A day in the life of a Mongolian queen

蒙古王后生活中的一天

来源视频

As dawn breaks over a moveable city  of ten thousand yurts,

Queen Boraqchin is in  for a rude awakening.

A rogue sheep has slipped past her  servants and guards

and bolted into her yurt,

where he springs into bed  and bleats in her ear.

晨光照耀在这座由万顶蒙古包 组成的移动城市，

皇后孛剌合真被粗鲁地叫醒了。

一只横冲直撞的羊 避过她的侍从和守卫，

钻进了她的蒙古包，

这只羊跳上床， 在她耳边咩咩叫。

Although she’s the formidable khatun  of the Golden Horde,

a huge kingdom in the Mongolian Empire,

Boraqchin has a hands-on  approach to ruling.

She’s been married to Batu Khan,

the fearsome grandson  of Genghis Khan himself,

since she was fifteen –

and while her husband is out on his raids,

she juggles the duties of flocks,  family and empire at home.

This makes her the manager –  and the mover – of a city of thousands.

虽然孛剌合真是钦察汗国 一人之下，万人之上的皇后，

钦察汗国是蒙古帝国的汗国之一，

但她做事喜欢亲力亲为。

她嫁给了威震四方的拔都可汗，

成吉思汗的孙子，

那时她15岁。

当她的丈夫外出抢掠时，

她就负责处理羊群、 家庭和帝国事务。

这让她成了一座千人之城 的管理者和迁徙指挥官。

Twice a year, Boraqchin moves the city  between two seasonal camping grounds.

This ensures constant water  and lush（丰富的） grass in summer,

and protection from harsh winds in winter.

The whole operation requires  weeks of strict planning,

liaising（联络） with the other camps in her  domain, strategic delegation –

and the patience to move at the speed  of dawdling animals.

孛剌合真每年要将城市在 两个季节性营地间移动两次。

这样就能确保夏天有 充足的水源和繁茂的草地，

冬天则可以避免刺骨的寒风。

整个过程需要几周的严密计划，

联系她管辖的其他营地， 合理分配任务——

以及耐心配合懒散 动物们的行进速度。

Today is moving day,

and she’ll have to direct throngs of her ladies, commanders, slaves and animals

up the river Volga for the summer.

As Boraqchin steps outside,

she’s greeted by a commotion –

her unwanted visitor is now running  circles around her stewards.

They’re attempting to stow her possessions securely into wagons.

Boraqchin orders them  to get it under control –

but she’s the only one quick  enough to catch the stray.

今天就是迁徙日，

一大群女官、首领、 奴隶和动物等着她指挥

去伏尔加河度过夏天。

孛剌合真走出帐篷时，

她遇到了一阵骚动——

这个不速之客正围着 她的管事们转圈。

他们正试着把孛剌合真的财物 妥善安置到马车上。

她命令管事控制住场面——

但只有她速度足够快，抓住了羊。

She next supervises her ladies who are unpinning her yurt

and lifting it onto its custom wagon.

It requires a team of twenty oxen to pull,

and Boraqchin wouldn’t trust anyone  to steer it but herself.

Next, Boraqchin and her woolly companion  meet with the guards.

She orders them to keep close watch on her husband's special reception yurt

and port-able throne during the journey.

They’ll also act as outriders,

and she tells them how to secure the  route, surround her for safety –

and keep the animals in check.

然后她监督女官的工作， 她们在拆帐篷，

并且把帐篷放到她的专用马车上。

马车需要头牛拉，

孛剌合真不放心其他人， 她要自己驾车。

接着，孛剌合真带着 羊群与侍卫汇合。

她命令侍卫在迁徙途中 密切注意她丈夫的特殊帐篷

以及携带的王座。

他们还担任斥候，

她告诉他们如何确保路线安全， 在她周围护她周全——

以及管住动物。

But when the sheep finally breaks free  and makes for the fields,

the guards can barely keep up

as it scampers through crowds  packing up their yurts.

Exasperated, Boraqchin rides down  to the pastures herself.

When she gets there,

she catches sight of the troublesome sheep wriggling into the middle of a flock.

但这只羊最终 脱了缰跑向田野，

侍卫根本追不上它，

它惊慌地穿过正在 收拾蒙古包的人群。

孛剌合真恼怒地 策马奔向牧场。

当她到达时，

她看到这只闹事的羊 正往羊群中间钻。

When she follows him in,

he’s nestled next to a ewe, his mother.

She’s pregnant, and seems to be in pain.

With a start, Boraqchin realizes  that this ewe’s impending delivery

has been forgotten in  the flurry of moving day.

There’s no time to find a shepherd –

instead, Boraqchin rolls up her sleeves,  greases her arm

and helps the ewe give birth to two new  additions to the empire.

她跟着进去，

发现他依偎在一只母羊边上， 那是他的母亲。

她怀孕了，看上去很痛苦。

孛剌合真吃了一惊 她意识到这只母羊即将分娩，

但这件事在繁忙的 迁徙日被遗忘了。

没时间找牧羊人了——

于是，孛剌合真卷起袖子， 在手臂上涂了油，

帮助母羊生产， 帝国又多了两只小羊。

Leaving the lambs and their mother,

Boraqchin dashes back to the camp.

Here the final touches have  been put to packing,

and vehicles are starting to line up.

This vast procession starts with the queen

and two hundred wagons  filled with her treasures.

Next up are the junior wives and crew,

then the concubines –

and this is only Boraqchin's camp.

离开这些羊和它们的母亲后，

孛剌合真又冲回了营地。

这里的打包工作已在收尾，

车马都已整装待发。

浩浩荡荡的队伍以皇后为首

两百辆马车装满了她的宝物。

后面是地位稍低的妻子和侍官们，

再后面是妾——

而这只是孛剌合真的队伍。

After this comes the second imperial camp

led by another senior wife,

then two more camps, also led by wives.

Boraqchin has been checking in  with them for weeks to ensure

a smooth departure and orderly queue.

But they only make up the  royal portion of the line –

behind them winds  the entire civilian city,

which includes holy men  with portable chapels and mosques,

families, tradesmen, and shepherds.

在她之后是帝国第二营队

由另一位地位高的妻子带领，

之后还有两个队伍， 也由妻子们带领。

几周以来，孛剌合真 一直和她们沟通，

以确保顺利启程，秩序井然。

但这只是整个队伍中的 皇室部分——

她们身后还跟着所有的百姓，

包括带着移动教堂和 清真寺的神职人员、

各个家庭、商人和牧羊人。

Finally, Boraqchin settles into her wagon.

It’ll take weeks to reach  their destination –

but over the course of the journey,

she’ll keep everyone expertly in check –

from her proud children  and attentive subjects,

to the most meandering sheep  at the back of line.

最后，孛剌合真坐进了她的马车。

到达目的地需要几周时间——

但在旅途中，

她将驾轻就熟地管好每个人——

不管是她骄傲的孩子、 细心的侍从，

还是队伍最后懒散的羊群。