国中国里的城中城

The Great City of London,
伟大的伦敦城

known for its historical landmarks, modern skyscrapers, ancient markets and famous bridges.
以其历史地标 现代摩天大楼 古代集市和著名大桥而闻名

It's arguably the financial capital of the world
它无疑可以称得上是全世界的金融中心

and home to over eleven thousand people.
也是一个属于超过一万一千名民众的家园

Wait, what? Eleven... thousand?
慢着 什么？ 一万……一千名？

That's right: but the City of London is a different place from London,
没错 不过伦敦城跟伦敦是两个不同的地方

though London is also known for its historical landmarks, modern skyscrapers, ancient markets, famous bridges
尽管伦敦也是以其历史地标 现代摩天大楼 古代集市和著名大桥而闻名

and is home to the government, royal family and seven million people.
但它还是英国政府 英国王室和七百万民众共同的家园

But, if you look map of London crafted by a careful cartographer
如果你去看看由严谨的制图师制作的伦敦地图

that map will have a 1-square-mile hole near the middle.
你会发现那个地图接近中央的位置会有一个一平方英里大的洞

It's here where the City of London lives inside of the city named London.
那就是伦敦城 位于一个名叫伦敦的城市里面

Despite these confusingly close names
尽管这两个名字相似到容易混淆

the two Londons have separate city halls and elect separate mayors,
但这两个伦敦有各自的市政厅 各自选举市长

who collect separate taxes to fund separate police who enforce separate laws.
他们各自收税 给各自的警力拨款 执行各自的法律

The Mayor of the City of London has a fancy title
伦敦城的市长有个尊贵的头衔

"The Right Honourable, the Lord Mayor of London" to match his fancy outfit.
“伦敦城市长大人阁下”来搭配他尊贵的服饰

He also gets to ride in a golden carriage and work in a Guildhall
他乘坐的是金色马车 在伦敦城政厅里工作

while the mayor of London has to wear a suit, ride a bike and work in an office building.
而伦敦城长得穿西装套装 骑自行车 在办公楼里工作

The City of London also has its own flag and its own crest
伦敦城有自己的旗帜和市徽

which is awesome and makes London's lack of either twice as sad.
显得非常霸气的同时也让两个都没有的伦敦更加可怜

To top it off, the City of London gets to act more like one of the countries in the UK
除此以外 伦敦城越来越像是英国的一个组成国

than just an oddly located city
而不只是一个地理位置古怪的城市

for uniquely the corporation that runs the city of London is older than the United Kingdom by several hundred years.
因为管理伦敦城的市政委员会的成立比英国还要早好几百年

So how did the UK end up with two Londons, one inside of the other?
那么英国最后究竟是怎样有了两个伦敦 而其中一个在另一个之中的呢？

Because: Romans.
因为 罗马人

2,000 years ago they came to Great Britain, killed a bunch of druids,
两千年前 他们来到大不列颠 杀了一班德鲁伊教士

and founded a trading post on the River Thames and named it Londinium.
然后在泰晤士河边上创立了一个贸易点 并把它命名为伦丁尼姆

Being Romans they got to work doing what Romans do:
作为罗马人 他们就得让里面的人“入乡随俗”

enforcing laws, increasing trade,
施行法律 扩大贸易

building temples, public baths, roads, bridges and a wall to defend their work.
建造庙宇 公共浴池 道路 桥梁以及一道用来保护他们工作成果的城墙

And it's this wall which is why the current City of London exists,
正是这座城墙使伦敦城得以保存至今

for though the Romans came and the Romans went and kingdoms rose and kingdoms fell,
尽管罗马人来来去去 众多的王国兴起覆灭

the wall endured protecting the city within.
但城墙保存了下来 把这个城市里的一切保护好

And The City, governing itself and trading with the world, grew rich.
而这个城市通过自身的有效管理和对外贸易 变得日渐富有

A thousand years after the Romans, yet still a thousand years ago,
罗马人来了之后一千年 也就是距今一千年

when William the Conqueror came to Great Britain
当征服者威廉踏入大不列颠的土地

to conqueror everything and begin modern British history
开始他的征服历程 也开创了英国的新历史的时候

he found the City of London, with its sturdy walls
他发现征服有着坚固城墙保护的伦敦城

more challenging to defeat than farmers on open fields.
比征服农民那些未开发的田地更具挑战性

So he agreed to recognize the rights and privileges City of Londoners were used to
于是他同意让伦敦人承认威廉这个新国王的前提上

in return for them recognizing him as the new King.
作为回报 他承认伦敦城的居民过去所拥有的权利和特权

Though after the negotiation,
磋商完成后

William quickly built towers around the City of London
威廉迅速在伦敦城外建造塔楼

which were just as much about protecting William from the locals within
旨在保护自身免受当地人的偷袭

as defending against the Vikings from without.
也是为了防御外来的维京海盗

This started a thousand-year long tradition
就这样伦敦城的独立成为了持续千年的传统

whereby Monarchs always reconfirmed that 'yes',
英国历朝历代的君主都以此承认

the City of London is a special, unique place that's best left to its own business,
伦敦城就是个独特的地方 最好不要干涉他们的内政

while simultaneously distrusting it.
但同时 这些君主并不信赖它

Many a monarch thought the City of London was too powerful and rich.
很多君主觉得伦敦城过于强大富有

And one even built a new Capital city nearby, named Westminster,
其中一个还在附近建造了一个新首都 名叫威斯敏斯特

to compete with the City of London and hopefully, suck power and wealth away from it.
用它来与伦敦城竞争 希望能偷取它的权力和财富

This was the start of the second London.
这就是伦敦2.0的开始

As the centuries passed,
又过了几个世纪

Westminster grew and merged with nearby towns
威斯敏斯特不断扩张 合并周边城镇

eventually surrounding the walled-in, and still separate City of London.
最后把在城墙内独立出来的伦敦城包围在内

But, people began to call the whole urban collection "London"
人们开始把整个合并起来的市区称作“伦敦”

and the name became official
当议会把这些城镇都合并起来

when Parliament joined towns together under a single municipal government with a mayor.
归于一个市政府管理的时候 “伦敦”这个名字就成为官方用语

But, the mayor of London still doesn't have power over the tiny City of London
但伦敦城长同样没有权力干涉伦敦城这个小小的城市

which has rules and traditions like nowhere else in the country and possibly the world.
它有自己的规则和传统 在全国甚至全世界是找不到一个这样的城市了

For example, the ruling monarch doesn't just enter the City of London on a whim,
譬如 在位的英国女王如果为了一时的心血来潮想进入伦敦城

but instead asks for permission from the Lord Mayor at a ceremony.
也要在礼节上获得伦敦城市长的许可

While it's not required by law, the ceremony is, unusual to say the least.
尽管法律没有这样的规定 但礼节是必要的 至少可以说这样不太寻常

The City of London also has a representative in Parliament, The Remembrancer,
伦敦城在议会上有一名代表作为伦敦城议会代表

whose job it is to protects the City's special rights.
他的职责是保护该城的特殊权益

Because of this, laws passed by Parliament sometimes don't apply to the City of London:
因为国会通过的法律有时并不适用于伦敦城

most notably voting reforms, which we'll discuss next time.
尤其是投票改革 这个我们下次再讨论

But if you're curious for preview, unlike anywhere else in the UK,
如果你对以上内容感到好奇 它而不像英国其他地方那样

elections in the City of London involve Medieval Guilds and modern companies.
伦敦城的选举制度牵涉到中世纪的行会和现代企业

Finally, the City of London also owns and operates land and buildings far outside its border,
最后 伦敦城在境外拥有并管理很多土地和建筑

making it quite wealthy.
这让它十分富有

Once you start looking for The City's Crest you'll find it in lots of unexpected places,
如果你去寻找伦敦城的市徽 你会在很多意想不到的地方发现它

most notably on Tower Bridge which, while being in London is operated by City of London,
最著名的是塔桥 虽然地处伦敦却被伦敦城管辖

These crests everywhere when combined with the City of London's age and wealth and quasi-independent status
当无处不在的市徽和伦敦城的历史 财富 还有半独立状态联系在一起的时候

make it an irresistible temptation for conspiracy nuts.
他们就成了阴谋论者不可抗拒的诱惑

Add in the oldest Masonic temple
再加上最古老的共济会教堂

and it's not long before the crazy part of the Internet starts yelling about
不久前一些网络上的疯子叫嚣着

secret societies controlling the world via the finance industry from inside the City-state of London.
伦敦城里的秘密组织正通过金融产业控制着整个世界

And don't forget the reptilian alien Queen who's really behind it all.
而且别忘了是爬行动物怪伪装成的外星女王在操控着一切

But conspiracy theories aside,
但撇开阴谋论不说

the City of London is not an independent nation like the Vatican is,
伦敦城不像梵蒂冈那样是独立的国家

no matter how much you might read it on the Internet,
不管你从网上读到了什么

rather it's a unique place in the United Kingdom with a long and very complicated history.
这是一个在英国内有着相当漫长而且复杂历史的地方

The wall that began all this 2,000 years ago is now mostly gone,
那座2000年前筑起来的城墙现在已多半不复存在

so the border between London and its secret inner city isn't so obvious.
以致伦敦和伦敦城之间的界限并不是很明显

Though, next time you're in London,
不过若你下次来到伦敦

if you come across a small dragon on the street,
碰巧在街上看见一只小龙

he still guards the entrance to the city in a city in a country in a country.
它还在守卫着这个进入国中国里城中城的入口