关于名人的十大不可思议之事(下)

leon Bonaparte

5.拿破仑·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.

拿破仑，这个试图统治整个欧洲的人，是一个矮个男人？后来甚至还出现了一种以他命名的心理疾病。可是，实际上他并不矮。拿破仑有五尺七寸（约1.68米），对他那个时代的法国成年男子来说，这个身高是很正常的。他的童年生活比较可怜——父亲死于胃癌，而且因为他生前的赌博行为，死后并未给家里留下任何东西。在学校他也经常因为他的用功刻苦和浓重的科西嘉人口音为同学所捉弄嘲笑，而当时没人预料到拿破仑会成为法国皇帝。说来也奇怪，拿破仑曾患过痔疮，谣传他就是因为疼痛和疾病而在滑铁卢之战中被战败。

dore Roosevelt

4.西奥多·罗斯福

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.

西奥多·罗斯福的故事集荣耀、个性与权势于一体。泰迪·罗斯福出生于纽约市一个富裕的罗斯福家族，据称他曾经是一个体弱多病，患有哮喘，又极易激动的孩子。他也曾苦练拳击来对抗他虚弱的体质。在他执政期间，他的左眼就曾因拳击而受伤。他经常在非洲和北美一带旅游，在这里他可以猎杀和研究大量的外来物种。

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.

他最为人所知的故事可能是他于1912年在密尔沃基所做的演讲了。在演讲期间，一个暗杀者企图击毙罗斯福，但折叠着的演讲稿以及罗斯福的眼镜使子弹速度减缓。罗斯福当即告诉群众说他并未被射击到，于是就继续他的演讲，但随后他就前往医院取出子弹。做得好，罗斯福，好极了。

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.

如果这是一份关于古怪君王的清单，彼得大帝无疑会名列前茅。彼得大帝是十八世纪的俄国沙皇。由于不满俄国当时的现状，他决定进行一次西欧之旅以求找到使俄国现代化的方法。

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.

为防止被发现真实身份，他假扮成一位普通商人向西欧学习，并装着满脑子改革俄国的奇思妙想回到本国。他成立了新学校，建立了强大的圣彼得堡港口，并且要求全国的男子都要剪掉胡子，否则他们就得为胡子纳税。是的，你没听错，俄罗斯人不得不为了保护他们那可怜的胡子而纳税。他还有一个珍奇物品收藏馆，里面的藏品十分奇特，包括畸形动物、畸形胎儿和一些动物器官的标本，彼得大帝希望通过研究这些标本来消除国内的迷信。现在看来，这些展品倒是可以激发科学好奇心。

lie Chaplin

2.查理·卓别林

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"·卓别林爵士生活在咆哮的二十年代，他最为人所知的大概就是他所主演的喜剧电影，而关于他的故事却不得不讲。卓别林的父母并非他的好榜样——他的母亲因婚外情生下两个私生子，而父亲又在卓别林年纪尚轻的时候离开了家庭。他的母亲由于梅毒和营养不良变得疯疯癫癫，最终死于肝病。

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.

他的成年生活也并不令人神往——他曾经甚至被强迫抚养一个并非他亲生的孩子。一个年轻女人声称她的孩子是卓别林的，但血液检测显示这个孩子并不是卓别林的，可法官在法庭上拒绝承认这份验血结果，因此卓别林不得不为这个孩子支付巨额抚养费。即使在他死后，他也未能获得安宁。1977年，卓别林的遗体被盗，盗匪以此为筹码来索要赎金，但约在两个月后他的遗体就被找到了。

Richard Francis Burton

1.理查德·弗朗西斯·伯顿爵士

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，探险家，军人——我们惊讶于理查德·伯顿爵士竟有如此多的头衔，但他的故事可能才是最令人惊奇的。1853年，伯顿说服皇家地理学会准许他离开军队一段时间，以便可以前往麦加，他将自己伪装成穆斯林——甚至行割礼仪式增强可信度——以此便能在此地收集到他想要的信息。虽然在考察非洲时，他受到索马里士兵的袭击，并不幸被投枪刺伤，但他还是活着逃脱了。他会讲30多门语言和方言，并在以后的生活中担任英国的外交官。当然，很有可能理查德爵士已经将他的大量传奇故事带入了坟墓。

翻译:李念 来源：前十网