中英雙語話史記 第37期:秦的暴政
Qin Dynasty
秦朝The Despotic Rule of Qin
秦的暴政The First Emperor not only unified the country’s territory, he also unified the laws, the written language, currency, and a system of weights and measurements.
秦始皇不僅統一了中國，還統一了法律、文字、貨幣和度量衡。
The writ of the Qin Empire spread far and wide, giving rise to its international name “China”，which was a transliteration of “Qin”.
秦朝的法令廣爲流傳，它因此獲得了一個國際名號“China”，這是“Qin”的音譯。Unification of the country freed the people of incessant wars.
國家的統一使人們免於接連的戰爭。The despotic rule of the emperor， however， plunged them into another abyss of suffering.
然而君主的暴政將他們推入了另一個苦難的深淵。Qin law was harsh and merciless, embodied by many gruesome punishments.
秦朝的法令是嚴酷且殘忍的，具體表現爲很多可怕的懲罰。The death penalty could be carried out by tearing apart the convict alive by typing his four limbs and head to five wagons pulling in five directions, or slashing him into halves by the waist, cutting open his belly, or boiling him in a big pot, etc.
死刑的執行可能是將罪犯的四肢和頭綁在五匹馬車上向五個方向活生生地拉死，也可能是從腰部將其砍成兩段又或是剖開犯人的腹部或將他放入大鍋中煮沸。
Other punishments included the cutting off of a foot, a nose, or the inscription and inking of marks on the face, etc.
另外一些懲罰還包括砍掉一條腿或鼻子、在臉上刻字或刻圖案等等。Even petty mistakes could bring on severe punishment.
就算是小錯也可能帶來嚴厲的懲罰。Also, when a man got into trouble, his family, friends, and colleagues could all be incriminated.
如果一個人犯了錯誤，他的家人、朋友和同事也同樣會被治罪。As the First Emperor believed only in power politics, his ministers vied to cater to his whims by wantonly meting out punishment.
因爲秦始皇只相信強權政治，官員們爭先通過肆意行刑來迎合他的喜好。Harsh laws and cruel officials made life near impossible for the people.
嚴酷的刑法和殘忍的官員讓人們幾乎難以生存下去。The terracotta warriors and horses in the tomb of the First Emperor and the Great Wall built on his orders are regarded as wonders of human civilization.
秦始皇陵裏的兵馬俑和在他指令下修建的長城被認爲是人類文明的奇觀。They also stand as testimony to the sweat and blood shed by the builders.
但它們同樣是建造者血汗的證明。Research has shown that it would have taken two months for five to six people to construct each life-size terracotta soldier or horse.
研究顯示，建造每一個真人大小的陶俑需要耗費五到六個工人兩個月的時間。It boggles the imagination as to how many people had to toil for how long to produce the tens represent merely one of the numerous large-scale projects carried out during his reign.
我們簡直難以想象有多少人在其在位間會要做多久的苦工來建造他數以萬計的大規模工程中有代表性的一個。The population was about 20 million back then, with more than 2 million people subject to forced labor every year!
那個時候的人口大概有20000000，每年卻又超過2000000的人被迫去做苦力。Moreover, the First Emperor did everything to control peopled thinking.
不僅如此，秦始皇用盡一切辦法來控制人們的思想。For instance, he ordered the burning of all books in 213 B.C, with the exception of the few that were sanctioned by the government.
比如，他在公元前213年下令焚燬所有書籍，除了被政府許可的。The next year he ordered the killing of more than 460 Confucian scholars by burying them alive.
一年後，他下令活埋超過460名儒學學者。These atrocities caused immeasurable damage to Chinese culture.
這些暴行對中國的文化造成了難以估量的損害。The First Emperor died during an inspection tour in the 7th month of 209 BC.
秦始皇死於公元前209年7月的一場巡視。His second son usurped the throne to become to Second Emperor.
他的二兒子篡權奪位，成爲了秦朝的第二任皇帝。He imposed an even more barbarous rule.
秦二世實行了更爲殘暴的統治。The peopled dissent and anger were now brewing like the lava inside a volcano atop of which the dynasty stood.
人民的反對與仇恨就像是這個朝代所站立在的火山內部將要噴涌而出的岩漿。
