经济学人下载:《哈布斯堡家族》书评--异类(1)

Books & arts
来自文艺版块

Book review
书评

European history
欧洲历史

A breed apart
异类

The Habsburgs. By Martyn Rady.
《哈布斯堡家族》，作者：马丁·雷迪

There were early hints that the union of Philip of Habsburg with Juana the Mad in 1496 might not be a happy one. It says a lot about the aristocracy of the era that the main problem came less from the bride's line than from the groom's: Philip counted among his ancestors such uNPRomising genetic material as Albert the Lame, Leopold the Fat and, in an age that excelled in the honest epithet, Frederick of the Empty Pockets.
早期有迹象表明，1496年哈布斯堡家族的菲利普和胡安娜的结合可能并不愉快。它讲述了许多关于那个时代的贵族，很多人认为主要的问题不是来自新娘的血统，而是源于新郎的血统：在一个擅长诚实称呼的时代，菲利浦在盘点自己祖先时，把许多不乐观的遗传物质算在其中，比如跛子阿尔伯特，胖子利奥波德以及腓特烈四世。

Sure enough, the union proved disastrous.Eventually its worst sufferer was Don Carlos, the couple's deformed and mentally delusional great-grandchild, in whom ancestral inbreedings echoed.The family anriously treated its young heir to the most sophisticated medical cures then available but, despite being made to share a bed with the wizened body of a mummified saint, Don Carlos did not recover. Nor did the reputation of the Habsburgs.
果然，这场结合被证明是灾难性的。最终，这对夫妇结合的最大受害者是唐·卡洛斯，他是他们的曾孙，患有畸形以及精神妄想症，祖辈的近亲繁殖回响在他身上。这个家族焦急地为年轻的继承人提供了当时最先进的医疗方法，但尽管被安排与一具干瘪的圣人的尸体同床共枕，但唐·卡洛斯并没有康复。哈布斯堡家族也声名狼藉。

Martyn Rady's new book is billed as "the definitive history" of the clan. Not, it must be said, a hotly contested title. Once the names of Europe's most powerful families- the Bourbons and Battenbergs and Garibaldis-were known across the world. Today, beyond the biscuit tin, they are largely forgotten.
马丁雷迪的新书被誉为是这个家族的“不可更改的历史”。必须说，这不是一个竞争激烈的头衔。波旁家族、巴滕贝格斯家族和加里波第家族曾经是欧洲最有权势的家族，它们的名字闻名于世。今天，除了饼干罐，他们基本上被遗忘了。

Except, that is, for their eccentric matchmaking. If you have ever wondered why marrying your uncle is inadvisable, the Habsburgs can enlighten you. For centuries they experimented with marriages between first cousins, second cousins and cousins so multiply intertwined that the traditional familial vocabulary breaks down. A mother might double as a cousin; the wife of Leopold I referred to him throughout their marriage as "Uncle".
也就是说，除了他们家族古怪的婚配。如果你想知道为什么嫁给你叔叔是不可取的，哈布斯堡家族可以启发你。几个世纪以来，他们一直在尝试表亲、远房表亲之间进行婚姻、繁衍，以至于传统的家庭词汇被打破。一个母亲可以兼任表亲；利奥波德一世的妻子在他们的婚姻中称他为“叔叔”。

The result was less a family tree, branching and widening, than a convoluted web. At one point the mortality rate of Habsburg children reached 80%, four times the average of the time. Of those who lived, many were hideously misshapen, with the infamous drooping lip and jutting Habsburg jaw. It is one of the abiding puzzles of European history that its aristocrats, so good at breeding homes, should have been so bad at breeding themselves.
其结果与其说是一个分支和扩张的家谱，不如说是一个盘绕的网。哈布斯堡儿童死亡率一度达到80%，是当时平均水平的四倍。在那些活着的人中，许多人都有着可怕的畸形，有着臭名昭著的下垂的嘴唇和突出的哈布斯堡下巴。这是欧洲历史上一个永恒的谜团，为什么贵族们很善于养家，却如此不善于家庭繁衍。