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This 1)obelisk is 2)Cleopatra’s Needle. It’s one of a pair that once stood proudly in 3)Alexandria, Cleopatra’s city. This is the story of raging passion and 4)rampant politics, the story of 5)Antony and Cleopatra.
The Queen of Egypt was quite a woman, beautiful, intelligent, 6)cunning and 7)charismatic. Mark Antony wasn’t her first love. She’d 8)slain many hearts before the 9)fateful meeting with him.
10)The writing was on the wall for Mark Antony when he traveled to Egypt. He’d already seen the Egyptian queen before, and been 11)beguiled by her. After she’d borne him twins, Mark Antony returned to Rome. But he couldn’t resist the 12)magnetism of the queen, which pulled him back to Egypt.
As his 13)lieutenant, Enobarbus, says in 14)Shakespeare’s play:
“Age cannot 15)wither her
nor custom 16)stale her 17)infinite variety
Other women 18)cloy the appetites they feed
but she makes hungry
where most she satisfies”
This 19)fiery combination of passion and politics could only end badly. The tale of love, lies and 20)treachery leads to the death of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. He eventually falls on his sword and dies in her arms. Cleopatra, unable to face the future as a political prisoner 21)paraded on the streets of Rome, locks herself in her 22)mausoleum and sends for a poisonous snake, an 23)asp.
The journey of this obelisk to its home on the bank of the Thames in London, was also 24)fraught with drama. Having lain in the sands of the desert for some 2,000 years, it was offered to Britain as a 25)token to mark 26)Nelson’s victory in the Battle of the Nile.
But what of its partner, the other obelisk, which stood in Alexandria? It’s in New York’s Central Park. This obelisk was offered as a gift following the opening of the 27)Suez Canal in 1869, in the hope of cultivating trade relations between United States and Egypt.
There is little romance in the true tale of the two needles, which bear the name of a woman known for her beauty and sex appeal. But they do stand proud on two continents, as a reminder to all who pass by of one of the greatest love stories in history. And the fact that these two monuments are separated by thousands of miles is a warning perhaps, that extreme passion is 28)unsustainable, in life, at least.
这个方尖塔名为克娄巴特拉方尖碑，是一对塔碑中的一个。那对塔碑曾傲然屹立在克娄巴特拉之城——埃及的亚历山大。这是关于非凡热情和狂乱政治的故事，是安东尼和克娄巴特拉的故事。
埃及女王是一名非凡的女子，她美丽、聪明，既狡猾又迷人。马克·安东尼并不是她的初恋，在此之前，她已经伤了不少人的心，然后才遇上他。他们的相遇注定要带来灾难。
安东尼到埃及时已是大祸临头。他此前见过埃及皇后，并被她迷倒了。在克娄巴特拉替安东尼生下双胞胎后，他就回到了罗马。但他最终无法抵挡她的魅力，又回到了埃及。
正如莎士比亚名剧中安东尼的副手伊诺巴柏斯所说：
“岁月无损她的美貌
习俗不减她的千娇百媚
别的女人让人日久生厌
她却让人感觉越满足
越是渴望”
激情和政治的狂热结合只落得悲惨收场。爱情、谎言和背叛的故事令安东尼和克娄巴特拉双双丧命。他最终拔剑自尽，在她的怀里死去。克娄巴特拉不愿成为政治囚犯，并被拉到罗马的街上示众，于是把自己锁在阴森的房间里，并用角蝰毒蛇自尽。
运送这个方尖碑到伦敦泰晤士河畔的过程亦充满了戏剧性。方尖碑在沙漠里躺了约两千年后，被赠予英国以纪念纳尔逊在尼罗河之战中的胜利。
但它的另一半，耸立于亚历山大的另一方尖碑呢？如今它身处纽约中央公园。1869年苏伊士运河开通后，方尖碑被作为赠品送给了美国，藉以促进美国和埃及的贸易关系。
以美貌和性感女子命名的这两座方尖碑背后的传说的确并没有什么浪漫可言，不过它们仍然骄傲地矗立在两个不同的大陆上，唤起所有过路人对这个历史上其中一个最伟大的爱情故事的回忆。而两座方尖碑分隔数千里的事实可能警示人们，极端的激情是无法长久，至少在生活中是如此。
翻译：旭文
The Queen of Egypt was quite a woman, beautiful, intelligent, 6)cunning and 7)charismatic. Mark Antony wasn’t her first love. She’d 8)slain many hearts before the 9)fateful meeting with him.
10)The writing was on the wall for Mark Antony when he traveled to Egypt. He’d already seen the Egyptian queen before, and been 11)beguiled by her. After she’d borne him twins, Mark Antony returned to Rome. But he couldn’t resist the 12)magnetism of the queen, which pulled him back to Egypt.
As his 13)lieutenant, Enobarbus, says in 14)Shakespeare’s play:
“Age cannot 15)wither her
nor custom 16)stale her 17)infinite variety
Other women 18)cloy the appetites they feed
but she makes hungry
where most she satisfies”
This 19)fiery combination of passion and politics could only end badly. The tale of love, lies and 20)treachery leads to the death of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. He eventually falls on his sword and dies in her arms. Cleopatra, unable to face the future as a political prisoner 21)paraded on the streets of Rome, locks herself in her 22)mausoleum and sends for a poisonous snake, an 23)asp.
The journey of this obelisk to its home on the bank of the Thames in London, was also 24)fraught with drama. Having lain in the sands of the desert for some 2,000 years, it was offered to Britain as a 25)token to mark 26)Nelson’s victory in the Battle of the Nile.
But what of its partner, the other obelisk, which stood in Alexandria? It’s in New York’s Central Park. This obelisk was offered as a gift following the opening of the 27)Suez Canal in 1869, in the hope of cultivating trade relations between United States and Egypt.
There is little romance in the true tale of the two needles, which bear the name of a woman known for her beauty and sex appeal. But they do stand proud on two continents, as a reminder to all who pass by of one of the greatest love stories in history. And the fact that these two monuments are separated by thousands of miles is a warning perhaps, that extreme passion is 28)unsustainable, in life, at least.
这个方尖塔名为克娄巴特拉方尖碑，是一对塔碑中的一个。那对塔碑曾傲然屹立在克娄巴特拉之城——埃及的亚历山大。这是关于非凡热情和狂乱政治的故事，是安东尼和克娄巴特拉的故事。
埃及女王是一名非凡的女子，她美丽、聪明，既狡猾又迷人。马克·安东尼并不是她的初恋，在此之前，她已经伤了不少人的心，然后才遇上他。他们的相遇注定要带来灾难。
安东尼到埃及时已是大祸临头。他此前见过埃及皇后，并被她迷倒了。在克娄巴特拉替安东尼生下双胞胎后，他就回到了罗马。但他最终无法抵挡她的魅力，又回到了埃及。
正如莎士比亚名剧中安东尼的副手伊诺巴柏斯所说：
“岁月无损她的美貌
习俗不减她的千娇百媚
别的女人让人日久生厌
她却让人感觉越满足
越是渴望”
激情和政治的狂热结合只落得悲惨收场。爱情、谎言和背叛的故事令安东尼和克娄巴特拉双双丧命。他最终拔剑自尽，在她的怀里死去。克娄巴特拉不愿成为政治囚犯，并被拉到罗马的街上示众，于是把自己锁在阴森的房间里，并用角蝰毒蛇自尽。
运送这个方尖碑到伦敦泰晤士河畔的过程亦充满了戏剧性。方尖碑在沙漠里躺了约两千年后，被赠予英国以纪念纳尔逊在尼罗河之战中的胜利。
但它的另一半，耸立于亚历山大的另一方尖碑呢？如今它身处纽约中央公园。1869年苏伊士运河开通后，方尖碑被作为赠品送给了美国，藉以促进美国和埃及的贸易关系。
以美貌和性感女子命名的这两座方尖碑背后的传说的确并没有什么浪漫可言，不过它们仍然骄傲地矗立在两个不同的大陆上，唤起所有过路人对这个历史上其中一个最伟大的爱情故事的回忆。而两座方尖碑分隔数千里的事实可能警示人们，极端的激情是无法长久，至少在生活中是如此。
翻译：旭文