So much saccharine drivel has been written on the subject of Anne Boleyn,
以安妮·博林为题材 撰写下无数甜腻的宫闱野史
so many Hollywood movies made,so many bodice-buster romances produced
亦有数不胜数的好莱坞电影 与情色文学流传下来
that us serious historians are supposed to avert our gaze from the tragic soap opera of her life and concentrate on meaty stuff,
作为严肃的历史学家 我们本应将视线 从悲惨的肥皂剧上移开 去关注更具价值的东西
like the social and political origins of the Reformation or the Tudor revolution in government.
比如宗教改革的社会与政治源头 或是都铎王朝的"政府革命"
But try as we might, we keep coming back time and again to the subject of Anne,
而尽管如此 我们的视线却不断回到安妮身上
because on close inspection it turns out that she was, after all,historical prime cause number one.
因为愈审慎的研究 愈让我们认识到 她正是这一切的始作俑者
At the time of the Field of the Cloth of Gold,Anne would have been a teenager.
在金缕地的时代 安妮只有十几岁
She'd been away from England off and on since the age of 12,
从十二岁起 她断断续续的离开英格兰
when her well-connected diplomat father, Thomas,
她人脉颇广的外交家父亲 托马斯
arranged for her to become maid of honour to Margaret of Austria
安妮排她进入奥地利的玛格丽特众多宫室之一
at one of her many courts,this one here at Mechelen in Flanders.
做一名侍从女官 而这宫室便是佛兰德斯的麦哲伦宫
Margaret was recognised as the world authority on courtly love,
玛格丽特被公认为宫廷式恋爱的典范
that theatrical form of aristocratic flirtation around which a whole culture had grown up.
那戏剧般的贵族式调情 围绕于此 一种文化得以发端
Desire endlessly deferred,sexual passion transfigured into pure selfless love,
从追求冗长而无休止的情欲 转而寻求纯洁无私的爱情
troubadours, masks, silk handkerchiefs, a lot of sighing.That was the theory anyway.
游吟诗人 面具 丝质手帕和唱咏 当然照理应是如此
While underneath the stage-managed surface,the old basic instincts seethed away.
然而在这戏剧般的华丽外表下 原始的本能暗流汹涌