關於名人的十大不可思議之事(下)

leon Bonaparte

5.拿破崙·波拿巴

Napoleon? Short dude with a complex that they eventually named after him, tried to take over Europe, etc. Well, he wasn't actually short. Napoleon was 5'7″, which was normal for the average Frenchman in his time. His childhood was a pitiful one—his father died of stomach cancer and left his family penniless due to his gambling. He was often made fun of in school for his studiousness and thick Corsican accent, but nobody could have predicted Napoleon's rise to power. Strangely enough, Napoleon suffered from hemorrhoids and it's rumored that his pain and illness prevented him from winning the Battle of Waterloo.

拿破崙，這個試圖統治整個歐洲的人，是一個矮個男人？後來甚至還出現了一種以他命名的心理疾病。可是，實際上他並不矮。拿破崙有五尺七寸（約1.68米），對他那個時代的法國成年男子來說，這個身高是很正常的。他的童年生活比較可憐——父親死於胃癌，而且因爲他生前的賭博行爲，死後並未給家裏留下任何東西。在學校他也經常因爲他的用功刻苦和濃重的科西嘉人口音爲同學所捉弄嘲笑，而當時沒人預料到拿破崙會成爲法國皇帝。說來也奇怪，拿破崙曾患過痔瘡，謠傳他就是因爲疼痛和疾病而在滑鐵盧之戰中被戰敗。

dore Roosevelt

4.西奧多·羅斯福

Theodore Roosevelt's story is one of privilege, big personalities, and bigger sticks. Teddy Roosevelt was born to the wealthy Roosevelt family in New York City and was known to be sickly, asthmatic, and (very) hyper child. He also took up boxing at a young age to combat his weak constitution. Roosevelt had an injury to the left eye caused by boxing while in office. He took many trips to Africa and South America where he hunted and studied numerous exotic species.

西奧多·羅斯福的故事集榮耀、個性與權勢於一體。泰迪·羅斯福出生於紐約市一個富裕的羅斯福家族，據稱他曾經是一個體弱多病，患有哮喘，又極易激動的孩子。他也曾苦練拳擊來對抗他虛弱的體質。在他執政期間，他的左眼就曾因拳擊而受傷。他經常在非洲和北美一帶旅遊，在這裏他可以獵殺和研究大量的外來物種。

His best story, perhaps, concerns a speech in Milwaukee in 1912. During the speech, an assassin tried to kill Roosevelt with a gun, but the bullet was slowed down by his folded speech and eyeglass case. Roosevelt promptly told the crowd he'd just been shot, continued giving his speech, and then headed over to the hospital to get it removed. Well played, Mr. Roosevelt, well played.

他最爲人所知的故事可能是他於1912年在密爾沃基所做的演講了。在演講期間，一個暗殺者企圖擊斃羅斯福，但摺疊着的演講稿以及羅斯福的眼鏡使子彈速度減緩。羅斯福當即告訴羣衆說他並未被射擊到，於是就繼續他的演講，但隨後他就前往醫院取出子彈。做得好，羅斯福，好極了。

r the Great

3.彼得大帝

If this were a list about strange monarchs, Peter the Great would top the list. Peter the Great was the Czar of Russia in the 18th century. Seeing how backwards Russia was, he decided to tour Western Europe in order to find ways to modernize his country.

如果這是一份關於古怪君王的清單，彼得大帝無疑會名列前茅。彼得大帝是十八世紀的俄國沙皇。由於不滿俄國當時的現狀，他決定進行一次西歐之旅以求找到使俄國現代化的方法。

Peter took the guise of an average merchant to avoid being discovered and came back to Russia with many ways to improve the empire. He set up new schools, created the mighty port of St. Petersburg, and ordered all Russian men to shave their beards or pay a tax. Yes, you read that right. Russians grow such poor beards that they had to pay to keep also had a museum of oddities ranging from deformed animal fetuses to animal parts to dispel superstition in his country. Now that's scientific curiosity.

爲防止被發現真實身份，他假扮成一位普通商人向西歐學習，並裝着滿腦子改革俄國的奇思妙想回到本國。他成立了新學校，建立了強大的聖彼得堡港口，並且要求全國的男子都要剪掉鬍子，否則他們就得爲鬍子納稅。是的，你沒聽錯，俄羅斯人不得不爲了保護他們那可憐的鬍子而納稅。他還有一個珍奇物品收藏館，裏面的藏品十分奇特，包括畸形動物、畸形胎兒和一些動物器官的標本，彼得大帝希望通過研究這些標本來消除國內的迷信。現在看來，這些展品倒是可以激發科學好奇心。

lie Chaplin

2.查理·卓別林

Sir Charles "Charlie" Chaplin is perhaps best known for his comedic films of the Roaring Twenties, and he certainly has tales to tell. Chaplin's parents weren't exactly role models–his mother had two illegitimate children from affairs and his father left the family when he was young. His mother eventually died of liver issues after becoming psychotic due to syphilis and malnutrition.

查理斯·"查理"·卓別林爵士生活在咆哮的二十年代，他最爲人所知的大概就是他所主演的喜劇電影，而關於他的故事卻不得不講。卓別林的父母並非他的好榜樣——他的母親因婚外情生下兩個私生子，而父親又在卓別林年紀尚輕的時候離開了家庭。他的母親由於梅毒和營養不良變得瘋瘋癲癲，最終死於肝病。

His adult life was no less fascinating–Chaplin was once forced to pay child support for a child that wasn't even his. When a young woman claimed that her child was Chaplin's, blood testing determined that the child was not Chaplin's, but the judge refused to have the test admitted into court, so he made Chaplin pay a substantial sum. Even after death, his story didn't quite end. In 1977, Chaplin's body was stolen for ransom, but it was recovered about two months later.

他的成年生活也並不令人神往——他曾經甚至被強迫撫養一個並非他親生的孩子。一個年輕女人聲稱她的孩子是卓別林的，但血液檢測顯示這個孩子並不是卓別林的，可法官在法庭上拒絕承認這份驗血結果，因此卓別林不得不爲這個孩子支付鉅額撫養費。即使在他死後，他也未能獲得安寧。1977年，卓別林的遺體被盜，盜匪以此爲籌碼來索要贖金，但約在兩個月後他的遺體就被找到了。

Richard Francis Burton

1.理查德·弗朗西斯·伯頓爵士

Spy, explorer, soldier–so many words to describe Sir Richard Burton, but his stories were perhaps the most amazing. In 1853, Burton convinced the Royal Geographic Society to give him a leave of absence from the army to travel to Mecca and disguise himself as a Muslim–even getting circumcised to keep up the illusion–to make it there. While exploring in Africa, he was impaled by a javelin in a foray with a group of Somali warriors, yet escaped alive. He spoke over 30 different languages and dialects and was a diplomat later in life. It seems likely Sir Richard took plenty of tales to the grave.

密探，探險家，軍人——我們驚訝於理查德·伯頓爵士竟有如此多的頭銜，但他的故事可能纔是最令人驚奇的。1853年，伯頓說服皇家地理學會准許他離開軍隊一段時間，以便可以前往麥加，他將自己僞裝成穆斯林——甚至行割禮儀式增強可信度——以此便能在此地收集到他想要的信息。雖然在考察非洲時，他受到索馬里士兵的襲擊，並不幸被投槍刺傷，但他還是活着逃脫了。他會講30多門語言和方言，並在以後的生活中擔任英國的外交官。當然，很有可能理查德爵士已經將他的大量傳奇故事帶入了墳墓。

翻譯:李念 來源：前十網