| 单词 | 宝剑 |
| 释义 | 〔Damocles〕Greek courtier to Dionysius the Elder, tyrant of Syracuse, who according to legend was forced to sit at a banquet table under a sword suspended by a single hair to demonstrate the precariousness of a king's fortunes.达摩克利斯：希腊传说中的叙拉古国王狄奥尼西奥斯的朝臣，据传说其被迫坐在上悬宝剑的餐桌旁，宝剑由一根头发系住,以此来暗示君王命运的多危〔guillotine〕"At half past 12 the guillotine severed her head from her body.”So reads the statementcontaining the first recorded use ofguillotine in English, found in theAnnual Register of 1793. The word occurs in a context clearly illustrating the function of theguillotine, "a machine with a heavy blade that falls freely between upright guides to behead a condemned person.” Ironically, the guillotine, which became the most notable symbol of the excesses of the French Revolution,was named for a humanitarian physician, Joseph Ignace Guillotin.Guillotin, a member of the French Constituent Assembly,recommended in a speech to that body on October 10, 1789,that executions be performed by a beheading device rather than by hanging, the method used for commoners, or by the sword, reserved for the nobility.He argued that beheading by machine was quicker and less painful than the work of the rope and the sword.In 1791 the Assembly did indeed adopt beheading by machine as the state's preferred method of execution.A beheading device designed by Dr. Antoine Louis, secretary of the College of Surgeons, was first used on April 25, 1792, to execute a highwayman named Pelletier or Peletier.The device was called alouisette or louison after its inventor's name,but because of Guillotin's famous speech,his name became irrevocably associated with the machine. After Guillotin's death in 1814,his children tried unsuccessfully to get the device's name changed.When their efforts failed,they were allowed to change their name instead.“十二点半，断头台斩落了他的头颅。”这句话如此写道。这是英语文章中第一次使用guillotine 这个词， 它出现在1793年的年度文摘 中。 该文中，该词清楚地体现了guillotine 的功用——“利用垂直向下砍落的重斧斩落犯人头颅的机器。” 令人啼笑皆非的是，这一成为法国大革命中恐怖暴行最显著标志的断头台，竟是因一个人文主义医生，约瑟夫·英格纳斯·吉约坦命名的。吉约坦是法国国民代表大会的成员，在1789年10月的一次发言中向大会提出，在处决犯人时以一种砍头的机器来代替处决普通犯人时所用的绞刑或是处决贵族时使用的宝剑。他认为用机器砍头比用绳子或宝剑快而且痛苦小。1791年，国民大会确实将用机器砍头定为国家处决犯人的方法。由外科医生院秘书长安东尼·路易医生设计的砍头装置在1792年4月25日处决拦路强盗佩尔蒂或佩尔捷时第一次使用。这个装置被称为路易塞特 或 路易森 ， 因由其发明者而得名。但是由于吉约坦那次著名的发言，他的名字不可避免地与这种机器联系在一起。1814年吉约坦死后，他的子孙试图为这种机器换个名字,但没有成功。当他们的努力失败后，他们得到允许，改换了自己的名字〔Livonia〕A region of western European U.S.S.R. comprising southern Latvia and northern Estonia. The Livonian Brothers of the Sword conquered the area in the 13th century and converted the inhabitants to Christianity. After the dissolution of the order (1561), Livonia was contested by Poland, Russia, and Sweden, finally passing to Russia in 1721.利福尼亚：苏联欧洲部分西部的一个地区，由拉脱维亚南部及爱沙尼亚北部组成，13世纪宝剑骑士团征服该地区并使其居民皈依基督教。骑士团解散后（1561年），该地成为波兰、俄国和瑞典争夺的焦点，最后于1721年交于俄国〔Toledo〕A fine-tempered sword or steel sword blade made in Toledo, Spain.托莱多剑：西班牙托莱多铸造的质量极好的宝剑或钢制剑锋 |
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