【Quora】有哪些名不副實(shí)的歷史人物？

1943, some 3 million brown-skinned subjects of the Raj died in the Bengal famine, one of history's worst. Some of India's grain was also exported to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to meet needs there, even though the island wasn't experiencing the same hardship; Australian wheat sailed past Indian cities (where the bodies of those who had died of starvation littered the streets) to depots in the Mediterranean and the Balkans; and offers of American and Canadian food aid were turned down. India was not permitted to use its own sterling reserves, or indeed its own ships, to import food. And because the British government paid inflated prices in the open market to ensure supplies, grain became unaffordable for ordinary Indians. Lord Wavell, appointed Viceroy of India that fateful year, considered the Churchill government's attitude to India "negligent, hostile and contemptuous."

在1943年，有約三百萬大英帝國統(tǒng)治下的棕色皮膚的臣民死于孟加拉大饑荒中，這是歷史上最嚴(yán)重的一次饑荒。印度的一些糧食仍被出口到錫蘭（今斯里蘭卡）以滿足那里的需求，即使這個島國并沒有經(jīng)歷同樣的困境；滿載澳大利亞小麥的貨船駛過印度的城市（在那里，餓殍遍地）到達(dá)地中海和巴爾干半島的倉庫；美國和加拿大提供的糧食援助被拒絕了。印度不被允許使用本國的英鎊儲備甚至是本國的船只，來進(jìn)口食物。而且由于英國政府在公開市場上支付高價以確保供應(yīng)，導(dǎo)致普通印度人買不起糧食。在那災(zāi)難性的一年，韋維爾勛爵被任命為印度總督，他認(rèn)為丘吉爾政府對印度的態(tài)度是“疏忽、敵意和輕蔑的”。

Churchill said that history would judge him kindly because he intended to write it himself. The self-serving but elegant volumes he authored on the war led the Nobel Committee, unable in all conscience to bestow him an award for peace, to give him, astonishingly, the Nobel Prize for Literature — an unwitting tribute to the fictional qualities inherent in Churchill's self-justifying embellishments.

丘吉爾說，歷史會對他做出善意的評價，因?yàn)樗蛩阕约簩?。令人驚訝的是，他寫作出版的關(guān)于這場戰(zhàn)爭的自私卻優(yōu)雅的作品，讓諾貝爾委員會雖然出于良心無法授予他和平獎，但卻授予了他諾貝爾文學(xué)獎——這是對丘吉爾為自我開脫而虛構(gòu)的情節(jié)中所固有的虛構(gòu)品質(zhì)的一種無心的致敬。

Churchill's only response to a telegram from the government in Delhi about people perishing in the famine was to ask why Gandhi hadn't died yet.

丘吉爾對一封來自德里政府的關(guān)于饑民的電報，是這樣回復(fù)的：為什么甘地還沒死？

An image from the Bengal famine..Yes, it is not Somalia, it happened very much in India.

一幅來自孟加拉大饑荒的圖片。是的，這不是索馬里，這在印度頻繁發(fā)生。

Makes me wonder, if Hitler had won the war, would he be praised now considering that history is written by the victors.

我很好奇，如果希特勒贏得了戰(zhàn)爭，他也許現(xiàn)在也會受到贊揚(yáng)，因?yàn)闅v史是勝利者書寫的。

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【答案二】Jennifer Lai, （現(xiàn)居澳大利亞）

Hard to be more controversial than saying that Mother Theresa is overrated, but history has seriously questioned the labeling of Alexander the great ... stating he should have been labeled: "Alexander the not-so-great".

很難說比特蕾莎修女被高估更有爭議，但歷史已經(jīng)嚴(yán)重質(zhì)疑了“偉大的亞歷山大”這個標(biāo)簽……認(rèn)為他應(yīng)該被稱為：“不那么偉大的亞歷山大”。

Alexander the III of Macedon, son of Philip II and descendant – at least in his own mind – of the great warrior Achilles, has been known throughout the annals of history as Alexander the Great. Within the context of his time, and viewing his deeds in the context of a society that essentially condoned violence and worshiped gods that were both violent and unforgiving, Alexander was certainly deserving of this epithet. Some historians have referred to Alexander as “possibly the greatest warrior in world history.”

馬其頓的亞歷山大三世，是腓力二世的兒子、（至少在他自己的想象中）是偉大的勇士阿喀琉斯的后裔，在歷史史冊中被稱為亞歷山大大帝。在他的時代背景下，在一個本質(zhì)上容忍暴力和崇拜神的社會背景下來看他的行為，亞歷山大當(dāng)然配得上這個稱號。一些歷史學(xué)家認(rèn)為亞歷山大“可能是世界歷史上最偉大的勇士”。

More recently however, modern historians have questioned whether he should be renamed Alexander the Terrible, or Alexander the Insignificant. His life and conquests have been re-examined and terms such as megalomaniac and mass murderer have emerged when describing his exploits. Much has been published that brings into question the greatness of Alexander - from discussions of his drunken brawls and paranoia to his murderous rampages. And while Alexander did spread Hellenistic culture, the spread appears to have been an unplanned side effect.

然而最近，現(xiàn)代的歷史學(xué)家質(zhì)疑他是否應(yīng)該改名為“可怕的亞歷山大”，或者“渺小的亞歷山大”。他的生活和征服活動被c重新審視，人們開始用自大狂和殺人狂這樣的詞來描述他的功績，并出版了很多書籍文章來質(zhì)疑他的偉大——從他的酒后鬧事到他狂暴的殺人妄想。盡管亞歷山大的確傳播了希臘文化，但這似乎只是一種意料之外的副產(chǎn)品。
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://nxnpts.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處

While his accomplishments are many, Alexander’s flaws cannot be ignored. Half a million soldiers and sailors were wiped out during the building of his empire. In addition, probably another half a million people were sold into slavery, of which half were women and children. Of his own troops, he suffered at least 25,000 deaths –approximately half the army.

雖然他有很多成就，但也不可忽視亞歷山大的缺點(diǎn)。在他的帝國建立的過程中，有五十萬名士兵和水手喪生。此外，可能還有五十萬人被販為奴隸，其中一半是婦女和兒童。而在他自己的軍隊中，至少有兩萬五千人死亡——大約是軍隊的一半人數(shù)。

Alexander appeared unstable at times and was capable of murder without a moment’s hesitation, even of his closest allies and friends. When Cleitus defended the memory of Alexander’s father, he grabbed a spear and murdered him at the dinner table. He then proceeded to taunt the dead man before being overcome by grief and remorse. Alexander’s response to those who opposed him or espoused opinions different from his own was brutal. The Theban dead alone numbered more than 6,000 and there were more than 30,000 people, including women and children, who were sold into slavery. The council voted to demolish the city, after taking in all the money in plunder.

亞歷山大有時顯得很不穩(wěn)定，他甚至能毫不猶豫地殺死他最親密的盟友和朋友。當(dāng)克雷塔斯在爭執(zhí)中用亞歷山大的父親來辯護(hù)時，亞歷山大抓起一只長矛，在餐桌上殺了他。而在他嘲笑完了死者后，又開始陷入悔恨和悲傷。
至于那些反對他的人或者意見與他不同的人，亞歷山大對他們是很殘酷的。底比斯，單就死亡人數(shù)就超過六千，還有包括婦女和兒童在內(nèi)的三萬多人被販賣為奴隸。在把底比斯的所有金錢都洗劫一空后，議事會投票決定摧毀這座城市。
（譯者注：底比斯——公元前四世紀(jì)與斯巴達(dá)、雅典并稱為希臘三大城邦，被腓力二世所征服，后在亞歷山大統(tǒng)治時期曾發(fā)動起義。）
原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://nxnpts.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處

It is said that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Alexander undoubtedly changed over time, and not for the better. As a result of the combined effects of unbroken victories, unparalleled wealth, absolute and unchallenged power, continual heavy physical stress, and incipient alcoholism… Alexander became an uncontrollable megalomaniac. As his megalomania grew, he sought greater confirmation of his divinity. After his defeat of Darius he sent an order to the Greeks to take a vote making him divine. The laconic response from the Spartans was “since Alexander wants to be a god, let him be a god” by which they meant to expose what they believed to be the stupidity of this request.

人們常說，絕對的權(quán)力導(dǎo)致絕對的腐敗。毫無疑問，隨著時間的推移，亞歷山大也在發(fā)生變化，而且并沒有變得更好。由于接連的勝利、無與倫比的財富、絕對而未受挑戰(zhàn)的力量、頻繁的身體重負(fù)，酗酒的早期跡象……亞歷山大成為了一個無法控制的自大狂。隨著他的虛榮心不斷膨脹，他開始要人們認(rèn)可他的神性。他打敗大流士后，向希臘人發(fā)出了一個命令，讓他們投票，推選他為神。斯巴達(dá)人的簡潔回應(yīng)是“既然亞歷山大想成為神，那就讓他成為神”，這意味著他們認(rèn)為這個要求很蠢。

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【答案三】Martin Lindner, seeking wisdom（現(xiàn)居德國）
Princess Diana 戴安娜王妃

The biggest achievement of this spoiled brat is charity. She was born into wealth, followed her nature as a gold digger and married into even more. Only a few people dared to criticize her or her cult.

這個被寵壞的孩子最大的成就是慈善。她生來就有錢，她天生就是個淘金者【譯者注：這個詞也指以色誘騙男人金錢的女人】，嫁給了更有錢的人。只有少數(shù)人敢于批評她或者她的個人崇拜。

Christopher Hitchens was one of those people who spoke openly against her. Something humorous (and harsh) he said about her:
"She was in Angola on her landmine campaign, and there was a hushed, reverent BBC commentator. And he said, 'The thing about mine fields is that they're very easy to lay, but they're very difficult and dangerous, and even expensive to get rid of' - the perfect descxtion of Prince Charles's first wife."

克里斯托弗·希金斯是公開反對她的人之一。他對她說了些幽默（和苛刻）的話：
“她在安哥拉參加反地雷運(yùn)動時，一位恭敬的BBC評論員說，‘地雷區(qū)的問題是，它們很容易鋪設(shè)，但是要清除就非常困難而危險，且代價高昂。’——這真是對查爾斯王子第一任妻子的完美描述?！?/b>