世界小史 第58期:金銀財(cái)富
The people were mostly seafarers, like the Phoenicians, only they traded less and fought more.
他們大都是航海者，像腓尼基人，只不過(guò)他們不怎么經(jīng)商，卻常常進(jìn)行戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。
They were often at war with one another, but on occasion would gang together to plunder1 other shores.
他們常?；ハ酄?zhēng)斗，但是有時(shí)他們也結(jié)盟，共同掠奪別的海岸。
And as their fortunes grew bigger, they grew bolder – and not just bolder, but braver,
當(dāng)他們擁有越來(lái)越多的金銀財(cái)富，他們變得越來(lái)越大膽——不只是大膽，還更勇敢，
because to be a sea raider takes courage as well as cunning.
因?yàn)楫?dāng)海盜需要很大的勇氣和膽識(shí)。
So sea raiding was a task which fell to the nobility.
所以這大概是城堡里的上等人干的事，
The rest of the population were simple peasants and shepherds.
普通農(nóng)民和牧民是當(dāng)不了海盜的。
Now, unlike the Egyptians, the Babylonians and the Assyrians, these noblemen weren't interested in preserving the ways of their ancestors.
但是這些上等人不像埃及人或巴比倫尼亞人和亞述人那樣很在乎一切都維持原狀。
Their many raids and battles with foreign peoples had opened their eyes to new ideas and taught them to relish2 variety and change.
在他們頻繁的掠奪性航行和對(duì)別的部落的戰(zhàn)斗中，他們開(kāi)闊了眼界并變得喜歡花樣翻新。
And it was at this point, and in this part of the world, that history began to progress at a much greater speed,
所以自那時(shí)以來(lái)世界歷史在這些地區(qū)進(jìn)展得很快，
because people no longer believed that the old ways were best.
因?yàn)樽阅切r(shí)代以來(lái)這里的人們永遠(yuǎn)也不再相信：現(xiàn)狀恰恰就是最好的狀態(tài)。
