能比英国议会大厦 And nowhere is more symbolic of effortless English superiority
更能象征英国人与生俱来的优越感了 than the Houses of Parliament.
正式的名字叫做"威斯敏斯特宫" Their official name is the Palace of Westminster,
因为从11世纪起,这里就是君王的宫殿 and that's because from the 11th century it was the home of Kings.
注意,是英格兰君王的宫殿 而不是不列颠君王的宫殿 And English Kings not British kings.
从那时起,它就是英格兰的政治中心 Ever since, it's been the heart of England.
我正迈向这所建筑的中心 I'm making for the centre of this building
在那里你可以发现众多蛛丝马迹 where you can begin to find clues as to why
探寻出英国人为何具有那种固有的优越感 the English have always believed they're better than anyone else.
威斯敏斯特宫 中央大厅
你可以从方方面面得出原因 You could try explaining it in all sorts of ways,
比如食物,天气,岛国环境等因素 the food, the weather, the fact they live on an island.
但我相信,这一切都和上帝息息相关 But I believe it's got everything to do with God.
这个地方充满了象征意味 This place is full of symbols
而最重要的象征意义就是宗教氛围 and the most important symbols are religious.
我站在的这个地方叫"八角星" What we've got here is an eight-pointed-star,
原本是一个犹太人的标志 which is originally a Jewish symbol.
但是上面有出自<圣经.赞美诗>的铭文 But on it is a Latin inscription from the Bible, from the Psalms.
意思是,"若不是耶和华建造房屋 And it reads, "Unless the Lord build the house,
"那建造者的劳作就都枉然" "they labour but in vain that build it."
这就是说,政府和法律的运作 必须有上帝作为后盾 Which is saying, government and legislation need God behind it.
你也许会有点惊奇 And that's a bit of a surprise in what you might think is
这个世俗的民主国家 为何会把这点奉为宗旨? the centre of a secular democracy.
一旦你开始寻觅踪迹 And once you start looking,
就会发现这条铭文并非唯一 it's not the only religious inscription.
这座建筑里的此类铭文无处不在 The building is crawling with them.
王家画廊
这条说,"女王的心脏在我主手中" This one says, "The heart of the Queen is in the hand of the Lord."
换言之 In other words,
君主的一言一行,都取决于上帝的灵感 everything the monarch does is inspired by God.
深藏于幕后的 And further behind the scenes
是一间上议院委员会使用的大议事厅 is a very grand chamber used by the Lords for committees.
它的名字很有趣 It's got an intriguing name.
叫做"摩西室" It's called the Moses Room,
房间尽头的墙上,有一幅巨大的壁画 and on the end wall you can see an enormous fresco
描绘的是摩西向希伯来人传授"十诫" of Moses giving the Hebrews the ten commandments.
又涉及到宗教了 Yet more religion.
更使人着迷的是 And what's fascinating, is that
犹太圣经反映出的原始背景 in their original context, the Jewish Bible,
这些画面所反映出来的东西 与英国人毫无关系 these images had nothing to do with the English at all.
这些符号象征都是关于以色列的 So much of this symbolism is about Israel.
犹太人笃信,是上帝赐予了他们这片土地 The land the Jews believed God had given to them.
他们是上帝遴选的子民 They were his people, chosen by him
这片土地就是他们受眷顾的象征 and the land was the symbol of their favoured status.
为何出自犹太人经典的符号 So why are Jewish symbols
还有这些引用语 and quotations from their holy scripture
会遍布英国国王的王宫呢? all over the palace of English kings?
我认为,懂得<圣经>里上帝择人的这种观念 I think that this Biblical sense of being a people chosen by God,
是理解英国人为何自视甚高的关键 is the key to understanding why the English have always felt special.
要了解什么是上帝的选民 And to discover what it means to be a Chosen People,
我就带大家去见证一场 犹太人的古老仪式 I'm going to witness an ancient Jewish ritual.
伦敦北部 亨顿区
我受邀去参加一个仪式 I've been invited to attend a ceremony
这个时刻,对任何一个 犹太男孩来说都是极为重要的 which is one of the most important moments in any Jewish boy's life.
这是对他的宗教信仰的启蒙 就是要行割礼 His initiation into the faith, his circumcision.
成为上帝选民的观念 The idea of being a chosen nation
起源于犹太民族 is one that begins with the Jewish people.
他们的经文声称 上帝选择了一名叫亚伯拉罕的男子 The Holy Scriptures claim that God chose a man called Abraham
作为这个伟大民族的先祖 to be the father of a great nation.
即犹太人 The Jews.
他们定下誓约,一种协定 They made a covenant, an agreement,
犹太人必须谨守对上帝的忠诚 the Jews would be faithful to God
作为回报,上帝会奖赏他们一片土地 and in return he would reward them with a land.
这种独特关系的外在体现,就是行割礼 The mark of this unique relationship, was circumcision.
犹太人相信,通过这个仪式 The Jews believe that in this ceremony,
才使得他们作为上帝选民的身份 their identity as God's Chosen People
实实在在地融入进了肉体 is literally carved into the flesh.
但是自称是上帝的选民 But claiming you're a nation picked out by God,
会叫人觉得有点自以为是 might sound like you think you're better than everyone else.
我想听听拉比的看法 (拉比:犹太人的学者) I wondered what the rabbi would say about that.
感谢你们的邀请 Thank you for inviting us.
人们会认为你们那种上帝选民的观念 One thing people might say about the idea of the Chosen People
听起来很傲慢,你有何高见? is that it's an arrogant idea. What's the comeback on that one?
并不是说只有犹太人才受到上帝的青睐 It wasn't so much that the Jewish people were chosen,
上帝不会排斥其他人 to exclude anybody else.
这不是以人种或遗传学为依据的 It's not based on race or genetics,
因为任何人都可以加入到这个使命中来 because any person who would like to can join this mission.
成为上帝选民的这种观念 更关乎于人的一种责任 And the concept of being chosen is more one of a person's obligation,
可以说,就是侍奉上帝 so to speak, for service.
看来说到点子上了 成为上帝的选民就意味着责任 That seems to be the point, being a Chosen People involves duties,
还意味着宗教礼仪 it involves service,
既然成为了上帝的选民 那就不能骄奢淫逸 it's not actually luxuriating in the idea of being a Chosen People.
而恰恰是要担起全面的责任 Exactly, it's completely and wholly about duties.
举例来说,犹太教里,我们有做慈善的义务 As an example, in Judaism, there's an obligation to give to charity,
这不是摆阔,你必须把你 十分之一的所得捐出来 it's not a luxury, you have to give ten percent of your earnings.
这么做是为了代表一种观念 The object is to represent the concepts
那就是,上帝的恩赐世代相传 that God hands down to the world.
犹太人吟唱 THEY SING
我带着一个大大的疑问 离开了这场仪式 I'm leaving this celebration with a big question.
犹太人作为一个特殊的种群 How on earth did this ancient Jewish belief
他们这种上帝选民的信念源远流长 of being singled out by God as a special people,
它是如何影响到英国人的呢? come to be applied to the English?
有一类群体对此很了解 Well, there was one community who knew these ideas inside out,
那就是僧侣 monks.
是某一个僧侣最先将这种 And it was a monk who first applied this concept
上帝选民的观念传播给英国人的 of a nation chosen by God, to the English.
甚至在英吉利民族尚未形成之前就存在了 Before the English as a people even existed!
桑德兰市 贾罗修道院所在地 (桑德兰:英格兰东北部港市)
这里曾是盎格鲁-萨克森人 建立的诺森伯利亚王国 It's here in what was the Anglo Saxon kingdom of Northumbria
此地正是英国人上帝选民观念的发源地 that the idea of England as God's chosen nation really began.
一位僧侣出身的最伟大的历史学家 通过他的不朽杰作 With the work of a monk who was the greatest historian of his age
享誉全欧洲,成为了上帝的代言人 in all Europe, God's spin doctor.
公元七世纪末 At the end of the 7th century,
一名七岁男孩被父母带到这里 a 7-year-old boy was brought here by his parents.
这里是修道院 This was a monastery.
这个男孩离开双亲 And the boy they left here
全身心地投入到祈祷和学习的生活中去 was devoted to a life of prayer and learning.
他叫做比德,在修道院期间 His name was Bede and in the course of his life as a monk
他心无旁骛,专心著书立说 he wrote books that, more than anything else,
由此塑造了英国人的灵魂 shaped the soul of the English.
修道院里最珍贵的财富就是图书馆了 The monastery's biggest treasure was its library.
其中储藏有<圣经> Which, of course, housed the Bible
以及上帝选民-犹太人的传记 and the stories of God's Chosen People, the Jews.
如今,图书馆已经不复存在了 但我站的地方正是原址 Well, the library's long gone, but I'm standing where it once stood.
这些砖石勾勒出墙壁的轮廓线 And these paving stones mark out the lines of its walls.
比德几乎有半个世纪 都没有踏出过修道院一步 Now Bede hardly left the confines of this monastery for half a century
他始终在脑海里驰骋遐想 but all the time he was making journeys of the mind,
钻研已知世界 right across the known world,
在这间屋子里如饥似渴地 阅读前人留下的手稿 simply through the manuscripts in this room.
可以毫不夸大地说 正是比德的著作构建了英吉利民族 What Bede wrote here did nothing less than invent the English.
伦敦大英图书馆
比德的杰作光彩夺目,令人手不释卷 Bede's masterpiece was a brilliant and engaging book called
书名叫做<英吉利教会史> The Ecclesiastical History of the Gens Anglorum.
是用拉丁文写成的 That's Latin for The English people.
书里叙述了罗马基督教如何登陆海岛 It tells the story of how Roman Christianity arrived on these shores
以及人们皈依天主教以后 and how the conversion of the people to Catholicism
英国社会发生的种种变迁 changed English society.
该书最早的抄本之一 要追溯到公元九世纪 One of the earliest copies of it dates back to the 9th century,
手拂其上,我非常兴奋 and I'm excited about getting my hands on it.
谢谢 Thank you.
即使像我这样的史学工作者 要读比德的拉丁文原著 Well, historians like me, even if we read Bede in Latin,
一般也要从现代英文版开始 generally do it from a modern text
但是这个版本只晚于比德一百年 but this book is only 100 years younger than Bede himself.
比德的这部史书 始于罗马教皇格里高利一世 Now Bede's story starts in Rome where Pope Gregory I,
他主动决定派遣传教使节 on his own initiative, decided to send a mission
去这个北方岛屿传教 to this northern island.
他派遣了一队僧侣出发 领头的传教士叫奥古斯丁 He sent out a party of monks led by a monk called Augustine.
他们在597年抵达肯特王国 (肯特:盎格鲁-萨克森人建立的王国之一) And in 597 they arrived in the kingdom of Kent.
罗马基督教就以那儿为基地传播开来 From there, Roman Christianity spread through the land.
这是有史以来第一次 This was the very first time
教皇向外派遣传教使团 that a Pope had ever sent a mission anywhere.
对比德而言,上天特意垂青他 来记叙这段史实 And for Bede this sense of being singled out for special treatment,
是一件意义非常重大的事情 chosen, was hugely significant.
他勾勒出一幅英国人的众生相 He paints a picture of the English
教皇格里高利的记性 让这个民族对他崇拜有加 as a people who adored the memory of Pope Gregory,
教皇本人是个笃信罗马基督教的圣人 who were absolutely committed to this Roman Christianity.
人们因信教而联合起来 And united by it.
对比德而言,作为一个英国人 就是要成为一个信仰基督的人 For Bede, to be English is to be one people with one Christian God.
但是这段历史有些地方让我很好奇 But what's intriguing about this history,
那就是比德描述了一些 is that Bede was describing something
实际上并不存在的东西 which didn't actually exist.
罗马派遣传教使团的事千真万确 The story of the mission from Rome was true.
但是皈依宗教的人们远未异体同心 But the people they came to convert were far from united.
盎格鲁-萨克森人的世界一盘散沙 还没有形成一个单一的民族国家,英格兰 The Anglo-Saxon world wasn't a single nation, England,
各个王国相互征伐,由不同的领主统治着 but a collection of Kingdoms, ruled by warlords.
人们对此业已司空见惯 Repeatedly at each other's throats.
在比德写下这部史书之前 Until Bede wrote this history,
还没有"英国人"这样的称呼 there was no such thing as the English.
更不用说,一个因信仰上帝而统一的民族 Even less, a people united by God.
那么,为何这种统一体 对比德来说如此重要呢? So why was this unity so important to Bede?
一个事实上并不存在的统一体 A unity which didn't in fact exist.
答案就在比德的另一部著作里 Well, the answer lies in another of book of Bede's
这儿有一本副本 and we have a copy here.
对一部中世纪的畅销书来说 里面有些地方令人倍感惊奇 It's quite a surprising subject for a medieval best seller.
因为这是一部<圣经>注释集 Because what it is, is a Biblical commentary.
它只详细地描述了<圣经>中的四个章节 A detailed description of only four chapters of the Bible.
但是这几章非常详细地描述了某些事物 But the chapters describe something very particular.
所罗门王在耶路撒冷 建造的耶和华的殿堂 The house of the Lord which King Solomon built in Jerusalem.
换句话说,就是耶路撒冷的圣殿 In other words, the temple in Jerusalem,
以色列人身份认同感的中心地带 the centre of the identity of Israel.
对犹太人而言,那里即是耶和华的寝宫 For the Jews, the place where God lived.
<圣经>中对此的描述已经足够详尽 And the description in the Bible is elaborate enough,
但是比德的描述依然不惜笔墨 他无法对此视而不见 but Bede just dwells on it, he can't leave it alone.
圣殿里的景象,使他想到了他的故土 He saw in the temple, meaning for his own land.
曾经互相征战的不同部族 统一成一个神圣的民族之后 It had been built after once-warring-tribes
圣殿即开始兴建 were united into one holy nation.
他们是上帝的选民 Chosen by God.
以色列 Israel.
自打统一体出现 财富和上帝的庇护便随之而来 And from this unity followed wealth and God's protection.
这让比德产生了深深的共鸣 Now all that resonated with Bede.
因此,他要将这种理念施加于他的同族 And now he applied it to his own people, the Angli,
盎格鲁-萨克森人 the Gens Anglorum.
教皇没有垂青其他部族 The Pope had chosen them above all others.
如果这些相互敌对的盎格鲁部族 能够统一起来 And if the warring tribes of the Angli could unite,
都能信仰耶稣基督的话 那么他们就能成为新以色列人 under this Catholic Christianity, they could be a new Israel.
那样的话,他们将会成为一个伟大的民族 That would make them a great people
就会成为全欧洲信仰基督的指路明灯 and they would be a beacon for all Europe in their Christianity.
因此,比德要向盎格鲁人,即英国人 So Bede gave the Angli, the English,
灌输这种他们即将成为上帝选民的思想 the idea that they would be a Chosen People.
这是一个充满可能性的愿景 It was a vision rich with possibilities.
但仅有愿景只是空谈 But a vision is all it was.
还需要有人将它带出尘封的图书馆 It just needed someone to take it out of the dusty library
将其转变为现实 and make it real.
中世纪英格兰的一位伟大人物 开始践行比德的宏愿 And one of England's greatest medieval leaders did just that.
阿尔弗雷德大王 Alfred the Great.
比德逝世后150年 150 years after Bede's death,
盎格鲁-萨克森王国遭到敌人的入侵 the Anglo Saxons kingdoms found themselves under attack.
维京人发动了进攻 (斯堪的纳维亚人,北欧海盗) From the Vikings.
苏格兰西南部旧郡埃尔郡 拉格斯海边小镇
当地人是不会忘记维京人的 The people here have not forgotten the Vikings.
每年一到纪念性的日子 Every year they gather at nightfall,
他们就在黄昏时集结起来 再现这段入侵史 in a festival to commemorate Viking invasion.
斯堪的纳维亚人到处烧杀抢掠 令当地人惊恐万分 The marauding Scandinavians were a fearsome enemy.
他们一路挥师南下 盎格鲁-萨克森血统的国王阿尔弗雷德 And as they moved south, one Anglo Saxon King, Alfred,
不得不挺身而出,保卫他的王国威塞克斯 had to defend his kingdom, Wessex, against them.
但是,他打了败仗 But he failed
只好东躲西藏 and was forced into hiding.
阿尔弗雷德对失败的原因心知肚明 Alfred believed he understood the reason for his defeat.
他了解比德的著作 He knew the writings of Bede,
实际上,是他组织人手将比德的拉丁文本 in fact, he'd had it translated from Latin into Anglo Saxon,
翻译成盎格鲁-萨克森人能看懂的古英语 the language of his people.
冥冥之中,是比德的精神力量鼓舞着他 And it was Bede that inspired him to find an answer
去寻找化解生存险境的答案 to this terrifying threat.
英格兰西南部萨默塞特郡 阿塞尔内高地
阿尔弗雷德躲到了这儿 Alfred fled here.
被迫避入萨默赛特郡 To the Somerset levels.
那里有一片巨大的沼泽 They were a huge swamp then,
即便现在去观光,最佳交通工具依然是坐船 and even now often the best way of getting around is by boat.
阿尔弗雷德在此冥思苦想失败的原因 Here Alfred brooded on his downfall.
是比德的思想让他坚信 这片土地由上帝挑选 Bede had convinced him that this land was chosen by God.
并且承蒙上帝的庇护 And under God's protection.
可为何维京人总是打胜仗呢? So why then had the Vikings been so successful?
对阿尔弗雷德来说,答案就在<圣经>里 For Alfred, the answer was in the Bible.
要成为上帝的选民是有附加条件的 Being a Chosen People had strings attached.
先知书里说到,富人必须照应穷人 The prophets said that the rich must look after the poor.
受压迫者必得解脱 如果你不循此道 That the oppressed must be relieved and if you didn't do this,
那上帝就将予以沉重打击 God would do some serious smiting.
阿尔弗雷德觉得责任在他的子民 Alfred decided that his people were at fault.
他们对上帝和教会的虔诚之心 还远远不够 They'd failed to show enough devotion to God and his church,
因此上帝派维京人来惩罚他们 so God had sent the Vikings as a punishment.
他知晓了这才是击败入侵者的关键 Understanding that was the key to defeating the invaders.
阿尔弗雷德深信 只有衷心侍奉上帝才能战无不胜 Alfred was convinced that there would be no victory without God.
当然,全能的神是无法收买的 OK, you couldn't bribe the Almighty,
但是,神一定会眷顾那些 but surely he would look with much more favour on his nation
知晓并遵守他戒律的民族 if it knew his laws and obeyed them.
阿尔弗雷德的解决之道是 根据<圣经.旧约>制定一部法典 Alfred's solution was to draw up a law code based on the Old Testament.
剑桥圣体学院帕克图书馆 (剑桥大学114座图书馆之一)
我要拜访的是 盎格鲁-萨克森历史学家赛蒙.凯恩斯 I've come to meet Anglo Saxon Historian Simon Keynes,
他将向我展示一部从10世纪起 who's going to show me one of the oldest copies of it,
流传下来的远古手稿 from the 10th century.
这是一部残存下来的 年代最为久远的编年史手稿 It's the earliest surviving manuscript of the chronicle.
他认为这些法律并非是 政府制定的日常行为准则 He believes these laws weren't just everyday bits of administration,
而是要大张旗鼓地彰显<圣经>的象征含义 they trumpeted biblical symbolism.
这部法典前面是一列章节标题 Here the law code starts with a list of chapter headings,
条理清楚,一共120章 which, as you can see, are organised in 120 chapters,
这些标题都是具有高度象征性的数字 which of course is a highly symbolic number,
摩西在那个年代归天了 it's the age of which Moses died.
那么,前有立法者摩西 So yes, we've got Moses the law giver,
现有立法者阿尔弗雷德? and now we've got Alfred the law giver?
是的,他将自己视为卓越传统的化身 Yes. He sees himself as standing in this distinguished tradition
将这部法典视作一种 充满英国味的法律表现形式 and he sees his law code as very much an English manifestation
他从<圣经.旧约>里汲取了立法的灵感 of the kind of legislation that he would have seen in the Old Testament.
和<圣经.旧约>的主题有关? And the Old Testament theme goes on?
是的,你翻开书本,发现事实上 它是源自<十诫>的时候 Yes, you turn the page, and it's no surprise to find
你就一点也不会感到惊讶了 that it in fact begins with the Ten Commandments.
你觉得阿尔弗雷德是否真的认为 So you think Alfred really believed that,
如果他的子民遵守上帝的律法 那样就会消解上帝的愤怒吗? if people obeyed God's laws, that would avert God's anger?
是的,阿尔弗雷德一直在确保他的子民 Yes. Alfred is trying to ensure that his people are seen to be doing
的行为处事能让上帝满意 what is pleasing in the sight of God.
只要心里存有希望,那样就会有助于 And the hoped for outcome would be that this would help them
他们获得上帝的援助,击败维京人 to earn God's support in their struggle against the Vikings.
阿尔弗雷德的才能在于 汲取比德的重要理念并将其化为己用 Alfred's genius was to pick up Bede's big idea and run with it.
他领会了比德的精髓 He saw Bede's point.
盎格鲁-萨克森人就是<圣经.旧约>里的以色列人 The Anglo Saxons were the Israelites of the Old Testament.
他从以色列人的传记里汲取了寓意 同样适用于他的王国 Draw the moral from their story. It fitted his kingdom.
遵守上帝的律法 上帝就会帮你御敌 Keep God's laws and God will defend you against his enemies.
在这个寒冷的北方岛屿上 In this cold northern island,
一种新的圣经认同感 变得越来越牢固了 a new Biblical identity was beginning to set firm.
阿尔弗雷德击败了维京人 Alfred defeated the Vikings
他开始审视自己 他不是一个偏居一隅的小国之王了 and he began to see himself, not just as a king of one petty region,
尽管尚处战乱,但在上帝律法的制约之下 amid a confusion of peoples, but as leading a whole chosen nation,
他领导的已经是一个 完整的天选之国了 bound by God's laws.
阿尔弗雷德逝世后 只过了四分之一个世纪 And only a quarter of a century after Alfred's death,
他的孙子光荣者艾塞斯坦 就给九泉之下的比德争光了 it fell to his grandson Athelstan finally to make Bede proud.
他将比德的一统英吉利各民族的愿景 He transformed Bede's vision of a united English people
从幻想化为了现实 from fantasy into reality.
艾塞斯坦以新头衔加冕 Athelstan was crowned with a new title,
称为"英格兰之王" King of England.
这种理念创立了英格兰 一种源自<圣经>的理念 So it was an idea which created England, a Biblical idea.
还能把它叫做"黑暗时代"吗? Call these the Dark Ages?
对英国人来说,从上帝选民犹太人那里 借用了一种全新的身份认同感 Well, they were bright enough for the English
这难道还不够光彩耀人吗? to borrow an entire new identity from God's Chosen People, the Jews.
这种做法极其成功 延续了一千年 And it was so successful, it lasted a thousand years.
直到16世纪,英国人注定要生活在 Up until the 16th century, what it meant to be English
对于罗马天主教的信仰当中 was defined by Catholic Christianity.
这是个上帝挑选出的民族 This was a people singled out by God,
必然专心侍奉罗马教皇 and dedicated to the Pope.
但是英国人的认同感一直在演变 But English identity is always evolving
有个英国国王就是要和罗马决裂 and an English king was to break with Rome.
这场分裂使比德最初要让英吉利民族 A split which threatened to cut down Bede's vision
成为上帝选民的愿景受到了威胁 of this nation as God's people in its prime.
萨默塞特郡 格拉斯顿伯里 (英国西南方小镇)
这些残垣断壁是 中世纪天主教时代 These walls are all that's left of one of the greatest
英国某修道院的宏伟遗迹 medieval monasteries of Catholic England.
它独孤地伫立在那里 默默地诉说着它受到过的毁灭 It bears witness to a period of destruction
这场变故改变了英格兰的灵魂 which changed the soul of England.
1539年9月,三名王室官员 骑马来到这所修道院 In September 1539, three royal commissioners rode into this Abbey
他们奉亨利八世之命而来 on the orders of Henry VIII.
这些官员对这所古老修道院的圣名 Henry's men weren't interested in the holy reputation
没有丝毫的兴趣 of this ancient monastery.
他们此行的目的就是要找 修道院院长理查德.怀丁的茬 What they were after was evidence against its Abbott, Richard Whiting.
尽管他们没有找到怀丁丝毫有罪的证据 And despite the fact they couldn't find anything incriminating at all
怀丁还是被下狱受审 he was imprisoned and put on trial.
怀丁受迫害的真正原因是 他公然反抗国王亨利八世 The real reason they were after him was that he'd defied the King.
这场纷争源于教皇拒绝宣布 The row had all started because the Pope had refused
亨利的首次婚姻是无效的 to declare Henry's first marriage null and void,
因为亨利想同安妮.博林结婚 to let him marry Anne Boleyn.
盛怒之下 In his fury,
国王自命为英格兰教会的首脑 the King declared himself the Head of the Church in England.
那些胆敢忤逆他的人 都没有什么好下场 Those who dared oppose him, suffered terrible consequences.
院长和两名僧侣被吊死在那座小山上 Up there on the hill, the Abbott and two of his monks were hanged,
还被抽肠,砍头,四分五裂 disembowelled, beheaded and quartered.
院长的头颅被钉在 修道院门洞口的长钉上 The Abbot's head was put on a spike above his own gateway
以此来恐吓当地人 他的碎尸还被放在沥青里煮烂 for all Glastonbury to see, and his quarters, were boiled in pitch,
送到韦尔斯,巴斯 伊尔切斯特,布里奇沃特等地示众 and displayed in Wells, Bath, Ilchester and Bridgwater.
修道院也被拆除了 The monastery buildings were torn down.
亨利八世绝对藐视教皇的权威,在四年里 In an act of absolute contempt for Papal authority, within four years,
他关闭了全部八百座天主教宗教场所 Henry had closed all 800 Catholic religious houses in the land.
这可是一件不得了的事 This was extraordinary.
英国人的身份认同感 是由僧侣比德创立的 English identity had been invented by a monk, Bede.
而一个英国国王 却摧毁了所有的修道院 Now a King of England was destroying all the monasteries.
最后摧毁修道院的是维京人 The last people who'd destroyed monasteries were the Vikings
他们是上帝的敌人,这也能预料得到 and they were the enemies of God and you'd expect that.
但是作为受命于神的君王 But a divinely anointed monarch
难道不应该护佑上帝的选民吗? supposed to safeguard God's Chosen People?
阿尔弗雷德时代 In the time of King Alfred,
对教会的不敬导致了维京人的入侵 just neglecting the Church had led to Viking invasion.
而当一名君主公然反抗教皇 并关闭所有的修道院时 When a monarch defied the Pope and closed all the monasteries
就不怕天降报应陷民于水深火热吗? surely divine vengeance was going to be much worse?
但是亨利和他的谋士们极为自负 But Henry and his advisors had very good reasons for believing
他们坚信英格兰作为上帝选民的地位 没有丝毫的危险 that England's status as his chosen nation wasn't in jeopardy.
他们认为,他们能够证明 基督教在英格兰的广泛传播 They believed they could prove Christianity in England
根本不应归功于教皇 owed nothing to the Pope.
但其实这么做就表明了 是对历史彻底的改写了 But it involved a radical rewriting of history.
这是格拉斯顿伯里最著名的地标之一 This is one of Glastonbury's most famous landmarks.
一名来自中东的游历者 And the site of an ancient legend
在这里写下了一段古老的传奇 about a visitor from the Middle East.
威尔耶山 格拉斯顿伯里荆棘
这段传说告诉我们 亨利有了坚强的后盾 It was a story which gave Henry ammunition
以证明他与教皇的决裂是合理的 to justify his break with Rome.
你不认为这有点难以理解吗? 有人就是要钻这个牛角尖 It's a bit battered don't you think? Someone's had a go at it.
我在和作者克里夫德.隆利探讨这件事 I went to talk it through with the author Clifford Longley.
这棵树非常奇特,根据传说 Now this is a truly extraordinary tree which comes from Israel,
它真的来自以色列 according to the legend.
最初,它是由亚利马太的约瑟夫种植在此 It was planted here originally by Joseph of Arimathea (巴勒斯坦的一座城市)
他是个<圣经>中的人物 将自己的坟墓让予了我主耶稣 who appears in the Bible as the man who lent his tomb to Jesus.
他将他的人赶到外面 He drove his staff into the ground and as a result,
结果,一丛荆棘奇迹般地出现了 miraculously a thorn bush appeared,
我们眼前的这株就是它的后代 and its descendent is here in front of us.
因此可以证明,是亚利马太的约瑟夫 It's a link therefore demonstrating that Joseph of Arimathea
最早在这个国家建立基督教会的 planted the first Christian church in this country.
我在想,这段传说吸引 亨利八世的地方是否就在于 I suppose what's attractive to Henry VIII in this story,
这个证据直接证明了基督教 在从它的发源地传到英格兰的过程中 is that here is a direct link from the heart of Christianity
传道者根本就没有去罗马朝圣过呢? here to England without any visit to Rome in the process?
嗯,这段很有意思的故事 就给亨利八世提供了依据 Well, it provides him with a very interesting narrative
他就有正当理由在这个国家里 about how he's right to get rid of the power of the Pope
废除掉教皇势力的影响 in this country.
因为他真正要宣称的就是 Because what he is really saying is
英国的基督教绝非源自罗马 that English Christianity did not derive from Rome
而且从来不是真正的罗马天主教 and was never really Roman Catholic.
它比罗马天主教更加原始 It was, as it were, more primitive than that.
要追溯到世纪之初的以色列 It goes right back to the first century in Israel
是直接源自那个地方的 and derives directly from those sources.
那么坎特伯雷的奥古斯丁 率领的传道团 So Augustine of Canterbury's mission to England,
于6世纪前往英格兰传教 突然间就变得没什么大用处了吗? back in the 6th century, suddenly becomes irrelevant?
比这个还要糟糕 这就变成罗马教廷的某种侵略行为了 Worse than that, it becomes a kind of Papal aggression.
原来规范的英国基督教就被 That normative English Christianity is disturbed by this
奥古斯丁带来的传道团扰乱了 foreign invasion of the monks who are accompanying Augustine,
也可以说,这种外来势力 and, if you like, an assertion therefore of foreign power,
就是亨利明确声称要全力反对的东西 which is what Henry was wrestling with.
也就是讲,从象征意义上来看 英格兰的基督教形式 And this, if you like, symbolises that England
原本就是纯洁的 had a purer form of Christianity right from the start,
不依赖于任何外来干扰而存在 and did not depend therefore on any foreign interference.
我认为没有其他什么树能够承担起 There can't be many trees which are responsible
佐证一个业已成立的教会的责任 for an established church I think.
不,它看上去有点情绪低落 No, it's looking a bit sorry for itself.
你认为它是个象征吗? Do you think that's a metaphor?
绝招出手了 It was a masterstroke.
亨利重新定义了 英国人上帝选民身份的由来 Henry had redefined why the English were God's Chosen People.
不是因为这个民族对罗马的绝对忠诚 Not because of the nation's unique loyalty to Rome,
而是因为耶稣的贴身门徒 涉足过英格兰这片土地 but because Jesus' immediate followers had come here.
亨利大刀阔斧地改写了英国人的历史 In a bold move, Henry had rewritten English history.
但是他要背弃的教皇的权威 But he was turning his back on nearly 1,000 years
差不多延续了1000年之久哪 of Papal authority,
因此你可以想象得到 他要经历多少个不眠之夜呀 so you might expect him to have some sleepless nights.
'本次列车开往汉普顿宫' 'This train is for Hampton Court.'
但是有桩让他高兴的事发生了 他因此坚信上帝还是站在他这边的 But a happy event convinced him that God was still on his side.
伦敦 汉普顿宫
这座宫殿是亨利最喜欢的王宫之一 This was one of Henry's favourite Royal Palaces.
1537年10月,就是在这里 亨利的第三位妻子 It was here that in October 1537, Henry's then wife,
简.西摩尔生下了王子爱德华 Jane Seymour, gave birth to a son, Edward.
亨利渴求一名男性继承人将近30年 他都有点灰心丧气了 After nearly 30 frustrating years of praying for a male heir,
现在最终如愿以偿了 he finally got what he wanted.
但对亨利来说,这不仅是家族的喜事 But for Henry this wasn't just about happy families,
而且还具有宗教上的深远意义 it had profound religious significance.
他认为与罗马教廷决裂和爱德华的降生 He saw the break with Rome and the arrival of Edward
这两件事之间有着不可分离的联系 as inseparably linked.
他向上帝祷告,祈求天降洪福 He'd prayed to God for this greatest of blessings
结果在他驱逐了教皇的势力之后 and the fact that God had answered his prayers,
上帝对他的祷告也予以了回应 after he'd expelled the Pope,
这就证明了他的所作所为是完全正确的 was absolute proof that he'd done the right thing.
为了纪念爱德华的降生 To mark Edward's birth
亨利下令建造了一样特殊的艺术品 Henry commissioned an extraordinary artwork.
它不仅用来庆贺王子的降生 It celebrated the arrival of his son,
而且还是一种广而告之的声明 but it was also a very public statement
宣扬了他新任角色的正统性 about the legitimacy of his new role,
上帝新选民的首脑 Leader of God's reinvented Chosen People.
汉普顿宫的大厅 This Great Hall of Hampton Court
就是亨利展现崇高形象的舞台 was the stage set for Henry VIII's greatness.
他在这里,将他的姿态展现给他的臣民 The place he presented himself to his people,
他的贵族,还有外国使臣 to his nobility, to foreign diplomats.
这个舞台的精华部分就是这些挂毯 And an essential part of that stage set are these tapestries.
一共有十件 这些挂毯的统计数据让人咋舌 Ten of them. And the statistics of them make you gasp.
有88码长(80多米长) 88 yards long.
布鲁塞尔的工匠小组 花了两年的工夫 Took two years for a team of craftsmen in Brussels
用金丝银线织造而成 to make them out of gold and silver thread.
这是亨利八世私有的最昂贵的一件艺术品 These were the single most expensive item that Henry VIII owned.
这些场景的描绘对人很有启发 And it's what these scenes depict that's so revealing.
事实上,这幅场面宏大的画卷 In effect, this is a deluxe strip cartoon
讲述的是<圣经>人物亚伯拉罕的人生 of the life of the Biblical figure, Abraham.
上帝的最初选民-犹太人的先祖 Father of the original Chosen People, the Jews.
正如亨利八世一样 And just like Henry VIII,
他晚年也和上帝达成了某种协定 late in life, he'd made an agreement with God.
他的赏赐就是上帝让他当了父亲 And his reward was to be father in a different sense,
有了一个合法的儿子-以撒 to have a legitimate son, Isaac.
亨利无法抗拒这种象征意义 Henry could not resist this symbolism.
他要当新亚伯拉罕,他的子民之父 爱德华之父 He was the new Abraham, father of his people. Father of Edward.
还有一件展品能真正深入人心 And there's one panel that really hammers the message home.
但是它被保护性地贮藏起来了 这叫我多少有点失望 I was frustrated to find it in storage for conservation.
不过,我还有B计划 But I had a plan B.
伦敦 威斯敏斯特教堂
威斯敏斯特教堂后面有一个隐秘角落 这里是主任牧师的住所 Here, tucked away behind Westminster Abbey, are the Dean's lodgings.
有个古老而私密的房间 And in an ancient and private room,
恰当地说,应该叫做耶路撒冷密室 aptly known as the Jerusalem Chamber
这儿恰巧有一份 16世纪的副本,正是我想看的 there happens to be a 16th century copy of just what I wanted to see.
我以前也来过这儿 Well, I have been in this room before
但是我一直没有真正理解 but I've never really understood the significance
这件特殊物品的重要性 of this particular object.
紧张不安的参观者 也许会立马转身走人 Viewers of a nervous disposition may wish to turn away now
因为上面展现的是亚伯拉罕 给以撒行割礼的场景 because what we're seeing here is Abraham circumcising Isaac,
换言之,就是从身体上 将子嗣引入到上帝选民的行列 in other words, physically introducing into the Chosen People.
亨利八世就这样利用这幅画做文章 So what Henry VIII is doing with this tapestry,
他说,亚伯拉罕是 上帝老选民-以色列人的领袖 is saying that Abraham was leader of the old Chosen People, Israel.
我是上帝新选民-英国人的领袖 I am the leader of the new Chosen People, England.
舍我其谁?教皇该靠边站了 Accept no substitutes for me, particularly not the Pope.
从此以后,这个上帝的选民 From now on, the chosen nation
就成了教皇和天主教的敌人了 was the enemy of the Pope and Catholicism.
作为英国人就是要憎恨罗马 To be English was to hate Rome.
国王亨利重塑了历史 也就永远地改变了英国 King Henry's rewriting of history changed England forever.
不可思议的是 一种极其英国式的矛盾凸显了 And in a weird and very English contradiction,
一切都变了,什么都没变 everything had changed and nothing had changed.
说什么都没变 Nothing had changed
是因为英国人依然明白 他们是个特殊的民族 because the English still knew they were special.
但是在亨利八世执政之前 特殊之处就在于 But before Henry VIII, being special had meant
这个民族向全欧洲的天主教世界表明 他们对教皇的衷心是最最忠诚的 showing all Catholic Europe how best to be loyal to the Pope.
而现在,这种特殊之处就意味着 对全欧洲的新教教徒表明 Now, being special meant showing all Protestant Europe
他们要和教皇抗争到底 how best to fight the Pope.
这就是上帝新的打算 That was God's new plan.
英国人对此感到非常满意 And the English were well pleased with it.
因此尽管新教改革在不断推进 So despite this Protestant Reformation,
上帝仍然在塑造着英国人 God was still shaping the English.
亨利出于私心,厚颜无耻地对 国民性予以改头换面 And Henry's cheeky piece of national rebranding
随之而来的这种自信 再度改变了人们 created a self confidence that once again shifted thinking
对成为上帝选民的种种思虑 about being the chosen nation.
在18世纪之前,人们往往认为 成为英国人不仅仅要显得与众不同 By the 18th century to be English was more than just to be special.
而且还要比别人更优秀 It was to be better than anyone else.
正是这种优越感,给这个帝国 奠定了心理基础 It was a sense of superiority that became the basis
使得它在世界历史上 写下了令人难以置信的篇章 for one of the most implausible Empires in world history.
伦敦塔 枪码头
大家都请到链子后面去 Everybody must move behind the chains please!
每年这个时候在枪码头 Every year at Gun Wharf
会有很多人来围观一场颇为嘈杂的典礼 the crowds gather to watch a rather noisy ceremony
这一天是1953年女王 加冕礼的周年纪念日 marking the anniversary of the Queen's coronation in 1953.
荣誉炮兵连 This is the Honourable Artillery Company
承担此项仪式可谓最佳 doing what soldiers do best.
三门大炮要连发62响礼炮 Firing 62 rounds on three guns.
一个世纪前,大英帝国的上空 A century ago this sound would've roared
也曾久久回荡着炮声的怒吼 throughout the British Empire.
我仿佛又回到了充满荣光的帝国时代 Well, here I am back in our Imperial Glory Days,
那时我们曾是这个世界的主宰 when we were the people who ruled the world.
但是英国人不满足仅有这样一个帝国 But the Empire wasn't just an English enterprise.
它要把信仰新教的苏格兰人合并进来 It was a joint enterprise with the Protestant Scots.
两个民族之间进行了一场交易 A deal was done between the two nations
1707年在伦敦,它们建立了 全面的伙伴关系 and in 1707 there was a full-scale partnership,
两国议会进行了合并 uniting the two Parliaments in London.
这个联合体叫做"大不列颠" The union christened itself Great Britain.
这在上帝选民的发展进程中 留下了一抹新的色彩 And it marked a new phase in the development of the chosen nation.
英国人友好地将他们的优越感情结 The English kindly lent their superiority complex
传染给了不列颠岛上的其他民族 on the newly invented British.
他们从来不为身份认同感的区分 They never bothered to sort out the differences
而大伤脑筋,这又何必呢? between the two identities. And why should they?
因为归根到底 英国人明白他们是上帝的选民 Because after all the English knew they were the Chosen People.
就像古代的以色列人那样 Just like ancient Israelites,
唯一超越以色列人的是 他们是新教徒 only better because they were Protestants.
这就激发他们走出国门,征服世界 That's what motivated them to go out and conquer the world.
还有,逆上帝者天必降祸于他 And woe betide anyone else who stood in the way of God's plan.
到20世纪的时候 全世界有超过4500万人口 By the 20th century, more than 450 million people across the globe
在大英帝国的统治之下 had come under British rule.
这个上帝的选民-英格兰 曾经笃信天主教 Once the chosen nation had been Catholic England,
后来改宗新教 then Protestant England.
现在有了信仰新教的不列颠 Now it became Protestant Britain.
这个帝国的信念是 The Empire was born from the conviction
上帝是站在不列颠这边的 that God was on Britain's side.
伦敦 德普福德船厂
大英帝国的财富 The wealth of Imperial Britain was amassed
通过这样的港口贸易日积月累 through trade at ports like this.
19世纪时,轮船每天来来往往 In the 19th century, ships came and went daily,
从美洲运回棉花 从远东运回丝绸和茶叶 carrying cotton from the Americas, silks and tea from the Far East.
这个国家的繁荣昌盛 足以强化这种理念 The prosperity of the country only served to reinforce the idea
这就是,所有这些回报 都是因为英国人在上帝心目中 that all this was the reward for having special status
保有特殊地位的缘故 in the eyes of God.
但是随着帝国的扩张 But the Imperial expansion,
给上帝选民这种虚构的事实 带来了一种新的变数 saw a new twist to the chosen nation mythology.
这种变数是不招人待见的 And not an attractive one.
很显然,认为自己是上帝选民的思想 It's obvious there are real dangers in thinking
是颇具危险性的 you're God's Chosen People.
为了能向好的方面发展 There can be good results,
比德一直在劝告盎格鲁-萨克森人 让他们相信他们是一个单一的民族 so Bede persuaded the Anglo-Saxons that they were one single nation.
国王阿尔弗雷德也创立法律来取悦上帝 King Alfred instituted the rule of law to please God.
但是随着集权和军事上的胜利 But combine power and military success
还有日后对世界其他地区的征服 and then add in an Empire across the world,
而忘却了自身和上帝间的差异 这就是一件很要命的事了 and it's fatally easy to forget the difference between yourself and God.
自负会带来很严重的后果 Arrogance can have dark consequences.
不断膨胀的自负心态 使英国人相信 And it was this growing arrogance that led the British to believe
他们不能仅仅靠输出亚麻布和刀具度日 they had something more to export than just linen and cutlery.
他们有自己的宗教信仰和道德规范 They had their faith and their morals.
这项冒险事业的前沿阵地上 有一类新的基督教徒 And at the forefront of this venture was a new breed of Christian,
就是新教福音派信徒 the Protestant Evangelical.
福音派信徒将帝国视作上帝的馈赠 Evangelicals saw the Empire as God's gift,
但这件礼物却是有附加条件的 but it was a gift with strings attached.
上帝要求的是彻底改变 帝国要达到的就是这个目的 God wanted conversions. That's what the Empire was for.
这是一场道义上的圣战 上帝的选民有权利 It was a moral crusade and a chosen people had every right
告诉人民去信仰什么 如何遵守规矩 to tell people what to believe and how to behave.
但是有个问题摆在面前 But there was a problem.
上帝的选民很难 The chosen nation was hardly in a position
占据在道义高度上 to take the moral high ground.
他们正忙于一项可耻的,堕落的活动 It was itself engaged in an activity
那就是奴隶贸易 that was degrading and corrupt, slave trading.
有一位福音派信徒在积极努力地 改正这种矛盾的状况 And one Evangelical in particular sought to remedy the contradiction.
为了废除这种贸易制度而不断抗争着 By fighting to abolish the trade.
他就是威廉.威尔伯福斯 His name was William Wilberforce.
他凭借的理念 And the idea he drew on
就是这个民族在上帝心目中的特殊地位 was the nation's special status in the eyes of God.
威尔伯福斯拿出的证据就是 Wilberforce's argument amounted to saying that
上帝的选民不应该非人道地对待奴隶 the Chosen People would not treat slaves so inhumanly.
我们的独特地位迫使我们有责任 Our unique status forced a duty on us
比其他民族去行更多的善事 给世界树立一个好的榜样 to behave better than other people. To set an example to the world.
因此,不列颠开始废除奴隶贸易 And so, Britain led the way in abolishing the slave trade.
但是这种道义上的需要 But this moral imperative
赋予了上帝的选民一个新的 不明确的全球性角色 led to a rather ambiguous new global role for the Chosen People.
充当上帝的警察 As God's policeman.
大英帝国坚信,由于他们 在上帝心目中占有特殊地位 Imperial Britain believed that its special status in the eyes of God
因此他们就有权利去世界各地 纠正那些坏的行为 gave it a right to correct bad behaviour everywhere.
首要职责就是 即使很多地方还不情愿 And its first job was to enforce its anti-slavery policy
也要坚决实施反奴隶制政策 on a reluctant world.
当然,不列颠有空前庞大的舰队,商船... Of course, Britain had this unprecedented mixture of naval, commercial...
我和历史学家理查德.德雷顿参观 皇家海军舰艇"亭可马里号" I'm meeting historian Richard Drayton, on the HMS Trincomalee,
一艘19世纪的海军舰艇 a 19th century naval ship.
1807年废除了奴隶贸易之后 After the slave trade is abolished in 1807,
这种船只就用来 vessels such as this are involved
阻止奴隶贩子从西非,东非海岸 in preventing slaves from being loaded or carried
装运或者掠夺奴隶 off the coasts of west and east Africa.
这种特殊的舰船 And this particular vessel
还用来巡查古巴海域 was involved in policing the waters off of Cuba.
那么,这就是不列颠 在全球扮演世界警察角色 So this is the start of Britain's role as the world's policeman,
为自由而战的起点吗? fighting for freedom globally?
绝对如此,不过,要当好警察 Absolutely, but the thing about a policeman is,
作为一名警察,至少是名义上的话 a policeman, at least nominally,
他的行为应该合乎一整套特定的法律 is supposed to be acting in response to a particular set of laws,
这套法律是社会群体赞成通过的 警察也是群体的一份子 which the community which the policeman is part of, agrees to.
其时,王家海军 在19世纪早期的某种作为 Now one of the things which the Royal Navy is doing
在很多情况下触犯了<国际法> in the early 19th century is breaking international law in many cases.
比如随心所欲地 滥用权利,强行登船 Simply by taking upon itself the arbitrary right to board vessels
在取得协商结果之前就没收货物 and to confiscate cargo prior to an exiting treaty framework.
这才是真正的上帝的警察 So this is genuinely God's policeman,
他们按自己的理解自行其是 people who are acting in ways which are, as they understand them,
对国家利益意义重大 to be significant for the national interest.
帝国已经没落了 我们还在如此行事吗? The Empire has gone but are we still doing this?
我们还把自己 看做这个世界的道义力量吗? Are we still thinking of ourselves as a moral force in the world?
嗯,王家海军认为禁止奴隶贸易 Well, the suppression of the slave trade figures very prominently
对他们来说是非常重要的 in the identity of the Royal Navy.
王家海军当然要在世界各地 The Royal Navy of course is involved in anti-piracy actions
参与打击贩奴的行动 in several parts of the world.
还要严禁非法人口贸易 In the suppression of human trafficking
从这段19世纪的大手笔来看 and these are linked in very deliberate ways
这些举措都是经过深思熟虑的 with of course this 19th century heroic story.
20世纪之初 At the dawn of the 20th century,
英国人的个性既有变化又趋向保守 once again English identity had both changed and remained the same.
比德的上帝选民的愿景 依然有着旺盛的生命力 Bede's vision of a Chosen People was still in rude health.
但是强国总是会走下坡路的 But power always corrupts.
这个世界上最强大的帝国 也莫不如此 And the power of the world's greatest empire did just that.
这个种族受上帝的庇护 It was an easy step to move from the ideal of a united people,
它的理想是从一个统一体 转变为内心战无不胜的民族 protected by God,
要做到这一步是很容易的 to becoming a nation that believed itself invincible.
上帝对英国人民族性的影响达到了顶峰 God's influence on the nation's character was at its peak.
但是所有的这一切受到了 一桩灾难性事件的挑战 But all of that was challenged by a cataclysmic event...
第一次世界大战 The Great War.
法国 索姆河地区
1916年7月1日 The 1st of July 1916.
这一天,见证了英国军事史上 The day which saw one of the worst disasters
最为惨重的灾难 in British military history.
那一刻,浸润了英国人 1000多年的意识形态 And a moment when an ideology the English had nurtured
开始分崩离析 for over 1,000 years began to disintegrate.
在法国北部的田野里 Here in the fields of Northern France,
成千上万的军队集结起来 thousands of troops gathered
准备打一场第一次世界大战中 规模最大的进攻战 for the largest offensive of the First World War.
我现在身处索姆河前线的一条战壕里 I'm in one of the front line trenches on the Somme,
我把自己当成士兵 我能看见田野另一边 and, as a soldier, I would be able to see individual Germans
零星的德军士兵 他们离得是那样的近 on the other side of the field there, they're that close.
将军命令我 And what the generals are ordering me to do,
和其他成百上千的年轻士兵 along with hundreds of other young men,
爬出这条相对安全的战壕 is to climb out of the comparative safety of this trench,
从这里向密集的炮火冲锋 over here into a hail of machine gun fire.
我只得服从军令 And I don't stand a chance.
早上七点半,英军士兵爬出战壕 At 7.30am British soldiers clambered out of these trenches
汹涌而过这片无人战区 and surged across No Man's Land.
成片成片的士兵倒下了 Line after line of men fell.
英国军队仅在一天之内 有将近六万人伤亡 In a single day the British Army suffered nearly 60,000 casualties.
其中死亡19000人 19,000 deaths.
言归正传,英国教会非常清楚 Back home, the Church of England was perfectly clear
为什么要挖这些战壕 about the purpose of the trenches.
伦敦教区的主教把这场战争 称为"一场圣战" The Bishop of London, called this a Holy War,
就像杜伦的主任牧师在1916年所说的 教会和民族之间的新纽带 and the Dean of Durham said in 1916, a new link between church and nation
会在灾难的熔炉里不断得到强化 will have been forged in the furnace of affliction.
通过招募新兵的方式 这些理念得以实施 They were ideas put into practice in a divine recruitment drive.
英国国教的牧师跨过沙场 Anglican clergy across the land
向那些淫乱,酗酒成性的民族布道 preached that the nation was drunk and promiscuous
这些布道者一定要向上帝忏悔 求得上帝的支持 and that they must repent for God to be on their side.
表现忏悔的最实际的方式 就是报名入伍 And a practical way of showing repentance was to join up,
这种行为表明了顺从上帝意愿的开始 an act that was the beginning of a submission to God's will.
布道的使命就是要重振宗教的辉煌 The mission's aim was to kick start a religious revival
即使面对的是一场战局不利的战争 in the face of a war which was not going well.
纪念索姆河战役阵亡将士的 蒂耶普瓦勒纪念碑
这座巨大的建筑孤独地伫立着 This vast, lonely structure
它是第一次世界大战的亡魂见证人 bears witness to the dead of the Great War.
超过100万的英国及其殖民地士兵 Over a million British and Imperial soldiers
在这场战争中牺牲了生命 sacrificed their lives in the conflict.
碑上镌刻着72000多将士的名字 他们的尸体永远都找不到了 These names are those of the 72,000 whose bodies were never even found.
伤亡如此惨重,原来对英国国教 非常虔诚的人们就产生了疑问 It was these heavy casualties that called Anglican piety into question.
如果上帝的选民是为了 顺从上帝的意志 If God's chosen nation had gone to fight in a war
才投身于这场并非他们发动的战争 they hadn't even started, in obedience to His purpose,
这就说明他们遵守了 与上帝之间的协定 then it had kept its side of the agreement.
作为回报,上帝应该 保佑他们平安归来才是 God's role in return, was to see that his people came through.
但是,英国军队在索姆河激战时 上帝去哪儿了呢? But where was the God of the English at the Battle of the Somme?
他似乎忘却了与他们定下的契约 He seemed to have forgotten his side of the bargain.
200多年来,英国人 一直在大英帝国的国土上 For 200 years the English had lent the British Empire
践行着成为上帝选民的理念 the idea of being a Chosen People.
而现在这场空前惨烈的战争 Now this most destructive of wars
使这个天选帝国和它的选民 都受到了嘲弄 mocked both chosen Empire and chosen nation.
这次重大打击无疑大大削弱了 The onslaught was certainly enough to dent the self confidence
大英帝国的自信心 of the British Empire.
虽然第一次世界大战摧毁了 上帝选民的神话 But while the First World War damaged the chosen nation myth,
但是,这个民族一息尚存 it didn't kill it.
上帝选民的理念早已 深深地镌刻进了英格兰的历史之中 The idea was so deeply carved into England's history
这个民族长久融汇起来的记忆 是不会被轻易抹去的 and collective memory that it couldn't be erased.
它的呼声始终回荡在人们耳畔 Echoes of it can still be heard.
几个世纪以来,这种理念的回响 仿佛越发清晰了 And nowhere do they more clearly reverberate down the centuries
在这幢建筑里 教会与国家之间的关系 than here, in a building that best encapsulates the relationship
得到了最好的融合 between church and state.
有很多国家级的宗教仪式 都在这里举行 And in the national rituals that take place here.
1953年6月2日
"王室骑兵护卫队过来了" 'And here comes the sovereign's escort of the Household Cavalry.'
索姆河战役将近40年之后 Nearly 40 years after the Somme,
上帝选民的古老理念 被一桩世界瞩目的大事唤醒了 the myth was recalled at an event watched by the world.
伊丽莎白女王的加冕礼 The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth
这一时刻的到来,正好可以 加强整个民族的向心力 was a moment designed to unite the nation.
这是历史上首次通过电视 转播如此古老的盛典 For the first time in history this ancient ceremony was televised.
女王陛下身穿深红色的议会长袍 'Her Majesty wearing the crimson parliament robes and upon her head,
头戴镶有宝石的王冠 'a jewelled diadem.'
邻居请我们全家去看电视实况转播 Me and my parents were invited round to the one of the very few people
那时只有为数很少的家庭拥有电视 in the neighbourhood who had a television.
那真的是我生平第一次接触电视 Actually the first time I saw a TV.
实际上看到些什么 我都记不得了 I don't actually remember too much about it
因为那时我才两岁不到 because I was less than two at the time,
回首当时看电视的感觉 让我震撼的不仅是 but looking back at the film now what strikes me is not just church
教会和国家之间融洽的关系 还有它那纯粹的英国风格 and state working together, it's the sheer Englishness of the event.
这就是亨利八世都会认可的上帝选民 This was the Chosen People who Henry VIII would've recognised.
数百万的观众见证了1000多年来 The millions who saw it were witnessing the culmination
这个英国历史上的高潮 of over a thousand years of English history.
这套礼仪是从10世纪起流传下来的 The service had first been designed back in the 10th century.
最吸引人的地方在于 And what's fascinating is
它不仅是世俗权力的交接 that this isn't just the handover of earthly power,
还是一种宗教仪式,这种仪式 记述了理念演变过程中的关键时刻 it's a ritual which charts the key moments in the evolution of an idea.
女士,女王陛下是否愿意接受誓约? Madam, is your Majesty willing to take the Oath?
我愿意 I am willing.
比德提出的,一个民族要虔心 侍奉上帝的观念 Bede's notion of a nation committed to God is there,
与阿尔弗雷德提出的 依靠法律获得天佑的观点并行不悖 alongside Alfred's that the law was the means to win divine favour.
你愿意尽全力维护上帝之法 Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the laws of God
并且维护<福音书>倡导的信仰... and the true profession of the Gospel..
英国人与时俱进 There's the Reformation
以新教的模式重塑上帝的选民 and the recasting of the chosen nation in a Protestant mould.
你愿意维护并坚守与英国国教之间 Will you maintain and preserve inviolably
定下的不可侵犯的契约 the settlement of the Church of England
以及根据英国法律制定的 and the doctrine, worship, discipline and government thereof,
教义,尊崇,准则,政体吗? as by law established in England?
我保证做到这一切 All this I promise to do.
仪式的焦点是给君主涂抹圣油 And at the heart of the ceremony, the anointing of the monarch,
这是将英国人视作 上帝的初始选民-以色列人 is the unmistakeable comparison of England
这种比喻还是很恰当的 to God's original Chosen People, Israel.
这个时刻很神圣,不允许在电视上转播 It was a moment so sacred it wasn't even allowed to be televised.
以汝抹有圣油之首起誓 Be thy head anointed with holy oil,
正如国王,牧师,先知亦受涂油礼一样 as kings and priest and prophets were anointed.
正如所罗门王受祭司撒督 And as Solomon was anointed king by Zadok the priest
和先知拿单之涂油礼一样 汝亦受涂油礼,保佑 and Nathan the prophet, so be thou anointed, blessed,
神圣的女王君临天下 and consecrated Queen over the peoples,
汝之上帝将臣民付与汝统治 whom the Lord thy God hath given thee to rule and govern.
1953年的伦敦融入进了 3000年前的耶路撒冷 London in 1953 melted into Jerusalem 3,000 years before.
正如希伯来先知和祭司 对希伯来王行涂油礼那样 And just as Hebrew prophets and priests had anointed a Hebrew King
因此现在上帝也将新的统治权 赋予他在人间的代表 so now God gave his Anglican seal of approval on this new reign.
音乐:祭司撒督 作曲 亨德尔(英籍德国作曲家) MUSIC: "Zadok the Priest" composed by Handel.
这个仪式提醒我们,即使是今天 君主要行使统治权还是要接受上帝的膏礼 It reminds us that even now, the sovereign rules as God's anointed.
加冕礼表明的理念是 作为上帝选民的英国人 The coronation shows that the idea of the English as God's Chosen People,
依然和这个国家的政治结构 有着千丝万缕的联系 is still woven into the political fabric of the nation.
这种理念是无法从 It's a concept that can't be extricated
历经千年之久的宗教仪式中剥离的 from a thousand-year-old ritual.
但是,这并不意味着 宗教势力仍和从前一样强大 But that doesn't mean that it lives on undiminished.
索姆河战役过去这么多年了 Long after the Battle of the Somme was over,
它导致了又一场灾祸 it claimed another casualty.
后果当时没有显现出来 It wasn't apparent at the time
即便如此,它还是再次改变了 上帝选民的古老神话 but nonetheless changed the myth once more.
这场灾祸带来的巨大伤痛 甚至在庆典时刻 A casualty that even during this moment of celebration
仍旧让人们耿耿于怀 was taking its last breaths.
全民信教的表达形式 The national expression of belief in God.
今天,绝大多数的人私下里 仍然声称是信仰上帝的 Today, in private, most people still claim to believe in God,
但在公开场合就很少提起了 but in public he's barely mentioned.
你也许会认为上帝选民的观念 You might think that the idea of a people chosen by God
也会面临同样的命运,好吧,倒是没有 would suffer a similar fate, well no.
在过去的75年里 我们介入了22次以上的冲突 In the last 75 years we've intervened in more than 22 conflicts.
伊拉克 2003年
海湾战争打响了 'War in the Gulf has begun.'
从发动战争的领导人的话来看 And it's evident from the words of the leaders who've started them,
战争的动机不单单是和经济 that the motivation isn't only economic,
要么还和国家安全有关 or to do with national security.
今晚,英国空军对利比亚展开行动 Tonight British forces are in action over Libya.
上层人物依旧认为这个民族有责任 They still assume this nation has a duty
干预其他地区性的事务 to intervene in the affairs of others.
卡梅伦:我们是正义的 因为我相信,我们不能眼睁睁地 CAMERON: It is right because I believe we should not stand aside
看着一名独裁者杀戮 他的人民而袖手旁观 while this dictator murders his own people.
布莱尔:我们的行为对这个世界来说 是正义之举,我们一定要明白 BLAIR: We are doing what is right for a world that must know that
野蛮的暴行是无法战胜正义的 barbarity cannot be allowed to defeat justice.
正义之举就是这么简单 This is simply the right thing to do.
还有一种观念,就是我们这个国家 There's still a sense that the country should set a moral standard
应该为世界上的其他国家 设定一套道义标准 for the rest of the world.
就像我们曾经的所作所为那样 As we have done throughout history.
数个世纪以前,国王,皇帝,军阀 统治着世界上的大部分地区 Centuries ago, when Kings, Emperors and warlords reigned over
是英国人率先向人们 much of the world it was the English who first spelled out
阐明了他们的权利和自由 the rights and liberties of man.
我们仍然是上帝的选民 That we are still a Chosen People.
我们的国家受上帝的保佑 This country is a blessed nation.
大家都清楚 The world knows it.
我们从心底里就是这么想的 大家都知道 In our innermost thoughts, we know it.
我们的国家在世界上最伟大 This is the greatest nation on earth.
可是从第一次世界大战起 有些东西丧失了 But since the First World War there's been something missing.
一个关键的元素 A key element.
上帝不再做选择了 God's no longer doing the choosing.
一场大战之后,英国人突然就感觉到 After one battle, it was suddenly much easier for the English to feel
上帝已经抛弃了他们 that God had abandoned them.
一个世纪之后,至少在公开场合 And a century later, in public at least,
英国人也基本上背弃了上帝 the English have largely abandoned God.
英国人依旧保有这种观念 他们这个特殊的民族 The English still have the sense of being a people so special
有责任为世界做出榜样 that they feel duty bound to set an example to the world.
但是上帝似乎离开了他的居所 But God seems to have left the building.
上帝选民的神话持续之久 让我大为惊叹 I'm astonished at how enduring this myth has been.
英国人并非唯一相信 自己是上帝选民的民族 The English aren't the only nation to have believed they're chosen by God,
但他们的信仰却最长久,最富激情 but they believed it the longest and with the most passion.
这种观念超越了 索姆河战役,帝国的末日 It's an idea that outlasted the Somme, the end of the Empire,
空无一人的教堂长椅 the emptying of the pews.
它是否能延续下去还留待检验 因为许多预言家说了 It remains to be seen whether it will survive what many predict
下一个重要挑战 就是大不列颠的分裂 is the next big challenge, the fragmentation of Great Britain.
绝对不要低估神话的力量 Never underestimate the power of a myth.
一名盎格鲁-萨克森僧侣 在诺森伯利亚的一个小修道院 Over 1,000 years after an Anglo Saxon monk first conceived of it
对上帝选民的观念有了最初的设想 in a small Northumbrian monastery,
1000多年后,这个神话 依旧活在人们心间 this myth of the Chosen People lives on.
下一集里,我要给大家介绍 英国人宽容的名声 Next time, I'll be looking at England's reputation for tolerance
向大家揭示其中的真相 and revealing it's not always been what it seems.
英国人以前实施过某种迫害行为的程度 是现代任何一个独裁者都望尘莫及的 The English once did persecution in a way which would make any modern dictator proud.