陈睿尧的小说:你所不知道的十大历史真相（图集）

据《每日邮报》报道，意大利的考古专家团称，马可波罗根本没有到过亚洲，他到中国的旅行故事都是编造的，来源于他在黑海附近遇到的商人。

Marco Polo, the legendary explorer famous for his epic journey into Asia, was just a "conman," according to the report.

报道称，由于其亚洲之旅而而极富盛名的传奇探险家马可波罗不过是个骗子。

As years turn into centuries and history becomes more disconnected from its source, facts can become twisted, lost or discarded. In Marco Polo's case, the story seems to be of his own creation. But sometimes, even the most careful historians can lose sight of the truth.

随着时光流逝，许多真相由于历史久远而变的扭曲，或者干脆淹没在历史的洪流中，被人们抛弃。马可波罗的故事让人们觉得仿佛是他的亲身经历一样。有时，即便是最为缜密的历史学家也会失去对于真相的判断。

Some legends are apocryphal tales that merely add color to a famous figure. We've all heard that George Washington had wooden teeth. He didn't, but he did wear dentures. 

有一些故事是伪造的，其目的不过是为了给历史人物增添一些传奇色彩。比如我们都知道乔治·华盛顿戴着木头做的假牙，事实上他没有假牙，只是戴着牙托而已。

Other myths, however, are so central to the story of a historical figure that fact is not commonly separated from fiction. For example, Isaac Newton didn't discover gravity after an apple hit him on the head. However, since Newton often used apples as an analogy to explain gravity, the story became an often misrepresented part of his history.

然而，另一些故事由于与历史人物的联系太过紧密，有时候让人说不清真假。比如，艾萨克·牛顿并非在被苹果击中头之后才发现的万有引力。然而，由于牛顿经常用苹果做例子来解释万有引力，这个故事就成为了对牛顿的误传。

Explore some legends rooted in the heart of the history of Christopher Columbus, Benjamin Franklin, Napoleon Bonaparte and many others.

接下来让我们来看一看历史上被人误传的许多传奇故事，包括哥伦布、富兰克林、拿破仑和其他许多人。

If you have a Napoleonic complex, then your ambition is likely much greater than your stature. Named after the legendary general and emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, the condition describes men of small build who have an inferiority complex and overcompensate for it.

如果你有拿破仑情结，你们小小的身体里一定怀着一颗巨大的野心。这一情结以拿破仑的名字来命名，用以描述那些实际上有自卑心理却因此变的野心勃勃的小个子。

There's just one problem with that name: Napoleon wasn't short. 

但是事实上，拿破仑一点也不矮。

In fact, his commonly attributed height, five feet and two inches, only holds true under an old French system of measurement. The equivalent using the modern standard is about five feet, six inches -- not particularly diminutive for a man of his era.

实际上，拿破仑的身高，157公分，是在法国旧的度量制下测量得出的结果。用现在的标准来测量，拿破仑身高为167公分，在他那个年代也不算矮个子。

Benjamin Franklin deserves a lot of credit. He was one of the founding father of the United States, a major figure of the Enlightenment, a diplomat and much more.

本杰明·富兰克林拥有众多荣耀，他是美国国父，启蒙运动的代表人物，外交家，头衔数不胜数。

One achievement often falsely attributed to Franklin, however, is that he discovered electricity. Although an accomplished scientist who experimented with electricity, Franklin was not the first to describe or explore the properties of electricity and magnetism.

一项被错误地归功于富兰克林的成就，便是他发现了电。作为一名成就卓著的科学家，富兰克林的确用电来做过实验，但是他不是第一个描述并探索电和磁的特性的人。

The first description of magnetism traces back to nearly 2,600 years ago to Thales of Miletus who witnessed iron attracted to a loadstone but attributed it to the metal having a soul. The earliest attempts to explain this force with scientific explanations occurred several hundred years later.

最早关于磁的描述可以追溯到2600年前的古希腊米利都的泰勒斯，他发现铁能够被磁铁矿所吸附，但是他认为是铁拥有灵魂。而最早用科学的方法来解释这种现象则在几百年之后。

William Gilbert, an English scientist who lived during the 16th century and was praised by Galileo, established some of the basic principles of electricity and magnetism, including that the Earth itself produced a magnetic field.

威廉·吉尔伯特，英国16世纪的一位科学家，他曾受到伽利略的称赞，因为他建立了电和磁的产生的基本规律，甚至发现地球本身也会产生磁场。

The voyages of Christopher Columbus launched a new era of European expansion into the American continent. They brought a collision of worlds unprecedented in human history.

哥伦布的船员认为地球是平的？

哥伦布的远航开启了欧洲向美洲大陆扩张的新时代，也开启了人类历史上史无前例的征伐时代。

Although story of Columbus's first voyage is fraught with embellishment, few myths have endured quite like the claim that his sailors believed the Earth was flat. According to the myth, the sailors believed after sailing for weeks without spotting land, they would fall off the face of the Earth.

虽然哥伦布的第一次远航有许多被渲染的地方，但鲜有故事说明他的船员们相信世界是平的。根据传说，船员们认为如果一直航行数周而见不到陆地，他们将会从地球表面坠落。

That, however, was not the case. In fact, Columbus's crew likely held onto the widely accepted belief that navigators grasped since ancient times -- that the Earth is in fact a sphere.

但是事实却并非如此。实际上，哥伦布的船员可能早就知道地球是圆的，而且从古代开始，历代的领航员就知道。

Did Albert Einstein, a pioneer of modern physics, the father of the theory of relativity, and one of the greatest minds in all of history, really fail math as a child?

爱因斯坦小时候数学很烂？

现代物理学的先驱，相对论之父，人类历史上最为伟大的人物之一的爱因斯坦真的在小时候数学很烂？

Not even close. In fact, by Einstein's own admission, he considered being a mathematician instead of a physicist.

事实正好相反。实际上，爱因斯坦承认自己曾经考虑过成为一名数学家而非物理学家。

So where does this legend come from? According to Karl S. Kruszelnicki with ABC Science Online, it's a simple misunderstanding of the grading system when Einstein was a schoolboy. When Einstein was in school, the grading system ranked students on a scale from one to six, with one being the highest score and six being the lowest. Shortly after Einstein left, the system was reversed, with six being the highest score a student could receive.

那么这个故事又从何而来？据ABC科学在线的卡尔·S·克鲁兹尔尼奇介绍，造成这种误解的原因是爱因斯坦上学时学校的评级制度。当爱因斯坦在学习读书的时候，评级制度将学生从一到六分为六个等级，一是最高分，六是最低分；而在爱因斯坦离开学校后不久，制度就改变了，六是最高分，一是最低分。

As a result, anyone looking at Einstein's grades after the switch would have been under the impression that Einstein was a poor student under the more contemporary grading system.

结果就是，在新的评级制度下，当人们查看爱因斯坦的学习成绩时，就有一种印象，爱因斯坦变成了一个成绩差的学生。

Did slave labor give rise to the Great Pyramids of Giza? Although it's a popular account of how these tombs to ancient Egypt's royalty built their final resting places, tombs of pyramid builders suggest that these workers were paid -- and respected for their work.

金字塔是奴隶建造的？

真的是奴隶建造了吉萨三大金字塔？虽然流行的说法认为是忠诚的奴隶建造了法老长眠之处，但是有证据显示，金字塔的建造者们是有工资的，而且他们很受尊重。

First discovered by tourists in the 1990s and dating back to more than 4,000 years ago when the pyramids were built, the tombs suggest the builders were honored in ancient Egyptian society given their proximity to the pharaohs and the manner in which they were buried.

金字塔在上世纪90年代首次被旅游者发现，建造年代更是可以追溯到超过4000年前，金字塔上的证据显示建造者在古代埃及社会都备受尊敬，他们有接近法老的机会，而且下葬的时候还有相应的礼制规格。

Herodotus, the ancient Greek historian, created the myth that slaves built the pyramids, a legend further amplified in future fictional depictions in books and films.

古希腊历史学家希罗多德杜撰了奴隶建造金字塔这一传言，随后在无数的书籍和电影中，这一传言被流传开来。

After the suicide of her lover, Marc Antony, and the inevitability of defeat by the Romans, led by Octavian Caesar, Cleopatra took her own life by allowing a venomous snake to bite her.

埃及艳后死于蛇咬？

在她的挚爱马克·安东尼自杀之后，面对来势汹汹的罗马人，失败已经不可避免，埃及艳后克利奥帕特拉用一条毒蛇结束了自己的生命。

That's the widely accepted account of Cleopatra's final moments, but the real story may be more complex than that.

这是被人们广泛接受的关于克利奥帕特拉死亡时刻的桥段，但是真实情况或许比这要复杂的多。

In fact, a snake bite is a risky method of suicide with a high chance of failure, according to the author of "Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt." Plus, smuggling in snakes past Octavian, whose guards were on alert after he placed her on the equivalent of "suicide watch," would have been tricky. Furthermore, no snake was ever found.

事实上，据《克利奥帕特拉：埃及最后的王后》一书的作者介绍，用蛇咬的方式来自杀有着极大的失败率。再者，凯撒由于担心克利奥帕特拉自杀而将其软禁，派警卫严加看守，要越过这些警觉的警卫偷运进毒蛇，实在是一件很难的事，而且据记载，当时也没有发现蛇。

This version of events certainly adds drama to Cleopatra's death. But according to one German historian who enlisted the aid of a poison specialist for his study, a drug cocktail is the most likely culprit in Cleopatra's death.

这个版本的故事给克利奥帕特拉的死增加了戏剧色彩。一位德国历史学家通过与一位毒药专家合作研究得出结论，克利奥帕特拉很有可能死于一杯有毒的鸡尾酒。

Cassius Dio, a Roman historian who lived 200 years after Cleopatra, described her death as calm and painless. Given that the symptoms of a snake bite include vomiting and respiratory failure, a drug cocktail seems more consistent with this version of events. 

生活在克利奥帕特拉死后两百年的罗马历史学家卡西乌斯·狄奥将克利奥帕特拉的死描述为平静而毫无痛苦的死亡。由于被蛇咬了之后的症状是呕吐和呼吸困难，所以一杯有毒的鸡尾酒更符合历史真相。

As a fire that would burn for five days tore through ancient Rome, emperor Nero fiddled as the blaze grew. Even Shakespeare referenced this account in "Henry VI."

古罗马皇帝尼罗悠闲地拉着提琴看满城火海？

传言称古罗马城一场绵延五天的大火在肆虐时，罗马皇帝尼罗还在悠闲地拉着提琴，甚至莎士比亚在其著作《亨利八世》中也有提及此事。

Although this story would be in keeping with the character of the mad emperor, it is likely untrue. Nero did have a musical gift and could play the lyre or the cithara. Stringed instruments resembling the fiddle, however, weren't invented until the 11th century. So if he sang and played during the blaze, it was likely on a different instrument.

虽然这个故事与疯皇帝的性格有关，但是事实或许并非如此。尼罗确实有音乐天赋，能够弹奏里拉琴（古希腊一种弦乐器，琴身为U型）和西特拉琴（古希腊一种弦乐器，类似竖琴），但是类似于提琴的乐器直到11世纪才出现。那么如果他在大火时忘情声乐，那么用的也是另外一种乐器。

Whether Nero actually played during the blaze at all is subject to debate. Much of the history surrounding Nero in subsequent centuries was passed on by Christian writers. Nero launched a brutal wave of oppression against Christians under his regime, and the story of Nero playing a musical instrument while Rome burned may have been invented to illustrate his wickedness.

是否尼罗在大火的时候再忘情声乐仍然存在争议。尼罗时期的历史大多是由基督教徒传承下来的，而他在统治时期又对基督教徒实施镇压，所以尼罗在罗马城陷入火海时弹奏乐器很有可能是杜撰的，目的是为了展现他的邪恶。

Finally, Tacitus, a Roman historian when Nero was alive, the emperor was 30 miles away when the blaze first erupted.

最终，与尼罗同时期的罗马历史学家塔西佗证实，大火肆虐时，皇帝正在离罗马城30英里之外的某个地方。

When King Tutankhamun’s tomb was first unsealed in 1923, the boy king instantly became an international sensation. But as people involved with the excavation, from the workers all the way up to the principal financiers, began to die, rumors spread that a curse had been placed on the tomb for anyone who sought to disturb it.

图坦卡门的诅咒？

当埃及法老图坦卡门的陵墓被在1923年被发掘时，这位少年法老瞬间引起了国际上的轰动。但是当参与发掘的人员，从工人到资助者都一一死去的时候，法老在陵墓里设下了诅咒来惩罚其他打扰他清净的人之一传言便四散开来。

Although the "curse" of King Tut's tomb has been attributed to toxins and deadly bacteria, the fact is that the tomb was deemed no less sanitary than the rest of 1920s Egypt by Howard Carter, the man responsible for discovering the burial site. 

法老的诅咒很可能要归因于毒素和致命的病菌，事实上，陵墓的卫生状况比上世纪20年代的埃及其他地区号不到哪里去，发现陵墓的霍华德·卡特曾这样表示。

Furthermore, the deaths of those associated with Tut's tomb all have been explained by causes unrelated to the excavation. Lord Carnavon, for example, one of the financier's of the expedition, died long before archaeologists reached Tut's mummy.

再者，那些与图坦卡门陵墓的发掘有关人员的死因都被证实与发掘本身无关。比如发掘资助者之一的卡那封勋爵，在考古学家发现图坦卡门木乃伊之前就去世了。

Were Wolfgang Amadeus and Antonio Salieri such fierce rivals that it led the Italian composer to murder the German musical prodigy?

莫扎特死于谋杀？

莫扎特和安东尼奥·萨列里真的是势同水火，甚至萨列里要谋杀莫扎特？

Although these two did jockey for the same jobs as rival composers of their era, there is little evidence that the relationship between the two was especially acrimonious. Mozart had been known to lash out against Salieri; records from the era seem to indicate that Salieri was supportive of Mozart's work.

虽然这两个人同为那个时代的作曲家并视彼此为竞争对手，但是鲜有证据表明两个人的关系真的势同水火。虽然莫扎特曾经反对过萨列里，但是有记录表明萨列里是支持莫扎特的音乐理念的。

The rumor that Salieri had poisoned Mozart, however, likely originated from Salieri himself. Long after Mozart died, an elderly and senile Salieri in 1823 "accused himself of poisoning Mozart." Guiseppe Carpani, a friend of Salieri, had a physician inquire into the matter, and Salieri was eventually cleared.

关于萨列里毒杀莫扎特的传言极有可能是来自他自己。莫扎特死后很多年，年老体弱的萨列里在1823年自称毒杀了莫扎特。萨列里的一个朋友盖斯波·卡帕尼请了一位内科医生来调查此事，并最终为萨列里洗脱了罪名。

The myth lived on, however. Written in 1830 just five years after Salieri's death, the opera "Mozart and Salieri" runs with this legend and details how a jealous Salieri plotted to destroy a gifted Mozart. Subsequent portrayals of the relationship of the two composers drew inspiration from this opera, and so the legend of the rivalry endured.

但是传说仍在继续，萨列里死后五年的戏剧《莫扎特与萨列里》详细了描述了心怀妒忌的萨列里是怎样处心积虑地杀害天资聪颖的莫扎特的。后来关于二人关系的种种描述都是从这部戏剧得到的灵感，二人的斗争史还将持续下去。

Lady Godiva was an 11th-century English noblewoman whose name lives one for one reason: According to legend, she rode through his husband's lands in Coventry, England, naked as a protest against oppressively high taxation.

歌蒂瓦夫人是11世纪英国的一位贵妇人，她的名字之所以流传至今只有一个原因：传说为了抗议严苛的税收，她曾经全裸地骑着马在他丈夫位于考文垂的封地上驰骋。

Medieval historians, however, agree that the ride likely never happened. The legend only came about 200 years after the death of Godifu, a noblewoman who is believed to be the inspiration for Lady Godiva.

然而，中世纪的历史学家证实可能从未发生过这样的事。这个传说是在一位叫歌蒂芙的贵妇人死后才出现的，据说这位夫人就是歌蒂瓦夫人的原型。