【BBC纪录片】凡尔赛宫 第18期:哪里有权利斗争哪里就有流言蜚语

The court of Versailles could be seen

凡尔赛宫廷犹如

as a cross, perhaps, between

一个十字架 它汇集了

Royal Ascot and the dealing floor of a futures exchange.

皇家提拔与未来奉献

A combination of a very socially elite group

包括了一个

who already know each other

由早已互相熟识 经常交流的

and can interact with each other

精英群体

and at the same time

同时也包括一群

a group of hardened professionals

态度坚定的学者 他们拥有

who have their own language and their own codes,

自己的说话风格与行为准则

who know how to strike deals,

也知道如何打破合约

and to extract the best possible advantages

如何在特定情况下

from a particular situation.

取得最佳利益

Versailles was the original hotbed of scandal.

凡尔赛原是流言滋生的温床

The phrase with which everyone began their conversation

每个人说话

was, "On dit"

都以"据说"开头

"It's being said." "They're saying this, they're saying that."

"人人都这么说" "他们说这他们说那"

All day, these whispers of rumour would travel about the palace

流言整天在宫中传递

and people would send each other little bulletins by sedan chair,

人们坐着轿子传递小告示板

to report on what was going on in the different rooms

互相告知各处的动向

and that of course made it a tremendously claustrophobic place to live.

宫中成了幽闭恐惧的住处

You couldn't do anything without everybody knowing about it.

你无法隐藏自己所行之事

It was this extraordinary networking centre.

这里的关系网络异常复杂

Everyone who was anyone in France, was now at Versailles,

法国的贵族都住进了凡尔赛宫

so to be excluded was disastrous for a French nobleman.

被排斥在外的人则饱受打击

The worst thing that a courtier could hear from the King

幕僚最不愿听到的话就是

was, "He's a man I never see."

国王说"我不认识他"

People would spend literally years

人们会花上很多年

trying to hear one word or have a gesture from the King.

争取得到国王的话语或手势