Narrator: Listen to a conversation between a student and his European History Professor.

旁白：请听一段学生和欧洲史教授之间的对话。

Professor: So I wanted to talk about your outline.

教授：我想跟你谈谈你的论文大纲。

I do like your topic: William, the conqueror, leading the Norman invasion of England.

我很喜欢你的题目：征服者威廉，诺曼入侵英格兰的领导者。

But I'm a little concerned about your source and the fact that you want to use it as the entire basis of your paper.

但是我对于你的原始资料和你想把它用作论文的全部基础有点担心。

Student: Really? The Bayeux tapestry?

学生：真的吗？关于巴约挂毯？

I thought it was pretty creative to use something that was made to hang on a wall as a source.

我以为我的想法很有创造性，把挂在墙上的东西用作原始资料。

And as far as I know it's the most important documentation of the invasion, a first-hand account, right?

并且据我所知，这是最重要的有关诺曼入侵的第一手资料，不是吗？

Professor: Well, you are right. It's considered a primary source.

教授：嗯，你是对的。这的确是主要的原始资料。

And at 70 meters long, the tapestry certainly is impressive.

这幅挂毯长70米，令人印象深刻。

Imagine the time it took for those embroiderers to sew all those words and images to tell the story of the Norman forces sailing from France to England.

想象下刺绣工人要花费多少时间把诺曼军队经过法国进攻英格兰的那些故事和图案绣在挂毯上。

So, yeah, it's an amazing artifact, but what's problematic is that the tapestry is a very controversial source.

所以呢，这是一件惊人的艺术品，但问题是，这个挂毯是一个非常有争议的原始材料。

Were you aware of this?

你对这方面有所了解吗？

Student: Well, I know some pieces of it were probably lost.

学生：嗯，我是知道挂毯的一部分已经遗失了。

Professor: It is incomplete, but...

教授：挂毯的确残缺不全，但是……

Student: But I also read that historians have relied on it to help interpret the events leading up to the invasion and the battle itself.

学生：但是我也查到，历史学家也靠它来帮助解读诺曼入侵的那段历史和战争本身。

Professor: Well, it has great historical value, no doubt, but in my opinion, there's a problem because...well...do you know who commissioned the tapestry?

教授：它的确有很大的历史价值。这是毫无疑问的。但是在我看来，还是有个问题……因为，你知道是谁下令做这个挂毯吗？

Student: It was a church official...um...the bishop of Bayeux, a city in France?

学生：是一个给教堂做事的人……法国一座叫巴约的城市的主教？

Professor: Yes. And the bishop was also William the Conqueror's half-brother.

教授：是的，这个主教是征服者威廉的异父/母兄弟。

Student: Oh! That I didn't know.

学生：哦！这我确实不知道。

But regardless of who commissioned it, isn't the fact that it was based on eye witness accounts the most important thing?

但是不管是谁下令制造它，它的素材来自于目击者，这总是最重要的事实吧？

I mean, it was made only 17 years after the battle.

我的意思是，这个挂毯是在战争结束17年的时候就制造出来了。

So plenty of eye witnesses were still alive.

所以很多目击者还是在世的。

Professor: Yes, that's true.

教授：是的，是真的。

But the real point of the controversy isn't the battle itself.

但是争论焦点不在于战争本身。

It has to do with the reason for the battle: who was the rightful heir to the throne?

而是在于战争的原因：谁是王座的合法继承者？

Who would be the next king?

谁应该是下一任国王？

And if William the Conqueror's brother is the one who's commissioned this tapestry...

如果征服者威廉的兄弟是这个挂毯的下令制作者的话……

Student: Then he would be the one to decide which words and images would go on the tapestry and what would be left out.

学生：那么他就是那个决定什么故事和图片应该写在挂毯上，什么要被隐瞒下的人。

Professor:Exactly. So of course the tapestry shows why William should be the new king.

教授：是的。所以这个挂毯理所当然地展示出威廉才是人心所向。

Student:I guess I see your point.

学生：我想我明白您的意思了。

Embroiderers are just gonna do what they are told to do.

那些织布工人只是按照命令行事。

Professor: You have to understand that the tapestry depicted an entire series of events as they were interpreted by the Normans, the victors of the battle.

教授：你要明白，挂毯按照诺曼人的视角描述了整个故事，而诺曼人是战争的胜利者。

And that's a problem if you are trying to write objectively about the invasion, especially if you use it as your only source of information.

那么如果你要客观地描述这场入侵战争的话，尤其是你把它作为你的论文的唯一原始资料的话，那就有问题了。

After all, it's important for historians to examine an event from all sides.

毕竟，历史学家需要从各个角度来分析一个历史事件。