12第一章(后语）

Sent offto inspect the remote provinces, the Great Khan's envoys [ˈɛnvɔɪz]使节 and tax-collectors duly[ˈduːli]准时地 returned to Kai-ping-fu and to thegardens of magnolias[mægˈnoʊljəz]木兰 in whose shade Kublai strolled [stroʊld]散步, listening to their long reports.

被派往边远省份视察的使节和税务员们，按时返回了开平府，并到木兰园拜见大汗，忽必烈在花园的树荫下散步，聆听他们的长篇大论。

Theambassadors [æmˈbæsədərz]使节 were Persians波斯人, Armenians亚美尼亚人, Syrians叙利亚人, Copts埃及人, Turkomans图库曼人; the emperor is he who is aforeigner to each of his subjects, and only through foreign eyes and ears couldthe empire manifest[ˈmænɪfest]表明 its existence [ɪɡˈzɪstəns]存在 to Kublai.

使节有波斯人、亚美尼亚人、叙利亚人、埃及人和土库曼人；皇帝对他的每一个臣民来说都是外国人，只有通过外国人的眼睛和耳朵，帝国才能向忽必烈表明它的存在。

In languagesincomprehensible[ɪnˌkɑːmprɪˈhensəbl]难懂的 to theKhan, the envoys related叙述 information heard inlanguages incomprehensible to them: from this opaque[oʊˈpeɪk]浑浊的, dense[dens]浓重的 stridor[ˈstraɪdər]喘鸣声  emerged [iˈmɜːrdʒd]显现  the revenues[ˈrɛvəˌnuz]财政收入  received by the imperial treasury [ˈtreʒəri]财政部, thefirst and last names of officials dismissed[dɪsˈmɪst] 免职 anddecapitated [dɪˈkæpɪteɪtɪd] 杀头, thedimensions[dɪˈmɛnʃənz]规模 of the canals that the narrow riversfed in times of drought[draʊt]干旱. But when the young Venetian made his report, a differentcommunication was established between him and the emperor.

使节们用可汗听不懂的语言，禀报 从他们也听不懂的语言里得来的消息：从他们浑浊、浓重的喘鸣声中，道出了帝国财政部的收入，被免职和斩首的官员姓名，干旱时引自河流的 灌溉渠的大小。但轮到这位威尼斯青年禀报时，他和皇帝之间建立了一种不同的沟通方式。

Newlyarrived and totally ignorant of the Levantine languages, Marco Polo couldexpress himself only with gestures, leaps, cries of wonder and of horror,animal barkings吠声 or hootings叫声, or with objects he took fromhis knapsacks [ˈnæpˌsæks]小背包 -- ostrich [ˈɑːstrɪtʃ]鸵鸟 plumes[plumz]羽毛,pea-shooters射豆枪, quartzes石英 -- which he arranged in front ofhim like chessmen.

马可·波罗刚到这里，完全不懂黎凡特语，他只能用手势、跳跃、惊异和恐怖的叫声、动物的叫声，或者用从背包里掏出的东西，来表达自己，例如鸵鸟羽毛、射豆枪、石英，并把这些像棋子一样摆在面前。

Returningfrom the missions on which Kublai sent him, the ingenious[ɪnˈdʒiːniəs]机敏的 foreigner improvised[ˈɪmprəvaɪzd] 即兴表演 pantomimes [ˈpæntəˌmaɪmz]哑剧 that the sovereign [ˈsɑːvrɪn]君主  had to interpret[ɪnˈtɜːrprət]揣摩: one city was depicted[dɪˈpɪktɪd]描绘 by the leap of a fish escaping the cormorant's [ˈkɔːrmərənt] 鸬鹚 beak[biːk]喙 to fall into a net; another city by a naked man running throughfire unscorched未受伤害; a third by a skull [skʌl] 头骨, its teeth green with mold [moʊld]霉菌, clenching[ˈklentʃɪŋ]咬紧 a round, white pearl.

从忽必烈派给他执行的任务回来后，这位机灵的外国人即兴表演了令国王不得不去揣摩的哑剧：一座城市被描绘成一条鱼从鸬鹚嘴里跃出并落入网中；另一座城市，一个裸体的男人在火堆中奔跑却毫发未伤；第三座城市 被描绘成一个骷髅头，长着绿色霉斑的牙齿 紧紧地咬着一颗圆滚滚的白珍珠。

The GreatKhan deciphered the signs, but the connection between them and the placesvisited remained uncertain; he never knew whether Marco wished to enact [ɪˈnækt] 演出 anadventure that had befallen [bɪˈfɔːlən]发生在 on hisjourney, an exploit [ɪkˈsplɔɪt]英勇行为 of the city's founder[ˈfaʊndər]创始人, the prophecy [ˈprɑːfəsi]预言 of anastrologer[əˈstrɑːlədʒər]占星家, a rebus [ˈriːbəs]画迷 or charade[ʃəˈreɪd]字谜 to indicate[ˈɪndɪkeɪt]象征、暗示 a name.

大汗看明白了他的手势，但不确定这跟他造访的城市 有什么关系；他不清楚马可是想上演一场在他旅途中发生的冒险，还是一个城市缔造者的事迹，或者一位占星家的预言，又或是一个暗示人名的谜语。

But,obscure or obvious as it might be, everything Marco displayed had the power ofemblems [ˈɛmbləmz] 象征, which,once seen, cannot be forgotten or confused. In the Khan's mind theempire was reflected in a desert of labile活性 and interchangeable可互换 data, likegrains粒 of sand, from which appeared, for each city andprovince, the figures形象 evoked [ɪˈvoʊkt]唤起 by theVenetian's logogriphs标志符号.

但是，无论是晦涩或是清晰，马可所展示的一切都具有象征的力量，一旦看到，就无法忘记或混淆。在可汗的心目中，帝国就像一片变幻不定、难以琢磨的沙漠，每个城市和省份就像沙粒一样，呈现出的便是威尼斯人字谜里的形象。

As theseasons passed and his missions continued, Marco mastered the Tartar languageand the national idioms[ˈɪdiəmz]习语 and tribal[ˈtraɪbl]部落 dialects[ˈdaɪəˌlɛkts]方言. Now his accounts were the mostprecise and detailed that the Great Khan could wish and there was no questionor curiosity which they did not satisfy. And yet each piece of informationabout a place recalled to the emperor's mind that first gesture[ˈdʒestʃər]手势 or object with which Marco had designated the place. The new factreceived a meaning from that emblem [ˈembləm]象征 and also added to the emblem a newmeaning. Perhaps, Kublai thought, the empire is nothing but a zodiac [ˈzoʊdiæk]黄道十二宫图 ofthe mind's phantasms幻觉.

随着季节推移和任务的继续，马可逐渐掌握了鞑靼语、民族习语和部落方言。正如大汗所希望的那样，现在他的叙述是最精确、最详细的，任何疑问或好奇心都能被满足。然而每次 有一个地方的消息时，都让皇帝想起了马可最初在讲述这个地方时，用的手势或物件。这一新消息从象征中获得了意义，也为象征增添了新的意义。忽必烈思索，也许帝国不过是一幅 由大脑幻觉产生的黄道十二宫图。

"Onthe day when I know all the emblems," he asked Marco, "shall I beable to possess my empire, at last?"

“当我知道所有象征的那天，”他问马可，“我是否就能最终能拥有我的帝国？”

And theVenetian answered: "Sire, do not believe it. On that day you will bean emblem among emblems."

威尼斯人回答说：“陛下，不要相信。在那一天，你将会成为所有象征中的一个。”