In the year 527 Flavius Anicius Justinnianus became ruler of the eastern half of the Roman Empire.

　　This Serbian peasant(he came from Uskub, the much disputed railroad junction of the later war)had no use for “booklearning”

　　公元527年 查士丁尼一世 成为东罗马帝国的皇帝。

　　查士丁尼一世，他的故乡是当今的马其顿首都——斯科普里，虽然会拉丁语，接受过先进的教育，但是他本身却排斥那象形文字

　　It was by his orders that the ancient Athenian school of philosophy was finally suppressed.And it was he who closed the doors of the only Egyptian temple that had continued to do business centuries after the valley of the Nile had been invaded by the monks of the new Christian faith.

　　在他的命令下，新雅典娜学院，这个代表着雅典哲学的古老学院，被迫关闭。而这更代表着，关闭了当时延续数世纪仍然在使用象形文字的埃及神庙，而尼罗河附近的神庙早就应基督教的入侵而遭到摧毁。

　　This temple stood on a little island called Philae, not far from the first great waterfall of the Nile.Ever since men could remember ,the spot had been dedicated to the worship of Isis and for some curious reason,the Goddess had survived where all her African and Greek and Roman rivals had miserably perished.

　　这个寺庙坐落在一个叫做Philae的小岛，这个小岛离尼罗河瀑布不远，从埃及文明发源开始，这个地方就专门被用来进行太阳神祭祀。同时，在各种意外因素的作用下，即使罗马教会入侵，太阳神信仰仍在非洲，希腊以及罗马等地，没有消失，顽强的挣扎着。

　　Until finally ,in the sixth century, the island was the only spot where the old and most holy art of picture writing was still understood and where a small number of priests continued to practice a trade which had been forgotten in every other part of the land of Cheops.

　　直到公元6世纪末，这个岛屿仍然是唯一一个地方，有人能够理解那项古老而又神圣的绘画写作艺术。不仅如此，还有祭祀仍然继续练习着这项职业能力，即便这项职业能力连埃及第四王朝的人们都已经遗忘。

　　And now ,by order of an illiterate farmhand ,known as His Imperial Majesty ,the temple and the adjoining school were declared state property , the statues and images were sent to the museum of Constantinople and the priests and the writing-masters were thrown into jail. And when the last of them had died from hunger and neglect , the age-old trade of making hieroglyphics had become a lost art.

　　直到如今，即使是牧场的文盲工人，也知道查士丁尼一世的威严，这个寺庙和那新雅典学院的土地已经被宣布为国有，那些雕塑和图像将被送去君士坦丁堡的博物馆，同时这些僧人和哪些书法大师，将被送往监狱，这些人将因遭受饥饿和无人照顾，而痛苦的死去，这项绘制象形文字的古老职业就此成为一项失落的艺术

　　All this was a great pity.

　　而这，是一个巨大的遗憾

　　In the year 527 Flavius Anicius Justinnianus became ruler of the eastern half of the Roman Empire.

　　This Serbian peasant(he came from Uskub, the much disputed railroad junction of the later war)had no use for “booklearning”

　　公元527年 查士丁尼一世 成为东罗马帝国的皇帝。

　　查士丁尼一世，他的故乡是当今的马其顿首都——斯科普里，虽然会拉丁语，接受过先进的教育，但是他本身却排斥那象形文字

　　It was by his orders that the ancient Athenian school of philosophy was finally suppressed.And it was he who closed the doors of the only Egyptian temple that had continued to do business centuries after the valley of the Nile had been invaded by the monks of the new Christian faith.

　　在他的命令下，新雅典娜学院，这个代表着雅典哲学的古老学院，被迫关闭。而这更代表着，关闭了当时延续数世纪仍然在使用象形文字的埃及神庙，而尼罗河附近的神庙早就应基督教的入侵而遭到摧毁。

　　This temple stood on a little island called Philae, not far from the first great waterfall of the Nile.Ever since men could remember ,the spot had been dedicated to the worship of Isis and for some curious reason,the Goddess had survived where all her African and Greek and Roman rivals had miserably perished.

　　这个寺庙坐落在一个叫做Philae的小岛，这个小岛离尼罗河瀑布不远，从埃及文明发源开始，这个地方就专门被用来进行太阳神祭祀。同时，在各种意外因素的作用下，即使罗马教会入侵，太阳神信仰仍在非洲，希腊以及罗马等地，没有消失，顽强的挣扎着。

　　Until finally ,in the sixth century, the island was the only spot where the old and most holy art of picture writing was still understood and where a small number of priests continued to practice a trade which had been forgotten in every other part of the land of Cheops.

　　直到公元6世纪末，这个岛屿仍然是唯一一个地方，有人能够理解那项古老而又神圣的绘画写作艺术。不仅如此，还有祭祀仍然继续练习着这项职业能力，即便这项职业能力连埃及第四王朝的人们都已经遗忘。

　　And now ,by order of an illiterate farmhand ,known as His Imperial Majesty ,the temple and the adjoining school were declared state property , the statues and images were sent to the museum of Constantinople and the priests and the writing-masters were thrown into jail. And when the last of them had died from hunger and neglect , the age-old trade of making hieroglyphics had become a lost art.

　　直到如今，即使是牧场的文盲工人，也知道查士丁尼一世的威严，这个寺庙和那新雅典学院的土地已经被宣布为国有，那些雕塑和图像将被送去君士坦丁堡的博物馆，同时这些僧人和哪些书法大师，将被送往监狱，这些人将因遭受饥饿和无人照顾，而痛苦的死去，这项绘制象形文字的古老职业就此成为一项失落的艺术

　　All this was a great pity.

　　而这，是一个巨大的遗憾